The next morning the group ate their breakfast and restarted their hunt. The first monsters were found after a few hours of traveling. Max could hear Vel grumbling something about the wards being too strong. They came upon a small clearing with a giant mound of dirt in the middle. Domic explained that it was a nest for Longhorned Shelled Ant.

“The ants are an invasive species that was created by the death of an Eldritch some five thousand years ago.” Domic said, “It has become standard procedure to always destroy the nest if one is found. I guess that means you!”

“You want me to completely wipe out a colony of ants?” Max asked, questioning the ethics.

“Yes, boy. Anything formed from an Eldritch is a plague to the lands. These ants here,” Vel gestured to the hill, “If given enough time, will branch for kilometers. About four hundred years ago, a hill was found to have a few million ants in it. Imagine what they were doing to the surrounding area.”

“That would be a lot of food...” Max said trailing off.

Max looked between the hill and the others. If they are really that bad, I guess I should kill them. The situation seems to be similar to how lionfish are hunted if spotted. Max resolved himself to destroy the hill. The only problem was how.

“How am I supposed to-”

“Water of course.” Vel interrupted. “Then freeze it. Rain could work.... or something else.”

“Oh.”

Max shook his head, thinking about how stupid he was. Rain, of course. Flood the tunnels. But that line of thinking brought up a second issue. Would Max have enough mana and power to create enough rain? He could try recharging mana, but that would mean showing Domic it was possible. Vel and Icarus both said they didn’t want him showing that off.

“Umm. Vel, how am I supposed to get enough water for this?”

Vel gave Max the most dumbfounded expression Max had ever seen.

“Boy. Look with your mana senses, feel for a water source.”

Max grumbled, but eventually looked around using his mana. Max had his eyes closed, but using his mana, and his Space Affinity, he began his search. After about 5 minutes, Max concluded that there was no surface water in the immediate surrounding. He lowered his senses to below the ground, and he spotted it almost instantly. There was a large underground reservoir of water. Part of it was even connected to the nest.

“Oh. I found it.” Max said quietly.

“Finally!” Vel said, echoing her boredom.

Max could feel the small wall holding the water. It was a dam of sorts, using branches and mud to allow a small flow of water into a holding pool. Max started to pull with his manipulation skill. At first the water began to shoot out of the small hole like a pressurized hose, but the water gradually broke down the dam. Water started to flow by itself, its container broken. Water started pouring down into the deeper tunnels.

Ants started to run over to make repairs, but the constant flow of rushing water was too much. The ants quickly regrouped at a further intersection. The flow was lesser, but still proved to be an obstacle. Larger variants of the ants began to sacrifice themselves to block the water, while the smaller ones brought in mud, sticks, and rocks. Max saw what they were doing through his Space Affinity and manipulated the water flow to knock their workers off their intended path.

After about 20 minutes the nest was beginning to overflow, causing a large influx of ants to be outside. Domic helped out, creating a barrier around them, and killing any ants trying to run. Max began his transition into freezing the water. He started with the water reservoir, creating a block of ice to cut the flow of water. Stationary water was much easier to freeze than flowing. After that, he froze the water from the top down, creating a prison of water. Max could see notifications piling up, but he ignored them.

It took a while, and many breaks to refresh his mana, but the whole nest was frozen in ice. Max did not like what he just did but was able to rationalize it. Max sat in silence for a while, Emi curled on his lap, and the other two talking quietly. An hour went by before Max felt it was time to move on. He checked his notifications.

Congratulations you have killed 157 level 6-12 Longhorned Shelled Workers!

646 Experience gained!

Congratulations you have killed 61 level 9-14 Longhorned Shelled Soldiers!

358 Experience gained!

Congratulations you have killed 1 level 25 Longhorned Shelled Queen!

200 Experience gained!

The gods thank you for your service.

Congratulations you have destroyed an Eldritch nest!

