Leveling up the World

MODERATE WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 20%

MAJOR HEAL

Your health has been increased by 50%

Instances and red rectangles were everywhere, coming in and out of existence. The fight was significantly less lethal than it had been minutes ago, although not by as much as Dallion would have liked. While minor scrapes were inconsequential, now that Lux was here, there were still too many cases of the Star killing off a dozen of his instances in a single shot. The real game changer had been the general’s artifact. If Dallion was ever welcome back to Nerosal, he was going to inquire more on the topic. That was, assuming he managed to survive this.

You’re doing well, Nil said encouragingly. Pace yourself and keep your focus. Everything else will follow naturally.

It was useful advice, Dallion couldn’t appreciate it. The only thing he could focus on was not getting himself killed, while simultaneously chipping away at the Star. Unfortunately, it wasn’t obvious how to do that.

Even with his abilities capped, the Star seemed to have an endless supply of void matter. Spark attacks and Lux’s healing flames were able to evaporate anything they came in contact with, though little more. Chainlings would frequently emerge from Arthurows, going off on attacks of their own. On a few occasions, even flocks of crackling crows would emerge, forcing Dallion to resort to line attacks.

“Here’s one for you, Nox.” Dallion spun in the air in one of his instances. Keeping the armadil shield between him and the chainling, he then twisted, burying the knife in the being’s form.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

A bloodcurdling scream resounded, followed by a new blue rectangle.

NOX’s level has increased to 10.

That was good, although it would have been better if the familiar had gained an additional skill. When he first had started leveling up, Dallion was certain that each level would bring a new skill. Gleam had been insistent on it, constantly pestering Dallion to let her participate more in battle. As it turned out, familiar skills and levels weren’t connected.

“Split up!” Dallion ordered.

The dagger vanished from his hand, replaced by several dozen cublings that poured out of his body. Thanks to the general’s artifact, Nox had a provisional level of seventy-one until the end of the fight. That made him seven times stronger than normal, granting him the ability to create seventy-one copies of himself.

“Deal with the chainlings!”

Barely had Dallion said that, that a point attack blasted a dozen of his instances—along with several Noxes—into oblivion.

Red rectangles stacked up, indicating the damage the familiar had received. Each box represented the “death” of one Nox. The total amount was low, but it was a warning not to underestimate the Star.

Sprinting forward, Arthurows spun, his gunblades extended. With the speed of a multi-attack, the weapons struck Dallion’s shield, pushing him further back.

“Shield, Lux!” Dallion shouted as he pulled his left arm out of the shield’s straps.

Instantly, the armadil shield grew to six feet in diameter, after which Lux propelled it, along with Dallion, forward.

The attacks on the side of the Star continued, but even his strength wasn’t enough to withstand a projectile propelled by the equivalent of a shuttle engine. The Star’s attacks quickly stopped. A wall of void matter emerged in front of him, protecting Arthurows from the worst effects. Half a dozen feet before slamming into the wall, the void barrier curved, redirecting the shield to the side.

“Lux!” Dallion called out, unsummoning the shield, then summoning it back on his left arm.

Confused at the sudden change, the firebird regained its normal form, then instantaneously flew back onto Dallion, enveloping him once more.

“He really was from Earth,” Dallion whispered. Such ingenuity was only associated from otehrworlders from there. Simply copying wasn’t able to achieve such quick thinking where physics were concerned.

Harp, can you help me do a multi-line attack? Dallion asked.

You don’t have the strength for that, the nymph replied in her unnatural “voice.” You have to win without it.

Don’t overestimate me.

If you try what you’re thinking, you’ll lose. It’s as simple as that.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but Dallion felt she was right. Adrenaline could only keep him going for so long. It wasn’t only a matter of masking the pain and exhaustion. Some of Dallion’s muscles had gone numb. He’d gained enough experience as a hunter to continue with a few mental tricks and other workarounds, but it was a clear sign he was nearing his limits. Going out with a band would still be going out.

Don’t even say it, Dallion preempted Aether’s offer.

“No comments on my technique?” he asked, using his music skill to fill his words with doubt. “That’s unlike you. Does it mean that you’re feeling weak?”

“You’ve already lost,” the Star replied. “You just don’t know it.”

“Ouch. What happens now? Will my head explode?”

“Funny.” The Star took a few steps forward. “You still think you can use music on me? I can see the threads the moment you open your mouth.”

“Then why ask me to stop?” Dallion persisted. “If it can’t harm you, it’ll only make you stronger. Unless you aren’t as strong as you claim you are. Or is there a bit of Arthurows in there?”

While talking, Dallion scrambled to come up with a new plan of action. Exhausting the void matter clearly wasn’t working. Maybe it was better to focus on the remaining fleshy parts? Void matter could copy anything, except that which gave the instructions for it to copy—Arthorws’ head.

Any advice anyone can provide? Dallion asked within his realm.

I don’t believe I know anyone who’s faced a Star before, Nil sighed. Other than you, that is.

You know what I’d say, Aether chimed in, gleefully.

Keep up what you’re currently doing, Harp said. Strong opponents don’t distract.

