After Saffon and Davy heard Nick's arrogant words, they both emanated faint auras of magic power that brought about a strong pressure to the ground floor. Saffon's body became enveloped in an orange aura that clearly belonged to the fire path, and Davy's body became enveloped in a grey aura that clearly belonged to the soul path. The two older Magicians glared at Nick, their malicious intent obvious to anyone with eyes.
Nick looked on indifferently in response to the two older men's posturing and intimidation tactics. However, Nick soon realized that Dewy's breathing became labored, which he knew was probably due to the magical pressure created by Saffon and Davy. Nick immediately became irritated; he summoned the unsheathed Hard Marvel from his older space band into his right grip and kept the sword lowered at his right side while he threatened:
"If you two don't withdraw your magic auras immediately, I swear that someone is going to die in this place today, and it won't be me."
Saffon and Davy snorted and did not plan on easily withdrawing their magic auras, even though they noticed the negative influence of their auras on Nick's non-magician employee. Twenty seconds passed by without the tense situation being eased, and Dewy's condition became noticeably worse. Nick internally sighed, knowing that he had to act to save Dewy, which meant harshly dealing with Saffon and Davy:
(These two are acting wildly on my property. I have the justification to deal with them roughly, but since both are at a higher stage than I am, I won't leave this confrontation unscathed. So be it, I cannot back down here, or the troubles that these two bring to me won't cease.)
Everyone who had ever been through something would know that when someone tried to burn you once, they would never stop showing up with matches. Keeping that in mind, Nick tightened his right grip around Hard Marvel's hilt and resolved to fight with the Magicians in front of him seriously. The woman behind Saffon and Davy noticed Nick's attitude and suspected that he was going to resist Saffon and Davy violently, so she intervened by saying:
"Saffon, Davy, that's enough. If you incite Nick to fight you to the death, then no one really wins. The way I see it, Daren's injuries are probably a result of his own arrogance. Let's not make a mountain out of a mole hill."
The woman seemed to be at least thirty years old, wore an all-black pantsuit, a pair of glasses, and a pair of flat female footwear. She had pale-white skin, a high nose bridge, thin, red lips, green eyes, and a head full of well-styled, short, black hair. After the woman spoke, Saffon and Davy dispelled their magical auras, annoyed because of the woman's interference; although Dewy's breathing remained labored, it was far less so than before, so Nick eased his grip on Hard Marvel and paid attention to the woman.
The woman smiled softly at Nick and stepped forward to introduce herself:
"My name is Kerry Crocker, and I am Daren's older sister. Unlike Saffon and Davy, I am not so worked up about my brother's condition. After all, healing amputations is difficult, but for a family like ours, it is only a matter of spending a lot of money to do it. In fact, I like that you humbled my brother a bit, but my family would at least like an apology for the expenditure that you have forced us to make in healing Daren. Just a little show of respect, that is all we're asking."
Nick scoffed before replying:
"Get lost."
Kerry squinted her eyes in response to Nick's words, but before she could speak again, the final male within the four-man group expressionlessly spoke at this time:
"Kerry, ease back and don't be a hypocrite. You three are really something. No wonder I was sent here to oversee the situation. Trying to bully this man will neither fill my family's coffers nor satisfy The Crown Company's ego. From here on out, I will resolve this matter, and the three of you should just be quiet."
Saffon, Davy, and Kerry stared at the man with displeasure after he finished speaking, but they did not rebut him or argue. Nick took a good look at the man again, sensing that he had authority over the other three. The man seemed to be about the same age as Nick, that is, he was in his late twenties and was of average height. He had a pale-white complexion that featured a slight number of freckles on his face, bushy eyebrows, pale brown eyes, and a head full of well-styled, short, black hair.
The man wore an all-black, three-piece suit and a visible, gold space band on his right wrist, but otherwise, his appearance was ordinary at best. The man spoke to Nick without even a hint of emotion in his tone:
"You can put away your sword; it's a nice sword, but I promise that it won't help you much when dealing with me. Maybe you would be able to defeat these three by making use of it, but not me."
