Leveling up the World

Chapter 724: Key Spell

Hairline cracks covered on one of the shardflies, followed by a grain of unease within it. The moment he saw it, Dallion reacted. Faster than lightning, three instances leapt at the target. Three blades struck it, all shattering the creature in two.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Damage dealt has been increased 1000%

The fragments of the defeated shardfly shifted color, switching to purple.

AETHER SHARDFLY has been defeated.

A purple rectangle emerged, confirming Dallion victory. He had gotten the right one. This had been expected; the guardian had been linked to the vortex cage, as any guardian was linked to its object, but still Dallion felt a weight fall off his shoulders.

The standard process followed. Within seconds, the vortex was drained into Dallion, leaving him and Ruby back into the warehouse room.

MAGIC ABSORBED

Your magic trait is now 20

You okay Nox? Dallion asked. A subtle meow indicated that the crackling puma was well enough. Ruby? Dallion turned to the shardfly.

Yep. Came the answer.

Thanks for the assist. I owe you.

Ruby didnt respond, flying back to his usual place. Only the slight decrease in the moodiness emanating from him indicated he was somewhat pleased.

The room shook again, lasting for a full five seconds. Whatever was happening on the outside was getting worse.

Dallion glanced at the vortex cages. There was enough magic to add ten news skills to each of his familiars, at least. In a matter of minutes, he would be able to boost Gem and Lux considerably and in turn gain an advantage in any upcoming fight.

You dont have to, Harp said. You have everything you need to win.

Are you sure? Dallion still hesitated. This was his only chance to access this much free magic.

Yes.

Dallion laughed. Once again, life was offering him a choice between what he needed and what he wanted. There was a time when he thought that being strong would give him the option to choose both. Now that he had close to twenty times the level since then, Dallion found that little had changed; only the stakes were higher.

Taking one moment to recite the names of the Moons, Dallion rushed out. New symbols had emerged on the walls of the administrative building, shining through the solid texture.

Nil, will the space distortion hold? Dallion leapt down the staircase.

There are enough constructs and artifacts to ensure that. Itll be easier to destroy the building itself, which is what I think theyre doing.

What about the other mages in the Academy? Dallion asked. Are politics so important that theyll sit by and watch?

Most definitely, but I fear you have larger worries. The echo paused. Go to the main admin building. The best exit is there.

He was an acquaintance. And yes, you made a lot of things possible. Nobles, ambitious mages, all of them were thrilled to take advantage of you, and I was thrilled to take advantage of them. Its how the world works. Only the very strong have the luxury of playing it straight, and often even they cant afford to. Just look at whats happening in Nerosal.

Did you cause that?

No. Nil shook his head. That mess was in its own making. If youd believe it, I tried to stop it early on. I knew that Countess Priscord was ambitious. I warned Ch??? about it, but the guild master ignored me, as did Archduke Linatol. They were convinced that the countess could be crushed at any point, and they were right until someone else stepped in to make a deal with her.

Alien, Dallion thought. It remained unclear what he had gotten from it, but it was quite convenient that a member of the imperial family had died during the Stars attack. Furthermore, no one had been punished, or nearly no one. The lord mayor of Nerasol had taken the blame and was quickly replaced by Countess Priscord, who doubled her direct influence within days.

I didnt know what they planned, Nil said. In fact, you did most of the work on your own. I just took credit for it. Never pin all your hopes to one horse. I only had one rule: you werent to be harmed.

That explained how Phoil had obtained the prison item, and why Nil was so insistent on Dallion remaining in the Learning Hall. It was no accident it had been used on him, nor was Nils presence in the prison realm itself.

What went wrong? Dallion asked.

Strictly speaking, nothing went wrong. I already received everything I wanted. There are a few minor trinkets that still need to reach me, but they will in time, and even if they dont, it wouldnt be a monumental loss. The problem was you, dear boy.

Me?

Despite the assurances regarding your safety, they must have a way around it. The moment you were asked to make silver glass, I knew your life was at risk.

Is that why you insisted that it wasnt worth it?

I needed time to figure out what was going on. By then, sadly, our dealings had largely come to an end. With each side getting what it needed, there was no reason for communication to continue. In short, I was ignored. I had already told them how to get into the prison sphere, but that was no guarantee. Make no mistake, if you hadnt broken out there was a three out of four chance that the boy would have killed you.

Dallion suspected as much.

Who did you make the deals with? he asked.

Im sorry, but I cant tell you that. Moon vows were made. I cannot reveal any names of even make subtle hints.

By the sound of it, Adzorg had to have been quite desperate himself, given that he hadnt asked for the same assurances when Dallions life was concerned. Dallion would have liked to think that the old mage had requested a Moon vow from the people involved. If that were the case, it must have been a very generic one. No doubt it had some exception that allowed people to kill him if Dallion threatened their life. After all, it was only after Phoil had killed Enroy that he had shifted his attention.

You really dont know whats going on?

No. Nil sighed. Even if I did, I wouldnt be able to tell you. And even if I had the chance, Id probably not care. We all have our priorities and having the Academy burn a bit wouldnt cause too much harm in the grand scope of things.

And the empire?

Dear boy, the empire cannot fall. True, things seem tense right now, but its not the first time. Back when the Fury alliance challenged the empire, many feared that it would mark the end of the world as we know it. You know quite well how that ended.

There was no denying that. However, it was thanks to the Academys intervention that the furies had been defeated. Without mages, there would be no one to stop a threat from the sky, regardless of the disbalance of powers. All the awakened in the empire would be virtually powerless.

The timing of the chaos near the Learning Hall was chosen perfectly to coincide with the territory losses in Dreud province. If it fell and there was no mage support, the imperial capital would become vulnerable.

Teach me the spell, Dallion said.

After hearing Nils part in everything, he knew precisely what the people behind this planned. It wasnt merely to disrupt the Learning Hall. That was the pretext to get the archmage involved. If he were to be killed in an open assault, that would shake the foundations of the Academy for months, maybe years. Nil had to know, but because of personal circumstances had chosen to go along with it. Despite himself, Dallion couldnt.