Cheska and Iksa stood side by side, casting spells non-stop. Iska focused on the attack, sending magic projectiles at the constantly approaching scarabisks, while Cheska maintained the group’s defenses, constantly putting up magic barriers at the right times at the right spots. Dallion took on a dual role: flying outside of the berries and destroying the creatures with spark attacks—a task that seemed far more difficult than it seemed.

Back when he was a hunter, Dallion had fought more numerous opponents as well as more powerful ones. However, never had he faced creatures working as a whole such as these. It was almost as if they had echo rings of their own. Whenever one beetle came to a conclusion, a dozen more would instantly join it in proceeding with its attack, be it a series of spells, and attempt to encircle Dallion, or suddenly change direction. There was virtually no doubt that one major mind stood behind this, and the creatures were just expendable extensions.

Within minutes, things had gotten so bad that Dallion was forced to have Lux return to his firebird form and focus on healing him non-stop.

Lightning filled the air, surrounding the group like a giant dome. Any spell it touched instantly fizzled, causing dozens of stone insects to fall to the ground helplessly. As good as that was, it also momentarily disrupted all spells in the area… on both sides.

“What the heck, Raven?” Dallion shouted, as two of his instances turned around. “Give us a warning, will you?”

“It’s not like I had much of a choice,” the black-haired replied through gritted teeth. “How many are left?”

“How the heck should I know?!” Dallion snapped back. “Two-hundred and fifty.”

The numbers were far less impressive than during the initial wave. On the downside, the surviving insects were learning. Not only was it becoming more difficult to kill them with previously used attacks, but they were starting to cast more and more dangerous spells. If they wanted, they could have long won this battle by combining their efforts and creating a mega-spell with thousands of runes. The fact that they hadn’t suggested that the trial was limited, or at the very least, this section of it was.

“You should have saved that for later!” Dallion continued. “It won’t work a second time.”

“It’s good for a few more times.” Raven didn’t bat an eye. Phoil stood a few steps behind him and… did absolutely nothing.

“We’re sitting ducks here!” Cheska shouted. “To win this, we must take the battle forward.”

“Now, while there’s over a hundred,” Raven shouted back.

“Are you crazy?! There’s no way we can get them to a hundred!”

Dallion had to agree. The swarm’s attack pattern was a lot more intricate than before. At any point, they only sent out a few dozen up close, the rest casting spells from a distance. Iksa was still able to take several of them out with a spell, but even she couldn’t last forever. Dallion had noticed exhaustion starting to take hold and even a boost from his music skills wouldn’t be able to let her keep up forever.

Using combat splitting, Dallion found the best location for a spark point attack, crushing ten more insects. The scarabisks cracked like hollow eggs, crumbling to the ground. It was a good attack, though unfortunately came at a price.

Up till now, the creatures weren’t able to cope with Dallion’s extraordinary number of instances, but with each successful attack they were starting to adapt. To some degree, Dallion suspected that every opportunity presented to him was a deliberate means to figure out his methods of attack. Sadly, it was working. What Dallion needed was to create more chaos in his behavior and that didn’t come easy.

“Two hundred,” he shouted at Raven. “It’ll be too late afterwards.”

“You can’t make it with two hundred!”

“We will!” Dallion put in a lot of confidence in his voice. “If we charge, the swarm will split in two. I’ve seen it.”

That was a lie, or at least mostly a lie. Dallion had only heard of such behavior from other hunters. He was inclined to believe them, but they were referring to standard prey. None of them had fought purely magic entities such as these.

“It’s this or nothing!” Dallion added with a sense of urgency.

If he were dealing with the echoes alone, this probably wouldn‘t work. However, the fear of failure sparked within Raven’s forehead. That was all Dallion needed to see.

“Cheska, cast a barrier and rush forward.”

“Iksa can handle that.” With the self-confident arrogance of a prodigy, the girl switched to casting an attack spell, launching dozens of magic projectiles that scattered, aimed at the nearest creatures. Only three of them hit their targets, but the current wave of swarm attacks was disrupted.

Always the show off, Dallion thought.

Meanwhile, he cast a fireball with his freehand then used his magic threads to grab hold of it and toss it at a scarabisk ten feet away. The flames dealt no damage, covering the defensive sphere around it. Yet, the spell was never meant to deal damage, but block its sight for long enough for he could split it in two with a vertical slash.

Normally Dallion could be pleased with the outcome. Right now, though, he found the method far too slow.

“Dal,” Cheska shouted from below. “Remember what I told you about multicasting?”

That was more than enough advanced warning. The girl’s fingers quickly moved through the air, drawing the spell outline while simultaneously placing symbols within it. As she did, markers emerged, indicating spots in which Dallion was expected to help out.

Lux! Dallion ordered, aiming to close to Cheska before the spell she was casting faded away.

