Had this been the late game, Cassius would have chosen wizard without hesitation. After all, caster supremacy was no joke.
A fully prepared wizard with deep pockets was confident of defeating any foe of the same tier, and the late game offered powerhouse prestige classes like the Chronomancer that wielded command over time and space.
In the early game, however, wizards suffered from one fatal drawback: they had to transcribe spellbooks.
To a wizard, magic was a science, something that had to be rigorously studied.
Only by meticulously analyzing spell scrolls to understand how to construct spell models, mastering the Weave's various parameters, and enduring long, grueling study could one successfully learn a single spell.
Yet right now, Cassius was flat broke, possessing only a handful of magic items.
He could hardly stroll into a human town in the body of an evil dragon to study magic, could he?
Was he supposed to enroll in some magical academy?
Sorcerers, on the other hand, were entirely different. Their spells practically fell from the sky—though a better description would be natural prodigies.
After a moment's thought, Cassius made his choice.
[Class Advance: Sorcerer selected]
[Detected: You possess a draconic bloodline]
[Automatically selected: Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer – Red Dragon Bloodline]
Dragons were innately powerful magical creatures, naturally attuned to a vast array of supernatural phenomena.
A dragon of any age—even a wyrmling—could possess sorcerer class levels.
Some ancient scholars believed that sorcerous power was inherited from dragons, likely tracing back to interbreeding countless generations ago.
More importantly, a sorcerer's caster level stacked with a dragon's innate caster level, allowing a dragon to fully leverage its bloodline and draw even greater potency from the power within.
The renowned ancient red dragon Imvaernarho, for instance, had devoted himself to mastering fire magic, boasting a caster level as high as 40.
[Your Sorcerer level has increased to Level 1]
[Sorcerous Origin: Magic is an inherent part of every sorcerer, a latent power permeating body, mind, and soul, waiting to be unleashed.]
[No one chooses sorcery; sorcery chooses you.]
[You have gained 4 cantrips and two 1st-level spells]
A rich spell list materialized across the light screen.
[Gained Cantrips: Mage Hand, True Strike, Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion]
[Gained 1st-level Spells: Fog Cloud, Magic Missile]
Still the standard early-game loadout.
In his past life, advancing a class had only ever produced cold interface data; Cassius had never felt anything special about it.
Only now did he realize how miraculous this power truly was.
"This feeling..."
Spell after spell surfaced in his mind out of nowhere.
No, not out of nowhere.
It felt more like something inborn, an innate gift.
This precious knowledge sank deep into his flesh, his memories, and even intertwined with his will.
*Mage Hand.*
With a mere thought, an invisible hand materialized out of thin air, picked up a stone from the ground, and tossed it aside.
Even for the lowest tier of magic and the simplest movement, the red dragon felt a sense of wonder.
This power did not stem from some enchanted item or mechanical program, but from himself.
Compared to the rigorous, scientific casting of a wizard, a sorcerer's magic was an art.
There was no need to painstakingly construct spell models or calculate the Weave's various parameters. One only had to reach out with consciousness to feel the Weave, and then project one's will onto reality to bring it to pass.
Because naturally gifted sorcerers could cast powerful spells with such ease, they were often envied and looked down upon by wizards, who mockingly labeled them "barbarians among casters" and "orcs wielding staves."
"Truly marvelous."
Stepping past the owlbear's half-eaten carcass, the red dragon strode briskly out of the cave.
He finally understood why the spellcasters of Elezerg were so arrogant. This sensation of exerting control over reality created an illusion, making one feel like a god before ordinary mortals.
Yet the system notifications on the panel were not finished.
[Bloodline Ancestry: The blood of an ancient red dragon fills your body with searing fiery power.]
[You have gained Fire Elemental Affinity; fire damage is enhanced]
[Breath Weapon (Fire) has been enhanced]
[Gained bonus cantrip: Fire Bolt]
Blazing flames reflected within Cassius's golden vertical pupils, his body radiating heat like an erupting volcano.
His heart pounded vigorously, pumping this fiery elemental energy throughout his entire body as his blood surged and churned like pulsing magma.
