Leveling up the World

Chapter 713: The Magic Detector

In more cases than not, fatal strikes were enough to defeat any creature. In this case, it was like fighting an eggthe outer shell had cracked, leaving the creature itself unharmed. Thankfully, with the information rectangle now visible, it was clear that sixty percent health had vanished along with the outer layer of fur.

A moment was spent in revaluation of the situation. Both sides created new strategies, evaluated them, then spring into action.

Dallion split into a dozen instances, each doing a variety of slash and thrust attacks in an attempt to finish the job. Meanwhile, the platypain also went on the offensive. No longer the slow and defensive creature of before, he avoided all of Dallions attacks, while simultaneously casting a spell within his fur.

Magic symbols mixed and merged, creating a pattern that Dallion couldnt make out. The aetherfish, though, did, for it cast a spell of its own. A green sphere surrounded the platypain, only to be shattered moments later with such force that all of Dallions instances instinctively jumped back.

Whats that? Dallion asked.

Assembly, Gem replied.

Assembly? Dallion split into instances once more. The moment some of them looked around, searching for the realm portals, he saw what the familiar had meant.

The labyrinth of mirrors had vanished. There was no maze, no portals, the hundreds of realms had all collapsed into one cube-like reality. However, what made it particularly annoying was that while the whole of reality appeared to be one three-dimensional cube of interconnected corridors, the guardian had multiplied. A quick glance revealed close to twenty of him in various parts of the cube. However, those werent instances or echoesDallion could see threads of magic going through mirrored walls, connecting each. That wasnt his only problem. The walls themselves seemed to be both there and not, phasing in and out of existence at random intervals.

He broke reality, Dallion thought.

Interesting, Nil mused. I havent seen that spell outside of theoretical studies.

Dont be so enthusiastic about it! Dallion shouted as his instances dispersed throughout the mirror cube. A few of them were blinked out of existence as walls materialized through them. The rest cast identical spells, sending aether projectiles at the various guardians. Six even managed to hit their target, but all that did was cause one of the platypus copies to pop out of existence, the magic thread returning to those that survived.

Now that hed seen that his enemy wasnt indestructible, Dallion split again, this time in far more instances than before. All he had to do was keep this up until

Thats not the right way, Harps echoy voice resonated in his mind. You have to do something different.

Itll be fine, Dallion replied.

His instances were still successfully killing off guardians, but the difficulty seemed to increase with each iteration. If Dallion had managed to kill off six instances of the platypain, he could only pick one reality. The second time, only eight of his instances were lucky, even if there were close to a sixty of them. The time after then only three managed to get a hit.

The platypus wasnt only learning hot to counteract Dallions tactics, but had gone back to casting spells of his ownattack spells that Dallion had to take into account in addition to everything else. Several seconds later he had to admit that the harpsisword was righthe couldnt win this way.

Harp, what do I have to do? he asked.

Use magic, the nymph guardian replied. Copy the spell I show you.

I thought you couldnt teach me magic.

There always are exceptions. Just follow my lead.

Dallion expected the nymph to emerge in her full form and start drawing symbols. Instead, the harpsisword strings vibrated, only this time, the invisible threads of music formed symbols in the air.

Magic music, Dallion thought. A fascinating concept he had thought about a few times, though never actually tried, maybe considering it too out there.

Without wasting a moment, he combined spellcraft, music, and attack skills. The tip of the blade moved about, following the path created by the sound. A pattern began to emerge. It was as if Dallion were drawing in the air using light instead of paint.

Remember the symbols that go into making this, Harp said. All of them are things you know.

Dallion concentrated. Knowing that he was dealing with something familiar helped to a degree, but it was like trying to make out the brand name of a very stretched plastic bag. Even with dozens of instances, Dallion made more mistakes than he would have liked. Thankfully, his efforts paid off.

SPELL RECOMBINATION

(+2 Mind)

You have successfully translated a pattern spell into magic symbols. Sometimes the pieces of something are worth more than the whole. However, that only works if you know the pieces to begin with.

A blast of water shot from the space in front of Dallions hand, as if hed created a magic water hose. There was no pushback, not even the slightest tension. The water kept on shooting forward with the intention of blasting everything in its path. Hitting into the first materialized wall in the reality cube, it went on, spreading to other sections. The beauty and horror of it all was that even after seconds had passed, the spell had no intention of stopping. Instinctively, Dallion pulled back his hand, believing he could reduce the flow. The stream continued unimpeded, sprouting from the spot in the air it had before.

You can move back if you want, Harp said. The spell will keep on going on its own.

What is it?

A water elemental spell. This is how you create water from magic.

This is no creation spell. I recognized some of the symbols. This is a portal.

Good. There was a grain of pride in the nymphs voice. Youre learning. You opened a portal to a magic reality full of water. In that reality, water can never end, so it will continue to fill this realm until theres nothing left to fill.

