Chapter 6: Warrior Brat
The Mage Tower has no basement; the ground is too hard to excavate. The Storage Room is on the first floor for easy transport of supplies.
Anse has lived here for five years and knows it like the back of his hand. He squeezed through the broken Door and found the inside had already been looted, with rough handling and items scattered everywhere.
‘Fuck, it must be those Duergar who did it.’
He cursed inwardly, but his movements were quick and efficient, rapidly gathering useful supplies together.
Candles, shovels, soap, Water Bag, Ink, a stack of white paper, Clothes, Telescope… nothing valuable, but very useful for someone about to flee.
He gathered a big Bundle and casually tossed it in the Hall.
But the most needed Rope was not found.
He had no choice but to muster his courage and run upstairs to the Dormitory, Kitchen, Alchemy room…
Most Rooms had been destructively searched but not thoroughly. Familiar with the environment, he actually found quite a few good things.
Several Money Bags, two Spellbooks, some Food, a Bundle of Rope, and the most valuable was the spare Staff found in Fabian’s Room.
‘The Duergar don’t know goods, or maybe it was those brainless Goblin and Orc Slaves who searched. Too bad Fabian’s secret Treasure Chest wasn’t found.’
The Staff was fully six feet long, about as tall as Anse when planted on the ground; it looked like a gray-green Wooden Stick with faint patterns on the surface, very unremarkable.
He doesn’t know Appraisal and can’t immediately know its affixes and usage, but he can use it as a regular Spellcasting tool.
Mentor Fabian once said he would reward this Staff to the best-performing Apprentice—a carrot that turned a group of workhorses into blood-pumped enthusiasts, the kind who even pay to work.
How ridiculous!
Dozens of Apprentices in the Mage Tower, most with little potential: some oblivious, some scheming, and most unwilling to accept it.
To curry favor with Fabian and compete for limited resources, the Apprentices fought endlessly among themselves, often scheming against each other for an Assistant Instructor or Procurement position, unaware these were all Fabian’s little tricks.
Anse suddenly remembered the first Assistant Instructor Gais who framed the original owner; if he encountered him, he wouldn’t mind killing him offhand and “inheriting” Fabian’s legacy righteously.
He shook his head, casting aside the cluttered thoughts, changed into new Clothes and Boots from his own Room, then packed the valuables into a black leather Backpack, carrying it on his back along with the Staff.
He bundled the other miscellaneous items into a Bundle, hid it in a Corner outside the Mage Tower, planning to come back for it later.
Carrying the Rope, he came to the edge of the Giant Pit, peered down, and saw only pitch blackness below, nothing clear.
No way around it, he pulled a glowing Wooden Stick from the side of the Backpack, uncovered a corner of the black cloth and shook it, then immediately wrapped it tight again.
“I’m here, I’m here!”
Brat’s voice came from below, his tone filled with irrepressible surprise.
Anse scanned around with the Rope and found that directly above the stone pillar was not a good position.
After the Brampton District and Eastern District collapsed, the Chongsa River burst its banks, and vast River Water poured into the Giant Pit from the southwest, forming waterfalls of various sizes; the flow had lessened slightly after a day.
Brat’s position wasn’t great; coming straight up would face the water impact, which would be taxing.
Anse avoided that Area, moved horizontally more than ten meters, and fixed the Rope to a broken sturdy Tree Stump.
“Watch the Rope!”
With that, he forcefully threw the Rope down toward Brat.
Several seconds later, the Rope tightened, and Brat’s response came from below:
“I got it, no need to pull; I’ll climb myself.”
“Good.” Anse smiled faintly; the other was worried the Rope would fray from pulling.
He pulled over a prepared ragged Blanket and padded it where the Rope hung down to prevent the Stone from wearing through the Hemp Rope.
A few minutes later, Brat’s figure appeared in Anse’s Gaze.
He used his Belt, Buckle, and Rope to make a safety device; the Rope loop at his waist looked very professional, tightening quickly with each step up—not fast, but safe; when tired, he could half-hang on the rock wall to catch his breath for a few seconds.
For the last few meters, Anse didn’t go up to help but instead stepped back a few paces, watching him climb up and flop onto the ground, panting heavily.
“Thanks, so… tiring…” Brat raked back his messy hair from his face, revealing a lean face with pale lips and a pair of particularly striking emerald Gemstone-like eyes.
He wasn’t as lucky as Anse; after the water flow shifted, he was soaked for a long time, losing stamina, exhausted and hungry.
“Very professional, Adventurer?” Anse looked him up and down.
