Leveling up the World

Chapter 538: The Rogue

The destruction of the mages echo caused a few additional changes. As it soon turned out, the goal of mage might not have been to scout or attack mercenaries sent to capture him, but to hide things altogether.

Soon enough, the village that the had been searching for appeared in the distance in the direction they had come from. That was the greatest issue of illusions in this worldthey werent merely tricks of the light. With enough power and skill, they changed reality itself. The only difference was that when the source of the illusion had done, things reverted back to normal.

Eury was the one to spot it, letting the rest of the group know the instant she did.

At that point a decision had to be made: go back and check out the village, or continue on following the escaped echo. In the end March decided to go back. If an illusion had been cast over the entire village, there had to be a good reason for it.

You didnt sense anything, Gleam? Dallion asked as they approached the walls of the village.

We didnt walk through it, the shardfly replied.

I know, but you usually are pretty good at catching these things.

Well, today wasnt my day. Maybe if you get me to level up some more, Ill do better.

Dallion ignored her. Having a mage that was capable of that was more than a bit concerning. Actually, having to face any sort of mage was concerning. The interesting thing was that the more Dallion leveled up and got an understanding of the world, the more he feared them. Back when he was level twenty, he didnt view mages as a particularly big deal. Now, even with Eury and March with him, he felt as unprepared, as if facing a force of nature.

Anyone you know who could do this sort of thing, Nil? Dallion asked.

A number of mages, actually, the echo replied. The scope of the illusion is somewhat impressive, but not as much as you might think.

So, in short, it could be anyone.

Theres always the chance that its the work of someone undiscovered. Its rare, but it happens every few decades or so. Usually, the Order takes care of them.

The notion was ominous as it was efficient. It was normal for the Order of the Seven Moons to make sure there wasnt anything causing too much disruptions in the world. Usually that meant wilderness beasts roaming about, but there were other things as well. It was natural for unhinged mages to fall into that category, although given the proximity of a citadel, Dallion was unsure why they hadnt done anything about the mage earlier.

A few dozen feet from the village walls, Eury stopped, raising her hand.

I cant hear anything, she said.

Dallion concentrated on his senses. Try as he might he couldnt hear any signs of activity nearby. Not only were there no human voices, but no animal noises either. It was as if the etire settlement was shrouded in a cone of silence.

Dal, check it out, March ordered.

Instantly, Dallion split into fifty instances, the vast majority of which rushed towards the wall. With the level of his mind trait, he was easily able to leap inside. He expected for some of his instances to fall into a trap, or to come across the remains of a massacre. Instead, he found absolutely nothing. It was as if every single living creature within the village walls had vanished.

For several minutes, Dallion kept sending instances to check out as much of the village as possible. At one point, he simple stopped. There was nothing more he could learn.

Its empty, he said. There might be something in the central houses. I can check them out, if you want. Dallion turned to March.

No. We go in together. The woman drew her rapier.

Is that a good move? Eury asked.

Probably not. But if theres anything hidden, thats the only way to draw it out.

Acting as live bait, Dallion thought. It wouldnt be the first time, although he didnt expect all of them would have to do it. Constantly keeping twenty instances in existence, he slowly moved forward.

The village gate was closed and barred shut. After checking that it was safe to open with a few instances, Dallion proceeded to do so. There was a total of about thirty buildings, grouped together in one cluster. Everything on the outside were common houses with the massive structure in the middle potentially belonging to the village chief. There seemed to be a single tavern, two forges, a windmill, and a granary, all of which were completely empty. The group went through all of them one by one, then moved to the less important houses. In ten minutes, every structure had been thoroughly checked, and still there wasnt a single clue as to what had happened.

More ominously, there didnt seem to be a single guardian present, either. Dallion expected a city to have large parts of his structures without guardians, but not a simple village. What was more, there was no reason for items to be silent as well. Checking a few items, he quickly found that the realm was still functioning, often not even damaged; the only thing lacking were guardians.

Gleam, can you feel anything? Dallion asked.

Everything is real, if thats what you mean.

This place shouldnt exist, Dallion said out loud. Nothing he knew could eliminate guardians without destroying the item itself. At the same time, wasnt that what artefacts were? They too only had guardians up to the point that the items destiny was fulfilled.

Magic can do that, Nil explained.

Somehow get rid of all guardians? Now?

Maybe one day youll find out. Until then youll have to trust me.

What else can I expect?

I cant say, dear boy. There are still things youre not meant to know until you know them.

It had been a while since Dallion had gotten that excuse and he still didnt like it.

Dal, what did you find? March asked.

Someone had removed all the guardians. Have you heard anything of the sort happen?

Once. A long time ago. Regret and fear emanated from her. It only lasted a moment, but enough for Dallion to catch the emotion. Back when I was a guard at the Mage Academy.

Before she could add anything more one of the nearby buildings crumbled to piecesnot chunks, but perfectly sliced cubes. It was almost as if the whole structure wasnt real, but some voxel created three-dimensional model.

