Chapter 53: Phantom Steed
“Mind if I ask what happened?” Ragna pointed at the sailing ship drifting with the sea current.
“Of course…”
Anse concealed his relationship with Clara, claiming he discovered the slaver, first rescued the elf, and planned to send her to the Moon Shadow Kui Ling before figuring out how to save the others.
In truth, he just wanted to spread the news and prepare to slack off in the chaos.
The matter wasn’t complicated; he explained it clearly in a few sentences.
Ragna’s expression changed upon hearing elf and Moon Shadow Kui Ling, then she said solemnly, “Mr. Anse, leave the rest to us. Silver Scale Bay will investigate to the end.”
“Oh.” Anse smiled, showing no intention of leaving. “May I ask how Magistrate Ragna plans to handle it?”
Official intervention was legitimate; he had no reason to refuse, but since he had offended them, he naturally wanted to eradicate them completely. He didn’t want to be targeted.
A flash of displeasure crossed Ragna’s eyes. She was directly appointed by Baldur’s Gate’s “Noble Council,” elite among elites. Few dared to deny her face, let alone show distrust openly.
But she didn’t dare truly get angry. The other’s strength was great, acting without scruples, and a Follower of Tyr to boot. If she provoked a few paladins, the trouble would be bigger.
“The guards have a few small boats. I’ll organize people to board immediately. They won’t get away.”
“Small boats?” Anse’s mouth curved up, unsure if this barbarian was truly stupid or thought sorcerers were easy to fool. “Do you have cannons? How many people will die boarding the ship?”
【Conch】 has cannons. If this weren’t a town, they would have unveiled the cannons and bombarded him earlier.
A sailing ship requires many crew members to operate. The 【Conch】 has numerous crew; even after losing a batch, at least thirty more remain, including musketeers, gunners, sailors, and the like. Taking it down isn’t that simple.
Ragna’s expression stiffened, her face turning cold. “May I ask what method Mr. Anse has? Cannon fire exchange would likely kill all those commoners.”
“Spread this news throughout the town and invite everyone to help. Have professionals surround and board from all sides. Even without cannons, they can be easily wiped out.” Anse said calmly.
This approach had drawbacks too; those professionals taking such a big risk, it was reasonable to share some loot.
“I’ll consider it.” Ragna turned and left, leaving Anse standing there.
Emphasizing you don’t leave, so I’ll leave—refusing to let you get involved.
Anse smiled faintly, unperturbed. He wanted to see what this magistrate was up to.
But the top priority now was finding Clara first, lest she be targeted again.
Nolnos trotted along, just leaving the dock when he encountered a slender figure on horseback coming his way.
Moon-white robe, hood on head, face obscured, but Anse could guess who it was just from the posture.
He focused on the mount. It gave an unreal feeling, steps nimble, landing lightly.
‘This should be the third ring spell Phantom Steed.’
The horse and saddle are quasi-real, speed much faster than a regular mount, but it vanishes when attacked.
‘She can even cast a third ring spell?’
Not that he underestimated her. Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters too, affected by the Magic Net. Even with innate magic, switching to mana casting requires a difficult process.
Those Blue Flame Cult people dared to hunt sorcerers because the sorcerer group was currently in a trough.
Of course, it could also be because 「Phantom Steed」 can be cast via ritual, not consuming spell slots.
At this time, Gweneth was also sizing up Anse, her gaze full of scrutiny. “You sure know how to stir up trouble.”
The Moon Shadow Kui Ling’s position is elevated; she saw from the window a black horse, black cloak figure rampaging through the town, riding a black horse leaping about, and finally burning their ship.
But this person’s strength was exceptional, spells cast fast, accurate, and far. She was shocked; he indeed had the capital to be arrogant.
“I was just counterattacking passively. In Faerun, one has no choice.” Anse sighed like an old hand.
Before transmigrating, he endured grievances, hesitated at every turn, took daily flak from colleagues and boss. After transmigrating, if he still took flak, what was the point?
“That’s an interesting proverb.” Gweneth rode closer, her expression enigmatic. “So going out to kill in the middle of the night is also passive counterattack?”
“Mm… that’s called rooting out evil completely.” Anse explained calmly.
“Another proverb you made up?” Gweneth was momentarily at a loss for rebuttal.
