Soulrend could attack the soul itself and inflict an instant death effect—provided it hit the target and penetrated their defenses.
For a rogue, it was practically a divine weapon. It could strike across planes, making it almost impossible to dodge or defend against.
Fortunately, this kind of cross-planar assassination could only be used once per day. Otherwise, a Chosen like him could kill whoever he wanted, and ordinary high-level adventurers would have had a hard time dealing with him.
The other legendary item was the Ring of Spell Turning, which also required Attunement.
It had only two core properties.
The first was Extraordinary Resistance. Whenever the wearer made a Saving Throw against any spell that specifically targeted them, they did so with advantage.
The second was Spell Turning. If the wearer successfully passed a Saving Throw granted by Extraordinary Resistance against a spell of 7th level or lower, that spell would have no effect on them and would instead be reflected back at its original caster.
At first glance, Spell Turning looked absurdly overpowered, but it came with several conditions.
The spell had to target only the wearer. Area-of-effect spells were unaffected. The spell couldn't be higher than 7th level, and the Saving Throw had to succeed comfortably; otherwise, the opportunity to reflect the spell would be lost.
'He almost fooled me.' Anser chuckled.
If he'd simply followed up with another Hold Person, his opponent probably wouldn't have been able to keep reflecting spells.
Even so, the ability was still terrifyingly powerful.
After all, it cost nothing to activate. It was like drawing a lottery ticket—one lucky trigger could completely change the course of a battle.
He couldn't use Soulrend, but the Ring of Spell Turning was simply too good to pass up.
The higher his own resistances became, the greater the chance of triggering Spell Turning.
'Paired with Intellect Fortress, this thing is absolutely insane. Even a Chosen's spell resistance probably doesn't get much better than this.'
He slipped the unassuming silver-gray ring onto the index finger of his left hand, his mood improving immediately.
The only downside was that he had no Attunement slots left. For now, he'd have to give up his Robe of Stars, since every other piece of equipment he owned was Legendary.
Five Attunement slots.
Five Legendary items.
People probably wouldn't believe it even if he told them.
Euryale's Aegis.
Book of Castella.
Arcanefire Longbow.
Silent Mausoleum.
Ring of Spell Turning.
'My equipment setup is basically complete... but not quite. I still have an Artifact.'
Smiling, he removed the Robe of Stars and cast Mending to repair the small tear.
The damage this time was only superficial and hadn't affected the robe's magical properties, so a simple physical repair was enough.
If it had actually been damaged, he'd have had no choice but to ask the Magic Research Society or Brunhilde for help.
'This haul was incredible.'
Experience wasn't hard to come by.
Legendary equipment, on the other hand, was something money couldn't simply buy.
He'd complained earlier that the Chosen hadn't awarded much experience—that the battle had been harder than the rewards justified.
But once the equipment was factored in, it had been more than worth it.
Anser opened his Character Sheet.
His experience pool now held over 5,800 XP, and the die had successfully "captured" a sliver of divinity.
Focusing his mind, he examined the information revealed by the die.
[Divinity — Attribute: Trickery]
It could only identify the divinity's general domain, not its source.
'Convert it into experience.'
The die still lacked the ability to completely suppress or conceal divinity. Keeping it around might prove dangerous.
He teleported to the Celestial Ritual Array, sank his consciousness into his mind, and lightly touched the sliver of divinity.
[This process is irreversible. Decompose this divinity?]
"Yes."
The die began spinning rapidly as it drew the sliver of divinity into its center, compressing it into a tiny golden sphere.
As time passed, a fine crack appeared on the sphere's surface. Wisps of golden mist were forcibly extracted before being slowly absorbed by the die.
The golden flecks across the twenty-sided die became denser and denser, glittering like scattered gold dust and giving it an even more noble appearance.
Ding—
[You gained 13,900 experience. Lifespan +25. Hit Points +25.]
'How did I get even more than last time?' Anser was pleasantly surprised.
