Nick woke up from his bed and shakily made his way to his safe-house's bathroom. He had been suffering from a severe headache for the past two days following his use of the Soul Enhance Formation. After he left the second floor, Nick quickly left the undergrounds by using his spell, Space, and once he arrived at the temporary settlement, he summoned his safe-house and locked himself inside, falling asleep as soon as he made his way into his bed.
Nick woke up occasionally but was soon forced to go back to sleep because of his intense headache. Nick washed his face and looked at his bathroom's mirror to see his reflection. Nick's eyes appeared to be completely pitch black except for the pair of dull reddish rings found in each. Nick sighed:
"I'm starting to look less and less like my old self. I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing."
Nick chuckled bitterly but then winced in pain from the effects of his headache.
"My headache is actually becoming less severe since I can think coherently now."
Nick slowly made his way to his desk and thought through his current circumstance:
(I can consider my efforts two days ago a success since I am certain that my soul is much stronger than it was before, I just don't know how much stronger it is.)
(Strengthening my soul using a large number of magic beasts souls was the main reason for me coming to the undergrounds and I don't think that I should use the Soul Enhance Formation again until I fully understand the effects that its had on me.)
Nick quickly summoned a piece of paper and jotted down what he planned to do next.
(Next, I plan to experiment with the bones of magic beasts to see if I can reproduce their blood. Those stories that I read from that book that I received from the resource center about infamous Magicians has my blood boiling. My reasons for wanting to become one are centered around the warlocks' rumored strength, since it is stated that warlocks are generally stronger than their peers at the same rank and stage. Becoming a warlock also seems like a good way to make progress towards rank 3. )
The latter reason was the most important to Nick.
(Everyone knows that there is no one clearly defined path to get to rank 3. I suppose that is not necessarily true for Magicians born in legacy families but for an orphan like me, I have to find my own way there. Even Slade refuses to tell me an exact method to get to rank 3.)
Slade remarked at this moment:
[That is because to become a truly powerful Magician, you have to create your own unique path. Even legacy Magicians have to do that at the later ranks so by doing so now, you will have an advantage. Besides, there is no one size fits all approach and finding your way to rank 3, taking into consideration you affinities and circumstances will be the journey that develops you into a capable Magician. Doing otherwise would defeat the point of your cultivation.]
Nick sighed even though he understood Slade's reasoning.
(Well then, my next major goal is to become a warlock. Do you have a problem with that?)
Slade replied with disinterest:
[Do what you want but since I never attempted such a thing, I cannot help you in that regard.]
Nick chuckled and responded:
"That's fine."
After jotting down a few of his plans, Nick went to take a shower and after that, he got dressed and left the safe-house, storing in within his space band. Nick made his way to the ministry's resource center since today was the day that he was supposed to meet Jessica
It took Nick only twenty minutes to get to the resource center. He did not attempt to use his spell so that he could enjoy a stroll after being locked within his safe-house for two days. Nick walked into the building and was met with an almost empty hall with only two uniformed soldiers stationed at the wooden counter.
(You would think that this place would be busy since students can make exchanges here.)
Nick walked up to the counter and greeted Warren Clint who he had met a few days prior:
"Good day, Mr. Warren, do you have any books on magic beast anatomy and dragons, oh, and do you have any blood path inheritances for sale?"
Warren lazily answered Nick while he leaned back into his chair:
"Yes, we do have books on magic beast anatomy and on dragons but we do not have blood path inheritances lying around. Blood path is not one of those paths where information is freely circulated since its killing power is generally immense in comparison to other paths."
Nick nodded in understanding.
(I had to at least try since becoming a warlock would be easier if I had a little background in blood path.)
"Then I'll just take the books."
Nick handed over his student ID and a few million pounds sterling was subtracted from his bank account.
"So expensive."
Warren justified:
"Of course it's expensive. Reading materials distributed by the Ministry of Magic are borne from its own research and is not allowed to be sold anywhere else, not to mention that there is a premium added for the convenience of being able to get the information within the Never Ending Battlefield."
