Once he confirmed his choice, Anser's entire being sank into a strange sensation of communion.
The world around him became incomparably clear and complex. The magic power in the air, the natural energy beneath the island, the mental fluctuations of nearby creatures... he could perceive all of it with perfect clarity.
His body became completely connected to the world. Every breath exchanged energy with it, and every thought sent that energy into resonance.
Extraordinary power permeated his blood, bones, and even his soul. Wielding it was instinctive, as natural as breathing or the beating of his heart.
After that brief experience, the sensation gradually faded, leaving only faint traces of insight behind in his body and mind.
'So that's what being Legendary feels like?' Anser thought with emotion.
Becoming Legendary was an elevation of life itself. Once someone took that step, they could break free of mortal constraints, gaining far more inhuman power and a vastly longer lifespan.
The theoretical lifespan of an ordinary human was 150 years, yet most lived only a few decades. Even a level 20 Professional might only live another hundred years or so.
Only by advancing into the Legendary realm could someone gain a lifespan far beyond that of ordinary mortals. There were also plenty of ways to slow aging, or even alter one's very form of life and attain immortality.
'There are no weaklings among Legendaries!' Anser warned himself.
He collected himself and opened his Character Sheet, only to discover that the changes brought by the "Legendary Boon" went far beyond those two Legendary Feats.
Every Feat now had an experience bar and could be improved through training or by investing experience points.
That wasn't entirely accurate, though. Feats had always been capable of improvement; it was simply difficult to quantify, and some Feats were extremely difficult to train.
He opened "Elemental Adept." He had selected this Feat twice, allowing his attacks to ignore resistance to fire and cold damage.
Its current experience was 175/5,400. Once upgraded, it would grant him mastery over an additional energy type.
'A little expensive.'
That much experience could raise one of his multiclasses to level 4 and earn him two new Feats.
But multiclasses became increasingly difficult to level as they progressed, making additional Feats dramatically harder to obtain. Besides, ordinary Feats had limited potential. Most amounted to specialized mastery or some particular talent.
"Legendary Boon," however, could elevate Feats to the extraordinary level.
After studying the system carefully, he found that Origin, General, and Fighting Style Feats all required the same amount of experience to upgrade, though the benefits varied. Some were worthwhile; others weren't.
"Spell Sniper" increased spell range, while "Elemental Adept" expanded the number of elements under his mastery. Both were relatively worthwhile upgrades.
"Shield Master," on the other hand, mainly improved technique, making it somewhat of a waste of experience.
Upgrading a Legendary Feat once required 27,000 experience points. That was downright extortionate, though at least the improvement was substantial.
'Overall, it's still well worth it.'
The two Legendary Feats had raised his Charisma to 27, putting him close to an ancient gold dragon.
Ability score growth wasn't linear. The higher an ability score climbed, the greater the improvement each additional point represented.
A spellcasting ability directly determined a person's spellcasting capability. A Wizard with 15 Intelligence could, at absolute best, cast 5th-level spells, and even that would be extremely taxing.
But what if his Intelligence reached 27?
With just a little effort, he could progress at astonishing speed and even cast 9th-level spells repeatedly and with ease.
A Wizard with 19 Intelligence might not even succeed in casting a 9th-level spell after somehow managing to learn one. If the spell backfired, he might lose half his life.
That was the significance of talent!
With Anser's Charisma reaching 27, the improvements extended across the board.
His spellcasting ability had increased enormously. He could cast faster, reach farther, strike more accurately, and hit harder—especially with fire and cold spells.
...
At the tail end of the Rock of Bral, four enormous "wings" extending from four towers gently swept through space, slowly rotating Bral.
The underside of the asteroid sank into darkness while the main city entered the light, gilding every building with a golden edge.
Perhaps because of yesterday's turmoil, the streets of Bral were unusually quiet today.
A young newspaper boy, neither quite a child nor fully grown, carried a large satchel while waving copies of the usually unpopular official newspaper, the Bral Morning News, calling out as he made his way through the streets and alleys.
