The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

”Back so soon?” Bratt said when he saw Anser push the door open and come in, quickly pulling the curtains shut.

”A few helpers showed up…” Anser set the items down on the floor and gave a brief account of what had happened.

”The Harpers? This… you actually even sold the ship?” Bratt’s eyes widened, clearly finding it hard to believe.

”Strictly speaking, it was that bard who sold it. I’ll probably get a cut,” Anser said with some anticipation. He really was short on money right now.

With money, you could buy good weapons, equipment, and magic items—something absolutely crucial for squishy professions.

At the same level, the combat power gap between aristocratic professions and commoner professions was more than several times over, and their margin for error was even more a case of heaven and earth.

Anser laid all of tonight’s gains out on the floor. There wasn’t much, but every piece was high quality.

Titch gave him a potion of water breathing and a pile of coin pouches. After pouring them out and counting, there were roughly three hundred seventy gold coins and over a dozen gemstones of various colors.

In his belt pouch, there was a superior healing potion and a fireworks signal flare. Perhaps that captain had wanted the healing potion at the time, since he hadn’t looked all that ”dedicated.”

Two finely crafted short swords—not a matched pair.

One of them was an adamantine short sword, incomparably hard, carrying the Crushing property. When it struck an object, it was equivalent to a crushing blow—plain and unadorned. He planned to keep this one for himself.

The other was a Warning Shortsword. After Attunement, as long as this weapon is within your reach, you and your allies within 9 meters of you gain the following benefits:

Alarm: This weapon can awaken beneficiaries who are in natural sleep before an attack is encountered. This benefit cannot awaken sleep caused by magic.

Transcendent Readiness: Each beneficiary has advantage on ”initiative.”

The item was very good, but unfortunately he couldn’t use it, because he could attune to at most three magic items; the staff, Ring of Spell Storing, and cloak already filled the slots.

He sheathed the short sword, raised his hand, and tossed it to Finn: ”For you—the Warning Shortsword. It needs Attunement…”

Finn grinned broadly. The only thing he had on hand was a bow that was a Common-quality magic weapon, and he was missing a melee off-hand weapon.

”How much?” This was Anser’s personal loot, so he definitely had to pay.

”Valued at… five hundred gold coins.” Anser casually quoted a low price.

”Mm.” Finn didn’t stand on ceremony either.

Anser tossed the damaged enchanted leather armor aside, his gaze locked firmly on that palm-sized piece of red, scaly dragon hide.

[Magic Item: Carved Hide Dragon Scale Amulet]

[Category: Wondrous Item]

[Rarity: Rare (requires Attunement)]

On the Material Plane, dragons often form a small association composed of three to five dragons, called a secret compact.

They share a common secret-compact objective. The most notable feature is carving secret arcane marks with protective effects into their scales, also called secret-compact warding charms; therefore, these dragons are also called carved-hide dragons.

This is an amulet made from the dragon hide of a carved-hide dragon wyrmling. It possesses a rune effect that resists death.

Death Ward: Grants protection against death. Takes effect when worn after Attunement; a passive, constant effect. When the wearer suffers a lethal blow or is subjected to an instant-death spell, it preserves a sliver of life, leaving the wearer with 1 Hit Point.

After triggering, the ward shatters and the protective charm becomes inactive.

Draconic Sigil: Like a dracolich, the protective charm carved into the scales of carved-hide dragons resonates with draconic bloodlines, awakening draconic essence.

Dragon-type creatures can use all of its properties without Attunement: Armor Class +1, Constitution +1 (not exceeding 20), and the protective charm automatically regains activity every 1–3 days.

Soaking it in a large quantity of dragon blood can also reactivate the amulet.

’No wonder that captain happened to be left with a sliver of HP and didn’t die,’ Anser realized.

The effect of this item is equivalent to the 4th-level spell Death Ward, but it can only affect the wearer.

