Chapter 46: Have You Heard Of The Dragon Mark?
Anse’s heart shook greatly, his temples throbbing.
He took a deep breath, calming his restless mood, and pressed, “What is that sorcerer’s name?”
“I don’t know, I’m just a peripheral member. The mentor is very anxious, reportedly many nobles and forces are contacting him, the potion is very scarce…”
“Where does your mentor live? Who are the other cult members, do you know their whereabouts?”
“The mentor lives on the ship, called Fish Gut Dock, I don’t know the other members, this is my first time attending such a gathering today…”
“…”
Anse asked a few more questions, confirmed nothing was missed, then gently drew the short sword from Finn’s waist.
After a short Draconic utterance, the blade was coated in a layer of platinum glow, exceptionally eye-catching.
“Paladin!” Gais exclaimed in shock, his face full of disbelief.
Finn immediately covered his mouth and nose, knee pressing into his chest to prevent struggling.
Anse took the opportunity to step forward, stabbing into the back of his head from the side with one strike.
Gais convulsed a few times and then stopped moving, his vacant eyes carrying a hint of relief.
【Target Death, gain 50 Combat Experience, Level Up】
Anse sighed, walked out of the room, and beckoned to Brat:
“Clean up, bury the corpse on the spot.”
Using magic to destroy the corpse would make too much noise, better to bury it simply.
Gazing at the bright crescent moon in the night sky, his thoughts churned chaotically.
The essence of “Blue Flame” during the Magical Plague Era is out-of-control Primal Mana, while the core of a true Hellfire Sorcerer is the “potential of irradiated Primal Magic.”
A Scarred Sorcerer is a malformed product, naturally unable to withstand the erosion of Primal Magic.
‘The one who created the Scarred Sorcerer is truly a genius.’
Unfortunately, as a sorcerer himself, he couldn’t be happy; wizards are declining, sorcerers are rising, how did they become prey?
‘It couldn’t be some genius wizard unwilling to accept it, digging through ancient tomes and secrets to create this, right?!’
None of this could be verified, he could only be as cautious as possible.
The good news is he leveled up, his strength enhanced, completely unafraid of ordinary elite professionals in direct confrontation.
After a while, Finn and the other walked out of the broken hut, Brat carrying a cloth bag in hand.
“Buried.” Brat said softly, he also pushed over half a dirt wall to prevent animals from digging up the corpse.
“Let’s go.”
The three chose unmanned alleys as much as possible, soon, the scattered lights of Moon Shadow Kui Ling appeared at the end of the road.
As they approached the courtyard gate, two doormen immediately blocked the way: “Gentlemen, please stop, show your room cards.”
Anse and Brat showed their room cards, the doormen briefly checked and opened the courtyard gate.
There weren’t many people in the garden, the mushroom huts and treehouse lights were bright, it was still early, not bedtime yet.
An unabashed gaze fell on Anse, his figure paused, he turned to look, on the balcony of the treehouse top floor, a tall figure was staring at him, the light behind outlining an alluring curve.
‘Gweneth.’
Anse gave her a slight bow, then turned and walked away.
‘That famous sorcerer couldn’t be this woman, could it?’ Linking to Gais’s words, he had some guesses, ‘No, with those people’s strength, they’re far from enough.’
Gweneth wasn’t alone, Moon Shadow Kui Ling had at least 5 Moon Elf professionals.
‘Should we move out?’
While pondering, the group stepped into the mushroom hut, immediately seeing the female elf Dara brewing tea behind the counter, the air filled with faint floral fragrance.
“Eh, out so late? It’s very dangerous outside lately.” Dara said in surprise.
“Uh, seeing off a friend.” Anse said casually.
“Oh.” Dara sniffed, a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
“Good night.” Anse tossed out the words, calmly going upstairs.
Back in the rooms, the three first washed up, changed clothes, then gathered in Anse’s room.
Brat and the other sorted the loot, Anse sat on the sofa, pretending to meditate, actually entering the mental world.
He had long been unable to hold back.
Opening the Character Card, the level up options popped up:
Increase Sorcerer Level or choose a new class.
He decisively chose to increase Sorcerer Level, at this stage specialization is stronger, Sorcerer Level determines the spell levels he can cast.
【Level Up: Level Four Sorcerer!】
【You gain a new Feat, you can learn one new spell, and one Evocation School Spell】
Anse clicked on Feats, a dense list popped up immediately, most were lit, more choices than at second level.
Many feats have level and attribute requirements, except for a few geniuses, most professionals can only master those powerful feats at level four.
And he has 「Extraordinary Talent」, many feats originally unavailable now open to him.
