Nick cast Tyrant Sense to check the surroundings for anything that might be a threat to him. After finding nothing but rank 1, and rank 2 magic beasts, Nick decided that he would create a sizable room in the ground to stay while assessing his mindscape.
(The magic beasts that I found don't interest me. My most urgent concern is to figure out what the specific changes to my mindscape are. Staying underground is better than remaining at high altitude…well in terms of concealment from other Magicians and the likely rank 3 magic beasts…)
Nick proceeded to lower himself below the forest canopy, following which, he used Saturn's power to manifest a cream-colored sphere of light around him that was about four meters in radius.
The push and pull forces of the cream sphere ripped out of the ground, and threw away the trees that it came into contact with, according to Nick's will. When he reached the ground, Nick did not stop lowering himself as the push and pull forces displaced the dirt and minerals below to create a path that he and the cream sphere could take downwards.
He also manipulated the cream sphere's power to put the dirt and minerals back into place as he descended, creating layers of materials above him. Light vanished quickly, but using Tyrant Sense's power, Nick could determine the features of his surroundings clearly.
Nick descended linearly for about one kilometer before he stopped moving while maintaining the cream sphere around him. He thought:
(This should serve as a decent hideaway for now. I will start meditating at this very moment.)
He had no doubt that he could maintain Saturn and Tyrant Sense while he actively meditated. Both were only intermediate grade spells, after all. That was confidence brought on by years of cultivation. Nick took a lying position as he floated at the center of the sphere. He then began his meditation, and soon his consciousness entered his mindscape.
Nick was surprised that the same dragon as before was still present but sleeping within the black void of his mindscape. It seemed so life-like that he was scared to attempt to draw its attention. Every time the dragon breathed, black miasma would flow from its mouth, and flow further throughout the void.
Nick sensed a certain closeness with the black miasma, so he knew that it was in fact, his magic energy. He couldn't help but be impressed with himself:
(This is an incredible change, but I don't necessarily know the significance of this dragon appearing within my mindscape, and the continuous road disappearing. At the very least, my Cursed Vessel talent has granted me a new and different ability than before. Everything else within my mindscape is the same as before - same miasma, same stars, and same magic formation.)
He continued to observe the sleeping dragon for hours, but the beast did not wake up even once. Running out of patience, Nick tried to awaken the dragon by screaming at it:
(Hey, Mr. Dragon! Wake the hell up!…)
Despite his screams, the dragon remained asleep, and after hours of trying, Nick finally stopped trying to wake the dragon. He soon decided to stop meditating, ejecting his consciousness from his mindscape immediately.
"There is a magic beast living within my mindscape."
That statement sounded so ridiculous that Nick stopped speaking for a long time, unable to put what he was feeling into words. Eventually, Nick decided to manipulate his magic energy outside his body to observe any possible changes.
Nick tried processing magic energy outside his body like he usually would, and after eight seconds, black miasma appeared around him, meaning that Nick had processed 20,000 magical units of his magic energy. He manipulated the black miasma by having it swirl around him for a few minutes until he concluded:
"There seems to be no real difference in how I process magic energy, or the form it takes. Hmmm…"
Nick suddenly had an idea, following which, he gathered all the black miasma in front of him, and activated his Cursed Vessel talent. In response, the black miasma suddenly transformed into a red-blue aura that saturated the cream sphere, and brought with it a relatively low beastly roar, which seemed to be the same sound that Nick had heard when the plateau had vanished.
"A dragon's roar, maybe."
Nick then summoned the upper-half of the carcass of a rank 2 bear like magic beast that had orange fur, and two goat-like horns on its forehead. Nick willed for the red-blue aura to act on the carcass, and following that, the carcass just vanished. Nick was momentarily surprised until his intuition started working:
"No. The carcass didn't just vanish."
Nick summoned the lower-half of the same carcass this time and willed for the red blue-aura to act on it, following which, the carcass vanished. By this time, Nick had noticed that the moment the carcass vanished, some of the red-blue aura had been depleted.
After thinking about the situation for about an hour, Nick came to a realization:
"So, that's it. The red-blue aura is space magic that has the ability to reject the space that it envelops. Anything within that space is also rejected and sent away."
