Nick kept his eyes on the Soul Magician because Tyrant Sense's power indicated that the Soul Magician was still conscious and actively resisting the ice path magic power. True to Nick's observation, the ice enveloping the Soul Magician suddenly began to emanate mist for a duration of eight seconds before all the layers of ice shattered and became a thick cloud of vapor.
The Soul Magician rapidly ran one meter away from the cloud of vapor, towards his right side with superhuman quickness, having lost his spider shaped covering of translucent soul magic power. The Soul Magician then stood firmly in a combat ready stance and glared at both Nick and the older Magician that had frozen him solid. The Soul Magician soon declared:
"My name is Henry Gower, Supervising Magician of The Crown Company. You two better think carefully before you act against me or my subordinate any further."
Nick stared at Henry indifferently, not interested in responding to the latter. The rank 3 middle stage Magician simply and expressionlessly waved Henry off with his right hand while the ice covering his left hand dissipated and said:
"I don't care who you are, just leave this office before you cause any further disturbance. Let me remind you that in a circumstance like this, The Crown Company has to give The Space Travel Company face if I put merely you into the ground."
Henry's glare focused on the rank 3 middle stage Magician in response to his words and he angrily muttered:
"You..."
Nick had lost his patience and so before Henry even finished his sentence, Nick walked towards the office's double door entrance, seemingly about to leave. The rank 3 middle stage Magician glanced at Nick before turning his attention back to Henry and spoke to the latter:
"Even the person that you attempted to assault is already disinterested with this standoff. Just leave already."
Henry gritted his teeth in hatred and then roared at Cindy and his two other subordinates:
"We've wasted enough time here. Make sure that you three remain on your best behavior going forward!"
Henry's two subordinates who had been aimlessly observing the situation felt annoyed when Henry directing such words at them, as if they were partly responsible for what had happened but they did not have the guts to reproach a rank 3 Magician. Cindy grouped up with the other two rank 2 Magicians employed by her company and they soon regrouped with Henry.
By that time, Nick had already left The Space Travel Company's office and was now making his way through the human settlement that surrounded him. From Nick's perspective, the settlement looked like an army base that had a network of concrete roads that interrupted the sandy ground that was apparent throughout the area; the buildings were mostly one storey high and were made out of stone and concrete, having been scarcely painted.
Nick summoned the map of Humble Desert that he got from The Space Travel Company's office earlier and based on the magical writings that appeared when Nick focused his attention on the drawing of the settlement, he knew that the settlement was about five kilometers in diameter and had a persistent population of about one thousand people. It was currently day time and the bright, yellow sun hung overhead, high above the settlement. Nick was a little awe struck because the color of the sky was a beautiful purple color, instead of being the blue that he was used to.
(This settlement is named, Mardust, and is located at the southern end of Humble Desert. It is one of the only two human settlements within Humble Desert; the other settlement is named, Margrit, and is located at the northern end of Humble Desert. Between the two settlements is a wide expanse of sandy desert that is plagued with magic beasts and plants. That being the case, there are also Magicians actively roaming these areas in search of resources, so this realm is one that is filled with conflict and the highest ranked Magicians here may not be rank 3.)
Nick only had to look at the layout of the settlement on the map for a few minutes in order to approximate his current position and know where he was to going to find the settlement's exit point. There were many people walking throughout the streets, most wearing either magician's robes or some kind of combat armor with leather being the most common material for clothing. There were a few vehicles, which included trucks and jeeps, that could be seen, but they were stationary at this time and kept in front of or at the sides of various buildings. Nick soon stored the map back into his older space band.
While the effects of Saturn remained active, Nick did not hesitate to raise himself five feet off the ground and quickly fly towards where he assumed that he would find the settlement's exit. Many people glanced at Nick as he flew by with an apparent look of interest; this wasn't likely due to Nick being rank 3 because using the effects of Tyrant Sense, Nick already identified quite a few rank 3 Magicians among the pedestrians.
(They're probably glancing at me because of my space magic. During my time at the academy, I was told that Space Magicians were relatively rare outside of the confines of organizations and so far, that seems to be the truth.)
During his movement towards the settlement's exit, Nick realized that there was not much in the way of barriers around the perimeter of the settlement except bundles of barbed wire that was made of a chrome colored magic metal, which he did not recognize. Thirty minutes after leaving The Space Travel Company's office, Nick arrived at the exit/entrance to the settlement and there was basically no gate constructed.