Im flooding a realm? Dallion just realized the power he had unleashed. You can sink entire realms?

There always are conditions. This is a small magic realm, so yes, it can be filled easily. Other realms, like the dryad world swords, will react differently. A large amount of water can be unleashed, but it would never be fully sunk.

During the conversation, the cube continued to get flooded before everyones very eyes. The platypain realized it too, for it started casting barriers around itself in an attempt to stop the impending water.

Harp, you know that platypuses can swim, right? Dallion asked.

Platypains, the dryad corrected. Not anymore. You tore off its second layer of fur. Now itll sink like a rock. And even if it didnt, water negates the magic it needs in order to remain in existence.

Thats magic water? Dallion thought. One had to admit, it sounded cool. With this trick, there was so much he could achieve. Heck, there was no sell that could hold him. Doors could withstand the weight of an entire realm of water, and even if they could, Dallion would easily swim up to a window and use a point attack to break through the wall or ceiling.

You can only do that in realms, dear boy, Nil said in a stern voice. Unless youre a Moon.

So only they get to destroy the world? Dallion asked.

That remains debatable. Scholars are still divided on the topic.

The water level had already reached Dallions chest. Around twenty layers or corridors continued above, their floors phasing in and out of reality constantly. It was inevitable that they, too, would get flooded. Even the sections that the platypain was sealing off would.

You can surrender, you know, Dallion shouted. I dont know how long your barriers will hold out, but itll be less than I can hold my breath.

How long is that? There was genuine curiosity in the creatures voice.

Dallion gave the question several seconds of thorough consideration.

I have no idea. Days, maybe? It had been a while since hed had to swim and even then he hadnt remotely felt any pressure. In the real world, or even in most realms, hed never have a reason to hold his breath for more than a few hours. Does it matter?

I guess not. I still want to find out.

Suit yourself.

The conversation ended there. For one thing, being submerged made talking a bit more difficult for Dallion. For a short period of time, he considered remaining there in the middle of the reality cube just to show the guardian whos boss. Finding it childish, he then used instances to swim up to the layers on top thanks to his instances.

Bit by bit, Dallion moved closer and closer to the top layer of this reality. Just below it, he stopped. There was no point in taking useless chances, not when the guardian could still cast a spell that could potentially kill him off.

You are a weird one, the platypain said. Those who have empathy choose not to use magic. Those who have magic choose to forget about their empathy. You make use of both traits.

Thats because Im an otherworlder, Dallion replied through non-verbal means.

You arent the first otherworlder whos been put in that situation. You arent even the first one from Earth. It will be interesting seeing how far you get. The AETHERIZER Guardian has admitted defeat.

Do you accept his surrender?

Dallion smiled. That made two. Reaching out, he tapped the thumbs up rectangle.

AETHERIZER level 2 has been cleared!

Continue to fulfill the AETHERIZERs destiny.

The cube suddenly unraveled, returning to the standard form of the mirror corridor. The water, and the spell creating it, remained. That presented something of an issue. As Dallion had said, he could hold his breath for ludicrous amounts of time, but fighting in water was among his least favorite pastimes. His casting speed wasnt going to suffer thanks to the method he currently used, but any movement

The AETHERIZER Guardian has admitted defeat.

Do you accept his surrender?

Huh? Dallion blinked. Hadnt he already accepted the guardians surrender?

Maybe this was a glitch? With multiple realms converging in one, maybe something had glitched out. Slowly, he reached out and pressed the appropriate rectangle again.

AETHERIZER level 3 has been cleared!

The AETHERIZERs destiny has been fulfilled.

Dallion found himself back in his room. The artifact in his hand was fully lit, glowing a calm blue light.

A cascade of feelings went through Dallions mind as he remained motionless, staring at the item. He was glad to have cleared the item, and yet at the same time he somehow cheated. For one thing, hed never had a chance to glimpse the final guardian, let alone fight. It was the fighting that Dallion was looking forward tothe only practical experience he was getting while at the Academy. Practicing spells was all and good, but they remained theoretical fields. As Dallions father back on Earth had said, law books can give you all the knowledge in the world, but you need courtroom experience to get a sense of the real thing.

Just as he was about to say something, a purple rectangle flashed in front of him, just above the artifact.

MODIFIED ACTIVE AETHERIZER

The water within the aetherizer increased the range of the item twenty-fold, allowing it to detect magic vortexes within a twenty-mile radius.

The level of the vortex is indicated by the number of concentric circles around it.

In order to function, the aetherizer needs to be attuned to its owner via a realm link.

A vortex detector? Dallion turned, focusing his attention on the harpsisword. The water spell wasnt just a way to defeat the guardian. You know that this would happen, didnt you?

Yes, Harp replied.

How? Dallion asked. And why didnt you tell me? He added mentally to himself.

Thats the real purpose of these devices. My kind were the ones that made them.

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