"I admit to my defeat. Turns out that being a Magician is…hard."
As soon as Chris Umber uttered those words, he canceled Harmonic Cushion. The bright-yellow sound waves quickly receded into his body, and then dispersed, bringing his magical output to nothing.
Lister then acted, immediately disappearing from his standing position meters away, and reappearing at Chris' right side. Lister stooped down to place his hand near to the bleeding site on Chris' left leg that was currently not much more than a bloody stump.
Lister concentrated his magic power into Chris' leg, following which, Homer, and Chris sensed the distinct signature of soul magic erupt from the latter's injury.
Chris almost immediately felt his entire body become itchy, soon after which, he began to feel an intense burning sensation all over his body. He gritted his teeth in pain as his thoughts spun:
(My knowledge of soul path is lacking, but this burning should be caused by Lister stimulating my soul. What is he trying to do exactly? My leg is the problem, not my soul…)
Even with these thoughts present, Chris did not attempt to interfere with Lister's magic because he knew that there were consequences within the Order of the United Realm for doing lasting harm to its employees. Besides, within about a minute, Chris began feeling his leg regrowing solid mass.
Homer Fen stepped back by over ten feet, and looked on while sporting an interested gaze as Chris' left leg regrew to full size within the span of moments. The regenerated leg was bare of any covering, and it radiated the aura of soul magic for a few seconds after it had been regrown before the soul path aura vanished like it had never existed. Homer's thoughts at this time were:
(Lister Nefari...graduated at the top of his class at Britain's Grim Lord Academy, specializes in soul path, and is currently rank 3 middle stage. Rumors are that he has a divergent mindscape, and a very troublesome soul path inheritance to guide his development. Not that any of that matters to me much. Hmmm…despite being skilled in soul path which is one of the choice paths for combat specialists, he is evidently a decent healer. Even I don't have a rank 3 spell that can so effectively heal another rank 3 Magician…)
After completely healing Chris' leg, Lister stood up, and waited for his fallen colleague to gather himself; Homer also waited. Feeling the pain coursing throughout his body recede, and that his left leg had been restored, Chris slowly got to his feet.
Once he stood straight up, Chris flexed his left leg a bit before speaking to Lister using a flat tone while sporting a cold expression:
"Thanks for that; I appreciate the healing. I suppose you had a point to prove using this little situation…"
Chris suddenly stopped speaking, then stared at the naked Homer for a few seconds, his gaze filled with an indication of complicated emotions. He soon retracted his gaze, and quipped:
"Aren't you cold? Why don't you put on some clothes, pervert?"
As if just remembering something, Homer looked down at his naked body before tapping his left wrist using his right hand. A see-through space band immediately appeared wrapped around his wrist. At that point, a set of martial arts clothes similar to the one that Homer had previously been wearing appeared over his shoulders.
Homer spent about one minute getting dressed while Chris continued speaking to Lister:
"I get it now. I can't be complacent because there are all sorts of Magicians around that have all sorts of means to achieve their ends. Although I am in the Combat Department, I am not special in terms of combat standards, or methods."
Lister lightly smiled, following which, he clapped his hands together three times before saying:
"I am glad that you get it. Now, I can reasonably trust you in the field, so starting today, you will be a part of my team within the Magic Beast Subjugation Unit."
After saying that, Lister looked over at Homer, who had finished putting on his training uniform, and spoke while maintaining a pleased expression:
"Let's go get you that magic stew, Homer. Chris, you come too; it's my treat."
Chris stared at the slightly smiling Lister coldly while he immediately replied:
"Sure…I have a few questions for you and the pervert, anyway."
Homer frowned intensely when he heard Chris call him 'pervert' again, and retorted:
"Hey, don't go around slandering people. I might get angry, and hold a grudge. Don't forget that I won the spar, so I think that you should start calling me senior, or your awesomeness."