Nick scoffed again and kept Hard Marvel within his right grip. Seeing that Nick did not intend to ease his stance, the man continued speaking:
"My name is Gilman Crocker. Not only am I Daren's cousin, but I am an Enforcement Officer within The Crown Company. I don't care that you injured Daren as badly as you did, but politics dictate that we address the issue to save face since rumors have spread about Daren's loss to Nick Capitol. I get that you were probably provoked, but a wise man submits to circumstances, and those circumstances are that certain people within the Crocker family and The Crown Company feel offended by your actions, and we were sent here to make trouble for you..."
Davy observed Gilman as he spoke and wondered:
(Why is Gilman explaining all of this. Based on our investigation, Nick Capitol is an upstart with no significant background to speak of. Destroying this building outright is the least of what we should be willing to do in retribution. Nick is only rank 3 initial stage, which means that we all outrank him. Is there really a need to treat him with this level of respect?)
Saffon had similar thoughts:
(...Here I thought that I would be able to make an example out of an arrogant junior, but this faggot, Gilman, has other plans. Why did the elders send him here with us?)
Kerry felt frustrated but kept her expression plain while she internally complained:
(Hmph! Gilman is being presumptuous. Daren is my brother, so I should be the one to exact punishment. I was going to lower Nick Capitol's guard first to make him easier to deal with, but Gilman is interfering with my plans. What's the use of being a legacy family if we cannot occasionally throw our weight around?)
Gilman continued speaking to Nick:
"...I'm already tired of this farce. 6 vatas! 3 vatas payable to the Crocker family and 3 vatas payable to The Crown Company. Commit to paying that money right now, and we will leave. Don't bother trying to resist; you had to know that there would be consequences for what you did, even if you were not wrong for doing it. I admire your courage in how you handled being targeted by one of us, but this is the result. Either pay the price for angering the powerful, or things will become very unfortunate for you."
Kerry's expression became one of displeasure after Gilman spoke. She did not think that Gilman would try to settle the situation like this; she did not agree with it:
(Money is great, but it would be more beneficial to our family's and The Crown Company's reputations to beat Nick Capitol up and at least partly destroy his company's headquarters. What is Gilman doing?)
Nick stared at the expressionless Gilman for close to one minute in response to the latter's words, while the other three Magicians and Dewy remained silent. Nick wasn't actually contemplating Gilman's offer since he already knew what decision he had to make. Instead, he was thinking:
(This man, Gilman, is different from the other three...)
After nearly one minute of silence, Nick replied:
"Just give me the bank account information, and I will transfer the money."
Dewy's eyelids jumped a little when he heard Nick's words. To him, Nick never seemed like someone who could be threatened easily, and so he was surprised that his young boss would hand over money in response to a threat so easily.
Saffon, Davy, and Kerry clicked their tongues in response to Nick's words, all three of them not expecting Nick to be so cool-headed, especially when they knew that Nick had an ordinary background. They figured that paying over 6 vatas was not something that Nick could easily do, but Nick's current attitude suggested otherwise.
Gilman summoned a piece of paper from his space band and threw it over to Nick using his right hand. Nick received the paper using his left hand, and when he saw that the paper had the information for two bank accounts, he knew that this outcome was what Gilman had planned from the beginning. Nick mused:
(Gilman is right when he said that I knew about possible consequences when I fought Crocker and even Ulrich, but that didn't mean that I didn't do the right thing by fighting. It just means that I am still too weak to do as I please, even when responding to provocation. I can accept paying the money if the alternative means fighting with four Magicians, whose base cultivation is higher than my own. If they go back on their word and attack me anyway, I can fight them then. They might spread rumors about me giving in to them, but I couldn't care less about what other people think.)
Gilman instructed the other three Magicians:
"I believe that Nick will make the right choice and pay the money as soon as possible. We're leaving now."
Saffon, Davy, and Kerry seemed unwilling, at first, to leave, but ultimately, they did not dare to go against Gilman, who they knew was far stronger than themselves despite being at the same rank and stage as them. Davy was not personally involved with the Crocker family and so had nothing to lose by accepting monetary compensation from Nick. Davy soon left through the building's entrance, and after looking at each other awkwardly, Saffon and Kerry followed suit, walking away from Nick and exiting the building.
