[Target eliminated. Gained 9 experience points. Level up!]
High in the sky, Anser burst into laughter. A gust of cold wind choked him mid-laugh, forcing him to shut his mouth, yet the curve at the corner of his lips simply refused to fade.
The experience from ordinary soldiers was minimal, but it accumulated over time. It had finally filled the remaining gap, which also meant that at least two hundred soldiers had died in this assault.
Iris glanced at him and silently rolled her eyes. Sometimes, Anser felt mysterious and composed; at other times, he seemed like a child who had never grown up.
"Let's head back and rest," she said, pinching her sleeve to wipe the sweat from his face.
The remaining two Amn camps were already on guard. They had dismantled their tents, buried flammable materials under soil, spread out their formations, donned armor, and raised their shields overhead.
Looking down from above, Anser unexpectedly spotted a familiar face—the high-level barbarian named Derrick.
He stood with several senior officers, staring up at Anser as if they wanted to devour him alive.
"Let's go back." Anser chuckled lightly. He was already thinking about reaching level 9 as soon as possible—these people could stay here and rage helplessly for all he cared.
The two of them returned calmly to Fort Jacqueline. After washing up, it was just in time for dinner.
With such heavy losses, whatever plans the Amnians had would have to be put on hold. There was no need to keep themselves constantly on edge.
In the dining hall, Anser ate quickly. Iris watched him with an amused expression, assuming he was simply tired and hungry.
"Are you going again later?" she asked.
"Let's rest for a bit. I'll head to the Union later and see if there's any tar left," Anser replied after some thought.
War burned through money. In just this short time, several hundred gold coins had already been spent. But compared to throwing stones, tossing barrels of oil felt far more satisfying.
"Be careful. There are plenty of people with flying abilities. They might be plotting against us," Iris warned.
Anser acknowledged her concern. He had never underestimated the Amnians.
The Kingdom of Amn was wealthy and powerful. They wouldn't care too much about the loss of a few hundred ordinary soldiers—those high-level professionals were their true backbone.
Still, fortune favored the bold. Hadn't he just leveled up?
After dinner, he used meditation as an excuse, returned to his room, and then teleported to the top floor of the Black Tower.
Lying on the bed, he closed his eyes, letting his consciousness sink into his mind.
The silver twenty-sided die floated quietly. The eighth symbol was now more than half lit, though its progress had slowed significantly compared to before.
'I haven't been idle… Is it that my experiences aren't thrilling enough? Or that my exposure is too limited?'
He pondered for a moment but found no answers, so he simply stopped overthinking.
He brought up his character sheet and touched the class option:
Increase Sorcerer level or choose a new class.
'Increase Sorcerer level.'
[Level Up: Level 9 Sorcerer!]
[Your draconic power has increased. Gold Dragon Power +1, Silver Dragon Power +1]
[Your draconic bloodline awakens. You have learned new draconic spells: Legend Lore, Summon Dragon]
[The power of your Mark of Storm has strengthened. You have learned a new spell: Conjure Elemental]
[You can learn one new spell. One evocation spell. Magic Control level increased]
A series of notifications flashed by, filling Anser with delight.
After level 7, the number of class features a Sorcerer could gain dropped sharply. At level 14, draconic wings would awaken, and at level 19, a legendary boon would be granted. The gap in between was rather awkward.
Level 9 was the last time he would gain so many new spells. The spells granted by his draconic bloodline and Mark of Storm were now fully acquired. Future level-ups would bring far fewer abilities.
Anser first allocated the two points of draconic power into Intelligence, pushing it to the human limit of 20. This allowed him to unlock another multiclass option.
The draconic bloodline granted two fifth-level spells, both quite interesting.
...
Legend Lore: Fifth level, Divination school.
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Self
Components: Verbal, Somatic, Material (incense worth at least 250 gold coins, consumed, and four ivory strips each worth at least 50 gold coins)
By naming or describing a famous person, place, or object, you gain significant lore about the target. This information may include important details, intriguing revelations, or even obscure secrets not widely known.
The more information you already possess about the target, the more precise and detailed the result. Otherwise, it may manifest as a vague poem or metaphor.
If the target is not sufficiently famous, the spell fails.
...
This was essentially an upgraded version of Identify—it could analyze equipment and also extract hidden truths from abstract "legends."
Of course, the target had to be well-known—what players would call having sufficient "legendary status."
For example, Anser himself had caused so many incidents that his legend level was certainly not low. If someone used "Legend Lore" on him, they would obtain a great deal of accurate information about him.
'As expected of a divination spell. Too bad it only works on famous targets—and the materials are quite expensive.'
The second spell, "Summon Dragon," was a fifth-level conjuration spell typically only accessible to Wizards. It required an expensive item engraved with a dragon motif as a material component.
This spell summoned a draconic spirit to aid you as an ally. Its base duration was one hour, disappearing when its hit points reached zero or when the spell ended.
The strength of the draconic spirit depended on the spell level. A fifth-level draconic spirit had attributes surpassing a young black dragon, with resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, and poison, as well as immunity to charm, fear, and poison. Its combat power was formidable.
'A powerful assistant—and it can even serve as a mount.' Anser quite liked this spell.
The only drawback was that it required concentration. Once used, many control spells could no longer be cast freely.
"Conjure Elemental" was similar to "Summon Dragon," with comparable requirements but different material components—fortunately, an arcane focus could substitute for them.
This spell summoned an elemental creature servant, chosen from air, earth, fire, or water. It had a Challenge Rating of 5 and would fully obey your commands.
Notably, if concentration was broken, the elemental would not immediately disappear but would instead become uncontrolled. It might turn hostile or flee, remaining until the full hour elapsed before being forcibly returned to the Elemental Plane.
Despite their relatively low Challenge Rating, elementals were extremely troublesome. They were not made of flesh, granting them immunity to most negative conditions, along with resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
Their lower rating likely stemmed from their clear weaknesses—for example, fire elementals feared water, and earth elementals feared thunder.
Choosing between the two new spells was difficult. Fifth-level spells each had their own strengths—none were weak.
There were also many evocation spells available, such as Bigby's Hand, Cone of Cold, Immolation, the Paladin's Destructive Wave, and the Wizard-exclusive Wall of Force.
Anser didn't hesitate. He decisively chose Wall of Force.
...
Wall of Force: Fifth level, Evocation school
Base Range: 36 meters
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
You create an invisible wall of force at a specified location.
The shape of the wall is under your control. It can form a horizontal or vertical barrier, float in midair, or anchor to a solid surface. It can be shaped into a hemispherical or spherical form with a radius of 3 meters, with a thickness of 6 mm.
If the wall intersects a creature's space when it appears, the creature is pushed to one side of the wall.
Nothing can physically pass through the wall. It is immune to all damage and cannot be dispelled by Dispel Magic, though Disintegrate can destroy it instantly.
The wall extends into the Ethereal Plane, preventing travel through it via ethereal movement.
'So this is the legendary Wall of Force!' Anser marveled.
This spell was an extremely powerful tool for battlefield control, segmentation, and self-defense.
"Wall of Force" could form a completely sealed sphere, temporarily protecting the caster. In this state, the caster could ignore almost all attacks. As long as they did not encounter someone capable of casting Disintegrate, they would be absolutely safe for ten minutes.
But the most common use was to trap enemies in this "force cage." For instance, a powerful warrior—no matter how strong—would be unable to break through the wall and could only remain helplessly confined within.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---