Faerûn: Lord of the Eternal Sun

Chapter 21 Silver Level, Devotion

Three days later, in the city-state of Shahramun.

The Sandblade Adventurers' return journey was relatively smooth, without encountering any danger along the way. The five of them rode seven camels back to the human city-state.

The bodies of the two companions were buried beneath the temple of the Goddess of the Wilderness, in the hope that their souls would find peace and protection under the goddess's protection.

The Sandwalkers, already wounded in several places, were exhausted, but upon returning to the city, they immediately went to the Adventurers' Guild to hand over the ears of the goblins and gnolls in exchange for the bounty.

The Adventurers' Guild in the city continues the architectural style of the desert city-state. It is a magnificent three-story sandstone building where sandwalkers can be seen coming and going from time to time to pick up commissions from the city.

The Adventure Hall has a counter for receiving Sandwalkers and a wall displaying quests. Stone benches are also placed in the corners for Sandwalkers to rest and chat.

The staff member behind the counter received the Sandblade Adventurers. He was a middle-aged man with a fierce demeanor, and he was probably a retired Sandwalker.

When Antontans poured out a large pile of furry monster ears from the blood-soaked bag, it instantly attracted the attention of the Sandwalkers in the Adventurers' Hall, who gathered around the counter.

"Hey buddy, you guys wiped out a goblin tribe and a gnoll tribe?"

"Don't be ridiculous, that's impossible!!"

"Didn't you recognize him? That's this year's Son of the Sun."

Goblins are one thing, but gnoll bandits are not to be trifled with. When Sandwalkers encounter them while adventuring in the desert, they wish they had more legs or could merge with camels to escape, let alone try to wipe them out.

Faced with a moment to boast, Antonsens looked somber, remembering his fallen comrades.

The staff are counting the monster ears on the table.

One large goblin is worth 9 silver coins, and 15 ordinary goblins are worth 3 silver coins each, for a total of 54 silver coins.

The gnolls cost 5 silver coins, and the gnoll chieftain was also priced the same, which made everyone feel a little regretful. In the end, 14 gnolls could only be exchanged for 70 silver coins.

There are a total of 124 silver coins, which is 6 gold and 4 silver.

In addition to the Sun Wheel Gold Coins, the group also took out Sandwalker Badges to register their Adventure Points.

Sandwalkers are divided into four ranks based on their badge levels: Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Very few Sandwalkers live long enough to obtain the Gold Adventurer Badge.

Because that requires completing countless high-level commissions and surviving, many young Sandwalkers disappear even when they are still at the Iron level. They take on commissions, leave the city-state, and never return. The staff has seen this many times.

Isaac took out the bronze badge. Over the years, he had taken on some suitable side jobs and accumulated quite a few adventure points.

As for the three members of the Sandblade Adventurer Group, they were all Bronze-level Sandwalkers, while the young Wanderer was Iron-level, truly newcomers just starting out.

"Antons, Isaac, you two have reached the Silver rank. We'll exchange you for Silver Badges."

The middle-aged man glanced at the two men; the registration information showed that they were both veteran Sandwalkers for over ten or twenty years.

There are only a handful of Gold-level Sandwalkers in the city, and Silver-level Sandwalkers are also extremely rare, numbering no more than thirty or forty, each of whom is incredibly powerful.

Isaac took the silver badge and examined it. It was more refined than the bronze badge, and the design was still a shield and a longsword crossed.

The group left the guild under the watchful eyes of the Sandwalkers, their destination being to appraise magical items.

There are specialized trading houses in the city that provide appraisal services to help the Sandwalkers authenticate all the items they bring out from the ancient ruins.

I heard that a Sandwalker found a fragment of divine power and donated it to the Temple of the Sun. He was immediately promoted from a lowly craftsman to a warrior, gaining many tangible benefits in addition to changing his social class.

On Isaac's advice, the adventure team decided not to go to the trading post for appraisal, but instead prepared to go to the temple for appraisal, since the trading post was still too murky.

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Besides the main temple of the Lawful Sun God in the Upper City, there are also several smaller temples in the Lower City. Each temple priest is a learned individual who provides services such as divine healing and item appraisal.

The prerequisite is that believers must be devout enough. As for how to tell if someone is devout, you only need to look at the amount of gold coins they donate.

The five adventurers arrived at the Temple of Amun-Ra, entered the magnificent and luxurious temple, and asked the bald monk where the priest was.

Their attitude was very respectful, after all, as servants of the gods, these bald monks were also descendants of ancient gods, and their social status was far higher than that of these few Sandwalkers.

The monk ignored Antontans and his companions, and spoke directly to Isaac, who was also a descendant of the ancient gods, telling them to pray there while the priest would arrive shortly.

Isaac remembered that his identity plaque hadn't been changed yet; it still listed him as a descendant of a geomancer. He thought he'd have to find some free time to go to the city hall and have it modified.

……

In the magnificent front hall, eight thick square pillars carved with sacred symbols support a dome tens of meters high.

Humans appeared so small in comparison to the grand hall. Although this temple could not compare to the Temple of the Sun in the Upper City, it was far more luxurious than any other building in the city, even surpassing the City Hall and the Corona Palace.

Many believers knelt before the statue of the god, who was the human form of Amannata. He was a tall, thin male human with long, silver-white hair, a short, neat silver-white beard, and skin that radiated a crystalline glow.

He wore a dark purple judge's robe, trimmed with gold and silver, and decorated with star, sun, and moon patterns. He held a sun scepter in one hand and a sun code in the other.

Before Him, Isaac, kneeling on one knee, felt calm and could sense the gaze of the great deity. The ancient god's blood within him was drawn to him, causing it to heat up and a faint golden flame to emanate from his body. His injuries, which had almost fully healed, were rapidly healing, and soon no trace of his past injuries could be seen.

The high priest, who had just entered the front hall, witnessed this scene, walked behind him, and watched him without interrupting his prayer.

After Isaac got up, he noticed a strange bald figure behind him. The figure was young and handsome, wearing a gilded priest's robe, and followed by a monk carrying a wooden tray.

"Isaac, devout believer, the sun watches over you!"

"Praise the sun!"

The high priest immediately noticed the golden vertical line between his eyebrows and recognized his identity.

Isaac recognized him too; it was the high priest of the temple, Miller, who had never even glanced at him when he came to pray before, completely ignoring him.

Several people nearby also finished their prayers and joined in.

"High Priest, I need divine healing."

Anton Tans pointed to his right shoulder, where the wound had been powdered and was no longer bleeding. The bone could be seen through the dried flesh and the wound.

High Priest Miller remained silent, so he wisely stepped forward and placed five gold coins on the monk's wooden tray, the standard price for divine healing.

"Devout believer, with the sun's protection, you will surely recover."

The high priest held the holy book in one hand and a golden orb of light in the other, inserting it into the man's right shoulder. The orb quickly merged with the wound and began to heal visibly. It seemed that he would be completely healed in no time.

"High Priest, we need to appraise magical items."

Appraisal also has standard prices, which differ between ordinary items and magical items. In addition, some items with complicated origins require an extra price.

Anton Tans took out 20 sun-shaped gold coins and placed them on the monk's wooden tray, producing a melodious tinkling sound. A rare smile appeared on the bald high priest's face.

"Come with me, let's find a quiet place."

With enough gold coins, not only the High Priest, but even Omanus of the main temple or Amannata himself would show the smile if he stood here.