This script was completely different from what Anser had expected.
Most of Amn's military camp consisted of ordinary people, with only a small number of professional adventurers, mainly used to confront human armies. Generally speaking, they had no weapons specifically designed to deal with large aerial creatures.
Ballistae might exist, but their elevation angle was limited, making it difficult to threaten a nearly adult black dragon.
Except for the disgrace of dragonkind, dragons were all extremely cunning. They might be arrogant, but they were certainly not stupid.
Theoretically speaking, if a black dragon launched a nighttime raid on the camp to reclaim its treasure, the Amnians should have suffered heavy losses.
"Unless… they had already appraised those treasures that fell from the sky and made preparations in advance." Anser felt that his guess was probably correct.
After all, rain, snow, and hail might fall from the sky, but no one had ever heard of money falling from it. Even a fool would know there must be something suspicious about it.
Human nature was greedy; it would be hard to prevent people from secretly hiding money. But an army was still an army—under strict discipline, control would certainly be far easier than among civilians.
Realizing the existence of the dragon hoard curse was only the first step; setting up a trap based on it was the key.
'Amn has capable people,' Anser thought. 'But how could they be so certain the dragon would come?'
As the holder of the Avaricious Dragonhide Pouch, even he did not know which dragon's hoard the treasure had come from, nor whether the dragon would come looking for it.
He suddenly remembered how the Amnians had lured the green dragon to attack Durlag's Tower and schemed against Stoll. That was probably no coincidence. It could only mean that the Amnians understood dragons better than anyone else.
'Should I go take a look?' He gazed into the pitch-black depths of the forest, unable to make up his mind.
The black dragon had flashed past only briefly earlier. It was impossible to determine its strength or the state of its injuries. If he rushed over recklessly, he might be ambushed by the cunning dragon—and end up letting the Amnians reap the benefits.
In the darkness, the long chain of lights became increasingly clear.
He raised the telescope again and carefully observed the winding line of lights across the wilderness.
"At least a thousand people. There must be high-level professionals among them. With a formation like this… they're not leaving any opportunity for anyone else."
As a city of adventurers, Durlag had a large floating population, but fewer than ten thousand permanent residents. The city guard maintained around 350 soldiers year-round. There were over a thousand militia members, but they were not mobilized outside wartime. Normally they farmed, and both their combat ability and equipment were poor.
This was also the norm across the Faerûn continent. Productivity was limited, and not everyone could afford to maintain full-time soldiers. Only the wealthy Amnians could field such strong military forces.
However, the Amnian military camp was somewhat far from the Wood of Sharp Teeth. With the horses startled, they could only run.
Anser estimated that it would take the Amnians at least two hours to reach the edge of the forest. The terrain inside the forest would be even harder to traverse. Even if they could accurately locate the black dragon, it would still take another hour or two to find it.
He took out his pocket watch. With a click, the cover popped open. The hour hand had just passed three.
'Plenty of time. Call reinforcements!'
He immediately returned to the black tower and went up to the fourth floor. With a wave of the Rod of Security, several rooms flickered between light and darkness, and the flashes startled many people awake.
This was one of the black tower's traits: the light source came from the tower itself. Anyone holding a mark could adjust the brightness for themselves, while the tower master had full authority.
Salian, Bratt, and the others hurried out of their rooms, followed the corridor into the brightly lit hall, and immediately spotted Anser standing tall.
"I'm very sorry to disturb your pleasant dreams, but something unexpected has happened outside, and I need everyone's help." Anser dipped his head slightly.
They had finally been able to sleep so relaxed on their first day, only for him to wake them up—he did feel a bit guilty.
Instead, Salian let out a sigh of relief. "I thought the enemy had broken in. What happened?"
Seeing that the key people were all present, Anser quickly described the situation: "A black dragon launched a night raid on Amn's military camp and landed in the Wood of Sharp Teeth. The Amnians are hunting it down…"
"A wounded young black dragon…" Everyone's eyes widened, surprise and excitement mixing together.
"It might be an adult," Anser added. Dragons also had individual differences—some were larger, some smaller.
"If the treant is willing to make a move, our chances are very good." Salian paced back and forth barefoot, his gaze flickering.
"We have to try." Anser swept his eyes over them. "Finn, I need you and Grey Eagle to help me search for the black dragon's trail.
"Bratt, ride Nornoth to Fort Jacqueline and inform Iris of this.
"Kaleno, you and Giant Tail go to the Union. They know Giant Tail—tell Quentin or the captain of the guard that Amn's army is on the way. Have them gather their forces and prepare for battle."