Following Homer's words, Chris bitterly spat on the metal floor, and Lister softly chuckled for a while.
*******************************************
"I call the organization the Order of the United Realm while you call it the Order of the United Realms. Why do you add on the unnecessary 's', Lister?"
Lister, Chris, and Homer currently sat in one of the The Order's cafeterias to eat and have a discussion. The cafeteria that they were in was called Red Mezzanine as indicated by the sign above the large, uncovered, rectangular entrance.
The Red Mezzanine had over twenty sets of tables and seats which featured polished metal and wood tables that were bolted onto the floor while also each having six chairs made of the same materials bolted to them.
The cafeteria's floor was lined with smooth, pale-colored concrete, and its ceiling was lined with smooth, white-colored tiles.The area where the food was prepared and usually served was built against one of the four walls of the canteen, covering half of it to reach a height of about four meters.
The various foods were all selectively placed inside a display case where anyone could approach and decide what they wanted, at which point, they could make a request. The cafeteria was manned by less than ten workers, which was appropriate because the Red Mezzanine was not usually all that busy. Homer did not pay much attention to Chris' question, and looked around at the almost people-less cafeteria, thinking:
(Of course this place is usually not that busy. The food here is all imbued with very special food path magic, and so is also very expensive. If Lister weren't the one buying, I would probably have to save for a few months before coming here. Being a Nefari, one of Britain's wealthiest families, must be great…)
Lister heard Chris' question, and answered him patiently in response:
"Order of the United Realm or Order of the United Realms. Although the textbook name is the former, many Magicians, including myself find the latter name more appropriate since our mission is to secure and take advantage of multiple realms, and not just the one that Grand Earth resides in. I guess whether you add on the 's' or not depends on your own opinion, and ideologies."
After hearing that answer, Chris silently contemplated for a few seconds before asking another question:
"What is your opinion that leads you to say Order of the United Realms?"
Lister smiled lightly because he loved to be asked that question. He answered firmly:
"I believe that the ultimate goal of the Order of the United Realms is to colonize realms for us to permanently inhabit when Grand Earth has been depleted of the resources that sustain us Magicians. In that way, The Order will be concerned with the protection, and administration of multiple realms, and not just Grand Earth's."
Chris nodded his head a few times in response to Lister's answer, thinking:
(I don't know if I really agree with him as to whether Grand Earth's magical resources will ever be depleted, but his answer is at least reasonable on the face of it.)
Homer stared absentmindedly while waiting on the special stew to be served to them, but had also been listening to Lister's answer. His eyes soon focused as he turned his head slightly to look at Lister who sat on the same side of the table as him, and who sat opposite to Chris. Homer spoke at this time:
"By calling The Order an alternative name, you are just being pedantic. If Magicians really had to leave Grand Earth permanently, I doubt The Order would continue existing as it currently does while the Magicians reorganized."
Homer then looked at Chris, and said:
"Some Magicians are like this Chris. They like to substantiate their theories by doing petty things, as if slightly changing a name will make their 'ambitions' real."
Chris slightly raised his left eyelid as he noticed how Homer emphasized the word 'ambitions', but did not bother to ask what the latter meant by that. Lister's expression, however, became neutral after hearing his actions being called petty by a junior. He slightly shifted his eyes to look at Homer before saying:
"What man doesn't have ambitions? It is best that you do not try to associate such things with the word 'petty'."
Homer shrugged his shoulders in response to Lister's advice. Feeling that his current line of questioning was now proven to be trivial, Chris asked another question:
"The Order has based its headquarters in Switzerland. I always found that strange since this country is neither the most powerful, magically, or is even home to the strongest Magicians. Why is The Order not based in another country?"