That makes me the weak one. Dallion wasn’t sure whether he’d received a compliment from the harpsisword guardian or not.

Right now, you’re both weak. So don’t give up.

There was a time when Dallion would have hesitated upon receiving such advice. Ever since arriving to Nerosal, people had been telling him how reckless he is, and how that limited his advancement, putting him in needless danger. Being calm and calculating was clearly the right attitude in combat. However, that wasn’t the answer, either. If recklessness was a sword driving him forward, calculatedness was a shield holding him back. Driven to the extreme, both were harmful. Good fighters found a balance between the two. Since being good wasn’t going to be enough, Dallion decided to be reckless and calculating at the same time.

Two groups of instances charged at the Star once more. In one set, Dallion attacked aggressively, reacting purely on instinct; in the other, he took optimal approaches, taking everything in his current environment under account. Dealing with two different strategies wasn’t entirely new to him, but the contrast caused a dull pain to appear in his temples.

The Star didn’t remain idle, spawning a dozen more chainlings that went forward like a pack of rabid docks. They were a lot smaller than the ones before, but there was no mistake that they were real chainlings and not some lesser Star spawn.

Instances and beasts collided. In many, the chainlings devoured Dallion, killing his instance off with one bite. In several others, though, it was he who sliced through them like butter with a spark attack.

Soon enough, a handful of Noxes also joined in, all sinking their claws into one target. Being the same level, the beasts were more or less equal, and unlike standard fights, the one that defeated the other would have their health fully restored.

Screams filled the air. Six Noxes were impaled on spikes emerging from the chainling’s form. The remaining ones, though, managed to complete their attack, killing off the far larger creature. There was a large pop, but instead of void matter droplets, a new pack of instances burst out in all directions.

Focus on the void matter, Dallion told himself as he leaped straight at another creature.

The Star shot twice in his direction, but failed to kill off all the instances; the calculating ones had remained a safe distance away, holding the armadil shield in front. At the same time, they didn’t miss performing a spark point attack, killing off three chainlings and causing the Star to erect another void matter barrier to shield himself with.

Precisely then Dallion did something he hadn’t in a long while. As he once again split into instances, he also created an echo. Leaving Nox to deal with the chainlings, he concentrated on the Star. Two hundred instances and echoes descended upon their target, going over the void matter wall, around it, or outright cutting through with a vibrating spark infused harpsisword.

A sensation of fear streaked through the Star’s shell, breaking through the cracks of void. Always being the one to attack enemies with overwhelming numbers, he had trouble dealing with the experience himself. In an act of desperation, he resorted to combat shifting, bursting into a dozen instances of his own.

Got you! Dallion thought.

It had been a split-second moment of weakness, and Dallion mercilessly grasped it. The Star had been smart enough not to split during the majority of the fight. This was one ability in which Dallion exceeded him, especially now that their levels were equal. The moment he did, Arthurows realized his mistake, but it was already too late.

Both sides put all their effort into forcing the reality they wanted. The Star lost. One of his instances shot at nothing once more, while both Dallion and his echo thrust their harpsiswords into his body.

A protective shell of void matter quickly emerged. Considerably thinner than the ones before, it only partially stopped one of the attacks.

MINOR STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 10%

The Star smiled in relief. Despite everything, he had somehow managed to reduce the attack to a normal blow. It wasn’t at all comfortable, but at least he had survived.

“Wrong one,” Dallion said a fraction of a second later, as another blade ripped into him. This time, there was no protection. What was more, this was an actual spark attack, not an echo’s copy.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

“No!” Arthorws tried to should, the word emerging as a whisper.

The void barrier wrapping his emotions had all but vanished, letting Dallion see it all. Fear, hatred, regret, sorrow… dozens of negative emotions pulsed within him, like roots intertwined with one another. Those weren’t just spontaneous emotions, either, but ones that had been growing there for years, maybe even decades—they were Arthurows’ own emotions, bottled inside the void matter that—

TERMINAL WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 100%

A second red rectangle emerged. Dallion quickly pulled away. Splitting into instances, he checked every inch of his body, searching for an unexpected wound. None were to be seen. What was more, all the chainlings had evaporated as well.

“You always wanted a draw,” the Star choked as he spoke. Void matter was desperately trying to keep him together, but the final blow had proved too much. Like melting wax, trying to reconstruct itself, it struggled to maintain the support of his body, only to melt again. “You got it. The greatest draw there is—mutual destruction.”

STAR KILLER

(+5 Awakening, +5, Body, +5 Mind, +5 Reaction, +5 Perception, + 5 Empathy, +5 ???)

You’re among the very few that have managed to kill a Star. Pity you won’t be able to take advantage of this feat. Still, people will remember you fondly… perhaps.

Reality blinked again. Back in the real world, Dallion’s harpsisword continued through the Star’s blades, slicing through his head in a vertical chop. Simultaneously, he felt a momentary surge of pain in his stomach. A spike had emerged from the Star’s body, effectively impaling him on the spot.

“Crap,” Dallion whispered as both of them stumbled to the floor. “You really are a bastard…”