Considering the name, Eden had expected the Necromancy of Thay to mostly contain necromancy spells, but he did not expect for it to contain only necromancy.
Even the notes were about necromancy. Most of it was about the resurrection branch of necromancy as well, which Eden could basically not use. Whoever had owned this spellbook had been obsessed with bringing back the dead.
Fortunately for Eden, necromancy could not be brought to its peak with only one facet of it, so there were also spells he could use.
So, Eden and his Simulacrum both delved deeper into their studies, and ended up spending their entire day on it as the rest of the party only returned by the evening.
They looked tired, and Gale was limping slightly. However, the moment he saw him, the wizard paused, his eyes widening.
While the rest of the party stared at his Simulacrum, Gale's eyes were clearly trained on him. He hesitated, swallowed the lump in his throat, and asked in a hoarse voice, "M-Mystra. She was here, wasn't she?"
Eden replied honestly, "She was. We chatted a bit after I messed with the Weave. She's a nice lady."
Astarion groaned, exclaiming in a high-pitched voice, "You were having tea with a Goddess while we waddled through the swamps, chased by Monster Hunters and Hags?!"
Eden smiled, his vision, boosted by True Sight, peering into Astarion's form, bringing up his status.
[Name: Astarion]
[Title: Vampire Spawn]
[Talent: ?]
[Perks: Tier I, Darkvision, Fey Ancestry, Vampire Spawn, Assassin, Elven Accuracy, Precise I]
[HP: 250/250]
[MP: 230/230]
[Strength: 14]
[Agility: 35]
[Physique: 25]
[Intelligence: 23]
[Wisdom: 23]
[Resistances: None]
[Weaknesses: None]
As expected, when he was not facing gods, True Sight allowed Eden to see much more about statuses. Although Talents still remained a mystery.
Gale ignored Astarion's outrage, asking, "Why was she here?"
Eden dismissed his concerns with a wave of his hand, "As I said, nothing to do with you."
He looked past him at the rest of the party, asking, "How did things go on your end? I trust none of you was foolish enough to take one of the Hag's deals."
Sylfine shook her head, "She tried to buy her way out. Didn't work."
"Good. So, next destination is the Mountain Pass then. I suppose you all want to rest up first?"
Surprisingly, Wyll shook his head, and said, "We have made Lae'zel wait long enough, we've all agreed to leave now."
Astarion groaned in the back, "Not all of us…"
He was ignored, and Eden got up, saying, "That's fine to me."
They left the temple together, Gale still looking a little shaken, and headed for the Mountain Pass. Fortunately, the goblin camp itself was connected to the Mountain Pass, meaning they did not have to go all the way back to Moonhaven and up the Chiontar.
It was a shortcut, but the Mountain Pass was still half a day away.
The group was quiet as they moved, mostly because they were already tired from the day they had. Eden was not sure why they were so adamant on not even resting, but since they insisted, he did not say anything.
He used the opportunity to continue studying, resuming with necromancy, while his Simulacrum switched to the Scroll of Disintegration as it had already mostly mastered the contents of it, and whatever was still missing, he would learn from Disintegration.
After all, although Tasha's Otherworldly Guise and Disintegration had two very different effects, they did both belong to Transmutation Magic.
Wyll also handed the Rosa Estrellada back to Eden, having found a weapon just as good at the Grove. It was a glaive called Sorrow.
The way to the Mountain Pass was quite long, and although a good part of it was uneventful, their luck ended up running dry.
Although it was night, more than a few had dark-vision, and Eden always had True Sight activated, so they could navigate.
He was still in the midst of deciphering the Necromancy of Thay when his danger sense picked up on something. It was a faint feeling, but curiously, it was coming from the sky.
At first, he saw nothing. Then, he noticed stars 'blinking'. Disappearing and appearing. He realized something large was flying through the sky.
Something red.
