Rain, waves, and wind returned with a vengeance as Adzorg cast a series of fireballs at Dallion. Looking like flaming orbs, they made their way through air and water, combining every preconception Dallion had about them, along with the annoying ability to home in on him.

The initial reaction was to use the armadil shield to keep them from reaching their target. One single hit, however, quickly changed Dallion’s view on the matter.

MODERATE WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 20%

A moderate wound after all this? Dallion burst into instances, doing his best to fly away while also avoiding the monstrous waves. Neither the shield, nor his sprouting armor had proved capable of stopping the flames. The reduction had to be significant, suggesting that a direct hit risked ending the trial there and then.

Dallion threw his harpsisword at Adzorg, immediately summoning his dartblade and shooting several more bolts in the echo’s direction. Several spheres of protection appeared around the mage, making him impervious to waves and attacks. Once the threat was over, the spheres disappeared, allowing him to cast attack magic yet again.

Gleam, cut him! Dallion ordered.

From what he had seen, Adzorg didn’t have the ability to attack and defend at the same time. Or at least so it seemed. Knowing the man, it was possible for him to fake that in order to gain an advantage in combat. It wouldn’t be the first time. Nil had often stressed how important it was to keep his cards close to his chest, not that Dallion needed any reminding.

“You’re hesitant, dear boy,” Adzorg shouted. “Scared of a little water?”

The normal answer to give was yes—there was for Dallion to be aware of waves that had the power to rip off limbs. He had never seen such a phenomenon in the real world, but he didn’t doubt for a moment that magic could make it happen. For all he knew, the entire storm could be one massive spell. The trial echo only seemed to confirm that by having parts of the waves move away from Adzorg as they passed by. It was like watching a magnet repel ferrofluid.

Tossing his dartblade, Dallion summoned his harpsisword again, then spin in place, releasing a series of line attacks. The destructive lines sliced through waves, transforming them into layers of a jelly cake, yet Adzorg’s reaction was faster. Before they reached him, the protective spheres were around him, like a series of concentric bubbles.

Four consecutive line attacks descended on the echo. Three spheres of magic shattered one after the other, leaving the last one pass through.

CRITICAL STRIKE

Dealt Damage is increased by 200%

A red rectangle emerged. It wasn’t by far enough to bring Dallion victory, but enough to give him a glimmer of hope.

“So, you used four,” Adzorg noted, as the torn section of his robe mended itself. “An unconventional approach, although I shouldn’t be surprised. You never were one to seriously follow tactics. It reminds me of the time when you barely learned the minimum necessary to get you to move forward.”

“It got me here, didn’t it?” Dallion replied calmly. Such simple provocations were no longer able to upset him. However, he couldn’t miss such an opportunity to use his music skills. One thing he had learned while hunting, music skills had no downside. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a mage?”

“Because people would love knowing they’d have a disgraced mage in their midst? Those who’s business it is to know, know. The rest don’t need to. And just for reference, it’s useless using your music skills on me. Even without spells, my scholar skills are high enough to render them useless.”

“Maybe I’ll get lucky.” Dallion split into instances, barely in time to avoid another water sprout that shot up from nowhere.

Seventeen of his instances were completely destroyed. Adzorg, on the other hand, had no such issue, flying through the column of water as if it were a curtain. His hands moved faster than Dallion could keep up, creating two new circles in the air.

Chains of water shot out from the surrounding water, all flying towards Dallion. This was rather specific for a spell. Most of the magic he had seen in the past only involved basic forms of energy: spheres or bolts. The echo of the trial was getting more than a bit creative.

Combining acrobatics, attack, and defense, Dallion did a series of slashes with his harpsisword, doing his best to avoid any contact with the watery chains. One splashed into the shield, spreading along it like moss.

Dallion didn’t hesitate, unsummoning the shield and pulling back even more. The misshaped chain snapped like a bear trap, teeth sinking into Dallion’s arm.

MAJOR WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 50%

HAND SEVERED

You will no longer be able to use your LEFT HAND

The pain was momentary. The sensation of having his arm bitten off remained. Dallion slashed in the direction of the water chain, making sure that it didn’t do any more damage. That proved to be a mistake, for he had missed his window to switch to another instance in which he had both arms.

“Why so surmised?” Adzorg asked, casting half a dozen fireballs at Dallion. “You’re not the only one who could cut off appendages.”

Lux, fly away! Dallion said, splitting into instances again. Gleam, I told you to cut him!

What do you think I’ve been doing? The shardfly snapped back. He’s using waves to protect himself. I don’t have the strength to cut through them!

Not the answer Dallion wanted to hear, but it still meant that the echo was partially occupied. The question was what to do now. Normally mages liked to keep their distance, casting spells from afar. Adzorg, though, was the complete opposite, constantly moving in as close as possible. There was too little information to tell whether that was an anomaly or there were mages who preferred this style of combat. Whatever the case, he was overpowering. The worst of it was that Dallion knew he had a chance of winning. He had managed to land a critical blow once, which meant there was nothing stopping him from doing so again.

