Leveling up the World

Chapter 784: Realms like Bubbles

Bubbles, Dallion said to himself. Its all bubbles.

The sudden boost had allowed him to finally see the outlines of the vortex, but not only that; he was able to see beyond into the world itself. The points of contact, which had been impossible to locate without a spell back during his novice days, now appeared as areas where layers of semi-transparent threads covered each other. Most important of all, right here, right now, he could see the layers of the world and they were dangerously thin. The sky was not black, at least not entirely. Looking closer, there was a thin layer of glistening purple, like the plastic foil of a package. A giant hole punctured that layer, one that both vortexes attempted to cover, stopping the endless pool of void trying to leak through.

As horrifying as this was, it didnt end there. The layer was also thinned on the opposite side of the layer. While significantly thicker, Dallion was able to look beneath the infinity of threads that composed the ground. Standing there, staring up with eagerness and anticipation, were the heads of colossi, as large as the one Dallion fought, even more. Imprisoned in their realm, they knew they had no way out, but were still there, looking at the world they once inhabited.

This is what it means, Dallion said, trying to wrap his mind around it. A spot where reality is breached.

The notion that everything he had ever known, the place he had inhabited, was nothing more than a giant bubble, made everything else seem so irrelevant. The squabbles between nobles, the chaos the Academy was recovering from, the ongoing war, even the Stars monkeyshines seemed so trivial. All the settlements, all the citiesand everything within themwere nothing but bubbles within a container. The chaos he thought was the wilderness was in effect nothing more than a very small part of the external chaos that had leaked in.

Get to your senses, dear boy! Adzorg shouted simultaneously in and out of Dallions realm.

The yell was sharp enough to bring him back to reality. The wonders and horrors of the cosmos vanished, giving way to the here and now.

What little remained of the aether wasps was being devoured by the vortex in an attempt to keep its integrity. Meanwhile, the second twin was finishing off the last of the chainlings.

Faced with one enemy, the black creature attempted to merge again, but was slashed several times in the process. Ultimately, the resulting entity was no more than three times the guardians size.

Di? Dallion asked instinctively, bursting into instances.

Not now! Adzorg said as a new set of magic instructions appeared before the otherworlder. Focus on the fight.

The new spell was specifically aimed at severing magic threadsan ideal weapon against a vortex guardian. It also presented a danger to everything else.

Lux, Gem, get back in, Dallion ordered.

The aetherfish popped out of existence. The firebird followed moments later, its blue flames surrendering Dallion to the gravity of the realm once more. Without even thinking, Dallion cast a new flight spell with a wave of his aura sword.

Ruby, he started splitting into instances. You

The shardfly wasnt where he expected it to be. Its last orders were to flutter close to Diroh and protect her. That was no longer the case. To Dallions relief, the creature had survived the twins final attack. To his surprise, though, it was no longer in the nearby area, flying all the way down to the ground of the vortex instead.

Double the sizehe remembered it, and with wings glowing bright purple, the creature was making its way to the thinned area of the reality layer. Recent events had quite possibly allowed it to absorb a bit of magic as well.

Dallion was just about to ask what it was thinking when he saw the explanation. Beneath the reality of the world, in one spot of the thinned layer, Gleam was watching. Her four sets of wings gently moved as if waiting.

How easy it would be to release her here and now. All that Dallion had to do was fly down and open a portal to the banished realm. Alas, that was the one thing he couldnt do. Creating an opening, even a small one, would provide the excuse the colossi needed to emerge in the real world. All Moon laws would have been kept since it was Dallion creating the opening. And even if the creatures would eventually be destroyed and returned back to their realm, the chaos they would deal at a time when the world was already at war outweighed the benefits of having Gleam back.

Soon, Dallion thought. I promise.

In the distance, tendrils of void shot out from the chainling, engulfing the only remaining vortex guardian. Left to desperation, the creature gambled that it had enough strength to consume the twin, and it proved wrong. Rays of purple light shout out of the black silhouette like spears reaching out to endlessness.

Oh dear, Adzorg said, floating strategically behind Dallion. Its all you now, dear boy.

Of course it is, Dallion said, and for once he didnt mean it in a sarcastic way.

The mage excelled at strategy after all, not quick combat. He had already provided all the spells he could within the available time frame. Now it was time for Dallion to make use of them.

Waving his aura sword, Dallion cast five spells, increasing his basic traits as much as possible. Even so, he remained a few points short of the guardians in a few cases. Ninety was a tough number to reach. However, when magic was concerned, there was more than traits and skills.

Finding itself with a single enemy left, the guardian flew straight towards Dallion, aether swords surrounding him like a ring. Clearly, like his twin, the being had been a fighter, not a mage before exaltation. Spells were capable of many things, but not changing ones habits. There was no denying that the twins could cast spells, they just preferred close combat just like Dallion.

Lets try something new. Dallion waved his aura sword again.

Two new arms made of aether emerged from his shoulders. One of them summoned the thread splitter dagger. The otheran ingot of sky silver, then drew a speed symbol on it, propelling it at his enemy like a bullet. A split second later, Dallion forced reality.