With Nick being a space path master, it only took him a little experimentation to discover the truth, but he was still a little confused:
"Where did the pieces of carcass go?"
Nick thought at length about the phenomenon:
(Usually, when space magic rejects space, objects within that space are propelled through an adjacent space, giving the impression that the object is moving. Cursed Vessel's rejection of the space seems to work as some sort of teleportation, or rather, the affected object isn't moved through an adjacent space, but a connected one…)
An adjacent space and a connected space were not always the same thing. An adjacent space meant that an area of space was either joined to or contained within another while a connected space meant that one area of space had a close relation to another area of space, somehow.
"Those two definitions are not equivalent, and the latter definition is the one that is usually involved in teleportation, whether by magic formation, or even simpler spells. A connected space is basically a highway to another space that can be accessed at will, which means that the carcasses were teleported somewhere else, but where?"
Nick had no idea, and also had no way currently to find out. He decided that he needed to do more experimenting, so he summoned more pieces of rank 2 magic beast carcasses, which included arms, legs, heads, abdomens, and others from his space bands. He then had the red-blue aura act on them.
After some time, the red-blue aura was mostly used up without Nick having figured out where any of the magic beasts parts went. Using the last bit of red-blue aura that enveloped the head of a horse-like magic beast, Nick had the idea to try to complement the red-blue aura's effect using Tyrant Sense's power.
"I have done similar with my other space path methods. Doing the same here should not be difficult."
After some mental clenching, Nick finally attempted to manipulate the aura in conjunction with Tyrant Sense's scouting ability by focusing on an area of space that was about ninety meters below him before rejecting the space containing the magic beast head. As soon as the power of the red-blue aura was activated, and the magic beast head vanished, Nick sensed that the magic beast head had suddenly appeared ninety meters below him in the same space that he had been scouting using Tyrant Sense.
Nick rejoiced aloud at the result:
"Oh yeah! I'm a bad boy!"
Nick soon processed more magic energy within his cream sphere, and activated Cursed Vessel to turn all of it into red-blue aura. He then summoned random pieces of magic beast carcasses around him from his space bands, and began using the power of the red-blue aura to reject them in conjunction with the power of Tyrant Sense. The same result as with the first magic beast head was repeated using those magic beast parts until the red-blue aura was depleted.
"Now that I have practised using the power for a while, I can confidently say that it is not just space magic, it is also rule magic. Considering the characteristics of my mindscape, that shouldn't be too surprising. That being the case, I am not sure yet what the rule path principles that facilitate the effect of the Cursed Vessel talent is.
These results lead me to believe that magic beast parts that I had initially rejected were sent to random places within Forgotten Peril due to my lack of precise guidance that would have resulted from using a scouting method. I assume that those magic bast parts are still within Forgotten Peril because of the small amount of magic energy consumed to reject them."
Such conclusions were easy to come to once Nick had enough experience using Cursed Vessel's new space path and rule path effect, and he knew that they were probably all correct. But they opened the door for a new question:
"What path does the Cursed Vessel talent belong to? I had never thought too much about it before but the talent seems to have a lot to do with both my bloodline and my mindscape."
After thinking for hours about the question, Nick finally came up with a possible answer:
"Cursed Vessel might very well be a human path talent. I do not know much about human path since it is only mentioned in passing within textbooks, but I at least know that it is probably one the rarest paths to have been practised on Grand Earth, and it involves magic that is fundamental to the Magician's body, and mindscape. That description is a little vague but that is all the information that I have on the subject."
Coming to this conclusion made Nick feel doubtful:
(I cannot cultivate human path, so how can I use Cursed Vessel's ability?)
Because of the incident involving Andre Reigns, a rank 8 Magician that Nick had previously met, he could only cultivate a limited number of paths. Human path was not included in the paths that he could cultivate, or so he thought.
(The wicked being. It must be the reason why I even have the Cursed Vessel talent. Hmmm…the laws that induce a talent might not require a Magician to have an affinity for that type of magic…)
Nick eventually shook his head, and raised his arms in helplessness.
(I am not going to think about the details regarding the wicked being, or conjecture about talents anymore. As I am now, I cannot fully comprehend their powers, anyway.)
Nick lowered his arms, and rested for a few hours before deciding to leave his current location. He was tired of looking at dirt.
