Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 397 Mage? Mage's grandson!
A faint, divine glow appeared.

Just as Duncan ordered the cleanup of the battlefield, a faint light suddenly appeared on his body, and then a joyful aura spread in all directions. Even the others nearby couldn't help but feel happy, forgetting their troubles and worries, feeling only high-spirited and fearless of any challenge.

"It is the lady's divine grace!"

The clown was overjoyed. He knelt down on one knee before Duncan, who was bathed in the light of joy. After he did so, the other members of the Scarlet Actor Order hesitated for a moment, then followed suit and knelt down on one knee facing Duncan, chanting 'Hail the Lady of Joy'.

This war has shattered the divine grace of the goddess of joy.

Lady Cesta-White, standing to the side, looked slightly anxious; she hadn't yet had time to inform the Church of Love. Although the goddess of love, Shuni, possessed great divine power, in the eastern region of the continent, only the Comansor region had their church's grand temple, which belonged to the elves.

As for the surrounding areas, such as the Valley, Zambia, and Dragon Bay, the Church of Love only has small groups in major cities, and its influence cannot surpass that of other churches.

Ms. Joy acted too quickly.

Mrs. Cesta-White didn't even have time to contact the church's higher-ups, but she wouldn't give up easily. As soon as she made contact with the bishop of the Comanso region, she immediately prepared to poach him.

"During this period, the regions that were once part of the Netheril Empire have also been in turmoil."

"The valley is not safe either."

"The church needs such strong figures to maintain order."

The Holy Catastrophe was a chain reaction. Although it has ended, it won't be long before Shadow City returns, a floating city from the Netheril era, a legacy of the former Netheril Empire. While the Church of Love is rumored to be short-sighted, their influence extends throughout the upper echelons of society, with connections in aristocratic circles. They naturally see more and are more acutely aware of the turmoil of the times.

Duncan's location, Sergant, has a very unique geography.

To the north lies the largest elven kingdom, the Great Forest of Comanso, a place protected by the Enchanted Lock, yet also ravaged by demons.

To the west lies the largest desert, the Enoch Desert, once the territory of the Nether Empire and the site of many crashed floating cities.

A little further down is Dragon Lake, where countless dragon eggs fell from the sky like shooting stars. It is said to be one of the places where the nine-faced dragon god Aio dropped many dragon eggs to hatch, a sacred place of the Dragon Age.

Continuing westward, you'll find many famous cities such as Sword Bay, Bodø/Gate, and Deepwater Horizon.

East of the port of Serganth lies the Pirate Islands, also known as the Broken Islands, the largest pirate stronghold in all of Faerûn.

Further northeast lies the territory of the Red Wizards, the legendary evil kingdom, and the Red Wizards' stronghold, Sel.

If you head southeast along the coast, you'll find Mulanhold, the place where the gods of Earth descended.

This is one of the gateways to the entire Falling Star Sea.

A battlefield on all sides!

After Tiamat's avatar, the Queen of the Five Colored Dragons, entered the material plane, it headed east, presumably intending to settle scores with Gilgamesh, but no one knows exactly when it will make its move.

Neither the Pleasure Church nor the Wealth Church would easily give up such a crucial position.

The Church of Wealth later moved to the Amn region because it simply couldn't compete with them anymore.

It was transformed from maritime trade into inland trade.

A devastating defeat forced the goddesses of joy and wealth to retreat to the West.

Lady Cesta-White serves the chief god of the Brightwater Realm. She is active in the major cities surrounding the Fallen Star Sea, aiming to expand her influence and maintain the interests of the Brightwater Realm Goddess Alliance in the east. From Dragon Lake to Dragon Bay, from Eastern Bay to the Aranbo Sea, the trade routes around the Fallen Star Sea determine more than half of the trade flow across the entire continent of Faerûn.

At this point in time, Sword Coast, Baldur's Gate, and Amn cannot compare to the Fallen Star Sea.