CRITICAL HIT

Damage dealt has been increased by 200%

A red rectangle emerged on the left side of the twins check. All of his remaining instances were gone, rendering him unable to avoid the injury. Even so, it didnt last long.

Good, the guardian said, his voice identical to that of the twin Dallion had fought. Absorbing half has given you an edge. There was a flash of purple light within the hole, after which the wound was gone. Or has it?

I absorbed one, I can absorb another, Dallion added fear into his words. The strands of music bounced off without effect.

Even if you do, it doesnt matter. The holes are sealed. The void was kept at bay.

Thats why you became an exalted, wasnt it? Not because of your brother, but to keep the void at bay.

The Order knows best. The guardian charged forward.

Dallion thrust his harpsisword forward, launching a point music attack. Focused strands shot at the twin. Sadly, the only thing they hit was another cluster of music strands which, while not as powerful, managed to render them harmless at the point of impact.

Guardians learn from what theyve seen. Adzorgs echo grumbled within Dallions realm. Have you forgotten everything Ive taught you?

No, Dallion performed a line attack with his aura sword at the ground below. Equipped with Adzorgs last spell, the line hit the field of threads, ripping them up.

Red rectangle appeared around the guardian, as did wounds. The armor that was so solid and self-repairing reacted like cheap cloth tearing up in places.

MODERATE WOUND

Your health had been decreased by 20%

The swords surrounding the guardian had flown at him. One had even landed a hit. Immediately, Dallion cast a healing spell with his free aether arm. It was more out of habit than anything else. Even Lux had only managed to restore his health to eighty percent before returning to his personal realm. This hit had brought him down almost to half.

Just like the good old days, Dallion thought.

That was the sign of fighting an opponent that was equally matched: he couldnt afford to be careless. The next attack would determine the winner. Either Dallion managed to absorb his adversary or he would be, in turn, absorbed.

The threads of the vortex stitched themselves together by reducing its size. Simultaneously, the wounds on the guardian vanished.

Casting the destructive spell on his thread splitter, Dallion attacked with three of his arms, while the fourth summoned the armadil shield. For a split second, he considered summoning the bladebow instead, but didnt want to risk Luxs life.

Blows and slashes were exchanged. A hundred and fifty instances to ten clashed in the air. One would have thought that Dallion would have an absolute advantage, but even with force splitting, his enemy always managed to block, evade, or parry any attacks, while making life difficult for Dallion. The only positive was that he hadnt deemed Adzorg worth going after.

Water, spark, and magic swirled around, trying to break through the guardians shell. Occasionally, chips would fall off, only to be restored moments later. As for Dallion, over a hundred instances, on average, received serious wounds, in many cases fatal.

Adzorg, get Ruby, Dallion shouted.

Thered hardly be much use in

Get him and keep him safe!

Despite what the creature wanted, there was no saving Gleam yet.

Casting an intricate teleport spell, the old man vanished, appearing all the way next to the shardfly.

I wouldnt have gone after him, the guardian said, still attacking. Wasnt worth it.

So overconfident. Dallion saw himself in the remaining twin. No doubt, he had been a prodigy back when he had been exalted. Quite possibly, he had never known defeat or even loss. Beneath the purple surface, Dallion could see all of his emotions: determination, calm, eagerness, and a deep sense of accomplishment. In the beings view, the main task was done, and now he was just mopping things up. There wasnt even a speck of sadness regarding the death of his twin.

Those we leave behind, Dallion thought as he drew a series of speed symbols on the armadil shield.

Catching the idea, the shield expanded, doubling in size, then slammed into the guardian. The damage was nonexistent, but it provided a second for Dallion to cast a pearl spell with his aura sword.

A new set of aether blades appeared as the guardian effortlessly shoved the shield off. As Dallion suspected, Vihrogon had enough strength to withstand an impact. More importantly, the twin didnt intend to debase himself by killing off lesser targets, not until hed dealt with his main opponent.

Have fun, Dallion whispered and threw the pearl straight down. The new devouring spell made it considerably more efficient, ripping a hole in the ground.

CRITICAL HIT

Damage dealt has been increased by 200%

An identical wound appeared on the twin.

With absolute calm, Dallion thrust the thread splitter into the wound.

To his surprise, nothing happened. The vortex had already adapted to the last spell, rendering it useless.

Time to shine, Dallion thought, as he struck with his free hand. In the process, his Nox dagger emerged.

The pain of the crackling echoed throughout Dallions realm as the blade pierced layers of solid aether. It was a claw wrenching experience, but just as much pain as the familiar received, he also inflicted.

FATAL STRIKE

Damage dealt has been increased by 500%

SHOCK EFFECT

Your movement has been reduced by 10% for two minutes

Attack effectiveness reduced by 50% for two minutes

The vortex guardian froze. He had well over a quarter of life remaining, but it no longer mattered. Dallions aim wasn't the damage, it was that single moment of complete vulnerability.

Sorry, he whispered as he plunged the harpsisword into the open wound.

VORTEX ABSORPTION

Your MAGIC TRAIT is now 83

All the magic of the vortex rushed into Dallion. Everything became purple and then black.