Aozaki Aoko Case File [493] (Patreon)

The new staff combined all the magical power of both Markoheshkir and the Spellsparkler, with Mystra herself infusing it with her own divine energy, replacing Kreska’s.

Kreska, one of the chromatic dragon goddesses, was fiercely violent and evil; her blessing on Markoheshkir granted fire, frost, lightning, sonic, poison, and acid elemental powers.

Building on Kreska’s blueprint, the Mother of All Magic imbued the new artifact with a power called Mystra’s Wisdom.

This allowed the wielder, upon activation, to choose one school from among Abjuration, Evocation, Transmutation, Necromancy, Protection, Divination, Illusion, or Enchantment, increasing the spell save DC for that school.

Once chosen, the effect lasted 24 hours, until the same time the next day.

The staff also had a special Arcane Reservoir ability: when activated, it let the caster cast any spell from 1st to 9th level without expending a spell slot, with a three-hour cooldown.

For most wizards, this was even more valuable than the school blessing, effectively granting an extra 9th-level spell slot every three hours.

This ability alone would make any archmage drool—but the staff was personalized, unusable by anyone else without Aoko’s consent.

In addition to these two godlike powers, the staff also retained the usual artifact abilities: increased arcane save DC and spell penetration.

As a weapon infused by a goddess and forged from two staves, it also inherited the Spellsparkler’s Mystra’s Blessing—a free Bless spell once per day.

“A masterpiece,” Aoko remarked, delighted. “Does this staff have a name?”

“You’re asking the right question,” Mystra mused in Aoko’s mind. “Let me think.”

After a moment, the goddess replied, “Let’s call it Midnight—to commemorate my lost youth.”

Aoko wasn’t sure about the name, but she had no objections. The naming rights belonged to Mystra; even if she’d called it the Pink Fluffy Bunny, Aoko would have accepted it.

“It does sound a bit like Shar’s style, but who cares!” Mystra said confidently. “Now go check out the vault in this tower—there’s a book I’m very interested in.”

“All right, I’ll go now,” said Aoko, leaning on the Midnight. “Which book?”

“Karsus’s Notes,” Mystra replied bluntly. “Something about that book blocks my sight. I need your eyes to read it.”

Aoko nodded, understanding. She used the teleport device to return to the library level, then followed the bookcases counterclockwise until she found a button marked “Vault,” and pressed it without hesitation.

The next instant, she found herself in a pitch-dark cellar. Unfazed, she struck her staff, the rings chiming pleasantly as she cast Light to illuminate the room.

Looking around, she spotted a locked glass display case, inside of which was a red hardcover book with a knight’s chess piece on the cover.

With a flick of her staff, she easily opened the lock with a Knock spell, retrieved the red book, and immediately felt its powerful aura.

Opening the fastener, she read the title: “The Last Stratagems of the Red Knight.”

Flipping through, she found it detailed the Red Knight’s deeds as a paladin of Tempus before becoming a god. When she reached the last page, a scroll slipped out.

Reading comes with rewards?

Aoko picked up the scroll and discovered it described a divine technique called “Art of War,” which, when cast, summoned six phantom master tacticians to deal force damage to enemies.

No doubt, it was a mighty effect—force damage was the noblest, after all. Unfortunately, Aoko couldn’t learn the divine spell herself.

She stowed the scroll and book, looked around, and found a wooden door not far from the central platform.

There was no bridge between the platform and the door; it appeared to hang in midair. But Aoko stepped forward without hesitation, knowing there was a force-field floor just like in the library.

Beyond the wooden door was a room with three closed doors. The center was labeled “Silverhand,” the left “Elminster,” and the right “Karsus.”

Aoko first tried to open the Karsus door with Knock, but as expected, it had an anti-Knock ward—she would have to solve the mechanism.

Taking out her notebook, she opened the Silverhand door, was teleported to a similar room, and chose the door marked “Transmutation.”

After passing through one labeled “Wish,” she entered a room with a dragon-head lever.

Carefully avoiding traps, she pulled the lever, hearing machinery grind somewhere in the building—presumably unlocking the Karsus door.

Retracing her steps, she returned to the original room, and sure enough, the Karsus door now stood open. Without hesitation, Aoko stepped inside.