Just now, with frost covering everything and his vision obstructed, Anser could only rely on the constantly flashing combat logs to understand the situation.
Everyone had been injured. Even the two halflings protected by cautious Metamagic had been harmed by the cold and were on the verge of death—yet the Warlock was nowhere to be seen.
That meant that at the very moment the spell erupted, the other party had already left the tavern.
'What kind of teleportation spell is faster than my empowered quickened casting?'
A thought stirred in his mind, and he immediately activated the True Sight Ring.
His field of vision changed drastically. Layers of space overlapped, stretching infinitely outward. Within a mist-shrouded plane, a vague figure in a black robe was quietly observing Anser's every move, a set of cards held in his hand.
'The Ethereal Plane!'
The Ethereal Plane, also known as the Misty Shore, lay between the Material Plane and the Inner Planes. Its boundaries overlapped with the Material Plane. Creatures hiding within it could neither be seen nor attacked, making it an ideal place for scouting, stealth, and covert operations.
There were many spells that allowed entry into the Ethereal Plane—such as the 3rd-level Blink and the 7th-level Etherealness.
Anser and the black-robed figure stared at each other across the planar boundary. Though they seemed close at hand, they felt impossibly distant—neither could attack the other.
'It shouldn't be Blink,' Anser deduced.
Blink only allowed brief shifts into the Ethereal Plane, flickering between planes like a flash. The opponent was likely using a more advanced form of ethereal traversal.
He glanced at the orc frozen in the ice and decided to save the others first.
Taking a few quick steps forward, his right hand transformed into a dragon claw. He tore open the ice layer, touched the two halflings in succession, and white healing light from Lay on Hands flared, quickly stabilizing their injuries.
The halflings hadn't been directly hit by the cold magic, but the tavern was now freezing—dozens of degrees below zero. The temperature had dropped in an instant; even a single breath could freeze the brain.
Suddenly, cracking sounds rang in his ears.
With a thunderous crash, the ice shattered. Amid a storm of ice shards, a burly orc forced himself upright, opening his grotesque maw and roaring at Anser. A faint red glow spread outward from the orc, covering the entire tavern.
Anser had anticipated this. His expression remained calm, and he even had time to observe the black-robed figure's reaction.
[You are subjected to the oppressive force of an advanced barbarian's Intimidating Presence. You are immune to fear and remain completely unaffected, finding the orc merely hideous.]
"Intimidating Presence" was a top-tier berserker ability, capable of instilling fear into enemies through primal power. But to Anser, it was less threatening than bad breath.
His head shifted, transforming into a dragon's head. He opened his mouth and exhaled a frigid cone of white breath, engulfing the newly risen orc.
Under normal circumstances, an advanced barbarian could easily dodge. But he had already suffered severe frostbite, and in this confined space—covered in ice and cold like an extreme arctic domain—his movements were sluggish and hindered.
Yet the orc showed no fear. He charged forward, enduring the cold breath head-on, a blood-red glow clinging to his body. With each step, the ice beneath his feet exploded apart, and in just two strides, he covered most of the distance.
'Meow!' Maeve's fur stood on end, but she couldn't help.
Anser didn't foolishly attempt to engage the advanced barbarian in melee. The last two points of sorcery points surged from his bloodline.
"ધુમ્મસબંધન"
Metamagic: Quickened Spell + 5th-level Rime's Binding Ice!
In an instant, a cone of icy energy erupted, freezing everything in its path under thick frost.
The barbarian managed a few more steps before the frost rapidly spread across his body, sealing him in ice once more.
He remained frozen mid-charge, eyes wide with fury and unwillingness.
Rime's Binding Ice was originally a 2nd-level spell. When upcast, its damage wasn't as high as Fireball, but its cone shape avoided hitting the halflings behind him. It also generated large amounts of moisture and applied control effects—once frozen, it was difficult to break free.
Anser didn't stop. He followed up with several blasts of Ray of Frost aimed at the orc's head.
[Target eliminated. Gained 3250 combat experience.]
'So tough.'
He had used Metamagic and upcasting throughout. In an open outdoor environment, this barbarian might not have died.
Once the barbarian was truly dead, Anser immediately turned his gaze back to the black-robed figure.
The man had been silently observing everything on the Material Plane, making no moves.
A minute passed quickly. The black-robed figure did not leave the Ethereal Plane—instead, he began moving within it, circling Anser, staying just out of reach.
'Is he probing the limits and duration of my true sight?' Anser frowned slightly. The man could indeed move freely within the Ethereal Plane.
Without true sight, creatures on the Material Plane couldn't see into the Ethereal Plane—but those within the Ethereal Plane could easily observe the Material Plane, with a maximum visual range of about twenty meters.
Once the duration of his true sight ended, he would no longer be able to see the black-robed figure—while the other party could continue monitoring him.
That would be… like a thorn in his back.
'The 7th-level Etherealness lasts eight hours. If he really has that level of power, why hide from me?' Anser quickly spotted the inconsistency.
A Warlock nearing legendary rank had no reason to fear a sorcerer who had already expended over half his magic.
Warlocks were a peculiar class—their abilities came primarily from their patrons. Different patrons meant different powers.
Even if a Warlock lost connection to their patron due to Weave instability and lost most of their spellcasting ability, their Eldritch Blast alone still made them formidable.
Of course, wizards and sorcerers still had prospects. Warlocks, on the other hand, were now like abandoned stray cats—lost, directionless, and prone to extremes.
'Still not willing to give up. Persistent… but for what?'
Anser felt that the man initially intended to capture him alive. The black-robed figure had likely had the chance to use Eldritch Blast earlier.
'He probably wasn't confident he could take me down without injury,' Anser concluded.
Still, Anser wasn't without options. He knew Wall of Force—a spell that could extend into the Ethereal Plane and trap the opponent for a time.
'No rush. I'll wait a bit longer.'
He gambled that the opponent's ethereal walking couldn't last indefinitely.
The other party likely didn't expect a sorcerer to know Wall of Force—that was typically a signature spell of evocation wizards.
Anser paced around the tavern, quietly converting part of his magic power into sorcery points.
At the same time, he teleported the three corpses into the Black Tower prison, gave the two halflings a few gulps of healing potion, and removed the iron skewers embedded in their bodies.
Heavy banging sounds came from the tavern entrance. Unfortunately, the door, walls, and floor were all covered in thick ice—it wouldn't be easy to get in.
Alton slowly regained consciousness. Seeing the tavern turned into an ice cave, he froze in shock. He quickly recalled what had happened before losing consciousness, and his gaze instinctively fell on Anser.
Anser suddenly stopped, raising his head to look into the void.
The black-robed figure put away his cards, stared at him for a few seconds, and began floating upward—about to leave the range of true sight.
At that distance, he would have already lost sight of the tavern.
'He's leaving!'
At this point, the man had already spent nearly ten minutes in the Ethereal Plane.
Anser didn't hesitate. He instantly cast a 5th-level Wall of Force!
In the next moment, the black-robed figure's head slammed into an invisible barrier. He was bounced back, crouching down in a rather awkward position.
It looked… painful.
But the man paid no attention to that. He immediately tried another direction—but after moving just two meters, his hand struck another invisible wall.
He began feeling around, quickly confirming that he was trapped inside an invisible sphere roughly six meters in diameter.
'Wall of Force!'
He tore off his hood, revealing a pale, gaunt face. His eye sockets were sunken, and on his forehead sat a black ornament—like a third eye.
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