There was still some food in the bundle. Ansel took out two loaves of bread and a small piece of hard cheese and handed them to Bratt.
"Eat a bit, then rest."
"Mm." Bratt reached out, took them, and tore into the bread in big bites.
They had walked in the dark for over an hour, on edge the whole time, exhausted enough that neither of them felt like talking.
As Ansel ate, he reached out with his mind toward the die in his head, wanting to see how much more he needed before leveling up.
But the moment the twenty-sided die appeared, he nearly bit his own tongue.
One of the symbols on its faces had at some point lit up completely, and another was faintly glowing.
What did I even do today? How did that light up? he wondered.
He tapped the die lightly. Scenes flashed through his mind like slides in a projector: taking sorcerer as his class, fighting, escaping danger, saving someone, running for his life…
So it's tied to my experiences? Ansel felt he was starting to get the general idea.
After a while, the replay faded. The lit symbol had turned into a cluster of rainbow-colored flame.
Ding—
[You have gained the adventuring trait: Magic Mastery.]
「Magic Mastery」: You wield magic with exceptional control. Your casting is faster, more stable, and failed spellcasting will never trigger magical backlash.
Mana +5, attack rolls +1, spell save DC +1.
Current rank: 1st tier.
…
Ansel's heart gave a little jump of delighted shock.
What kind of brokenly good ability is this? It's literally perfect for my situation right now.
In other words, he could almost ignore the chaos in the Weave and cast normally, without worrying about dying like Fabian did.
His control over spells had increased, indirectly boosting his hit rate and damage. Five extra mana points might not mean much later on, but in the early game it was huge.
It made him feel much more confident about what they had to do tomorrow.
The die has twenty faces, which means twenty traits. With this, could I go all the way to legend… maybe even further? Ansel couldn't help letting his imagination run a bit wild.
This world had classed individuals, legends, even gods. It was rich, varied, and full of possibilities.
If the natives could do it, why couldn't a transmigrator with a cheat?
One step at a time. Don't get ahead of yourself. Surviving comes first, he silently warned himself. Faerûn was dangerous everywhere.
Pulling himself back to the present, he opened his character sheet. His mana had climbed to 9—quite a comfortable amount.
He glanced at his XP: 275/300. Just a little more to level up.
Why is it only combat XP? He frowned slightly.
In game rules, non-combat challenges (negotiation, trade, etc.) and adventure milestones all awarded XP, and party members split that XP.
Going by the rules, every class can level through combat. Wizards can level through magical research or alchemy, and sorcerers should be able to level by honing their innate magic…
He'd spent the whole day only casting cantrips, not a single 1st-level spell, so he couldn't verify that theory yet.
He also noticed a new item in his Equipment list: a "Goodberry Staff," clearly referring to Fabian's spare staff.
When he tapped it lightly, a detailed description popped up—better than an Identify spell.
[Magic Item: Goodberry Staff]
「Type」: Staff
「Rarity」: Fine (requires attunement)
…
A naturally magical quarterstaff, likely carved from a very old oak. It can be used as a melee weapon and holds 6 charges.
「Goodberry」: While holding this staff, you can cast the 1st-level spell Goodberry, expending 1 charge each time.
「Recharge」: This staff regains 3 expended charges each day.
Not bad at all, Ansel thought, amusement in his eyes.
Goodberry was a 1st-level conjuration for druids and rangers. It created ten magical berries. Each berry restored 1 HP, and a single berry could fully sustain a creature's nutritional needs for an entire day.
In normal times it might not be that important, but during an escape like this, it was practically a miracle spell.
However, he'd have to attune to the staff—establish a mental bond with it—before he could use its magic.
That took at least an hour of focused meditation with the item in hand, maintaining contact without interruption.
A character couldn't be attuned to more than three magic items at once.
Attunement ended immediately if its bearer stopped meeting the attunement conditions, if the item stayed over 100 feet away from them for at least 24 hours, if the bearer died, or if someone else attuned to the item.
In other words, attunement wasn't a soul bind. It didn't lock you in very hard.
This is way better than my plain crystal focus.
Ansel decided to complete the attunement before sleeping. He'd need the staff badly tomorrow.
"You look pretty happy," Bratt said. He'd already finished his bread and was sipping water in small mouthfuls, face relaxed. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was drinking wine.
"Made it through another day. Isn't that worth celebrating?" Ansel smiled slightly—half a joke, half a nod to the fact he'd literally been reborn.
"Haha, that's… a good way to put it." Bratt didn't dig deeper. His laugh was easy, unburdened.
Ansel looked at Bratt, about to speak, when he suddenly noticed a line of text slowly appear "above" the man's head:
[Bratt, Human, Level 2 Warrior]
Huh? New feature from the die?
He turned his head, closed his eyes—it was the same. The text was projected into his mind by the die. All he had to do was focus on a target and it would appear automatically. It wasn't limited to living beings; magical items and random objects showed data too.
It was basically an upgraded version of his combat log, though the information was very bare-bones.
"What's wrong?" Bratt asked, puzzled.
"Nothing, just spaced out. Bratt, you got family?" Ansel deliberately changed the subject.
"Yeah, but they're not here."
"That's good."
"With the wizard tower gone, what are you planning to do? Head for Candlekeep?" Bratt asked.
"With my talent? I doubt they'd let me into Candlekeep." Ansel shook his head slightly.
Candlekeep was arguably the greatest center of learning and library in all Faerûn, a neutral faction. The price of entry was donating a written work that Candlekeep didn't already have.
Scholars could visit, but only for up to ten days. Formally joining Candlekeep was incredibly difficult—they didn't just accept anyone.
"If you still want to study magic, try Silverymoon. Waterdeep and Neverwinter aren't bad either," Bratt suggested.
Ansel chuckled. "What's wrong with being a sorcerer? No need to torture myself."
"You've got a good attitude," Bratt said with real admiration. "I've seen plenty of people get hung up on one path. Even when they've got other options, they refuse to change."
"…"
They chatted a while, more to build rapport than anything, but avoided anything too personal.
Neither of them brought up their plans for after they left. At least until they escaped Baldur's Gate, their goals were aligned.
Over the course of that conversation, Ansel noticed new text appear over Bratt's head.
[Bratt, Human, Level 2 Warrior, HP: 18]
Looks like the more contact I have at close range, the more info I get. He knew far too little about the die. All he could do was explore it through trial and error.
Night deepened, and the hollow grew quiet.
Bratt used a candle to make a simple wind-shielded lantern and began sorting through the bundle, prepping gear for tomorrow.
Ansel pulled his backpack over and went through his own haul.
The three coin pouches were probably all from apprentices. Together they held only 6 gold, 7 silver, and 31 copper—mixed denominations of all kinds.
The two spellbooks weren't magical items. They just recorded a few cantrips and study notes—not particularly valuable.
The most expensive things were a few gems he'd found in the alchemy lab—mostly blue quartz and turquoise. Worth something at least.
Then there were various odds and ends: a pocket watch, spyglass, paper and pens, daggers, small loaves of bread, honey, jerky, sausages, black pepper…
Too bad there's no diamond.
Ansel shook his head in disappointment, spread out a blanket, leaned back in the corner, set the Goodberry Staff across his knees, and closed his eyes to meditate.
Bratt deliberately moved a bit farther away, apparently planning to rest closer to the edge. Ansel couldn't tell if it was to keep watch more easily or because he didn't quite trust him yet.