Homer's expression became serious at this time as he also focused on Lister, also wanting to hear the latter's opinion; Homer knew that Lister was in-the-know as a result of being a member of the Nefari family. Lister slightly rubbed his hairless chin in contemplation for a few seconds before beginning to speak:
"From strongest to weakest, the top ten countries in terms of magical ability are: Mexico, United States of America, Nigeria, Canada, Israel, Britain, United Arab Emirates, China, India, and Japan. Switzerland was most likely chosen to base the headquarters of The Order because it has a neutral relationship with all the ten mentioned countries."
Lister stopped speaking for a few seconds before continuing:
"Notice that I said that those countries were strongest in that order in terms of magical ability. That is the case because of particular Magicians that live in them, not because of the quality of their Magicians as a whole. In fact, Switzerland might actually have a better uniform quality of Magicians than any of the ten countries that I mentioned, but as you should know, numbers don't mean much when high-level Magicians compete."
After Lister stopped speaking, Chris lowered his head to look at the table, seemingly contemplating something:
(What Lister said is true, but how comes Nigeria and Mexico have such strong Magicians? Those countries are plagued with extreme violence, corruption, and poverty. They shouldn't be capable of producing top quality Magicians, right?)
Chris soon raised his head, and asked Lister:
"How can poorer and less stable countries have Magicians that can out-compete the Unites States of America's, and Britain's? I originally come from Germany, and as far as I can tell, even we should have better means of producing Magicians that put us in the top ten than Nigeria and Mexico."
Upon hearing his question, Homer smirked at Chris while Lister silently stared at his soon-to-be team member for some time before finally deciding to speak:
"Did you know that in ancient times, lions could be found in many places around the globe? Now, they can only really be found in their natural element within dangerous parts of Africa, surrounded by hyenas, wild dogs and massive crocodiles. Why do you think that such a historically powerful animal has only remained present in a place surrounded by deadly dangers and not in places where there are only prey, and significantly weaker predators?"
After Chris heard Lister's question, his expression visibly indicated his confusion. He thought:
(What the hell do lions have to do with my question? We are talking about Magicians…)
Homer, who was also paying attention to Lister's words, noticed Chris' silent confusion, and chuckled:
"He, he, he. African lions still exist because the strong require ever-present troubles to keep them from going extinct."
After hearing Homer's answer to Lister's question, Chris' confusion deepened, and he blurted out:
"What the hell are you talking about? Magical training is a rigorous, and more often than not, a guided process. Relatively safe nurturing is necessary to produce a Magician with the right foundation. That is why magic academies exist. Are you trying to tell me that the poverty, and corruption in Nigeria and Mexico is what produced their top Magicians?"
At Chris' obvious expression of doubt, Homer merely shrugged his shoulders, and silently welcomed the cafeteria's server that now placed three bowl servings of magic stew on their table using a tray. The server was a dark-skinned male who had well-groomed hair, dark eyes, and that actually wore a magician's robe, emitting the faint aura of a rank 3 middle stage Magician.
The server spoke plainly to the three, ignoring Chris' outburst before leaving:
"Enjoy the Refreshing Stew. It's really good. I did not waste my time specializing in food path."
Chris was internally shocked that someone who specialized in such a rare path was working as cafeteria staff, and watched the dark-skinned Magician's receding back for a while as the latter went back to the kitchen area. After about thirty seconds, Chris turned his attention back to Lister, and Homer, waiting for one of the two to give him an explanation regarding Homer's strange words.
Lister and Homer each retrieved a serving of the Refreshing Stew from the serving tray, and placed it in front of themselves. Chris ignored his serving, and seeing this, Lister spoke to him plainly:
"Eat your stew; it's expensive. About what Homer said…does it at all surprise you that harsh circumstances sometimes produce the strangest…I mean, strongest people?"
Chris heard Lister's words, following which, he stared at his serving of stew, still sporting an expression of confusion while thinking:
(Harsh circumstances sometimes produce the strongest people? The way I remember it, my former classmates and I mocked, and picked on the poorest among us who did not have a clue about serving their betters properly or understanding that certain people had 'special' privileges. How could those people become the strongest?)
