The aether barrier shattered under the effect of a dozen spells. Dallion, however, was prepared. A few seconds were enough for him to create four additional echoes. Thus, when the vixenairs burst onto the floor, a multitude of spells were cast their way. Chains and aether projectiles poured down like hail, followed by an expanding fireball. A flash of light flickered as the last spell hit the room below. Sadly, that only gave Dallion a brief reprieve. Thanks to his high perception, he could hear the creatures scurrying below.

“Ready?” he turned around with his back to the hole and leaped backwards. All four echoes did the same. When Dallion landed on the floor below, he was no longer alone—there was a squad of him.

The layout of the second floor was very different from expected. There were no real corridors, just one giant space filled with vixenairs.

Oh, crap! Dallion thought.

Spells filled the air coming from all sides. Half of Dallion’s echoes focused on casting barriers, while the rest proceeded with combat spells.

It was tempting to say that he had improved a lot since his last encounter with the creature, but so had the vixenairs. Plus, there were scores of them now. As far as Dallion could tell, they were charging in from the sides of the room. Splitting into instances, he attempted a series of point attacks on the floor in the hopes he’d go straight down to the next. The attack was successful, but Dallion chose not to take that path. If he could barely deal with the creatures here, things would only get worse below.

There had to be a question—a riddle that would help him clear the floor. Force and skills were universal answers, but he felt that something a bit more specific was needed.

We go for the corner, Dallion thought, his mind changing several times in the process.

“Which corner?” all echoes asked in unison.

Gritting his teeth, Dallion took a step forward. That corner!

Slowly, the group of fire marched in the given direction. The floor minions kept on engaging with their attacks, charging from different sides. Feeling the intensity grow, Dallion moved faster.

“Just run!” One of the echoes shouted, casting aether projectiles left and right.

Blindly dashing on would be a sign of desperation, as Nil would say. Then again, the echo wasn’t here right now, and it didn’t seem that Dallion had much of a choice.

Clearing his mind, he sprinted forward. Combining athletic and acrobatic skills, his echoes followed, not stopping their spellcasting for a moment.

Breaking out of formation for a few moments, Dallion did a series of line attacks to scatter the minions. The result was better than expected, but at the expense of his rear. The skulk of vixenairs had finally managed to overwhelm one of his echoes, causing it to poof out of existence. The remaining three quickly closed ranks, but it was clear they were at a disadvantage and the gap between them and the minions was growing. One less echo meant fewer combat spells, which in turn ensured that the number of minions reaching them would grow.

Right now, Dallion’s only hope was that the room had some equivalent of spawning points and that destroying them would severely decrease the flow of enemies.

“How long till we reach the corner?” an echo asked.

“Stop attacking!” Dallion shouted. “Focus on barriers!”

The group spring as fast as they could. At this speed, it was likely going to take them less than a minute to reach their target. Ten seconds later, they arrived. Much to Dallion’s horror, there was nothing there.

What the heck? He stared at the empty space. There had to be something there! Dozens of vixenairs had been charging at him from that direction. Where had they all vanished?

“Backs against the wall!” one of the echoes shouted.

That was the only advantage they’d gained so far. Or had they? Dallion split into dozens of instances, keeping an eye on the walls and ceiling. It was possible that the vixenairs came out of the wall threads. Thankfully, that didn’t appear to be the case.

Was it this hard to clear a tower vortex? Dallion had barely reached his second floor and already was having serious problems. He could potentially call his familiars, but he’d only be putting them in danger. Nox didn’t do well with magic, Gem was too weak, and Lux didn’t have efficient combat capabilities against the current enemies. That pretty much left one sole option.

“Maintain the barriers!” Dallion started casting his water portal spell.

“Seriously?” One of the echoes protested.

“It worked before!”

Flooding a magic realm was the equivalent of a cheat, but Dallion had to admit that it was scarily efficient. Due to the floor’s size, it was going to take a while to get everything submerged, but it was worth it.

The instant the portal formed, water burst out, throwing two vixenairs back. Aware of Dallion’s plan, the rest doubled their efforts, but it was already challenging.

All of Dallion’s echoes rose from the floor—a result of flight spells. None of them wished to be in contact with the water. Many of the vixenairs followed suit, only to get showered by hundreds of aether projectiles.

What was that?! Dallion thought.

“Improvisation,” one of the echoes replied.

That was a bit reckless even for his echo, but it gave Dallion an idea. Doing nothing was going to end in failure, so he risked casting another water portal. There was a moment before the second portal emerged that Dallion considered whether he wouldn’t be crossing any magic streams. Thankfully, nothing catastrophic happened, allowing him to continue with a third.

Waves of lightning bolts slammed into the group’s barriers, shattering them one after the other. The echoes did their best to cast new ones, but they were soon overwhelmed. Two of them were zapped out of existence, while the last one, along with Dallion, dashed in different directions, avoiding the attack.

Running, Dallion gritted his teeth. The hunter part of him was disappointed he wasn’t able to deal with a pack of minions. There was no denying that he had gained a bit of information; if Nil was to be believed, the trial would remain the same, allowing him to practice any future approach. After so much time without leveling up, though, he really wanted to reach seventy-eight.

