Leveling up the World

The AETHERIZER is level 0 of 3

You are at the START of the AETHERIZER’s first level.

Unseal all levels to fulfill the AETHERIZER’s destiny.

Two purple rectangles glowed in an oval chamber surrounded by Roman columns. The ground was of polished mosaic with lines of magic going in all directions like raw electric currents.

A sphere item, Dallion thought. It almost made him feel nostalgic.

The other good news was that he had returned to being his usual self. While the seal was still on him, glowing like a purple brand, it only remained in effect within certain areas of the Academy, and an item’s awakening realm was clearly considered not to be the Academy proper.

What have you done? Nil asked, his voice trembling in anger to the point that he was having difficulty talking.

“I took the next logical step. Since I couldn’t affect the item in the real world, I thought that—”

Didn’t I tell you that magic is different?! You don’t just enter magic items!

Dallion didn’t see what the big deal was. Just to make sure, he split into instances and looked about using his music vision, then his layer magic vision. There were no creatures to be seen, and certainly no guardians.

Lines of magic continued from the spot beneath him towards the only exit in the chamber. Beyond it, only darkness was visible.

“It’s a sphere item, Nil,” Dallion said as his firebird familiar appeared, surrounding him in blue flames. “It’s not the first time I’ve leveled up one of those. It won’t be the first time I fight a magic guardian, either.”

Dear boy, there is no doubt that you have grown a lot since you left your home village. However, you still have the annoying habit of—

“I have the ability to leave the item at any point I want. Besides, with the seal having no effect here, I’m back to my normal self and can even use magic if I want. Lastly, if things go sideways, I can use spark attacks.”

For over ten seconds, the old echo didn’t respond.

I see you’ve given this some thought.

“Who do you take me for? Some country bumpkin? It’s been a millennium since I made those mistakes. If I didn’t think I could do this, I wouldn’t have tried it.”

Of course, Dallion chose not to admit that he had taken the wrong approach. Hearing Nil’s reaction he knew that this was not the correct way to consume magic, at now that he was here, he was curious to see what he’d find within the artifact’s realm, not to mention what it would transform into once he fulfilled its destiny.

This isn’t something you should meddle with, the echo insisted. Not yet, in any event.

“Why?”

I’ve said all I’m willing to say.

“Nil, all this time, I never noticed how dramatic you really are.”

Very funny. Don’t expect me to jump it if you get in trouble.

“Petty much?”

It has nothing to do with pettiness. You are dealing with magic. Aside from not being bestowed with all the information of my original, there’s nothing I can tell you until you learn it. And given that you don’t even know how to consume mana to increase your level, that means I’m not able to provide you with any useful information.

“Point taken.” Dallion summoned his harpsisword, then split into a dozen instances.

Stepping through the archway revealed the first level of the sphere item’s realm. Dallion expected it to be a corridor, a cave, or even a maze of sorts. As it turned out, he was both right and wrong. An octagonal tunnel continued forward as far as the eye could see. The only reason it did was because the end was blocked by a giant mirror. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only one. Hundreds of other mirrors were placed on the floor, walls, and reflecting each at different angles, effectively creating a three-dimensional maze in a one-dimensional space. The concept would have been genius if it wasn’t for the glimmering shapes that occasionally made an appearance.

Magic creatures, Dallion thought.

“Nil, if I asked you whether I can walk into a mirror, what would you tell me?”

That it’s beyond my ability to respond, the echo replied.

“Thank you, Nil.”

Using one of his instances, Dallion moved to the nearest mirror on the wall and placed his hand on it. The mirror was cold and solid. Forcing his way in would likely only result in it shattering.

Purple markers filled the area like small dots in a coloring book.

SPELLCRAFT skills activated.

Follow the suggested parkers for best efficiency

That was all well and good, except that they made no sense whatsoever. To a certain degree, the markers shared the principle of forging, only instead of folding an object from the outside, Dallion was asked to fold reality itself around him.

“There’s no way this is magic,” he said, looking at the hundreds of dots. Some were inches away, while others were on the other side of the tunnel; and judging by the numbers, the sequence didn’t seem to take distance into effect.

That’s not magic, it’s spellcraft. There’s a major difference.

“So, I have to use spellcraft to level up the item?”

You don’t have to do anything, dear boy. You can always just give up.

Thinking back, it had taken Dallion months before he learned to use his forging skills. This seemed quite similar. He could have a go and see what happened, but given the vastness of the task, he decided to try something else instead—something he had actually learned.

Placing his right hand on the mirror, Dallion concentrated. The magic within him flowed through, sprouting on the other side as a flower. Then—to his great shock—it continued forward, forming a stick figure version of him. Two realities opened to him: one in the corridor and the one in the mirror. It was like maintaining two instances, only a lot longer and more intense.

Taking a few steps forward, Dallion looked around in his stick figure. A thread of magic continued to connect it through the mirror to his actual body. All actions were a fraction of a second slower, as if he were controlling something by remote control. A few seconds of moving around, though, and he got the hang of it. The only major drawback was that he didn’t have the ability to summon weapons with his “magic projection.”

