The duergar had assumed the human spellcaster would exhaust himself after a few spells. Instead, the magic kept coming without end. Their psionic spells had shorter ranges and could not reach him at all, leaving them seething with frustration.

Anser and the archer posed too great a threat, so they wanted to pull the battle line back. But everyone was locked together, and a reckless retreat could trigger a rout.

As large numbers of the duergar's slaves were eliminated, however, the humans seized the initiative and pushed the battle line forward.

Anser surveyed the battle from above. The closest enemy was now more than forty meters away, beyond his spell's theoretical range, yet he could still reach them—only with reduced accuracy.

'It must be related to my spellcasting attribute.'

His spellcasting attribute was Charisma, and at 16 it far exceeded an ordinary person's. As his Charisma increased, his casting speed, spell range, and control over mana all improved slightly.

"Whew—"

He paused his spellcasting, leaned on his staff, and steadied his breathing to ease the swelling pain in his head.

Continuous casting had exhausted him mentally and consumed nearly half his mana, leaving a hollow sensation inside his body.

Even with <Mana Control>, it seemed his mind and body could not withstand pouring out every spell in one uninterrupted barrage.

"Roar—"

Suddenly, a tremendous roar shook loose dirt and stones from the hillsides.

Startled, Anser looked toward the sound. A bald giant over three meters tall now towered over the battlefield, charging straight at Rand.

'Enlarge!'

The Duergar Warlord had entered the fight.

Anser hopped down the slope and trotted toward the battlefield.

Helping was secondary. His real concern was that he looked far too conspicuous on the hillside. If he drew the bald giant's hatred, he would be in trouble.

He hurried several steps, hid behind the crowd, and watched.

On the battlefield, the bald giant swung his warhammer with terrifying momentum. Rand focused on dodging and counterattacked only occasionally.

Their clash was so violent that everyone nearby scattered to avoid being caught in it.

Anser noticed that Rand rarely cast 2nd-level divine spells, probably because of the Weave, while the duergar's psionics did not depend on it.

Fortunately, it was daytime, and the duergar suffered from Sunlight Sensitivity. Paladins also relied mainly on Radiant attacks, which countered him. Rand could still just barely protect himself.

At that moment, Zahir finished his opponent and rushed over to join Rand against the bald giant.

Even then, the giant remained formidable. One swing caught Rand before he could dodge and smashed him to the ground. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and a clear dent appeared in his shield.

'Too bad I don't know any support spells,' Anser sighed inwardly.

He did not dare attack. If the bald giant truly came after him, Rand might not be able to stop it.

Then his gaze caught the sunlight beating down on the giant, and an idea struck him. 'Sunlight Sensitivity!'

As far as he knew, duergar resisted Poison, Illusion, and Charm effects but suffered a perceptual disadvantage in sunlight.

His Draconic Sorcery had granted him Command, which forced a target to make a Wisdom saving throw. If it failed, it had to obey one command from him.

'His Wisdom probably isn't high.'

With that thought, he hesitated no longer. He rapidly approached the battlefield while drawing on his mana with all his strength.

He stepped out from the crowd, braced himself with the staff in his left hand, pointed at the Duergar Warlord with his right, and shouted furiously:

"Drop!"

An invisible magical effect enveloped the bald giant. He froze, his eyes blank with confusion as he instinctively released his warhammer.

Rand's spirits surged. Before the warhammer reached the ground, he stepped forward and kicked it toward Zahir. Zahir scooped it up and hurled it onto the hillside.

The bald giant had never expected one moment of distraction to cost him his weapon. Enraged, he turned to find the sneaky bastard responsible, only to discover that Anser had already hidden behind the crowd. Bratt and the others surged forward, blocking the giant's view.

"Roar... Awooo—"

Rand's sword carved a bloody gash into his thigh, cutting off the roar.

The bald giant no longer dared divide his attention. He rapidly retreated two steps, snatched a spear from the ground, and forced both paladins back.

Then he waved one hand—and ran!

The other duergar and their slaves immediately turned and fled without the slightest reluctance.

"Roar, roar, roar..."

The humans waved their weapons and put on a show of shouting threats. They did not pursue, nor did they possess the strength to do so.

'What a waste of all that experience.' Anser sighed inwardly, though he knew this was the best possible outcome.

With the two paladins holding the line, the humans probably could have won a fight to the death, but how many would survive was impossible to say.

Anser looked around. Only a little over ten people remained standing, and nearly all were wounded.

Corpses covered the ground, along with severed limbs, organs, and blood. The few steps he had taken had already coated his boots in bloody mud, and the sticky sensation made his skin crawl.

