Mayor Dusty's expression was surprised and a little bit like laughing. He could see that Amon was trying to find fault with Xiao Gu, and he couldn't help but secretly wondered how brave this kid was. Amon did have a reason to find fault. Xiao Gu almost cut off one of his fingers last time, and Amon had never offended the priest, but after thinking about it, this kid actually did that!
Amon claimed to have discovered a natural ore core that does not need to be mined in the stream from the mountain torrent. This situation is not impossible, but it is very rare. If a townsman really picks up one or two such mine cores, he will only take them home quietly, and it is impossible to register and report them. Of course, the mined god stones will be kept by themselves. As long as you don’t tell them, who will know?
Amon clearly wanted Xiao Gu to pay taxes for him by doing this. Who made this priest make such a promise just to apologize
Xiao Gu's expression was ugly, but he couldn't say anything in public, so he could only ask, "Amon, you are such a lucky and honest child, can you show me the sacred stone you mined?"
He thought that Amon had picked up one or two ore cores at most, and when Amon took out a sheepskin from his arms and opened it, everyone around him let out an exclamation. Master Xiao Gu's eyes turned black, and he passed out on the spot. If the servant next to him didn't help him quickly, the back of his head would have hit the steps!
I saw that in this dirty sheepskin, there were not only twenty colorless and transparent standard divine stones, but also a special divine stone that shone with a faint blue luster, like strange and mysterious water waves rippling in it.
The onlookers were all surprised and speechless. At this time, the mayor was the calmest, and he was the first to come back to his senses. He took a breath and asked, "Amon, this, this, these are really the ones you picked. ?”
Amon nodded without changing his face and said: "Yes, it should be that a mountain torrent in a certain year happened to break through a mine vein, and a pile of ore cores were exposed in the traces of the dry stream. I was lucky to find it."
Dasti swallowed a mouthful of spit, feeling his lips were a little dry, looked around and whispered: "Actually, you can... do this... to yourself..."
He only half-spoken every sentence, but the meaning couldn't be more obvious. In fact, Amon can stay quietly and not tell anyone. Doing so is forcing Lord Xiaogu to pay taxes, which is not good for Amon himself, because Lord Xiaogu will definitely retaliate. How could Lord Xiaogu be a miner with his powerful position? Can the son offend
At this moment, someone said: "Master Xiaogu fainted, what should I do?"
Amon also replied: "Mayor, I have to pay taxes, you won't make me violate the law in public, will you?"
The mayor of Dusty sighed, and said helplessly: "Wake up Mr. Xiaogu, we all know that Amon's family's taxes for this year will be paid by him!"
Only the mayor here knows why Xiao Gu fainted. If there were only twenty divine stones, and Xiao Gu paid the tax of eighteen divine stones on his behalf, even if his heart hurt like a knife cutting flesh, he would not lose his composure. The key lies in the blue sacred stone. The miners in this town don't know its value. If calculated according to taxes, it is equivalent to two hundred standard sacred stones.
In other words, Xiao Gu needs to pay a total of 198 sacred stones for Amon. The value of one sacred stone is equivalent to 20 baht gold coins, so the tax Xiao Gu needs to pay is close to 4,000 baht gold coins! With such a sum of money, one can buy a luxurious manor in the city-state of Syria, plus a herd of servants, cattle and sheep.
Xiao Gu was awakened by someone rubbing his chest. With the support of two servants, he barely stood still, and asked in a trembling voice: "Amon, do you really have to pay taxes?" His eyes seemed to be dripping blood when he spoke. , if eyes could kill, Amon might have been cut to pieces.
Amon actually met this gaze without dodging, just looked into Xiao Gu's eyes provocatively, and replied in a very calm and clear tone: "Yes, does the clerk who is in charge of tax registration want to let me Tax evasion?"
If you are forced to this point, you have to pay this tax if you don’t pay it. Xiao Gu avoided Amon's sight, and said to Dusty with pleading eyes and a pitiful tone: "Lord Mayor, I accept this tax and register it as twenty-one sacred stones."
The meaning of these words seems to be understood only by Dusty. This is a play on words, and the blue sacred stone is also a sacred stone. There seems to be nothing wrong with registering like this. But this involves a secret of Xiaogu and Dusty, and it is also the best way for these two nobles in the town to make money. In the past, when miners mined special sacred stones, they would be ecstatic.
The townspeople don't know how valuable the special sacred stone is, because as long as it is mined, it will be confiscated, and it is impossible to appear on the market as a currency like the standard sacred stone. I only know that this thing is rare, maybe one of the hundreds of sacred stones will appear, if it is mined, the mayor will be very happy to reward the craftsman with an extra sacred stone.
The rest is up to the mayor and the clerk. A special sacred stone can be worth 200 standard sacred stones, and according to the law, you can keep 20 for yourself, but the miner who mined it only got one reward, and the other 19 were privately swallowed by Dusty and Xiaogu. This is not the most profitable situation, if a word game is played with the tacit consent of the mayor, and the clerk only registers the sacred stones instead of special sacred stones, then they can privately share the benefits equivalent to 198 sacred stones!