Fey Touch for Misty Step, Elemental Mastery ignoring elemental resistance, Mounted Combat, Field Spellcaster…
So tempting, wishing to learn them all.
‘No one could really learn them all, right?’
He suddenly thought of those geniuses who once dominated Toril’s history.
The Character Card is magical, but more like a tool using resources like “Combat Experience” to increase level and strength, with limited “quota” allocatable per level.
Granted, with the Character Card he ranks among geniuses, but probably can’t compare to those ridiculously extreme geniuses.
While daydreaming, he had browsed most of the feats, a new column of feats brightened his eyes.
Dragon Mark Feats from the Eberron world!
Eberron is an independent world in DND, legend says created by three progenitor dragons （Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber）.
The most influential here are the twelve Dragon Mark families with different Dragon Marks, controlling Karrnath and surrounding areas.
No one knows the origin of Dragon Marks, rumored related to the three progenitor dragons, but Eberron’s dragons lack Dragon Mark power, their attempts to gain it led to half-dragon beings.
There are thirteen Dragon Marks total, besides the twelve families’ orthodox ones, there’s a variant from inter-family dragon race marriages, each with strengths.
Anse’s little heart pounded: ‘Expanded feats selectable too?’
Dragon Mark power is very strong, each has a core trait 「Dragon Mark Spell」, with multiple 1-5 ring spells.
For example, Orien family’s 「Passage Dragon Mark」, +2 Dexterity attribute and +1 other attribute, comes with Misty Step, Blink, Teleport, Teleportation Circle and a bunch of mobility spells, Misty Step as spell-like ability.
Unfortunately 「Passage Dragon Mark」 is Dexterity-based, even its spell-like Misty Step casting attribute is Dexterity.
Spells can always be learned, he values attribute fit more.
Charisma-based ones: Hospitality Dragon Mark, Shadow Dragon Mark, Storm Dragon Mark. Hospitality’s signature spells are Leomund’s Tiny Hut, Holy Site; Shadow focuses on Illusion like Invisibility, Phantasm.
Storm Dragon Mark focuses on Conjuration and Transmutation spells, can summon Elemental Beings to fight for you, seems more practical.
He clicked the feat to view details:
【Storm Dragon Mark】: Expanded General Feat. You gain the following benefits:
「Attribute Score Increase」: Charisma +2, Dexterity +1.
「Windrider’s Intuition」: Your intuition is sharper. When making Dexterity （Acrobatics） checks or any checks using navigator tools, gain 1d4 （1-4） bonus.
「Storm Blessing」: You have Lightning Resistance.
「Against the Wind」: You learn the cantrip Dance Wind. Your Dragon Mark grants the spell-like ability Control Winds, once per day.
「Dragon Mark Spell」: You know the first ring spells Great Step, Fog Cloud; second ring spells Control Winds, Levitate. More spells unlock on level up.
‘Strong!’
Since he already knows Feather Fall, the dice helped replace it with Great Step, both School of Transmutation spells, perfect resource fit.
Great Step is a status spell, increases target’s movement speed by 10%-30% for one hour, very practical.
Notes:
1. Combat Experience:
Challenge Rating and experience refer to this chapter’s illustration, same level professionals give 1/4 monster experience, e.g., level 1 professional is 50, level 4 is 275.
Experience calculated by actual combat contribution (control spells no damage but still grant proportional experience), half for non-kills, special cases noted extra.
2. Dragon Mark Power
Detection Dragon Mark: Half-Elf, Wisdom attribute
Finding Dragon Mark: Half-Orc or Human, Wisdom + Constitution
Pastoral Dragon Mark: Human, Wisdom
Healing Dragon Mark: Halfling, Wisdom
Hospitality Dragon Mark: Halfling, Charisma
Creation Dragon Mark: Human, Intelligence
Passage Dragon Mark: Human, Dexterity
Scribing Dragon Mark: Gnome, Intelligence
Warding Dragon Mark: Human, Constitution + Wisdom
Shadow Dragon Mark: Elf, Charisma
Storm Dragon Mark: Half-Elf, Charisma + Dexterity
Vigilance Dragon Mark: Dwarf, Intelligence
Variant Dragon Mark: No limit, Constitution
3. DND has many campaigns or expansions, treat them as parallel worlds. If you want, create your own new world and rules.
Tabletop Role-Playing house rules vary, introducing expansions like （Dragonlance, Eberron, Spelljammer etc.） feats or campaign feats is common.
“Full expansion” generally means no limits on race, class, feat, spell list.
4. Great Step: DND rules fixed +10 feet, human base speed 30 feet （9 meters）.
But reality isn’t turn-based, changed to 10-30% for reasonableness. Ordinary people weaker, higher boost percentage.
