[You are attacked by the Duergar Psionic Master's Poisonheart Dagger. Miss…]
If not for Shield and the protective cloak, he really might have been instantly killed in a single strike!
"Looking for death!"
Bratt snapped back to his senses and let out a furious shout, immediately launching a charge, his face twisted in ferocity, looking as though he were about to tear someone apart.
Finn clenched his teeth, eyes wide with rage. His disheveled beard and hair stood on end, truly resembling an enraged beast.
He was not far behind Anser, yet he did not notice anything until the moment Anser was attacked. His heart was filled with regret.
He raised his hand and instantly cast Hunter's Mark. An X-shaped magical mark appeared above the cloaked figure's head, preventing the opponent from turning invisible again.
Anser did not hesitate for even a fraction of a second. He quickly retreated—this distance was far too dangerous for him.
But just as he took a step, he saw the Duergar make a hand-raising motion, accompanied by a faint fluctuation of magic power.
'Damn it!'
He cursed inwardly and immediately stopped.
Metamagic — Quickened Spell: Magic Missile!
Three gleaming missiles formed in an instant, screaming as they tore through the rain curtain and the night sky.
The Duergar halted his movement and flashed aside to evade, but the missiles followed him like shadows. He made a split-second decision, crossing his arms and using his bracers to take the hit head-on.
Bang! Bang! Bang—
Three muffled explosions rang out in succession. The Duergar stepped back to dissipate the force. His bracers deformed, and his arms were left a bloody mess.
[You cast Magic Missile on the Duergar Psionic Master… The Duergar Psionic Master is hit, taking 8 force damage. Current Hit Points: 31/39…]
Anser did not even spare a glance. The blue magical runes on the Ring of Spell Storing flared brilliantly, and three more howling clusters of spell-light shot forth.
"Woooo—"
Whoosh—
The Duergar acted decisively. He twisted his body to dodge Finn's arrow, raised his hand and pointed at Anser, unleashing an invisible wave of force straight toward him, then turned his back to tank the Magic Missiles head-on.
Anser's scalp went numb. He triggered Shield once again, but this time the force-field barrier seemed almost useless.
He felt a momentary haze cloud his mind. At the same time, the scales on his body and the protective cloak flashed with a faint glimmer of magic, and that spell fluctuation dissipated into nothingness.
[The Duergar Psionic Master casts Dominate Person on you. Forced to make a simple Intelligence saving throw (12)… Saving throw successful.]
"Damn it!" he cursed aloud.
On the other side, the Duergar's cloak was tattered, blood soaking his leather armor. Before he even had time to be surprised that the spell had failed, Bratt's longsword had already cleaved toward his face.
He barely twisted aside to avoid it, but the longsword slashed diagonally upward at an astonishing speed.
Unable to evade in time, he hastily swung his dagger to block, only to be knocked aside by the tremendous force on the blade. The sword edge ripped upward from bottom to top, tearing through the leather armor and carving a wound dozens of centimeters long across his chest and abdomen, flesh splitting open.
The Duergar let out a muffled groan and rolled, trying to turn invisible and escape. A sudden gale rose overhead as a massive black shadow swept past. Sharp talons tore away half his face; his right eye and half his scalp vanished, blood pouring out.
"Ah—" The Duergar screamed for the first time, his voice shrill and trembling.
Anser cried out inwardly in satisfaction and activated the Ring of Spell Storing once more.
"Magic Missile."
Three Magic Missiles traced three white arcs through the night sky, slamming in succession into the wound on the Duergar's chest and abdomen.
Bang! Bang! Bang—
The Duergar was ripped open on the spot. His viscera blasted across the ground, his arms drooped limply, and his gaze went vacant.
[You cast Magic Missile on the Duergar Psionic Master… The Duergar Psionic Master is hit, taking 20 (critical hit) force damage. Target killed. You gain 215 experience points. Level up.]
Bratt hopped forward and brought his blade down, severing the Duergar's head with a single strike.
The enemy was dead, but no one relaxed their guard. Bratt and Finn stood around Anser, their hearts still pounding.
"Don't be nervous. There shouldn't be anyone left," Anser said in reassurance.
No wonder people always said that spellcasters feared assassins. That moment had indeed been dangerous, but he knew that even if it happened again, he still would not die.
Shield was cast instantly on reaction—there was more than enough time. Dominate Person sounded terrifying, but its control duration was at most a few seconds, during which the caster could not cast spells. At best, the Duergar could only control him to hit people with a stick.
With his own melee ability, there was no way he could injure Bratt or Finn.
At this moment, the importance of the team was unmistakable. Going solo left far too little margin for error.
"This is a Duergar, right? How did it get so deep into the city? That's a lot of nerve," Bratt lifted his foot, wanting to kick away the grisly head, but stopped when he thought about the bounty it could fetch.
"A Duergar Psionic Master usually serves as a spy and specializes in stealth. It was probably here to gather information," Anser explained.
Its Challenge Rating was only 2, yet it was already this hard to fight.
"Watch your safety. We'll pack things up—the smell of blood might draw more monsters," Bratt reminded him.
"I know," Anser replied. He walked over to a corner, leaned his back against the wall, and watched the two of them "harvest" the loot.
He had leveled up and urgently wanted to find a safe place to advance.
This battle made him realize that his means were far too limited. His offensive spells were only Magic Missile and Chromatic Orb.
Magic Missile was effective, but its damage still lagged noticeably behind Chromatic Orb. A single Chromatic Orb could deal 3d8 (3–24) damage. Not only could its damage type be chosen freely, it also had a chance to bounce and cause a secondary explosion.
However, Chromatic Orb was easy to miss, and its base range was only half that of Magic Missile, making its shortcomings obvious.
He needed stronger and more varied spells to deal with different unexpected situations.
A few minutes passed.
The three hurried away, with Bratt and Finn each carrying a blood-soaked bundle.
Passing by a stone building with its gate wide open, Anser waved his hand. The group slipped inside and shut the gate tightly.
"I've gained some insight into innate magic. Wait for me a moment," Anser explained briefly. He took off his backpack, sat down on the ground, and pretended to enter a meditative state.
Bratt and Finn looked at each other, their expressions puzzled.
Anser had already entered his mental world. A silver twenty-sided die floated quietly in midair.
The third symbol on the die was already more than halfway lit, not far from fully illuminating.
He opened the character sheet, and the level-up options popped up:
Increase Sorcerer level, or choose a new class.
Anser decisively chose to increase his Sorcerer level, because a third-level Sorcerer could learn 2nd-level spells, bringing a significant boost in strength.
If he instead multiclassed into another class at level 1, such as Fighter, his total character level would still be three, but he would not be able to access 2nd-level spells. This was one of the drawbacks of multiclassing.
[Level Up: Level 3 Sorcerer!]
["Magic Power Control" level increased. You have mastered new draconic spells: "Dragon's Breath" and "Alter Self." You may learn one new spell.]
Level three was an important milestone. For most classes, level three allowed the selection of a subclass, determining the future development path.
Anser was special. He had already determined his sorcerous origin at level one, yet level three still granted a major boost.
The biggest surprise was the upgrade to the adventure trait Magic Power Control.
He had previously been thinking about how to improve it, never expecting it to scale with spellcasting level—something that fit the Sorcerer class perfectly.
Second-tier Magic Power Control allowed him to easily handle 2nd-level spells, improved spellcasting stability, and once again increased his maximum magic power by 5 points, making his reserves even more abundant.
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