What appeared before Nick at this time was just a gap in the surrounding barbed wire that had two black robed, male Magicians standing guard, one at either side of the gap. Nick flew over to the Magician at the right side of the gap. This Magician had shoulder length black hair, a white complexion and dark eyes. Nick inquired:
"Hello. Do I need anything special to re-enter the settlement after I leave?"
The black haired Magician answered Nick's question with practised ease:
"No, not at all. Many of the Magicians that come to Humble Desert are employees of private companies that have all kinds of interests within this realm and this settlement is under their joint administration, so no one is charged for re-entry."
Nick thought for a while, then asked:
"If Mardust is jointly administrated by private companies, why would they allow an unrelated party like myself to make use of the settlement without any beneficial gain?"
The black haired Magician replied:
"I assume that you came here using the magic formation of one of the companies that have a permanent branch in Humble Desert, right? That is already a beneficial gain because profits made by the companies that administrate this settlement are shared."
After hearing that, Nick was no longer suspicious as to why there was no re-entrance fee imposed on anyone. Nick thanked the black haired Magician for answering his questions and then flew off into the wilderness in front of him at the speed of a moving car. Nick kept moving for a few hundred meters before raising himself up suddenly by about fifty meters.
At that point, Nick summoned the sheathed Failed Tool from his older space band and holstered it onto his belt, at his left side. Nick summoned his map of Humble Desert from his older space band once again and after picking a location that should be higly concentrated with magic beasts, Nick stored the map back into his older space band, following which, he rapidly flew off towards his intended destination.
Twenty minutes later, during Nick's flight, he realized that he was being tailed by a flying magic beast. Using the power of Tyrant Sense, he realized that it was most likely a rank 3 magic beast that was tailing him. He mused at this time:
(I haven't bothered to use Silent Ark because of the likely presence of rank 3 magic beasts and although Silent Ark can reasonable tank the damage from their attacks despite its rank 2 status, repairing the damage is usually a huge expenditure and is time consuming. I'd rather use Silent Ark in select situations while within Humble Desert.)
Nick didn't hesitate to turn around and fly towards the rank 3 magic beast that was tailing him. Soon enough, Nick and the flying magic beast were within fifty meters of each other. The flying magic beast looked similar to a crow except that it was the size of a crop duster, its lustrous, black feathers were constantly being shed and regrown and it's at least one-foot-long, red tongue was left hanging from its beak. Nick did not need to put in much effort to discover that this magic beast was of the soul path. Nick thought:
(Perfect. Encountering this kind of magic beast is exactly why I came to Humble Desert.)
Nick cast Tyrant Domain as soon as the crow magic beast reached within forty meters of him, which resulted in the surroundings developing a slightly grey hue, and then Nick instantly teleported onto the crow magic beast's back. Nick used the crow magic beast's moment of confusion as to Nick's whereabouts to draw Failed Tool using his right hand and with an almost superhuman hand speed, following which, he cast two more spells while black miasma magic energy exhaust emanated from his body:
(Tyrant Armor.)
(Tyrant Form.)
Nick's body and clothes emanated sparks of red and black lights while they were entirely covered in layers of black soul magic power that granted them a metal like texture and appearance. Within moments, the red sparks of light abated, leaving only the black sparks of light. Nick's thoughts spun rapidly at this time:
(Using five spells at the same time is still about my limit but I have room to breathe if I only maintain three rank 3, advanced grade spells at the same time along with two rank 3, intermediate grade spells. If I tried to manipulate five rank 3, advanced grade spells at the same time, I might start making mistakes in execution or judgement.)
Nick swung his right arm at speeds that made it appear like a black blur, aiming for where he suspected, using the power of Tyrant Sense, that the crow magic beast's spinal cord would be. The crow magic beast had already figured out that Nick had somehow appeared on its back and before Failed Tool's blade touched it, it shrieked loudly, filling the surroundings with waves of soul path magic power.
EEEEEEEEEEEEBBBBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK...!
Nick felt his soul fiercely quiver but due to the its quality and Tyrant Armor's soul path defense, it did not sustain enough damage to disrupt Nick's mind or actions and so Nick followed through with his attack.