1000 Bonus Experience gained!

“Bonus experience?” Max asked, not directed to anyone in particular. His golden aura already fading.

“Ready to talk now, eh?” Vel raised an eyebrow. “To answer your question. Yes, I remember Icarus informing you that the other gods do not much like Cazdis’s creations. They give bonus experience for destroying the Eldritch, among other things.”

“I see. What’s next?”

“We eat lunch! And discuss our next moves.” Vel answered.

The group moved away from the dead ants, opting for a small clearing with plenty of downed trees to sit on. Max pulled out ingredients and made a simple lunch of cooked fish and veggies. Emi was happy, the others not so much.

“Flame Devils do not normally eat so many… Green things.”

“Agreed, more meat!”

“I never would have thought I would be the responsible one in the group.” Max muttered, getting a laughing feeling from Emi.

The group finished their lunch and began to talk about their immediate plans. It was decided that they would be taking a break for the rest of the day to allow Max time to rest. Instead of simply resting, the older two had a surprise.

“After the whole thing with Arthur, you never received your promised book.” Vel said, causing Domic to speak up.

“We found this in his office.” Domic used a spell that summoned a sparrow made of fire. The bird dive bombed from high in the air, crashing into the dirt. The ordeal stunned Max.

“Wha- what was that?” He asked.

“That was my contracted familiar. Pretty ain't she?” Domic said with a smug smile. He stood and entered the smoke.

Max could see his figure bend over and pick something up. Domic returned holding a book. The book was a deep grey, with gold highlights. Domic handed Max the book and a notification appeared.

Learn Manipulate Space Y/N

“Nix had asked me for a copy after your duel. It wanted to cover its bases and not raise suspicion by randomly having a rare spell book. I’ve already made sure there are no traps or tampering.”

Max was hesitant. “Do I deserve to have this? I mean, I wouldn’t have even had the opportunity if it weren't for Nix.”

“Just take it boy. What is wrong with you?”

“Alr-alright. Thank you Domic.”

“If you want to use it now, we will protect you.” Domic added.

“Are you sure? Doesn't it take hours?”

“Maybe for the rarer or higher tier spells. But Manipulate Space is as basic as any of the other Manipulate spells. I wouldn’t imagine it taking more than thirty minutes.”

After getting a confirming nod from Vel, Max selected Y. The book opened to the first page by itself. Information started pouring off the page, forming into beams of mana that then rushed into Max’s head. Information was being directly implanted into Max’s brain, causing him to essentially be in a comatose state.

“Did you really feel the need to lie to the boy?” Vel asked Domic, knowing that Max couldn’t hear.

“You saw how much trouble he had with killing that nest. Do you really think he would accept such a rare book if he found out that Nix hadn't asked for it?” Domic answered his own question by shaking his head. “No. This way he feels like he earned it.”

“He earned it by realizing something was wrong with the plague book. How many people do you know that could sense the evil in those things?”

“I know. It just makes you wonder, HOW he senses the book?”

“I’m not sure, but we both know that he is hiding things from us. But that is to be expected, after all, [Mages] are secretive bastards by nature.”

Domic chuckled, “Yeah, I guess you are right about that.”

The two continued their conversation, but it quickly turned into normal small talk. Max was still absorbing the spell book's information. Emi was laying on his lap overhearing all of Domic and Vel’s conversation. They both disregarded how intelligent Emi actually was. Not only could she understand their conversation, but she also decided that Domic was correct in his line of thinking. Max didn’t need to know what wouldn’t hurt him, and winning that duel was much more of an accomplishment to him than finding an evil book. Emi closed her eyes, content with her current sleeping situation.

Max woke with the worst migraine he had ever felt. Sensing his distress, Emi gathered water from the air and cast Soothing Mist on Max’s head. That’s new. Max thought. Emi had always been good at manipulating water, but she had never gathered it from the air. Max guessed that she had seen him do it enough to figure it out. Casting Soothing Mist though?

