Both sides faced each other across the narrow ravine, the atmosphere still and heavy.
Everyone was waiting.
The half-dragons were waiting for dawn, for reinforcements. The human side was waiting for the civilians to evacuate.
Anser looked at the densely packed kobolds, battle intent flickering in his eyes. He really wanted to throw a few more Fireball spells—perhaps he could level up tonight.
'Forget it. There will be plenty of opportunities.'
He did not know how many half-dragons were hidden in the darkness. Perhaps they were also waiting for him to make a move. Once his Magic Power was overly depleted, the half-dragons would swarm in.
Never underestimate the cunning of draconic creatures.
He stepped back a few paces, concealing himself behind the thick battlements, and let his mind sink inward.
Before even checking his character sheet, he noticed that the fifth symbol on the silver die had already lit up.
'As expected, my guess was right. As long as I'm not leveling up while lying at home, it's one new trait per level.'
The greater the event and the greater its impact, the faster the symbols lit up.
"Stay alert. I'll meditate for a while. Call me if anything happens." He lightly patted Bratt, then sat down with his back against the wall.
"Got it." Bratt stood at his side with shield raised, expression vigilant.
Seeing this, Giant Tail imitated him and stood on the other side.
Anser glanced at him, pushed Cowlick off his shoulder, closed his eyes, yet did not immediately summon the twenty-sided die.
He was feeling a great deal today. The situation was chaotic. Ever since transmigrating here, he had been drifting. Facing powerful enemies, he could not fight without restraint—because he had misgivings, because he lacked a reliable backing. An adventuring party was still too thin.
For example, the enemy before them—no matter how trash kobolds were, once their numbers rose, they became terrifyingly strong. One Fireball could kill one or two hundred; eight Fireballs could kill one or two thousand. And then… he would be beaten down by the half-dragons.
The remaining thousands of kobolds could still overrun Cliff City.
'It's time to build my own force!'
Whether to confront alien races, or the Nashivaar Family and the Shadow Thieves, having a force was far better than standing alone.
He did not need to feel self-blame if subordinates were implicated because of him, nor did he need to choke on a morsel and forgo eating altogether. Everyone chose their own path; as long as their efforts were rewarded and their loyalty was not betrayed, that was enough.
Where in this world is there anything without risk?
He had considered this before, but at that time he had only been an ordinary professional. Recruiting people had relied entirely on selling his charm. He had some battle achievements, but his class level truly could not stand on display.
Now he had also become an elite professional; saying it out loud would give him at least some standing. The timing to strike out on his own was already ripe!
'What kind of organization should I set up? A family model, an armed group, or even a kingdom-style regime? Forget it—I'll talk it over with Bratt later.'
At the moment, Bratt was the weakest in the party, yet he was the one with the sharpest mind. Finn and Giant Tail were completely unreliable.
'If I get the chance, I could even build a floating city—a floating city that doesn't rely on the Weave! It's just a question of whether the goddess of magic would be willing.'
Once his thoughts opened up, Anser's mood immediately became much more relaxed.
He happily summoned the twenty-sided die and gave it a light tap. One memory fragment after another surfaced in his mind: sea battles, disasters, dinosaurs, Abeir…
A moment later, the symbol turned into three motes of light circling together—one gray, one black, one white—chasing each other in a dance.
Ding—
...
[Please choose one of three adventurer traits: I Too Am a True Dragon, Fell into Evil Power, Echo of Goodness]
[I Too Am a True Dragon: the neutral choice.]
How am I not a true dragon? Trace your bloodline back to its source and obtain the true dragon power corresponding to the origin of draconic magic. This enhances your attributes and grants some spell-like abilities and supernatural abilities.
Different class levels correspond to different age stages of a true dragon, and each stage grants different true dragon power. Your highest attribute cannot exceed that of the source true dragon.
[Fell into Evil Power: the evil choice.]
Each time you kill, it becomes an irreversible ritual of falling into evil. The souls of creatures that die by your hand will be extracted by the ritual and refined into "evil power essence," used to strengthen your attributes.
The stronger the creature that dies, the better the evil power essence. Different grades of evil power essence have different maximum attribute limits, up to 25.
[Echo of Goodness: the good choice.]
By practicing virtues such as kindness, protection, fairness, justice, and sacrifice, you gain echoes of goodness—reputation, reverence, admiration—and accumulate precious "sacred grace wishpower," which you use to raise your attributes.
