Anser's heart jolted violently, his temples throbbing in rapid pulses.
He took a deep breath, steadied his agitated emotions, and pressed on, asking, "What is the name of that Sorcerer?"
"I don't know. I'm just an outer member. The mentor is in a great hurry. I've heard that quite a few nobles and major powers are already in contact with him. Potions are very scarce…"
"Where does your mentor live? Who are the other members of the order? Do you know their whereabouts?"
"The mentor lives on a ship, at some dock called Fish Entrails Wharf. I don't know the other members. This is my first time attending this kind of gathering today…"
"…"
After asking a few more questions and confirming that nothing had been missed, Anser gently drew the short blade from Finn's waist.
After a short, abrupt phrase in the dragon tongue, a layer of white-platinum radiance enveloped the blade, strikingly conspicuous.
"A Paladin!" Gais exclaimed in shock, his face filled with disbelief.
Finn clamped a hand over his mouth and nose, driving a knee into his chest to prevent him from struggling.
Seizing the moment, Anser stepped forward and drove the blade in from the side, piercing the back of his skull.
Gais twitched a few times before going completely still. In his hollow gaze, there was a faint trace of release.
[Target dead. Gained 50 experience points. Level up.]
Anser let out a sigh, walked out of the room, and gestured to Bratt.
"Clean this up. Bury the body on the spot."
Using magic to destroy the body would cause too much disturbance; burying it was simpler.
Looking up at the bright crescent moon in the night sky, his thoughts churned chaotically, somewhat disordered.
During the Spellplague era, the essence of "Blue Fire" was uncontrolled primal magic, whereas the true core of a genuine spellfire Sorcerer was "the potential of radiating primal magic."
A Spellscar Sorcerer was a malformed byproduct, and naturally could not withstand the erosion of primal magic.
'The one who created Spellscar Sorcerers was truly a genius.'
Unfortunately, as a Sorcerer himself, he could not feel happy about it. Wizards had fallen into decline, Sorcerers had only just begun to rise—so how had they already become prey?
'Could it be that some genius Wizard, unwilling to accept defeat, dug through ancient tomes and secret grimoires and cobbled this together?!'
None of it could be verified; all that could be done was to remain as cautious as possible.
The good news was that he had leveled up. His strength had increased, and in a head-on confrontation he had no fear at all of ordinary elite professionals.
After a while, Finn and the other emerged from the dilapidated shack, with Bratt still carrying a cloth sack in his hand.
"Buried," Bratt said softly. He also pushed down half of an earthen wall to prevent animals from digging the body up.
"Let's go."
The three chose deserted alleys as much as possible. Before long, the scattered lights of Moonshadow Quelin appeared at the end of the road.
As they approached the courtyard gate, two guards immediately stepped forward to block them. "Gentlemen, please stop. Present your room plaques."
Anser and Bratt took out their room plaques. After a brief inspection, the guards opened the courtyard gate.
There were not many people in the garden. The mushroom houses and treehouses were brightly lit. It was still early, not yet time to sleep.
An undisguised gaze fell upon Anser. His steps halted, and he turned his head to look. On the top-floor balcony of the treehouse, a tall figure was staring at him, the light behind outlining a captivating curve.
'Gwyneth.'
Anser inclined his head slightly toward her, then turned and walked away.
'That well-known Sorcerer couldn't be this woman, could it?' Thinking of what Gais had said, a guess formed in his mind. 'No, that doesn't seem right. With the strength of those people, it would be far from enough.'
Gwyneth was not alone. At Moonshadow Quelin, there were at least five moon elf professionals.
'Should we move away?'
While pondering this, the group stepped into a mushroom house and immediately saw the female elf Darla behind the counter brewing tea. A faint floral fragrance filled the air.
"Huh, going out so late?" Darla said in surprise. "It's been very dangerous outside lately."
"Uh, seeing a friend off," Anser replied casually.
"Oh." Darla sniffed lightly, a trace of suspicion appearing in her eyes.
"Good night," Anser said, leaving the words behind as he calmly went upstairs.
Back in their rooms, the three first washed up and changed clothes, then gathered in Anser's room.
Bratt and the other sorted through the spoils, while Anser sat on the sofa, pretending to meditate while actually entering his mental world.
