As evening fell, Dawn Town sank into silence.
The nights at the end of August were slightly cool. Few refugees slept out on the streets; at the very least, they would find some kind of shelter.
After dinner, everyone returned to the rooms arranged by the churches to rest.
On the second floor of the church, Valera wrapped herself in a cloak and quietly eased open her door.
After confirming that no one was in the corridor, she tiptoed to a room at the far end of the hall. Raising her hand, she prepared to knock, but the moment her fingers touched the wooden door, she suddenly froze.
After hesitating for a while, she pulled out a shortsword and slid it through the gap in the door, severing the latch. Then she pushed the door open and walked in.
Her heart pounded wildly, yet the scene she had imagined never appeared.
Sweeping her gaze across the room, she found it completely empty.
"Ah? Where could he have gone in the middle of the night?"
She lightly stamped her foot. Her cloak swayed, briefly revealing smooth, fair skin beneath.
She waited for quite some time, but no one returned.
As her courage and determination gradually wavered, she sat with her legs crossed, restless and uneasy.
In the end, she turned and departed like a gust of wind.
...
Twelfth Floor of the Black Tower.
Seated beside a dining table, Anser was enjoying a meal of pan-seared hardhead trout and stir-fried noodles. His lips glistened with oil, and satisfaction was written all over his face.
He wasn't sneaking food.
The church's dinner had simply been too perfunctory.
Having grown accustomed to aristocratic cuisine, he'd become somewhat picky. He had only eaten a few bites before stopping.
These dishes hadn't been prepared by the halfling chef Welby, but had come from Fort Jacqueline.
All he had to do was leave a message for Iris on the notice board. A short while later, piping-hot food would appear in the Party Storage, almost like a wishing well.
The other party members could make requests as well, but none of them would dare trouble Iris over something as trivial as satisfying their appetites. Their requests were always official business.
After finishing his meal, Anser took a single step forward and appeared within the Celestial Ritual Array.
'Level up, level up...'
Muttering to himself, he sank his consciousness into his mind.
The twenty-sided die, speckled with shattered golden starlight, floated silently in place.
'If I absorb a few more strands of divinity, I wonder what changes the die will undergo.'
He let out a soft sound of surprise.
The eleventh symbol was already more than halfway illuminated.
Its progress was far ahead of what he had expected.
'What caused it? The Chosen, or the Adventuring Party?'
Rubbing his chin, he couldn't figure it out.
Perhaps the answer would reveal itself once the symbol was completely lit.
'First things first—level up.'
He opened his Character Sheet and touched the class option.
Increase Sorcerer level or choose a new class.
'Increase Sorcerer level.'
[Level Up: Level 13 Sorcerer!]
[Your draconic power has increased. Gold Dragon Power +1, Silver Dragon Power +1.]
[You may learn one new spell, one Evocation spell, and one enhanced Metamagic ability.]
[You may manifest one innate magical ability as a supernatural ability. Magic Power Control has increased in level.]
A series of notifications rang through his mind, leaving him invigorated.
First came the two points of dragon power.
His Charisma had already reached the upper limit of the Young Dragon stage. Spending them on ordinary attributes would be too wasteful, so he invested both points into Intelligence, raising it to 23.
Intelligence represented the capability of the brain itself, influencing learning, training, thought, imagination, and countless other aspects. No one would ever complain about having more of it.
Next came 7th-level spells.
There weren't many 7th-level Evocation spells—only a handful.
Crown of Stars, Delayed Blast Fireball, Mordenkainen's Sword, Forcecage...
Delayed Blast Fireball and Wall of Fire were essentially variants of Fireball and Wall of Fire. Their damage and area weren't any larger, but their casting methods were far more flexible.
Mordenkainen's Sword was a good option. It created a floating spectral blade that lasted for one minute and assisted its caster in attacking enemies. The damage output was respectable.
'I'm not lacking in damage.'
He decided to choose Forcecage.
...
Forcecage: 7th-level Evocation
Base Casting Range: 100 feet (30 meters)
Duration: Concentration, 1 hour
You create a fixed, cube-shaped invisible prison around a point within range, either in the form of a cage or a box.