*********************************************
Nick's perspective of the room suddenly changed again, and this time, he found himself being assaulted by ocean breeze as he sat on a small island that could not have covered more than two dozen meters in radius. He quickly noticed that his left arm had been restored.
The island only had one oak tree at its center that had a wide, rough trunk that was about two to three meters in diameter, and a large canopy that covered the whole island and much of the water immediately surrounding it. The canopy gave Nick much shade from the harsh sunlight that made the ocean waters beyond the canopy's shade almost sparkle.
Nick's was currently sitting on the hard ground that was made of dark-red dirt with his back against the oak's trunk. He lifted his head to look at the abundant canopy above him, saying absentmindedly:
"Where is this place? Wasn't I about to deal with an intruder within my workspace?"
As Nick looked at the lush, green canopy, a jolly-sounding voice suddenly rang out, questioning him:
"Ha, ha. Someone that asks such useless questions has appeared on my island. Who might you be?"
Nick's eyes opened wide in shock as soon as he heard the voice. He had thought that he was the only person on this island.
"Huh?"
Nick quickly got up from his sitting position, and ran around the oak's trunk twice to find the owner of the voice, but he found no one. Soon, Nick stood on the spot, confused. That was until he heard the voice speak to him again:
"Why are you running around my trunk like a playful child? Does my voice confuse you? The voice of the blameless is usually confusing to those who are cynical and doubtful."
Nick stared upwards at the canopy above him again, unconsciously repeating the words:
"My trunk?"
Nick received no immediate response to his aimless words, so he continued speaking:
"Are you the owner of the voice that I have been seeking? Since you can talk, you must be a magic plant. Quick, tell me where I am."
In response to Nick's demand, the voice rang out again:
"You are standing on Alone Isle. It is the home of myself, Blameless."
Nick listened to Blameless' response, after which, his confusion remained:
(Blameless? That is a weird name for an oak tree. Then again, trees don't usually have names in the first place…)
After spending about one minute gathering his thoughts, Nick continued to speak to the tree:
"Okay, Blameless. What do you suppose that you are doing by calling me cynical and doubtful? You do not know me. That's slander."
Blameless' jolly voice became a little complicated as he replied:
"You must be cynical and doubtful; that is why you came here alone, right? Quite often, the cynical and doubtful choose to be alone. If it was one or the other you might have come here with a friend, after all, both cynicism and doubtfulness love company. But together, they basically induce one to be alone."
Nick heard the response, and balked at being so weirdly psycho-analyzed. He quickly said:
"Forget I asked! I am not even going to bother asking how to get off this island because I kind of feel tired. I am going to sit at the base of your trunk again."
Blameless said nothing in response to Nick's words, and so Nick sat at the base of Blameless' trunk. He then began to look out on the expanse of ocean in front of him. After about four hours of aimless observation, Nick began to notice that beyond the shaded area of the water, a few creatures would lift their heads above the water at regular intervals to look towards the island.
The creatures looked somewhat like sharks, but they had physiques similar to humans, only larger, and their eyes seemed hollow. Nick soon became scared the more he was able see their appearances clearly. He eventually asked Blameless:
"What are those creatures? They seem scary, and they appear to have intentions for this island."
Blameless replied using a complicated tone:
"Those creatures are called societies. Each society looks at this place as a gathering point for prey since the people that come here are usually alone. Societies prey on you if they think that you prefer to be alone."
Nick did not understand what Blameless was saying:
"Huh? Why would that be the case?"
Blameless replied:
"People who are alone are a threat to societies because those people are not easily influenced by them, and are very often blameless."
"I still don't get it."
"Hmmm…take me for example. When I was born on this island, societies bred and walked about with freedom here. There were also many weeds that they fed on instead of people. The societies called those weeds weakness, and corruption. During my earlier years of growth, the societies treated me with contempt because I appeared inedible and feeble, even going so far as to piss at my roots every once in a while.
