"Sir, the Deck of Many Things is not to be used inside the Traveler's Rest. Violators will be severely punished," the ghostly attendant reminded him in a hollow voice.
Even though Anser had just spent nearly five thousand pounds of gold, the attendant still looked half-dead, neither warm nor cold in attitude.
Anser paused slightly. He had indeed been considering it—yet the moment the thought arose, he was warned. Clearly, someone had tried it before.
Using the Deck of Many Things carried a one-third chance of encountering unknown dangers—such as devils, incarnations of death, or revenants hunting you down. But as long as one remained inside the Traveler's Rest, many of these dangers could be easily neutralized.
However, the Traveler's Rest had no intention of taking the blame, and had already sealed this loophole early on. This so-called "severe punishment" was definitely not something to be taken lightly.
His thoughts shifted. He took out the Rod of Security and focused, sensing it—only to discover that even the extradimensional passage had been sealed. He could not teleport back to the Black Tower.
Delira's gaze flickered, vaguely guessing what Anser was thinking. She leaned closer and said, "No teleportation spells can be used inside the Traveler's Rest. Any attempt to linger is useless—once the time is up, you'll be kicked back to where you came from."
"What if I discard or sell the teleportation medium?" Anser pondered.
"That's even worse. You'll be sent straight to some corner of the Astral Plane and have to swim your way back," Delira chuckled softly.
"Brutal." At the thought of drifting helplessly through the boundless astral void, Anser couldn't help but feel a trace of unease.
The Astral Plane was a realm of thought and dreams. Travelers could, with a single thought, determine the direction of any destination—be it a Wildspace system or a color pool—but actually traveling there was fraught with danger.
Travel through the Astral Plane mainly relied on spelljamming ships. Without one, movement could only be driven by willpower, with a flying speed roughly equal to five times one's Intelligence score. That was fast enough to easily surpass air elementals—but it meant little, because the Astral Plane was simply too vast.
"Still buying anything?" Delira glanced around. Anser's lavish spending had drawn plenty of attention—eyes occasionally darting their way.
However, she wasn't worried. Here, as long as you kept your mouth shut and hid your teleportation medium well, you were absolutely safe until departure.
"I'm buying." Anser wasn't about to abandon his plans just because others were watching.
That said, bulk purchases were no longer an option. With the Rod of Security disabled and the dragonhide pouch too small, he couldn't carry too much.
He moved from one display stand to another. There were indeed plenty of good items—uncommon-quality goods were everywhere—but the prices were clearly inflated.
Which made sense. Without a markup, they would probably be snatched up the moment they appeared.
Travelers who came here could trade goods from different planes. Long-term arbitrage alone would be enough to accumulate considerable wealth.
Anser didn't try to save money. Hoarding wealth was meaningless—it was better to convert it into immediate combat power.
He first spent one hundred ninety pounds of platinum ingots to acquire an Arcane Cannon, then another two hundred thirty pounds for the Robe of Stars, both of uncommon quality.
The Arcane Cannon was an enchanted magical artillery piece. It required no conventional ammunition and no loading—it could fire arcane attacks, including acid spray, flame spray, poison spray, frost bolts, and lightning bolts.
The acid and flame sprays covered a 90-meter long, 1.5-meter wide line. The poison spray formed an 18-meter cone. Meanwhile, frost bolts and lightning bolts had a range of 360 meters.
The most powerful was the lightning bolt, dealing 6d10 (6–60) lightning damage—stronger than Fireball.
The Arcane Cannon's only drawback was its slow charge time—it could only fire once every five minutes, making it more useful as a deterrent.
The Robe of Stars was a long robe with a black and deep blue base, adorned with white or silver stars. While worn, it granted +1 to saving throws.
Six larger stars were set along the front. One could be expended to cast a 5th-level Magic Missile. At dusk each day, expended stars would reappear on the robe.
Additionally, the wearer could use the robe to transport themselves—and everything they carried—into the Astral Plane, and return to their original plane at any time.
This final ability was what Anser valued most. The freedom to travel between planes was immensely attractive to any spellcaster.
If not for the current downturn in spellcasters' fortunes, acquiring it would have been far more difficult.
Throughout the shop, melee equipment was the scarcest. Good weapons and armor would sell instantly even at double price.
Finally, he purchased a batch of magical potions: uncommon Potions of Vitality, rare Potions of Invisibility, Potions of Invulnerability, Potions of Health, and Potions of Healing—two of each—spending gemstones worth a total of 2,240 pounds of gold.
Normally, consumables of the same rarity were half the price of magical equipment. But potions were currently overpriced—expensive, scarce, and limited to two per person.
Potions of Vitality removed exhaustion and poison, restoring physical condition.
Potions of Invulnerability granted resistance to all damage for one minute.
Potions of Health cured all magical diseases and removed blindness, deafness, paralysis, and poison.
Combined, these potions greatly enhanced Anser's survivability.
'Split half with Iris later. Shame there's nothing that can revive the dead.'
After storing everything, he realized he still had about thirty percent of his earnings from selling spells. He decided to keep it for now—next time, he'd see if anything worthwhile appeared.
According to Delira, the shop's inventory changed constantly. Some items might seem unwanted, but were actually already claimed—someone was just saving up for them.
"So this is what you meant by 'just selling a bit of gold'?" Delira couldn't help asking when Anser finally stopped his outrageous spending.
In just a short while, the man had spent over five hundred thousand gold coins without blinking. It made her heart ache just watching.
"Can't I have some savings of my own?" Anser smiled.
Spending money really did feel good. Things he rarely saw could now be bought with a wave of his hand—it was intoxicating. No wonder people in his previous life struggled to control their spending.
He had seen people who disliked earning money—but never anyone who disliked spending it.
"You… it's easy to buy, but selling will cost you. There's a handling fee too," Delira rolled her eyes.
"If I don't sell, I don't lose." Anser headed toward the exit, gesturing for her to follow.
Back at the restaurant, they found a quiet corner and sat across from each other without ordering anything.
"You're leaving? Not staying the night?" Delira seemed to guess something, her mood instantly dampening.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Anser smiled faintly, hinting at something.
Delira reached out and grabbed his hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "Take me with you. I'm being hunted, I have nowhere to go… I'm so pitiful…"
Anser pulled his hand free. "Drop the act. Speak properly."
Delira immediately returned to normal, pouting. "Hmph. Not a shred of sympathy. Fine, go. Next time you come, I might already be gone from this world."
"My strength is limited. I can't help you. I wish you well." Anser stood and walked away, though his peripheral vision remained fixed on her.
But Delira only leaned back in her chair, watching him calmly, making no attempt to stop him.
Anser sighed. Delira was strong—if she couldn't solve her problem, he likely couldn't either.
Even if there were a way to take her with him, he didn't have the courage. The moment they returned to the Material Plane, his life would be in her hands.
With that thought, he took out the Traveler's Badge and activated it immediately. His figure flickered—and vanished from the Traveler's Rest.
The world spun. His senses vanished. It was uncomfortable—but he was already used to it and remained calm.
At some point, his body suddenly felt heavy. Light and shadow shifted before his eyes—and a massive ship, shaped like a nautilus and covered in long tentacles, floated before him.
'A spelljamming ship?!'
Anser instinctively thought a Mind Flayer attack had reached Durlag's Tower—but when he looked around, he saw many more magically driven ships, large and small, of various designs, quietly docked at a port.
His heart trembled violently. He looked up—and saw endless void, stars, and a silvery mist enveloping everything.
'Where is this? I've been set up…' His mind spun.
Fortunately, this was not an Antimagic Field. He could retreat into the Black Tower at any moment—his safety was assured.
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