Not to mention that Mrs. Thursta-White was secretly anxious, thinking about how to poach her.

After being bathed in divine grace, Duncan felt a slight restlessness in his magical power. Then, in the projection page of the dimensional space, a spellbook extended from his mana bar, with a page turned up, marked as the clerical branch—[Paladin] spellbook.

"Is casting a spell really this complicated?"

Duncan opened the spellbook in front of him and immediately felt a headache coming on, because he saw a series of tables, which were materialized magic networks, and also part of the faith network. Even priests here relied on magic networks to cast spells, but they used regional networks, which ultimately connected to the gods they believed in.

The mages used public networks, while the priests used private networks.

Priests and spellcasters in the divine magic system utilize the magic network for their own purposes, but they do not completely rely on it.

"Is this considered a mage?"

"Isn't that Fa Sun?"

"It's not just being choked, it's like having a dog leash around your neck!"

Duncan glanced at the spellbook and immediately frowned.

As a priest in the divine magic system, he was subject to such great restrictions when using the power of the gods to cast spells; the situation must be even more dire for mages.

In the folklore of Faerûn, the sorcerers are all ridiculously powerful.

But in Duncan's eyes, they were just a bunch of weaklings, complete cowards, with leashes wrapped around their necks eighteen times.

A fully-powered Merlin could probably easily defeat most of the legendary mages of our time.

"It really is like a dog collar around its neck, with a leash still in the hands of the goddess of magic."

Duncan opened the spellbook on the projected page in front of him. The first thing that appeared was level 0 tricks, which had a total of 4 spell slots. There was nothing special to say about it; the human form's profession didn't have many spell slots in total.

Next comes the first-level divine magic, where the human host's mastery of divine magic is close to that of a paladin, primarily focused on enhancement.

—Enduring the environment, protecting against evil, water creation, healing minor injuries, blessing spells, etc.

These spells are scattered throughout the body, and together with the goddess's domain spells, there are dozens in total, ranging from high to low rank.

But these are not the real problems.

The problem is that no matter how many spells Duncan can master, the only spells he can actually cast are those that are already memorized and engraved in his spellbook and uploaded to the magic network, that is, those spells that have been backed up in advance in the 'file' (spell slot).

As for other spells that weren't recorded or backed up in advance, or stored in the magic network archives, sorry, even if you knew ten thousand spells, you simply couldn't use them.

Can you imagine?
A legendary archmage, because he hadn't memorized the 'Fireball' spell beforehand, couldn't even conjure a single fireball the next day.

A popular saying goes, 'A prepared mage is virtually invincible.'

Similarly, a mage who cannot anticipate the enemy's moves or predict their abilities may find that the spells recorded in the magic network archive (stored in the spell slot) the next day are completely useless in battle.

What's even more terrifying is that even if you memorize a fireball spell and have plenty of mana, you can only use one fireball.

Want to use a second Fireball?

Excuse me.

The files on the Magic Network were not backed up beforehand.

If you can't cast a second Fireball spell no matter how hard you try, prepare eight hours of meditation. Store backup spells in advance in the corresponding spell slot and rank in your spellbook. Remember to back up 'two Fireballs'.

No wonder he killed that person with the sore spot so easily.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Painful One is a legendary-rank priest. The spells he can cast are not determined by how many powerful divine spells he has mastered, but by what spells he has backed up from his memory the night before.

"With such a pitifully small number of spell slots, what can you possibly remember or back up?"

Duncan flipped through the spellbook and looked at it with a look of disgust. He had painstakingly mastered dozens or even hundreds of spells, but only a very few could be placed in the spell slot as backups. And those spells had to be able to deal with the sudden changes in the situation on the battlefield, otherwise they were basically useless.

You can't even change your spell if you want to. Without powerful supermagic abilities, you only have what you backed up. Whether you can survive the battle the next day depends entirely on whether the spells you backed up the previous day can handle unexpected situations.

Whether the monk was in pain or not, Duncan didn't know.

