Chapter 24：Old Saldean Hiding Light under a Bushel

With 4 pieces Equipment in hand, Sean's Stats had immediately doubled. 

Especially his Spirit, as the Mage Robe increased it by 6 points while the staff raised it by 4 points. The Arathor Golden Medallion pushed it up 5 points and Arcane Saint's Ring added another 4 points. From the original 19 points, his Spirit had almost doubled to 36 points, putting the Stat higher than many High Rank Mages without Equipment. 

Of course, Sean was delighted. 

It never crossed his mind that he would gain a lot from 'The Origin of Arcane' Quest.

A banquet on a grand scale followed the ceremony. It was an exquisite feast prepared with various rare ingredients. 

Sean remained reserved while Meryl Winterstorm let loose his gluttonous side. In his own words, this scrumptious meal was money. It was money, all the dishes were money! He profited by eating the food and there was no point wasting it. God knew when his next feast would be. 

The guy was hopeless!

Sean consumed a little bit of alcohol. 

Unable to hold his drink, Sean was flushed in the cheeks. His head was spinning and he saw six fingers when he opened his palm. Even so, he made an effort to retain his consciousness because he had to drag Meryl home. 

The guy was formerly, at most, 49 kg but should weigh at least 50 kg now. God knew how much he stuffed himself with food and wine! Meryl was a dead weight after having passed out, drunk. If it were not for the female Elven Mage casting Levitate, Sean would have hurled him to the ground. 

By the time they returned to their room, it was late into the night. 

Sitting alone in bed, Sean fell into deep thought with Meryl's snoring in the background. 

There were only 3 days left to the month-long Quest. Sean knew it was time to leave. 

However, prior to his departure, Sean had other things in mind to attend to. 

For the past few days, Sean had read a lot of books and was engrossed with the Arathorian royalty's rare book collection and the female Elven Mage's magic books. As a bookworm, it pained him to leave without reading all of them. 

A Mage was in constant pursuit of knowledge and truth, and reading was the most effective method to obtain knowledge. 

Knowledge came from books and experience out in the world. This was the principle Sean wanted to uphold ever since he came to this world. 

Hence, he intended to take a whole library of books along with him!

This place was another world after all. Sean did not know if he could ever return to this place. 

The majority of Arathorian Humans were not fond of reading. There would not be anyone flipping through these books here for tens, if not hundreds of years. 

It was rare for anyone to go through the magic books brought by the female Elven Mage. Even for Humans on the path to become a Mage, they would rather acquire combat Spells than bury their heads studying the essence of Magic. 

Sean placed book after book into his spatial bag. 

He started by selecting magic books and after he was done, he moved on choosing the ornately bound books.

Due to the large collection of books, Sean was not able to fit them all in. He was only half way through when the spatial bag was filled to the brim. Lucky for him, the ore and mine cart had been converted into Garrison Resources in the past few days. Otherwise, he would be in a bind. 

In the end, gritting his teeth, Sean spread out a bedsheet and placed a huge pile of books on it. He secured it with a knot before heading towards the direction of the royal palace. He waved his arm, silently bidding farewell to everything here. 

After a dim flash of light, Sean had returned. 

Lying in bed, Sean was in a good mood. 

He burst with joy as messages sprung up from his Spatial Garrison.

[Ding!]

[Mage Class Questline's Low Rank Mage Class Advancement Quest, The Origin of Arcane is successfully completed. 100% completion. Accept reward?]

[Yes/No.]

Naturally, Sean picked "Yes".

A pile of complex information flooded Sean's mind. It took Sean half an hour to finally absorb this information but he was tickled pink. 

This information was a skill, the sole reward from Sean's Mage Class Advancement Quest. 

[Appraisal Sight, active skill, exclusive skill, can not be upgraded. Relying on Leylines all around Azeroth and with the Spatial Garrison as a hub, it shows insights to the truth of Azeroth and reveals information on things. It is able to show information from beings and items not higher than the Commander's Level +5. Details are as follows...] 

Subsequent to that was a complicated introduction. 

Sean's current level made a good example. 

Sean was a Low Rank Mage (Level 1), which made him a Level 1 Mage. With Appraisal Sight, he would be able to probe beings that were Level 6 (1+5). Level 6 beings belonged to the Mid Rank Class range and their corresponding Equipment should be Green Uncommon Equipment. Hence, Sean was capable of detecting Green Uncommon Equipment, at most. It would be the Expert Level in terms of Profession. As long as it was no more than an Expert Level Profession Skill, Sean would be able to detect it. 

This skill came in handy and was not inferior to the legendary Appraisal. 

After a night of beauty sleep, Sean got out of bed the morning of the next day. He bumped into Old Saldean when he was out the door. 

"Old Man Saldean, have you prepared the items you require to go to Goldshire?" Sean stretched his body and asked at the sight of Old Saldean stuffing items onto his carriage. 

"Soon now. Sir Gryan Stoutmantle will be acting as my escort, so I should prepare more goods for exchange in Goldshire. Sigh, life's been hard with the Defias Brotherhood on a rampage!" Old Saldean loaded the carriage with a sack of grain before turning to face Sean. Taken by surprise, Old Saldean rubbed his eyes and asked with a curious look on his face. 

"Sean, why do I feel like you've changed and seem different? It's sort of, sort of like the bearing of a noble from Stormwind City? No, that's not right. It resembles, resembles the Old Mage I encountered before in Goldshire."

Sean marveled at Old Saldean's sharp senses, prompting him to cast Appraisal... Uh, no, Appraisal Sight on him. 

[Name: Saldean]

[Stats: Strength 13, Agility 11, Stamina 15, Intelligence 12, Spirit 14]

[Class: Farmer (Expert), Low Rank Warrior (Level 4), Merchant (Advanced)]

[Skill: Farmer's Three Punches (Level 0), Basic Swordsmanship (Level 0), Expert Planting, Beginner Engineering, Beginner Mining, Beginner Fishing, Beginner Cooking]

[Combat Level: Level 5]

Old Saldean sure hid his light under a bushel about being an Advanced Merchant!

It explained his keen observation! 

There was a 180 degree turn of Sean's impression on Old Saldean. 

Sean had always thought of Old Saldean as simple, honest, and skilled Farmer with a kind heart. He only realized now that Old Saldean was not only an Expert Farmer, but a Level 4 Warrior and Advanced Merchant! Old Saldean's Combat Level was Level 5 while in his Stats Interface, Sean's Combat Level was only a measly... Huh? Level 6?