Aozaki Aoko [529-531] (Patreon)

Chapter 529: Appropriation

Aoko rummaged through her personal coffer and found a material with excellent magic-conducting properties. She then used Transmutation magic to reshape it, taking inspiration from the statue in the Temple of the Storm Coast in Baldur’s Gate and combining it with the appearance of Mystra as she had seen her.

Thus, she created a statue of the goddess.

Normally, a deity's temple would have clergy stationed there, but Aoko couldn’t stay here long-term to serve as a cleric herself. So, she pulled in the innkeeper, Reinaldo, to act as a proxy. After all, Mystra herself didn’t seem to object, right?

So, in the latter half of the night after the Séance ended, a group of elderly refugees from the Easthaven gathered in the basement of the White Lady Inn, prostrating themselves before the statue of the goddess of magic. Reinaldo joined in as well, seemingly convinced of the magic goddess’s divinity after seeing Aoko’s display.

Whether it was because the statue was crafted by Aoko, Mystra’s favored daughter, or for some other reason, these new believers had barely started their worship when the statue began to emit a faint glow. This indicated that the statue had received Mystra’s direct attention, completing its consecration.

In this frigid land under Auril’s divine power, for Mystra’s statue to be consecrated meant the goddess of magic’s power far surpassed the Cold Goddess’s. Even if the Cold Goddess herself or her avatar were present in Icewind Dale, the difference in magnitude was clear.

At the very instant the Mystra statue was consecrated, Aoko’s pupils suddenly widened—she felt her spiritual perception soar to a whole new level.

First, her Cleric level rose from 2 to 3, and her Archmage level from 7 to 8—meaning her caster level reached 18!

The Cleric level-up was surely a reward from Mystra for establishing the statue, while her Archmage level was the result of ongoing study and combat experience.

Previously, by researching the legendary magical tomes "Karsus’s Chronicle" and "Tharchiate Codex," Aoko had gained significant knowledge, gradually applying it in spells and battles, accumulating quite a bit of insight.

Having already been on the verge of leveling up, the boost from Mystra pushed her over the edge, so it wasn’t surprising that both levels increased together.

The Cleric level-up granted Aoko the ability to cast 2nd-level divine spells—though exactly which ones would only be clear after she meditated in the morning.

On the wizard side, reaching a caster level of 18 increased her Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves, plus she gained an extra 8th-level spell slot and an extra 9th-level spell slot—a substantial improvement.

As for feats, Aoko first acquired a general wizard feat called "Spell Mastery," allowing her to prepare any one 1st-level and one 2nd-level spell and cast them freely throughout the day without expending spell slots.

Of course, if she applied metamagic to those mastered spells, higher-level spell slots were still required.

If Spell Theft was a technique for seizing control of spells requiring concentration, then the new feat Aoko gained—"Spell Seizure"—was truly an appropriation ability.

This feat allowed her to seize control of spells that did not require concentration but still required the caster to control them—classic examples being Conjuration school’s monster summoning and psychic weapons.

Previously, Sofina’s summoned dragon statue was a type of Animate Transformation requiring concentration, so Aoko could use Spell Theft to seize control. But if Sofina had used Summon Monster to call a demon, Aoko would need "Spell Seizure" to take control of the summoned creature.

In short, this completed Aoko’s appropriation feat set, and she was quite pleased.

Besides this exclusive Archmage feat, Aoko also obtained a general wizard metamagic feat: "Maximize Spell."

This feat is simple: whenever a spell has a range of possible effects, using this metamagic causes it to always achieve the maximum possible effect.

If Maximize Spell is combined with Empower Spell, the spell first maxes out its effect, then adds 0.5 times the original effect’s random value.

A simple, brute-force effect—but sometimes the simpler the mechanism, the more noticeable the impact. Simple is best.

Strictly speaking, Aoko’s total level after this ascension had reached 21, surpassing the threshold for legendary status.