However, as a priest, a paladin-like warrior who could only cast fourth-circle spells at most, Duncan was truly miserable.

"One treatment, one buff, one output, one early warning."

"hey-hey."

"Guess what? We've used up all our spell slots!"

Although Duncan regained his spellcasting ability under divine grace, this restored divine spellcasting ability had almost no effect on his strength.

There are only a few spell slots available, and you have to back them up in advance. Even if there are dozens of divine spells in the spellbook, you can only use a dozen or so in the end, and you have to calculate them very carefully because there is no room for change.

"If all the powerful mages in this world are like this," then "I won't even need to fear legendary mages!"

Something flickered in Duncan's eyes.

To gamble on luck.

He bets the legendary mage didn't memorize any spells specifically targeting him beforehand. With his current strength, he could force a 50/50 chance against the legendary mage.

"From now on, whether it's killing a mage or a priest..."

"We can rely on this point to target them."

To put it even more ridiculously—'I bet you can't cast a second fireball!'

of course.

Except for those spellcasters who are particularly wealthy, because they have artifacts, wands, scrolls, and so on, but for Duncan, the time it takes to tear open a magic scroll is enough for him to kill his enemies several times over.

“These spellcasters have very limited spell slots available after removing healing and life-saving spells.”

"We also need to reserve corresponding spell slots for different emergencies."

Trade Avenue.

On his way back, Duncan added a new set of targets to his kill list.

Dharma grandson!

What kind of sorcerer is he? He's nothing but a grandson.

The combat power of the mages in this world is completely disproportionate to their reputation. Others may be very wary of the mages' abilities, but after Duncan sensed the true nature of the magic network and understood the dog leash around the mage's neck, he no longer viewed spellcasters with any prejudice.

Unless someone is powerful enough to predict the future, he could really kill those legendary mages.

"of course."

"This is only a preliminary understanding at present."

"It's possible that legendary mages have so many spell slots they can't possibly use them all, but based on my current understanding of the magic network, I estimate they don't have that many spell slots."

"But at least now that I understand the structure of the magic network, I no longer need to fear powerful spellcasters."

Duncan has not yet encountered a legendary mage, but the legendary priests he has met so far have not been able to unleash many truly powerful divine spells.

"No wonder the Great Mother of Bliss rarely engages in direct combat with enemies; her memory backups are mostly healing and blessing spells, right?"

One summons an otherworldly divine servant, and the other is a group healing spell; that makes two 9th-level spell slots.

Duncan considered the God-Chosen One, Mother of Great Bliss, as his hypothetical enemy and discovered that if he could break through the protection of the otherworldly divine servants, he could kill a legendary priest of that level.

"If I acquire a few more legendary abilities, I'll be able to fight some of the weaker Chosen Ones."

There is a lot to do.

During his time here, Duncan has fought a series of battles and has gained a pretty good understanding of the strength of some legendary powerhouses. Now he also has a better understanding of spellcasters. So he already has a clear idea of ​​what kind of enemies he can kill and what kind of enemies he can't defeat.

Sergante.

As the group returned to the bustling port city, the Pleasure Cult in the Temple District immediately took action.

As groups of revelers emerged from the temple district, the sudden commotion attracted the attention of many tycoons, who dispatched their trusted confidants to gather information. Soon, bits and pieces of intelligence leaked out.

The entire Pleasure Cult has been infiltrated like a sieve, and those high-dose Pleasure Priests dare to say anything.

A stirring and uplifting melody rang out.

As the bards on both sides of the procession began to play their instruments, the Great Mother of Bliss made a magnificent entrance before the grand gates of the Temple of Joy, dressed in a gorgeous red gown. She activated her divine grace, her whole body glowing slightly as she walked in mid-air. Accompanied by the bards' background music, her appearance was truly breathtaking, drawing many believers to prostrate themselves in worship.

The news of Duncan had barely arrived when the Great Mother of Bliss was already preparing a grand celebration.

