The stone pillar leaned against the wall of the crater at an angle. It was about four or five meters across, its surface rough and uneven, with plenty of spots to grab onto.
Roughly a bit over ten meters, Ansel estimated the distance from where he was to the top of the pillar.
From this angle he couldn't see if anyone was up there or not, but he had to climb regardless. The pillar could collapse at any moment; he didn't have much time.
He took off his torn boots, planting his bare feet on the protruding stone. It felt icy cold, but not painful. With Draconic Resilience and the Tough feat, he was no longer the same frail man as before.
Taking a deep breath, he began climbing, hands and feet moving in turn. His motions were smooth and sure, light and agile, like a veteran climber with years of experience.
"Whew, that's a rush."
He glanced down at the pitch-black abyss beneath him, and his heartbeat unconsciously quickened.
He was a little scared, but it wasn't a big problem. He knew Feather Fall—if he slipped, he could react and cast instantly, making sure he didn't die from the fall.
What really surprised him, though, were the "basic actions" the character sheet had granted him after he became a classed character.
Attack, Dodge, Dash, Disengage, Hide, Jump, Climb, Swim…
In a game, these were just unimpressive basic options. Here, they turned Ansel into a well-trained athletic elite.
Combined with his skill proficiencies in Acrobatics and Athletics, they let him reliably push his body right up to its limits.
His movements were crisp and clean, practiced and fluid. Forget ordinary people—even most adventurers would have trouble matching him.
After a few more meters, the angle of the pillar approached vertical, and he had no choice but to edge around it, searching for better handholds.
He had just rounded a bend in the pillar when, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of another stone pillar. On top of it, a young man was staring at him, wide-eyed.
Shit!
Ansel's nerves instantly went taut. He pressed himself tightly against the pillar and tilted his head to look upward.
No one was leaning over the edge. Everything seemed normal.
He turned his head slightly. The young man had already withdrawn his gaze, now sitting in a half-crouch with his side to Ansel. One hand gripped a sword, while the other subtly pointed diagonally upward.
Smart.
Ansel gave the faintest nod and resumed climbing, moving even more carefully now, stopping every few steps.
From time to time, the young man used adventurer hand signals to talk to him. Their cooperation quickly became seamless.
There were two enemies. One of them was probably that duergar. Current condition: unknown.
As he neared the top, Ansel became more and more cautious.
The last three meters.
The young man suddenly stood up and hurled a stone at the top of Ansel's pillar.
Crack—
His aim was dead-on. The stone struck the platform with a sharp sound, drawing the enemies' attention.
"عداوةތެރިން..." (in Goblin)
Footsteps and shrill cursing rang out in quick succession.
Ansel immediately understood and slipped around to the far side of the pillar.
The young man kept throwing stones and shouting, sounding half hysterical—it didn't sound like he was faking it.
After pausing for a few seconds, Ansel gathered himself and climbed as fast as he could. Then he pushed off and vaulted onto the stone platform.
His gaze swept the area in an instant. The platform was four or five meters across, and there were two short figures on it.
One sat in the middle—short, thickset, bald, with ashen-gray skin. A warhammer lay at his side.
The other stood near the edge of the pillar with his back to Ansel. He was under a meter tall, with sharp teeth, pointed ears, and gray-green skin, brandishing a curved blade as he tried to intimidate the young man.
His sudden appearance shocked them both.
The duergar snatched up his warhammer and turned sideways toward Ansel, but didn't get up. Instead, he started shouting.
The goblin shrank back, not rushing in right away.
By now Ansel had already activated [Innate Sorcery]. Clutching the crystal at his chest with his left hand, he focused, using instinct to sense and guide the surging magic into a simple spell structure.
About a second passed.
"જાદુઈવિસ્ફોટ!" he barked in a hard, metallic Draconic.
A clump of light shot from his fingertip, crossed the two-plus meters between them in an instant, and exploded with a deafening thunderclap right in the duergar's face.
Cantrip: Sorcerous Burst – Thunder.
Even though it was his first time casting, he didn't miss a stationary target.
The duergar grunted, blood covering his face, and toppled backward.
At the same time, the die in Ansel's mind spun wildly, and a block of text flashed across his thoughts.
[You cast Sorcerous Burst on the duergar. The enemy is Frightened and Prone.
The duergar is hit and takes 15 points (critical) of thunder damage. Current HP: 4/26...]
Ansel's heart leapt. The die could do that too?
But now wasn't the time to study it. The duergar wasn't dead yet, and he was a spellcaster.
A few quick strides took Ansel to his side. He pinned the warhammer with his left foot, then lifted his right and stomped hard on the duergar's neck.
[You make a melee attack against the duergar. The enemy is Prone, Frightened, and Deafened.
The duergar is hit and takes 4 points (critical) of bludgeoning damage. Killing blow. Target dead. You gain 200 combat XP...]
Relief loosened Ansel's chest. He immediately turned to face the goblin.
In just a few seconds, the most dangerous enemy—the duergar—was dead, leaving only a goblin frozen in terror.
So slow. Never heard a thunderclap before? Ansel tightened his grip on the crystal and cast again.
The goblin finally reacted, roaring as it charged him.
"જાદુઈવિસ્ફોટ!"
Another blast of thunder erupted, flipping the goblin through the air. It hit the ground hard and lay there, howling as it clutched its bleeding ears.
He was too close this time; even Ansel's own eardrums were ringing.
Gritting his teeth through the discomfort, he snatched up the warhammer. It was heavy—he had to hold it with both hands. He rushed forward a couple of steps and brought it down on the goblin's head.
[...The goblin is hit and takes 6 points (critical) of bludgeoning damage. Killing blow. Target dead. You gain 50 combat XP...]
Ansel scanned the area, and only when he was sure there was no immediate danger did he finally exhale.
"Whew… that was intense."
In truth, a goblin's challenge rating was only 1/4, with 7 hit points. He could have taken it in melee alone. But this was his first ever fight—of course he was nervous.
Sorcerous Burst is really handy, Ansel thought with genuine appreciation.
Sorcerous Burst was a sorcerer-exclusive cantrip from the School of Evocation. It had a range of 120 feet (about 36 meters). On a hit, it dealt 1d8 (1–8) damage, and the damage type was chosen by the caster: acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, psychic, or thunder.
If you rolled max damage (8), the spell's energy flared again; at higher levels, that could even trigger chain explosions, with considerable destructive power.
Ansel recognized the duergar and knew they might have resistances like poison or psychic, but were unlikely to resist thunder. So he chose thunder damage, and the result in practice was excellent.
Strictly speaking, his strongest attack spell right now was the 1st-level spell Chromatic Orb. But casting it required a diamond worth at least 50 gold pieces, and he didn't have one.
On top of that, 1st-level spells were harder to cast. With the Weave unstable and his nerves taut, there was a real chance of failure.
Good thing I managed to perform steadily.
Looking down at the corpses, he felt a bit uneasy—especially at those two pairs of blood-soaked eyes, which seemed to be staring fixedly at him.
He nudged one head sideways with his foot and started collecting loot. The time he had here was very limited.