Chapter 5 Chapter 3 The Baby's Eyes

Masuoji is a young apprentice, and for the career of learning magic, he is now no more than a dirty cleaner.He leaned on the broom and watched as Elton Deaver approached the tallest room in the tower.Masoj felt very sympathetic to this guy, because he had to face the Faceless. However, Masoj also knows that the brilliant fireworks of the conflict between Ayton and the Faceless will be worth watching.He continued to sweep the floor, using the broom as an excuse, and continued to approach the door of the room. "You asked me to come here, Master Faceless," said Ayton Deaver again, putting a hand over his face, trying to shield the glare of the three candles in the room.

The Faceless Man was bent over, his back to the young Ayton all the way.This, the mage reminded himself, had to be done neatly.However, he knew that the spell he was preparing now would completely destroy Ayton before he had time to know the fate of the family, and he could not follow Dinin's last instructions.There are so many risks at stake, it's best to tread carefully. "You..." Ayton spoke again, but then recklessly withdrew the words and began to sort out the situation in front of him.It is very unusual to be called to the master's room before the day's classes have begun.

When Ayton first got the call, he was terrified that he wasn't up to par in a certain class.This would be a deadly mistake in warlock school.Ayton is close to graduating, but one guru's wrath is enough to turn it all around. He has always performed well in the Faceless Men's classes, and even believes that the mysterious master has a preference for him.Is it possible that this meeting was just a polite way of congratulating him on his upcoming graduation?Ayton put aside his inner hope, knowing it was unlikely.The masters of the Dark Elf Academy seldom greet their students politely.

Ayton then heard the voice of the master chanting a spell in a low voice, and noticed that the master was about to cast a spell.Something made him feel very wrong, and everything in front of him did not conform to all the conventions and norms in the academy.Ayton stood on his feet, his muscles tensed, in full compliance with a motto that has been deeply rooted in the hearts of every student in the academy, and it is also the motto that allows members of a society that is completely focused on chaos to survive: Be prepared. . The door exploded in front of Masuoji's eyes, causing him to slam into the wall behind him heavily, scattering stone chips all over his head and face.When he saw Elton Deaver struggling to run out of the room, he felt that even with another black bruise on his shoulder, the image was worth his trouble.There were bursts of blue smoke floating from the student's back and left arm, and the expression of fear and fright on his face was the most disgusting expression Masoji had ever seen in his life.

Ayton ran staggeringly, desperately trying to keep the distance between him and the master as far as possible.When he finally turned the corner and landed on the next floor, the Faceless Man appeared right next to the broken door. The master paused, cursing his mistake, and began to think about how to replace the door. "Sweep up!" he yelled at Masoj, who was resting his hand on the top of the broom handle and resting his chin comfortably on it. Masuoji obediently took the broom and began to sweep away the debris of the stone.However, when the Faceless Man walked some distance past him, he immediately followed the master cautiously.

Ayton must not escape, and this wonderful performance must not be missed. The third room, the private library of the Faceless Man, was the brightest library in the tower, with dozens of candles stuck on the walls on both sides. "Damn light!" Ayton cursed.He staggered through the blinding light to reach the master's drawing room, the lowest room.If he could escape the sub-tower, or even walk out of the Guardian School to the square, perhaps all this would turn against the Master instead. Ayton's world is still the city of Menzoberranzan in Eternal Night, but after studying day and night in the tower, the Faceless One has become accustomed to seeing things by candlelight, and is no longer accustomed to the world of thermal images.Since reading mantras and books requires visible light, only mages need artificial lighting such as torches and candles.

The reception room was crowded with chairs and boxes, but since there was only one candle, Ayton could see clearly, so he easily dodged these many obstacles.He rushed to the door, grasping the heavy handle.The doorknob opened as soon as it was turned, but when Ayton tried to squeeze out, a wave of blue-white energy knocked him back into the room. "This damn place," Ayton cursed.The gate is sealed with magic.He knew a spell to break the seal, but wondered if he had enough power to neutralize the spell cast by the master.And, in the midst of fear and haste, the incantation in his mind had turned into an incomprehensible jumble of words.