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
All ninety-nine sword placements were performed near the center of the crow magic beast's back and a large patch of feathers and flesh were removed from that area within seconds, soon revealing a section of the crow magic beast's spinal cord. The magic beast shrieked even louder when it felt the searing pain involved in having its flesh sliced away and although Nick's soul continued to quiver vigorously, the damage caused by the crow magic beast's method was too insignificant at this time to even disrupt Nick's concentration; red-black blood from the crow magic beast's wound splattered onto Nick's body. He thought:
(It's unfortunate for this magic beast that it encountered a soul path scholar with a self-regenerative soul path talent.)
While it shrieked, the crow magic beast tried to shake Nick off by flying around frantically and moving erratically but Nick simply used the effects of Saturn to keep him in place on the crow magic beast's back. The crow magic beast's already shedding feathers filled the immediate surroundings as a result of its movements but they did not do much else other than obscure Nick's view of the surroundings by a little.
Nick didn't like the frantic movements of the crow magic beast, however, because those movements made it difficult for him to aim his sword with accuracy and so he mobilized the power of his Cursed Vessel talent:
(Dreadful Aura.)
A dark, fear inducing aura pervaded the immediate surroundings and caused the crow magic beast to freeze up for a moment after it sensed a troubling presence on its back and was bathed in the dark aura. This freeze in its movements caused it to begin falling towards the ground and also gave Nick the opportunity to strike at its spinal cord, which he knew was a vital spot for most living creatures below a certain rank. The muscles within Nick's right arm bulged as he attacked again using Failed Tool:
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
Nick's movements once again made his right arm and Failed Tool appear like black and grey blurs, respectively. He accurately cut at one section of the crow magic beast's partly revealed spinal cord until at least one of the vertebra was completely slashed apart by the time that he finished an iteration of his sword technique. Nick internally rejoiced:
(Success!)
Nick's second iteration of Cross Stream only took him about four seconds to complete, owing to the speed increase granted to him by Tyrant Armor and Tyrant Form. After severing the crow magic beast's spinal cord, Nick withdrew his dreadful aura and used the power of Tyrant Domain to teleport away from it as it fell heavily onto the desert floor.
BOOM!
Sand was displaced and lifted into the air the very moment that the crow magic beast hit the ground, creating a shallow pit amidst the sand. The desert floor of Humble Desert was filled with seemingly endless amounts of pale-brown sand that could be seen from horizon to horizon. Nick appeared floating about five meters above ground, over eight meters away from the crow magic beast's body.
It was easy enough to tell that the crow magic beast was not dead since it continued to fidget in place while it raised its head in order to glare at Nick but it remained silent for some reason, no longer shrieking. Nick squinted his eyes and snorted while thinking:
(It's probably focusing its efforts on healing its spinal cord injury and that's why it is not trying to attack with its shriek.)
Nick, however, was not going to let the crow magic beast heal itself so easily. With Tyrant Domain's suppression still active, any effort that resulted in the crow magic beast using its magic power was made more difficult, anyway. Nick cancelled Tyrant Form, following which, he quickly manipulated the effects of Saturn in order to have a red sphere of magic power instantly envelop the crow magic beast's head.
Nick tried to use the red sphere's magic power to tear the crow magic beast's head away from the rest of its body but before that could happen, the crow magic beast loudly shrieked again and the red sphere popped like a bubble. Nick's soul shook vigorously in response to the crow magic beast's soul path attack but under the protection of Tyrant Armor, the slight damage was nothing that Nick could not bear while thinking:
(Sure enough, rank 3 magic beasts are not easy to deal with.)
Moments later, a line of blood emerged from the right side of Nick's mouth and flowed down his face, following which, Nick swung his right arm and Failed Tool at superhuman speed while casting:
(Tyrant Aurora.)
Failed Tool's blade lit up like a flare before a wide arc of grey blade light was rapidly shot out from the sword and enveloped the crow magic beasts upper body. Five seconds after that, the crow magic beast's desperate shriek ceased and a pool of red-back blood began forming below its body. Ten seconds later, the grey blade light abated and what became evident was the crow magic beast's partially flayed upper body and ruined head that now lied within the pool of its own blood.
