Iris suddenly sat up. One glance at Anser was enough to send her into a fit of giggles.
Humming to herself, she walked over to him, poked his cheek, pinched his ear, then gave him a hard shove and knocked him onto his back. She sprawled across his chest, propped her chin on her hands, and stared at his face.
Anser's eyes looked vacant, but he was still fully conscious. In fact, his mind was growing clearer by the second.
Watching Iris fool around with him, he found it hard not to laugh.
At the same time, he realized just how powerful Time Stop really was.
Once time was stopped, only the caster could move normally. Everyone else was completely immobilized, without even being aware that anything had happened.
If the caster attacked someone, however, the attack and the resulting magical fluctuations would interfere with the target's flow of time, potentially ending Time Stop.
But minor physical contact like what Iris was doing wouldn't.
Anser couldn't move or cast spells. Even his Signature Spells were unavailable—with one exception.
Signature Spell: Temporal Shunt!
With a thought, he cast Temporal Shunt on himself, forcibly "banishing" himself from the current flow of time.
For a split second, his body turned hazy, almost like an illusion.
In that instant, he broke free of Time Stop's control over his personal flow of time.
Time Stop might only last a few dozen seconds, but breaking free on his own and passively waiting for it to end were two very different things.
He wrapped his arms around Iris, rolled over, and pinned her beneath him.
"Ah!" Iris yelped.
"Having fun?" Anser caught both her wrists and pressed them against the carpet.
"Y-You're conscious? How did you break free of the time stop?" Iris's eyes widened in shock.
This was a 9th-level spell! In her mind, it ranked second only to Wish, yet something had already gone wrong the very first time she cast it.
Was she just that bad at this, or was this man simply that ridiculous?
"I'm a Time Wizard, remember?"
Anser pulled open her clothes, fully intending to teach her a proper lesson.
"Ah..."
...
Late at night, everything was quiet.
Iris had already fallen sound asleep. Anser lay on the bed and sank his consciousness into his mind.
The twenty-sided die, flecked with tiny motes of golden light, hovered silently there. The twelfth symbol was now fully illuminated, while one corner of the thirteenth had also begun to glow.
'Two pieces of good news at once!'
He could level up and gain a new Adventure Trait. Two upgrades in one go.
After thinking for a moment, he brought up his Character Sheet and decided to level up first.
Adventure Traits were based on level, so choosing one sooner or later wouldn't affect its effects.
Besides, his current Adventure Traits required him to choose among ten different dimensions, and he still hadn't completely made up his mind.
'Level up!'
He selected his class option:
Increase Sorcerer level or choose a new class.
'Increase Sorcerer level.'
[Level Up: Level 16 Sorcerer!]
[Your true dragon power has increased. Gold Dragon Power +1, Silver Dragon Power +1.]
[You can learn one new spell, one Evocation spell, and one Enhanced Metamagic ability.]
[You gain a new Feat. You may manifest one of your innate magical abilities as a supernatural ability.]
He put both points of true dragon power into Wisdom, pushing it into the extraordinary range at 22.
Wisdom determined a person's insight and mental resilience, and it could also strengthen Druid spells. It therefore took priority over Strength.
He had a Belt of Giant Strength that raised his Strength to 25, which was enough for now.
Once his Wisdom entered the extraordinary range, the number of magic items he could Attune to increased by one, bringing his current total to seven.
Since the vast majority of Legendary items and Artifacts required Attunement, Anser could crush other Professionals through equipment alone.
His new spell was still an 8th-level spell.
There weren't many 8th-level Evocation spells. Aside from the common Maddening Darkness, there was also a rarer gravity spell called Dark Star.
The former dealt psychic damage over a larger area, while the latter dealt force damage and hit harder.
After some consideration, Anser chose Dark Star. The spell also provided a degree of battlefield control.
...
Dark Star: 8th-level Evocation
Base casting range: 150 feet (45 meters)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute.
You create a sphere of darkness with a 40-foot (12-meter) radius centered on a point within range. The area is filled with magical darkness and devastating gravitational energy.
The sphere is subjected to terrifying gravity, making it extremely difficult to move through or escape.
Darkvision cannot penetrate this magical darkness, and nonmagical light cannot illuminate the area.
No sound can be created within the area or pass through it, making it impossible to cast spells with verbal components.
Any creature or object entirely within the area is immune to thunder damage, and creatures entirely within the area are deafened.
Creatures within the sphere must repeatedly make Constitution Saving Throws. On a failed save, a creature takes 8d10 (8–80) force damage, or half as much damage on a successful one.
When a creature dies, its body and everything it is wearing or carrying are disintegrated into a wisp of gray dust, with the exception of higher-quality magic items.
The spell could also create an area of absolute darkness where nothing could be seen or heard.
...
If an enemy failed to escape immediately, the terrifying gravitational energy could crush them and rob them of any chance to get away.
'If they named it after a star, the gravity has to be pretty damn strong. Otherwise, calling it "devastating" would be a stretch,' Anser thought.
At the very least, an ordinary person's Constitution wouldn't be able to withstand it.
His options for the second spell weren't much broader. The Sorcerer spell list really couldn't compare to the Wizard's.
Demiplane, Dominate Monster, Earthquake, Incendiary Cloud, Power Word Stun, Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting...
Power Word Stun wasn't bad. It could overwhelm a target's mind and leave them stunned, but if the target's vitality was too great, they could practically ignore the power word altogether.
Fine for crushing weaker enemies. Useless against anything truly formidable.
After weighing his options, he chose Demiplane.
...
Demiplane: 8th-level Conjuration
Base casting range: 60 feet (18 meters)
Duration: 1 hour
You leverage space with your extraordinary magical power, creating a new demiplane and an illusory door leading into it that can be freely opened and closed.
The initial demiplane is an empty wooden or stone chamber measuring 30 feet (9 meters) on each side. It is enclosed by spatial barriers and anchored to the plane on which the spell was cast.
When the spell ends, the door disappears, while any objects still inside the demiplane remain there.
When casting this spell, you may instead connect the door to a demiplane you previously created, or to another demiplane whose nature is known to you.
...
The headquarters of the Magic Research Society had been created using this very spell.
Anser could also use it to continue expanding Holrewen, though that would take some time.
Many Wizards liked creating their own demiplanes to use as secret bases, hideaways, or storage spaces.
Sakkors had mentioned before that countless extraplanar spaces and demiplanes were anchored around Candlekeep, clearly the work of generations of spellcasters.
Extraplanar spaces and demiplanes were different. Extraplanar spaces generally weren't artificial, tended to be much larger, and usually possessed complete ecosystems. Some even had physical laws and rates of time that differed from reality.
Demiplanes, by contrast, were generally very small and entirely dependent on the plane to which they were anchored. Their physical laws and flow of time were also completely identical to that plane.
For his Enhanced Metamagic, he chose Enhanced Twinned Spell. Its basic effect hadn't changed much, but it could now be applied much more broadly.
Originally, True Seeing couldn't be used with Twinned Spell, but the enhanced version of the Metamagic could duplicate its magical effect onto a second target.
It was particularly useful for buff spells, greatly reducing both Magic Power costs and the amount of spellcasting needed.
Finally came his new Feat. Anser chose Ability Score Improvement and raised his Dexterity to 19. One more level-up would be enough to max it out.
Dexterity determined a Professional's agility, reflexes, and balance. Only when it was properly matched with Strength could they bring out their full physical capabilities.
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