“And you honestly think you’re ready to face the Star?” Adzorg frowned. “You can’t even pass a trial stacked in your favor. What would you have done if you had stumbled across the Star at your level?”

In response, Dallion did a series of line and point attacks, all aimed at the echo.

Walls of water emerged from the sea, twisting the lines of the attacks like rubber bands. It was mesmerizing to see the attacks slice and drill the water mercilessly, yet completely avoid their target.

“You’re too insignificant to attract his attention. The reason your paths crossed at all was because of the otherworlder principle. Coming from the same world, the Star was destined to come across you. He spent some time toying about, trying to tempt you to join his cultists, then when you refused, he returned to more important matters. Why do you think there’s a war going on?”

“The Star started the war?” Dallion asked, this time using his music skills to decrease Gleam’s weight and fatigue.

“That’s what you seem to believe. It might be true, or maybe it isn’t. The facts are that it wouldn’t matter since the next time you come across the Star, you’ll lose, and not even your trinket will help you.”

“Spark!” Dallion shouted, doing another line attack.

The line of destruction flew forward once again, only this time, something different happened. The waves that had managed to distort the attack before, did no such thing. Adzorg instantly cast three new protective spheres around him. The attack sliced through them as well.

FATAL STRIKE

Dealt Damage is increased by 500%

LEGS SEVERED

Enemy will no longer be able to make use of his LEGS

It went through? Dallion couldn’t believe it. His main goal was to distract the echo enough so he could get away. Instead, he had done a significant enough damage to leave him to a sliver of health. Not that he could confirm that. Adzorg was somehow managing to conceal the white rectangle displaying his information. According to standard logic, two fatal strikes were enough to take down anyone, provided they didn’t have a way of regaining health.

“Well played, dear boy.” Adzorg smiled. His fingers quickly wrote the symbols of a new spell circle. Green light glowed from the lower part of his body. The stumps grew in size, changing into a new set of legs before Dallion’s very eyes, complete with trousers and shoes. “In future, when you see a mage go for the hands.”

Leaves of deceit appeared within the echo’s body. The comment had been made to distract Dallion from the fact that he had found a way around a mage’s defenses. The question was why. The obvious answer was that the spark had given the attack a boost, but that wasn’t of much help. Rather, it answered the how, not the why.

“You said that magic is taking advantage of loopholes,” Dallion said, still constantly splitting. The dual might have come to a temporary pause, but the waves were very much there and just as vicious as before. “Does that make you a kind of lawyer?”

“I told you that music won’t work on me, or most mages, for that matter.” Adzorg sighed. “If you come across a mage whom you can defeat with magic, you’ll just as easily defeat him without it.”

“It means that there are certain laws you cannot change,” Dallion continued. “That’s the answer to the trial’s riddle, isn’t it?”

“The riddle is facing difficulties,” the echo corrected. “If you were able to use the spark attack, but no line attacks, would you have achieved the same result?”

“Yes, because magic cannot go against the Moons.” Dallion felt certain of himself. “That’s why the attack went through.”

“That might well be the case. The question is whether—”

Dallion combined another line attack with a spark. The thread went through Adzorg mid-sentence, slicing him in two. Yet, instead of a rectangle marking the end of the trial, both parts of the echo disappeared in a cloud of particles.

“That was uncalled for,” a new Adzorg said, floating in the air some fifty feet away. “As I told you, you should have aimed for the arms, or at the very least, the fingers. A mage with his fingers intact can pretty much do anything he wants, including create echoes of himself at a moment’s notice.”

It’s just an illusion, Gleam said. I’ve no idea where the real one is, but there are three illusions about. Four now.

So, that’s the game, Dallion thought. Now that he had gained the upper hand, his opponent had gone into defense mode. Smart and annoying, as Eury liked to say.

Gripping the hilt of his harpsisword, Dallion split into four eight instances, four of them back to back, looking in all directions. The shardfly had been right: there was more than one Adzorgs about, and growing by the second.

“Why don’t you just use instances?” Dallion asked.

“I thought you had learned to manage your resources,” a chorus said in reply. “Or did you forget that trial already? The mind trait can do a lot, but not everything.”

“So, it also affects magic, does it?”

“If you didn’t suspect so, it wouldn’t be happening in the trial.” The Adzorgs laughed. “This is also the time I give you another valuable piece of advice you’re free to ignore.” Close to a dozen Adzorgs turned around and flew away through the storm to the horizon. “Once you become the attacker, it’s your role to defeat your opponent. And just in case you were wondering. Yes, I have the ability to heal. The question is, do you have enough stamina to defeat me despite that?”