Intelligence Matters

Marvin rose from the crude wooden bed and looked around.

A desk weathered and mottled by time, a creaking chair, and a dust-covered mirror nailed to the wall, with a sign beside it reading, "Inn property. Theft prohibited."

That was all the furniture in the room.

There was no private washroom.

The daily rent was five copper coins.

The inn he was staying at was called the Diligent Packhorse. From the name alone, it was clearly a cheap inn serving the broad masses of lower- and middle-class workers, so he could hardly expect decent living conditions.

"At least it's not a communal bunkroom," Marvin consoled himself.

He walked over to the mirror and examined himself.

Perhaps because of his transmigration, the injuries on his body had completely healed. Not even a scar remained.

The young man in the mirror had neat, short black hair. Though his looks were not particularly outstanding, he possessed the calm, reserved air of a scholar.

It was said that in Baldur's Gate's Upper City, plenty of noblewomen favored his type.

"Not bad. At least this body is still young, without the flab left behind by years of desk work."

Marvin activated his golden finger and switched from the [Quest Panel] to the [Character Sheet].

A surging stream of data appeared across his retina, forming lines of text.

[Name: Marvin Rodhart]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 24]

[Background: Sage]

[Class: Wizard · Scribes Guild (Level 1)]

[Experience: 0/300]

[Alignment: Lawful Neutral]

[Faith: Oghma, God of Knowledge]

[Languages: Common, Elvish, Draconic]

Basic Attributes:

[Strength: 10]

[Dexterity: 12]

[Constitution: 10]

[Intelligence: 15]

[Wisdom: 13]

[Charisma: 11]

Skill Proficiencies:

[Arcana, Alchemy, History, Religion, Investigation]

Class Features:

[Ritual Caster, Arcane Recovery]

Origin Feat:

[Magic Initiate]

Spells:

[Cantrips: Control Fire, Mold Earth, Wind Dance, Shape Water, Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, Prestidigitation, True Strike, Friends, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Spare the Dying, Shillelagh]

[1st-Level Spells: Speak with Animals, Magic Missile, Alarm, Expeditious Retreat, Grease, Shield, Mage Armor, Burning Hands, Tenser's Floating Disk]

Spell Slots:

[1st Level: 2]

After reviewing his character data, Marvin gave it a sharp assessment: mediocre strength.

In Faerûn, every creature's physical and mental capabilities were measured by the six core attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.

Every class had a corresponding primary attribute.

A primary attribute directly affected a classed individual's growth rate and potential ceiling.

Take wizards, for example. Their primary attribute was Intelligence.

The average human Intelligence was 10, which was why most ordinary people had no affinity for magic at all.

With 11 Intelligence, one was considered somewhat clever in the eyes of the public, yet even after studying for an entire lifetime, they could only learn 1st-level spells.

By the same logic, one needed 19 Intelligence to learn the most powerful 9th-level spells.

Only with 20 Intelligence, the mortal limit, did one have a chance to step into legend.

The original owner had possessed 15 Intelligence, making him one of the finest talents among mortals.

But among wizards, that was nothing remarkable.

It had taken him two years in the wizard tower to advance from apprentice to full-fledged wizard.

The following eight years had brought no progress.

"The wizard's path is so difficult, and Intelligence is so important. My foremost goal is to raise my Intelligence as high as possible. So when choosing quests, I should prioritize those that reward attribute points.

"Or, as a second-best option, choose quests that reward experience and rely on the bonus attribute points gained every four levels to raise my Intelligence." Marvin made up his mind.

In fact, the quest the original owner had left Marvin—"Exterminate the goblin tribe and save the female knight"—offered an excellent reward.

It was a full 2 points of Intelligence!

But looking at that 0% success rate, Marvin could only abandon it and seek another solution.

After understanding his current situation, he sat at the desk, spread open his spellbook, and began a wizard's most important daily task—preparing spells.

The process itself was not complicated. He merely had to select the spells he would need that day from his spellbook and commit them to memory.

Of course, this was not simple rote memorization.

During spell preparation, a wizard's mind connected with the Weave and inscribed the chosen spell models upon it.

Afterward, with the aid of incantations, gestures, materials, and other components, they could draw magical power from the Weave and cast spells.

The so-called Weave was a vast energy field created by Mystra, the goddess of magic, that ran throughout Realmspace. Its primary purpose was to regulate, guide, and restrain magical energy that was difficult to control in its natural state, making it easier for spellcasters to use.

If spellcasters were scientists, then the Weave was a supercomputer.

As spellcasters leveled up, they could obtain more "computing power" from the Weave, allowing them to use more complex arcane techniques and cast higher-level spells.

Of course, if a spellcaster was powerful enough, they could cast spells without the Weave.

Just like the genius scientists on Earth, such as John von Neumann, whose mental calculation speed surpassed mechanical calculators, allowing him to conduct scientific research with ease without external assistance.

And if you became powerful enough to stand alongside the gods, you could even steal control of the Weave—or simply create a new one yourself.

But none of that had anything to do with Marvin, a level 1 wizard.

Although the original owner had worked in the wizard tower for ten years without touching the second layer of the Weave, he had learned quite a few spells.

Today, Marvin prepared four 1st-level spells: [Magic Missile], [Grease], [Shield], and [Mage Armor].

Cantrips did not consume spell slots and required no preparation, so they could be used at any time.

"Today's spell preparation complete. Gained 10 experience."

Half an hour later, Marvin closed his spellbook as a notification sounded.

"So experience isn't gained only by killing enemies. That's good news." Marvin nodded in satisfaction.

He began changing clothes, preparing to head out.

First, he put on his wizard robes and tucked three [Expeditious Retreat] spell scrolls, three healing potions, one antitoxin, three flasks of Alchemist's Fire, two flasks of holy water, and various miscellaneous spellcasting materials into the differently sized pockets lining the inside of his robes.

In an emergency, whether one could quickly retrieve the needed item was a matter of life and death.

So before acquiring equipment such as a storage ring, low-level wizards all chose robes designed this way.

He slung a satchel filled with assorted odds and ends over his shoulder, donned a dark blue linen cloak, put on sturdy and comfortable cowhide boots, picked up an oak staff, and finally hung his spellbook from his belt.

Marvin inspected himself in the mirror. Finding no omissions in his outfit, he nodded in satisfaction.

Down in the first-floor dining hall, Marvin ordered an "energy breakfast" priced at three copper coins.

A piece of white bread, a boiled egg, and a bowl of mixed vegetable porridge.

It did not taste particularly good, but it was nutritionally balanced and generously portioned.

Based on the original owner's memories and his own experiences, Marvin had gained a preliminary understanding of prices in Faerûn.

Agricultural products here were frighteningly cheap.

That was because Faerûn was vast and sparsely populated, with no shortage of arable land. On top of that, the existence of magic had greatly increased agricultural productivity.

The largest exporter of agricultural products in present-day Faerûn was the land of the Red Wizards on the eastern side of the continent: Thay.

Its ruler—Szass Tam, a legendary lich—had used magic to alter Thay's climate after winning the civil war, making it more suitable for agriculture, while driving vast numbers of undead to work the fields.

Although many followers of good gods had tried to impose a trade blockade on Thay, they had achieved little.

There were now two sacks of flour before you. One had been produced by farmers in Cormyr and cost six copper coins; the other had been produced by undead in Thay and cost four copper coins.

Could you tell which sack of flour was kinder, and which was more evil?

This had nothing to do with faith. It was simply an economic issue.