As complicated as the whole process was from his perspective, it was nothing more than a paint-by-numbers experience. Cheska was using his skill to focus on the symbols that needed to be drawn, and their exact position. Dallion’s task was to fill them out as quickly as possible, while merging his own magic threads with those of the spell frame.

The spell they were aiming at was a double five circle composition. Most of the symbols were familiar, but there were two completely unknown, which was enough to make the total effects of the spell a complete mystery to Dallion.

The moment the final symbols were filled in, the circles shrunk, causing the spell to collapse on itself, then explode in a cluster of aether chains.

CO-CASTING NOVICE

(+2 Reaction)

Co-casting is a good way to create complex spells for half the time. It also makes the casters twice as likely to be hit.

Unlike with most of Dallion’s previous achievements, a second blue rectangle also appeared close to Cheska. It was unusual for it to count now, since it hadn’t during the grand spell facing the entrance guardian. Then again, an achievement was an achievement. It was a pity that achievements didn’t increase magic, though; other than killing a Star or its echo, that was.

The aether chains darted in all directions, snatching a target each.

“We’re not done!” Cheska said, already starting a second spell.

A new set of magic markers emerged. Dallion filled them in without question. Upon finishing, the pattern transformed into purple electricity that ran along the chains.

FATAL STRIKE

Damage dealt is increased by 500%

Scarabisks fell to the ground like hail. There were no more than fifteen of them, but Dallion felt there were so many more. Just for good measure, he sliced any in vicinity as he and Cheska proceeded forward.

In his mind, Dallion focused on one of the new symbols of the chain spell. It was no more difficult than some of the ones he’d already learned.

While flying, Dallion’s left-hand fingers moved about, releasing some of his magic to create the symbol. It was a quick series of actions, far too fast for the non-awakened’s eye. The first two attempts failed, but the third one succeeded.

The moment he created the symbol, Dallion instantly learned its meaning: it was the symbol of multiplication. This had to be the way in which the chain link had been multiplied hundreds of times, creating a chain extending hundreds of feet. Quite a useful symbol to know, especially for this task. Someone must have told the girl exactly what to focus on.

“Stop slacking!” Cheska snapped. “We've got more to cast!”

“If we use it too much, they’ll figure out a way to evade it.”

“Who cares? We just need to run past them!”

That appeared to be the goal, but it somehow seemed too simple. If the obelisk acted as a guardian, it was certain there would be more of them further on. Killing it through attrition was one method, but Dallion would feel a lot calmer if they figured out how to deal with the obelisks faster. There was no guarantee that such a method was possible, but he was willing to try.

“Alright,” Dallion said, then split into a hundred instances without telling the girl. Ten remained close, flying slow enough so they could co-cast again. The rest, though, thrust forward towards the spot where the obelisk had been. A few seconds later, they faded out.

Dallion split again. This time also looking behind him. Iksa and Raven were handling things pretty well. The black-haired was abusing his debilitating spell. Thankfully, the creatures didn’t seem to have found a suitable counter to it.

Another chain spell was cast, followed by another lightning bolt. Red rectangles filled the air, as another dozen of scarabisks were affected. In response, the creatures cast their own series of spells… which were very similar to the ones that had been used on them. While the chain spell, thankfully, proved too difficult for them to master, the lightning bolt didn’t.

Hundreds of lightning bolts his the ground, in one of the most beautiful and horrifying scenes Dallion had seen. Several hit some of his instances, incinerating them on the spot.

“Watch out!” Dallion pulled Cheska from the ground, just as a lightning bolt struck the spot she had been in. A split second later, the barrier she had cast materialized, enveloping both of them in a sphere of energy.

“What was that for?!” the girl shouted. “I had it under control!”

No, you didn’t, Dallion said to himself. Your spell came late.

“It was too close to tell,” he lied. “And how come they’ve learned your spell this fast?”

“Spell copying is a thing. You’ll learn that when you reach advanced spelling.”

“If it’s a thing, why teach them spells?!”

“Take it easy, will you? I know hundreds of spells. It’ll take them ages to learn them all. We’ll be done by then.”

The typical mistake of the rookie. There was a time when Dallion behaved in the same way. Back when he was exploring realms with March or Vend, he’d constantly wonder why everyone insisted on defeating enemies using the most basic of skills. He’d learned a lot since then; he knew that information was the greatest weapon when it came to winning fights and the more they showed their hand, the more difficult it was going to become later on.

You’re not exactly hiding your strength either, dear boy, Nil remarked.

Dallion ignored him. Cheska had already started a new spell, even within the protective bubble. He had no choice but to join in, while also sending instances to investigate potential weak spots. In the process, he saw a pattern emerge: all instances that neared a specific point got attacked with surprising severity. It didn’t take much imagination to figure out that the swarm was doing everything possible to keep Dallion from getting anywhere near the original point of the monument.

Two things instantly came to mind: one, there was a significant chance that the mind behind the swarm was there; and two—there was a simple way to defeat it using magic.