Warren tapped his space band and two books appeared on the counter, one titled, Magic Beast Anatomy, and the other titled, Dragons and Their Magic. Nick stored the former within his space band and took the latter to the nearest chair where he sat and started reading the book while waiting for Jessica to arrive.
Nick read the book for two hours before Jessica finally showed up and with his rank 2 mindscape supporting his efforts, that meant that he had covered a few hundred pages during that time. Jessica wore a pair of dark blue jeans pants and a zipped up leather jacket while also having her long blonde hair tied in a pony tail.
Nick greeted Jessica with a half smile:
"Yo, it's been a while."
Jessica replied flatly:
"Was that an attempt at you being friendly? You looked so awkward."
Nick rubbed the back of his head with his right hand in slight embarrassment and said:
"We made a deal that I would help you until the events at the undergrounds conclude but what exactly is your plan here?"
Jessica replied with a motivated look in her eye:
"I plan to explore the deepest parts of the undergrounds to train and when the earthquakes happen, compete for resources with the other students. During the last earthquake, I was able to secure a few stalks of treasure grass. What have you been doing all this time?"
Nick thought for a moment:
(Treasure Grass? I think that's an earth path material, why would this water path Magician want that?)
Nick replied to Jessica:
"You know, I've been doing a little of this and a little of that."
Jessica frowned at Nick's clearly flippant reply but knew that she could not force him to reveal anything to her so she said:
"Let's get going to the undergrounds."
Nick replied:
"After you."
Jessica and Nick left the resource center but Nick did not put away his book on dragons since his mind was now able to multi-task, allowing him to read his book and walk to their destination. Jessica looked at Nick weirdly and asked:
"Do you like books?"
Nick replied without taking his eyes away from the book's page:
"Don't you? There's no way that you can be as strong as you are without a fair amount of study, right?"
Jessica absentmindedly answered:
"I guess so."
The two silently walked to the entrance of the undergrounds amidst the crowd of other students and when Jessica reached the large hole in the ground, she cast a spell:
(Gentle Vapor)
Jessica jumped down into the hole and a collection of thick water vapor formed around her waist, resulting in her descent being slow but safe. She landed on the first floor of the undergrounds three minutes later and was about to direct a shout to the hole's entrance to tell Nick to move his ass but she soon heard a low remark from behind her:
"You sure took your sweet time."
Jessica turned around and saw Nick standing a few feet away from her while still reading his book, she thought:
(Oh right, this annoying fellow knows space magic.)
Jessica spoke to Nick flatly:
"Let's go."
Jessica transformed into a torrent of water and sped across the first floor, passing two rock scaled lizard like magic beasts that were the size of fully grown cattle. The two magic beasts looked at Nick who was distracted with his book and rushed at him. Nick momentarily lifted his head to look at the two magic beasts but then he turned his attention back to his book as he raised his right index finger and cast:
(Space.)
Nick's special space covered the magic beasts and then he flicked his right index finger twice, casting:
(Sever.)
(Sever.)
The two large lizards were cut into two pieces within an instant following which Nick disappeared from his spot.
*******************************
At a section of the second floor, four groups of students were arguing in front of a crevice within the partly stone wall that was lined with a white metallic substance:
"Max how can you be so awful, why are you getting in my way? Our group found this crevice first so we should be the one to mine this white gold."
Max Porter, the leader of one of the groups spoke softly to the woman in front of him, saying:
"Lily, don't say that. You know that I would never cheat you, not after the night that we had a few days ago."
The woman who had short, braided brown hair frowned as Max mentioned their sensual encounter a few nights prior and retorted:
"You dog, I don't know what I ever saw in you."
The male leaders of the other two groups looked at the scene with indifference and one of them who was currently shirtless but whose skin radiated a bronze glow interrupted:
"Stop speaking all this nonsense, we don't care about your personal business. This white gold is certainly valuable and in my opinion, since all of us want it we should compete for it through a decisive battle."
Max snorted in response to the suggestion:
"Delroy, we all know that your team has the advantage since they mostly use earth magic and we happen to now be underground. Aren't you just trying to take all the benefits for yourself?"