Ordinary professions can only use the first property, making it essentially a one-time item—after all, most dragon-type creatures are hard to deal with, and dragon blood is not easy to obtain.

’Do I count as a dragon-type creature?’

Dragon-type creatures include metallic dragons, chromatic dragons, gem dragons, shadow dragons, faerie dragons, dragon turtles, wyverns, half-dragons, pseudodragons, and kobolds.

’If even kobolds count, why shouldn’t I? Don’t tell me I’m worse than a kobold.’

He gripped the carved-hide dragon scale amulet, feeling uneasy. Kobolds might be weak, but they were genuine distant relatives of chromatic dragons.

He took off his cloak, lifted his shirt, unfolded the carved-hide dragon scale amulet, and pressed it against his chest.

Along with a faint pricking sensation, the dragon hide writhed and tightly adhered to his soft scales. Even its color rapidly faded, quickly blending to match his scales.

At the same time, a warm force spread from the amulet throughout his body, lingering over the surface of his skin and giving a faint sense of security.

He reached out to touch it and could not feel any trace of the amulet at all; only at the edges could he see an almost imperceptible line.

One day! The dice gave a precise judgment. After one day, he would gain a new Death Ward, equivalent to having one extra life.

From this point alone, his bloodline was equivalent to that of a wyrmling.

’Don’t get carried away!’ he warned himself silently.

That captain had possessed the amulet as well, and didn’t he still die miserably?

Death Ward only prevents death; it cannot recover severe injuries. Without timely treatment, death would still come all the same.

Suddenly, his bloodline and Magic Power began to surge. His soft scales emitted a faint glow, his eyes stung slightly, and when he opened them again, the dim room was as clear as daylight.

[Resonance triggered, awakening draconic bloodline: gain blindsight 3 meters, darkvision 18 meters]

’So that’s what it meant,’ he realized.

As a dragon-type creature, how could one possibly lack darkvision and blindsight? Those were standard features of the dragon race.

”Meeting you was my good fortune, Nashivaar,” Anser said with emotion. ”Is the slave trade really that profitable?”

Two short swords and one amulet—each better than the last—made his heart itch. He couldn’t imagine just how wealthy the Nashivaar Family must be.

”Of course,” Bratt shook his head. ”Not even hanging can make slave traders back down in the slightest.”

”The slave traders make money, we rob the slave traders—doesn’t that mean they’re making money for me?” Anser laughed heartily.

”This… is that really right?” Bratt said with a helpless look.

Anser just smiled without answering and silently brought up the character sheet.

Experience points had reached 3936/6500; he was still a little over two thousand experience short of leveling up.

Perhaps because his recent experiences had been rather exciting, the fourth symbol on the dice was only a tiny bit away from lighting up completely.

’What could it be?’ Even until he went to sleep, his mind was still full of that question.

...

Morning, the Moonshadow Quelin treehouse restaurant.

In a corner, Anser sat facing Titch, with Bratt and Finn beside them.

Anser had slept until nine o’clock. If Titch hadn’t come looking for him, he probably still wouldn’t have gone out.

Titch had changed his outfit today: a dashing hunter’s attire, a longsword at his waist, a lute on his back, and many small ornaments on his person, like a noble out on an excursion.

Several breakfasts were set on the table: elven bread, a vegetable stew paired with herbal tea. That morning, Moonshadow Quelin was only serving these items—very light fare.

The two of them, Finn and Bratt, still weren’t used to it, but Anser thought it was quite good, especially the herbal tea, which suited his taste very well.

With a rustle, Titch placed a coin pouch on the table. The sound of gold coins clinking together was crisp and delightful.

”That ship sold for five thousand six hundred gold coins. You take half—two thousand eight hundred gold coins. What do you think?” He carefully observed Anser’s expression as he spoke.

Bratt and Finn immediately widened their eyes. They hadn’t expected the Harpers to be even more generous than imagined, handing over such a large sum without hesitation.

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