The crow magic beast no longer moved and using the power of Tyrant Sense to thoroughly observe it, Nick knew that the crow magic beast was now dead. Nick quickly cast Tyrant Recovery to heal himself of his own light internal injuries while flying towards the crow magic beast's carcass. Nick used Tyrant Armor's magic power to retrieve the rank 3 crow magic beast's soul and eventually tapped the carcass using his newer space band, storing the carcass and then the soul into said space band before rising fifty meters above the ground.
Nick cancelled Tyrant Domain but kept Tyrant Armor active and covering his entire body; he also sheathed Failed Tool at his left side. He soon rapidly flew off towards his destination. Nick spent six hours flying over the desert floor, ignoring whatever was going on below. He met many rank 2 flying magic beasts during that time but they all avoided him due to the power that they sensed emanating from Nick's body, which was still covered by Tyrant Armor's sparking black soul magic power.
Every few minutes, Nick would process black miasma magic energy outside his body and then rapidly draw it into his mindscape in order to recover his magic energy reserves. Nick was able to perform the latter action within seconds even if he flew hundreds of meters away from where the magic energy was actually processed and so Nick realized that his special mindscape could process about 20,000 magical units of magic energy at a time, over a range of about one kilometer, which could then be retrieved easily from a distance using his will. To Nick, that seemed to be a huge advantage:
(Saturn isn't really a movement spell but I am using it like one and so that results in a higher cost while I keep it active. My mindscape enabling me to not have to stop in order to actively meditate gives me the freedom to fly uninterrupted for hours despite my Saturn's relatively high consumption. My ability to remain flying is even greater than when I was rank 2 and a 200,000 magical unit magic energy reserve gives me about twice the spell casting power of normal rank 3 Magicians. Hmmm...now that I think about it, I am not just a rank 3 Magician, I am a rank 3 Warlock. In the end, the latter is just a different designation for the same profession but I know that the latter designation should involve benefits that I am yet to fully realize.)
Nick soon arrived above his destination and studied the terrain below. The sandy ground below was filled with over two dozen pits that had circular openings, which were each at least two meters wide in radius. The pits seemed arranged to take on an overall shape of a rhombus but that was likely incidental. Nick mused:
(This place is called, Ragged Nest, and it is the home of a type of ant like magic beast that lives in large tunnels below the ground. The specie of magic beast is named, terra, and can mature at rank 3, so there should be a fair amount of rank 3 terras down in those pits and tunnels. They are soul path magic beasts despite their love for living below the desert's surface and they are ferocious by nature. This should be a popular hunting ground since terras have high quality souls, but I intend to take control of it for a while.)
Nick remained floating at fifty meters above ground and breathed in and out deeply before casting one of his spells:
(Soul Haze.)
After Nick cast his spell, a thick haze that tainted the immediate surroundings with a faint, black hue emerged from him and proceeded to rapidly spread into the sand pits below, going as far as the spell's area of effect would take it. It only took a few seconds before Nick sensed the absorption of souls into the Soul Haze but since the spell did not grant sensory capabilities beyond that, Nick decided to wait for a reaction to his 'fumigating' while using the power of Tyrant Sense to keep watch over his surroundings; Nick had also activated the power of his Spatial Awareness talent.
Sure enough, there was soon plenty of movement at the openings of the pits as many groups of Magicians flooded out of the pits in an attempt to escape the Soul Haze. The Magicians mostly wore magician's robes and leather combat armor. Within twenty seconds, over fifty Magicians had arrived onto the surface. It didn't take long before the rank 3 Magicians within the groups noticed Nick and cursed at him in Valteese; the rank 2 Magicians were too scared of Nick's soul path magic, which had caused them to feel weak, to curse at him.
"You over there! What the hell are you doing? The is a farming ground for everyone to use. Cease your soul path spell this instant or you'll be making an enemy out of several large companies!"
"Where did this bastard come from? Filling the tunnel with your pesky soul magic cost this daddy a terra kill. You better compensate me!"
"Stop this foolishness, right now, or I, Patrick Yipps, will make you stop by force!"
...
Nick internally scoffed at the curses:
(Humble Desert is probably a decent source of revenue for some companies but if it was really that important, those companies would not openly share access and revenue. Just like any other communal realm, everything here is up for grabs so long as you have the strength to enforce your will. Killing people wantonly would probably cause me a lot of trouble, though, so I'll send them off with a warning.)
