Chapter 179: All Magic Shares A Common Origin
Two new feats, one of which is selected as 「Dragon Race Attribute Increase」, Intelligence +1, reaching 21 points, breaking through to Extraordinary Domain.
While increasing Wizard casting ability, the attunement quantity for magical items +1.
The second feat selects General Feat 【Elemental Mastery】.
【Elemental Mastery】: General Feat.
You gain the following benefits:
「Attribute Score Increase」: Your Wisdom increases by 1 point, up to a maximum of 20.
「Energy Control」: Choose one of the following damage types: Acid, Cold, Flame, Lightning, Thunder. Spells you cast ignore resistance to the selected damage type.
In addition, when you cast spells of that damage type, your damage rolls can never be 1 point.
Current selected damage type: Cold.
This feat can be selected multiple times, each time choosing one elemental damage type. Previously selected Flame, this time Cold.
Flame and Cold perfectly correspond to his two Elemental Affinities, maximizing the power of these two types of spells.
Choosing Wizard spells is more headache-inducing because Wizards can learn so many spells.
Anse doesn’t lack damage; his principle is to avoid selecting spells that require Concentration as much as possible, focusing on utility spells.
First are Cantrips and Evocation Spells.
Cantrip selects 「Minor Illusion」, creating a sound or an image of an object within casting distance, used to deceive others or distract attention, which may be useful in specific scenarios.
The three Evocation Spells from 「Arcana Resonance」 have few choices because he is about to learn all low-ring Evocation Spells.
Finally, he selects Chaos Bolt, Sleet Storm, Shatter.
「Chaos Bolt」 can create a mass of shifting, shrieking chaotic energy, base damage 2d8+1d6（3-22）, similar to Prismatic Spray.
Moreover, the chaotic energy has a one-in-eight probability of jumping to a nearby target, and with good luck, it can keep jumping.
But the damage type of Chaos Bolt is uncontrollable—psychic, Acid, Flame, force… completely random. Even the spellcaster doesn’t know, let alone the target figuring out how to defend against it.
「Sleet Storm」 and 「Shatter」 are both Second Ring Spells, but each has its own characteristics.
The former is renowned for its icy chill, able to freeze creatures in a cone-shaped area ahead and deal 3d8（3-24） Cold damage, with crowd control effects.
The latter emits a deafening blast of noise, dealing 3d8 Thunder damage to all creatures in a 10-foot（3-meter） spherical area centered on the point, also damaging non-magical objects, and constructs have disadvantage on the saving throw.
If Anse encounters a large number of constructs or cannons, 「Shatter」 will be more effective.
Six Wizard spells: First Ring Spells select 「False Life」 and 「Absorb Elements」.
「False Life」 is like a layer of life plating that absorbs damage in place of the caster.
「Absorb Elements」 can use a reaction upon being hit to absorb some elemental energy, weakening the spell effect while empowering the caster’s next melee attack.
There are many choices for Second Ring Spells; after much thought, Anse selects 「Arcane Lock」, 「Knock」, 「Augury」, 「Mirror Image」.
「Arcane Lock」 can add a magic lock to doors, windows, containers, or entryways, which can persist indefinitely. The spellcaster can set permissions and passwords, allowing only specific creatures to pass.
This spell combined with Alarm is enough to turn a room into a secret room that cannot be entered without violence, with almost no creature able to approach him silently.
The Black Tower’s access control system is a spell variant of Arcane Lock.
「Knock」 is the nemesis of Arcane Lock, using magical techniques to knock on objects, opening doors, windows, chests, shackles, locks, bolts, etc., even temporarily suppressing Arcane Lock.
This spell is essential for adventure and treasure hunting: see a door or lock, use Knock!
「Augury」 is a Second Ring Divination Spell that obtains a portent from an otherworldly being about a course of action soon to be taken, but it is vague, roughly auspicious, inauspicious, both, or neither.
