A magical contract is an agreement bound by supernatural forces. Its validity is guaranteed by the underlying laws of the multiverse itself, and the gods are the most important maintainers and supporters of these laws.
A Paladin's oath and a Warlock's pact are both forms of magical contracts.
Ordinary magical contracts, of course, don't possess such overwhelming power, but they are still sufficient to restrain the behavior of spellcasters and other professionals, and they are highly versatile.
However, drafting a magical contract is a highly technical skill. It is said that devils are especially proficient in this art.
Anser had never done it himself, but he had seen plenty. Drawing up an employment contract with a confidentiality clause wasn't difficult.
Only after finishing did he realize that this kind of task could easily have been delegated to someone else—for example, Kafka, the divination wizard who spent his days idling around and looking after children.
After putting away the magical contract, he returned once more to the black tower.
The three charges in the Teleportation Cube had already been completely exhausted. There was no way he could leave today, so he might as well level up first.
He entered the astrological ritual array, brought up his character sheet, and tapped the class option:
Increase Sorcerer level or choose a new class.
'Increase Sorcerer level.'
[Level Up: Sorcerer Level 10!]
[Your draconic power has increased: Gold Dragon Power +1, Silver Dragon Power +1]
[You have gained a new Feat]
[You may learn one new spell, one Evocation spell, one cantrip, and one enhanced Metamagic ability]
The improvements at level 10 were relatively moderate. Several of the better enhancements came from his adventure traits.
The two points of draconic power were solid gains—after all, attributes are the foundation of any professional.
Now his highest stats, Charisma and Intelligence, had both reached 21, while his lowest were Strength and Dexterity, at 12 and 13 respectively.
After thinking it over, he decided to max out Strength first. This would enhance his melee capabilities while also helping him unlock multiclassing as soon as possible, allowing him to take levels in Fighter and become a Psi Warrior.
This class is a hybrid path, excelling in melee combat while also using psionic power to enhance the body, infuse weapons, or even create invisible barriers to block attacks.
And the strength of psionics depends on Intelligence—making it an almost perfect match for Anser.
After allocating his attributes, it was time to choose a new feat.
There were many options—Telekinesis, Telepathy, Card Diviner—all of them decent.
After some consideration, he chose the general feat: Telepathy.
...
[Telepathy]: General Feat. You gain the following benefits:
Ability Score Increase: Wisdom +1, up to a maximum of 20.
Telepathic Whisper: You gain telepathy and can communicate mentally with any creature you can see within 18 meters.
The communication occurs in a language you know, and the target must understand that language to comprehend you.
Detect Thoughts: You always have the Detect Thoughts spell prepared, and you can cast it without expending spell slots or components once per day.
...
This feat granted Anser telepathic ability. The higher his Intelligence, the greater the range of his telepathy—making it extremely useful for coordinated combat.
As everyone knows, sound cannot travel in space. If a battle breaks out, shouting is useless.
Even in ground combat, coordination often relies on tacit understanding—"loud conspiracies" are not advisable. In such cases, telepathy becomes extremely valuable.
"Detect Thoughts" is a 2nd-level divination spell with two functions: sensing thoughts and reading thoughts.
The former allows you to detect the presence of intelligent creatures within a certain range, while the latter lets you probe a target's mind, learning about their reasoning, emotional state, and significant thoughts.
During this process, the target must make Wisdom and Intelligence checks to resist the mental intrusion. In either case, the target will become aware that you are probing its mind.
This spell is extremely useful, but it must be used with great caution and not abused—especially for a Paladin.
Reading the thoughts of creatures aligned with evil can be framed as "uncovering conspiracies," but once the target changes, it starts to look like outright mental perversion. Not only does it provoke hostility and trouble, it can also easily lead to breaking one's oath.
After the feat comes spells: one Evocation spell from the full spell list, and one restricted to the Sorcerer spell list.
Fifth-level Evocation spells are generally quite strong—Bigby's Hand, Cone of Cold, Immolation, Flame Strike…
But Fireball is already destructive enough. Simply competing in raw damage output doesn't carry much meaning—what matters more is the form and utility of the spell.
From that perspective, "Bigby's Hand" is the clear winner.
...
[Bigby's Hand]: 5th level, Evocation
Base casting range: 36 meters.
Duration: Concentration, 1 minute.
You create a Large hand of shimmering magical force within range. The hand persists for the duration and moves at your command, mimicking the various motions of your own hand.
This hand counts as an object, with an Armor Class of 20 and hit points equal to your maximum hit points. If its hit points drop to 0, the spell ends early.
Bigby's Hand moves swiftly and acts with precision. Its effects include, but are not limited to: Clenched Fist, Forceful Push, Grasping Hand, and Interposing Hand.
Clenched Fist, as the name suggests, causes the hand to form a fist and make a melee spell attack, dealing 5d8 (5–40) force damage.
Forceful Push slams into a target, which must make a Strength saving throw. On a failure, it is pushed back a distance of up to five times (5 + your spellcasting ability modifier).
Grasping Hand is used to seize an enemy. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw; on a failure, it becomes grappled. During this time, the caster can crush the target, dealing 4d6 + spellcasting ability modifier bludgeoning damage.
Interposing Hand is used for protection, providing cover and blocking enemies or spell attacks.
...
These are just the common uses. Bigby's Hand is highly flexible—how it is used depends entirely on the caster's imagination, and its ceiling is very high.
For the second spell, he chose "Teleportation Circle." This is a strategic-level spell, standard for any planeswalker.
The Teleportation Cube has too many limitations—just making a round trip requires waiting an entire day.
Moreover, Teleportation Circle inherently comes with the relevant knowledge and skills; it's not comparable to ordinary spells.
Like that Warlock—he couldn't even distinguish rune sequences and had to mark them with a red pen, practically illiterate.
This spell can also create permanent teleportation circles. The earlier you master it, the better—later on, you could make a fortune just charging teleportation fees.
At level 10, a Sorcerer can also learn a new cantrip. He chose "Mind Sliver," which deals 1d6 psychic damage to an enemy and also disrupts their state, affecting their next saving throw.
Using it in combat can produce excellent results.
The final Metamagic enhancement was a bit of a dilemma. Every option was strong, but after a moment of hesitation, he still chose "Enhanced Subtle Spell."
When casting spells, he would no longer need incantations, gestures, or any material components—even costly materials would be replaced by the spell's inherent magical properties.
'This is true component-free casting!' Anser wasn't lacking money—he simply hated the hassle.
Setting aside the cost, gathering and storing materials was already troublesome, and having to look for them during casting was even more of a delay.
[Feat: Telepathy, Strength: +2, Spells: Bigby's Hand, Teleportation Circle, Cantrip: Mind Sliver, Metamagic Enhancement: Subtle Spell, Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
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