ENTRANCE GUARDIAN

Species AETHER LION

Class: MAGIC

Health: 100%

Traits:

- BODY 20

- MIND 40

- PERCEPTION 40

- REACTION 40

- MAGIC 40

Skills

- ATTACK

- GUARD

- SPELLCRAFT

- MAGIC SURGE (Species Unique)

Weakness: HEART

The white rectangle appeared in the air. Simultaneously, the magic beam split into smaller threads, each of which twisted, bursting in all directions. At first it seemed like an explosion of thin magical streamers, but soon enough the threads created an outline, an outline of something very massive, and thanks to the rectangle, Dallion didn’t need to see the complete form to know what he would be facing.

“Move back!” Dallion shouted as he split into instances.

Towering above everyone, the creature was the size of a castle. Its claws and teeth were several times larger than any of the five participants.

From the corner of his eye, Dallion saw Cheska start a spell. According to the symbols, it was a protective spell. That meant he had to act before she finished it.

Charging his blade with spark, he did a horizontal line attack at the creature. The shimmering line of destruction flew forward, just in time to avoid the green magic barrier that emerged moments later. Mercilessly, it hit the vast creature and…

AVERAGE STRIKE

Damage dealt is increased by 50%

The moment the thread dug into the lion, part of its body transformed into clusters of threads. Tens of thousands of them were snapped without issue, yet the further the strike went, the more strength it lost, until it simply vanished away. The moment that happened, the threads merged together again, recreating the lion’s body.

So much about spark attacks, Dallion thought. Of course, he could keep on attacking and eventually kill off the guardian through brute force. A spark infused line attack had managed to shave off five percent of the monster’s life total. Nineteen more and victory was guaranteed. Of course, that would leave Dallion a bit too vulnerable for the challenges to follow. Besides, that was not the proper way to do things. The test wasn’t meant to test advanced hunting techniques, it was meant to test the spellcraft skills of gifted children.

Iksa also crafted a few spells of her own. Dallion expected the standard lightning or fire attack that were so common, but instead, the girl composed a four-circle projectile spell of hardened magic. That definitely wasn’t something that had been taught in class. Dallion couldn’t recognize half of the symbols that went into creating it.

Does everyone have echo advisors? he asked, focusing on the creature’s right eye. Within moments, a targeting marker appeared so as to facilitate anyone with attack spells.

What do you expect? Nil snorted. And don’t be a hypocrite. I’ve been with you for ages! Since long before you were actually competent.

Don’t remind me.

Magic spells and awakening markers were everywhere. Realizing that defense would be better for the moment, Dallion summoned his armadil shield, then focused on the defense area. With them being a team, if he could manage a sequence of guard actions, time would slow down for everyone, giving them more time to cast spells.

The issue was that with a creature this big, completing a guard series wasn’t as easy as one might think. One single strike from the lion’s paw and the sprll barriers Cheska had created were no more, shattered like glass, their fragments fading away into nothing.

All five of the novices split into instances, rushing away from the attack. Watching them use half a dozen instances made Dallion almost feel pity; it also brought back the painful realization of what he must have been like during his item exploration days. Back then, he had thought of it as such a major achievement, and maybe it was for some. For someone like March and the other captains, though, he was no more than a gifted overenthusiastic novice that needed constant help and supervision.

“Stay back!” he shouted. “I’ll charge it!”

That’s not the way, dear boy, Nil sighed.

That’s my way. Dallion gritted his teeth, holding a weapon that was almost as high as him.

Iksa’s spell was complete, launching projectiles like a machine gun. Each of them flew along a separate trajectory, guided to the target marker Dallion had set up for the group.

They’re good, Dallion thought. In a way, they reminded him of Gloria back when the two of them had faced the sand dragon. Dallion’s way of fighting had changed a lot since then. Nowadays, rarely was he relying on markers, making use of massively destructive attacks, combat splitting, and all the familiars at his disposal. Looking at Iska, he could almost see himself aiming at the eye of a massive monster, equipped with nothing but a dartbow.

The guardian snarled as the projectiles hit their mark.

MINOR HIT

Damage dealt is increased by 10%

A series of red rectangles stacked up.

That spell did more damage than my line attack? Dallion wondered.

It followed the proper rules, dear boy, Nil reminded.

The lion’s health had already fallen to eighty-five percent. However, that only made it angrier. Its paw slammed the ground, causing all magic threads to vibrate. Everyone, Dallion included, were tossed up as if they’d been on a trampoline.

Blue flaming wings emerged from Dallion as Lux appeared, enveloping him with his flames. Of the remaining three, Cheska managed to cast a levitation spell, keeping pinning her in the air. Phoil and Raven were thrown up, but had the acrobatic skills to land back on their feet. So far, they had been doing remarkably little. One thing of note was that Phoil had taken the role of the black-haired’s bodyguard.

“Lux, boost me towards—”

Before Dallion could finish, symbols appeared all over the aether lion’s body. The spell was too vast to see in its entirety, but it was undoubtedly complex.

