Why are you special?

Ooh, there are just SO MANY spells. Heroics grants a Fighter Bonus feat, which translates to a Combat feat, and… heh, I could be a weapons master trivially. Of course, I still just have a BAB of four, and it's only that high thanks to my eidolon, so I'm not going to be hitting much in melee given that we're dealing with things with some crazy CRs… for level five, anyway. I understand everyone else is level eight or so… probably ninth or higher after that last dungeon. So most of the combat feats aren't going to be useful, because they'll require I actually hit something. And while yes, I can roll a twenty basically at will… it’s not considered a natural twenty for automatic successes: I still need to meet their AC. I've been getting around that via touch attacks... so I'm going to keep going with spells, which means most of the combat feats aren't very useful.  Still, I grab a ton of them: There's no reason not to do so.

Anything with the Polymorph subschool is a hard pass, unless it comes with a clause saying I retain all of my abilities: As a Monsterkin Freelancer with an Eidolon on, there is far too much I might lose. Likewise, anything that would interfere with real life is also a hard pass; if I'm coated in fire all the time, I can't shake anyone's hand or enjoy company close up.

But between 3.0, 3.5, Pathfinder, and 3rd party content, there's still a metric ton of useful spells. Lots of little +x to attacks, saves, armor class, and skills… sometimes in specific circumstances, sometimes not. There's also a lot of them that stop certain mundane tactics cold: Freedom of Movement stops grappling, Starmantle stops mundane weapon attacks (and turns magical weapon attacks into Reflex Half, which goes well with Evasion and being able to roll a twenty on that several times per round), the Fly spell granting magical flight makes tripping ineffective, and so on. There's also some caster counters: Ray Deflection stops ranged touch attacks, Spell Turning stops targeted spells… but I can’t quite squeeze it in with Invisible Spell… still, no visual effect, so fine… Freedom of Movement stops most combat control, the Energy Immunity spell stops most elemental damage, and so on. Plus utility effects! Movement modes like flight, burrowing, and swimming; sensory modes like True Seeing, Blindsight, See Invisibility, low-light vision, Arcane Sight, Aura Sight, tremorsense, and scent; communication effects like Tongues and Telepathy… I'll only need Telepathic Bond now for long-range communication. I can't do Mind Blank yet… but between Nondetection, Detect Scrying, Greater False Vision, False Future, and Lead Plating, I'm going to be a blank spot for almost all divinations. Oh, and did I mention that Limited Wish gives me access to all the Paladin and Ranger spells too?  I can’t add Invisible Spell to that one yet, but oh well.

Oh, and Fabricate gets me real clothes, finally. I go with a blue dress with some pauldrons, long sleeves, a high neck, and a lot of gold trim. It has to match the illusion I used earlier, after all. And yes, I am showing a little cleavage.

Oh, and Alpha Instinct, a spell intended to make animals more friendly, should work wonders with Attuned Mysticism (humanoid)... but mind control is pretty evil when it's not discriminating, so ultimately I skip that one.

At one XP away from level six, I'm just ITCHING for something to kill. So, of course, absolutely nothing shows itself. I guess a collapsing dungeon scares everything off? I mean, Carter did explain that all the monsters would get sick and know they needed to find magic… so… all that's left are regular desert creatures, which are probably running scared because the magic monsters are hungry.

Great. Maybe I'll get ambushed by bandits?

… maybe on the way home. The bandits probably all ran from the monsters BEFORE we killed the dungeon … and I’m plotting killing people. Have I become evil? I hope not. When someone finally does figure out how to get past my progressively better puzzle monster defenses, I want to be with nice people. I mean, better not to die at all, but if I have to die forever….

Watch is boring with nobody to talk to.

Around noon I set up a mental ping Fleeting Alarm spell around the place, drop a Keep Watch spell on Wally, and wake him.

"Sun's still up… why are you flagging me… oh, hey, you have some real clothing now."

I split the conversation between verbal and not in case of nearby ears, "I figured I've stood at watch long enough to cover my turn, and didn't want to wake the lovebirds," 《I could go all day, but then Paul and Carter would know I don't sleep,》"And… well, you're not going to be able to cast anything today anyway." 《Well… unless… mind if I try something?》

"Right… fine. I'll keep watch, you rest up," 《What do you plan?》

"Thanks," 《I want to see if Channel the Gift still works. I can cast just fine, I'm curious if that extends to you when I'm powering your spells.》

《You think in corkscrews, don't you? Sounds harmless, go for it.》

《Great.》I cast Channel the Gift on Wally.

Wally casts Clay Skin on himself… and his skin does indeed turn to clay… for about six seconds. Then he returns to his new normal.

Wally doesn't seem too upset, 《Eh, worth a shot.》

《Yeah… looks like it works for very short spells, at least… well, I’m going to go lay down.》

《I don’t envy you the hours of staring at the tent ceiling.》

《Yeah… do you know the Keep Watch spell?》

《It's not in my spellbook, but I've heard of it…》

《Which means I'd have to cast it, and it's not a Druidic spell. Pity. Well… have a good watch.》

《Thanks… mind, you couldn't maintain the charade if casting now anyway.》

《True. Well… please let me know when we get to where magic works properly again. Flame Steed is on the right list; I can probably make them go faster, and fly too.》

《List?》

《Yes… you know how you sometimes refer to priestly spells or wizard spells? I refer to the spells everyone with a specific type of casting can easily know as their list.》

《Ah… and how fast can they go?》

I can do caster level fifteen via Wild Arcana and a little buffing per cast as they're already dismissable, so that grants flight and a base move of a hundred feet per round; an Augmented Mythic Haste spell adds seventy to that and a spare move action, and Greater Celestial Healing lets them maintain a Hustle for much longer, so… 《Seventeen miles per hour at a walk, fifty one miles per hour at a trot.》Not quite freeway speeds, but fine for in town, and probably faster than anything short of teleporting. Of course, with my buff list, extra actions, and ability to run forever I can go faster still….

《You enjoy bragging and showing off, don't you?》

Maybe a little, 《When I say I can do something, I absolutely can.》

《And advertising that is going to get you noticed, and if the Blessed Mother really is after you, getting noticed will get you killed.》

'If'? But that is kind of why I’m geared up to take down Great Wyrm dragons solo. 《Probably. But I don't really see how to avoid the conflict forever.》Well, except maybe by reviving her lover and child… but with how long ago that was, I have quite a ways to grow before I can. I'll need a Spheres caster level of twenty, so… no sooner than level twenty four or so? Maybe twenty with the right traits via feats… I'll need to make sure to get enough info from Death to pull it off when the time comes. 《Sooner or later I'll need to deal with her champion and various supporters, at least until I can soothe the hurt that spawned the hate.》

《What, The Blessed Mother and the Harvester aren't just philosophically opposed? And how do you plan to 'deal' with Paul and Chris?!》 Oh, he sounds mad. Can't blame him.

《My first choice is trickery, like I'm trying now. If they don't know I'm the target, we're never in direct conflict. Failing that… I've no intent to harm someone I've fought alongside; talk them down if feasible, otherwise I've no qualms about running away.  If that’s not feasible, next up is Charming them.  Failing that… well, I'll try for non-lethal, but… self-defense.》Long answer, and only half the question….

Wally pauses a bit, 《I can live with that answer. And the other?》

Well, I haven't been told NOT to share… 《Apparently the Blessed Mother took a mortal lover and had a child QUITE some time ago… and they died, and had infernal contracts, and the Harvester… well, he did his job, which meant sending them to the fire below.》

Wally is silent for a long time. In fact, the sun goes down before he speaks again.