Argentarius is born

What was he to do with all that power? He did not want to be kidnapped by the government or be some circus act for the world to gawk at. They would force him into the military, send him overseas as an agent or assassin. If he played his cards right, he could go around saving people and be a hero alright. Yet he did not think that was in his nature.

A Wizard was to be reclusive, secretive and egocentric right? I am going to try out my new powers. He went into the bathroom and raised his wand in one and his spellbook in the other hand. OK, I got 5 cantrips. I should be able to cast them as many times as I want. Somatic only. Here goes nothing: "Shape Water!" His hairs stood on end, he shook a bit and concentrated hard on the water inside the sink. It moved, parted, formed three cubes and froze in a few seconds. Tom's eyes lit up. That was amazing. The rush of adrenaline in his veins gave birth to a new feeling inside him: ambition. What could he accomplish with his new power?

Ever idiot could throw fireballs at the enemy, but it took a lifetime to master the intricate rules and mechanisms of the wizard class. Like a Swiss pocket knife, he could just bludgeon his foes to death or he could weave intricate plots and stand up to wizards reputation as the true utility class. Oh I forgot, was Argentarius not a changeling? I don't intend to kill people and the things I want to do are not really illegal, yet I could do without mortals wondering how I teleported to different continents. The FBI, CIA and other's were, memes aside, probably no joke.

I should have 148 health points (hp), quite a lot. A normal human, has in DnD at least, about 10 hp. For reference an Ancient Red Dragon has over 500 hp. I just don't trust the stereotype of the bullets ricochet off the hide. The dragon would probably die if you pummeled it with enough rockets and armour piecing rounds. So I should probably change my appearance later. Well lets try that before I go outside. I am Argentarius! I can not become overconfident.

In DnD you always have a party to resurrect you. I am alone in this, and for that matter, all worlds! Death is even a nice option when I think of the horrors awaiting in most planes of existence. Note to self: Do NOT enter the Shadowrealm, Nine-Hells, or the Abyss! Can I even go there? What about Wildemount or rather Exandria, I should say. Oh I want to visit Nicodranas so bad. Where was I? Ah yes not dying. I need to be careful, I can not be discovered. Nor in this nor the other worlds. I need to gather as much intel as I can and build my strength.

No jumping in portals or tombs! What do I do about my work and family? Fake my own death? No that would be cruel. I am also not yet ready to sever my ties from this world. What if I am now the guardian of this world or something? More likely that a deity decides to crush this dimension after I use wish for the hundred time to save 5 gold pieces (gp) on spell components. Ah yes Wish. I shall soon try if any angry deity decides to smite me for bending reality to my whims. First order, I will create an underground base. I would prefer a mage tower, but I have no idea how permanent illusion magic would work with planes and birds.

Tom went into his family's cellar. He flipped open his spellbook and searched for a while. It is really useful that there are so many notes in here. No wonder wizards are screwed when they lose these things. That is a candidate for my first wish right here! With Transmute Rock I can make a 40 foot cube into mud, get it all lined up and disintegrate most of it. Fuck Transmute Rock is not prepared, I hate this mechanic, do I really have to take a long rest of 8 hours to change my spells? Ah short internet search confirmed Tom's suspicion.

So he just got a long rest, which thankfully, was accepted as in the form of watching YouTube. After that he sat over his list of spells and pondered for another hour which spells to prepare. Back again! Now filthy stone your mine! "Transmute Rock!" He made hand gestures and waved his wand. The wall and the stone behind it soon turned to mud before his eyes. Good thing my imagination is quite vivid, I could not think on how difficult this would be else wise. And now for the nuke of the small man: "Disintegrate!" Tom felt as if the world itself bend, as the mud he had gathered, just vanished from existence without any sound.

This spell is way to dangerous! And why on earth is it a green ray, it even looks evil. But it just got rid of a 10 foot cube. Whatever I got one more 6th level slot and I'm just gonna cast it at 7th for the last cube. After getting rid of must of the mud he turned the rest back into stone and cast Wall of Stone to make the cave look a bit nice and more stable. Now for the door: "Stone Shape!" A five feet high door formed in the entrance.

Why on earth would you limit the spell of five feet! Now it looks like a hobbit lives here! I guess, I should be grateful for the hinges and the latch. Now again for the frame. Tom made a discrete sliding mechanism to hide his new door from prying eyes and deposited a shelf in front of the entrance just to make sure. He locked himself inside left the key inside the lock.

Now for the fun bit. Gods if you can hear me, I swear I will not mess with you and am just researching the arcane! Oh my patron Azuth, High One, Lord of Spells, Patron of Wizards, The First Magister! Spare your follower, who only wishes to pursue the arcane as a means in of itself. Hear my prayer, I do not believe the foolish lie that you perished! I will hold steadfast to my faith!

Most of the stuff he had red this morning on the wiki.

But he knew it never hurt to butter the gods up a bit. He was also honest with his prayers, he dared not be otherwise. If this world allowed him to be a level 20 wizard, then there were gods for certain somewhere in the multiverse. And he did not wish to suffer all eternity in abyss or limbo, because no one wanted his poor soul. Also note to self: Do not make any deals with devils! Fastest way to get an express ticket to the bottom of the nine hells. Although devil politics and power games seemed very intriguing, he would rather polymorph into a balor and visit as a tourist.

Now or never: "I wish, in accordance with the rules, to replicate the spell Simulacrum!" A feeling like warm chocolate milk, cookies and ice cream washed over his senses. For just a moment he felt absolute bliss before the spell took hold. He understood now why this spell was so addicting. The space in front of him warped and reality itself, unwillingly, bend. Snow flew and slowly started to from a statue. He saw himself staring back at him. First in icyblue and without clear features, then his exact likeness. Wow, really like a mirror.

Now I have to command it. "You are to act as my mortal double! Do everything like I did the past years. Just follow the normal routine and try not to draw attention. Write a short report every day about important conversations and such and archive them in my old room upstairs. You are not to cast any magic! Only if the original, me, is in danger or I order you otherwise. If you are to die because of an accident or other violent means, try to avoid it to the best of your ability with illusions and deception. Use the sending spell immediately, to inform me."

The construct just nodded and headed out the cellar. Only now did Tom notice that the thing was naked. Tom used a few more spells to make the room more comfortable and started to prepare a spot for his teleportation circle. Normally I would take an entire year to make one, which was insane mind you.

But he could just use Wish to replicate the spell without any difficulty. This only strengthened his opinion, that the spell was way to overpowered. Even if he could only cast it once per long rest. The main limitation of Wish, was that anything other then replicating an existing spell, mind you without pesky things like gold chalices or ivory statues being consumed, was that it could literally kill you. If you wished for to much, then the Dungeon Master (DM) could just curse you to oblivion. Here lay the problem. How was his DM? He himself certainly not. Some entity had decided to make him Argentarius, for some unknown purpose or just on a whim.