But the situation is different now, the more valuable the blue divine stone is, the more tax Xiao Gu has to pay for Amon. Xiao Gu was hinting to Mayor Dusty, as he had done before, not to register as Youlan Shuixin. He was even winking at the mayor, hoping to cover up the value of Youlan Water Core, and cheat it from Amon with the reward of an ordinary god stone, so that not only would he not lose money, but he would also be able to make a fortune.
Mayor Dusty also hesitated, coughing and was about to speak. Unexpectedly, Amon said loudly: "Master Priest, I'm sorry, don't forget that I am also literate! Please register truthfully. I can understand the twenty standard sacred stones and one blue sacred stone."
These words were like an invisible miner's sledgehammer hitting, Xiao Gu's body suddenly shook, and then he leaned softly on the servant's shoulder, not daring to look at Amon but only looking at Dusty. Dusty's face also became ugly, and he said to Amon in a deep voice: "I will leave the tax matters to the adults, and I won't let you pay the taxes anyway. Also, your blue-blue coin Divine stone, can you give it to me, this town will give you a special reward."
Amon asked back: "If the taxes have been paid in full, then all the sacred stones can stay in my hands, right?"
Dusty's throat was a little dry, and he said in a deep voice: "If you turn in the special god stone, it will give you extra rewards. For you, there is nothing to lose..."
Before he finished speaking, Amon felt a hand on his shoulder, and he heard the voice of the old lunatic say unhurriedly: "My lord mayor, I often see a kind of thing, someone has taken possession of this The things that should not belong to him have formed a habit over time, but they have forgotten that they are not his. If one day he does not get the thing that does not belong to him, he will feel that the real owner should not have it. What do you think it is? people?"
Amon looked at Xiaogu's pitiful appearance and pleaded with the mayor. For some reason, there was a nameless anger rising in his heart, which was almost uncontrollable. He wanted to step forward and punch him to make his face bloom. This thought stimulated Amon's body Almost trembling. The old lunatic appeared just at this time, and put his hand on Amon's shoulder, and an invisible force made him unable to move.
The mayor of Dusty stopped talking, but the old lunatic continued: "This is the devil! Desire is not necessarily a sin, it can encourage people to create and pursue more good things... But I want to tell a story , Someone once stole a gold coin from me every day and no one was held accountable. Later, I kindly told him that it was not good to do so, but he was full of hatred and curse in his heart, and asked me to encourage and praise him to continue this behavior, otherwise he would be punished. It became my evil deed, but I completely forgot that he had obtained so much from me... Tell me, whose evil deed is this?"
The mayor of Dusty broke into a cold sweat when he was stared at by the old lunatic. He took a step back unconsciously, turned his head and said to Xiao Gu: "Scribe, Amon's request is normal and legal. Since he can read, he can Let him watch you register, write down twenty standard god stones and one blue god stone, and you will pay the taxes."
As soon as these words came out, Master Xiao Gu rolled his eyes, straightened his body, opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood, and then fell into the servant's arms. The servants carried him into the temple in a panic to give first aid. Most of the people still didn't understand what happened. It seems that Lord Xiaogu is ill, very seriously.
The old lunatic watched Xiao Gu being carried into the temple coldly, and then said to Dusty: "The clerk is unwell and cannot continue to work. The mayor should register himself."
Dusty wiped the sweat from his forehead, nodded and said: "Okay, I'll register, you take this child away!"
Amon had an uncontrollable emotion, full of violent urges, but when he saw Xiao Gu vomit blood and fainted, as if the injury was worse than his own punch, he calmed down inexplicably, and suddenly felt that this noble priest was like A humble wretch. At this time, the old lunatic put a little force on his shoulder, and Amon turned half a circle involuntarily, and followed him.
…
"Child, Xiao Gu deserves it, but you are enduring your own suffering, do you understand the desire of two sides of one body? Learn how to face it, just like learning how to use power... What you did today is very dangerous, You are not calm enough, if you do not learn how to face this kind of test, I will not see your achievements in the future, and I am afraid that I will soon see your dead body."
This was at the old lunatic's house. Nietzsche was drinking while talking, but he didn't pour Amon the wine.
Amon asked: "Do you mean that Xiao Gu will take revenge on me?"
The old lunatic laughed: "Nonsense, you know the consequences! Of course he even has the intention of killing you... Do you really know the value of Youlan Shuixin?"
Amon: "I don't know, you didn't tell me, I think it should be very valuable?"
The old lunatic: "People in Duke Town have a different concept of money than outsiders. A Youlan Water Heart is worth 200 sacred stones, which is equivalent to 4,000 baht gold coins, and you can buy it if you want it. A sum of money, no matter where it is, it may cause a bloody conflict, let alone in the hands of a child like you. It is still safe in Duke Town, at least with me, but what about when you are alone?"
