The choice for the second Sorcerer spell was extremely difficult—he wanted all of them: Misty Step, Dominate Person, Hold Monster, Synaptic Static, Telekinesis…
"Dominate Person" could forcibly charm a humanoid. Once successful, he could issue any command to the target through telepathy—essentially doing whatever he pleased.
However, in combat or when the caster was harmed, the difficulty of maintaining the charm became extremely high. It was generally used outside of combat.
In comparison, "Hold Monster" was more suitable for combat—a solid hard control spell. It was a must-pick.
[Hold Monster]: 5th level, Enchantment school.
Base casting range: 27 meters.
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute.
Paralyze a creature within range that you can see. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it becomes paralyzed. The target can repeatedly attempt Wisdom saves to break free, ending the effect on a success.
This was the upgraded version of Hold Person, and it worked on almost any creature—dragons, fey, aberrations, monsters, fiends, and more.
Next time he encountered a Mind Flayer or a werewolf, a single "Hold Monster" would pin them in place to be beaten down.
As for offensive spells, he could learn them later—there was no urgency for now.
5th-level evocation spells merely differed in damage types. In terms of lethality and practicality, an upcast Fireball was no less effective.
A 3rd-level Fireball upcast to 5th level reached a base damage of 10d6 (10–60), more than enough for most situations and enemies.
In addition, "Magic Power Control" had risen to 5th level, increasing his Magic Power by another 5 points, allowing him to handle 5th-level spells with greater ease and stability.
After confirming the spells, above the fourth symbol on the die, a flickering nebula hovered.
Anser lightly touched it. The nebula exploded into ten stars that circled around him, and a wave of understanding flowed through his mind.
He had already mastered all Metamagic techniques. Now, he could choose one to deepen, making it significantly more powerful.
'It works like this too?'
Astonished, he immediately touched each star one by one, as enhancement effects flooded into his mind.
"Quickened Spell" became faster;
"Distant Spell" reached farther;
"Extended Spell" lasted longer;
"Empowered Spell" became maximized;
"Heighten Spell" increased saving throw difficulty by +1;
"Twinned Spell" had a broader range of application;
"Seeking Spell" gained one additional reroll;
"Careful Spell" doubled the number of protected creatures;
"Transmuted Spell" gained radiant and necrotic damage types;
"Subtle Spell" required no material components.
There were no new mechanics—only advanced versions of existing Metamagic effects.
'So… this is where the real reward is!'
After all, as a "Metamagic Master," his techniques had to surpass those of others.
But the choice was another major dilemma—he wanted them all, yet could only pick one.
Even the relatively underwhelming "Subtle Spell" had become absurdly powerful. By replacing material components entirely, it allowed full component-free casting—including costly components. Not only did it save money, but it also removed restrictions tied to materials.
"Distant Spell" increased spell range from double to triple, making casting environments much safer.
But what tempted him the most was still "Quickened Spell."
It eliminated verbal and somatic components, allowing spells to be cast purely by reaction—like Shield—achieving true instant casting.
The original "instant" was merely fast—it still required a fraction of a second. In critical situations, that delay could be fatal.
Like that night when he encountered a master of the Shadow Thieves—even though he had detected the opponent in advance, he still had to take a hit just to buy time to cast.
If he could cast Banishment instantly by reaction, then no one could assassinate him silently.
'Quickened Spell it is.'
[Spells: Wall of Force, Hold Monster; Intelligence: +2; Metamagic Enhancement: Quickened Spell. Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
The celestial patterns over Holrewen shifted dramatically once more. This was the resonance between innate magic and primal magic. Vast magical power surged like wind and clouds, then was drawn into the black tower and poured into the magic pool.
Within the astrolabe ritual array, Anser had already transformed into a half-dragon form. Magic surged around him, radiant and brilliant, leaving faint patterns across his scales—forming intricate, elusive designs.
He was completely immersed in a torrent of inherited memories. 5th-level spells were complex and obscure. If not for his high Intelligence, fully memorizing and understanding them would have been extremely difficult.
After all, he had just mastered five 5th-level spells at once—the difficulty was staggering.
After an unknown amount of time, Anser slowly woke up. Magic flowed through his body like tides, giving him the illusion of endless power.
He opened his character sheet.
Magic Power had reached an astonishing 121 points—enough to cast over a hundred 1st-level spells.
However, casting a 5th-level spell required 9 Magic Power. Even if he pushed himself to exhaustion, he could only cast 13 at most—not exactly sustainable.
His Hit Points had reached 103. Combined with his powerful armor, killing him would be extremely difficult.
His Intelligence had reached 20—the human limit. His memory was now photographic, capable of drawing inferences from a single example, with razor-sharp thinking.
Of course, to fully utilize the limits of his brain, he still needed sufficient knowledge and information, as well as good thinking habits. If he relied on brute force for everything, even the best brain would just be decoration.
The world was never short of foolish geniuses—or clever idiots.
With Intelligence at the human limit, he could unlock a second Intelligence-based class.
There were mainly three options: Wizard, Artificer, and Psion.
But his experience pool only had a pitiful 586 points left—far from enough to support multiclassing.
His Sorcerer experience stood at 48000/64000. Leveling up had become even harder.
'No need to struggle over it.'
Anser let out a soft sigh. 'The experience from ordinary soldiers is just too low.'
Reviewing the battle logs, he had killed over two hundred soldiers of Amn. Since it was a cooperative battle, he only received a portion of the experience—less than two thousand in total.
This was already an excellent result. The Amn army numbered only around two thousand.
Thanks to those two hundred barrels of tar—mere catapult fire wouldn't have achieved such results.
'I should head to the Union again… and stay wary of a night raid from Amn.'
With that thought, he immediately teleported back to Fort Jacqueline.
The room was empty. Iris had probably refrained from sneaking in again, fearing she might disturb his rest.
With a click, the pocket watch opened—its hour hand nearing nine.
He picked up his shield, cast Fly, opened the window, and flew out—rising to a thousand meters before taking out the "Long-Distance Vision" device to observe the Amn camp below.
The two eastern camps that hadn't been attacked remained normal. The other four still had embers glowing faintly—like scattered stars—illuminating busy figures and the mess left behind.
Compared to the dozens of cold corpses, the wounded comrades wailing in pain weighed heavier on the soldiers' morale—bringing despair, frustration, and helplessness. Morale had sunk to rock bottom. No one wanted to continue.
In truth, they couldn't understand it either—why insist on clashing with Durlag's Tower?
Beregost was already surrounded by other races. Instead of aiding their own people, they chose to scheme for Durlag—what was the point?
Even if they seized it, they might not be able to hold it.
Anser didn't understand either. But Amn was ruled by merchant lords. While pursuing maximum profit, individual will could also sway national decisions—making them impossible to predict.
After observing for a while, he was about to leave when he suddenly spotted something in a damaged tent—
A four-legged metallic construct.
Its appearance was bizarre—short and squat, headless, with a thick, black cannon barrel protruding from its body.
'What the hell is that?!'
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