Chapter 372

Hidden within the Ethereal Plane, Anser looked down over the "Ring of Viheral," keeping an eye on Thay's movements while also making sure the magic array wasn't damaged by wandering undead.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. 'Isn't this a bargaining chip ready-made for me?'

{President Gordon, would the Magic Research Society be interested in the teleportation array beneath Viheral?}

Almost immediately after the Sending went out, President Gordon replied, {Very interested. What do you have in mind?}

{I want to build a city here and have it inhabited and managed by Eilistraee's Chosen, but Thay has its eye on this place too. I just fought them...}

He concealed nothing and deceived him in no way, giving Gordon an honest account while leaving out his own speculation.

Gordon replied, {I see. I'll send some people over to investigate. Would you be able to come pick them up?}

{No problem, but you'll need to wait a little while,} Anser readily agreed.

Without precise coordinates, it really would take them some time to get here.

With the Magic Research Society settled, he sent a message to Valera and asked for her opinion.

Naturally, Valera agreed. All she had to do was share the rights to study and use the teleportation array in exchange for the powerful support of the Magic Research Society. Even a fool would know which choice to make.

Besides, the teleportation array wasn't hers to begin with.

The fact that they had bothered to ask for her opinion at all was entirely out of respect. She knew better than to take that for granted.

Anser inwardly praised Valera for knowing where to draw the line. When it came to handling people and social situations, drow elves were far better at it than most humans.

While he was at it, he told Valera to have everyone pack up and make preparations. He would head over within the next couple of days and bring the entire drow tribe here.

The drow elves, the Magic Research Society, and the Holrewen Federation—a powerful alliance of three parties. Once Thay saw that kind of lineup, it was unlikely to try taking the place by force again.

Thay was particularly good at judging the situation. When the potential gains weren't worth the cost, they wouldn't force the issue.

Anser waited for quite a while, but everything inside and outside the castle remained quiet. The Red Wizard of Thay never appeared again.

'Did my Sunburst actually scare them off?' He thought it was entirely possible.

Thay was probably at its weakest right now. The Red Wizards were deeply troubled by the disruption of the Weave, and most of their attention was focused on figuring out how to cast spells. They had far less inclination to stir up trouble.

Their situation was somewhat similar to the Church of Myrkul's. They relied heavily on undead creatures in external conflicts, while Sunburst was practically a hard counter to the undead.

What kind of undead army could possibly withstand more than a dozen Sunbursts in succession?!

'All the better if they don't come.'

Anser was more concerned about assassination attempts from Thay. He decided that, from now on, he would try to stay in Holrewen as much as possible to keep himself from being located through divination.

He arrived at a terrace on the castle's upper level. {Sakkors, send Stoll and Iris over.}

Sakkors acknowledged him. After a brief silence, Stoll and Iris appeared out of thin air beside Anser.

"You can even do that?!"

With his greatsword resting on his shoulder, Stoll looked around in astonishment.

Iris's eyes flickered. After a moment's thought, she understood the principle behind it.

The teleportation process wasn't actually complicated. First, they teleported to Holrewen through their Spirit Net Marks, which had been integrated with the Paradise Mark. Then, using Anser's current location as the coordinates, they teleported back out.

Sakkors handled the entire process, though he would notify the two of them before teleporting them.

Anyone who possessed a Paradise Mark could use this method to quickly gather at the side of any one of the others, making it extremely convenient for providing support.

Ordinary Spirit Net Marks could also be specifically modified to grant permission to enter Holrewen, but doing so would inevitably expose Holrewen's existence, making its security difficult to guarantee.

At least until Anser became powerful enough, there was no way he would do that.

"Where are Thay's people?" Stoll asked as he looked out over the pitch-black underground city.

"No living ones left." Smiling, Anser stomped his foot against the floor. "There are more than two hundred undead, though. I've sealed them inside the castle."

Stoll stared at him in surprise. "You killed all of them by yourself? Wasn't there a lich?"