“Done it before; until last night, I was Guard Captain at Lingang Hospital, Warrior Professional.” As he spoke, Brat struggled to his feet, undid the Lock, and neatly coiled and stowed the Rope.
“Then you’re pretty lucky.” Anse remarked.
Lingang Hospital wasn’t far from the Mage Tower and had vanished into the ground; in a disaster of this level, Professionals and Commoners were no different—surviving must mean some dog luck.
“Meeting you is the real luck; I owe you my life.” Brat’s expression was sincere, his Gaze involuntarily focusing on Anse’s face.
They were tiny Dragon Scales, shimmering with faint metallic sheen under the moonlight, noticeable only up close.
“Come this way.” Seeing him recover some stamina, Anse led him to the spot outside the Mage Tower where the Bundle was hidden.
This place was even more concealed, not visible to passersby or Underground Creatures.
Brat carried his Longsword with heavy steps; seeing the big Bundle in the Corner, his eyes lit up: “Any Food?”
“Yes, not much.”
Anse pulled out a cloth Bag from the Bundle, fished out a twenty-plus-centimeter-long, ten-plus-centimeter-thick Black Bread, tossed it to Brat, then took one for himself and started eating.
“Brown Sugar Walnut Bread, good stuff.” Brat didn’t stand on ceremony and gnawed on it.
Brown Sugar Walnut Bread was also called Amn Black Bread, with many varieties; it was the Mage Tower’s standard staple, but a rare treat for the poor.
In that sense, Fabian had some conscience.
Anse was hungry too; he hadn’t felt it before, but as the soft, sweet bread hit his mouth, hunger surged like a tide.
He took out a Water Bag and tossed one to Brat.
In the Corner, the two sat facing each other, eating without a word.
But Anse didn’t relax, ears perked, constantly listening for outside noises.
Brat was the same; at any sound, he stopped chewing, Longsword at hand, much more alert than Anse.
His Gaze occasionally swept over Anse’s Clothes and Staff, his expression showing some understanding.
After drinking water to swallow the last bite of bread, he hung the Water Bag at his waist and asked softly: “You’re a Wizard from the Mage Tower?”
“Sort of; I’m Anse.” Anse didn’t explain much. “It’s dangerous here; any Ideas?”
“We can’t stay here long. North and northeast are full of Underground Creatures, south is Chongsa River, east is Dust Eagle Mountain; best to head to Dust Eagle Mountain to hide…” Brat pondered.
His Idea was to hide; Baldur’s Gate council wouldn’t sit idly by. Once the Flame Fist Legion and city Guards acted, this Duergar-led invasion would soon be driven back underground.
Even if Baldur’s Gate High-ranking Officials couldn’t handle it, they could seek aid from the Lord’s Alliance: Silverymoon, Neverwinter, Waterdeep… all with formidable Strength.
“The Magic Net… is disrupted!” Anse said gravely.
That was the real disaster!
“What?” Brat’s eyes widened in shock, then as if realizing something, “Then… how can you still Spellcast?”
“The Magic Net hasn’t collapsed.” Anse explained. “I accidentally awakened Dragon Race bloodline and switched to Mana Casting.”
Brat looked down, eyes flickering uncertainly, silent for a moment before slowly saying: “Then you’re a genius.”
Clearly, switching a Spell Slot Casting Professional to Mana Casting wasn’t easy.
“Maybe.” Anse didn’t know how his Class Panel differed from other Professionals and could only be vague.
Warrior features:
Level 1: Fighting Style
You hone your martial skills. You gain one Fighting Style Feat of your choice. Defense is recommended.
Whenever you gain a Warrior Level, you can change it to another Fighting Style Feat.
Level 1: Second Wind
You can use limited energy and stamina to rally. As a Bonus Action, you can use this to restore Life equal to 1d10 + your Warrior Class Level.
You can use this feature twice, regain one expended use after a Short Rest, and all expended uses after a Long Rest.
At certain Warrior Levels, you gain extra uses of this feature, as listed in the Second Wind column of the Warrior features table.
Level 1: Weapon Mastery
Your weapon training lets you apply Mastery affixes to three Simple or Martial Weapons of your choice. After each Long Rest, you can retrain your skills to change one chosen weapon type.
At specific Warrior Levels, you can use Mastery affixes for more weapon types.
Level 2: Action Surge
You can push past mortal limits briefly. On your turn, you can take an extra Action, but not a Magic Action.
Level 2: Tactical Thinking
On and off the Battlefield, you apply your Tactics. When you fail an Attribute check, you can expend a Second Wind use to get closer to success.