[Name: Qudenos]
[Title: Partner of Voss, Master of Flames, Splitter of Skies]
[Perks: Tier II, Blindsight, Darkvision, Magic Resistance, Frightful Presence, Draconic Fortitude II, Draconic Might II, Spirit Flame II]
[HP: 2396/2396]
[MP: 1300/1300]
[Strength: 83]
[Agility: 35]
[Physique: 75]
[Intelligence: 65]
[Wisdom: 23]
[Immunity: Fire II]
[Resistances: Bludgeoning II, Piercing II, Slashing II]
[Weaknesses: None]
If there was ever something that screamed danger, that was it. Its raw attributes alone were terrifying, and those Perks pushed these even further. The resistances were something too, as any source of physical damage would be halved if not dealt with a magical weapon.
The II behind meant that these Resistances were only effective up to Tier II attacks, although it could also be bypassed by magical weapons.
Immunity was the same. Although one might think that Immunity was something that should be universal, there were actually some skills that allowed one to ignore resistance or immunity. There was one such example in this world too, or universe rather, as hellfire could bypass fire resistance and fire immunity.
However, as long as it was regular flames, then even the flames from a Tier V attack would be unable to harm something protected with Fire Immunity I, though flames of that level would rarely be mere flames.
Back to that status, Eden recognized that name. It was not just any Adult Red Dragon, and its first Title confirmed it, and so did the rider on his back.
He knew they would become friendly to their cause in the game, but out here in the wild, in the middle of the night, their group might just have been another to incinerate.
So, reinforcing his body, Eden leapt into the sky, slapping his hands together as he chanted, "I cast Mirror Image."
His already hard to lock on figure turned even blurrier, with three illusory copies of him appearing. As he rapidly approached the dragon through the sky, he felt a great aura of malice coming from it. It also clearly perceived him, and opened its maw, the back of its throat glowing red.
"I cast Superior Fireball!"
The fireball elongated into a sort of arrow, streaking right into the dragon's mouth, and detonating in the back of its throat.
Using fire against a Red Dragon was rarely a good idea, but whatever it used to breath fire, it was not only stopped, but there was a great explosion inside Qudenos, barely muffled by its flesh as some of the flames came pouring out of its mouth.
Qudenos might be resistant to fire damage, the Superior Fireball had exploded inside its body, making it, or him, shake his head to spit out the flames.
This allowed Eden to make a step in the air, and land on his back, where a Githyanki warrior was waiting for him.
[Name: Voss]
[Title: Kith'rak, Supreme Commander, Partner of Qudenos]
[Talent: ?]
[Perks: Tier I, Swift I, Powerful I, Resilient I, Spirit Anchor I, Psionic Empowerment, Astral Step, Medium Armor Master, Mage Slayer, Slasher, Tough, Great Weapon Master]
[HP: 630/630]
[MP: 615/615]
[Strength: 49]
[Agility: 39]
[Physique: 42]
[Intelligence: 42]
[Wisdom: 25]
[Resistances: Psychic II]
[Weaknesses: None]
Though not as intimidating as Qudenos, he was formidable in his own right, and the moment Eden landed on the back of the dragon, he swung his greatsword at Eden.
The Mirror Images, working exceptionally well with Eden's Umbra Aegis, managed to throw off the Githyanki warrior, his blade dispersing one of the mirror images, but missing Eden.
Having ducked slightly to the side, Eden swung his fist at Voss' chest, and much to his shock, found his Cursed Energy to be flowing supremely smoothly, moving down his arm at just the right speed.
Black Flash.
Space distorted, and even as Voss brought his sword back before him in a clean rotation, his parry did little to help as Eden's Cursed Energy flashed black.
Voss' armor shattered from the force, and he was sent flying off Qudenos' back, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Although shocked he had managed to activate another Black Flash, Eden did not waste the 120% connection to his Cursed Energy, slamming his hand onto Qudenos' wing and activating a Maximum Output Cleave as he leapt off its back.
Eden's Cleave at Maximum Output had already reached Rank 5, which was within Tier II, and it was further boosted by his 120% state from Black Flash. Yet, despite all of this, Eden only managed to cut slightly into Qudenos' flesh. The Tier Suppression and Qudenos' high attributes were no laughing matter.