Gilman said one more thing to Nick before leaving:
"The other three would have loved for you to have refused to pay the money, so that they could have had the opportunity to rough you up. I am not so blind, however. I get the feeling that you're tough, weaker than I am, but tough. The fact that you can even pay the 6 vatas is something to be proud of and makes me wary. I hope this nonsense doesn't sour our personal relations. I will be going now."
Gilman left through the entrance like the others, following which, Nick spoke to Dewy:
"Sorry about the pressure that they put on you. It will take some time before I am at a place where people don't come to mess with me like that, but for now, I have to give the legacy families face when they show up with their justifications. Coming from nowhere with nothing doesn't get you much respect anywhere you go."
From Nick's perspective, it seemed that he would never find peace because he was born a nobody, and the world had a way of constantly reminding him of that; despite whatever he accomplished, he was still a nobody. He thought:
(It's a little heartbreaking, but I will cope...somehow...)
Dewy waved his right hand dismissively while sporting a forced smile. He said to Nick:
"That was nothing, sir. You just keep on going. I've seen the results of your efforts over the years, and even though I don't agree with some of the actions that you've taken, I think that you are a fine, young man. Never mind what the bullies and haters do and say."
Nick observed Dewy's forced smile for close to half a minute before turning away, storing Hard Marvel into his older space band and replying:
"Thanks, Dewy."
Dewy silently nodded his head once before going back to completing some paperwork. Nick returned to his workspace, where he used his laptop to transfer 6 vatas to the two bank accounts that Gilman gave him. Nick proceeded to spend a day researching magic materials, and after compiling a list of them in large quantities, he emailed the list to Riley, after which he called her using his smartphone. Riley quickly accepted the call, and so Nick spoke:
"Riley, I emailed you a list of magic materials. Please procure them for me as soon as possible."
Riley took a few seconds to sign into her email and superficially looked at the list before replying to Nick:
"I see the list. Obtaining all the rank 3 materials on it will take me some time. Also, your estimated cost for obtaining them being over 60 vatas has me concerned. May I ask what you will be using the materials for? That would help me when properly choosing suppliers."
Procurement of high-ranked magic materials was not easy because there was a need to vet suppliers for the materials before buying anything. After all, not all companies sold specific magic materials at high quality. Not even the Magicians Association was an exception to this. It was usually the case when it came to rank 3 and higher materials that one company could sell a certain material at a certain quality and for a certain price depending on how and where they received it, so the average price and quality for a rank 3 material on the market could be very different from the actual price and quality of the material when suppliers were called on.
Nick understood this and was prepared to wait a few days or even a couple of weeks before Riley was able to get high-quality rank 3 materials at an appropriate price. The latter points were also the main reasons why Nick never attempted to purchase rank 3 magic materials himself - doing so correctly was a skill that Riley had, but he currently did not. Nick replied to her:
"I'll be using most of the magic materials to develop magic formations, so they need to be as high quality as can be, but considering the quantity that I want, the price for each needs to be reasonable."
Riley responded by speaking with understanding in her tone:
"I understand, Nick. You'll probably have to give me a week to get everything right."
Nick replied:
"Do your best."
Nick hung up the phone after saying that and used his space path magic formation to go to his house in Sidon, where he would use the time until Riley obtained the materials to meditate. Nick sat cross-legged on the floor of his house and actively meditated by swirling around the black miasma magic energy within his mindscape to exhaust it before drawing in free-flowing magic energy from the atmosphere and processing it into more black miasma magic energy. After that, Nick would try to exhaust his magic energy reserves again.
That process was completed many times over a period of seven months, before Riley called Nick to tell him that she had procured all the magic materials that Nick wanted. By that time, only one week had passed on Grand Earth. Nick mused:
(The advantage of cultivating in another realm with a faster flow of time than Grand Earth is clear, but I doubt that time saved is the end-all be-all when it comes to meditation or other forms of cultivation. Having a lot of time is great, but it's useless if you don't spend that time doing the right things. The non-progress made by Ben, Jordan, Shawn, and Tony is the best example. I left them within Forgotten Peril for over two years, and they seemed to hardly make any progress towards becoming rank 3.)
Nick then pondered what it would take for him to become rank 3 middle stage:
(Active meditation is a basic requirement, but the purpose of the meditation is to aid in the development of the mindscape, which would, by extension, increase the quality of the stored magic energy. Theoretically, meditation is not the only way to do that, but it is the safest and least expensive way to develop your mindscape. That being said, the length of time that you have spent meditating is probably a good indicator of how developed your mindscape is, but that is only in a typical case.