Delroy snorted and replied:
"Clearly, I don't have time to banter with you."
The other group leader who looked like a scholarly youth shook his head and declared:
"I'm willing to share the white gold if you all agree to it but if this bickering goes on for much longer, I don't mind just killing you all."
When the young man said that, the members of all four groups looked at each other with wariness and hostility. Delroy began to flex his shoulders, seeming to be preparing for a fight, Max quickly cast his trusty spell, Steel Clothes, Lily unsheathed her poison tipped dagger and the scholarly youth, Torin, enveloped both his hands with green colored winds. Just as the groups were about to come into conflict, a torrent of clear water came speeding towards them and eventually splashed down in front of them.
Jessica looked at the crevice lined with white old and was overjoyed.
(I've been searching for and collecting many earth path and metal path materials recently. Who would have thought that I would encounter white gold here. Hmmm...who are these people?)
Jessica indifferently declared without even greeting the others:
"This white gold is mine and anyone who has a problem with that can try to test my patience, that is, if they have the guts."
(It's the law of the jungle out here so naturally, if you are strong enough you should just fight for the available resources.)
The group leaders frowned at hearing the declaration from this arrogant woman and Delroy was the first to say:
"Little miss, you are asking for a beating!"
As he said that, Nick suddenly appeared, seemingly out of no where, still reading his book and not seeming to pay the people present any attention. Max smirked at Jessica's childish declaration but as soon as he saw Nick, his courage flew out the proverbial window. Randy who was beside Max tapped him on the shoulder and whispered:
"Hey boss, isn't that..."
Before Randy could finish his sentence, Max raised both his hands into the air and declared:
"You all can have the white gold, I've actually got better things to do than fight with all of you."
The three groups and Jessica watched as Max and his entourage left without a fight and were a bit confused. Lily thought:
(Max is a degenerate, not a coward. Why is he leaving? Well, whatever, less competitors is a good thing.)
Delroy became tired of waiting so to make an example of someone, he rapidly approached Nick while brandishing his fists.
(This fool is reading a book while down here? He'll be the first to taste my fists.)
Nick sensed Delroy approaching and looked away from his book in order to take a good look at him. Delroy immediately struck out when he got within one meter of Nick, his right fist glowed with a bronze light as it moved towards Nick's face.
(Reinforced Fist)
Nick squinted his eyes and cast his own spell:
(Soul Pressure.)
Delroy's movements immediately halted and he was then pressed flat into the ground by an irresistible magical force. Nick looked at the scene indifferently and thought:
(Oh, my headache is completely gone now.)
Everyone present, including Jessica was surprised at seeing Nick's method in action. Jessica's mind spun with thoughts:
(Something about Nick seems different, I mean not considering his weird eyes, he seems stronger for some reason.)
Nick sighed and lightly closed his book before asking Jessica:
"What are we going to do here?"
Jessica replied with certainty:
"I'm going to take that white gold that's within that crevice, I'll have to fight it out with these guys though."
Nick shook his head, saying:
"No, that will take too long, I'll deal with them, just go get the material when I'm finished."
Torin heard Nick's arrogant words and spat on the floor, saying:
"You're only boasting shamelessly."
Nick immediately waved his right index at Delroy who was still pressed flat into the ground, face first, and cast his spell as his pitch black eyes gleamed:
(Sever.)
Delroy who was unable to move a muscle and whose mind was currently in chaos only felt a sharp pain in his neck before his vision went completely dark. Nick's spell had easily decapitated the immobilized Delroy who transformed into specks of white light soon thereafter. Delroy's group members cursed at Nick as they rushed forward to avenge their leader:
"Kill this son of a cunt."
Nick shook his head at their actions and then spoke:
"You all didn't learn from his mistake."
(Soul Pressure.)
Each member of the group of fifteen students fell face first into the ground, completely immobilized. Nick the pointed his right index and middle finger at Delroy's group and cast:
(Rumbling Pillar.)
The space around the fifteen students began to twist and shake madly, eventually turning everyone affected by it into meat paste within less than five seconds. The members of the remaining two groups momentarily held their breaths as they witnessed the sight. The creepy looking young man in front of them actually overpowered fifteen other rank 2 Apprentice Magicians with relative ease.
