MODERATE WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 20%

A hundred of instances proved useless against the new attack. While the armadil shield protected Dallion from the raw force of the wave, it didn’t come without its consequences. It had been quite a while before Dallion had received damage from being crashed to the ground. It was a harsh reminder that in this field, at least, Dallion’s overconfidence wasn’t merited. While he could use every trick he had learned so far to find a shortcut or two, or even win against some novices or an inexperienced apprentice, he remained a novice.

Harp and Nil had often told him that brute strength used without understanding was only likely to succeed by luck. Using spark attacks granted some freedom, but they were the equivalent of a scalpel. Using them to pierce armor was not only impossible, but outright stupid. True, with enough scalpels, pretty much everything became possible, and that was largely how Dallion had used his ability so far. Coming to that realization, one can only be relieved that the Star never got access to such power. If he had managed to capture Aether and obtained the spellcraft skill gem, Dallion would never have stood a chance.

Water dripped into the metal sphere. The shield, despite all his benefits, was unable to stop the liquid. There was a high chance that it had magic qualities as well.

It’s just water, Harp said.

Dallion nodded.

“Shield, open up,” he said.

Are you sure? The dryad guardian asked.

“I can hold my breath.”

That’s not what I'm worried about…

As the shield contracted, water poured in. Dallion was expecting to find himself underwater, but it only reached his knees. The bigger issue, as the shield had said, was the whales. Despite their massive size, several of them had managed to cluster together, eager to have a bite at him.

It was curious how they could see him. Either their perception was high, or they were using other means. The scales of several of them flickered.

This time Dallion didn’t wait for the spell to be complete.

“Lux, lift me up!” he ordered. And right on time.

No sooner had he shot up than several more wave spells came into effect, flooding the whole area with water. What was more interesting was that the scarabisks surrounding it moved close together, creating a wall of combined magic spheres that allowed the water to gather up like in a fishbowl.

This was no random event. A higher mind was at work, or at the very least a conglomerate of creatures with the sole aim of getting Dallion to lose the challenge. Still, for some reason, none of the creatures seemed to attack the group outside.

Splitting into instances, Dallion looked around. Half of the whales were slowly moving his direction with the rest remaining close to the central obelisk. Right now, that also proved to be the single remaining structure, everything else having dissolved into stone insects.

A fair distance away, Raven and the rest were just standing there, observing events with interest. No doubt their echoes were exchanging notes on the matter, discussing approaches on how to deal with what Dallion was currently facing.

Dallion aimed at the eye of the nearest whale, then threw his harpsisword at it. His secret hope was that Harp would step in, giving him a hand in the matter. Alas for him, the weapon simply bounced off the transparent eyelid, falling down into the water. This time, he was on his own.

Think, Dallion told himself.

Remaining perfectly calm, his fingers moved about, drawing the symbols of a fireball. The object instantly appeared—a sphere of flames that dropped straight down. On its way, though, it managed to hit one of the flying creatures.

CRITICAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased 200%

The giant being twitched, pulling away way faster than Dallion expected it to move. Fire, apparently, hurt them. Rather, it was the magic of the fire that did the trick. One small spell had, in effect, done more damage that several line attacks ever could. The issue was that Dallion wasn’t able to control fireballs to a large degree. Then again, maybe he didn’t have to.

“Lux, get me to the wounded one,” he said. “Match its speed and keep me near the wound.”

You got it, boss! The firebird sounded all too eager to oblige. Thrusting Dallion up, then down, it then flew after the escaping whale, reaching it in a matter of seconds.

Flying around the whale in spiral fashion, Lux went to the area that had been affected by the fireball. One look was enough to make it clear that everything was made to be a trial. There was no way that the simple spell he had cast would cause as much devastation as a volley of cannon balls.

Nil, can I enter realms while here? Dallion asked.

That’s a tricky one. Normally, you shouldn’t be able to. But since this is the domain of Galatea, who knows? Personally, I would recommend against—

Before he could finish, Dallion made an attempt to enter his own awakening realm. There was no result. More precisely, the results were unlike anything he had experienced before. For a moment, he almost saw the green outlines of a textless rectangle. As he tried to move through it, though, he found himself unable to do so. It was as if he were trying to fly through a very thin layer of plastic. He could almost get a glimpse of his realm from above. The whole experience lasted for a fraction of a second, effectively leaving Dallion where he was.

—it, Nil completed his sentence. You never know what might happen.

Got it, Dallion replied.

That was a shame. It would have been nice to cast a “rocket,” same as he had against the chainling. On the other hand, there was no reason he couldn’t replicate the effects.

Wasting no time, Dallion cast a spell summoning a dartbow bolt. He had learned that spell early on, since it would prove quite useful in standard combat as well. Normally, he’d just summon the bladebow as well; right now, doing so would leave him falling into the water below. Instead of that, he hastily drew a series of speed symbols on the arrow itself. This was one of the more trickly things: the “faster” the arrow became, the righter he had to hold it since even the slightest motion of his hand made the arrow want to slide out and fly off.