Okay, so I’m in a maze, he told himself. Does that mean I must find an exit?

The projection continued forward. Not after long, it reached another mirror. This time, Dallion didn’t have to create a projection of the projection. The magic wire-frame just walked through the second “mirror” as if it were a normal door. He was just about to look around in the new section of the maze when a purple silhouette of a fox emerged in front of him.

COMBAT INITIATED

A massive mouth appeared throughout the creature, almost tearing the silhouette in two, then bit into the projection’s waist.

MINOR WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 5%

One of Dallion’s realities collapsed, bringing him back into the tunnel of mirrors. Instinctively he burst into instances, ready to strike the creature that had attacked him, yet there was no trace of it. The most he could see was a twinkle pass through several mirrors then vanish altogether.

“Is this one of those things you can’t tell me about?” Dallion asked, with three instances watching his back. The creature had come way too fast and attacked without warning. In the past, there was always a pause between the combat notification rectangle and the actual attack. With this creature, things were simultaneous.

Sorry. You’re all on your own.

Several minutes passed and the creature remained nowhere to be seen. By then Lux has already managed to restore Dallion’s health, bringing him back to a hundred percent.

Taking a deep breath, Dallion focused his magic on the mirror once more. As before, a magic projection emerged, making its way down the mirrored corridor. When it reached the next mirror, Dallion tried to create a new instance, yet that only worked for the physical him; he was going to have to rely on his other traits to get through this one.

Acrobatics, he thought and leapt through the next mirror frame.

There was no sign of the fox. Dallion looked around, both with his projection as well as his physical self. Suddenly, there was a purple blink in one of the mirrors. He couldn’t be certain where the creature was going, but just in case, he had his projection do a three-sixty spin along with a high kick.

MINOR STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 10%

The silhouette appeared in front of his projection only to be slammed in the neck, then thrown out of the corridor and the mirror itself.

        AETHERIZER LEVEL 1 GUARDIAN

        Species: VIXENAIR

        Class: MAGIC

        Health: 30%

        Traits:

        - BODY 20

        - MIND 20

        - REACTION 50

        - PERCEPTION 20

        - MAGIC 20

        Skills:

        - ATTACK

        - ATHLETICS

        - SPELLCRAFT

        - SUBLIMATION (Species Unique)

        Weakness: UNKNOWN

“Vixenair?” Dallion wondered.

For some reason, it reminded him of Jiroh’s cloud pet, only made of magic. For a while, he almost felt guilty of kicking it, though not enough to let it go. Dropping his projection, he drew his harpsisword and dashed towards the creature.

Seeing him, the vixenair transformed into purple mist, letting the harpsisword slash through without dealing any damage. Immediately after, it darted to the mirror in the ceiling, disappearing again.

“No, you don’t!” Dallion split into instances, pressing his arm on half a dozen mirrors.

He was perfectly aware that he wouldn’t be able to maintain the effect for more than a few seconds, but that was enough time to determine the path the guardian had taken. The moment he did, he let all other instances fade away and continued chasing the fox.

Good thing it doesn’t know more tricks, he thought.

If the guardian was any stronger, it would—

Small footprints remained after the vixenair as it ran. Initially, Dallion hadn’t given it much thought. But thanks to his perception, he soon noticed that the footprints were, in fact, shaped like symbols. Furthermore, lines emerged between several of them, creating an intricate pattern.

“Damn it!” Dallion pulled his hand away from the mirror. His projection vanished, just before the entire “maze” within the mirror world became filled with a series of bouncing lightning bolts. Worse, each time a bolt hit a surface, it split into two.

Layer vision, Dallion leapt forward, tapping the side of his harpsisword against his boot. A split second later, the white glow of a spark lit up the weapon.

There were very few things that could withstand a direct hit from lightning. When it came to magic, however, there were a few things more and a spike infused weapon was one of them.

Spinning around, Dallion struck the lightning bolts surrounding him before they could make contact. The moment they made contact with the harpsisword, causing them to crumble like broken icicles.

For what seemed like minutes, Dallion kept on swinging the harpsisword, like a warrior trying to slice every raindrop in the pouring rain. The impressive thing was that he actually managed. By the time he landed on the floor, all the lightning bolts had gone.

RAIN CUTTER

(+2 Reaction)

Only a master can cut a thousand drops of rain during a storm. If only you were smart enough to avoid the storm to begin with.

A blue rectangle emerged. Normally, that would be a good sign. In the current situation, though, it was only a temporary reprieve. The guardian was still out there, and meaning business.

Well done, dear boy. You almost fight like a war cleric.

“Clerics never did anything like this.” Dallion jumped to his feet, splitting into half a dozen instances.

On the contrary. You just haven’t been able to see it.

“If I can’t see magic, how can they?”

There are certain gifts that come with serving the Moons. Better focus on the vixenair for now, though. That is, unless you’re considering giving up.