If one spell doesn't work, try another.
Ivy spent some time familiarizing himself with the spell models for the other three cantrips. In his opinion, none of them were particularly complicated, but just like the Mage's Hand, the spell models failed right before casting.
Ivy didn't continue trying, but instead, he turned his gaze to his wand. In DnD, spellcasters, aside from needing spell knowledge and corresponding spell slots, also require an arcane focus to channel their magic.
At first, Ivy thought his wand could serve as this arcane focus, but now, it seemed that wasn't the case.
So, besides the wand, what else could serve as an arcane focus? Ivy's eyes landed on the Grimoire of Destruction.
"Success!" Ivy cheered as a translucent, ghostly-blue hand floated in front of him. It was his first success since he'd managed to cast Avada Kedavra for the first time.
Having successfully cast the spell, Ivy immediately checked his status panel in the Grimoire of Destruction.
He noticed that in the "Class/Level" section, after his 15th level as a Wizard and 10th level as an Ancient Magic Wizard, there was another entry: 0th Level Bookbinder Guild Mage.
"Bookbinder Guild?" Ivy wondered aloud. To be honest, he didn't remember ever encountering this entry. The DnD rules changed so much across different versions, and there were countless strange casting classes and their variations or subclasses. Ivy's knowledge of DnD was limited to video games.
Aside from a few classes that sounded cool due to their names, Ivy didn't recall many others. The Bookbinder Guild Mage was not one he had remembered.
Focusing his thoughts on the Bookbinder Guild Mage entry, the Grimoire of Destruction immediately displayed a wealth of information about this class.
It turned out that the Bookbinder Guild Mage was a subclass of Wizards from the DnD 5e rules, and its core feature was a magical spellbook.
"So, using a spellbook as a focus is a prerequisite for this subclass?" Ivy rubbed his chin, though he wasn't used to doing it without the stubble he'd expected by now. He eventually let go of his hand.
But then a new problem arose. The specialization he had already chosen in his character panel—Spellcasting Without Materials—wasn't a standard specialization under the DnD 5e rules.
Professions and specializations came from two different rule versions. If this were a TTRPG game, it would surely drive the DM (Dungeon Master) insane!
But magic was magical, and Ivy managed to make it work—even if it was entirely thanks to his "cheat code." Who could deny that using a cheat isn't a form of effort?
Ivy continued reading about the Bookbinder Guild Mage's abilities in the Grimoire of Destruction.
"When a Bookbinder Guild Mage reaches level 2, they gain the Wizard's Pen and Awakened Spellbook abilities," Ivy read aloud, the first being the Wizard's Pen.
The Wizard's Pen was a magical quill made of magical energy, with features like not needing ink, changing the color of the writing, writing automatically, erasing traces, and halving the time required to transcribe spells.
"A profession with a unique flavor," Ivy nodded, completely understanding the function of the Wizard's Pen.
This kind of ability, referred to as a "flair ability," was often used in TTRPG games to distinguish the special traits of different classes. TTRPGs are collaborative storytelling experiences where players work with the DM to create a shared adventure. To make characters more interesting, designers create these distinctive abilities.
For example, in a recent TTRPG game Ivy played, his character was a Mechanist with a magical suit of armor. During combat, he would stretch out his hand and channel magic into a sapphire embedded in the gauntlet, firing a lightning bolt, very much like Iron Man!
Though the damage was a meager 1-6, it didn't matter; it was cool! Imagine casting lightning bolts in a magical world, just like Iron Man. How cool is that?
Such abilities were called "flair abilities," usually used to showcase the unique style of the player's character.
But in this real world, the Wizard's Pen was more than just cool. Ivy could use it to complete his professors' homework assignments! A quill that synchronized with its master's thoughts and automatically recorded—how cool was that?
Next, Ivy looked at Awakened Spellbook.
First, it strengthened the connection between the wizard and their spellbook, allowing the spellbook to function as an arcane focus. Ivy's Grimoire of Destruction already had this feature.
Second, the Awakened Spellbook allowed the caster to change the damage type of a spell. It could substitute the damage type of the spell with one of the same level as the spell being cast.
This essentially meant Ivy could change the damage type of any spell at will. For a wizard, having spells that could deal various damage types was invaluable!
Imagine casting a Fireball that dealt Necrotic or Psychic damage—how cool would that be?
Ivy remembered that similar abilities appeared in earlier DnD rules, as part of the advanced class Archmage's abilities, granted by consuming a spell slot to gain Greater Arcane Mastery.
In the past, consuming an 8th-level spell slot granted an ability similar to Awakened Spellbook—Elemental Control. Archmages could replace a spell's damage type with one of the elements they selected, such as changing Fire to Water, or Water to Lightning.
The difference with Awakened Spellbook was that it could change any of ten damage types, including Force, Fire, Radiant, Acid, Poison, Lightning, Thunder, Necrotic, Cold, and Psychic. This was a huge challenge for the enemy's resistance.
This alone made Awakened Spellbook far superior to Elemental Control.
Additionally, Awakened Spellbook offered a third benefit: it allowed the wizard to replace ritual casting with normal casting time. In other words, Ivy could cast a spell with just a verbal incantation instead of performing a long ritual. Though it could only be used once a day, it was still a highly useful ability.
"It seems that Awakened Spellbook is the core feature of the Bookbinder Guild Mage subclass," Ivy nodded, silently resolving to focus on becoming a "level 2 Bookbinder Guild Mage" first!