“Heard it somewhere.” Anse just translated and adapted idioms from his previous life.
“Things have been chaotic lately… Keep it low-key.” Gweneth’s gaze was meaningful, implying something.
With that, she rode past Anse toward the dock.
‘She knows about the Blue Flame Cult?’ Anse watched her back, not quite understanding her intent.
People die daily in Silver Scale Bay; it’s chaotic, but not overly dangerous for professionals.
He didn’t dwell on it; Brat and Clara were waiting.
Nolnos quick-stepped along the street, Greyhawk guiding from above, finally finding two adults and a child in a diner on the street.
Amid the chaos, Brat worried the slavers had accomplices and didn’t dare wander, holding Clara and blending into the crowd to hide in the diner, pretending to watch the spectacle.
Anse lifted the bewildered Clara onto the horse’s back, and the group returned together to Moon Shadow Kui Ling.
Seeing the man and horse intact, Brat didn’t ask details; the street wasn’t the place.
Midway, they picked up Finn; the loot was plentiful, too much for one person.
“Lost some.”
“No big deal.”
Anse had anticipated it. Faerun folk are “simple and honest”; pilfering from corpses is commonplace.
The group arrived at Moon Shadow Kui Ling, and the gazes on Anse mostly dispersed.
The daytime garden was open access; the doorman didn’t stop them, just reminded them not to let the horse damage the plants.
Anse instructed Nolnos a few words, letting it roam freely in the garden.
But as they entered the mushroom house, Dara suddenly darted out, arms spread to block Anse.
She stared wide-eyed at Clara, expression wary. “Where… have you been? Where’d the child come from?”
No wonder she was tense; elf slaves were always hot black market items. Moon Shadow Kui Ling couldn’t ignore them.
Moreover, such a young elf child couldn’t possibly leave parents to live with humans. She very much wanted to trust Anse, but reason wouldn’t let her ignore it.
Seeing her demeanor, Anse knew she hadn’t gone to watch the excitement; Moon Shadow Kui Ling’s location was indeed secluded.
He stepped aside to reveal Kafka behind him. “They’re together. I saw slavers tricking people onto the ship at the dock and stopped them.”
“That’s right, we just came from Baldur’s Gate Sea Tower District.” Kafka explained.
But he was human too; such claims rang hollow, hardly convincing Dara.
Dara’s eyes flickered, shifting gaze to Clara. “Come, let auntie hold you.”
Clara glanced sideways at Anse and firmly shook her head. “No.”
Though young, she was clever; recent events made clear who her real backer was.
Dara was exasperated. They were kin; they should naturally be close.
Her eyes turned, new idea forming. “Each room holds only two people. No empty rooms in the mushroom houses. Follow me to the cloud treehouse.”
“Fine by me.” Anse was noncommittal.
But from what he knew, that treehouse excepted the ground floor dining room wasn’t open to outsiders; upstairs housed moon elves and waiters.
Thanks to Super Giant Tyrannosaurus War God, Zheng Ming, Control Idealism, Soul Breaker Something Point, Shenhe My Wife, Wool Where Are You, Book Friend 20190124165609900, Shan Hai Fang Cun Jian’s rewards.
1. Phantom Steed
Third ring illusion（ wizard）
Casting time: 1 minute or ritual
Casting distance: 30 feet
Spell components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
A quasi-real large horse-like creature appears in an unoccupied space on the ground within casting distance that you choose. You decide the creature’s appearance, and it is equipped with saddle, bit, and reins. These spell-created equipment vanish in a puff of smoke once they leave the mount by 10 feet.
While the spell lasts, you or a creature you designate can mount this mount. The mount uses mount stats, but has 100 feet speed, traveling 20+ kilometers per hour. When the spell ends, the mount fades slowly, giving the rider 1 minute to dismount. If damaged, the spell ends early.
2. Charisma: In 5R rules, higher physical class attributes mean higher damage, but spell damage generally doesn’t scale with attributes. The most common way to boost damage is upcasting.
But some class features add the casting attribute adjustment value to damage, like evocation wizard’s 10th-level Empowered Evocation, dragonblood sorcerer’s 6th-level Elemental Affinity, colloquially “charisma on damage.”
Think of the spell model as fixed, power in a range; only increasing cost boosts power（ higher spell slot or more mana）.