Eventually, I grew into a much bigger oak, and my canopy covered much of this island in shade. Under my shadow, weakness and corruption stopped growing, and so the societies fled because they were afraid of my shadow."
Nick asked curiously:
"What is so scary about your shadow? Were the societies scared because you cast such a big shadow?"
Blameless replied:
"The blameless often cast a big shadow as they grow in conviction. I had the conviction of many trees similar to myself - to grow as large as I could. Much of the weeds of weakness, and corruption died as my shadow loomed over them, but that was not my aim. It was just too hard for the weeds to steal the nutrients of the soil as I grew bigger. I was blameless!"
Nick did not speak and waited for Blameless to continue:
"Eventually, I had grown so large that the weeds on the island all died and none regrew. The societies fled from my shade, exiling themselves to the surrounding ocean waters beyond it. They even gave this island the name that it now has - Alone Isle, because I was alone here. But that did not matter to me because as the years passed, my roots, trunk and canopy grew thicker, and stronger.
At some point, people started appearing on Alone Isle, but they all appeared alone. Apparently, the societies became attracted to the doubts and cynicism of these people, and longed to come back to the island to eat them just like how they had previously sustained themselves on the weeds of weakness and corruption. If not for the shadow that I, Blameless, cast, those societies would have encircled, and eaten up those people for sure."
Nick asked curiously:
"What happened to those people?"
Blameless' voice became jolly again as he replied:
"The more time that those people spent on this island, the more their cynicism and doubts went away until they vanished completely. The people did not pay attention to the societies, and so also became blameless. At that point, the societies began to abhor them, and no longer wanted to eat those people, so the people simply swam away from the island to carry on among the societies. Sometimes those same people return here to be alone before leaving again. Societies hate the blameless, because the blameless cannot be consumed by them."
Nick contemplated Blameless' words for a few minutes:
(The blameless cannot be consumed by the voracious societies…)
Nick soon had another question for Blameless:
"Even if the societies cannot consume the blameless, surely they could have attacked and killed them."
Blameless enlightened Nick:
"The societies did attack the blameless, almost killing many, but the blameless often grow much stronger amid the pressure of the societies after being on Alone Isle; just like I did. Eventually, the blameless became too strong for the societies to harm, and so the blameless carried on as they intended. Without the weights of cynicism and doubt, the blameless were also unburdened and able to swim freely to the depths of the ocean and rise again."
Blameless stopped speaking thereafter, and Nick was left alone with his own thoughts:
(Am I a cynic? Am I doubtful? I guess I have seen and heard a little too much, but I don't think that is such a bad thing. The problem is that cynicism and doubt has influenced my actions many times up to this point. Hmmm…they probably prevented me from using Carla Jenner to the fullest extent that I could have before I distanced myself from her. They also might have led me to mostly shutting the world away, which is why I am getting caught off guard by people who suddenly appear at my company's doorsteps to cause trouble…)
Nick reflected on his past actions and his own ideologies for seemingly days while basically being alone. After that time, he got up from the base of the oak tree, and slowly walked to the island's shoreline.
He stared at the calm ocean waters for a while before making a decision. He spoke to Blameless without turning his head:
"Blameless, I am leaving the island."
Blameless responded to Nick using a tone of curiosity:
"Have you really rid yourself of your cynicism and doubts already? If you jump into the waters otherwise, the societies might just take the risk of dealing with me to come and consume you. Be careful!"
Nick calmly replied:
"Once I decided that I had more important things to consider, and aim for, getting rid of cynicism and doubt was actually very easy. I am ready to swim with the societies."
Blameless went silent for a few seconds before responding softly:
"...So be it."