Lily mumbled:
"Who is he?"
Torin felt troubled by the current state of things but knew that if he surrendered without a fight, he might not be able to hold onto his position as leader for much long so he firmed his resolve and commanded his group members:
"Let's tear these two to pieces."
Torin and his group members struck out, casting a variety of spells at Nick and Jessica. Torin was especially ferocious as he sent large, green wind blades at Nick. Nick indifferently put his book into his left hand and summoned Pressure Piece into his right hand from his space band. He swung the sword down while casting two spells:
(Reinforced With Soul.)
(Big Cleave.)
The miasma that then covered Pressure Piece appeared very condensed as it emitted a dull grey light. A large wave of magic power flooded towards Torin and his group, consuming their spells in the process. Torin's wind blades were easily cut apart by the power of Big Cleave and the wave of magic power continued to pushed towards the group, cutting everything it touched to ribbons. The students cast their defensive measures but to their surprise, none of them were able to defend against Nick's attack. Torin looked on with wide opened eyes as his body was cut into strips and he was unable to do anything about it.
By the time Nick's spell dissipated, Torin's group was no where to be scene. Lily and her eight group member looked on horrified and completely lost the will to fight. Lily quickly raised both her hands into the air, imitating Max from earlier and yelled:
"We surrender, you can have the white gold!"
Nick shook his head in response to their declaration and said:
"That won't do."
(Soul Pressure.)
Just like one of the previous groups, Lily and her teammates found themselves pressed face first into the ground. With Reinforced With Soul still active Nick cast Big Cleave again and its power violently bathed over Lily's group, leaving nothing behind but wide spread blotches of blood.
Jessica looked at the aftermath of Nick's power and was amazed by his efficiency. She said flatly:
"You got stronger."
Nick replied while storing Pressure Piece and opening his book again:
"That is only natural."
Jessica pursed her lips, complicated emotions filling her mind but she eventually moved towards the crevice to mine the white gold using a magically enhanced spade that she summoned from her space band.
Nick ignored what Jessica was doing and thought through the information that he gained from his book on dragons thus far:
(Dragons are some of the oldest species of magic beasts to be documented in history. There are thousands of different species of them that have been discovered by the various Magicians from Grand earth across many realms. Dragons are usually born already at rank 3 and are some of the most difficult Magic beasts to deal with because of their intelligence and proficient use of magic power, often rivaling human Magicians in that regard. The most powerful dragon to have ever been documented was at the rank 9 level but has long since disappeared...)
Nick closed the book as he finished summarizing its most important parts and by that time, Jessica came over to him, saying:
"Let's go deeper."
********************************
Dave McKoy sat at his desk and asked his subordinate in front of him:
"Are these reports correct? You're actually telling me that a rank 2 student created all that carnage that I saw on the second floor and it's the same young man that I obtained the rank 3 wisdom magic beast carcass from?"
The soldier in front of Sergent McKoy maintained his salute while reporting:
"Yes, sir. Many students that were involved in the incident on the second floor spread the information within Shelter Town after they were revived. Stories vary, but the main theme was: 'Nick Capitol has a method to manipulate magic beasts and he murdered dozens of students to prevent them from stealing his rewards'."
Sergent McKoy rubbed his chin in interest, saying:
"I'll have one of our stronger officers monitor him to see what kind of potential he has. This young man is a bit strange."
***********************************
Nick sat on a large rock that was embedded into the ground and read his book on magic beast anatomy while Jessica fought with a group of magic beasts that looked like rats but had flexible column of bones for tails and had no hair. Nick was fascinated by the contents of the book that described theories on how the laws that were embedded into a magic beast's organs influenced its growth.
Nick was organizing his thoughts when suddenly, a violent tremor occurred all around them. The magic beasts that Jessica was fighting became panicked and ran away at which point Jessica ran to Nick and said:
"It's another earthquake. Lets return to the surface to see if anything interesting has been unearthed."
Nick felt annoyed by the sudden tremor but wasn't the least bit panicked.