How many great Magicians are typical people? The answer is none? Besides meditation, to raise my stage, I will have to find other ways of developing my mindscape and increasing the quality of my magic energy qualitatively. I suspect that is the real test that determines how strong a Magician will become, given a certain amount of time; the grade of the mindscape that a Magician has seems to be only a useful starter package for tackling that challenge.)
Nick returned to his workspace using his space path magic formation, where Riley was already waiting for him after James let her bypass the security check within the elevator. The moment that Nick appeared, Riley dumped all the magic materials that she had procured onto the workspace's concrete floor. Nick stood by while she did so; after forming a large pile of the various magic materials, she explained to Nick:
"All these magic materials cost about 86 vatas and mostly include rank 3 blade path, space path, formation path, and soul path materials. There are also a few hundred high-quality pieces of rank 2 magic materials of each path in the mix."
Nick internally sighed when he heard that report:
(Although I estimated the cost of the magic materials at 60 vatas, I ended up underestimating the cost by 26 vatas; that's an over two trillion pound difference. I can't begin to imagine how other rank 3 Magicians progress in their cultivation without using large amounts of money. After buying all these materials, I am left with a little over 80 vatas deposited in the corporate account. I need to get to work.)
Nick thanked Riley and dismissed her, following which, he spent two days inspecting each material using Eyes of the Fated to make sure that all the magic materials except the formation path materials were not tampered with. Nick could not so deeply inspect the formation path materials using his talent because there was no such thing as an affinity for formation path magic energy, and even if there was, Nick did not have the affinity, anyway.
During those two days, Nick had separated all the magic materials by path and rank. Following that, Nick moved to a section of his workspace that had nothing but unobstructed space and touched the floor using his right index finger. He immediately cast a spell after that:
(Big Copy.)
Following the activation of Big Copy, the five-meter-radius area around Nick emanated faint sparks of red light. After ten seconds, the red sparks dissipated, and the base of a magic formation formed below Nick's feet to occupy that area. The magic formation consisted of a red pigment that was used to draw hundreds of thousands of Valteesian symbols that were arranged in the pattern of a three-pointed star. Nick rose and straightened his posture once the magic formation's base was entirely visible.
As soon as the magic formation's base appeared, the flow of a large portion of the magic energy within the workspace changed drastically, and its aimless movement was perceptibly altered to focus on converging towards the magic formation's base. At that time, without even spreading his magic sense too far from his body, Nick was able to sense a thick cloud of formless and mixed space and blade magic energy.
Nick was amazed at the effectiveness of his incomplete creation:
(This is the base of the rank 3 Advanced Blade Works Formation. I developed it during the period that I also developed most of my other rank 3 methods, and I estimate that it will be one of the most powerful of all my rank 3 methods once completed. I had the design for this magic formation in my back pocket because I could not afford to complete it due to it requiring a large amount of rank 3 formation path, blade path, and space path magic materials, in addition to rank 2 magic materials. The magic materials necessary to complete it at least cost 36 vatas, which was outside my financial reach until now.
This intermediate-grade space path and blade path magic formation consists of nearly four and a half million Valteesian symbols. I suspect that its magic power is so profound that it would not be easy for me to imprint it effectively on a piece of magic material, unlike the original Blade Works Formation that I had imprinted on a badge made of rank 2 magic materials, without eventually destroying whatever I imprinted it on. After all, I am not a magic tool specialist, nor do I know much about refinement path, but because I am a master of formation path, space path, and blade path, that is what my intuition has led me to believe. The latter point would usually place a limit on the Advanced Blade Works Formation's usefulness during unplanned battles, but I have a solution to the problem.)
Nick cast Saturn and used its power to raise the magic materials that he would be assimilating into the Advanced Blade Works Formation from the ground. He then levitated the magic materials towards himself and arranged them at specific points along the magic formation's surface, with most of the formation path magic materials being placed along the magic formation's perimeter.