"Clear the battlefield, quickly—" Zahir called out, then began using Lay on Hands and Potions of Healing to treat the wounded.

Anser looked around. When he spotted a goblin that was not quite dead, his eyes lit up. He strode over and killed it with one blow of his staff.

[Target killed. You gain 3 Combat Experience...]

The experience was meager, but there was no danger. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth.

Bratt shuddered at the sight. 'Such murderous instincts.'

"Let someone else handle that. You should rest."

He hurried over and pulled Anser away, assuming Anser was worried about his parents and venting his emotions on the subterranean creatures.

"Uh, all right." Anser did not insist. Maintaining the persona of a normal person was important.

"Are you hurt?"

Bratt was covered in blood, his clothes torn. He looked rather frightening.

"I'm fine. Just small wounds, thanks to you watching out for me." Bratt shook his head slightly, tugged the injury on his neck, and hissed in pain.

Footsteps approached. They turned and saw Rand striding toward them. He carried his helmet in his left hand. Blood stained his mouth and ears, and a conspicuous dent marred his breastplate.

"Thank you both for your help." Rand handed Bratt a little less than half a bottle of red potion. "This is for you."

"Then I won't refuse." Bratt accepted it with a smile but did not use it immediately.

It was a Potion of Healing, worth 50 gold pieces for a full bottle. Even this partial bottle was valuable.

"Your heroism deserves more, but I'm nearly out of potions myself." Rand praised them, then turned to Anser. "Sir, have we met somewhere before?"

"Uncle Rand, I'm Anser Holrevin. Do you remember the bakery in Sow's Foot?" Anser prompted.

His draconic bloodline had subtly altered his appearance and build, and his bearing was completely different. Anyone who did not know him well would struggle to recognize him.

"You're... little Anser?" Rand stared at the tiny dragon scales on Anser's face, hardly able to believe it.

They had not met for years. Rand could not connect the confident, mysterious spellcaster before him with the small, skinny boy in his memories.

"It's me. My bloodline awakened unexpectedly, and I became a sorcerer," Anser said with a smile.

"Good. That's wonderful." Rand patted his arm, head slightly lowered and expression complicated. Hesitation showed at the corners of his eyes.

Rand was not tall, only around five feet seven. Anser stood half a head taller and could not see his expression, but he sensed the words Rand was holding back.

"What is it?"

"You... shouldn't go to the bakery." After a moment of silence, Rand decided to tell him.

Anser's heart jumped. "Something happened to my parents?"

"Yes. We spent yesterday evacuating the residents. Your parents refused to leave and wanted to find you, but the priests persuaded them to stay. Later, rioters stormed the bakery to loot it... By the time we discovered them, it was too late. We could only bury the bodies in haste..."

Rand gripped Anser's arm tightly, as though afraid he might suddenly lose control.

Anser's breathing grew heavy. A tangle of emotions surged within him, but he felt little grief or regret. Instead, relief washed over him, as though a burden had been lifted.

It was somewhat heartless, but that was honestly how he felt.

After all... he was not the original Anser.

Additional Notes:

1. D&D attributes normally function through "modifiers," while Strength and carrying capacity also depend on size. The concepts are abstract and difficult to understand without tabletop experience, as they are directly tied to the dice system.

For ease of reading, please forget those concepts and remember this:

Attribute growth is nonlinear. Every additional point improves the corresponding ability by more than 35%.

2. Under D&D 5R rules, a spellcasting attribute such as Intelligence or Charisma does not affect casting speed, spell range, or accuracy.

For greater realism, this story assumes that increasing a spellcasting attribute positively affects every aspect of a spellcaster.

Once a spellcasting attribute exceeds 10, each additional point grants another 5% to control, casting speed, and spell range. For example, the protagonist's 17 Charisma grants a 35% increase, as estimated by AI from the attributes displayed by legendary creatures.

3. Duergar Warlord Statistics

Medium Humanoid (Dwarf), Any Alignment

Armor Class: 20 (Plate, Shield)

Hit Points: 75 (10d8 + 30)

Speed: 25 feet

Strength 18 (+4), Dexterity 11 (+0), Constitution 17 (+3)

Intelligence 12 (+1), Wisdom 12 (+1), Charisma 14 (+2)

Damage Resistance: Poison

Senses: Darkvision 120 feet, Passive Perception 11

Languages: Dwarvish, Undercommon

Challenge Rating: 6 (2,300 XP)

Duergar Resilience: The warlord has advantage on saving throws against being Charmed, Paralyzed, or Poisoned.

Sunlight Sensitivity: While in sunlight, the warlord has disadvantage on Attack Rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

(End of Chapter)