(We've been down here on the second floor for about two days now and I've noticed that these dirt walls are actually very tough, at least far tougher than any similar structures that I've seen so they should hold up against a little earthquake, preventing a sudden collapse of the surrounding area. As for going back to the surface, I've been dying to do that but the princess here kept insisting on staying down here to fight magic beasts. She is really making me regret taking her soul path materials.)
Nick was finished with his book on magic beast anatomy anyway so he closed it and stored it within his space band. He then spoke to Jessica:
"Your movement spell will take to long to get you to the surface, you should let me teleport both of us there instead with my space magic."
Jessica showed some hesitation at first but then a firm resolve radiated from her gaze.
(If resources have been unearthed on the surface, then getting there using Nick's spell will give me the best chance to compete for them. In addition, over the past two days, I've realized that although he isn't very warm or friendly, he is at least competent and keeps his word so there shouldn't be too much to worry about.)
Nick suddenly said:
"As payment for my services, I want half the carcasses of the magic beasts that you've killed. I don't care which ones."
Jessica pursed her lips in frustration but soon relaxed them and tapped her space band, summoning a large pile of magic beast carcasses. Nick stored them within his space band and raised his right index finger to the ceiling, casting:
(Space.)
A few moments later, Nick and Jessica appeared near the edge of the opening to the undergrounds. Jessica hunched over, feeling slightly nauseous from the effect of Nick's space magic. Nick thought:
(Hmmm...that reaction is a bit much.)
Nick looked around and noticed that there were already groups of students running in the direction north of the undergrounds. Jessica straightened her back and said:
"Let's follow them."
Nick nodded in agreement and he and Jessica silently moved along with the other students, waiting to see what everyone was moving towards. Ten minutes later when they had moved nearly one hundred and fifty meters from the opening to the undergrounds, Nick observed that a stone monolith was now standing erect above the grassy plain and all the students who were already close to it were staring at it with rapt attention.
Nick didn't know what to make of the situation.
(What is that? Well, its obviously a stone monolith, but it's not that simple. There are clear drawings on its surface.)
Nick and Jessica struggled through the crowd to take a closer look and what they saw surprised them. Nick had a great deal of shock as he begun to read the symbols that were carved into the stone monolith.
(These are Valteesian symbols for a rank 4 advanced grade water path spell. Why would something like this appear here?)
Nick looked over at Jessica and the excitement in the latter's face made even Nick feel uncomfortable.
(If I could determine what the thousands of symbols on this monolith represented, a water path Magician like herself would be able to do the same.)
Nick felt that this situation was a little weird.
(Up to date, when earthquakes occurred at the undergrounds, reports say that only natural resources appeared from beneath the earth. This is definitely not natural. This monolith has thousands of symbols, some of which have been organized incoherently but I can tell that this is an advanced grade water path spell just from the meanings of the symbols that I can coherently interpret. I can also tell that it is a rank 4 spell because it is divided into four subsections with the first three containing complete spells going from rank 1, then to rank 2, then to what seems like rank 3, then the natural conclusion would be that the fourth section's laws are what bring the entire thing together to amount to a rank 4 spell.)
Nick knew about this style of spell making from his previous years of study.
(This style is very old and isn't used widely anymore because it lacks a certain intuitive sense and so it is very complicated to read. Learning a spell like this would be very difficult for an Apprentice Magician.)
Nick shook his head and said to Jessica:
"I'm leaving."
Jessica frowned and asked:
"Aren't you interested in this spell?"
Nick replied:
"Not really. Although this is a rank 4 advanced grade spell, I've no interest in the water path and this is not an easy spell to learn."
Jessica's eyes glistened as she heard Nick's explanation and she asked in reply:
"How do you know that it is a rank 4 spell?"
Nick slowly explained his reasoning and Jessica listened with rapt attention. She then said:
"I'm going to spend some time studying this spell since this is a great opportunity for me. What will you do?"
Nick already had an answer prepared:
"I have some cultivation that I need to be doing which will probably take a few months so I won't be able to help you for now but I'll come find you when I'm done."