But true combat power isn’t calculated this way, since her Cleric level was a free gift from Mystra. Her actual caster level was still 18—but that’s already very close to the legendary wizard standard of 20.

This meant she now had to consider what to choose after reaching level 20, because once a wizard exceeds level 20 and wants to continue progressing in the arcane arts, she must pick a legendary prestige class.

Considering her current class composition, Aoko was inclined towards the legendary prestige legacy she’d already acquired: "Legendary Archmage."

A regular Archmage caps at 10 class levels, but after advancing to Legendary Archmage, Aoko could keep leveling her Archmage class up to 20, reaching the legendary domain.

Adding that to her original 10 Wizard levels, her caster level could reach a terrifying 30. At that point, she could begin researching and learning her own legendary spells and legendary feats—something she greatly looked forward to.

Because legendary wizards and ordinary wizards are essentially different creatures—many weaknesses of regular wizards simply do not exist for the legendary.

“Isn’t it a bit too late already?” Edgin walked over to Aoko, who was gazing absent-mindedly at the statue. “You wizards need proper sleep to recover spell slots, right?”

“...You’re right,” Aoko’s gaze refocused as she replied, “I’m a bit tired. Let’s wrap up for tonight and rest. We’ll deal with the rest in the morning.”

The innkeeper had been through a rollercoaster today, and felt as if he was in another world. But things had ended well for him, so he bore no grudge against Aoko’s party—after all, he still wanted to learn bardic skills from Edgin.

Under Reinaldo’s organization, the elderly participants of the ritual left in an orderly fashion. Aoko and her companions also returned to the wizard mansion, washed up, and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 530: The Accelerated Execution

The next morning, in Aoko’s magic mansion, everyone but Aoko was enjoying a sumptuous breakfast in the dining room. She herself was sitting cross-legged, floating midair in her room, meditating.

Although the Cleric levels had come at no personal cost, gaining two class levels at once still meant Aoko needed longer meditation than usual to sort out and confirm her new abilities—and to fish around in the depths of the Weave.

Because of the magic weave fragment in her body, Aoko usually navigated the Weave’s depths smoothly—unless she exceeded her power limit. But today was different.

She actually felt "pressure" in the deep Weave—something, or someone, was trying to block her from going deeper. But this pressure was negligible to her now; she simply focused harder, applied more force, and reached the deepest part mortals could access—the realm of 9th-level spells.

About half an hour later, Aoko emerged from her meditative state and floated back to the ground.

Stretching, she sat at her desk, opened her spellbook to a blank page, paused, and then began to diligently copy spells she’d just fished from the Weave’s depths.

This included an 8th-level Conjuration spell, "Greater Planar Binding," and a 9th-level Abjuration, "Mystra’s Mists."

Originally, she’d only intended to get Greater Planar Binding today, but just before leaving, Mystra shoved a 9th-level spell at her—the abjuration "Mystra’s Mists."

Greater Planar Binding, much like the lower-level Planar Binding, is an upgraded version, forcing a powerful extraplanar creature to serve you via a contract.

For example, last time Aoko summoned a berserk demon, but it didn’t obey her. Now, with Greater Planar Binding, she could set up a reverse protective circle in advance, trap it, and then force a Will save contest—if she wins, she gets a controllable combat unit.

This is a must-have spell for summoner mages—many summoned creatures do not obey the caster’s commands by default.

"Mystra’s Mists" is a very rare spell, worthy of being named for the goddess of magic. Its effect is powerful.

The caster conjures a spherical mist with a minimum radius of 30 feet. Within this area, the Weave is disrupted—any spellcasters entering it will have a hard time casting spells.

This sounds similar to Antimagic Field or Dead Magic Zone, but the mechanism is completely different.

In an Antimagic Field, casters can try to cast spells, but their effects are greatly diminished.

But in Mystra’s Mists, the Weave itself is recoded in the mist, so spellcasters must break through this encrypted firewall to manipulate the Weave and cast spells.

