Chapter 89: Misfortune of Poverty

Chapter 89 The Curse of Poverty

Li Wei stood in the alley behind the Adventurers' Guild.

A figure stepped out from the guild, glanced left and right, then slipped into the alley.

"Here."

Lilith handed him the coin purse, her eyes fixed on it, reluctant to let go.

The Shadow Servant emerged from behind Lilith.

Li Wei took the purse, glanced inside—eight gold coins and the core were all present.

He pulled out one gold coin and gave it to Lilith.

"Your payment."

Lilith's eyes widened. "So much?"

She blushed slightly. "That's too generous. Before, when I delivered things for others, I only earned a few silver."

Li Wei was surprised. "You—a full-fledged assassin—take delivery jobs?"

Lilith nodded eagerly. "Of course. I can't fight. All I do is run errands and deliver packages."

Li Wei: "..."

Now he understood why there were no combat memories in Lilith’s mind.

Apparently, she had never fought at all!

An assassin at the peak of the first tier, completing missions by running deliveries—this was an embarrassment to assassins everywhere.

Yet something didn’t add up. In the dream, she had killed nightmare orcs with swift precision, her movements brutal and efficient—no novice could move like that.

Li Wei studied Lilith deeply, sensing that she carried far too many secrets.

"Take it. Buy yourself some food, and leave Maple City quickly."

He pressed the gold coin into her palm and turned away.

He wasn’t worried about being exposed.

Lilith didn’t know who he was.

And secondly—no one could ever catch her anyway.

Watching his retreating back, Lilith felt warmth bloom in her chest.

"Such a kind person!"

Half a day later, Lilith crouched in a crumbling, abandoned house.

Outside, footsteps echoed everywhere.

She couldn’t understand—why had so many suddenly begun hunting her?

Seizing the moment when the sounds faded, she slipped away into the shadows.

"Have you found that assassin Lilith yet? The earth elemental’s core is in her hands—find her, no matter what!"

Martin had mobilized all his connections, sending men across the city to track down Lilith.

Not just Alan—Martin also sought the earth elemental’s core to complete his awakening potion and break through to the fourth tier.

With such a chance within reach, he would never let it slip away.

When Alan learned the core had fallen into the hands of a first-tier assassin, he was stunned.

At first, he feared the fire mage might have been murdered.

But after thinking it over, he realized—the mage probably didn’t want to reveal his identity, so he’d sent someone else to collect the reward.

Alan, too, began searching for Lilith.

He hoped to contact the mysterious fire mage through her—and purchase the core.

In an instant, Lilith found herself trapped.

Everywhere she turned, hunters closed in.

Whispering to herself, "How did it come to this?"

"Where did I go wrong?"

Her cat ears twitched frantically, nearly torn from scratching, yet she still couldn’t grasp what had gone so terribly awry—why the entire city now hunted her.

"This city is terrifying. I should return to the camp."

At the thought, she hesitated.

"But… the camp has no food at all..."

She was torn.

The camp was safer—but meant starvation.

The city was dangerous—but food could be found everywhere.

Most importantly, she had just earned the largest sum in her life:

One whole gold coin!

At the memory, she instinctively patted her pocket—and froze.

"Gold coin? Where is my gold coin?"

She searched every pocket, frantic—only to realize it was gone.

"Waaah…"

... Li Wei stood by the window, watching the chaos unfold in the streets below.

"Seems like it’s gotten out of hand. Over a mere second-tier core?"

The commotion made him immediately abandon any idea of selling the core now.

Better to wait until things quieted down.

He visited the third floor of the Mage Tower, exchanging treasure points for a vial of basic magical elixir.

Then he went to the library, spending twenty contribution points to learn the zero-tier spell *Mage Hand*.

After all that, his pockets were nearly empty.

Just one gold coin and six silver remained.

Penniless, down to the last clink.

[Mage Hand (Zero-tier Beginner)] 0/1000

Thanks to his *Basic Magical Control* supernatural trait, Li Wei could now cast zero-tier spells without failure—

unless the spell model itself was flawed.

Even on his first attempt, casting *Mage Hand* came effortlessly.

A faint blue, semi-transparent hand appeared before him.

Through the link between his mind and the spectral limb, it felt as though he’d grown a new arm.

A faint stir rose within him.

"If I could create a thousand Mage's Hands at once, wouldn't that make me a thousand-armed Guanyin?"

He directed the Mage’s Hand to move.

The beginner-level Mage’s Hand had a maximum range of five meters and could lift up to ten kilograms.

Li Wei’s projected mental reach already spanned thirteen meters.

Under his control, the Mage’s Hand extended its reach to a full thirteen meters.

Influenced by his supernatural trait of Basic Mana Control, the hand’s strength also increased—now capable of lifting fifteen kilograms.

"The movement speed is so slow. No wonder no one uses it in battle."

Li Wei watched as the Mage’s Hand carried a fifteen-kilogram weight with sluggish, deliberate motion.

Even at his maximum acceleration, the hand crept forward at only 0.5 meters per second.

Unburdened, it moved slightly faster—just 1 meter per second.

At such a snail’s pace, even an ordinary person could easily dodge it.

"I’ll grind through one night and see."

That afternoon, Li Wei ingested a magical potion to cultivate mana; that night, within the dream realm, he poured himself into relentless practice of the Mage’s Hand.

Morning came.

[Mage’s Hand (Zero-tier Mastery)] 111/2000

The proficient-level Mage’s Hand now reached up to twenty meters and lifted thirty kilograms.

Its speed improved slightly—unburdened movement reached 2 meters per second, while carrying maximum load, 0.8 meters per second.

Excluding Li Wei’s personal enhancements,

the true proficient Mage’s Hand only achieved ten meters in range and twenty kilograms in strength.

Speed remained largely unchanged, constrained primarily by the spell’s inherent circuit design.

Li Wei shook his head, dissatisfied.

He could already glimpse the limits of the Mage’s Hand.

Even if he refined it to perfection, it would still be of little use in combat.

The spell had never been designed for battle—only to assist mages in retrieving objects conveniently.

Over the following days, Li Wei secluded himself within the mage tower, devoting himself entirely to cultivation.

On the third day, the Mage’s Hand reached the Minor Perfection stage.

Maximum range: thirty meters. Maximum strength: sixty kilograms.

Top speed: 3 meters per second unburdened, 1 meter per second under full load.

One early morning, Li Wei tested the effects of this newly achieved Minor Perfection within his room.

Then came a knock—three sharp raps at the door.

"Who is it?" Li Wei called out.

"It’s me," replied Guze.

Hearing this, Li Wei activated the Mage’s Hand to open the door.

"What does Master Guze need?"

Li Wei asked, stepping out from his study.

(End of Chapter)