Casting Misty Step to dodge a tail swipe from Qudenos, Eden teleported right under Voss, who was still falling, and slammed his reinforced elbow up, right into Voss' back.
There was no Black Flash this time, but Voss' body still folded painfully, his back nearly breaking. The back of his armor also broke.
Eden himself felt pain in his arm, but the reinforcement from Cursed Energy helped mitigate the damage.
Despite being a mighty warrior, Voss did not spring from his feet, and struggled to catch his breath on the ground. That Black Flash had dealt a ton of damage, and the second strike had not been kind on him either.
As for Qudenos, the red dragon landed with a roar, the area shaking as he prepared an attack.
Seeing this, Eden grabbed Voss by the throat, lifting him up in front of him as he shouted, "Stop right there!"
Qudenos, who had been about to unleash a fire breath, choked on his flames, cursing in common, "You dare!"
Eden snorted at the dragon's words, prideful people were all the same. Ignoring Qudenos, he whispered to Voss, "Orpheus would be disappointed, Voss."
Shock filled Voss' eyes, and he stopped struggling for a moment. He tried to say something, but his words were strangled into something intelligible.
"Ozymandias, stop! This silver sword, a great Red Dragon… This is Kith'rak Voss, Supreme Commander of her Majesty!"
Lae'zel, who had taken cover alongside the rest of the party, came out from behind a large rock, warning Eden.
Of course Eden had no intention to kill Voss, especially not with Qudenos staring down at him with his magma eyes.
Voss was a tough enough fighter already, whom Eden had only managed to dispatch so swiftly thanks to the unexpected Black Flash, and Qudenos was far more troublesome.
Even with his current heightened connection to his Cursed Energy, Eden doubted he would be able to defeat the dragon, and even if he did, the rest of the party would be decimated.
Meanwhile, Voss was looking at them confused, as Lae'zel was clearly loyal to Vlaakith, yet still wanted to protect him, showing she did not know of his true allegiance, despite Eden knowing it himself… there was something wrong.
Although he did not intend to truly harm Voss, Eden could not appear too forgiving, or lose the advantage his unexpected Black Flash had brought him, so he only slightly lowered the pressure from his hand, saying, "They were about to burn us to cinders, do you really want me to let him go."
Lae'zel lowered her flaming blade, measuring her words carefully despite her indignation, her usual anger mixed with some form of regret, or apology, "Kaincha! This is Vlaakith's greatest general. He will lead us to the Creche, to follow the Protocol."
Eden faked a sigh, letting go of Voss, who immediately picked up his sword. Before he did though, Eden analyzed it, moreso out of curiosity than anything.
[Silver Sword of the Astral Plane]
[Rank: Unique]
[Attack: +200]
[Strength: +4]
[Agility: +4]
[Physique: +4]
[Githborn Psionic Weapon: If wielded by a being with pisonic abilities, deals 40 additional Psychic Damage.]
[Githborn Pisonic Resistance: If wielded by a being with psionic abilities, grants Magical Resistance, Psychic Resistance and immunity to being Charmed.]
[Soulbreaker: Strike down at the foe's very soul, dealing 100 additional Psychic Damage, ignore resistances, and if the foe is killed by this strike, severs their soul. Cooldown: 1 hour.]
Stat-wise, this was the most powerful weapon Eden had ever seen, bare those he had idly browsed through at the Nightmare Realm. It was excellent practically as well, if wielded by someone with psionic abilities, whatever these were.
Magic Resistance was an especially potent effect, one that Qudenos shared for being a dragon. Although called a resistance, it did not work like Fire Resistance for example, as it did not halve all magical damage.
Instead, Magical Resistance granted the user a resistance towards all Magical Debuffs. It was useless to Eden, 'fault' of his Talent, but very powerful to anyone else.