Jessica looked at Nick with squinted eyes and asked:
"You still remember our deal, right?"
Nick rolled his eyes at Jessica and thought:
(Our deal is the only reason that I am having this trifling conversation with you.)
Nick sighed and replied:
"Of course but practising my magic is still my priority. Do you get that?"
Jessica silently and slowly nodded her head in understanding and then said:
"Fine, you can go."
Nick didn't hesitate and immediately cast Blink, disappearing and reappearing fifteen meters away from the monolith. Nick continued to use the spell until he arrived at the resource center once again. Nick entered and quickly walked up to the counter, greeting Warren and his colleague:
"Good afternoon, sirs. Do you have any bones of rank 1 magic beasts that I can purchase as well as any blood path materials."
Warren looked strangely at Nick before saying:
"We have bones of rank 1 magic beasts but they are not complete sets and as for the blood path materials, we have collected some from within the Never Ending Battlefield but I will have to get one of my colleagues to hand those over to you."
Nick nodded his head, ignoring the strange look that Warren was directing at him and said:
"That's fine."
Warren left the counter and went through one of the steel doors to the left of the reception area. Three minutes later, Warren came back with another uniformed soldier shadowing him. This man had a black complexion with a head full of short but neatly trimmed black hair. When they both arrived at the counter, the man greeted Nick with politeness:
"Hello, my name is Roy Mathers. My colleague here tells me that you want blood path materials, could you tell me what they are for?"
Nick frowned at such questioning and replied:
"What's the point of asking that?"
The man who looked to be in his early thirties spoke with squinted eyes:
"Well...blood path materials are not something the ministry usually openly sells but considering that they were collected within the Never Ending Battlefield and there are students who primarily use blood path, we've made an exception assuming that we are satisfied that the student isn't planing to do anything horrible with them. Do you primarily use blood path magic?"
Roy gave Nick an uneasy feeling but he decided to cooperate anyway.
"I don't primarily use blood path magic but I do need the materials for experimentation."
Roy replied with a half smile, asking:
"Oh, what kind of experiment?"
Something in Nick's mind snapped when he heard those words and magic energy began oozing from his body as he squinted his menacing pitch black eyes. Roy saw Nick's change in demeanor and decided to stop his probing. He unsquinted his eyes and spoke laughingly:
"Don't be so serious, Mr. Capitol. I'm just doing my job. I'll tell you what, I'll hand over the materials to you as soon as you choose from this list."
Roy handed Nick a list of blood path materials with a smile. Nick internally sneered and accepted the list. He spent ten minutes looking through it until he came upon on blood path material called Mimic's Blood.
(The description says that the blood of a mimic can identically copy the composition and characteristics of the blood of any creature that comes into contact with it. That's exactly what I need.)
Nick spoke to Roy with determination:
"May I please obtain three dozen bottles of the Mimic's Blood?"
Roy, still smiling, replied:
"No problem, that will be £20,000,000."
Nick thought:
(My bank account will definitely end up empty at this rate but I've got no choice but to buy the materials.)
Nick handed over his student ID and a large pile of mismatched bones and thirty six bottles containing a clear liquid was handed over to him. Nick stored the materials within his space band and immediately left the resource center.
As soon as Nick did so, however, Roy's smile vanished as if it had never been there, turning into an indifferent expression.
"So this is the kid that McKoy has his eye on? He doesn't seem that special to me."
Warren replied with some amount of difficulty:
"Since when do we judge Magicians based on looks."
Roy's smile immediately returned at hearing that and Warren became visibly uncomfortable. Roy spoke to Warren with an almost sweet tone:
"You know, I think that this assignment is too cushy for someone of your talents. The scouting unit actually needs an extra hand."
Warren's expression became filled with bitterness as he thought:
(Is this guy really a powerful Magician, he is way too petty?)
Roy then immediately returned to the room on the left and locked the door behind him.
******************************
Nick found a decent spot a few yards away from the resource center and summoned his safe-house. He opened the door and said with a bit of uncertainty in his tone:
"I hope my plans don't fail."
Nick then quickly entered and locked the door behind him.