He distinctly remembered Anser fleeing from that lich with Brunhilde last time, after even stealing the lich's Artifact.

When bitter enemies met again, there was no way the two sides would have had a peaceful encounter.

"I killed a lich, a vampire, and a few dozen undead. The Red Wizard got away..." Anser gave them a brief summary of what had happened.

"The lich... wasn't it Legendary?" Stoll looked utterly confused.

"A lich has a phylactery. Technically, it isn't dead." Anser shrugged.

Stoll and Iris looked at each other, neither knowing what to say.

Was a Legendary lich really comparable to an ordinary professional?

Anser was constantly forcing everyone to revise their understanding of him. Every time they thought they finally knew what he was capable of, he would once again give them an unexpected shock.

"Keep an eye on things for me. Don't let those undead escape. I'm heading back to Holrewen for a bit."

Right now, Anser's mind was filled with only one thing: leveling up, leveling up. He could barely contain his excitement.

"Sure, go ahead." Stoll planted his greatsword against the ground, looking somewhat eager to give it a try.

"Wait until I get back. Don't go in yourselves." Anser wasn't entirely comfortable leaving Stoll unsupervised.

It wasn't that he was being stingy with the kills. Fighters really did have a hard time against undead.

Those two hundred-plus undead were all fairly powerful. One careless mistake could easily turn the situation against them.

"Don't worry." Stoll waved him off.

Anser quietly shot Iris a meaningful look, then teleported to the top floor of the Black Tower.

He stripped off his dirty clothes, cleaned them with Prestidigitation, washed up briefly, then threw himself onto the bed and sank his consciousness into his mind.

The twenty-sided die floated silently there, speckled with faint golden light. The thirteenth symbol was not even half illuminated yet.

'Still a long way to go.'

He was about to reach level 17, yet he had only unlocked twelve Adventure Traits. The gap was growing wider and wider.

'It's practically forcing me to go stir up trouble.'

After grumbling inwardly, 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 17 Sorcerer!]

[Your true dragon power has increased, advancing into the adult dragon stage. Gold Dragon Power +1, Silver Dragon Power +1.]

[You can learn one new spell, one Evocation spell, one Signature Spell, and one enhanced Metamagic ability.]

[You can manifest one of your innate magical abilities as a supernatural ability. Your Magic Power Control level has increased.]

A string of notifications flashed past, and the corners of Anser's mouth unconsciously spread into a grin.

Level 17 was an important dividing line. Professionals of every class received a significant boost at this point, while full casters gained access to the mighty 9th-level spells, officially stepping into the peak of mortal power.

Anser calmed himself and first checked the changes to "I, Too, Am a True Dragon."

His body had officially entered the adult dragon stage, bringing a certain degree of improvement to every aspect of his physique.

...

[Adult Dragon]: The power of true dragons flows within you. You gain new draconic inheritance and acquire the "Dragonkind Transformation" ability.

[Skills]: History +2, Perception +2, Stealth +2, Insight +2, Persuasion +4

[Senses]: Blindsight 60 feet

[Trait]: Legendary Resistance

[Spell-Like Abilities]: Zone of Truth, Flame Strike

...

The inherited memories of dragonkind had clearly improved his skills. What was rather frustrating, however, was that the increases had once again gone to the same five skills as before. There was still nothing for Arcana, Survival, Medicine, Nature, or any of the others.

'Do dragons just really like studying history, or do they simply know more because they live so long?' Anser curled his lip.

His Blindsight had increased to 60 feet, which could certainly prove useful under the right circumstances.

What delighted him most, however, was "Legendary Resistance"!

...

[Legendary Resistance]: As your true dragon power increases, your bloodline grants you extraordinary resilience.

Whenever you fail a saving throw against any spell that requires one, you can activate Legendary Resistance to succeed on that saving throw instead.

Three times per day.

...

This was a top-tier trait brought about by the elevation of one's very life essence, like a magical coating protecting the body, capable of warding off dangers that ordinary people would find nearly impossible to resist when the need arose.

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