**************************************************
Three days later…
"Hey Clare, I need some help over here!"
POW POW!
A man that seemed to be in his early thirties backed away quickly by over ten meters after giving a rank 3 magic beast two harsh straight punches to its front-left leg using both his fists. The man had a slightly tanned, white complexion, a head full of short, styled, black hair, and brown eyes. He wore a dark-blue magician's robe.
The magic beast looked similar to a rhino, but had velvet skin, red eyes, and three horns instead one one. The magic beast was also about the size of two elephants combined into one. The rhino magic beast roared at the man, revealing that it had no visible teeth. It soon stopped roaring before it charged at its opponent with every ounce of its effort, crossing the distance of ten meters in moments.
The man appeared to keep his composure, but was forced to punch out using his right fist, so as to counter the magic beast. The man leaped forward like a hungry tiger going after its prey. Following that, there was a fierce clash that occurred as the man punched the magic beast's center horn.
Waves of formless magic energy violently radiated away from the battle as a result of the clash, revealing the rank 3 cultivation of both its participants. The man and the magic beast entered a stalemate that lasted ten seconds before they were both forced to step back by several meters before clashing again.
Over three dozen meters away, a woman dressed in a light-purple magician's robe sat cross legged on the grassy field that extended throughout the area. She had a slightly tanned, white complexion similar to the man's, long, flowing blonde hair, and green eyes. After the twentieth clash between the man and the magic beast, the woman finally stood up, and said:
"I'm ready."
The woman did not speak loudly, but because her voice had been imbued with magic, the man heard her from afar. The man internally rejoiced while screaming:
"Finish this thing, Clare!"
At that moment, the woman who was apparently named Clare clapped her hands together, and her body erupted with a cloud of formless magic energy.
(Fire Flare Vortex)
Following that, the rhino magic beast, sensing the large amount of concentrated magic energy that was flowing strangely in the distance, shivered, then backed away from the man instead of clashing against him, preparing to turn and flee, but it was too late.
A vortex of red-orange flames that had a starting radius of five meters encircled the rhino magic beast and engulfed it in moments. The flames burnt so hot that the man was forced to quickly step back from the flames by over a dozen meters over a two second period using his magic.
The man watched the eleven-meter-high vortex burn the rhino magic beast in place for two minutes before it died down, and dispersed, revealing a charred carcass. Clare at some point had already began approaching the man, and by the time the fire vortex dissipated, she stood shoulder to shoulder with him, speaking while sporting a plain expression:
"You stalled the apex rhino well, Syrus. Strength path sure is amazing. You actually went toe-to-to with a rank 3 magic beast, and didn't get crushed into meat paste."
The man who was apparently name Syrus turned his nose up in pride, and patted Clare on the right shoulder using his left hand, praising her:
"You're not so bad yourself, Clare. Considering that you had to buy your fire flare inheritance on the market, that advanced grade spell that you pulled off was something special. When we get back home, I'm going to buy you a drink."
Clare quickly knocked Syrus' hand away from her right shoulder using her right hand before replying:
"I'll hold you to that."
Syrus lowered his head, and playfully said in response:
"No problem. The company sending us to Forgotten Peril to train has been taxing, after all. They won't mind footing the bill for a few drinks. Ha, ha, ha…"
Syrus laughed a little before Clare interrupted him:
"Where should we go next? Rank 3 magic beasts seem to be rare in this area. We should go to one of the regions with more of them that are at the standard of rank 3 initial stage."
Syrus nodded his head three times before saying:
"We'll go to…"
Before he could finish his sentence, however, his scouting method picked up on a fast approaching object from the western direction. Syrus closed his mouth, and mused:
(It's the middle of the day, so other Magicians being around would not be surprising, but what is this thing that I am sensing using my Muscular Hearing spell. It is not a magic beast, or a Magician, and it is flying at a high altitude, approaching from the distant forest at high speed…)
Soon, Syrus' expression became serious, and he spoke to Clare sternly:
"Get ready."
She replied simply, having also picked up on the strange object:
"I know."