This spell can only portend actions within the next several minutes, and it’s best used only once per day. Each additional casting accumulates a 25% failure probability, possibly yielding no result.
Divination before causing trouble is better safe than sorry, but don’t fully trust it—Divination is inherently full of uncertainty.
「Mirror Image」 creates three illusory duplicates of the caster, which mimic the caster’s actions and position changes to confuse enemies, blending real with fake, ineffective against blinded creatures or those with True Sight.
Casting Mirror Image before combat will definitely have a good effect.
【Feats: Dragon Race Attribute Increase（Intelligence +1）, Elemental Mastery（Cold）, Innate Magic: Chaos Bolt, Sleet Storm, Shatter, Wizard spells: False Life, Absorb Elements, Arcane Lock, Knock, Augury, Mirror Image, Cantrip: Minor Illusion. Confirm?】
Anse did not confirm immediately but first teleported into the spherical Astrolabe Track Formation beneath the Black Tower.
“Confirm!”
The next moment, the world spun, and his mental will wandered in a sparkling ocean of Spiritual Light. A brilliant point of Spiritual Light suddenly emerged, its gorgeous glow illuminating all directions, making everything clearer and more radiant.
Anse was still immersed in this indescribable comfort when a flood of knowledge and insights surged into his mind like a torrent, overwhelming him so he could only fully immerse himself in it without time to think of anything else.
This experience was not much different from Sorcerer Level Up, like a swordsman recovering from illness picking up the sword again—the familiar feeling quickly returned, without the awkwardness of a beginner.
After an unknown amount of time, Anse opened his eyes, his gaze bright and spirited.
‘This is what being a Wizard is like; it doesn’t seem that hard.’
The chasm that the original host’s apprentice self could never cross despite giving everything seemed nonexistent to him.
The biggest difference is not Intelligence level, but the Character Card saving him the tedious and lengthy learning time—a clear cheat.
Learning is what gives countless Wizards the biggest headache; even top students don’t necessarily love studying.
He also discovered a misconception about Wizards: that all Wizards understand and master Magic Theory.
Of course that’s wrong!
Most Wizards are like students from his previous life, rote-learning subjects like math and physics, using formulas and theorems to solve problems. It tests Intelligence, but is far from understanding the underlying logic.
Many Wizards spend their lives learning predecessors’ Spell Models and still don’t fully understand them. Wizards who can improve and optimize spells are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, all once-in-a-generation geniuses like Melf or Bigby.
Though Wizards have many spells, they are negligible compared to Toril’s long History, showing the difficulty of Magic research.
Thus, before Legendary, it’s mainly about accumulation through learning.
‘Sure enough, the best way to break a class halo is to become one of them.’ Anse quipped.
Even so, he still needs to try to integrate Sorcerer, Paladin, and Wizard casting modes.
Sorcerers rely on Innate Magic; spells come from Bloodline and instinct—want to cast, and it happens.
Traditional Wizard casting style is somewhat like Paladin: must “prepare” before casting by memorizing extremely complex Spell Models in the brain, otherwise unable to cast.
This process is like loading a written program into memory; memory capacity determines the number of prepared spells, and casting is connecting energy to execute the program.
Understanding this process shows that “Knowledge is Power” is not philosophy, but Rules.
Compared to Mana Casting, the original Spell Slot casting is easier: fewer models, stable construction, greatly simplified process, very caster-friendly.
Mana Casting difficulty spikes; Primal Mana is like an unruly child—far less stable than the Magic Net, hard to guide, and building models on top is not only slow but has a very high failure probability.
Fortunately, Anse has extremely strong Mana control, so it’s not difficult for him.
Moreover, his Intelligence is Extraordinary, Memory extremely high; many complex Spell Models can be easily memorized without a Spellbook—at least for current Second Ring Spells.
Sorcerer and Wizard Mana and application techniques are interchangeable; just distinguish casting styles for different spells before casting to avoid mixing them up.
Perhaps they can even spark unique inspirations between them.