Nick immediately jumped into the shaded waters, and swam towards the edge of the shade. Following that, over a dozen societies raised their heads above the water, glaring at Nick, and one of them sneered:
"Here comes another one of Blameless' converts, thinking that he is sweet-smelling shit because we cannot sense his cynicism or doubts, and so we cannot consume him. Hmph! Brothers, let us deal with him once he has left the shade because he will not sincerely cooperate with us."
Another of the societies spoke at this time:
"Right, it is possible for the blameless to swim with us societies without being sincere with us. That man will pay for his arrogance!"
One of the societies shouted at Nick at this time, when the latter was about to leave the shade:
"Friend, come over here! We will not harm you. If you did not know, I will tell you. We societies love stubborn and clueless people like you the most. Mingle with us, and we will surely honor you."
While the latter society spoke, it brandished its teeth and raised its claws threateningly at Nick. Nick was at first slightly stumped by the discrepancy between the society's words and actions until he heard Blameless' warning:
"Be cautious! There are many hypocrites among the societies!"
The societies seemed to also hear Blameless' warning to Nick, and so immediately swam forward to attack Nick, who had just left the shade of Blameless' canopy. As the societies menacingly approached, Nick's expression stiffened into a distinct sternness, but his heart felt lighter than it had been in years.
Nick suddenly felt inspired as a sudden realization hit him. He unconsciously spoke his newly acquired knowledge aloud, and many societies heard him:
"So, that's it. The societies are quick to act when the uncomfortable truth becomes known. So that's why they can survive without being able to consume the weeds of weakness and corruption anymore - weakness, and corruption are stored up within them."
After the societies heard Nick speak, their hollow eyes became blood-shot and red while they screamed in unison:
"Kill him!"
At that time, Nick's perspective suddenly changed again.
********************************************
Nick once again found himself standing upside down on what seemed like the ceiling of his workspace. His left arm was mostly missing and he sensed strange light path magic all around him. Nick felt an intense sense of urgency at this time, and so he cast a spell that he intuited could relieve him of his current predicament:
(Pluto.)
Nick's body then radiated with intense space magic power, and the space within inches of his body warped, following which he disappeared from his position. The space affected by Pluto's power calmed a few moments later.
Nick now currently sat cross-legged on the seemingly concrete ground of the special space created by his spell's magic power. He canceled all of his active spells except Tyrant Armor. Tyrant Armor's sparking black, defensive cover was not, however, present at this time.
Nick looked at the void of the special space, following which, his spiraling eyes developed a strange red-blue hue. Nick tried to peer into the space of his original workspace, but he experienced magical interference that made what he saw seem hazy, and unclear. Nick's thoughts spun rapidly, and eventually he came to a few conclusions:
"The light magic of the intruder incorporates principles of space path. That is the reason for all the weird phenomena that I have witnessed while dealing with the intruder's light magic. Naturally, there are high quality spells that incorporate the strengths of other paths, but this is the first time that I have encountered one that does so to such an extreme.
The intruder can basically use his light path spells to create places akin to special spaces. The major downside for me is that my deep seeker dragon powers do not benefit from the phenomena, as is evident by this magical interference."
Nick went silent for a bit, and his eyes returned to their normal hue before he continued:
"This intruder is strong, very strong, but I still have to eliminate him since he's currently trespassing on my property…"
Remembering what he learned from his last vision, Nick came to a decision:
"I don't care about the intruder's motives, or his origin. I just need to defeat him, for now. He is a rank 3 initial stage, light path Magician as far as I can tell. This will be interesting at least."
Nick quickly summoned Stoic Grave from his space band into his right grip. After that, he mobilized Tyrant Armor's sparking black magic power to cover himself and Stoic Grave completely. Nick then cast Pluto again, and left his special space.
The moment that Nick reappeared at his previous position within the special space created by the intruder's light magic, he cast two of his other spells:
(Tyrant Domain.)
(Saturn.)
The entire space around Nick was suddenly inundated with grey-colored magic power that pulsed out from him in all directions. The space warped violently before the light magic began to be noticeably suppressed. Within a few seconds, Nick grasped the situation, and muttered:
"Intruder, you are still too green."
