The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

Two new feats—one of them chosen was Draconic Attribute Enhancement. Intelligence +1, reaching 21 and breaking into the Extraordinary domain.

While increasing the Wizard’s spellcasting ability, the number of magic items he could attune to also increased by +1.

The second feat chosen was the general feat Elemental Adept.

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Elemental Adept: General Feat.

You gain the following benefits:

Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom increases by 1, to a maximum of 20.

Energy Control: Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder. Your spells ignore resistance to the chosen damage type.

Additionally, when you cast spells of that damage type, your damage rolls can never be 1.

Current chosen damage type: cold.

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This feat can be taken multiple times. Each time you select a different elemental damage type. Previously he had chosen fire; this time, he chose cold.

Fire and cold perfectly matched his two elemental affinities, allowing him to push both categories of spells to their limits.

Choosing Wizard spells was even more of a headache, because there were simply too many spells a Wizard could learn.

Anser didn’t lack damage. His principle was to avoid spells that required concentration whenever possible, focusing instead on utility spells.

First were cantrips and evocation spells.

For his cantrip, he chose Minor Illusion, creating a sound or an image of an object within range to deceive others or distract attention—useful in certain scenarios.

The three evocation spells granted by Arcane Resonance didn’t leave much room for choice, since he had almost completed the low-level evocation spell list.

In the end, he chose Chaos Bolt, Rime’s Binding Ice, and Shatter.

Chaos Bolt creates a mass of ever-shifting, shrieking chaotic energy. Its base damage is 2d8 + 1d6 (3–22), comparable to Chromatic Orb.

Moreover, there is a one-in-eight chance that the chaotic energy leaps to a nearby target. With enough luck, it can keep jumping.

However, the damage type of Chaos Bolt is uncontrollable—psychic, acid, fire, force… completely random. Even the caster doesn’t know, let alone the target, making it impossible to defend against.

Both Rime’s Binding Ice and Shatter are 2nd-level spells, but each has its own strengths.

The former is known for its freezing power, capable of freezing creatures within a cone in front and dealing 3d8 (3–24) cold damage, with area control effects.

The latter unleashes a deafening burst of sound, dealing 3d8 thunder damage to all creatures within a 3-meter-radius sphere, and also damaging nonmagical objects. Constructs have disadvantage on the saving throw.

If Anser encountered large numbers of constructs or artillery, Shatter would be more effective.

For his six Wizard spells, at 1st level he chose False Life and Absorb Elements.

False Life acts like a layer of life coating, absorbing damage in place of the caster.

Absorb Elements allows him, when attacked, to use his reaction to absorb part of the elemental energy—reducing the spell’s effect while empowering his next melee attack.

There were many choices for 2nd-level spells. After careful consideration, Anser selected Arcane Lock, Knock, Augury, and Mirror Image.

Arcane Lock can place a magical lock on doors, windows, containers, or entrances. It can last indefinitely, and the caster can set permissions and passphrases, allowing only specific creatures to enter.

Combined with Alarm, this spell could turn a room into a sealed chamber. Without brute force, entry would be impossible—almost no creature could approach him silently.

The Black Tower’s access system was essentially a variant of Arcane Lock.

Knock, on the other hand, is the natural counter to Arcane Lock. By using magical techniques to ”strike” an object, it can open doors, windows, chests, shackles, locks, and bars—even suppressing Arcane Lock temporarily.

This spell is indispensable for exploration and treasure hunting. If there’s a lock, use Knock!

Augury is a 2nd-level divination spell that allows the caster to receive a vague omen from extraplanar entities regarding a course of action—typically one of four outcomes: good, bad, both, or nothing.

It only predicts events within the next few dozen minutes, and it’s best used once per day. Each additional use increases the chance of failure by 25%, possibly yielding no result at all.

It’s useful to consult before taking action—better safe than sorry—but it shouldn’t be trusted blindly. Divination itself is full of uncertainty.