Nick maintained his indifferent expression and spoke loudly:
"Leave this place and I will spare you! Stay and you will surely die!"
Everyone went quiet for a few seconds after they heard Nick's arrogant words but soon after, all the rank 3 Magicians eventually burst out in laughter, saying:
"Arrogance! This guy has some insane pride in his own farts."
"Looks like I'll have to whack this dog on the nose in order for it to behave."
...
A burly, middle aged, rank 3 Magician that had a full head and beard of red hair stepped forward and brandished his fists that glowed with pale-yellow light, speaking loudly at Nick:
"You asked for this beating, youngster!"
Just as the burly Magician spoke, Nick raised his left index finger and most of the several dozen rank 2 Magicians fainted due to the effects of the Soul Haze. The rank 3 Magicians stopped laughing and suspiciously glanced at their fallen people. One of the rank 3 Magicians that had some knowledge of soul path examined a few of the rank 2 Magicians, then reported to everyone else:
"Their souls have been worn down to dangerous levels. This situation is likely because of the damn soul magic that persists within the atmosphere."
No sooner than that rank 3 Magician spoke, did three vague, translucent human figures appear standing around the burly, rank 3 Magician and held on to him; the burly Magician was visibly annoyed when this happened because he was not able to sense these vague figures clearly before they grabbed a hold of him. He reasoned:
(There is nothing wrong with my scouting method. These vague figures are probably a part of the soul path method and so I am having trouble sensing them differently from the surrounding haze, which is a problem...)
Not only was the burly Magician troubled by the latter happening, he also sensed his soul weakening at a more rapid pace almost as soon as the vague figures held on to him. This fact made him panic internally:
(...Oh fuck!)
The burly Magician stretched out his thick arms towards his flanks and swung them wildly in order to rid himself of the vague human figures while his fists still glowed pale-yellow. He then screamed out to the other rank 3 Magicians:
"Be careful! This guy is definitely a Soul Magician and his method corrodes the soul. If we are going to fight him, we have to kill him quickly!"
The other rank 3 Magicians went on high alert and the rank 2 Magicians that remained standing, although they were sickly pale at this point, the readied themselves for combat. Nick observed the situation below and mused:
(Sure enough, an advanced grade, soul path spell that I spent six months creating cannot be lacking. I bet these people don't even understand what kind of deep shit they are in. How many rank 3 Magicians have gone through the trouble of properly cultivating their souls or even obtaining defensive methods meant to protect their souls? Lucky for them, they are not my targets...)
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!...
The Magicians on the ground noticed the sand at their feet slightly shifting and heard the sounds of the rumbling emerge from beneath them. Some rank 3 Magicians quickly realized what was happening and one of them blurted out:
"Shit! the terras are soul path magic beasts. That man's soul path haze must be irritating them and causing them to race to the surface to find the source of the problem. Based on that rumbling, at least a few hundred terras are on their way."
Most of the rank 3 Magicians expressions became troubled. They were all representatives of companies and all came here along with their rank 2 subordinates, many of which were now lying unconscious on the ground. If a large scale battle were to ensue while an unknown enemy Magician pulled the strings, their subordinates could die. That happening would affect their performance rating within their companies and thus their salaries, so the rank 3 Magicians quickly realized what their priority was and took their focus away from Nick.
Lightning flashed, fluffy clouds emerged, waves of water sped off, shadows swallowed and other methods of varying paths were used to rapidly carry the rank 3 Magicians and their rank 2 subordinates away from Ragged Nest. Some rank 3 Magicians glance at Nick again, trying to sear his appearance into their minds, even if he was currently covered in a strange black armor, thinking variations of:
(I deal with you eventually.)
Nick ignored the fleeting attention of the rank 3 Magicians and focused on the still rumbling ground. Within two minutes, what seemed like an army of terras emerged from Ragged Nest and even four rank 3 terras were among the members of the army. Nick counted over five hundred terras that appeared so far and the numbers were still growing.
The terras indeed seemed like giant ants that had two pairs of mandibles, bodies that were almost completely covered in brown, reptile like scales and two tennis-ball-sized, bulbous, dull-silver eyes; their smallest size was similar to that of a buffalo. Nick maintained his indifferent expression and muttered:
"Let's get started with the reaping."
Nick cast one more of his spells while unsheathing Failed Tool from his left side using his right hand:
(Tyrant Form.)