Perhaps more importantly though was that this confirmed a theory Eden had. If Legendary Artefacts, supposedly the best mortal artefacts in this world, were the equivalent of Unique Rank in Dreamland, which was the first Tier II Rank, then Eden was almost certain of the power distribution of this world.
Tier 0 went from 1 to 19, Tier I from 20 to 49, and Tier II from 50 to 99. Each Tier had two rarity ranks for equipment: Common and Uncommon for Tier 0, Rare and Super Rare for Tier I, and Unique and Epic for Tier II.
Seeing the power distribution so far, and how Dreamland only offered rewards worthy of the challenge, or tried its best to do so, then it would make sense that to get Unique Equipment, one would have to face early Tier II opponents.
Transposing this to the levels of Dungeons and Dragons, Level 1-4 represented Tier 0, Level 5-9 Low Tier I, Level 10-14 High Tier I and Level 15 to 20 Low Tier II. Anything with a danger rating of 20 and above was probably High Tier II then, if ever encountered.
Though grasping his sword tightly, Voss did not attack, observing Lae'zel and the rest of the party carefully, before asking, "Shka'keth, child. Your name?"
Lae'zel sheathed her weapon, pounding her fists together in a martial greeting she had learned from Sylfine, "Lae'zel. You must lead me to the Creche, Rider."
Voss narrowed his eyes, his attention still mostly trained on Eden as he said, "A Gh'ath fell from the sky, and it held a weapon of our people. It is polyhedric in shape, and marked with our runes. It was stolen."
A flicker of recognition appeared on Lae'zel's face, which she attempted to hide but failed to. Voss glanced at Eden, who merely smiled, and pretended not to have seen anything, "It must be found, and all efforts are to be put in that endeavor. But speak your mandate, Lae'zel."
Lae'zel looked disgusted, both with herself for allowing it to happen, and the thing itself as she explained, "I must undergo purification, Jhe'stil Kith'rak. I was infected on a Ghaik ship. It is your mandate to help me."
This caused everyone to stare at her, wondering whether they had misheard. Commanding the Supreme Commander of the Githyanki aside, Voss had just mentioned the weapon present on the Nautiloid, and she revealed that they had been on a Nautiloid not long ago themselves. This was as good as revealing they had something to do with it.
Even Qudenos, who had been glaring hotly at Eden, took a curious glance at Lae'zel.
Voss appeared disinterested in anything Lae'zel had to say as he turned to Eden, asking, "Were you infected as well?"
While Lae'zel looked offended, Eden shook his head, and glanced at Qudenos, saying, "I was not. I am helping them with the protocol. And do not worry about the weapon, your… well, the Queen will soon have a mandate for you."
The others failed to pick on it, being unaware of the story behind the Githyanki, and Voss' own beliefs, but the Supreme Commander understood the veiled message, and asked, "Are you an ally?"
"Am I loyal to Gith? No, but we do share similar goals. And they are paramount to that goal. You certainly understand why they have not turned yet."
Voss clutched at his chest, his hand grabbing at the shattered remains of his armor, and said, "Then you are Ra'stil. An ally. I apologize for attacking blindly."
Eden shook his hand, and seeing none of the usual xenophobia, marveled at the power the Prince of the Comet and the hope of saving him had over Voss, "I was quite heavy handed myself, let bygones be bygones. Could you point us in the direction of the Githyanki Creche then? The one in the monastery."
Voss nodded, looking over to Lae'zel, informing them, "Our people left traces behind. The area is starting to get overrun by undeads, but I'm sure they won't be a problem for you."
The Githyanki Supreme Commander leapt onto Qudenos' back, his eyes hardly ever leaving Eden as he commanded, "To the skies, Qudenos."
The Red Dragon harrumphed, flames bursting from his snout as he looked at Eden challengingly, batting his wings to fly up, the injury from earlier not bothering him in the least.
As the dragon and his rider disappeared in the night sky, the tense party finally relaxed as Gale said, "How about we take some rest?"
The rest of the party easily agreed, even Lae'zel. Unfortunately, the rest of the night was bound not to be uneventful.