Chapter Thirty-Five: A Strange Premonition

"This... this is incredible," Zhao Xu said, barely able to believe what he was seeing.

"It's not that miraculous," Antinoia explained, "It's simply the price of having two special abilities."

Zhao Xu nodded. Arthur had some powerful feats, but they often required prerequisites or even specific class levels. This was why, for many players, the late game felt so limiting—unless you tailored your character from the start, who could possibly know all these requirements? Most people only met the prerequisites by coincidence, allowing them to unlock those feats.

The ability to freely select spells meant even more. With more spells available, a wizard could do proper reconnaissance before a mission, and their daily spell preparation could cover almost any situation at the scene. Of course, there was always the chance of an unforeseen event—if you couldn't cast the right spell, even the most learned wizards could be stumped.

Scrolls were a solution, but they cost money. Spell slots, on the other hand, couldn't be traded or converted at the end of the day. But once Zhao Xu could cast spells freely, he would essentially have limitless potential.

Sorcerers could cast spontaneously, using any spell they knew at any time, but the price was steep—they could only learn a handful of spells per spell level, and it was difficult to learn more. Each level offered dozens, sometimes hundreds, of spells, but having only six or seven couldn't possibly cover everything. This was why Arthur's world praised wizards more than those with high charisma—the sorcerers.

"Master, I want to learn," Zhao Xu declared, not even asking for the details, his anticipation clear.

"Don't rush. Let me explain first."

"The feat that allows spontaneous casting is called 'Strange Foresight,' but you must first have the 'Spell Mastery' feat to choose it."

Antinoia began detailing the two feats, and their descriptions appeared directly on Zhao Xu's character sheet, making it easy for him to review—a perk of becoming a level one adventurer.

[Feat: Spell Mastery
Prerequisite: Wizard Level 1
Effect: Each time you select this feat, you may choose a number of known spells equal to your Intelligence modifier. Thereafter, you may prepare these spells without needing your spellbook.]

To Zhao Xu, this feat seemed almost useless—it simply allowed him to prepare certain spells without his spellbook, as if they were engraved in his mind. But as a spellcaster with Innate Wit, he was already able to prepare spells without a spellbook.

He could only shake his head at the thought—calling it useless was almost generous.

[Feat: Strange Foresight
Prerequisites: Intelligence 17, Spell Mastery
Effect: When preparing your daily spells, you may reserve spell slots equal to your Intelligence modifier.
1. As a standard action, you may use a reserved slot to cast any Spell Mastery spell of equal or lower level.
2. As a full-round action, you may use a reserved slot to cast any known spell of equal or lower level, but your caster level is reduced by two.]

Examining this feat, Zhao Xu felt a rush of awe—the limitations were there, but all within acceptable bounds. With his Intelligence modifier of +3, he could reserve three spell slots, giving him three opportunities for spontaneous casting. That was enough to handle unexpected situations in the early stages.

The only real constraint was casting time. Spell Mastery spells could be cast quickly (standard action). Other spells required a six-second casting time (full-round action).

After half a month of training, Zhao Xu understood the basics of wizardry. Most spells took one of several fixed times: swift action (instant), standard action, full-round action (six seconds), or longer. Arthur’s world measured time in rounds (six seconds). The reason for this setup was that, during each round, a caster could only cast one 'standard' and one 'swift' spell, or one 'full-round' spell.

Antinoia’s earlier casting of the Mirage spell likely used this Strange Foresight ability. She spent an entire round—six seconds—casting it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to prepare such an illusion spell. No matter how powerful you were, the rules were ironclad.

Generally, a wizard could only cast one or two spells in six seconds—everyone knew this. There wouldn’t be a barrage of dozens of instant spells fired like a machine gun; if that ever happened, the fight would be over before it began, with everyone surrendering.

Casting a spell as a standard action depended on skill, but the difference was minor—just a few seconds, really. With practice, it could be compressed a bit, depending on personal ability. Swift action spells were instantaneous, but releasing them usually came at a steep price.

For low-level wizards like them, a round usually meant casting one standard action spell and being done. That, however, was beside the point.

The real issue was that Zhao Xu didn’t have 17 Intelligence. He had saved three stat points for other attributes, leaving his Intelligence at only 16.

Now, Zhao Xu could only look at Antinoia with an awkward, pleading expression, silently asking for help.

Antinoia knew Zhao Xu lacked the required Intelligence; his earlier hopes for the apprentice's badge had already proved fruitless.

"Now you see—the value of 17 Intelligence. It’s not more spell slots than 16, nor does it increase your difficulty class, but it does block your path," Antinoia remarked.

Listening to her, Zhao Xu—a man who had lived thirty years in his past life—could only shamelessly ask for a solution. Even the old wizard called Antinoia 'teacher,' but she had mentioned before that she’d received the 'Timeless Youth' ninth-level spell, keeping her mind and appearance locked at a youthful state. It wasn’t rejuvenation but preservation. So, despite her experience, she remained young at heart, without the marks of time. If she truly were an old grandmother, he wouldn’t dare make such a request.

"You have two paths now," she said.

Zhao Xu wanted to sigh—he was always given two options, but in reality, only one was viable. Still, it was better than no option at all.

"One path is to wait until level four to raise your Intelligence, and then at level six, select this feat with your new class ability."

Zhao Xu shook his head at this—the gap between levels five and six was far too long. He wasn’t the protagonist of a novel, with adventures arranged by the author and spells always perfectly prepared.

Seeing his reaction, Antinoia continued, "The other option... well, I'll take a loss. I promised to cast 'Timeless Youth' for you as a reward for joining our organization. Now, you can exchange that for a single casting of 'Wish.' I’ll help you increase your Intelligence by one point."