"Captain Salian, this is 'Ultra-Range Vision.' It can observe distant situations. Help me keep an eye on the Amnians' movements and serve as second-in-command."
"Go put on your armor at once. I'll send you out, and then I'll go speak with the treant."
"No problem…" Without another word, they immediately returned to their rooms.
The others were a bit unhappy. First mate Colin shoved aside the big green dragonborn in his way. Guli on his shoulder looked sleepy-eyed. "What about me? My archery isn't worse than the captain's… by too much."
The halfling Colin was a 4th-level Druid of the Sea Circle. His spellcasting wasn't great, but he could Wild Shape into all kinds of animals, and his archery was decent. He really was well-suited to a jungle environment.
After a brief moment of thought, Anser replied, "Then you're in—but you have to follow the captain's command. No acting alone."
"No problem." Colin laughed loudly and briskly went back to his room to get his equipment.
"And me, and me…" Most people were up now. Having heard the news, every one of them was a little excited.
This was a chance to slay a dragon—who would be willing to give it up?
"Everyone, stay calm!" Anser raised a hand to placate them. "The situation is unclear. Go back and rest. If I need you, I'll call for you."
If a real fight broke out, ordinary professionals would struggle to protect themselves. Level 4 was the lowest he was willing to accept.
Finn and Bratt would only be doing support work anyway; they would not directly fight the black dragon or the Amnians head-on.
"Alright…" The others were unwilling, but they did not press the matter.
A few minutes later, the six of them returned one after another, fully armed.
"Move!"
Anser teleported the group out together, handed the "Ultra-Range Vision" to Salian, pointed Finn toward a general direction, and then returned to Holrewen once more.
Everyone carried out their respective duties and immediately began to act.
It was Bratt's first time riding Nornoth. He was so excited that he did not know where to place his hands. One hand reached up to touch Nornoth's ferocious neck armor, earning him a blank stare.
At Holrewen, Anser found the treant Old Moss sleeping at the edge of the square.
As soon as he explained his purpose, the treant agreed without a moment's hesitation. There was no need to waste words.
For Old Moss, Anser had saved its life. He was both an ally and a friend. Moreover, the enemies of a Paladin must surely deserve death—especially when there was also an evil black dragon involved.
Anser did not send it out immediately. Instead, he told it to make preparations. When it appeared, it would be the moment when its decisive strike was needed.
After arranging everything, he returned to the top-floor room of the black tower.
It was still early. He needed to wait until Iris and Quentin arrived before discussing the action plan together.
Before that, he intended to strengthen his own power.
In Faerûn, advancing in level during battle was only a legend. Leveling up was the same: at low levels the improvement was small and the process brief, but after level five, each level-up required a process lasting from several minutes to several dozen minutes, and possibly even longer in the future.
Therefore, even if he gained enough experience during a fight, it would be impossible for him to level up on the spot.
Since that was the case, he might as well raise his Paladin level first to obtain powerful subclass features and strengthen his immediate combat ability. His original plan had been to accumulate experience and reach level seven first, but plans never kept up with changes.
His consciousness sank into his mind as he summoned the character panel and selected the Paladin section.
[Do you wish to increase your level?]
"Yes!"
The experience in the experience pool disappeared like flowing water.
[Level Up: Paladin Level 3!]
[You have obtained a new class feature: "Channel Divinity." You can learn one evocation spell.]
[You have obtained subclass features: "Elemental Smite," "Genie Spells," "Genie's Splendor."]
[Channel Divinity]: You gain the ability to directly channel divine energy from the Outer Planes and use this energy to produce magical effects. Twice per day, one use is restored after a short rest.
Current Channel Divinity effect mastered: Divine Sense.
Divine Sense: Using divine energy to expand your consciousness, you detect the location and creature type of celestials, fiends, and undead, as well as any place or object blessed or desecrated by consecration-type spells.
Base duration: 10 minutes.
Base range: 18 meters.
[Elemental Smite]: You revere the power of the Elemental Planes and receive a response from elemental forces.
After casting Divine Smite, you may immediately expend one use of Channel Divinity to trigger an elemental effect.
[Genie Spells]: As your level increases, you will master more elemental spells.
Current spells: Elementalism, Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite. You always have these spells prepared and may cast them at any time.
[Genie's Splendor]: Both magnificent and destructive elemental power surrounds you, forming a powerful aura of elemental radiance.
Intimidation +1.
If you are not wearing any medium or heavy armor, your Armor Class increases, gaining a bonus equal to your Charisma modifier, with a minimum of +1.
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