He had long since been unable to restrain himself.
He opened the character sheet, and a level-up option popped up: Increase Sorcerer level, or choose a new class.
He decisively chose to increase his Sorcerer level. At the current stage, specialization was unquestionably stronger, and Sorcerer level was tied to the spell slots he could cast.
[Level Up: Level 4 Sorcerer!]
[You have mastered one new Feat. You can learn one new spell, as well as one School of Evocation spell.]
Anser clicked on Feat, and a densely packed list immediately popped up. Most of them were lit up, with more choices than at level two.
Many Feats had level and ability score requirements. Aside from a few exceptional geniuses, most professionals could only master those powerful Feats at level four.
And because he possessed "Extraordinary Talent," many Feats that he originally could not master also opened their arms to him.
Fey Touched, which could grant Misty Step; Elemental Adept, which could ignore elemental resistance; as well as Mounted Combatant, War Caster…
It was mouthwatering to look at, making him wish he could learn them all.
'Does anyone really manage to learn everything?'
He suddenly thought of those geniuses in the history of Toril who had once dominated their era.
The character sheet was miraculous, but it was more like a tool that used resources such as "experience points" to increase level and strength; the "quota" that could be allocated at each level was limited.
Granted, he had entered the ranks of geniuses by relying on the character sheet, but he probably could not be mentioned in the same breath as those utterly outrageous geniuses.
As his thoughts wandered, he had already flipped through more than half the Feats. A newly appeared row of Feats made his eyes light up.
Dragonmark Feats from the world of Eberron!
Eberron was an independent world in DND. Legend said it was created by three Progenitor Dragons (Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber).
The most influential force here was the Twelve Dragonmarked Houses, each bearing a different Dragonmark; they controlled Khorvaire and the regions beyond.
No one knew the origin of Dragonmarks. It was said to be related to the three Progenitor Dragons, but the dragons of Eberron did not possess Dragonmark power. They tried to obtain this power, and this also led to the birth of half-dragon creatures.
There are a total of thirteen Dragonmarks. Aside from the twelve orthodox Dragonmarks of the Dragonmarked Houses, there is also a variant Dragonmark produced by intermarriage between different dragon families, each with its own strengths.
Anser's heart thumped wildly. 'Expanded Feats can be chosen too?'
Dragonmark power is extremely strong. Each Dragonmark has a core feature, "Dragonmark Spells," accompanied by multiple spells from 1st to 5th level.
For example, House Orien's "Mark of Passage" increases Dexterity by 2 and one other ability score by 1. It inherently grants Misty Step, Blink, Teleport, Teleportation Circle, and a whole suite of mobility spells, among which Misty Step is a spell-like ability.
Unfortunately, the "Mark of Passage" is centered on Dexterity. Even the casting ability for the spell-like Misty Step is Dexterity.
Spells could always be learned. What he valued more was how well the ability scores aligned.
Those focused on Charisma included the Mark of Hospitality, the Mark of Shadow, and the Mark of Storm. The representative spells of the Mark of Hospitality were Leomund's Tiny Hut and Temple of the Gods. The Mark of Shadow focused on illusion, such as Invisibility and Phantasmal effects.
The Mark of Storm focused mainly on conjuration and transmutation spells, capable of summoning elemental creatures to fight on one's behalf. It looked more practical.
He clicked on the Feat to view the detailed information:
[Mark of Storm]: Expanded General Feat. You gain the following benefits:
Ability Score Increase: Charisma increases by 2, Dexterity increases by 1.
Windrider's Intuition: Your intuition is sharper. When you make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or any ability check using navigator's tools, you gain a bonus of 1d4 (1–4).
Storm's Blessing: You have lightning resistance.
Against the Wind: You learn the gust cantrip. Your Dragonmark grants you the spell-like ability gust of wind, usable once per day.
Dragonmark Spells: You know the 1st-level spells Longstrider and Fog Cloud, and the 2nd-level spells Gust of Wind and Levitate. You unlock more spells as you gain levels.
'Strong!'
Since he had already mastered Feather Fall, the system replaced it with Longstrider for him. Both were transmutation spells, emphasizing resource compatibility.
Longstrider was a buff spell that increased the target's movement speed by 10%–30% for one hour, making it extremely practical.
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