"Federation President personally leads lightning operation, wiping out evil Mind Flayer organization hidden for years..."
"Bral's naval and land forces officially placed under central control! Recruitment now underway with excellent pay..."
"Federal Commercial Alliance opens for business today! Specialties from across Faerûn gathered under one roof—even a single item at wholesale price..."
"..."
Those few shouted headlines seemed to ignite the enthusiasm of Bral's residents. The streets quickly grew lively, and even quite a few people who were normally stingy began planning to pool their money with others to buy a copy.
Then everyone discovered that today's newspaper was remarkably cheap. It cost only one Bralian copper coin.
Normally, a finely produced four-sheet issue of the Bral Morning News cost five copper coins.
"Price changed. It'll only cost one copper from now on," the newspaper boy casually explained.
The people were skeptical.
Newspapers were expensive to produce. Selling them for a single copper coin would undoubtedly mean taking a massive loss. Why would the greedy royal family ever do business at a loss?
Everyone quickly put the question aside, because today's newspaper was genuinely interesting. It was packed with one explosive piece of news after another.
The newly opened Federal Commercial Alliance also became an instant sensation. It was packed with people as soon as its doors opened.
People were naturally curious, and it wasn't far away anyway.
The newspaper hadn't exaggerated. The place was filled with specialties from Faerûn: beast meat, wild game, seasonal fruit, exquisite potted plants, clothing, artwork, gemstones, jewelry, tools, alcohol, weapons, armor, potions, magic items...
It sold practically everything. The place was basically one enormous general store.
The prices weren't high either, averaging roughly ten percent below comparable goods in other stores.
Anser glanced at the place from afar, shook his head, and had no intention of interfering.
The Federal Commercial Alliance had quite a few councilors, and everyone had their own ideas. As a result, the first batch of goods they had shipped in was a miscellaneous assortment, mainly intended to test the market.
After some time, the selection would probably be cut by more than half, leaving only goods that were highly competitive, offered strong profit margins, and sold relatively well.
Either way, no matter what they sold, every single sale was taxed!
With powerful backing, the Federal Commercial Alliance enjoyed advantages in information, distribution channels, and costs. Making money wouldn't be difficult.
"Your method really does work. That hundred gold pieces in advertising fees wasn't wasted." Iris sat on the flying carpet and waved the newspaper in her hand.
"Perception shapes thought." Anser laughed.
Yesterday, when everyone had been discussing how to reassure the populace, he had given Veronica an idea.
Lower the price of the newspaper and openly solicit advertisements, charging fees according to the amount of page space used and how long the advertisement ran.
The Federal Commercial Alliance had been the first to test the idea, spending one hundred gold pieces on ten days of advertising. That was only ten gold pieces per day, while the commercial benefits it generated were worth far more than that.
The newspaper didn't lose out either. It normally sold only a few hundred copies and made barely any profit. Advertising revenue was far better than what it earned from selling newspapers.
Newspapers were still a relatively new phenomenon in Faerûn, and everyone was still figuring them out. Only Waterdeep and Silverymoon had developed them relatively quickly. They had already devised advertising models, though the practice had yet to become widespread.
"Let's go. The scenery here is nice, but I still prefer Durlag." Iris looked up at the distant silver river of stars and stretched vigorously.
Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep—work intermittently, laze around continuously.
"I'll take you back first."
Everything on the Rock of Bral was stable, and everyone went about their own business.
Anser sent Iris, Delira, Rand, and the others back, but he himself stayed behind.
There was still one problem he hadn't dealt with!
He headed straight for the Mages' Guildhall.
The place was deserted. More than twenty members of the guard had completely surrounded the tower, allowing people in but not out.
Under countless gazes filled with awe and complicated emotions, Anser climbed the stairs, making his way step by step to the top floor of the tower.
The door stood wide open. A middle-aged man stood by the window, silently watching the bustling scene at the nearby Federal Commercial Alliance.
He was the President of the Rock of Bral's Mages' Guild.
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