About five seconds later, what seemed to be a silver, flying saucer flew beyond the forested area over the grassy plain where Syrus and Clare stood. Both Magicians raised their eyebrows in surprise when they saw the flying saucer flying over the plain. Syrus muttered without thinking:
"What kind of magic tool is that?"
Clare stared at the flying saucer while replying:
"Who knows? There are all kinds of things going on in Forgotten Peril."
They were at least glad that the new comer was probably a Magician, which means that he, or she should not bother them. Syrus and Clare expected the flying saucer to fly away from the area quickly, but contrary to their expectations, the flying saucer stopped moving thirty meters above them, and floated in midair. Following that, someone seemed to get out of the flying saucer and float down towards them.
The two Magicians looked on as well as used their scouting methods in response. What they saw was a brown-skinned man wearing a blue silk polo shirt, a pair of dark-blue jeans pants, and a pair of black combat boots coming towards them. The man had short, snow-white hair, and spiraling blue eyes.
Syrus and Clare were a little caught off guard by the man's appearance since Magicians usually wore a magician's robe in the field, but they were even more caught off guard by the magic energy they felt the man emitting. As the white-haired man approached them, the quality of his magic energy became even more apparent.
Syrus secretly spoke to Clare using a simple rank 2 magic spell, so that the man could not observe their conversation:
(This man is a rank 3 Magician. He should be at the initial stage, but his magic energy does not feel normal. Keep your guard up. If he shows even the slightest hostility, use all your might to repel him.)
Clare used the same rank 2 spell to reply to Syrus:
(Same goes for you. It looks like he has some business with us. Don't do anything rash.)
A few seconds later, Nick used Saturn's power to land safely on the ground, about six meters from Clare's and Syrus' immediate front. He kept Tyrant Sense and Spatial Awareness active to reduce the risk of being ambushed while being outside of Space Craft.
(It's a good thing that I had Space Craft refueled with rank 2, and rank 3 magic beast souls before I came back to Forgotten Peril. It was a huge expense, but nothing beats traveling out in the wilderness in comfort. I should be able to get some information about where I am from these two…)
Nick had never intended to keep his rank 3, intermediate grade, space path, and soul path magic formation, Space Craft, idle. It was just that he had never needed it until now. It was a lot safer to travel in the unknown wilderness using the magic formation, and Nick did not take that for granted.
From a distance, he indifferently spoke to Clare and Syrus:
"Hello, my name is Nick Capitol. Sorry to bother you, but I'm a little lost. Could you tell me what region we are currently in?"
Syrus and Clare looked at each other for a few moments while discussing:
(Oh, so he just wants directions. That's easy.)
(Hold on, Clare. Don't just give intel away for free. That magic tool he has floating up there seems interesting. We should get him to reveal its details in exchange for our information.)
(Ahhh…is that necessary? What if he gets offended by you doing that, Syrus?)
(Every Magician knows that there is no free lunch in this world. I only want a bit of information on the magic tool. I have never seen anything like it, you know.)
Clare was not so sure that what Syrus proposed was such a good idea, but since both of them were very strong, she did not think that Syrus' curiosity would do much harm:
(At most, Nick Capitol can only curse at us a little. If he tries to force us, he will be in for a big surprise.)
Syrus spoke without any pleasantries:
"We don't mind giving you the information that you want, but you will have to tell us about your flying magic tool in exchange. We have never seen anything like it."
Nick remained silent for a while in response to Syrus' demand, thinking:
(Since when was there quid pro quo when asking for directions. Is this guy for real? Hell no.)
Nick soon replied to Syrus:
"I see…then I will have to refuse. I will get the information from someone else."
Nick did not intend to reveal any details about Space Craft since he intended to use it long term.
(If I did so, and later that resulted in me being disadvantaged, who would I cry to, then?)
Nick was about to leave when Syrus spoke to him using a more demanding tone:
"Look, it's just a magic tool, right? What's the big deal. I'll tell you what, I won't ask you for compensation for taking up our time if you just give me some details."
Clare was a little surprised by Syrus' insistence, and reminded him:
(Syrus, what are you doing? Him not wanting to reveal details about his magic tool is natural.)
(Clare, c'mon. Don't you find it weird that he doesn't want to give any details at all. We didn't even set the standard that high. That must mean that the magic tool is very valuable. You know how things are out here - might makes right. We should just take the magic tool from him. There are two of us, after all.)