The cage version is a cube measuring 20 feet (6 meters) on each side. Its walls consist of force bars half an inch thick, with gaps of half an inch between each bar.
The box version is a cube measuring 10 feet (3 meters) on each side. Its walls are sealed by a Wall of Force, preventing all matter from entering or leaving and blocking any spellcasting.
Creatures trapped inside cannot leave through nonmagical means. If a creature attempts to use teleportation or planar travel to escape, it must first succeed on a Charisma Saving Throw.
The cage also extends into the Ethereal Plane, preventing travel through that plane.
...
Forcecage is exclusive to Bards, Warlocks, and Wizards. Psionic users can also manifest it through their powers, though mastering it is extremely difficult.
It was essentially an upgraded version of Wall of Force.
Wall of Force took too long to construct and couldn't trap spellcasters skilled in teleportation.
Forcecage could.
Once cast, it instantly transformed the target area into a force prison that lasted for one hour.
Factoring in Extended Spell and his Charisma bonus, the duration could reach a full four hours.
That said, Forcecage was particularly vulnerable to Disintegrate.
Fortunately, very few Clerics knew Disintegrate.
'If I'd known this spell earlier today, I might have had a chance to control that Chosen,' Anser thought.
Of course, controlling someone was one thing.
Whether he could actually kill them was another matter entirely.
What if Lolth valued that drow matron highly enough to intervene through a divine descent at a critical moment?
The second 7th-level spell was a much harder choice.
Etherealness, Plane Shift, and Teleport were all excellent options.
Etherealness allowed him to enter the Ethereal Plane. It was useful both for escaping and for hunting down enemies.
Plane Shift would let him travel across planes. Even without knowing the coordinates of a permanent teleportation circle, he could arrive near his destination.
For example, the City of Brass in the Elemental Plane of Fire, or Dis, the second layer of the Nine Hells.
Teleport couldn't cross planes, but it could take him anywhere on his current plane, even to places he had only heard about.
The downside was that the more unfamiliar the destination, the greater the chance of deviation or mishap.
Beyond those, Reverse Gravity and Finger of Death were also tempting choices.
Finger of Death was ideal for finishing off enemies. Any humanoid slain by the spell would rise as a zombie under the caster's control.
'That doesn't fit my style. I'm a Paladin, after all.'
After much deliberation, he ultimately chose Etherealness.
Combined with manifesting it as a supernatural ability, it would maximize the spell's value.
For now, Teleportation Circle was sufficient.
...
Etherealness: 7th-level Conjuration
Duration: 8 hours
You enter the overlapping space between your current plane and the border regions of the Ethereal Plane.
During this time, you can move freely and observe the original plane, though everything appears in grayscale, and your maximum sight range is only 60 feet (18 meters).
Creatures not on the Ethereal Plane cannot perceive you or interact with you...
...
'I wonder what it'll become once it's integrated into my Arcane Bloodline.'
He found himself looking forward to it.
For his new enhanced Metamagic ability, he chose Enhanced Seeking Spell, granting offensive spells the ability to alter course and track a target twice, dramatically increasing their accuracy.
No matter how powerful a spell was, it still had to hit.
Magic Power Control advanced to the 7th Circle, granting +5 Magic Power. It would allow him to wield 7th-level spells with ease and greatly improve his casting stability.
[Spells: Forcecage, Etherealness. Intelligence: +2. Arcane Bloodline: Etherealness. Metamagic Enhancement: Enhanced Seeking Spell. Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
The Celestial Ritual Array blazed with light, scattering countless stars across the chamber. Their radiance reflected from Anser's scales, making them appear dreamlike and ethereal, as though he were a celestial being.
Anser's mind was as calm as still water as he immersed himself completely in the torrent of innate magic flowing through him.
At a certain moment, his consciousness detached from the inherited memories, and his five senses returned.
When he opened his eyes, everything was shrouded in gray.
The world around him resembled an old black-and-white film, and his vision extended only thirty to forty meters at most.
'So this is Etherealness!'