Mirror Image creates three illusory duplicates of the caster. These illusions mimic his movements and position, confusing enemies and making it difficult to tell real from fake. It is ineffective against blind creatures or those with truesight.

Casting Mirror Image before combat would definitely be effective.

[Feats: Draconic Attribute Enhancement (Intelligence +1), Elemental Adept (Cold); Innate Magic: Chaos Bolt, Rime’s Binding Ice, Shatter; Wizard Spells: False Life, Absorb Elements, Arcane Lock, Knock, Augury, Mirror Image; Cantrip: Minor Illusion. Confirm?]

Anser did not confirm immediately. Instead, he teleported beneath the Black Tower, into the spherical astrolabe ritual array.

”Confirm!”

In the next instant, the world spun. His consciousness drifted through a vast ocean of radiant spiritual energy. A brilliant spark suddenly emerged, its dazzling light illuminating everything, making it clearer and more resplendent.

Anser was still immersed in that indescribable comfort when an overwhelming flood of knowledge and insight surged into his mind—torrential and unstoppable—leaving no room for any other thought. He could only fully immerse himself in it.

The experience was not much different from leveling up as a Sorcerer. It was like a swordmaster recovering from injury and picking up a blade again—the familiar feeling returned quickly, without the awkwardness of first learning.

Who knew how much time had passed before Anser opened his eyes, his gaze bright and full of spirit.

So this is a Wizard… doesn’t seem that hard.

The insurmountable barrier that had once blocked the original body during his apprenticeship seemed nonexistent to him.

The biggest difference wasn’t Intelligence—it was the existence of the character sheet, which spared him the long, tedious process of study. It was outright cheating.

After all, studying is what gives countless Wizards headaches. Even top students don’t necessarily love learning.

He also realized a common misconception about Wizards—that they all truly understand the theory of magic.

That was, of course, wrong.

Most Wizards are like students from his previous life, learning mathematics and physics from textbooks, applying formulas and theorems to solve problems. It may require intelligence, but it’s still far from understanding the underlying principles.

Many Wizards spend their entire lives studying the spell models of their predecessors—and still fail to grasp them. Those capable of improving or optimizing spells are exceedingly rare—each a genius of their era, like Melf or Bigby.

Although Wizards possess many spells, compared to the long history of Toril, the number is disproportionately small. This alone shows how difficult magical research truly is.

Thus, before reaching legendary rank, the focus is mainly on accumulation through study.

As expected, the best way to break the mystique of a profession is to become one of them, Anser thought wryly.

Even so, he still needed to experiment with integrating the spellcasting methods of Sorcerer, Paladin, and Wizard.

Sorcerers rely on innate magic—spells originate from bloodline and instinct. They can cast at will.

Traditional Wizard spellcasting is somewhat similar to that of Paladins. Before casting, they must first ”prepare” spells—memorizing complex spell models in their minds. Without this step, casting is impossible.

This process is like loading a written program into memory. Memory capacity determines how many spells can be prepared, and casting a spell is like supplying energy to execute that program.

Understanding this makes it clear that ”knowledge is power” is not philosophy—it is a rule.

Compared to magic-power casting, the original spell-slot system is much easier: fewer models, more stable structures, and greatly simplified casting processes—very user-friendly.

Magic-power casting is significantly harder. Raw magic is like an unruly child—far less stable than the Weave. Guiding it is already difficult, and constructing spell models on top of that is not only slow but also highly prone to failure.

Fortunately, Anser had exceptional control over magic power, so this was not difficult for him.

Moreover, his Intelligence was extraordinary, and his memory was excellent. Many complex spell models could be memorized without even needing a spellbook—at least for 2nd-level spells, this was the case.

The magic power and application techniques of Sorcerers and Wizards are fundamentally interconnected. As long as he clearly distinguishes their casting methods before casting and avoids mixing them up, everything will be fine.

Perhaps, the two might even spark new inspirations when combined.

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