"Don't run, little Defoe," said the Faceless Man's voice from the previous room. "You're just prolonging your own suffering!" "Fuck you," Ayton said, breathing heavily.Ayton had completely forgotten about that spell, and I'm afraid he wouldn't have immediately appeared in his mind either.He looked around the environment, trying to find a solution. His eyes found an unusual spot on the side wall, a gap between two large cabinets.Ayton stepped back a few steps, trying to find a better angle, but found himself in a strange space; he saw light and heat images there at the same time.

He could only judge that this area showed the same temperature in the thermal spectrum, but it was slightly different from the nearby stone wall.another door?Ayton can only hope his guess is correct.He rushed back to the center of the room, facing the object, forcing his vision to shift from infrared to the world of visible light. As his gaze adjusted, young Ayton was startled and overwhelmed by what appeared before him.What he saw was not a door, nor a vision of another room.What appeared there was his own image, and a part of the scene in the room.In his short life of fifty-five years, Ayton had never seen such a spectacle, but he had heard such pretense mentioned by the masters of the warlock school.This is a mirror.In a world that lacks visible light, mirrors are almost completely meaningless items, and no race can make them, so mirrors brought from the ground have become treasures instead.

Voices from the upper room alerted Ayton that the Faceless Ones were almost here.He didn't have time to mull over his decision.He lowered his head and rushed to the mirror. Maybe it's a portal to another part of the city, maybe it's just a door to another room.Or, in these desperate seconds, Ayton boldly imagined that this might be a space door leading to another space and time! As he got closer and closer to the device, he gradually felt the adventurous blood in his body calling him.Then all he felt was the violent impact, the shattered glass, and the motionless stone wall behind it.