[Tracing your bloodline heritage...]
The red dragon closed his eyes as a vision flashed into his mind.
It appeared to be an unknown ancient battlefield in the Outer Planes, where magnificent metal walls hundreds of meters high loomed in the distance.
An ancient red dragon beat his colossal wings, whipping up a tempest that threw the winged celestial army below into chaotic disarray.
He opened his maw and unleashed a terrifying inferno beyond mortal comprehension, scorching and warping the very air.
The sturdy walls melted in an instant, leaving gaping breaches as molten metal flowed down like scalding tears.
Dragon-headed, humanoid asen angels waved their staves to cast divine magic; several celestial colossi dozens of meters tall leaped into the air, lunging toward the ancient red dragon above, while silver-haired bralani angels drew their bows in unison, loosing a barrage toward the heavens.
Yet against the grand scale of the entire battlefield, even this ancient red dragon seemed utterly insignificant.
*Roar—!*
Farther across the horizon, a terrifying monster bearing five ferocious dragon heads roared toward the heavens, spreading wings vast enough to blot out the sun as it slowly ascended into the sky.
Gales surged, and dust billowed.
A dark shadow blanketed the earth, like doom itself descending.
In the vision, Cassius could not help but gaze upward into the sky.
And there he saw with vivid clarity: among the heads looking down upon all living things, the red dragon head—so remarkably similar to his own—was gazing down directly at him, a faint curve curling its vicious snout.
The head spoke slowly: "My child..."
The voice seemed to echo from the deepest recesses of his soul, and a fierce, crushing pressure born of bloodline washed over the young red dragon.
This terrifying might made him instinctively want to bow, fall to his knees, and submit to the divine majesty before him.
*She sees me!*
Alarm bells rang frantically in the red dragon's heart.
In the next instant, the sky of the vision spiderwebbed with cracks like shattered glass.
Whether the ancient red dragon, the celestial colossi, or the horrifying five-headed silhouette in the sky—everything in the vision shattered into pieces.
"Huff, puff..."
"Whew..."
Cassius barely broke free from the suffocating pressure, gasping heavily for air, his entire body stiff and trembling.
The red dragon looked at the game panel before him, his gaze filled with disbelief. To his shock, the interface was refreshing erratically, as though infected by a virus.
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[You have drawn the gaze of the deity Tiamat, Mother of Evil Dragons]
[Mind Shielding System engaged]
[You have confronted the deity Tiamat, Mother of Evil Dragons. Unpredictable changes may occur.]
Staring at the strings of data flashing across the panel, Cassius felt a lingering dread, coupled with utter helplessness.
"Is this the power of a deity? Utterly terrifying."
"An ancient planar battlefield..."
"Did I just see Tiamat's true form?"
In his past life in Elezerg, even when players reached the level cap of epic tier—Level 21—the power of the gods had remained an enigma. Almost no one had ever witnessed the true form of any deity, not even a lesser power.
As for the so-called "god slaying," it was pure fantasy.
Top-tier players had once boasted, "If it has a health bar, we can kill even a god."
In truth, a deity's level of power was beyond anything mortals could conceive; in the game's mechanics, they were beings with no health bar at all.
Such was divine might. Even catching a glimpse of a deity's true form in a vision could trigger horrifying repercussions.
Yet for a fledgling young dragon like him, ancient red dragons, interplanar wars, and Tiamat herself were all far too distant and immense.
If an entity that powerful truly harbored any designs on him, his current self would have zero means of resisting.
So rather than fretting over deities in the Outer Planes, he was better off steadily building his strength and planning for the future.
"Still, since I've already caught her eye, as a red dragon I should probably pay my respects to the old lady Tiamat down the line."
"Better not end up on her bad side."
Cassius took a light leap, beating his strong wings, and gradually spiraled upward into the air.
"Now then... time to grind some XP."
Gazing across the endless sea of trees and the distant mountain ranges, the red dragon let out an involuntary roar, his still-youthful voice already carrying a touch of true draconic majesty.
Chapter 5