The higher the attribute, the more sacred grace wishpower is required. The attribute cap is 25.
...
'A trait that boosts attributes! Three choices, pick one?' Anser felt his heart pounding, his expression control gradually slipping.
Someone had once tried to rank the intelligent races already present in Faerûn, but humans did not accept it—because humanity's rating was "ordinary"!
Aside from lifespan, the greatest weakness of humans was attributes. In theory, their maximum attribute did not exceed 16; having one stat reach 16 already made you a top-tier genius.
Some powerful races, as they age, naturally raise their attributes to 20, even 25. But for humans, even exceeding 20 requires breaking the biological limit—the difficulty speaks for itself.
Too hard!
Yet attributes were extremely important—nothing less than the core of a professional. After all, if your attributes are excellent, you can pick almost any class, and most feats and skills can be learned over time.
'Which one should I choose?'
If you compare total attribute gains, "Fell into Evil Power" and "Echo of Goodness" are definitely stronger. Either one could potentially raise all attributes to 25 points, even though the process would certainly be very difficult.
'Even the strongest ancient gold dragon has an average attribute of less than 23, and I can only obtain a portion of it.'
Fortunately, an ancient gold dragon's highest attribute can reach 30, so the upper limit is somewhat higher.
'One good, one evil, one neutral—this directly determines my future alignment and way of acting,' Anser sighed inwardly.
He did not hesitate much and decisively chose "I Too Am a True Dragon"!
The power of a true dragon comes from primordial force, the world's origin—relatively safe.
The other two were truly impossible to choose. Extracting souls is evil beyond evil. Compared to that, killing and enslaving would almost count as good. Once you did that, you could only hide everywhere or go mingle in the Nine Hells and the Abyss.
"Echo of Goodness" is too saintly—being forced to do good every day. In any case, he could not endure that.
After making his choice, the three motes of light on the die dispersed and transformed into a miniature dragon.
Ding—
...
[You have obtained the adventurer trait: I Too Am a True Dragon]
I Too Am a True Dragon: Humanoid form is merely an appearance. The power of a true dragon flows within you. You are an aberrant true dragon.
As your class level increases, your physical attributes gain additional growth, and you may freely adjust your growth direction. At the same time, you will master some spell-like abilities and supernatural abilities.
Elite professionals correspond to wyrmlings; advanced professionals correspond to young dragons; peak professionals correspond to adult dragons; legends correspond to ancient dragons.
Current stage: wyrmling.
Gold dragon power: 1. Silver dragon power: 1. Maximum attribute cap: 20.
...
"Huh?"
The die flickered a few times, and an additional point of silver dragon power appeared.
A trace of understanding arose in Anser's mind. His true dragon power came respectively from a gold dragon and a silver dragon, with slightly more from the gold dragon.
As for the so-called "growth direction," it meant attribute focus. True dragon power functioned like attribute points. You gained some at each level—varying in number—and could allocate them freely, but your highest attribute could not exceed 20.
'Charisma to the cap first, then… Constitution.'
[Charisma +1, Constitution +1. Confirm?]
'Confirm.'
A wave of intense pain struck. Anser felt every part of his body trembling, as if it were about to break apart. Thick blood surged through him—at times scorching hot, at times icy cold. Heat waves and white vapor spread around him.
At one moment, he felt his throat itch. Unable to resist, he moved his neck, opened his mouth, and exhaled. The sound was deep, its trailing tone like thunder—no different from a dragon's roar.
But he had no time to dwell on it. Countless inherited memories and realizations churned in his mind, his skull throbbing with pain.
Those around him were greatly startled. Anser had seemed to be meditating, but suddenly light began to emanate from his body. His form twisted, Magic Power surged endlessly—one moment blazing heat rolled outward, the next frost covered him.
Then he stretched his neck, and his head actually transformed into a dragon's head. The dragon scales were pale in color, silver tinged with gold. When he opened his mouth, a dragon's roar resounded across the wilderness.
The half-dragons outside the city shuddered upon hearing it and immediately turned to flee. To hesitate even a second would have been to distrust their bodily instincts.
No one knew how much time passed before Anser quietly opened his eyes. A pair of vertical pupils lit up—cold and majestic.
He raised a hand to touch his head. Understanding dawned within him. He gave a slight shake of his head, and the dragon head disappeared. His body reverted to human form.
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