The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

After considering it for a moment, Anser summoned Sakkors.

”Sakkors, put a limit on the number of comments. Ten per person per day. Charge a fee for anything beyond that, using Sending as the pricing reference.”

”Yes.”

Comments had previously been free, but without restrictions, they would likewise increase the burden on Sakkors and the mythallar.

”Add another feature too. Call it a forum. Anyone can create a thread on a particular topic to discuss current events, share knowledge, talk about personal matters, ask for help...” Anser gave him a detailed explanation of the online communities from his previous life.

Sakkors understood immediately.

That way, many members addicted to the Spirit Net would be funneled over there instead of turning the news section into a cesspool.

”How’s your spell service coming along?” Anser asked.

”I’ve thoroughly studied all the spell models you gave me. I’ve developed an encrypted packaging method that uses Magic Power as its core and psionic power for control.”

”But the Spirit Net’s transmission capabilities can’t compare to the Weave. At present, it can only transmit cantrips and 1st-level spells,” Sakkors replied.

The Spirit Net’s simplicity made it discreet. It excelled at transmitting information, but transmitting spells was still somewhat taxing.

”That’s enough. Start with utility spells like Mage Hand, Mending, Light, Feather Fall, and Jump,” Anser suggested.

”What would be an appropriate price?”

”I’ll leave that to you. Just don’t make it too cheap.”

”Then, for now, fifty Spirit Coins for a cantrip and one hundred fifty for a 1st-level spell.” Sakkors sounded fully confident in his figures.

”Mm.” Anser didn’t think that was expensive.

Even at their cheapest, cantrip spell scrolls had never fallen below fifteen gold pieces. An ordinary person could work for fifty days and earn enough to cast a cantrip once. The value for money was already excellent.

”There’s one matter I need to report to you. Some people have already begun contacting other members to purchase Spirit Coins. Prices range anywhere from a few copper pieces to several gold pieces.”

”Don’t interfere. Just collect the usual ten-percent transaction fee.”

”Yes.”

Once Spirit Coin trading reached sufficient scale, Anser would instruct one of the Spirit Net administrators serving in the Federation to establish a Federal Spirit Coin Exchange and sell a limited quantity of Spirit Coins to outsiders.

They would quietly siphon wealth from the rich across all of Faerûn.

He had a feeling that in the future, Faerûn—and even Toril as a whole—would develop entirely new social classes.

Spirit Net members, creatures capable of sensing the Spirit Net, and the vastly more numerous ordinary creatures incapable of sensing it at all.

’Where there are classes, there’ll be class struggle.’

Anser shut down the Spirit Net and began considering his own situation.

He definitely intended to participate in both Cormyr’s orc war and the recapture of Baldur’s Gate, but neither required his immediate attention.

The Spirit Net was only just beginning to show its potential.

Wish worked quite well when used to duplicate the effects of other spells. He decided to try its reality-altering capabilities.

His body would undoubtedly be weakened for several days afterward. To ensure his own safety, he had no intention of leaving Holrewen during that time.

Conveniently, Holrewen would reach the Sea of Moonshae within the next few days and merge with the temple, a process that couldn’t proceed without the Moonlight Holy Symbol in his possession.

’Then I’ll take a few days off. Benefits first, work afterward.’

With that thought, he took out the Arcanefire Longbow and once again focused his mind on casting the spell.

His body trembled. Rings of magical radiance rippled outward as his consciousness merged into the vast, boundless supernatural world.

With the experience of his previous two attempts, he now had a vague sense of roughly how much Primordial Magic he was capable of leveraging.

Following that intuition, he expressed a precise command through his thoughts:

”Raise my Dexterity to the mortal limit.”

A wish had to be specific enough. Vague wording with no defined upper limit could trigger a whole series of chain reactions.

The power of the spell spread outward. An uncanny force descended upon him from somewhere beyond perception, and he felt his body grow heavy as pressure built within it, giving him the illusion that he was being pushed beyond what he could bear.