Minutes later, according to Nick's will, waves of silver and grey lights moved across the Advanced Blade Works Formation's surface, and during a process that took fifteen minutes to complete, all the magic materials arranged over the magic formation were assimilated completely, its red pigment now transformed to glow with a persistent dust-grey light. The formation radiated formless magic power that made it clear that it was related to both space path and blade path. Nick commented:
"I did not design concealment abilities into the Advanced Blade Works Formation, but I also did not expect it to bleed magic power like this. If I planned to use this magic formation typically, this quality would have to be fixed for it to be useful because no one would come near this magic formation once they sensed its intense magic power, and no one would just watch as I laid it below their feet."
Nick slowly stooped down as the magic formation's formless power bathed him. He immersed his right hand in a portion of the magic formation's dust-grey light and closed his eyes, immediately beginning to chant his meditation technique. After two minutes of no reaction, the Advanced Blade Works Formation began emanating black miasma from sections all over its surface. That situation endured for about ten minutes before the Advanced Blade Works Formation rapidly transformed into black miasma and flowed into Nick's body until the magic formation completely vanished from the workspace.
At that time, within Nick's mindscape...
In one section of the mindscape, amidst the flowing black miasma, a large cluster of grey light appeared, glowing vaguely. Nick's consciousness observed the grey light for a seemingly long time until the grey light finally manifested into the form of a magic formation that had the shape of a three-pointed star, consisting of many Valteesian symbols. As soon as the magic formation was fully formed, the black miasma surrounding it began concentrating and revolving around its perimeter, soon forming a cyclone of magic energy that enveloped the Advanced Blade Works Formation.
Nick mused:
(This is the most pronounced ability of my mindscape. When I designed my meditation technique and formation laws, I did not intend for my mindscape to be able to contain magic formations, but this is the result of my work, even though I don't fully understand the mechanism that produces this effect. In addition, I only noticed this ability because of one strange revelation that I had during my first few rounds of meditation after I became rank 3, which left me with knowledge of the ability. Apparently, my mindscape can actively store one magic formation and project its power into the outside world.)
Nick stopped meditating and ejected his consciousness from his mindscape. He opened his eyes and stood up from his stooping position. Nick then expended slight effort by thinking of his Advanced Blade Works Formation:
(Advanced Blade Works.)
Within Nick's mindscape, the dust-grey light of the Advanced Blade Works Formation suddenly intensified and spread throughout all of Nick's mindscape. Nick himself immediately disappeared from his workspace, and the next moment, he found himself standing in a place with nothing but light-brown sand as far as the eye could see. The sky appeared to be a black void, but the space was well-lit despite there being no apparent light source.
The spirals within Nick's blue eyes suddenly increased in rotation speed and developed a red hue that beautifully mixed with the blue hue, but remained separate in contrast. Nick's body radiated with formless space magic power at this time as he looked up at the black void, but unlike with the adjacent space produced by Pluto, Nick could not 'see' through the void to observe his original space. He reasoned:
(This is not a natural adjacent space that my method just takes advantage of, like with Pluto or Grey Room; instead, it is a completely unrelated special space conjured by the Advanced Blade Works Formation itself that is positioned similarly to a natural adjacent space, but its other qualities are slightly different. To see through the void, I would have to alter the magic formation, but without extensive trial and error tests, doing that would probably weaken this magic formation's ability to trap another Magician within this space. I will attempt to make improvements at a later point in my cultivation.)
Nick quickly summoned the damaged Failed Tool from his older space band, and it hovered in the space. Failed Tool was then filled with formless blade magic power that intensified the ambient air pressure immediately surrounding it by three times. Nick was satisfied that the magic formation was working properly when he saw such changes. Nick willed, and he suddenly disappeared from the special space, leaving Failed Tool behind.
One moment later, he stood in his workspace again in the same spot that he had disappeared from before. Nick raised his right hand and willed, following which, his right grip became filled with a mix of space and blade magic power, following which, Failed Tool immediately appeared within his right grip. However, before Nick had the opportunity to swing the sword, Failed Tool turned to grey ash, which fell to the floor.
Nick creased his brows in response to the sword's destruction and sighed before saying:
"Damaged swords should not be kept within the Advanced Blade Works Formation."
