Leveling up the World

Was that the major difference between magic and the Star’s skills? All this time, Dallion thought the major part of it was the introduction of technology. It seemed that if that had been a concern, it was only a minor one. Artifacts of past ages still existed in the world. If they were so dangerous the Moons would have destroyed them, or at the very least had the Order do it for them. No, it was the void that presented the real danger—the ability to create something out of something else.

Nil, is that true? Dallion asked.

It’s difficult to say, the echo sighed. The Order seems to think so, along with a small number of mages. Most just have a good sense not to meddle with anything Star-related given the past history of events.

I’ve been doing it all this time, Dallion thought.

Ever since the day he had saved the crackling cub back in the domain of the well, he had been meddling in void abilities. They hadn’t seemed evil. One could say that they were even good—they had helped him unseal the powers of his mother, not to mention they had helped him in the initial battle against the Star itself. There was no way they could be evil. And if they were, that would mean using Lux’s healing ability had been the equivalent of vampirism?

Look out! A chorus of voices yelled in Dallion’s domain, all of them belonging to Harp.

The shout caused Dallion to react, breaking through the crippling doubt. It was like jumping through a thin layer of glass. For the slightest of instants, Dallion was able to see the spell fragments glitter in the void. In a way, it was like music, only instead of threads, he had been captured in a small box of emotions. That explained why Aether had been so talkative.

Beyond the depression spell, Dallion could see the elements of a far larger one, shooting rays of purple light straight at him. A few fractions of a second before they hit him, he managed to split into instances, moving away. It was that action that, in effect, saved him from being thrown out of the realm, though not without a price.

SHOCK EFFECT

Your movement has been reduced by 10% for two minutes

Attack effectiveness has been reduced by 50% for two minutes

Two minutes… as March used to say, in combat, that was the same as remaining in effect permanently. The aetherbird had outplayed him, using quite an intricate method. Even now, Dallion couldn’t be certain whether the spell had started in the realm or back when he’d met Aether for the first time. He wouldn’t be surprised if it had occurred while observing the memory fragment. By all accounts, the fight seemed lost. Dallion had nothing left but to accept the result and hope someone else would be able to stop the creature from acting. However, he didn’t. Having the depression spell removed felt like having a mountain off his chest. The only time he had felt anything remotely similar was back in his village, after destroying the limiting echo hidden within his realm. For the brief period that followed, Dallion felt he could achieve anything. Now he was going through the same, only on overdrive.

“Nox!” he shouted as he summoned his hammer.

Twisting in the air, he weaved it in the direction of Aether. The aetherbird quickly changed location, appearing ten feet from the direction the hammer was flying. Even with Onda curving slightly, there was no way it would hit its target. That was never the goal. As the hammer passed by, Nox leapt at the aetherbird, claws extended. The proximity to the Moon’s familiar, made the crackling let off smoke, receiving a low dose of constant damage as it got near. The consequences of it classing with magic was going to cause substantial damage, though the same could be said for the aetherbird as well. The artifact Dallion had used to match everything to his level had done so, working in both directions: beings that were vastly more powerful than Dallion were capped to his level, while anyone weaker was boosted to up to level seventy. It didn’t work on common guardians—Dallion’s clothes and gear had remained unchanged—but it clearly had affected familiars. Dallion had suspected that ever since he felt the speed at which Lux had restored his health. Now, he had played his trump card.

A torrent of feathers flew towards the growing form of Nox. Like a hail of flaming bullets, they struck him, disappearing like pebbles in a swamp. Dozens of purple rectangles appeared, marking that the crackling was receiving minor damage, though by no means enough to stop him from flying forward. Looking at it, an observer would be hard pressed to say who would win the confrontation. The aetherbird had far more abilities and experience, but Nox had a lot more health to start with. Dallion didn’t wait to find out.

Lux, boost me, he ordered.

Taking advantage of the aetherbird’s hesitation, he thrust right at it.

Spark! he thought, letting go of the aethersword.

A faint white glow covered his right hand, barely visible beneath the blue flames. A split second later, he struck, grabbing Aether’s right eye. It felt weird, like grabbing a piece of candy in the middle of a bowl of jelly. Sensing it touch the palm of his hand, Dallion tightened his grip, unwilling to let the fragment go.

REALM INVADED

The realm of AETHER is now your domain.

The purple message emerged. Moments later, the massive form of Lux crashed into Dallion, quickly entering his realm. A low hiss suggested that the whole experience was painful.

REALM CONQUEROR

(+5 Mind)

Conquering realms is not encouraged, even if your skills are acknowledged. You can do better!

You alright, Nox? Dallion asked, waking the rectangle away.

It hurts, the crackling replied.

Dallion could only imagine what it must have been like to go through fire just for the sake of a single attack, not to mention all the magic feathers hitting him.

Will you heal? There was a slight pause. Without killing anything?

I’ll try… it’ll take a long while.

Thanks. Hang in there.

That was another familiar Dallion wouldn’t be able to use for a while.

A meadow appeared beneath Dallion. It extended into the distance like a painting being formed, creating bushes, trees, mountains, even the sky itself. Sensing its new owner, the realm adjusted accordingly.