Our bond must be getting stronger if you can cast my spells. Emi flopped on her back, expecting belly scratches.

Max started to wonder about combining spells, or having Emi teach him how to manipulate water better.

On Earth, spells cast by multiple people are stronger or larger. In fiction I mean. Is that a thing here? Max thought, directing it to Emi.

She returned a general Yes.

“Huh”

Congratulations you have learned the spell technique Manipulate Space (Common):

The basics of any [Space Mage], manipulating space allows the caster to change the space between and or the space an object takes up.

Max tried to manipulate space, just like he did water, but quickly found that it didn’t work. He sat there a few minutes trying to figure out how to actually use the spell. Nothing was working. He tried to create holes, gates, openings, and he tried to move a rock, but nothing worked.

“Done playing yet, boy?” Vel asked, having been watching what he was doing. “Did you really think Space magic would be as easy as Water magic?”

Max didn’t answer because he did in fact think that, but he wasn’t going to let her know that. Instead, he stuck out his tongue, similar to a child would. Vel rolled her eyes.

“How long was I out?”

“About thirty minutes, give or take.”

Max looked at the sky, confirming that the sun was close to being in the same stop.

“What now?” Max questioned.

“Domic here, found an ogre dwelling. I say you can take care of it solo, but Domic says differently. We decided to leave it up to you.”

“On my world, ogres are large human looking gross green monsters, same here?”

“How interesting our worlds are.” Domic said, the researcher in him peeking through.

“How many?”

“Six.”

“Anything special they can do? Shoot lasers, or breathe fire?”

“Nothing of the sort. They are just tall strong beings that hunt and skin anything and everything. That includes people.” Vel answered.

“Are there children ogres?”

“Six adult males. The females are cannibalized after giving birth.”

“Oh… Let's go then...” Max said, trailing off.

The dwelling was a simple ground cave. The opening to the cave was about 2 or 3 meters across at the longest point. Max could feel the cave using his Space Affinity, it was large, a football field could fit within it. Max could also feel the ogres. Max felt lied to, the ogres were not what he was expecting. Max thought ogre meant swamp loving green people, not 5-meter-tall giants.

“Those are the ogres? Hugely tall skinny things?”

“Yes? Did you not say large in your description of them from your world?” Domic asked.

“First of all, they are myths in my world. And no, I meant a few inches taller and bulker than me! Not whatever that monstrosity down there is.” Max gestured to the cave.

“Are you going to do it or not?” Vel demanded.

Max answered by walking forward to the cave. He had already looked for nearby water reservoirs and found none. Max would have to do this the old fashion way, walking through the front door. The others followed him a few meters behind. Water started to form behind Max, creating 6 blobs. Each blob changed into an elongated egg, and from there a spike of water. The water froze over, creating an ice spike.

Max continued gathering water but went ahead and entered the cave. In the far back of the cavern was a small fire. Some chunk of meat was being roasted on a stick. The poor lighting didn’t bother Max, his Space senses could feel every crack or dent in the area directly in front of him. Max found 3 ogres sitting at the fire, and 4 more in varying spots in the cavern.

Did Vel lie to me, or did she not notice the sixth? Max asked himself.

Max hurled 2 ice spikes at each of the ogres sitting at the fire. He tried his best to hit all of them at the same time but was slightly off. The first spike hit the closest target, piercing its chest, the second finished the job. Max was using his old strategy of double tap, rather than doing what Vel suggested with reinforcing his spells. Max figured now would not be the best time to experiment.

The first spike for the second ogre hit it in the shoulder, impaling it, the second missed. Since the timing was off, the third ogre was able to move a little, causing the spike to glance off him, and the second to miss completely.

Max ordered his water to form into 4 scythes. He launched those at a leg of each of the untouched ogres. Max’s plan was to try to kill as many as he could in the initial ambush. And slow down the rest, until he could focus on them.