Within Nick's original workspace, Reyphas lightly landed on the floor, sporting a visibly complicated expression. He thought:
(This Nick not only temporarily escaped the influence of my Opaque Mirror - Identical Domain, but he is also succeeding in so precisely tearing it apart. Which prodigy did Shooster really send me to threaten?)
Reyphas had received information about Nick from Shooster, but the information only mentioned that Nick was a promising, young Magician that graduated from Richter Order Academy months ago, and some other irrelevant facts. It had not properly detailed just how strong Nick was.
(I have been hanging out within this building for a while, but all I can tell is that this Nick is an aspiring tycoon with a barely decent resource extraction operation. I could not do my own background check because my family, being from Denmark, does not have much reach in England. Shooster also forbade me from using The Order's resources to pry into Nick's details further…)
While Reyphas was contemplating, a section of space about fourteen meters away from him warped violently before Nick appeared standing on the floor, enveloped by the warping space. The space within the room soon developed a slightly grey hue. A line of blood then slowly ran down from the right side of Reyphas' lips - a consequence of his spell being expertly broken by Nick.
Reyphas squinted his eyes while wiping the blood from his face using his right hand. At this point his clothes stopped moving like ripples in a pond, and became almost normal. Reyphas then seriously directed a question at Nick:
"You are clearly skilled in space path, but still. How did you break through my Identical Domain like you had studied it for years? What is your attainment in space path?"
The warping space around Nick became calm at this time, and then Nick sternly replied to Reyphas:
"That's none of your god damn business!"
(Neptune.)
Reyphas witnessed a flash of blue light instantly envelop Nick, following which, Nick and the blue light disappeared, and then reappeared within a few feet of himself. The blue light faded, and Nick struck out quickly as soon as Stoic Grave was within reach of Reyphas.
(Of course I broke your light path spell. I stacked Tyrant Domain's and Saturn's powers to generate a precise counter to the space path principles that your spell consisted of. Your light path attainment is definitely high, but so is my space path attainment. Tyrant Aurora!)
Stoic Grave shone intensely with grey blade light, while Nick slashed at Reyphas using the soul path sword. Reyphas was immediately enveloped in grey blade light before Stoic Grave even sliced into him. For a moment, he felt some hairs on his body falling away, but acted quickly enough to block most of the damage from the blade light:
(Dull Halo)
A slight halo of white light was continuously emitted from all parts of Reyphas' body within an instant, and that blocked most of Nick's blade light. Knowing that the blade of Nick's sword was still coming for him, Reyphas acted further, out-speeding Nick's swordplay with his own spell casting:
(I am a Light Magician, after all. My magic has to be faster than a moving sword. Dull Afterimages!)
Afterimages of Reyphas that identically resembled him except for their duller shade, were immediately projected so that they appeared at a curved angle, going around Nick's left side, ending at his immediate rear, but before Reyphas could act further, Nick thought:
(I can sense his spell's effect clearly because of my active Tyrant Domain and Saturn. He is a Light Magician, but I should be able to keep up with him as long as I don't slack in my focus. That means I can only maintain one more advanced grade spell during our battle…)
The last afterimage at Nick's rear suddenly became far less dull compared to the others, at which point, it tried to raise its right hand towards Nick, but Nick countered.
His blade path sword, Hard Marvel, suddenly appeared within his left grip as he cast Tyrant Form, and turned slightly to swing Hard Marvel at Reyphas' last afterimage. Nick cast Tyrant Aurora once again, but this time by using Hard Marvel's black, obsidian-like blade.
Reyphas, who had already taken the place of his last afterimage was enveloped by blade light that ironically turned his world dark as night. Reyphas swallowed some of his saliva, and cast his Dull Halo spell again, defending himself adequately from the black blade light before using the power of Dull Afterimages to switch place with the afterimage that was positioned midway between Nick's front and rear.