The spells that Nick now had active were: Saturn, Tyrant Sense, Tyrant Armor and Tyrant Form; he also had his Spatial Awareness talent active but its effects were triggered at uncertain times. Nick quickly waved his left index finger at the army of terras while black miasma magic energy exhaust radiated from him. A four-meter-radius rotating sphere of cream colored magic power instantly appeared at the left-most section of the terra army and swallowed up dozens of terras as it moved towards the right-most section of the terra army.
Following that, Nick willed and the push and pull forces acted on the squirming terras that were trapped inside the cream sphere to keep the magic beasts in place and deal with them. The trapped terras were only rank 2 and so they could hardly resist Nick's power. Within moments and after numerous sickening wet-crushing and fracturing sounds were heard, the contents of the cream sphere became green-blue blood and mangled terra body parts. Nick then dispelled the cream sphere and let its contents stain the sandy ground.
The rest of the terra army noticed what had happened and madly clicked their pairs of mandibles at Nick, seemingly wanting to tear him apart but within a minute after the death of their kind, vague, translucent figures of terras suddenly appeared and bit onto the live terras. The live terras did not seem too shaken by the appearance of the vague figures and in fact, the vague figures could not truly hamper their movements because they were made from the surrounding haze and were not solid but many of terras that were pestered by the vague figures soon began moving sluggishly until they fell over in exhaustion.
This caused Nick to smile as he thought:
(Soul Haze's performance is really something to behold.)
While Nick was marveling at the effects of his spell, he sensed one of the four rank 3 presences move rapidly but before he could determine its exact destination, a polar-bear-sized terra appeared at his immediate front with its two pairs mandibles spread wide open and about to clamp down on Nick. Nick reacted by swinging Failed Tool at superhuman speeds and slashed at the rank 3 terra's face.
Failed Tool's blade came into contact with the rank 3 terra's face but did not immediately cut into it, presumably because of its hard scales and tough flesh but Nick kept its sharp mandibles away from his body for the moment. Nick did not hesitate to follow up with another one of his spells:
(Tyrant Aurora.)
The muscles within Nick's right arm bulged and Failed Tool lit up like a flare, following which, both Nick and the rank 3 terra seemed to be enveloped in bright, grey blade light but after three seconds of a stalemate, Nick's strength overpowered the rank 3 terra and forced it down to the ground below, leaving a trail of grey blade light as it descended and eventually crashed into the sandy ground below; the blade light dissipated soon thereafter.
After crash landing, the rank 3 terra got up while shaking off its body and looked up at Nick with its bulbous, dull-silver eyes. The rank 3 terra now clearly had a large gash on its face that was bleeding green-blue blood as well as smaller cuts on the rest of its body but most of the latter cuts did not readily bleed.
The rank 2 terras, under the instructions of the other rank 3 terras tried to jump towards Nick's position in order to attack him but they were too weakened to manage to jump that high. The effects of Soul Haze had been acting on them and gradually weakening them so the rank 2 terras were basically already beaten. Nick reasoned:
(Magic beasts of a specific path and even Magicians that specialized in a specific path and had laws of that path etched onto their bodies did not necessarily have a natural defense against magic attacks of that path and without intentional defensive measures, they would likely be more susceptible to the effects of offensive spells belonging to their own specialization because the laws of the offensive magic and the laws etched onto their bodies have no reason to naturally resist each other and so the target of the offensive spell would be affected by it without restraint. That is what is happening to these terras right now.)
Not long after Nick sent the rank 3 terra crashing onto the sandy ground, vague, translucent human and terra figures appeared around each of the four rank 3 terras and harassed them. Sensing the danger to themselves, the rank 3 terras moved about violently in order to rid themselves of the threat but the effects of the Soul Haze were apparent as the rank 3 terras movements gradually became sluggish.
Nick quickly processed black miasma magic energy outside of his body and drew it into his mindscape after eight seconds. Nick then cast Neptune in order to disappear amidst a flash of blue magic power and then reappeared in the same manner immediately above the rank 3 terra that he had injured before. That rank 3 terra sensed Nick's arrival near its position and was about to attack him but Nick acted quickly by covering Failed Tool using Tyrant Armor's sparking black magic power, followed by slashing down at the rank 3 terra's head, his right arm and Failed Tool appearing like a black blur as he did.