Amon lowered his head and said, "You seem to know what I'm going to do, but you didn't stop me."
The old lunatic shook his head: "Persuasion is useless. I can stop you, but I can't replace your rising desire. After this incident, you should understand how to master it, face it soberly and even enjoy it , but you can't let it influence your thinking, words and deeds... Besides, I would also like to see you clean up Xiaogu, he deserves it, but you have to pay attention to yourself."
Amon nodded and said, "I think I understand."
The old lunatic stood up: "It's good to understand, now you can learn the most basic first-level magic. There are many kinds of magic, including elemental magic, spiritual magic, blessing magic, space magic, and information magic." Magic and so on, it is very difficult for a magician to be proficient in all types of magic, and they often have their own specialties. I don't know what you are good at, since you have the blue water heart, let's start with the water element magic."
Divine art is so mysterious and profound in Amon's mind, but the old lunatic told him that it is very simple to reach the standard of a first-level magician, just a piece of ice!
Summon the water contained in the environment, condense into ice, and quietly spread a layer of ice on the surrounding ground, it is considered a success. Amon didn't know that these already meant three kinds of water element magic. Although they were all first-level magic, the skills used in this combination were not simple, and they had to be completed simultaneously without sound.
The old lunatic didn't tell him how difficult it was for a new magician, but said that this was the easiest way to start.
It is very easy to condense water into ice. According to the method taught by the old lunatic, Amon did it for the first time. Summoning the water elements in the environment to form countless tiny ice crystals gradually covered the ground. It was a bit difficult to do, but it was successful after a few days. The old lunatic smiled and said to Amon: "You can practice repeatedly, but when you practice by yourself, don't use Youlan Water Heart anymore."
When Amon didn't use Youlan Water Center as an intermediary for casting divine spells, he found it more than ten times more difficult to use the same divine spells. Ordinarily, the old lunatic should have given him a magic staff, but the old man seemed to have forgotten intentionally or unintentionally, and asked Amon not to rely on any utensils, but to use his own magic power to cast it.
Amon can't do it. In fact, many low-level magicians can't do this, including third-level magicians. At least they have to have a staff inlaid with ordinary magic stones! But Amon already knew how to do it, and he had already mastered the skills. He had already succeeded many times through Youlan Shuixin, so he didn't suspect that his method was wrong. It was just that his strength had not been achieved, and he didn't have any doubts or frustrations. , practice well!
Only then did the old lunatic explain to Amon the special features of Youlan Water Core and how to use it. The Youlan Water Heart is not only helpful in awakening the power, but also can greatly assist the casting of water element magic. If Amon had been allowed to use his own strength to perform such a divine spell from the very beginning, he would not have been able to succeed, and it was a tricky way to use Youlan Water Heart.
But there is a principle of trickery, which can only be used in two occasions: the first is to better master a certain kind of magic, and understand its methods and techniques in the most thorough way; May retain any power. But after mastering a certain divine technique, try not to use it in daily practice, otherwise it will form dependence and complacency, which is not good for one's own strength.
The old lunatic said so, and Amon did so. Without the help of Youlan Shuixin, he would never be able to do it, but he is not in a hurry. Amon also kept an eye on it, and every once in a while, he would quietly try it again with the Youlan Water Heart to see how much his strength had increased? He was very satisfied with the result, the ice layer was freezing faster and faster, and the area was getting bigger and bigger.
Of course, the old lunatic knows that it is too difficult for Amon to condense water and pave the ice with his own strength, and it is too difficult to complete it quietly at once. If he can do it simply, he will be surprised. There is a limit to any genius ! Other than that, the old lunatic didn't teach anything else, not even Amon's physical skills.
Until one day, Amon spent an afternoon quietly forming an almost imperceptible layer of ice on the threshold of the old madman's house. He wanted to watch the old madman fall, and he hid beside him to help him. As a result, when the old lunatic returned home, the layer of ice disappeared inexplicably, but Amon behind the door slipped and fell on his back.
At this time, the old lunatic said to him: "My child, you are already a first-level magician. Of course, it is a great achievement for others in such a short period of time, but for you, I only hope that time will pass." It's too late... because the disaster is coming soon, and then you have to be able to protect yourself and learn how to protect yourself."
Amon asked curiously, "What disaster?"
The old lunatic didn't want to say more, but asked back: "Do you still go to Hanquan to practice magic arts every night?"
Amon nodded: "Yes, I'm used to it."
The cold spring is no longer icy cold, it is just a cool pool, but Amon is used to calling it the cold spring, and he is also used to bathing there every day and practicing divine arts. That place was very secluded, and the environment was peaceful, and Amon had a familiar and friendly feeling.
The old lunatic didn't say anything, just nodded and said: "Well, you can go on."
Amon didn't know why the old lunatic said that disaster was coming, but on this night, Amon really encountered a catastrophic event.