Notes:

(1) As best I recall, this is the first story idea to come to me in a dream, that has actually worked. Though it's more of a story fragment than a story. And I left out the part about how Albert Einstein was the hero summoned immediately before this one, and then ever afterward Einstein was only happy when working on carving a sculpture of a dragon, because when I woke up, that part didn't seem to make any sense.

(2) I think the hero might be overcomplicating things and taking an overly direct approach. I can think of something else I'd be trying in this situation. Besides intelligence-enhancement spells, I mean.