Maybe it's just a mirror. "Look into his eyes," Vierna whispered to Maya as she inspected the newest member of House Do'Urden. The baby's eyes were indeed different.Although the child had only been away from the mother's womb for less than an hour, his eyes had already begun to move around flexibly.While the eyes showed the red that is characteristic of night vision, the familiar blood red was tinged with a blue shade, making them a peculiar purple. "Are you blind?" Maya asked worriedly! "Perhaps we should dedicate the child to the Spider Queen after all." Briza looked at them expectantly. The dark elves would not allow children with physical defects to waste food. "Not blind," Vierna said, waving her finger in front of the baby, casting an angry look at the sisters. "He watched my fingers." Maya understood that Verna was telling the truth.She moved closer to the baby, studying his face and those strange eyes. "What the hell did you see, Drizzt Do'Urden?" she asked softly; not out of consideration for the child, but because she was afraid of waking her mother, who was resting on the chair atop the Spider-ikon. "What did you see that we can't see?" The glass beneath Ayton's body kept shattering, cutting deeper gashes into his body as he tried to stand up.What does it matter?he thinks. "My mirror!" he heard the Faceless Man wailing, and looked up to see the enraged Master overlooking him. In Ayton's eyes, how tall he is!Full of power and magic, it completely blocks out the candlelight in this small space.In the eyes of his victims, his presence alone is enough to create a tenfold illusion. Then Ayton felt a sticky substance leaking out of him, and the cobwebs stuck to the eaves on both sides, the walls and Ayton.Young Ayton tried to roll away, but the Faceless Man's spells soon trapped him, leaving him like a helpless fly on a spider's web. "First my door," said the Faceless Man, frowning at him, "and now this, my mirror! Do you know how much work it took me to get this rare device?" Ayton turned his head from side to side, not to answer the other party's question, but to keep his face from getting that disgusting thing. "Why don't you stand up obediently and let me finish the job?" the Faceless Man yelled in disgust. "Why?" Ayton squeezed out a few words from his thin lips, while spitting out the spider web that stuck to his lips. "Why do you want to kill me?" "Because you broke my mirror!" roared the Faceless Man. Of course, this makes no sense at all. The mirror was broken after the other party attacked first.However, Ayton thought, there needn't be any reason for the Master.Ayton knew his hopes were slim, but he continued to try to convince the enemy. "You know my family, the Dever family," he said proudly. "The fourth family in the city. Matron Ginafee won't be happy. The high priests always find out the truth behind it!" "The Defoe family?" The Faceless laughed loudly.Perhaps the torment Dinin Do'Urden demanded could now be cut in line.How dare Ayton break his mirror! "Fourth!" Ayton said forcefully. "Stupid kid," the Faceless Man laughed hoarsely. "The Deaver family no longer exists. Not number four, not fifty-four, nothing." Ayton's whole body went limp, but the spider web still kept him standing upright.What is the master talking about? "They're all dead," the Faceless continued. "Matron Ginafey can finally meet the goddess Rose face to face. The ugly master is very satisfied with Ayton's frightened expression. "All dead," he roared again. "Except poor Ayton must live After hearing the tragic fate of the family.This will all come to an end," the Faceless Man raised his hand, ready to cast his spell. "Who is it?" Ayton yelled. The Faceless Man paused, seemingly unaware of the question. "Which family did it?" the doomed student insisted on asking. "It was the conspiracy of that family that brought down the Defoe family?" "Ah, I should have told you," the Faceless Man replied, clearly enjoying the situation. "I think you should be entitled to know this before you meet your old friend in the underworld." The slit that had been a mouth moved slightly, as if to represent a smile. "But you broke my mirror!" growled the Master. "Die, you stupid bastard! Go find the answer yourself!" The Faceless Man's chest suddenly moved, his whole body began to tremble, and he cursed in an incomprehensible accent.What kind of magic is the master in front of him preparing? In Ayton's ears, the spell is incomprehensible, and the evil power will make the caster's body tremble disobediently?The Faceless Man then fell, exhaling his last breath. Ayton looked at the mage in shock, and found the end of a short dart protruding from his back.Ayton watched the poisoned weapon still shaking from the impact just now, and finally his gaze swept to the center of the room, where the young sweeper was standing. "Nice weapon, Faceless!" Masuoji roared, turning a two-handed crossbow in his hand.He gave Ayton an evil grin and began loading another short dart. Mistress Malice struggled to prop herself up from the chair and tried to stand up. "Go away," she yelled at her daughters. Maya and Verna stepped aside in front of the spider icon and the baby. "Look into his eyes, mistress," Verna added boldly. "They look very unusual." Matron Malice studied the baby.Everything looks pretty normal.It was a good thing, too, that the capable eldest son of House Do'Urden, Novan, had just