Nick waved his right hand, and the ash that remained in his grip was thrown to the ground. Nick then summoned the unsheathed Stoic Grave and Hard Marvel from his older space band into his left and right grip, respectively. After that, Nick willed, and the two swords suddenly became filled with a mix of space and blade magic that did not seem to interfere with the swords' own magic power. One moment later, the swords disappeared from Nick's grip.
Nick then clapped both his hands together, following which, Stoic Grave and Hard Marvel instantly appeared at his left and right sides, respectively, floating slightly above his shoulders with their tips pointed towards the ceiling. Nick once again gripped his two swords' hilts and swung them downwards with force, using inhumanly quick hand speeds. Slight gusts of wind were generated at both Nick's sides following his sword swings.
Seeing that the swords remained in pristine condition, Nick willed, and they were stored in his Advanced Blade Works Formation's special space once again. Nick closed his eyes to inspect his mindscape and saw that the magic formation was now discreetly hiding amidst the black miasma with its dust-grey light hardly being visible, but Nick could tell that the quality of his magic energy had risen higher due to the presence of the magic formation.
The draconic figure that walked on the concrete-like road was still made of black miasma, but seemed to move much more like a flesh-and-blood creature, and the intelligence that was revealed by its gaze had increased somewhat.
Nick mused:
(The presence of the Advanced Blade Works Formation has incidentally enriched my own magic energy. Outcomes like this are how I push my cultivation forward and raise my rank's stage. I just have to keep working.)
Nick ejected his consciousness from his mindscape and walked over to the remaining magic materials on the floor. He stored them within his newer space band. Nick then called Dewy, who accepted the call almost immediately; Nick said:
"Dewy, I am returning to Forgotten Peril for about two months. Keep everything in order while I am gone. See to it that Carl continues to have the operations personnel familiarize themselves with the Calamity Processing Formations, as well as be trained in processing other kinds of magic materials. As for the rank 2 Magicians, have Joyce find them instructors for their relevant specializations and have them tutored while I am gone. Their sole task is to become better Magicians while I am absent, because when I return, I will have plenty of work for them to do. Hmmm...also, I want Riley and Hank to be given tutors as well to help them familiarize themselves more intimately with different magic materials and items."
Dewy accepted the instructions, and Nick hung up the phone. Nick then called his other managers and informed them of his wishes. Nick did not waste any time after that and used one of his space path magic formations to go to his house in Sidon. Nick did not leave the house, however, and pulled up one of his folding chairs as soon as he got there.
Nick summoned his tablet computer from his older space band and began working on the design for a new magic formation. When he instructed Riley to procure magic materials, he had her obtain a few varieties of soul path, space path, and formation path magic materials in great quantities, but that only consisted of metals and special non-metals.
(That was because I had long since intended to produce a rank 3 magic formation similar to Silent Ark in structure. I just couldn't afford the cost of buying good rank 3 materials before. Now that I have decent materials in hand, what I have left to do is design the magic formation. Unlike Silent Ark, however, this magic formation will specialize in defense, suppression, and movement. I will use it to help me deal with the rank 3 magic beasts living within Reckless Sate and create an area where I can cultivate the calamity lilies long term.)
Nick knew exactly what qualities he would need to do well in Reckless State because he had explored the region for over a year, but he had to admit that constructing a rank 3 magic formation like Silent Ark would not be easy. Now, he would not just be assimilating magic materials into the magic formation's base, but he would also be constructing physical components that have to be matched and work together on top of the magic formation's base.
It's like the difference between designing a steel pot and designing a rice cooker. The latter was tens of times harder to do than the former, even though both items could perform the same job, but the efficiency and convenience of the rice cooker could not be realistically matched by the steel pot.
Nick had enough food within his older space band to last him a long time, so he just focused on his design. Nick made sure to keep track of time as he was giving himself a deadline of five years, the equivalent of two months on Grand Earth, to complete this task.
During the following period, if Nick's design wound up requiring magic materials that he did not possess, he would call Riley and have her procure the necessary magic materials and have one of his rank 2 Magicians bring them to the house in Sidon using his space path magic formation and then leave the same way.
Nick had begun doing that two years into the design of the magic formation, and by the end of the fourth year, Nick had finally finished the design, with the total estimated cost of constructing his new magic formation to be about 81 vatas or £8,100,000,000,000. Nick knew that this was not a small cost; it was over ten times the cost of constructing Silent Arc. Additionally, Nick had Riley procure and send him 16,000,000 rank 2 magic beast souls, which cost him about 5.6 vatas, along with 2,000,000 rank 3 magic beast souls, which cost roughly 4.2 vatas.