Without any warning, his body directly entered Transcendent Form, his physique undergoing a slow and steady improvement.

Several dozen seconds later, the transformation abruptly stopped.

’Doesn’t feel like anything special. This wish was probably too small.’

Anser moved his body around a little. He was noticeably weakened, and his muscles ached, but it was still within a tolerable range.

He brought up his Character Sheet. As expected, his Dexterity had reached 20, the mortal limit.

’Not bad. The strain isn’t serious.’

The reason he hadn’t raised it straight to 21—or even higher—wasn’t cowardice. Wish simply had certain hidden rules.

Those rules had been compiled by those who came before him based on their own firsthand experiences.

For example, when improving physical attributes, the increase couldn’t be too large. Converted into ability scores, it should be around 1 point. This counted as an inherent bonus.

That wasn’t Wish’s limit, but rather the limit of a living body.

A single point of improvement was enough to increase bodily functions by more than thirty-five percent. That was already a substantial increase. Any more than that, and the body wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

An ”inherent bonus” fundamentally altered one’s physiological and spiritual essence. Like improvements gained through one’s own training, it was permanent and became part of one’s innate power.

By contrast, the benefits provided by equipment such as a Belt of Giant Strength counted as enhancement bonuses. They disappeared once the equipment was removed and could also be suppressed by an Antimagic Field.

’One point at a time isn’t bad, but I can’t waste this on ordinary ability scores anymore.’

That point of Dexterity was still fairly important. He could now multiclass into another new class.

Anser glanced at his Character Sheet. His experience pool still contained more than sixteen thousand experience points.

He needed forty thousand to level up, which was nowhere near enough, but it was more than sufficient to gain a few levels in another class.

’Which one?’

There were quite a few classes that could use Dexterity as a primary ability: Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, and Monk.

He had already multiclassed into Psi Warrior, so Fighter was out.

Ranger was versatile and had no obvious weaknesses, but it didn’t have any particularly outstanding strengths either.

Rogue wasn’t especially strong overall. Its survivability was excellent, but its class features didn’t suit his style.

’Monk!’

He summoned the d20, selected the symbol representing Multiclass on its surface, chose Monk, and watched his experience rapidly drain away.

All the images vanished in an instant. Anser’s mind jolted, and in a daze, he became an ascetic monk, regulating his breath and inner energy as he attained insight into his true self!

Through rigorous combat training and spiritual discipline, Monks explored the relationship between heaven and humanity and came to understand the transformations of their own bodies.

An ascetic life removed from worldly affairs aided the cultivation of body and mind, while throwing oneself into the mortal world was even more effective for tempering one’s state of mind and self-control.

Adventuring was merely another means of tempering body and mind. The body itself was the supreme means of overcoming one’s enemies and achieving victory.

This was an exalted path.

...

[Class Acquired: Level 2 Monk]

Primary Ability: Dexterity or Wisdom.

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Acrobatics.

Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Weapons and Light Martial Weapons.

Armor Training: None.

You gain the following class features: Martial Arts, Unarmored Defense, Monk’s Martial Arts, Unarmored Movement, Inner Cycle.

You gain one new Feat.

[Martial Arts]: Your martial training has given you complete mastery over the use of Unarmed Strikes and Monk weapons.

As long as you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, and are either unarmed or wielding only Monk weapons, you gain the following benefits:

Bonus Unarmed Strike: You can instantly make one additional Unarmed Strike.

Martial Arts: When you attack with an Unarmed Strike or Monk weapon, you can use your Martial Arts die in place of the attack’s normal damage die. Your current Martial Arts die is 1d6 (1–6).

Dexterous Attacks: When attacking with an Unarmed Strike or Monk weapon, you can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the Attack Roll and Damage Roll.

In addition, when you attempt to grapple or shove a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can also use Dexterity instead of Strength.

[Unarmored Defense]: While you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, your base Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.

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