Keeping to the “outer” wall, Dallion cast even more portals as he ran. Every few seconds, one more source of water would emerge, making the flooding of the floor faster. The vixenairs had noticed as well, for all of them had also resorted to flight spells. The fight had transformed into aerial mage combat, with both sides casting spells from a distance. One thing was clearly noticeable: as the water level rose, the number of minions diminished. There was no longer any trace of the vast groups that had charged him upon entering the floor.

Last Man Standing

(+2 Body)

You faced an army and the army lost. Pity this is only a trial. It would have been a lot more impressive in the real world.

Dallion blinked. That didn’t make any sense. He could understand if the echo had been defeated, but that didn’t mean that…

He looked around. There were no minions to be seen. It was as if they had spontaneously vanished from the floor, leaving him along with a dozen active water portals.

“Not the way it was supposed to happen,” Nil emerged, keeping his distance from the water. “But a win’s a win, I guess.”

Splitting into instances, Dallion explored the nearby area. Nothing changed.

“I know it’s not exactly part of the trial, but I’d suggest paying more attention to your enemies, especially since they’re only copying your tricks, you know.”

“Care to elaborate?” Dallion decreased his speed, cautiously floating in the direction of the room’s center.

“There were only four minions on the floor,” Nil sighed. “Once you slammed a hole in the floor above, they cast a multiplication spell on each other, filling this whole place with copies of themselves.”

Quite a clever trick. Dallion felt ashamed he hadn’t thought of that possibility, especially since he had used it a few times himself.

“Four?” Dallion asked, still not entirely convinced.

“Four.” Nil nodded. “Felt a lot more, didn’t it? You shouldn’t count that only you can use out of the box thinking. At the very least, your opponents are likely to copy your tricks and even improve them.”

“Always hide your skills,” Dallion quoted the advice he’d received so often.

“Always hide your spells. Well, in your case, it doesn’t matter. You haven’t made any original spells yet. When you do, be sure to add a lot of fake symbols and connections to prevent copying.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Two towers gone, three to go. Aware of the rapidly increasing water, Dallion quickly flew back to the center of the room. Given what he’d gone through so far, the challenge on the next floor was going to be a lot more intense. It was very possible that a horde of platypains was expecting him there. Even so, he had one main advantage.

Gripping his harpsisword tightly, Dallion performed a series of point attacks directly below. The force of the first moved all the water aside, creating a circle of dryness, along with a few minor cracks on the floor; the following three smashed through, causing the entire section to collapse. Dallion split into instances, ready for anything that might jump out. A split second later, something did.

ENTANGLED

You are unable to walk or run for the next five minutes, or until the void tendrils are removed.

PERMANENT EFFECT - PAIN

Your ENTIRE BODY has been wounded and will continue to inflict pain until the status is removed.

The status continues to be in effect in the real world.

The combination of shock and pain was so great that it not only thrust Dallion out of the trial, but his realm as well. Leaping back, he crashed into the kitchen door, stumbling on the floor along with a platter of food. His entire skin hurt as if it were on fire. Even with a body trait as high as his, Dallion could barely tolerate it.

“Lux,” he managed to whisper.

“Stay still.” Pan rushed to help. The cook’s hand changed form, reverting to its natural state.

Dallion felt it wrap itself around his neck, then move back, pulling something off him, like a gardener removing a week from the ground. Strings of back threads were visible in the copyette’s tentacle, making Dallion feel as if his flesh was being torn off.

“Almost done,” Pan persisted, grabbing the strands with his other hand for one final tug.

The pain increased, then vanished.

“Crap!” he whispered. A dozen more appropriate phrases had come to mind, but Dallion had managed not to use them. There was no point in getting in more trouble with the Moons.

“Stay there a bit.” Pan’s hand regained its human form. The black threads kept on wrangling in his fingers, before crumbling to fine dust. “That’s a lot of pain you got.” He looked at Dallion.

It wasn’t the first time Dallion had experienced pain or even permanent effects, but never before had it been so intense. Waiting for a few seconds for the echoes of the sensation to pass, he then stood up.

“The price of trying to improve,” Dallion said.

“It shouldn’t be. Win or fail, it shouldn’t have been anywhere near…” Unless you have a pretty bad curse, he added silently with his expression.

“I was just out of practice,” Dallion lied. “Trials get tougher when you have magic.”

“I know. I’ve been through that.”

“Yeah, well, I’m only human.” Dallion turned around. “I’ll go rest a bit. It’s been a long trip, and this didn’t help much.”

“Sure. I’ll cook you something fresh for later.”

“Thanks.” Dallion grabbed hold of the kitchen door’s handle. “I’ll still find them, you know,” he added, backs till turned. “Even without your help.”

“Dal, in the state you’re in, I’m not sure I can be of any help. How long has this been going on?”

“First time.” Technically, that was true. It was the first time the curse had manifested during an awakening trial. “It won’t happen again for a while.”

Dallion left the room.