The purpose of the magic beast souls was to provide an alternative fuel that the magic formation could use in its operation. Before Nick began using his design to physically construct his new magic formation, he named the magic formation Space Craft, and it was indeed supposed to amount to a rank 3, intermediate-grade, space path, and soul path magic formation.
Nick first conjured the magic formation's base in midair using the effects of Big copy; the magic formation's base consisted of about six million symbols drawn in both Valteese and D-Soul. The magic formation base's shape was that of a rhombus and could be actively resized to facilitate constructing the magic formation within Nick's relatively small house. Over the following year, Nick assimilated magic materials into the magic formation's base slowly and used his own magic energy and power to shape and install various components onto the magic formation's base to create a physical structure.
At the end of that one year, Nick sat in his house and wearily eyed the saucer-shaped device in front of him that passively radiated a mix of soul and space magic energy. Nick could do nothing about the bleeding magic energy because he had not considered it in the first place, and to fix it, the entire magic formation would have to be broken down and redesigned, which was not something that Nick planned to do any time soon.
Space Craft's body was designed to look like a saucer that curved outwards at both its base and its apex. Its relatively high sides were lined with an opaque, soul path glass material called cursed shard, and the rest of its exterior was made of a smooth, soul path metal material called cold silver that was colored a dull shade of silver.
Space Craft maintained a perfect balance at all times while it rested on the floor, despite its uneven surface, and horizontally rotated in place without Nick's direct influence, having already been fueled with 18,000,000 rank 3 and rank 2 souls as well as the magic materials that were assimilated into its base. Nick mused:
(Space Craft's fuel reserves might seem like a lot, but for this magic formation to operate fully, it really isn't, and I estimate that without getting help from other rank 3 Magicians, I would only be able to operate it fully for six months before I would have to deactivate it for refueling.)
Nick slowly raised himself to his feet and proceeded to store Space Craft within his newer space band. Nick soon muttered:
"Times up. I have to get on the move or my company will be put in a dangerous financial position again."
Financial documents and reports had been regularly sent to Nick, so he was well aware that after the expenditures of the past two months, The Realm Exploration Company only had about 20 vatas remaining, and while that seemed like a hefty sum, many situations could result in that money going up in smoke, and so Nick was eager to push his plans forward.
Nick returned to his workspace within his company's building using one of his space path magic formations. He planned to do some overdue paperwork and collect more formation path and space path magic materials from Riley. Nick took a shower in his fifth-floor office, got a few hours of sleep on his office's carpet, and then got dressed in an azure colored silk polo shirt, a pair of fitted, dark-blue jeans, and a pair of black leather work boots.
He had Riley meet him within the fourth floor's first conference room, where Riley dumped the formation path and space path magic materials that Nick needed. Nick dismissed Riley and spent a few days inspecting the materials before storing them in his newer space band. Nick then had Kurt and Sai present him with paperwork that he was supposed to look through and sign, and this took him about two days to do because the volume of documents to look through was high.
Kurt and Sai honestly felt uncomfortable being around Nick because of the latter's almost pathological focus. Every time they interacted with him, Nick seemed less and less like the young man that they had met a year ago, but they still felt grateful to him because, up to now, he had given them job security and paid them very well.
With bloodshot eyes and an indifferent expression glued to his face, Nick handed all the documents back to Kurt and Sai and dismissed them. After that, Nick called Joyce on his smartphone and informed her:
"Joyce, during the next month, I will likely need all the rank 2 Magicians to meet me at my house in Sidon within Forgotten Peril. Make sure that they are ready to move at a moment's notice."
Joyce simply replied:
"No problem, Nick."
Nick hung up his smartphone and called Dewy; when the latter accepted the call, Nick instructed him:
"Dewy, I am going to need the services of an inter-realm construction company in the near future. I need you and Sai to go ahead and negotiate a contract for those services? What I'll need built is a fortress in the middle of the wilderness of another realm. You don't need to try to get the best price. Get me people who know what they're doing!"