So far so good. Just got to keep my distance and they should never be able to harm me.

A newly formed ice spike pierced the second ogre, killing it. The third was starting to charge at Max. The distance gave Max a few moments to decide what to do. He looked at the 4 ogres that were off on their own. 2 of them had large gashes across one of their legs, 1 had his leg missing below the ankle, and the other looked fine. The one who looked fine, started to gather green mana.

“IT'S A MAGE!” Max shouted, primarily at Vel.

Max shot off an ice spike at the charging ogre, the ice went straight through its forehead and into its brain. Max focused on killing the mage, rather than the recovering melee. Max didn’t like not knowing what kind of magic his opponent was using, but if he never had to find out, he would be alright with that. Max fired a Water Bolt at the mage, in hopes to break its concentration. The bolt was stopped by a barrier made of green air.

Poison, Max guessed.

Not taking any chances, Max created a bubble of water around his head. This would block any outside air from reaching his lungs. An ice spike slammed into the green air then a second one. The shield held, but Max could feel the ogre starting to shake. Max recognized those shakes, they were the low-on-mana shakes, often accompanied by headaches. Max kept the pressure up. Instead of using ice spikes, Max changed to Ice Bolts. He wasn’t sure if the piercing power of a spike was better in this situation, but he could form Ice Bolts much faster.

Max held on to an Ice Spike, while he bombarded the poison shield. Visible cracks formed though the solid green air, causing Max to fire the reserved Ice Spike. The spike burst through the green, finding the mage's head. It fell, the rest of its magic with it. Max didn’t waste any time assessing the situation. One ogre was getting close. It was limping, but it had a longer stride length than a cheetah. One well-placed scythe stopped its movement.

Max was running low on water and mana at this point. Max activated his “auto equip” function of his inventory, swapping his intellect robes for his mana regeneration ones. Max’s concentration had dropped slightly, and suddenly a rock was rocketing towards him. Max instinctively forced himself to move. He hadn’t seen the rock, but he could feel the space that it took up.

Max found himself a few meters to the right, on the ground. He had wanted to move, but his feet didn’t react in time, some other part of him did, however.

“MAX!” Vel shouted in front of the entrance of the cave.

Fire bloomed from each of the remaining ogres, isolating them almost instantly. Max could hear Domic shouting blame at Vel, “I told you he should know about the seventh! To think it was a [Mage] also!” The first one to reach Max was Emi. She had stayed closer to Max than the others, but far enough that Max could work. She reached out to the pool of water that formed on the ground after Max disappeared. The water engulfed Max completely, and it started to heal.

Emi’s confusion grew as she found out that the only thing that was harming Max was mana exhaustion. She sent frantic images of Max suddenly disappearing, and a rock smashing into the spot he had just been. Max had never felt such panic from the little monster. He reached out an arm, ushering for her. Max sent feeling of calm and that everything was okay as he slowly stroked her head.

The others were still making their way down, and Max took the time to check his news notification.

Congratulations you have learned the spell Skip Space (Common).

The basics of any prospect [Space Mage].

35 mana.

Teleport yourself a short distance away. This distance is constant. (2 meters)

Max started to laugh. Sensing her confusion, Max sent a mental image of the spell to Emi. She began to giggle, it sounded much more like a purr compared to a laugh, but the feelings she was emanating was humorous. When the others got to Max and Emi, they were shocked. Max lay in a pool of water laughing like a mad man. Laying against his side, was an unknown magical monster, who herself was laughing.

“See! Look at what you did! He must have hit his head!” Domic yelled at Vel.

Vel said nothing, but the fearful look on her face spoke volumes. She was afraid that her “teaching” had killed the kid, but now? Now she wondered what the hell put him in a state like this. Vel reached out to the pool of water Max was in and found it hard to manipulate. The water fought against her mana, forcing her to overpower the invisible force. Emi launched a water ball at Vel, the ball was stopped of course, but the real damage had already been done.