Feel proud!

The Great Mother of Bliss was filled with pride and acted in an extremely high-profile manner. She had dressed herself up meticulously, changing into the finest and most magnificent gown and the most expensive jewelry. The Dragon Heart gem on her chest shone brightly. Surrounded by numerous priests of joy, messengers of happiness, and indulgent individuals, she walked step by step through the air, proceeding along the temple district towards the gates of Sergant, to welcome the victorious warriors.

Regardless of what the future holds?
She's definitely putting on an act to show off in front of everyone today!

The High Priestess welcomed Duncan and his entourage back home. The Master of Revelry and the High Priest of Joy each led fifty priests of pleasure and messengers of joy, along with hundreds of revelers who scattered flowers along the way. Even the streets had been magically cleaned beforehand.

Even more remarkably, the Mother of Great Bliss personally purchased a large amount of food and drinks from shops, taverns, and markets along the route, providing them free of charge to the people watching the ceremony, regardless of their status or position. All the food and drinks placed near the temple district were free to take.

"They're practically building a triumphal arch on this spot!"

"As for it?"

Duncan tried his best to keep a straight face, afraid that he would lose control and clench his fists.

Speechless.

With such a high-profile style of behavior, it's no wonder that others are eyeing you for assassination.

Duncan had considered countless possible scenarios, including a full-scale war with the Church of Pain and dealing with the chosen ones of the goddess of torment, Lauvita. However, he had not anticipated that the Great Mother of Bliss would hold such a high-profile victory celebration for them.

This day.

There were countless rumors circulating throughout Serganth, but to sum it up in one sentence: the Pleasure Cult had risen up!
The Mother of Great Bliss wanted nothing more than to tell everyone about this glorious victory.

In front of the temple area.

Duncan looked at the radiant and spirited Mother of Bliss not far away, clenched his fists, relaxed them, clenched them again, relaxed them again, and finally held back.

Because the Great Blissful Mother before them had condescended to welcome their return with almost the highest honors.

The Pleasure Cult really needs a serious overhaul.

Because he discovered that the Scarlet Actor's troupe around him actually enjoyed this moment of being the center of attention, as if this were their stage, where they stood in the center of the stage receiving cheers from the audience. Even the clown forgot that he was a rogue professional, and that exposing his true face to the world was a major taboo.

To Duncan's right, the stage master greeted the bewildered noblewoman who was cheering. He raised his rapier and twirled it beautifully. Then, as if by magic, petals fluttered down, and he presented a bouquet of flowers to the girl in front of him, which immediately drew cheers from the surrounding crowd.

To Duncan's left, the Dream Musician conjured up realistic illusions, mimicking all sorts of magical creatures, and even creating a phantom of a giant dragon that roared and flew overhead, accompanied by a series of deep dragon roars. This immediately caused many onlookers to gasp in surprise, followed by enthusiastic applause.

Behind Duncan, the clown moved forward with slow, graceful steps, performing some magic tricks and even flashing a Sichuan opera-style face-changing disguise.

The cheers rose higher and higher, and the Mother of Great Bliss was extremely satisfied, her expression full of pride, with a clear smile curving her lips.

The entire temple area was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Duncan.

Forget it.

Duncan loosened his clenched fist, put on his helmet and visor, and like a silent guardian, hurriedly entered the Temple of Joy.

After the group left.

The Mother of Great Bliss delivered a speech, recounting her glorious deeds in striking down the evil cultists. Then, with a wave of her hand, numerous bards and street performers poured out, showcasing their various talents in the vicinity.

The joyful atmosphere quickly reached its climax.

inside the room.

Duncan looked at the ignorant crowd celebrating outside the temple, his lips twitched, and he couldn't help but rub his forehead. In the end, he said nothing and just silently wiped the blade of his sword.

Very good, very energetic.

As expected of a member of the Goddess Alliance of the Bright Water Domain.

………………

(End of this chapter)