No Useless Spells

On another stone pillar.

The young man leaned on his sword. His messy black hair was plastered wetly against his cheeks and forehead, while the eyes hidden beneath it stared intently at Anse.

"You're a spellcaster, right? You should have a way, shouldn't you?" His eyes held a glimmer of hope.

But when he saw Anse begin sorting through the spoils without paying him any attention, he grew anxious.

"Hey, brother, nice work—" His voice was bright and clear.

Anse casually dumped the weapons, bundles, and other miscellaneous items he had collected onto the ground, then walked to the edge of the stone platform.

"Don't rush. I haven't forgotten you. The stone pillar is about to collapse, so we have to save ourselves as quickly as possible." He held up a rope he had found in the goblins' bundle.

The two stone pillars were about twenty meters apart. The other pillar was several meters shorter and was taking a direct hit from the water pouring down above, making it even more dangerous.

"I know, I know. I'm Brat. Is your rope long enough?" Brat grinned, revealing a row of slightly yellow teeth.

Anse untied the rope and laid it out on the ground to measure it. It was only a dozen or so meters long—nowhere near enough.

"Not long enough!"

Brant looked disappointed and said helplessly, "Do you have any other way?"

"I'll go up first, then find a rope and rescue you." Anse had already considered this.

The spell he had chosen was highly functional and specifically suited to the current situation.

If he had no rope, he could use Mold Earth and Leap Spell, combined with his climbing ability, to climb straight up.

With a rope, it would be even simpler.

"Huh? All right, I... I'll wait for you." Brat lowered his head slightly, and the hope that had just ignited in him was extinguished in an instant.

Monsters were running rampant above. Once the other man got up there, he would probably flee immediately, making the chance of rescuing him vanishingly small.

Anse did not say much, because he himself was not sure whether he would save the man.

The apprentice who had fallen with him could not even be found as a corpse. He was almost certainly dead. Life was fragile, and staying alive was what mattered.

He bundled up the weapons, money pouch, and other valuables and slung them over his back, tossing all the remaining odds and ends aside.

"Mage Hand." (Draconic language)

Accompanied by a low, majestic utterance in Draconic, a floating ghostly hand appeared on the rock face above and to the side.

This was the Zero-Ring Spell Mage Hand, something the original owner had yearned to learn for years but had never managed to master.

The ghostly hand lasted for one minute. It could fly and was as nimble as a human hand, but it could carry no more than ten pounds and could not move more than thirty feet away from its caster.

Having an extra hand felt marvelous. A faint smile tugged at Anse's lips as he controlled the ghostly hand with his mind, sending it wandering about to test which spots were more solid while avoiding cracks and loose soil and rocks.

Time was pressing. After quickly choosing his first foothold, he roughly plotted a climbing route up the cliff face, then cast another spell.

Cantrip: Mold Earth!

After a short, forceful incantation, a section of the cliff above began to writhe like muddy water. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a small stone platform with an anchoring ring.

It was nine meters high—the standard casting range of Mage Hand and Mold Earth. He felt he could reach farther, but chose not to risk it.

"Whoosh—"

Anse drew a deep breath, loosened up his body, and calmed his agitated mind.

Cantrips did not consume his own magical power; they only required him to draw on the magic in the air. However, the disordered Weave greatly increased the difficulty of spellcasting and placed a certain burden on his mind.

He grabbed the rope and hurled it upward. The ghostly hand caught the end effortlessly and tied it to the anchoring ring.

The rope was coarse hemp, about as thick as his thumb. Anse gave it a hard tug. It was sturdy enough. Without further hesitation, he gripped the rope and climbed rapidly, using both hands and feet.

It took him a dozen or so seconds to easily haul himself onto the stone platform.

"Easier than expected. Keep going!"

He repeated the same actions, finally climbing onto the fourth Mold Earth platform just before the effect of the second Mage Hand expired.

This platform was one meter below the edge of the pit. He had chosen this position deliberately.

He did not climb up recklessly. Instead, he crouched on the platform and listened carefully.

It was nearing evening, and the sky was dim. The light and shadows around the Giant Pit were chaotic, while disordered footsteps mingled with the rushing water.

"Someone's here!"

The place where he had climbed was not far from the Mage Tower. The foundations here were solid, so the risk of collapse was relatively low.

The Mage Tower stood in the southeastern part of Brampton District, overlooking the mighty Chongsa River to the south. To the east lay the Outer City's Rollover Zone, beneath Dust Eagle Mountain. A city wall separated the two districts, which were connected by Cliff Gate.

"The Underdark Creatures landed to the northwest. There are fewer monsters on this side, so the refugees are probably trying to pass through Cliff Gate and escape toward Dust Eagle Mountain." Anse understood the refugees' motive after a moment's thought.

He secretly poked his head out and swept his gaze across the area. Scattered groups of people were running southeast, their footsteps chaotic as they looked around in panic, like startled birds.

"Did they run in the wrong direction?" Anse wondered. He turned his head and glanced at the breach in the Chongsa River. "Could it be... Cliff Gate is blocked?"

Earlier, he had noticed that several sections of the wall between the two districts had collapsed, linking them together, but passage through them was difficult unless there was no other choice.

The situation was unclear, but he had not encountered any monsters for the time being. He now had two choices: flee immediately or find a way to rescue Brat.

He turned his head toward the deep pit below. A black figure stood silently at the edge of the stone pillar. Half his body was being battered by the waterfall, yet he made no sound. His eyes were hidden in the dusk, making him look like a statue.

"That composure... is extraordinary."

Anse withdrew his gaze but decided to rescue him after all.

If Brat had caused trouble earlier or had not been clever enough and had been noticed by the Gray Dwarves, Anse would not have made it up so easily.

The two had established a preliminary trust. They could try to flee together. He also needed an assistant—someone who could serve as the "front line" and absorb some punishment for him in battle.

"First, I'll go to the Mage Tower and find a rope."

After confirming that there were no monsters nearby, he rolled over the edge and climbed onto the ground. Clutching the crystal tightly in his left hand, he furtively ran toward the leaning Mage Tower several dozen meters away.

The sky was dim, and the entire city lay in darkness. There were barely any lights to be seen.

Most Underdark Creatures possessed Darkvision. This level of visibility was no different from daytime to them, while the city's residents were focused solely on escaping for their lives and did not dare light any lamps.

Anse avoided the debris covering the ground, frequently using shadows for concealment as he stealthily approached the entrance.

The Mage Tower had six floors and stood nearly twenty meters tall. It had once been the tallest building near Cliff Gate. Now, however, it was in a terrible state. The tower leaned more than ten degrees, and its walls were covered in enormous cracks. It was unquestionably a dangerous building.

"Is it going to collapse?"

But then Anse reconsidered. Those Underdark Creatures probably did not want to remain inside a dangerous building either. In other words, this place should be safe.

He peered inside through the shattered gate. He saw only several human corpses and found no sign of monsters or any other unusual sounds.

He crept inside, keeping his body against the wall, and slowly circled the hall. At last, he confirmed that the monsters had already left.

He bent down and picked up a short stick, then tore a piece of cloth from a corpse and used it to cover most of the stick.

"Light Spell." (Light Spell)

Magic poured into it, and the short stick immediately began to glow, its bright white light illuminating most of the hall.

Anse quickly covered it, wrapping it in several layers of cloth and leaving only a tiny portion of the tip exposed. The light dimmed accordingly.

"That should do."

Light Spell could cause an object to emit bright light within a twenty-foot radius, or at least six meters, as well as dim light for another twenty feet. It lasted for an hour and was extremely useful.

But being too bright was not necessarily a good thing.