(...)
Clare was seeing Syrus in a new light, but she did not think that it was appropriate for her to try, and stop him, in fact, she might have to help him with his greed:
(Syrus is sure to be promoted within the company soon. If I offend him, that will hurt my chances of being promoted later. Sigh, circumstances are more powerful than men…)
Nick recognized Syrus' tone, and words for what they meant, and he was not pleased. Seeing that Nick stayed Silent, Syrus wanted to continue to urge him:
"Just…"
Before Syrus could finish his words, a cloud of black miasma emerged from Nick, and crossed the six meters between them in milliseconds, engulfing Syrus alone. Before Syrus, or Clare could react, Nick acted:
(Cursed Vessel.)
Following the activation of Nick's talent, the black miasma engulfing Syrus transformed into a red-blue aura. Syrus noticed the change in the situation quickly, but before he could counter, a beastly roar resounded, and his movements halted as a result. That momentary lapse gave Nick the opportunity he needed to use the power of Cursed Vessel further.
Without suspense, the red-blue aura, and Syrus suddenly vanished, leaving Nick, and Clare alone within the immediate area. Clare reflexively screamed because of her shock due to what she had just witnessed:
"Syrus!"
She pointed her right palm at Nick, and was about to cast one of her spells at him, but Nick spoke first to ease her fears:
"Don't be so hasty. I did not harm him, I only sent him away so that we could talk alone."
While saying that, he thought:
(Tyrant Sense has a one-hundred-meter-radius area of effect, but Spatial Awareness' area of effect can span kilometers. All I had to do was make use of one of the distant images that my talent fed me to have the red-blue aura send that idiot away by a few kilometers. Now that I think about it, Tyrant Domain's power can teleport people over long distances, but it requires way more magic energy, and focus to do so. Not to mention that the man would have had sufficient time to resist the spell.
I was able to get the drop on him because magic energy that has not been transformed to magic power through a spell's manipulation crosses distances dozens of times faster than magic power. Faster than that man could have reacted to what I did. In a fast paced battle, that fact isn't obvious, or useful, but it sure helped me today.)
**************************************************
Syrus reappeared, standing on the ground of a rocky badlands a few kilometers away from where he had confronted Nick. Realizing where his exact location was, Syrus cursed:
"What the shiz-nit is this? How did he send me here so fast? What was that damn sound that froze me in place? Crap! Clare!"
(Harsh Strength In Steps)
Overwhelming strength instantly filled Syrus' lower body as he accelerated, and began to run towards his previous location at the speed of over two hundred kilometers per hour.
******************************************************
Nick continued to speak to Clare:
"Your friend should be back here in about one minute if he is even a half-decent rank 3 Magician. I am willing to ignore what he just did if you give me the information that I want, right now. Trust me, you do not want to have a battle with me. You two might not survive it."
Nick spoke honestly, mostly because he was in a rush to get back to his cultivation. Clare gritted her teeth for a few seconds in response to Nick's words before she lowered her right palm, thinking:
(The magic power that he revealed was just too weird. If what he says is true, he sent a Magician of the same calibre as himself kilometers away with one move. It's best if I don't have to fight him. I still have a future I need to be concerned with.)
Clare spoke using a cold tone:
"We are in the Kendal Plains within the Rot Oak region."
Nick nodded his head once, and then said:
"Thank you."
He was being polite because the woman was a rank 3 Magician, and she hadn't messed up yet.
(A person that has the good sense to know when to back down deserves at least the bare minimum respect.)
Nick then manipulated Tyrant Sense's power to raise him towards Space Craft. Just as he was doing so, Syrus reappeared on the plain, and soon stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Clare again. He asked her:
"What happened?"
Clare coldly responded:
"I gave him our current location. He's now leaving. I told you that this could have been easy."
Syrus awkwardly rubbed the back of his head using his right hand in response to Clare's cold tone and words. He soon glared at Nick who was now re-entering Space Craft. Syrus wanted to give Nick a few tight slaps as revenge for embarrassing him, but thinking clearly about Nick's power, he decided against attempting such actions.
Without any trouble, Nick re-entered Space Craft, and made it speed off in the eastern direction.