The previous sliver of divinity had only yielded 10,000 experience, along with 20 Lifespan and 20 Hit Points.
'Mask... should only be a lesser deity. His divinity ought to be weaker, shouldn't it?'
He considered it for a while and concluded there were two possibilities.
Either Mask was simply more generous and bestowed greater blessings upon his Chosen.
Or a standard sliver of divinity was worth 10,000 experience, but it could continue to grow through fulfilling divine decrees and similar means.
Anser leaned toward the latter explanation.
'If I kill another Chosen and compare the results, I'll know for sure.'
The thought made him chuckle before he shifted his attention back to his Character Sheet.
With nearly 20,000 XP, he was still more than 5,000 XP short of reaching Level 15.
Without hesitation, he took a single step and appeared inside the Black Tower Prison.
He opened one of the cells tucked away in the corner.
A faint stench of blood and decay drifted out. Inside the dimly lit cell, a naked creature with tentacles covering its face was chained to a wall of black stone.
Its head hung low, its body limp, with only a few tentacles twitching occasionally.
"So, you're finally going to do it?" it asked as it slowly raised its head.
"And what makes you so certain I'll kill you?" Anser said, slowly drawing the Sword of Sharpness.
Even without Attunement, it was still an exceptionally sharp magical weapon.
"Have you considered joining us? Sooner or later you'll become part of the Multiversal Empire. If you join now—"
Thrust!
The platinum-glowing blade plunged straight into its brain. Anser gave it a quick twist before pulling it free.
[Target killed. Gained 1,170 combat experience.]
'Just as I thought.'
A newborn Mind Flayer was much weaker than a fully matured one, so the experience it awarded was far lower.
'Don't tell me I won't have enough...'
He moved on to the next cell and silenced another endlessly chattering Mind Flayer captive with a single slash.
This time, the reward was even lower.
Only after killing every Mind Flayer in the prison did he barely scrape together enough experience to level up.
Finally relaxing, he reduced all the corpses to ashes before flashing back to the Celestial Ritual Array, his consciousness sinking once more into his mind.
The twenty-sided die, now covered in glittering flecks of gold, floated quietly in the void.
The twelfth symbol had lit up by less than half. The Chosen had contributed more than he'd expected.
'Level up!'
He opened his Character Sheet and selected his class.
Advance your Sorcerer level or choose a new class.
'Advance my Sorcerer level.'
[Level Up: Sorcerer Level 15!]
[Your draconic power has increased. Gold Dragon Power +1. Silver Dragon Power +1.]
[You may learn one new spell, one Evocation spell, one Signature Spell, and one enhanced Metamagic ability.]
[You may manifest one of your innate spells as a supernatural ability. Your Magic Power Control has increased.]
Without hesitation, he invested both points of draconic power into Strength, pushing it into the extraordinary tier at 22.
That level of Strength was terrifying—at least thirty to forty times that of an ordinary person.
On Earth, it would be enough to lift an entire passenger car.
He could run faster, jump higher, and crumple a suit of full plate with a single punch.
He was a walking weapon.
'From now on, I'll be the one bullying everyone else!'
Next came his 8th-level spell.
There weren't many 8th-level Evocation spells to choose from:
Maddening Darkness.
Or Sunburst.
One embodied light, the other darkness—they were practically opposites.
Since most of his enemies belonged to evil factions, he chose Sunburst.
Besides, it didn't require concentration.
...
Sunburst: 8th-level Evocation
Range: 150 feet (45 meters)
Brilliant sunlight erupts from a point you choose, filling a 60-foot-radius (18-meter) sphere with blazing radiance.
Every creature within the sphere must make a Constitution Saving Throw. On a failed save, it takes 12d6 (12–72) radiant damage and is blinded for up to 1 minute. On a successful save, it takes only half damage.
A creature blinded by this spell may repeat the Constitution Saving Throw every few seconds, ending the blindness on a successful save.
This spell also dispels all magical darkness created by spells within its area of effect.
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