Aoko focused intently as she copied these spells into her spellbook, pondering the principles and models behind them.

Greater Planar Binding was easy for her, since she already knew the lower-level version—the principles were similar.

But Mystra’s Mists was different. Its mechanism was unlike any spell she’d learned before. It would likely take her a week or two to fully master.

About two hours later, Aoko finally finished her long morning meditation and spell prep. She stretched, left her room, and went to the living room on the first floor.

She found that Simon, Edgin, and Holga weren’t there—only Doric was lounging on the sofa, enjoying a glass of juice served by the mansion’s servants.

“Where are the others?” Aoko asked curiously.

“Remember the hag the ghost mentioned yesterday?” Doric replied. “When Edgin went to teach Reinaldo bard stuff after breakfast, a militia captain came looking for him.”

“Something about the hag?” Aoko guessed, already close to the answer.

“Yep,” Doric nodded. “Some ice fishers went missing on the east shore of Lac Dinneshere—right where the local legend says the hag lives.”

“They didn’t ask you to go along?” Aoko hadn’t met the hag but knew roughly what she was capable of.

“No, Edgin said the three of them were enough, and left me here to tell you. Besides, he said they’d dealt with the hag before—not to worry. He told us to go handle something else.”

“All right,” Aoko shrugged. “I’ll get breakfast, and then we can check on Dzaan’s situation. We might need to sneak into the prison together.”

…

By the time Aoko finished breakfast and went out with Doric, it was already noon. But due to the Everlasting Rime, the sky was still gray, and every building’s entrance was lit by lamps; the richer shops had magical lights.

The two walked along the avenue in front of the White Lady Inn for about five blocks before finally reaching the square in front of City Hall.

Aoko intended to sneak into the prison before Dzaan’s execution, but upon arriving at the square with Doric,

She realized she’d miscalculated—Dzaan was already tied to the pyre at the center of the square, surrounded by a dense crowd of Easthaven citizens.

Why did they move up the execution?

Aoko frowned at the expressionless Red Wizard of Thay. This must be a snap decision by the local authorities. Most Faerûn residents hate the Red Wizard of Thay—Edgin was a prime example.

“...What should we do?” Doric whispered. “Are we going to rescue the Red Wizard of Thay?”

“No need,” Aoko shook her head. “Information is important, but not enough to turn the locals against us... Let me think of something.”

The highest-level mind probe in the Enchantment school is "Mindrape," but Aoko didn’t know it yet, so she had to use a lower-level method to extract info from Dzaan’s mind before he burned.

The Divination school has a 6th-level spell called "Probe Thoughts." During its duration, the caster can query the target's memories and thoughts—roughly one question per round.

But it’s a close-range spell. To read Dzaan’s mind, Aoko would have to get near the pyre, so her plan was to use Greater Invisibility to sneak up, and then read Dzaan’s mind when no one was paying attention.

The only risk was that if Dzaan resisted her Probe Thoughts spell, she might be exposed, so she prepared a backup plan—a Time Stop scroll on her belt.

Chapter 531: Dzaan and the Netherese Spire

The execution was presided over by Easthaven’s spokesman, Dennis Whalen.

His hatred for Red Wizard of Thay was well known in East Haven—so intense that even Edgin, who’d lost a wife, couldn’t compare.

Originally, after capturing Dzaan, the city authorities planned to wait at least five more days before executing him, but Dennis Whalen decided he couldn’t wait. Red Wizard of Thay have too many tricks—delay meant risk. He wanted the Red Wizard of Thay dead today!

So, under the spokesman’s guidance, Dzaan’s execution was moved up to today.

If Aoko had stayed in the mansion one more day, she’d have missed Dzaan entirely—ashes and all—let alone his information.

Dennis Whalen sat on the dais, while the torchbearer at the pyre was a half-elf militia captain named Aimdelau Aragat.