died, and the kid, Drizzt, would have to work very hard to fill the void left by him. "His eyes," Verna said. The Matron gave her a vicious look, then bent down with difficulty to see what all the fuss was about. "Purple?" Malice said in surprise.She had never heard of such a thing. "He's not blind," Maya interjected quickly, noticing the displeasure on her mother's face. "Take that candle," Matron Malice ordered. "Let's see what the eyes look like in normal light." Maya and Verna reflexively walk towards the altar, but Briza stops them. "Only high-ranking priests are allowed to touch holy objects." She reminded her with a threatening tone.She turned around like a ghost, reached into the cabinet, and took out a half-used red candle.The priests shaded their eyes, and Matron Malice carefully covered the baby's face with her hands while Briza lit the candle.It only produced a small amount of fire, but it was a very blinding light in the eyes of the dark elves. "Bring it here," said Matron Malice, after a few minutes of adjusting.Briza brought the candle closer to Drizzt, and Malice slowly moved her hand away. "He didn't cry," Briza said, marveling at how quietly the baby could take in such a blinding light. "Still purple," whispered the matron, ignoring her daughter's mutterings. "In both worlds, the child's eyes are purple." When Verna looked at her little brother and his amazing lavender eyes again, she couldn't help being surprised. "He's your younger brother," said Matron Malice, taking Verna's surprise as a clue to what was to come. "When he is a little older and those purple eyes are still staring at you sharply, please remember that he will be your brother all his life." Verna turned away, almost blurting out an answer she would regret.The relationship between Matron Malyss and the soldiers of House Do'Urden and other affairs with the house is almost legendary in Menzoberranzan.How could she be qualified to teach her what to do?Verna bit her lower lip, hoping that Briza or Marise wouldn't happen to be reading her mind at this very moment. In Menzoberranzan, to think of such rumors about high priests, whether true or not, will get you a painful death. Her mother's eyes narrowed, and Verna thought she had been spotted. "He is your responsibility," said Matron Malice. Ya is younger," Verna protested boldly. "If I can continue to study, in just a few years, I will have a chance to be promoted to the position of high priest. " "You may never have the chance, either," Matron reminded her sternly. "Take the boy to the shrine. Bathe him in the word of the goddess, and teach him everything he must know to serve as a prince apprentice in House Do'Urden." "I'll take care of him," Briza volunteered, moving her hand unconsciously to the whip at her waist. "I really enjoy teaching men about their place in the world." Maris glared at her. "You are a high priest. You have other duties to fulfill than teaching boys." Then, she said to Verna, "This baby is yours; don't let me down! You taught Drizzt The course will give you a better understanding of our way of life. Your practice as a 'nanny' will also help you move closer to the status of high priest." She gave Verna a moment to put the task in a positive light, and then changed her tone , with an obvious threatening tone in his voice. "It can help you, but it can definitely destroy you," Verna sighed, not daring to speak out her inner thoughts.The responsibility that Matron Malice has thrown on her shoulders will take up at least ten precious years.Verna didn't like the responsibility of having to stay with the purple-eyed kid for ten years.However, the alternative, Matron Malice Do'Urden's wrath, was probably much worse. Ayton blew another length of web away from his mouth. "You're just a boy, an apprentice," he stammered. "Why would you--?" "Kill him?" Masoji finished for him. "I'm not here to save you." He spat on the faceless man's corpse. "Look at me, I'm the prince of the sixth family, and now I'm the servant of this damn guy—" "Hennett," Ayton interjected. "Henet is the sixth family." The younger drow put his fingers to his curved lips. "Wait," he replied with a crescendoing grin, a sarcastic evil grin. "We should be the fifth family now, because the Defoe family has been exterminated." "Not yet!" Ayton growled. "For now," Masoj assured him, fingering the crossbow. Ayton felt even more powerless trapped in the spider's web.Being killed by a master is bad enough, but the humiliation of being killed by a child... "I guess I should thank you," Masoj said. "I've spent a lot of time planning how to get rid of this guy." "Why?" Ayton pressed his new tease. "Just because your family arranges you to be his servant, you dare to kill the master of the warlock school?" "Because he will drop me!" Masoj yelled. "I've served that scumbag for four years. Cleaned his shoes, prepared ointment for his funny face! Is that enough? That guy can never be satisfied." He spat on the corpse again, as if just talking to himself. "Noble children who are talented in magic have the privilege to serve as apprentices and practice before entering the warlock school at the right age." "Of course," Ayton said. "I've been in--" "He just wants to keep me out of Warlock School!" Masoji muttered, ignoring Ayton completely. "He will force me to enter the Fighting Wu Tower, which is the school of fighters. The school of fighters! My