During that time, Nick's grey and black blade lights destroyed the two afterimages that had taken up Reyphas' previous positions, not even lasting until Nick's swords slashed them.
Nick's blade lights quickly dissipated as he dispelled them, and focused on Reyphas' new position. Nick shifted his left foot slightly while swinging Hard Marvel at Reyphas at blinding speed.
Reyphas of course, already had his next spell ready for use, and was acting to resolve it, but he was still a little troubled by the fact that Nick could somehow keep up with the fast spell casting of a light path master like himself:
(Only another master could possibly keep up with me. Nick must be a space path, soul path, or blade path master. No wonder Shooster sent me here. There is no way that The Order is not going to have someone like this fulfill the obligation that is levied on almost everyone who receives a public scholarship to attend a magic academy.)
Reyphas quickly raised his right index finger, and pointed it at Nick, following which, rainbow colored light twinkled at his right index fingertip.
(Many Light Mirror - Rainbow Shot)
At this point, Reyphas was only standing a few feet away from Nick, and so Nick immediately sensed a wave of harsh light magic wash over him as he was immersed in rainbow light. This, however, did not halt Nick's movements, or his following spell casting:
(Tyrant Aurora.)
(Sheer Hold.)
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
At that moment, Reyphas sensed both blade magic and soul magic erupt from Nick's body, and he became slightly confused:
(Space path, soul path, and blade path. This guy is already actively using three different paths during battle while being at rank 3 initial stage. Isn't he afraid that his brain will explode? Hmph! Don't think that you are special because you have some skill…)
Nick swung Hard Marvel adeptly towards Reyphas using his sword technique as his Tyrant Armor was being scorched by rainbow light. Black and rainbow lights mixed for a while as intense magic powers collided, causing both Magicians to grit their teeth from the resulting pressure alone.
Rainbow Shot lasted for all of five seconds before the rainbow light dissipated along with the black blade light, revealing the now molten-orange floor below Nick's feet, and Nick's own steaming body.
The power of Rainbow Shot had effectively broken through Tyrant Armor, and destroyed it, but was also consumed by the soul path defense before the rainbow light could seriously injure Nick. Thus his current physical state was stable but his soul ached from being affected by such strong light magic, which resulted in him feeling slightly unfocused and light-headed.
Reyphas' physical state, however, was not so good despite him having cast Dull Halo to fend off most of Nick's sword light and sword strikes. Reyphas stepped backwards continuously as the white halo around him flickered a few times before dissipating.
There were several shallow cuts at his midsection, right shoulder, and left thigh; his suit was ruined. Although they were shallow, the blade magic that saturated the cuts resulted in an intense burning sensation that had Reyphas wishing that he had never come to England. Not only that, but he sensed that a lingering soul path power was acting on his own soul, and limiting his physical movements. Reyphas internally complained:
(Crap! His attacks did more damage than I thought they would. Dull Halo looks simple, but it is a true, blue rank 3 intermediate grade defensive spell that has the potential to be raised to the rank 5 level. Nick's blade magic still got through to me, though, and even created the opportunity for his soul magic to affect me.)
Soon, however, Reyphas' complaints turned to praise as he stopped stepping backwards when he was about six meters away from Nick:
(Not bad…Nick Capitol. I did not waste my time sticking around. You made me experience something slightly interesting.)
Nick quickly recovered from the shock that Rainbow Shot's power gave him, and stepped forward once using his right foot. Before Nick could continue with the battle, Reyphas summoned an ID card from the space band hidden under his right sleeve into his right grip, and then threw it at Nick's feet.
Nick slightly shifted his eyes to look at the ID card. He muttered some of the information that he saw on the ID card aloud:
"Reyphas Stellar…Order of the United Realm, Combat Department…Magician Subjugation Unit? Why the hell is a foreign crony here in London to harass me?"