Dewy was caught off guard by Nick's request, but as long as they had the money, he could secure the services of such a company in relatively short order. Dewy replied:
"I will see it done as soon as possible. No worries."
Nick hung up the phone and returned to Sidon using one of his space path magic formations. Nick left his house and cast Saturn, following which, he flew towards its gates while remaining two feet off the ground. This was something that Nick had done a few times without a hitch, but his time, something unexpected happened.
As soon as Nick reached within six meters of the settlement's gates, a group of five people walked through the gate, and one of them pointed at the fast-approaching Nick and screamed at the top of his lungs:
"Nick Capitol! Bastard, I've finally found you! I swear that I'll gut you for murdering my brother!..."
Nick stopped flying forward and remained stationary in midair as soon as he heard the accusation. Nick squinted his bloodshot eyes and observed the screaming man until a few seconds later, a name popped into his head:
(Austin Campbell.)
Nick had met the blonde-haired man years ago, within Forgotten Peril, when Austin and his brother, Malone Campbell, had tried to rob him. Nick ended up killing Malone while Austin escaped. Later, Keller Oxar informed Nick that Austin had been hiring other rank 3 Magicians to help find and deal with him, but to Nick, that had been old and irrelevant news until now.
Austin wore a brown magician's robe along with a pair of black leather combat boots. The five men standing around Austin looked like a serious bunch of hooligans who each wore a different colored magician's robe along with a pair of black or brown combat boots. The man standing closest to Austin's right side wore a green magician's robe, had tanned, white skin, dark eyes, an athletic body that was of average height, sported a persistently smug grin, and had a head full of curly, black hair.
The green-robed man began speaking after Austin identified Nick:
"So, this is the man that we have been chasing all these years. He doesn't look like much. Little Austin, same deal, right? If I kill him, you'll hand over your wind path inheritance to me?"
Austin turned his head slightly to focus on the green-robed man and spoke sincerely despite his clear agitation:
"Harris, I will give you my wind path inheritance, and the rest of you will get £1,000,000,000 each if Nick Capitol dies today. I am a man of my word. I just want my poor brother to be avenged after all these years."
The man, who was apparently named Harris, chuckled while thinking:
(This dumb kid paid our living expenses for years to get help in finding and dealing with one guy. Although I am sad that I will no longer be able to get free meals and cultivation resources, a wind path inheritance like the one Austin has should suffice as a severance payment. Man, that white-haired guy is unlucky. To think that we would meet him at the gates.)
Harris spoke to the other men around him at this time:
"I think that we all have gotten pretty close in the past few years, right gents? Let's work together to end this bastard quickly."
The three other men replied to Harris with flippant tones:
"One cherub is no problem."
"Listen, Harris, don't think that you can have an entire inheritance to yourself. I will be checking the accounts after we take care of business."
"Let's get this over with. I want to have dinner. To think that we expended all that effort to find a baby-faced greenhorn."
...
While they talked to each other, all five men began exuding magic energy from their bodies, revealing that they were all rank 3 initial stage. The rank 2 guards at the gate of Sidon visibly grew nervous and backed away from the scene. Nick was annoyed at the interruption to his plans by these people, whom he did not even know. He had already heard their words, so he did not plan on letting them go, but he also did not want to fight within the settlement:
(I'll break them beyond the walls.)
Harris took one step forward towards Nick, using his right leg, while malice oozed from his expression. However, by the time that he had taken that one step, Nick already had his five right-hand fingers pointed at the group of rank 3 Magicians. Within the next second, five grapefruit-sized spheres of grey magic power appeared in contact with each rank 3 Magician's abdomen, following which, each rank 3 Magician was launched like a thrown baseball to the outside of the settlement.
Each rank 3 Magician was eventually able to stop his backward movement and stabilize himself, which allowed him to stand on his two feet or slightly hover above the ground once he forcefully dispelled the space magic power that acted on his body; Austin and Harris were the only ones who hovered. The men were thrown at least twenty meters away from the settlement's entrance, with Harris being the closest to the settlement gates.
Harris' body was currently enveloped by a revolving gust of pale-brown wind, and just as he was about to rush forward towards the settlement to face Nick again, a flash of blue light appeared at his immediate front. Suddenly, Harris sensed himself being bathed in space magic.
(Advanced Blade Works.)