“It won’t make a difference,” an aetherbird landed a few feet from Dallion. “You’re just delaying the inevitable.”

Dallion stared at the creature in horror. Arms still shaking, he summoned his harpsisword.

“Easy, you’ve already won,” the aetherbird said, with slight annoyance. “Haven’t you learned?”

“You’re an afterimage,” Dallion said, but didn’t lower his weapon. “Magical afterimage.”

The image was something that didn’t exist. In a few minutes, another rectangle would appear and the bird would vanish in a cloud of glowing particles. Until then, it would remain here, chatting as if nothing had happened. The tricky part was that it could also fight back. Dallion wasn’t sure whether ejecting someone who had conquered its domain wouldn’t create a paradox, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance.

“What won’t make a difference?” Dallion pressed on.

“The world, you, anything. Even if you cage me again, I won’t stay trapped for long. And having your familiars use moderation won’t change the fact that you’re using void abilities. The Star used the same trick at first—walking the line. Since it was devices that used the power of the void, and not the people themselves, there wasn’t much the Moons could do. It was inevitable they’d cross the line. It just took them a few centuries.” Aether flew to the other side of Dallion, still keeping his distance. “The same will happen to you. A pity, but it always goes that way.”

You’re wrong, Dallion thought. After this was over, he’d go to the closest shrine of the Order and have a discussion with his Moon. Everything was going to be fine. All he had to do was not let himself get provoked.

“You grabbed the brain,” Aether said. “Why?”

“Luck.” Dallion lied.

“No, you deliberately aimed for that.”

A loud band sounded, causing the aetherbird to explode in a cloud of feathers. Dallion leapt to his feet, but another blast followed, hitting him in the leg.

CRITICAL WOUND

Your health has been decreased by 50%

Pain shot throughout his body, causing him to drop his weapon. Lux managed to lift Dallion up in the sky, but there was no point. Dallion was almost out of stamina. Even if Lux restored the lost health almost instantly, he could barely make a normal attack, let alone anything requiring spark.

“He did it because he’s an idiot.”

Arthurows descended from the sky. He appeared in a state far worse than Dallion. Half of his lower body was severed, replaced by every shifting black good. Given the amount of smoke that rose from it, this was a temporary measure quickly hatched up at the spur of the moment.

“Double-barrel shotgun.” The left corner of the Star’s mouth curved up in a nasty smirk. “One hit is all it takes. And you’re in no state for splitting.”

Calmly, the Star floated down to the ground. Bending down, he picked up a handful of feathers from the ground. Purple flames emerged, burning his fingers, but Arthurows didn’t seem to care.

“You had to go for the brain,” he shook his head. “The heart would have been enough. You’d have had what you wanted, enough to persuade the stupid countess to keep her promise. But no, you had to go for the skill. Annoying, but no huge loss. In fact, I suspected you might pull this off.”

Blue flames propelled Dallion away from the Star, but hardly had he passed five feet, when another shot echoed, bringing his health to ten percent.

“Don’t run,” The Star said calmly. “I won’t kill you. I still need you to give me what you’ve taken. Just give it now. You know you’ll do it sooner or later. You’ve no idea how much pain I could inflict. Since we’re both from Earth, I’d want to avoid that.”

Boss, what do I do? Lux asked.

There was nothing he could do. The Star had the ability to fly, and even if he wasn’t as fast as the firebird, he was going to catch up, eventually. Gritting his teeth, Dallion tried to leave the realm.

REALM INVASION IN PROGRESS

If you leave, you’ll lose all dominion over Aether’s realm.

Do you want to proceed?

A purple rectangle appeared.

“That also works,” the Star said. “You’re not the only one who could invade a realm. Nice trick, isn’t it? I was dying to tell you, but those pesky Moon rules. Don’t you just hate them? Being only able to tell people who already know is the same as not telling them at all.”

Dallion closed his eyes, desperately thinking of a way to get out of this. He didn’t have the strength for another fight. The Star was in pretty bad shape as well, though still immeasurably better. Escape wasn’t an option, either… not unless he wanted the realm to fall in Arthurows’ hands.

“Offer still stands, by the way.” The Star taunted him. “Just give me the thing you’re holding and I’ll owe you one. You can have everything you’ve dreamed about. I’ll even give you the spellcraft gem once I’m done with it. Sounds like a win-win to me.”

In Dallion’s experience, whenever someone said that a thing was win-win, it usually meant that the win was for the one proposing the idea. Everyone else got a little less, and occasionally nothing at all.

“Want to take your time?” the Star asked. “Sure. I’ll wait. It’s not like time matters here.”

Dallion gritted his teeth. The Star was toying with. In a direct encounter, it was clear who would win. The only thing left to do was to find a way to deprive both sides of victory.

“Pondering my demise?” The Star laughed. “Good. Everyone deserves a hobby. I’ll—”

“No,” a voice said, a voice composed of multiple sounds merging to form words.

A nymph in full battle armor had appeared on the ground, holding a harpsisword—Dallion’s harpsisword.

“He doesn’t have to,” she said, leaping into the air in the direction of the Star.