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
Nick slashed at the rank 3 terra's head without stop for one second straight and by the end of his sword technique's iteration, most of its scaly flesh and its two pairs of mandibles had been cut away, leaving it bleeding profusely while part of its skull had been exposed; Tyrant Armor's black magic power receded from Failed Tool as soon as Nick completed the iteration of his sword technique.
The injured rank 3 terra stumbled backwards from the shock and effectiveness of Nick's sword attacks. Before Nick could press his advantage, however, a second rank 3 terra moved rapidly towards him and because he was currently floating near to the ground, it was easily able to grab a hold of his right leg using its two pairs of mandibles without leaving the ground.
Nick did not plan on letting the injured terra go just because of the trouble latched on to his right leg, so he manipulated the effects of Soul Haze in order to have five vague figures of terras pester the injured rank 3 terra before taking advantage of its distraction so that he could envelop its severely wounded head in a sphere of red colored magic power, following which, the red sphere collapsed into itself before dissipating and the injured rank 3 terra therefore lost its head. The carcass of the now dead rank 3 terra then fell to the ground two seconds later while the stump left behind by the decapitation spurted out green-blue blood like a fountain.
The terra that was holding onto Nick's right leg held it in a vice grip using its two pairs of mandibles, which seemed to be trying to cut through Nick's right leg, but Tyrant Armor acted as a sturdy barrier that prevented such an outcome. However, Nick felt his movements suddenly being greatly restricted because his soul seemed to be subtly affected by the terra's apparent soul magic power that Nick now sensed was being emitted from its mandibles. Due to that, his movements were sluggish while in midair.
By that time, all of the rank 2 terras that had emerged from Ragged Nest were now dead due to their souls having been completely absorbed by the Soul Haze. The other two rank 3 terras rapidly moved and converged at Nick's position. They attempted to bite down on him using their pairs of mandibles but the moment that they tried, Nick countered using one of his spells:
(Pluto.)
The space around Nick's body slightly warped and Nick himself disappeared from the area, after which, the warped space settled. The three rank 3 terras clicked their mandibles angrily in response to Nick's disappearance and looked around trying to find traces of him but their attempt was a lost cause. Due to Nick's disappearance, the Soul Haze lost its source and therefore began to dissipate.
Within the adjacent space created by Pluto's effect, Nick sat on the concrete like floor and held his right leg tightly, thinking:
(Even with Tyrant Armor's defense, the bone within my right leg was still fractured by the rank 3 terra. The terras' bites seem to immobilize the soul or at least restrict it to some degree and by extension the physical body. If a normal Magician was held by one of those rank 3 terras, they would be in trouble but I am not so easily dealt with. I don't have much time in this adjacent space, so I heal my leg and leave.)
Nick cancelled Soul Haze and cast Tyrant Recovery in order to heal himself of the injury to his right leg. Unbeknownst to Nick, Tyrant Armor's covering was somehow stripped away from his usually spiraling blue eyes and so they now lightly glowed with a mix of red and blue hues while the spiral within them sped up in its movement. Nick spent thirty seconds healing himself of his leg injury and recovered a few hundred magical units of magic energy in the process while he thought about the dead rank 2 terras:
(The rank 2 terras' souls were absorbed by the effects of Soul Haze and they died. That is because Soul Haze is not a spell with the intended purpose of capturing souls. The latter effect could preserve a live body while taking away the soul but forcefully absorbing a soul like what the effect of Soul Haze does harms the body and results in the death of weaker life-forms. That's just how it is. Even Tyrant Armor cannot retrieve a soul forcefully while keeping the body of whatever it took the soul from alive. I'd have to use Retrieve Soul in order to achieve such an effect.)
When Nick was done healing his right leg, he stood up and looked towards the void above him. For some reason, Nick felt the urge to stare off into the void longer than he normally would have. The void around him soon, in his view, appeared to reveal scenes of his original space. Nick raised his brows in surprise, thinking:
(What is this? Pluto's adjacent space is far more distant from the original space than the space that I used to enter by casting my spell, Grey Room. This former distance creates greater safety and concealment but should prevent me from directly observing my original space. For some reason, however, the void around me is now revealing scenes of my original space clearly. This doesn't even feel unnatural, it feels very, very comfortable, as if it is a natural thing for me to do.)