Three of Dallions instances were killed straight off. Two more structures nearby broke down soon after.

Gleam, find whos doing this! Dallion ordered.

The whip blade darted into the air, expanding to its limit.

Meanwhile, Eury also leapt onto one of the the remaining buildings, only to have it start breaking up the moment her foot made contact. Fortunately, her reaction trait allowed her to jump off onto the next before it came crashing down.

Whats going on? Dallion kept splitting non-stop, his instances barely able to keep up with the collapsing village.

Found him! Gleam said.

The whip blade swung around, gathering inertia and struck the air ten feet away. There it stopped, as if slamming into an invisible barrier. The difference was that a crack had formed within the air itselfa crack revealing a fragment of black cloth behind it.

Gleam swung again, attempting to hit the mysterious target from the other side, but before she could manage a wave of force threw had back onto the ground.

Gleam! Dallion shouted.

A split second later, March suddenly vanished, then reappeared in the air right in front of the crack. Dallion was able to see her perform a single attack; and yet the it proved to be enough to peal away the illusion that was shielding their attacker. Fragments of reality fell down like leaves, revealing a person wearing a set of black clouds embroidered with black. Dallions forging skill told him that wasnt just gold, it was sun gold.

Pulled back down by gravity, March landed on solid ground. Her opponent, though, remained in the air. Now that he was in plain view, Dallion could clearly see the shimmering around himthe person was an otherworlder as well.

They sent you, after all, the man in black said.

Twesi. There was a coldness in Marchs voice that Dallion hadnt heard before. I thought you had been rogued.

Rogued, erased, and made to serve some idiot Archduke in the hellhole of the south. Im glad that you remember, though. Didnt think youd try.

While they were talking, Eury dashed along one of the few standing buildings then jumped through the air right at the person. Half a foot from him, the gorgon performed a series of attacksdozens as far as Dallion could see. Yet each strike and kick stopped inches from hitting its target, as if there was an invisible barrier of air that prevented any damage to pass through.

Seeing that her attacks were useless, Eury spun around and used the mages protective barrier to propel herself away from him.

Interesting method. Useless, though. Match should tell you that such things dont work on me.

You know him? Dallion asked.

I used to, she said. Hes known as rogue mage Twesi. We both worked at the Acadmy. Im surprised that anyone decided to hire him for whatever reason.

Correction, I only worked at the Academy, the man said. You were just an outside guard, paid to walk around in your ever so polished armor. Its ironic that the thing you loved the most is now your prison. Did she tell you that she was the one responsible for the near destruction of the Academy? Thats why she was sent to this shitpit. But because of her family she got off easily missing inly her name. I got half my spells restricted.

You were responsible for the incident.

I was the one inside! That didnt make me responsible. Not that anyone cared. The made floated lower. In effect I should thank you. If you hadnt started the turn of events, I never would have achieved what I did.

And what did you achieve exactly?

What do you think? When the Academy cast me out, what did they think would happen? That Id take it lying down? Well, you were wrong, all of you. I joined the other side, and now Im free to set the rules, not just to follow them.

The mage pulled off the black scarf round his neck, revealing a necklace with a rather large green gem. It didnt take Dallion long to realize its exact nature; the gem was a skill gem, related to the empathy trait.

You created the plague? Dallion asked, shocked by the prospect.

The Star told me you were bright. The mage smirked. Even asked me to make you a final offer to join us.

Youre a fool. March didnt seem one bit impressed. Always were, always will be. All you do is run from master to master, fighting for the scraps. I didnt think that even youll be so dumb to serve the Crippled.

March. The mage shook his head. Obedient little soldier. Always so focused on what others were saying that never got time to think for herself. You think I serve the Star? Were partners, equals. In some areas Im ever far better. Why do you think he gave me this? The man tapped the gem. Because of my looks? Back on Earth I was a bloody biochemist! The Star is just someone with a bit more years in this world. Even without him Id have created the plague.

The village around Dallion continued to collapse. Giving Eury a side glance, he made a sign to be ready for a combined attack. No doubt the mage was using some sort of protective spell, but even that wouldnt be able to stop all the force directed at him.

Did our favorite Archduke even tell you why hes been so obsessed on finding the sword?

Three, Dallion made a sign.

The sword youre so eager to find is a plague sword. Originally it was meant to kill plants, livestock, and people with a simple slash.

Two.

He sent me after the sword as well, the mage continued. In my case he just wanted to get rid of me, meet an accident, lets say.

But you did. March noted.

One

I did, and then everything within the sword became mine, including the means to make a far better plague, focusing mostly on the people who were supposed to be immune: the awakened.

Now!

Dallion split into instances and leapt up at the mage. Eury fallows a split second later. Both combined their attacks, aiming for their opponents chest. The barrier emerged again, but didnt stop them, shattering before their combined strehth.

WORLD ITEM AWAKENING

Everything around them changed

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