The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

Gwyneth glanced at her and did not argue.

In fact, after receiving the news, she had immediately rushed over, but the battle itself had lasted only a few minutes. Unless one happened to run into it like Ragna did, there was simply no time to arrive.

”Let’s go back. It’s not safe here.” Looking at Anser’s pale face, a few words of admonishment rose to her lips, only for her to realize that the two of them were not that familiar.

”Anywhere I am is the safest place in Silver Scale Bay.” Ragna was clearly at odds with Gwyneth and snapped back the moment she opened her mouth.

So even the most straightforward woman could be petty at times. Anser muttered inwardly, waved his hand, and said, ”Let’s go. Don’t forget my spoils.”

With so many people around, the holy symbol was burning hot, and his Magic Power was completely depleted. Staying here really did not feel safe at all.

Gwyneth cleared the way in front, while Anser rode his horse behind her.

Emon, Finn, the guards, and the escorts sent by Sidney surrounded him on all sides. There were also many familiar faces in the crowd, such as Kaleno in full armor and the big-headed warrior Matthew.

Anser wore a hood, kept his head slightly lowered, and his mind was still replaying that battle from just now.

He was still not cautious enough. In the future, he needed to be more careful in places that were too crowded—who knew when he might suddenly become part of the ”excitement.”

He suddenly realized that the disruption of the Weave was extremely advantageous to him. If it were not for the failure of many magic items, given the Shadow Thieves’ level of wealth, they probably would have had a whole pile of life-saving equipment.

’That’s not right either—good gear all requires Attunement.’

Three items per person; weapons and armor already took up two of them, and wearing ten magic rings on both hands was not feasible.

’This Shadow Thief must have happened to be near Silver Scale Bay; otherwise there’s no way he could have arrived this fast. Looks like I’ve already made it onto the Shadow Thieves’ must-kill list.’

He knew Nashivaar would retaliate, but he hadn’t expected it to be this fast—after all, he had only taken out the slave ship last night.

The Shadow Thieves’ Guild was one of the most influential and largest thieves’ guilds in the western part of the Faerûn continent, with a long history. It was originally founded by five thieves, and its headquarters was set in Waterdeep.

Later, Waterdeep’s Masked Lord, under the leadership of the ”Lady of Masks,” launched a crackdown on the Shadow Thieves and drove them out of Waterdeep, and the organization was nearly wiped out.

The remnants fled to Amn, rebuilt in the capital Athkatla, and colluded with Amn’s upper echelons. They aggressively recruited people from all social strata, and their strength rapidly swelled.

Together with the Zhentarim, it could be said to be the two most powerful assassination and intelligence organizations on the Faerûn continent.

It sounded terrifying, but there were many people and organizations that did not fear them—such as Candlekeep, Waterdeep, the Harpers, the major churches…

’Still too weak.’

However, after this assassination attempt, there should not be a second one in a short time. After all, even a level 9 elite had gone down, and it was not easy to deploy manpower of that level.

The Shadow Thieves’ Guild was very strong, but its coverage was too broad; there could not be too many elite Shadow Thieves in every region. Even so, the necessary vigilance was indispensable.

As he was thinking, the group had already entered Moonshadow Quelin, blocking the many gazes outside.

Anser took a moment to catch his breath. His condition improved somewhat, and he could already walk normally, though his complexion still did not look very good.

He nodded to Gwyneth and went straight upstairs, with Finn and the others following behind.

Gwyneth grabbed Darla, who was about to follow, pressed her back to the counter, then pulled over a lounge chair herself and went to the window to bask in the sun.

Seeing this, Kaleno also withdrew the long leg he had just stepped out with. Although he was curious, he knew that what Anser needed most right now was rest.

”Go back and keep an eye on little Claira. It hasn’t been safe lately—don’t let her out of your sight,” Gwyneth said flatly, glancing at him.

”I’m not a nanny,” Kaleno muttered in dissatisfaction, but he still obediently returned to Cloudtree House.

Bloodline suppression—there was no resisting it at all.

Anser returned to his room, walked to the bedside, leaned back, and his whole body fell heavily onto the bed. A wave of exhaustion surged over him.

”Emon, you should head back. I’m fine here.” He raised his hand and tossed his bottle of healing potion to him. After all, Emon had taken a blow for him.

”Oh, okay.” Emon caught the healing potion, exchanged a glance with Finn, did not know what to say, and simply turned and left, closing the door behind him.

At this moment, even breathing came from the bed. Finn was taken aback and quietly kept watch nearby.

...

It was not until evening that Anser slowly woke up.

He had woken up from hunger. He had only eaten a little for breakfast, and after fighting a fierce battle, it would have been strange if he were not hungry.

After sleeping for a while, his body felt much better. His Magic Power had recovered by nearly half, and his combat strength had returned.

”Have something to eat.” Seeing him awake, Bratt lifted the lids on the table one by one, and the aroma of food immediately spread through the room.