(Once I know what region I am in, charting the way to Sidon is fairly easy. With the plateau gone, I can only use the space magic formation in my house there to get back to my building, but first, I have a few more things to do.)
Nick did not have any projection stones linked to his house in Sidon at the moment, so he was forced to fly to the settlement. Using Space Craft's high speed, and information from the map that Nick had already memorized, he reached near Sidon from Rot Oak in four days after non-stop flying.
When Nick reached within five hundred meters of the settlement, he exited Space Craft, and stored it within one of his space bands before using Saturn's power to fly to the settlement at low altitude. The guards at the entrance of Sidon did not even try to stop Nick to have him pay the entrance fee when they sensed that he was a rank 3 Magician.
Nick went past the gates, and flew to his house without interference. When he got there, he sat in one of the chairs on the ground floor to decide his next move:
(Because of the experiences gained from my dream state research, I think I have enough human capital to attempt to rise to rank 3 middle stage. My magic holding capacity is definitely satisfactory for such an attempt, and my attainments levels are more than appropriate…)
Typically, what prevented rank 3 initial stage Magicians from rising to rank 3 middle stage was their lack of field experience, their magic holding capacity depending on the grade of their mindscape, their attainment level, or just the general quality of their magic energy. The attainment level was not as important as the others, but having high attainment couldn't hurt. Nick's concern was:
(...Is the quality of my magic energy high enough for the advancement. At this point, attempting to enhance my foundation laws using magic energy that doesn't meet the required standards is likely to get me in trouble…)
It's not that Nick didn't think that the quality of his magic energy was high:
(My magic energy is high quality for sure, but I have a special grade mindscape. The quality requirements might be much higher for me. How do I make sure that my magic energy quality is high enough?)
After thinking for a few hours, and even remembering the various events that he had been through within the dream states, Nick eventually came up with a solution:
(More years of meditation would be the typical solution, but I am not a typical Magician, and since I don't know how high the quality of my magic energy needs to be to get to rank 3 middle stage, I could be looking at decades of delay if I depend only on meditation.
Because of one of the dream states, I learned a method to increase the quality of magic energy qualitatively at rank 3 by an incredible amount, but this method can be considered suicide...)
Nick contemplated for a few more hours before he sighed, but steeled his resolve:
(...I need to siphon all the magic energy of a living rank 4 magic beast, and use it to nourish my mindscape. The magic beast also has to belong to a path of one of my highest affinities, and cannot be physically ill, or crippled.
In one of my dream states, a rank 6 mad hatter was able to do this to a rank 7 star devil, and grow in power immensely, but the mad hatter suffered from magic energy corruption, and died a few days later. Also, the mad hatter was only able to siphon off magic energy from the star devil because the star devil gave it permission to do so. Magic beasts at the regular ranks have mindscapes, so they are not an incompatible model for my plan.
I can even solve the magic corruption problem by using a magic formation to properly process, and purify the foreign magic energy. The problem is that I am not so sure that I can suppress a live rank 4 magic beast long enough to siphon its power. Actually, it's probably impossible…)
Nick then thought about how he defeated the jade-green wyvern in the past by destroying its soul, and that caused the fire of his ambitions to burn even more brightly within him:
(I am a soul path scholar, I can do anything…but I need a rare material, and some preparation.)
Nick rubbed his temple using his right hand for a while because of the inconvenience of the method:
(The mad hatter made use of a magic material called hope marrow to create a paste that allowed it to effectively siphon all the star devil's magic energy. I happen to have read about that magic material in passing, and so I know that only one accessible realm has it. That realm's access rights belong to the Magicians Association, is frequented by Regular Magicians, and is home to magic beasts of the regular ranks. The realm's name is Hearth Core.)
Nick sighed a few more times before further contemplation:
(It's not that rank 3 Magicians aren't allowed to enter Hearth Core, after all, since the realms access rights are solely owned by the Magicians Association, there is supposed to be nonaggression between its members while they explore it. This nonaggression is said to be strictly enforced, but I hardly have faith in such promises.
In any case, the bigger issue is how to get past the high ranking magic beasts, so that I can obtain the hope marrow. I can only think of a way after going to the Magicians Association personally and, asking questions.)