twenty-fifth birthday is only two weeks away." Masoji looked up, as if suddenly remembering that there was more than one person in the room. "I knew I had to kill him," he continued, addressing Ayton now. "Then you showed up and made it all so easy. Students and masters killing each other in battle? It's happened before. Who would doubt that? I guess I should thank you for nothing Ayton Deaver of the family," Masuoji bowed deeply. "Before I kill you." "Wait!" Ayton yelled. "What good is killing me?" "Alibi." "But you already have an alibi, we can make it stronger!" "Explain it to me," Masuoji was actually not in a hurry for this moment.The Faceless One is a high-level mage, and the web won't disappear so quickly. "Free me," Ayton said firmly. "Are you just as stupid as the Faceless Men think you are?" Ayton could only accept the insult, after all, the crossbow was in the child's hands. "Free me so I can pretend to be the Faceless," he explained. "The death of a master will cause suspicion, but if no one knows that a master has died..." "What should I do?" Masoji said, kicking the corpse. "Burn it," Ayton's quick-witted plan now finally took shape. "Let it become the corpse of Ayton Defoe. The Defoe family has been wiped out, no one will take revenge, no one will question it." Masoji looked skeptical. "The Faceless Man is basically a hermit," explains Ayton. "I'm about to graduate, and after thirty years of study, I'm sure I can do a simple teaching job." "Then what good am I?" Ayton opened his mouth wide, almost letting himself be wrapped in webs, as if the answer was so obvious that it didn't need to be done. "There are famous masters in the warlock school who can serve as your mentors. This will allow you to easily complete decades of studies." "He's also the one who, given the chance, can testify against a young man's early mistakes," Masoj said slyly. "But what good am I?" Ayton argued. "To piss off the fifth family, Henette, and I don't have the support of the family behind me? No, young Masuoji, I'm not as stupid as the Faceless Ones think." Masuoji tapped his teeth with his long and pointed nails, thinking about this possibility.Have an ally among the masters of the warlock school?It is indeed worth considering. Another thought slipped into Masuoji's head, and he began to search the cabinet next to Ayton.When Ayton heard the sound of ceramic and glass bottles colliding, he couldn't help but feel his gums sore.Thinking that these medicinal materials and even the completed potion might be destroyed by this apprentice's carelessness, Ayton couldn't help but feel that maybe the fighting martial tower was more suitable for this guy. After a while, the young dark elf appeared again, and Ayton remembered that he was really not qualified to teach others. "This is mine," Masoji told Ayton to look at a small black object in his hand.It was an incomparably detailed onyx statue of a panther on the hunt. "This is a Lower Realm (Lower Realm) Plane): The hell in some religions is located in this area.A gift from the monster in thanking me for my help. " "Have you helped that kind of monster?" Ayton couldn't help asking, because he couldn't believe that a little apprentice had the ability to deal with such a powerful and unpredictable creature alive, let alone any help. "The Faceless Man--" Masoji kicked the corpse again, "take all the credit and this statue, but they are all mine! Of course, I can give you everything else in this place. I Knowing most of the magics attached to them, I'll tell you which ones are good for." Ayton felt grateful that he finally had hope to live through this horrible day, and he was really in no mood to care about this statue at the moment.He just wanted to get out of these spider webs and find out what happened to his family.Suddenly, Masoji, the incomprehensible young dark elf, turned and left the room. "Where are you going?" Ayton asked. "Go find the acid." "Strong acid?" Ayton forced himself to suppress his panic, but he could vaguely guess what Masuoji was going to do. "You want to look like one, don't you?" Masoj explained logically. "Otherwise, it's not a disguise. We should make good use of this spiderweb when it's still intact, it can keep you from moving around." "No," Ayton protested, but Masoji walked around him quickly, an evil smile on his face. "It's going to look like it's going to be a bit of a pain, and then it's going to be troublesome," Masoj admitted. "You don't have the backing of your family, and you can't find other allies in the warlock school, because the other masters also hate the faceless." He took out the crossbow, aimed at Ayton's eyes, and loaded another poisoned one. short darts. "Maybe you'd rather die." "Get the acid!" Ayton yelled. "Why?" Masoj taunted him, waving a crossbow. "Is there any purpose in your life? Ayton Deaver of the insignificant family?" "Vengeance," Ayton said dismissively, the intensity of the anger in his voice making Masoj's hairs stand on end. "You haven't learned it now, but you will later, my young student. There is no greater driving force in a man's life than the desire for revenge!" Masuoji put down his crossbow, and looked at the dark elf trapped in the spider web with respect, almost fearful eyes.It was later, though, that the young apprentice understood Ayton's determination; for, Ayton repeated again this time with a wistful smile, "Go get the acid."