Anser’s stomach immediately growled. He took off his cloak, grabbed some bread, and started gnawing on it, mumbling, ”You’re really considerate.”

”Hehe,” Bratt let out a strange chuckle, raised his brows, and his eyes filled with curiosity. ”I hadn’t even mentioned it, and Darla brought this whole spread up already. She said it was arranged by Gwyneth…”

”She treats you differently.” The usually silent Finn suddenly blurted out a line.

Anser looked at the dozen or so dishes on the table—items that even restaurants did not have—smacked his lips, and kept eating. Gwyneth was very beautiful, but their ways of doing things were too different; they were not compatible.

”You all eat too.”

”You eat first.”

”How are those injured? Were there any deaths?” After half a bowl of mushroom soup, Anser felt like he had come back to life.

”They were all saved. A few were crippled after being trampled by Nornoth; they were all given compensation. The bounties were also distributed—Ragna helped coordinate. She didn’t take her share. In total, it cost 872 gold coins…”

Bratt took out a list, with names and amounts written on it.

”That’s not much,” Anser remarked.

To put it bluntly, an ordinary person’s life was not worth much. Bratt also did not dare give too much—one or two hundred gold coins for injury or disability was already the upper limit. Giving more would only harm them.

The bounties were essentially surplus; the main combatant had been Ragna, and since she did not want her share, a large expense was saved.

”Quite a few people wanted to come see you earlier—many I didn’t recognize. I persuaded them to leave,” Bratt said, picking up some bread and eating as he spoke.

”You did the right thing.” Anser nodded. He really did not know many people; those people likely did not have pure intentions.

”Ragna had someone deliver a bundle of things. I didn’t open it.” Bratt pointed to the blood-stained cloth bundle in the corner.

”That bundle should be the Shadow Thief’s belongings,” Anser replied.

”Shadow Thieves—are they a thieves’ guild? Why would they try to assassinate you?”

”Yes and no. It’s an assassination and intelligence organization—very famous. You’ve never heard of it…?”

They chatted as they ate, while the light outside gradually dimmed.

After eating and drinking their fill, Bratt helped sort through that bundle of spoils, and Finn cleared the tableware.

Anser lay back down on the bed, his focus sinking into his mind.

A silver twenty-sided die slowly rotated. The fourth symbol had completely lit up, and the fifth symbol had also lit up at one corner.

’Here it comes.’

He suppressed his excitement and lightly tapped the die.

Fragments of memory surfaced one after another in his mind. This time, he deliberately slowed the playback speed, observing today’s battle with the Shadow Thieves from a god’s-eye view.

Rough—some of the combat handling had been too rough. Thinking back on it now, he should have had better ways to deal with it.

Fortunately, from the very start he had been aiming to escape. He had planned to use the sea and flight to shake off the enemy. If he had been too overconfident, he would already be a corpse.

That Shadow Thief had been even rougher—wasting far too much psionic energy, using ”psychic teleportation” far too casually, and not even knowing to bait out abilities first when facing a spellcaster.

Perhaps at the beginning, he had not taken Anser seriously at all.

Moments later, the memories dispersed, and the symbols transformed into a cloud of starlight.

Ding—

[You have gained the adventure trait: Metamagic Master.]

Metamagic Master: The surging primordial magic is an innate part of you. You have learned how to control and guide your own inborn magic, and have gradually grown adept at mastering it, displaying unique power commensurate with the source of that power.

As time passes, your Metamagic will grow ever stronger, no longer confined to rigid, dogmatic applications.

When spell effects permit, you may apply more than two kinds of Metamagic simultaneously while casting a spell, with the number equal to the highest spell level you have mastered.

You gain one additional Metamagic option for each Sorcerer level.

The source of magic within you is vigorous and overflowing like a spring—your sorcery points are doubled!

...

”What?!”

Anser suddenly sat upright, unable to stop himself from letting out an exclamation, startling Bratt and the other person.

”What’s wrong?” Bratt asked nervously.

”It’s nothing.” Anser hurriedly waved his hand, forcing himself to calm down.

What is a Sorcerer’s most defining ability? Metamagic!

This is an ability unique to Sorcerers—no one else can learn it—because although it appears to be a skill or technique, its foundation is talent.

There are ten types of Metamagic in total. In theory, a level 17 Sorcerer can master at most six of them; only a legendary Sorcerer could possibly master them all.

Metamagic Master allows Anser to master all Metamagic before level ten, and even use multiple Metamagic options simultaneously on a single spell—borderline overpowered.

For example, casting Fireball while simultaneously applying Distant, Empowered, Heightened, Quickened, and Subtle Metamagic—it is hard to imagine what kind of spell effect that would produce.

Of course, doing so would definitely be wasteful: the damage would not increase by much, yet the sorcery points would be completely drained, making it not worth the cost.

But without a doubt, this is an extremely powerful trait!

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