While Nick was curious about what was happening to him, his magic energy reserves were being emptied rapidly while he was within the adjacent space, so he had to leave now if he still wanted to be able to fight after he left. Nick took a look at the positions of the three rank 3 terras and rapidly came up with a plan.
(Pluto's intended effect is that when my whole body returns to the original space, I would be able to shift my last position within that space to another position within sixty meters of it but this view additionally allows me to plan for what will likely happen immediately after I return. That is a huge advantage considering that I cannot use scouting spells that perceive my original space while my entire body is within the adjacent space.)
Nick's indifferent expression broke into a smile and he cast Pluto again while gripping Failed Tool tightly. Within Nick's original space, the space one meter in front of the rank 3 terra to the farthest left of the three rank 3 magic beasts suddenly warped and Nick made an instant appearance, still covered from head to toe in Tyrant Armor's sparking black magic power.
Before the rank 3 terras could react, Nick mobilized his dreadful aura, following which, a dark, fear inducing aura spread over the area occupied by the rank 3 terras and they all froze in place as a winged magic beast made entirely of black miasma took Nick's place. The winged magic beast seemed to stare at the terra in front of it like prey using its dual red and blue eyes. Due to the strange influence of the winged magic beast, the rank 3 terra standing before it froze in its movements and could not think properly.
Noticing the terror stricken state of the rank 3 terra in front of him, Nick once again covered Failed Tool with Tyrant Armor's sparking black magic power and swung out at the rank 3 terra's head using his Cross Stream sword technique. Nick intentionally focused on his own movements in order to seamlessly conduct two iterations of the sword technique one after the other without a noticeable gap in time while performing them. This was not usually the case but the more that Nick used the sword technique, the more proficient he was becoming at performing its sword placements, not to mention that his agility seemed to have noticeably increased.
SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!...
With each sword placement of the second iteration of the sword technique, the rank 3 terra's green-blue blood, bone and sliced flesh splattered onto the ground and by the end of the second iteration, the rank 3 terra no longer had a head to speak of. Its carcass fell to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut while blood flowed out of its resulting open wound like a fountain. Tyrant Armor's black soul magic power then receded from Failed Tool soon after.
The death of their companion stimulated the other two rank 3 terras out of their terror stricken states and they proceeded to lunge at Nick or rather, the winged magic beast within their vision. The two rank 3 terras crossed over ten meters in a few seconds but when the winged magic beast turned around to focus on them and its red-blue eyes looked down on them, they visibly slowed their pace but still bit forward using their pairs of mandibles.
Nick quickly sliced at the rank 3 terra on his right, parrying against its pair of mandibles using Failed Tool and then used the effects of Saturn to generate a grapefruit-sized sphere of grey colored magic power within his left grip, following which, the gravity acting on the rank 3 terra that was positioned on his left was removed, which caused that rank 3 terra to immediately lose its footing and momentum. The latter terra began floating into the air while still trying to inch its way forward in order to attempt to bite Nick.
Nick, however, focused on the rank 3 terra on his right and cast one of his spells on it:
(Tyrant Specter.)
In the latter terra's view, Failed Tool's blade was bent exaggeratedly out of shape before being returned to its original shape a few moments later; at that point, the rank 3 terra on the right witnessed a vague, translucent human figure appear on its right side and pat it on the side of the head, following which, the vague figure dissipated and that rank 3 terra's eyes lost focus. Nick then cast Tyrant Aurora and contracted his right arm muscles while forcing the rank 3 terra on his right backwards, enveloping it in grey blade light in the process. Nick then floated five meters backwards while launching the grey sphere at the rank 3 terra on his left.
The latter terra bit down on the grey sphere with both pairs of its mandibles, which caused a violent clash of soul path and space path magic powers that resulted in the grey sphere expanding momentarily in resistance, before dissipating under the pressure of the rank 3 terra's mandibles. The latter rank 3 terra then fell to the ground due to the gravity that should have been acting on it being returned as a result of the dissipation of the grey sphere.
Nick quickly began processing black miasma magic energy outside his body and by the time that the grey blade light vanished, freeing the rank 3 terra on his right from its envelopment, and the rank 3 terra on his left found its balance and lunged towards him again, Nick drew the black miasma magic energy around him into his mindscape and muttered:
"I'm ready."