Out of instinct, Dallion split into a hundred instances. Moments later, he was glad to have done so. Threads of magic shot out of the lion’s mane in all directions. In two seconds, ninety of Dallion’s instances were gone, impaled by the attack.

Despite the initial shock, Dallion saw this as an advantage, quickly evading the attacks, deflecting those he couldn’t with his shield, as he completed a guard sequence in the process. Yet, even after doing so, the guardian seemed as fast as before.

It’s not working! Dallion thought.

The entire realm is made of magic, Nil said. And magic—

It’s the trait of exceptions, Dallion finished for him.

Performing a spark infused point attack right at the aether lion’s nose, Dallion then split again into a hundred instances and had Lux fly him away as quickly as possible.

Another red rectangle emerged. Dallion didn’t even bother to look at the result, he knew that such a strike was nowhere near defeating the creature. All he had done was to gain some time.

“Only magic works!” he shouted while flying. “Everything else just annoys him.”

“I can kill it,” Raven shouted. “I just need to strike its heart.”

“Just that?”

Even if it were achievable, which it wasn’t, Dallion didn’t see what good it would do. Raven had no weapons and even if he could summon one, there wasn’t much he could do, not against a creature so big. Even so, Raven’s request did present an idea.

“Surround the guardian!” Dallion turned back around, charging at the aether lion’s head. “I’ll keep attracting his attacks. Cheska, Iksa, focus on defensive spells.”

If there was a moment when Raven would try to reclaim his authority, this was it. Dallion could see blobs of anger form within the boy like mushrooms after rain. To his surprise, the black-haired didn’t say a thing. It was as if he wanted to, but a far wiser echo had told him to follow the instructions.

Another series of symbols appeared on the guardian’s mane, this time changing his body into fire. While impressive, that wasn’t particularly threatening. No one was using standard attacks, and spells had the tendency to work on everything.

A series of defense barriers of magic formed on both sides of the massive creature. Iska and Cheska were doing their job. Also, everyone had resorted to the ever so popular spell “haste” allowing them to traverse the huge distance and flank the guardian.

Dallion did another point attack. Before it could reach its target, a circle or symbols emerged on the fiery mane, creating a magic shield in front of the aether lion’s face. A loud clash thundered, pushing the massive monster dozens of feet back. In the grand scheme of things that was hardly anything at all, but from the point of view of those on the ground, it appeared to be a devastating blow.

“Nice to see you’ve picked up on my attacks,” Dallion said, using his music skills to fill his words with anger and self-confidence.

In more cases than not, magic had the ability to counteract music, but that was only true when the target was paying attention. If not, mages and magical creatures were just as gullible as everyone else, and Dallion there were no scholar skills in the guardian’s white rectangle.

“Having trouble against a bunch of kids?” Dallion kept on taunting. “If I were my usual size, I’d have sliced you up by now. Even now I could.”

A deep growl came from the guardian. The large eyes narrowed, focusing on Dallion as the main irritant. The large orbs of anger that formed within the creature only showed Dallion that he was on the right track. Of course, now that he had attracted its attention, there was the small problem of him having to deal with its response.

Normally, a creature this size would try to squish Dallion or cut him to shreds with its massive claws. In this case, though, it chose something different. The aether lion opened its mouth in a majestic roar, yet along with the sound came the triple spell circle on the verse of completion.

Crap!

Dallion did another series of point attacks in the hope of piercing the magic barrier and disrupting the spell. Unfortunately, he failed.

The symbols of the spell flashed into existence. A tear emerged from the guardian’s mouth, ripping reality itself as it moved forward. The barrier, nearly all of Dallion’s instances, even the sky of the realm itself was torn like a sheet of paper.

“What the heck was that?” Dallion asked.

That’s Moon magic, Harp replied from within his realm.

Moon magic. Up to recently, it existed only as a theoretical concept in an old scroll. Seeing it in practice, Dallion understood why he had been sought after. He didn’t have nearly the knowledge to pull that off, but when he did, he’d be able to tear realms apart, then stitch them back together again.

Three of his remaining instances looked back. The tear in the sky was still there, as if opening a portal to a realm of glowing magenta. If Dallion’s reaction trait hadn’t been so high, if the instances he was able to create were a bit less, the trial might have ended for him before it started.

“Get ready!” Dallion shouted, more to his teammates than the guardian.

After what had happened, no one had the luxury to hesitate. It had become clear that the guardian couldn’t be defeated through normal means, so the only solution was to give it a taste of its own medicine.

Bursting into instances yet again, Dallion darted to the ground. His aim was to reach the space right between the aether lion’s front paws.

The guardian must have feared an attack on his side, for his mane cast another magic barrier protecting all the lion’s head and front torso.

“Nice trick!” Dallion shouted, gripping the hilt of his harpsisword. “Jokes are on you, though! I never planned on attacking you outright!”

Spellcraft and attack, he thought.

“Everyone! Draw a symbol in front of you! Let’s do a combined spell!”