What idiots. Are these guys just now coming up? I already made tons of preparation. Oh well, I need to start on the next domain I was working on.

Hehehe, playing the Changeling sure made me come up with a few ideas. Refracting images off of the fog and making illusions was a good idea, but if I include ice into it…hahaha!

“Glacial Maze, Perplexing Fog!”

Walls of ice formed around me into a labyrinth. By making one at the festival, I easily determined a suitable method…though…I may need some fortification. Huh. Let’s add a layer of hardened rock in between the mirrors.

Yeah, a wall of ice does give off a small reflection. By manipulating the fog and reflections, I could appear in all sorts of places! Hehe, I am evil.

Oh, how about this?

An array here, an array there…oh, and one there. Yeah, let’s see how these guys perform…

They suck. Have these guys ever been inside a dungeon before?

They get lost easily, they don’t team up or work together. Oh well. At least the weaklings are going bye bye.

*gulp*

Ah, this mana potion tastes like hot chocolate. Nice going, Zack. You have the weirdest successes. Heck, he likes to visit the alchemy club and toss ideas about better tasting potions. But, caffeine and sugar worked well as ingredients in the mana potions. They even became more effective. Since they also taste good, many people are willing to buy them even if they are more expensive.

But the orange one was good too…

Ah, what am I thinking now? The maze is nearly complete. It seems that there are three people I should watch out for. One is an elf from the North and the others are two powerful nobles from the south. Oops, and here they are. Alright, the maze is done.

Time to tear it down.

“What?!”

Everyone who was past a certain point was unable to get to me. In fact, once someone reached me, I had already planned to include everyone within the ring. That also included a couple of guys at the beginning. Oh, one is that stupid prince. I guess he had a late start.

So seven people are in the ring besides me.

Three are definitely weaklings while one is definitely angry and can’t think ahead. In fact, he is charging at me right now.

“Freeze.”

Suddenly, I made the entire ring freeze. In that time, I also covered myself in dust and messed with my hair. Hehehe, it is the return of the Changeling!

“Ahh!”

Ooh, some people screamed. Nice.

With one of my mantis blade claws covered in ice, I sheathed the other one to make use of the swordplay I know of. I easily scatter the guys and send the three weak ones out, though I intended to also kick out the others, too.

So now there are five of us. Every time my sword is swung, a wave of ice and frigid air assault the enemy. It is nice and also slows the enemy, if only slightly. I wonder if I can control the lightning domain at the same time…let’s see.

“Paralyze!”

After pulling the mantis blade out, I can’t help but like its portability. This creature loves to pretend to be a normal mantis until you are passing it. Then it increases in size and bites your head off. Crazy things.

Anyway, after placing the power on it, I understand that this is too much. My mana is draining incredibly fast and I can only maintain this for about a minute. I know, my previous one was nearly an hour!

But, this is fine. I had leveled up the power and quality of my magic, so of course the spell would require more to power it now.

But it worked wonders. There goes the three people I thought were strong. Now it is just the prince. Huh, I guess he has a right to be arrogant? No, there is always someone better. Huh. Maybe I should find someone better than me so I can find my weaknesses.

Wait, I know my weaknesses.

Down goes my mana and I cancel the domains in order to stay conscious during this fight. I can’t recklessly attack with spells, since I don’t know when another challenge will come. Damn, these defensive battles are tiring.

I am not that gifted in swordplay, but then again, I am at the level of a person of some authority within the army. I was taught by the most powerful swordsman in the kingdom, after all.

Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yeah, Instructor Ghazi is incredible…but Emeril’s father…damn, that guy is a monster. I may have been repressing some of it...

Now that I am left with my two blades, I can’t help but think about my fight against the trio adventurers. I was not that strong in dual swords style, and in fact, I just tried using the sword style that I learned for the left hand.

Just mirrored, you know? But I guess that is a bad way to think about it. You can’t treat the swords as separate like that. No, they are…twins? Oh, that’s right. The swords cover each other’s weak spots. Having two blades can mean to defend and attack in either hand…

Oh, I hit something. Let me think. Hold on.

Aha!

>>>

The prince was tired and breathing heavily. He was shocked, cold, and angry. However, he had proven to be the best one here today, as no one else was standing besides this trickster. But to think he was this strong?! What a monster!

But, he was silent. Thinking about something. The prince used this time to catch his breath and rejuvenate in order to keep the fight going.

But why were his eyes closed?

Suddenly, Nolan opened his eyes and the stance he was using was different. The two swords which were standing upright and ready to swing were crossing each other. Then Nolan started to dance.

He ducked and weaved around the ring, the two swords waving here and there. Off to the side, Ilya, Gina, Delania, and the others who had seen the boss of the Labyrinth were shocked. They could clearly tell this was based on the style of the statues, but it felt backwards! Instead of guarding himself, Nolan was trying to keep something in! The two swords moved in a circular motion while also keeping him moving around the prince at a good distance away.

The prince was good enough to continue, the shock and cold having already left his body. He charged forward, only to meet Nolan’s sword. He hadn’t expected the blade to be there at all! He deflected the blade and quickly dodged back, however he felt a sharp sting and something cool on his arm. He looked over to see a gash from where he had been attacked!

That was when he noticed the room he had to work with was getting smaller. Nolan was working inwards!

The prince saw his imminent demise and realized he had already given up. His sword and shield were on the ground and he was on his knees. The fight was over and people were cheering.

But it was here where Nolan made his swordsmanship reach level 6.