Nick decided that there were still some things that he had to do first:
(I need to make adjustments to my methods…)
He had been using the same methods for years now, and he was concerned that his increased knowledge, and experience justified an increase in their standard.
(That's natural. My spells are far from perfect, and my combat system is still filled with holes. I can afford to make adjustments at this time. If I do end up going to Hearth Core, I will need stronger methods, anyway. Bianca should be done with crafting my new magic tool if I remain in Forgotten Peril for another year. That gives me enough time…)
Nick immediately closed his eyes, and began meditating. Once his consciousness entered his mindscape he started thinking about how to improve his current arsenal of spells.
Like this, one year passed…
One morning, Nick got up from his chair, and looked at the notes about the enhanced methods that he had developed. He had typed all his notes into his tablet computer.
_________________________________________________________
Dragon Armor -> a rank 3, advanced grade, soul path, and rule path spell that manifests an adjustable, magical, defensive layer over the caster's body which has qualities dependent on the caster's soul. The defensive layer is rich with the power of soul path, and so the magic power within the caster's soul can be mobilized into it at will to adjust its defensive or secondary offensive properties. The defensive layer is also rich with the power of rule path, which gives it extreme resistance to magic attacks that the caster has never been afflicted with. The armor can persist passively, and can be hidden or manifested at will so long as this spell is active. The base cost of activation is 14,000 magical units, and 300 magical units per second thereafter to maintain it indefinitely in its active form.
Dragon Form -> a rank 3, advanced grade, blade path, and rule path spell that increases the speed and agility of arm and hand movements while holding a bladed weapon in proportion to the concentration of the caster's magic energy within or flowing over the body, or weapon; the increase is capped at seven times the caster's speed and agility without the use of this spell. The base cutting ability of the caster's bladed weapons are increased by four times when this spell is active, and continues to increase in proportion to the direct harm they cause a living target. This spell can remain active indefinitely, and requires 15,000 magical units to activate as well as 600 magical units every second thereafter to maintain.
Dragon Hold -> a rank 3, advanced grade, space path, blade path, and rule path spell that creates an adjustable special space with the caster at the center, and that can be maintained indefinitely. The caster is able to produce, or enhance blade light at will using bladed weapons. Magic power inferior to the quality of the caster's own magic power will be suppressed based on that difference in quality while within the area of effect of this spell. The caster is able to move through the affected space freely, and manipulate incredible forces for the duration of the spell. This spell requires 10,000 magical units to activate, or more depending on the size of its intended area of effect, and 500 magical units every second thereafter to maintain, or more depending on the size of its intended area of effect.
Dragon Specter -> a rank 3, advanced grade, soul path, rule path and blade path spell, that creates a minor split soul using the caster's own soul, which becomes a specter that binds to the target's soul. The specter causes the target to experience false realities that imprints blade path, and rule path laws onto the target's soul with each false reality experienced; the laws imprinted to the soul may have degenerative effects on the target's soul. This spell is self-perpetuated by the magic power within the minor split soul and lasts until that magic power is depleted, or the minor split soul is destroyed. This spell requires 40,000 magical units to activate.
Dragon Recovery -> a rank 3, intermediate grade, soul path, and rule path spell, that heals the caster of physical injuries in proportion to the quality and health of the caster's own soul. Foreign magic energy lingering within injuries is broken down to repair damage done to the caster's soul. This spell can be maintained until all injuries have been remedied and has a base activation cost of 22,000 magical units, and 1200 magical units every second thereafter to be maintained; the activation and maintenance cost may be more depending on the severity of the injury.
Seeker Instinct -> a rank 3, intermediate grade, space path, soul path, and rule path spell, that allows the caster to instantly force their body into an artificial, adjacent space. While within that adjacent space, the caster's physical projection can pass through ordinary, or magical objects. While this spell is active, the space within sixty meters of the caster is extremely perceptible to him. This spell has a base cost of activation of approximately 10,000 magical units, and 200 magical units every second thereafter to be maintained. If the caster's body is forcefully ejected from the adjacent space because of a lack of magic energy, the caster will face severe backlash.
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Nick read over his notes with satisfaction before storing his tablet computer into one of his space bands, and then declared aloud:
"It's time to return to Grand Earth."