“The bond is fighting my control of the water! What the hell! Why is it so strong?” Vel asked under her breath. Emi dropped her connection, allowing total control by Vel. Vel empowered the water with her own evolved healing spell, and quickly found out what Emi had already.

“He’s fine.” Vel said with a dead voice.

“What? He's not fine! Look at him!”

The water started to move, bringing Max along with it. Max found his feet and stood strong. He glanced around the cavern. New light sources created by burning ogre illuminated the structure. Max could see the damage he had done, and it sickened him. He saw ogres with their chest caved in or brains splintered. Max didn’t regret this fight, at least not in the same way he did with the ants.

This fight, at least, they could fight back. [Mages] are too powerful. I could kill so many innocents if I wanted. Max felt sick at his realization.

“Well, boy? What happened?”

A blue box appeared in front of Domic and Vel. As their eyes scanned the box, their eyebrows raised higher and higher. Domic opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure of what to say. Vel on the other hand knew exactly what to say.

“Thirty-five mana for two meters? Kind of shit, don’t you think?”

“...No… I think it's awesome.” Max demonstrated its awesomeness by teleporting behind Vel. It was nothing personal at the end of the day. Vel reacted by shooting her right hand out and grabbing Max by the throat. The speed and accuracy even made Domic flinch.

“See? It's shit.” Vel said, releasing Max.

Max rubbed his neck, muting incoherent words about Vel being a monster. Max looked back to the spot he skipped from; Emi was missing. Max started to panic; he began frantically looking around only to find her floating silently behind him. She sent him a laughing memory of him looking around.

Real mature! Max sent back.

Max spoke aloud, “Did you skip with me, or did you float behind when Vel grabbed me?”

Emi answered by skipping herself away, and back again. You can already use my spell? Max asked inside his head. Emi simply yawned. Vel and Domic on the other hand, looked frantically back and forth between Emi and Max.

“She can already use your spells?” Vel asked.

“Guess so.” Max said. “But enough of that. Why did you say six ogres when there was obviously a seventh who was a [Mage]?”

Vel looked away, not making eye contact. “I wanted to test you. I didn’t know there was a [Mage]. I apologize, but I can safely say you passed my expectations.”

“Gee thanks. I really appreciate it.” Max said sarcastically.

Vel rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t even much of a test. You could somehow see the extra ogre before they entered the light. It only became a problem when you started running out of resources.”

“That's not the point Vel. How am I supposed to be able to trust you if you do things like this? I specifically asked for the number of ogres. I had been preparing my spells before I even entered the cave. But I had to modify my plans when I saw the seventh.”

“Not all information is going to be correct Max. Better learn that now.”

Max rubbed his eyes. “That's not the point. Vel.” Max could see that there was no point in having this conversation. Vel saw herself as right, and he saw himself as betrayed. Max walked past Vel and Domic, and out of the cave. Emi flowed behind.

Max found a tree to sit under and began to meditate. Max saw no reason to remain in the real world right now. He was hurt, not because of Vel testing him, but because she didn’t apologize for it. Max understood missing the [Mage], after all he did too. But the rest? That just hurt. Emi curled up on his lap, joining him on the endless beach.

Max went over all of his notifications from the fight.

Congratulations, Water Blade has become level 9!

Congratulations, Ice Spike has become level 7!

Congratulations, Ice Bolt has become level 4!

Congratulations, Water Scythe has become level 5!

Congratulations you have killed 4 level 16-22 Cave Ogres!

966 Experience gained!

Congratulations you have assisted in killing 3 level 17-19 Cave Ogres

291 Experience gained.

Max let out a low whistle. Those were worth a lot! Max smiled, causing Emi to purr. Max was starting to calm down. Within his inner self, all was calm. Max had no worries in this world other than feeding Emi on time, and she would make sure Max remembered. Max relaxed on the sand; small waves crashed into his feet.