“Red Wizard of Thay Dzaan!” Dennis Whalen proclaimed, “He cruelly murdered adventurers who once aided the people of Ten Towns! Therefore, the Easthaven Council has sentenced him to death by burning!”

“This is not personal vendetta, but to prevent others from emulating this Red Wizard of Thay’s crimes!”

Dennis Whalen kept repeating that it wasn’t personal but for the public good. Even as an outsider, Aoko could see through his hatred. The locals surely knew as well.

Self-deception at its finest.

“I’m going in,” Aoko whispered to Doric. Aimdelau Aragat was already approaching Dzaan with the torch. “Remember to hide in the densest part of the crowd; leave as soon as it’s over.”

Doric nodded and melted into the crowd, while Aoko vanished on the spot—Greater Invisibility at work. Even if she brushed against someone, she wouldn’t be revealed.

Once close enough to Dzaan, Aoko cast Probe Thoughts without hesitation—a flash of magical light that went unnoticed by the crowd.

But Dzaan, as the target, suddenly widened his eyes from his former blank expression.

He looked toward Aoko’s position but saw nothing.

At the same time, Dzaan felt Aoko’s magic invading his mind—a powerful force trying to read his memories.

Normally, no wizard would let someone probe their mind without resisting, least of all a Red Wizard of Thay.

But at this point, with death certain, clinging to secrets was pointless. Instead...

Dzaan dropped his mental defenses. Aoko’s magic surged in, beginning to read his memories—just as the pyre was lit beneath him, flames licking his flesh.

Perhaps Dzaan used a necromancy spell on himself, but as he was consumed by fire, he didn’t struggle or scream. He simply stared silently at his burning body.

Aoko pushed the Probe Thoughts spell to its limits, even using her Archmage’s "Spontaneous Metamagic" to boost it—desperate to extract as much as possible before Dzaan’s brain was destroyed.

The first information she gleaned shocked her: this Red Wizard of Thay had found a Netherese spire!

Nearly all magical theory in Faerûn traces back to the ancient Netherese Empire, and a spire from those floating cities could hide untold magical secrets.

No wonder the Arcane Brotherhood was after Dzaan—they must have found clues to the Netherese Spire long ago.

Now Dzaan was about to burn, and the two Arcane Brotherhood mages were nowhere to be found... no wonder they were stuck in Luskan so long.

Aoko dove deeper into Dzaan’s memories, confirming the exact location of the spire: on the tundra in the northeast of Easthaven, far from Ten Towns.

After getting the location, she tried to probe for details about the interior, but Dzaan didn’t seem to know much.

It seemed that after entering, Dzaan had a falling out with his party over loot, leading to a fight and the death of his fellow adventurers.

For some unknown reason, Dzaan gave up on exploring further, left something inside, and returned to Easthaven.

What exactly he left, and what he found, suddenly blurred from Aoko’s mind—the memory disappeared.

Dzaan’s brain had just lost its last trace of consciousness, his body now a charred corpse.

Aimdelau Aragat glanced sharply at the pyre. With elven blood, he was sensitive to magical fluctuations, and seemed to sense something. “What’s going on?”

But before Aimdelau Aragat could approach, Aoko had already activated her Time Stop scroll, slipping into frozen time.

She glanced back at Dzaan’s corpse, then turned and walked into the crowd.

As Time Stop ended, Aimdelau Aragat found nothing suspicious, and Dzaan was indeed dead.

“The criminal has been punished!”

Aimdelau shouted, and the crowd erupted into cheers, the warmly bundled townsfolk pressing near the pyre for a moment’s warmth.

Meanwhile, at a distance, Doric—hooded—watched the frenzied crowd in silence.

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder—Aoko appeared at her side.

“How did it go?” Doric whispered, “Did you get any intel?”

“Yeah,” Aoko nodded. “I found out a lot. I’ll tell you the details when we get back.”