After the seventh speed symbol, Dallion felt that was the limit. Sweat covering his face, he drew a heat symbol on the tip, then quickly threw it at the wounded spot of the whale before his fingers got burned.

The arrow darted forward faster than the human eye, creating a small explosion as it went into the creature.

FATAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased 500%

The damage was significant, as Dallion expected, causing the whale to lose strength and fall into the water with a great splash.

Good show, dear boy! Nil cheered. A bit more and you could have killed it.

“No,” Dallion said. “It’s better this way.”

You don’t seriously think you could have a conversation with that creature?

“Nope. Lux, let me go.”

Confusion swept through the firebird, briefly causing its flames to gain a green tint. However, it did jump off Dallion—it had learned to know when he was serious about something.

Here goes nothing. Dallion took a deep breath.

Orange markers appeared in the air, guiding him how to adjust his body so as to enter the water in the best way possible. Without argument, the entry was so smooth that it would make Olympians jealous. It was at that point that Dallion finally got to see the white rectangle of the whale for the first time.

REALM CREATURE

Species: AETHER WHALE

Class: MAGIC

Health: 10%

Traits:

- BODY: 20

- MIND: 20

- REACTION: 10

- PERCEPTION: 10

- MAGIC: 60

Skills

- ATTACK

- GUARD

- SPELLCRAFT

- UNIVERSAL SWIM (Species Unique)

- AETHER SCALES (Species Unique)

Weakness: INNARDS

So, you’re hiding your information now? Dallion thought.

That was quite a useful spell, especially for mages who had the ability to see the white rectangles of others in real life. It was only now that Dallion realized that nearly all of the people he’d seen the skills and stats of were novices. Even the adequate apprentices had clearly learned how to shield themselves from prying eyes—something Dallion had better learn how to do as well.

While useful, the information wasn’t Dallion’s main goal, though. Swimming on, he made his way to an open part of the whale’s wound. The “flesh” appeared to have erupted into clusters of threads that were waving about in the water.

Getting near, Dallion grabbed hold of the brightest magic thread with both hands and pulled.

There was a lot of things that could be said about trying to steal magic from a fatally wounded monster. The only thing that came to Dallion’s mind was that it was nothing like his experience with the icicorn. The strength of the initial force that went through him was so strong, it almost knocked Dallion dozens of feet back. To make things even more challenging, the thread was as slippery as could be. Whoever had come up with the expression “greased lightning” must have been to this world at some point.

Swimming forward with all his strength, Dallion refused to let go of the thread, gripping at it as if his life depended on it.

The water vibrated as several more waves slammed into it from above in their attempt to help the wounded creature. The reasonable thing to do was to leave the thread and run. Stubbornly, Dallion didn’t. Not only that, but he stopped using combat splitting, focusing on consuming part of the whale’s magic.

Then, finally, the thread broke loose.

For a single second, Dallion felt as if he’d found himself in the center of a purple sun. The sensation was warm and overwhelming, but also enlightening.

You have assimilated part of the AETHER WHALE’s magic, increasing your magic trait to 18.

The bright light faded away, bringing Dallion back to where he was a moment ago. The only difference was that this time, he was no longer holding anything.

Just part? He wondered, glancing at the creature’s open wound. There were more magic threads there. Maybe he could risk getting another? The temptation was almost impossible to resist. There was no telling when he’d get another chance…

Magic symbols light up, forming in some of the whale’s surviving scales.

Instinct took over. Dallion’s fingers moved on their own, copying the barrier spell he had seen Cheska cast. All difficulties in the past seemed to have been washed away, as Dallion completed it instantly, casting a protective bubble around him. Not only that, but the spell also pushed out all the water, leaving Dallion within a magic sphere of air.

How did you do that? Nil asked, beyond impressed.

“I have no idea,” Dallion whispered as he watched the rest of the water in the immediate vicinity be drawn up like a waterrise.

Separating into blobs the size of his head, the water shot up, taking Dallion’s bubble with it. One second he was in the water, the next, he found himself hundreds of feet in the air. Waterdrops the size of basketballs crashed into the bottom of the magic sphere with lethal consistency. It didn’t take long for it to shatter, but by then Dallion had already gone into a spellcasting frenzy, casting any spell he could think of.

Iksa’s projectile spell was copied, as were Cheska’s chains and Raven’s anti-magic lightning spell.

Stop casting! Nil shouted from Dallion’s realm. Hold your magic, now!

The voice sounded sort of distant, as if heard through a dream. It made Dallion pause a slight bit, looking at nowhere in particular, but he didn’t stop.

If you run out of magic here, there won’t be a way to restore it!

Lux flew into Dallion, enveloping him with his flame, but even that wasn’t enough to get him back to his senses.

MINOR WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 5%

HAND SEVERED

You will no longer be able to make use of your RIGHT HAND

The casting stopped immediately.

Dallion looked down. Ruby was fluttering ten inches from him, right above where his hand used to be.