Nick had his reasons for believing that he was now a space path master.
(First, the fact that I just spent a few hours majorly improving a spell that I spent months creating through trial and error. Second, when I now think about the information within my space path inheritance, all sorts of inspiration now comes to me. It is very similar to what happens when I think about soul magic but less intense and familiar.)
A magician's attainment was divided into several levels, namely: ordinary, master, scholar, archmage and scourgemage. Nick read that each level was incredibly difficult to move past and required some degree of talent. Having ordinary attainment merely meant that you were familiar with the concepts involved with the path and you could apply those concepts within a certain limit. Being a master meant that you understood the concepts and principles of the path by analogy and were able to apply its concepts through a unique and precise logic; trial and error meant very little here for many tasks since you would be able to intuit solutions to problems involving your mastery.
The latter was what Nick felt when he improved Space.
Slade remarked in a serious tone:
[You have a great opportunity, kid. Don't waste it.]
Nick nodded his head and willed for his special space to expand by one hundred meters in all directions. After properly assessing the areas affected by his spell, Nick disappeared from his spot with his three magic beast meatballs.
Thirty minutes later, Nick discreetly appeared at the edge of the settlement with the three magic beast meatballs floating behind him as he kept Space active a few feet around his body.
(Strangely enough, I don't require much magic to maintain the effects of space anymore. I suppose that has something to do with the space path laws that are all over my body.)
That's what Nick's intuition was indicating to him but he also realized that he could not inspect the space path laws on his own body like he did with his space band.
(Cup half full, cup half empty, I guess.)
Nick hurriedly ran among the tents and the people that were scattered through out the settlement in order to get to the Ministry of Magic's resource center. Many people looked at him weirdly because of the three balls of compact meat that floated behind him as he ran.
Nick soon arrived to the resource center and hurriedly walked up to the counter. Warren, the officer that Nick had interacted with months ago was not present but his colleague and a female officer that Nick did not recognize were present. Nick asked with urgency in his tone:
"Hello, do you have clothes and shoes that I could purchase?"
The young soldier who looked to be in his late twenties replied:
"Sure, but they are not magically enhanced."
Nick said quickly:
"I don't need them to be. I want a pair of men's pants, a shirt, a leather or jeans jacket and a pair of work boots."
The young man nodded and replied:
"No problem, let me have your student ID to confirm the purchase."
Nick took his student ID out of his pocket and handed it over to the soldier. The female soldier who seemed to be about the same age as her colleague looked on and observed Nick closely while her colleague was getting ready to confirm the purchase. She thought:
(Is this guy using space magic right now? What's up with those three balls of meat floating behind him, did he get them from magic beasts?)
When the male soldier scanned Nick's ID card with his computer, a red screen appeared with the words, 'Transaction Declined, Account Frozen'. The young man frowned and said to Nick while handing him back his ID.
"The system is saying that your bank account has been frozen. Do you know anything about that?"
Nick was shocked, not knowing what to say.
(What, how can my account be frozen? How am I supposed to buy things without that money?)
Nick visibly frowned, his mood becoming bad. He thought quickly and said:
"Can I exchange the compact magic beast carcasses behind me for the clothes?"
The soldier looked at the three floating meatballs with his right eyebrow raised and replied:
"What kind of magic beasts did you use to make those?"
Nick described the encounter that he had with the three frog like magic beasts, leaving out parts that would make things troublesome for him. The soldier put on a thoughtful expression and then said:
"Swift frog legs are very valuable as sound path materials even if you've compressed them so we can do a trade. Oh, you could get dozens of pieces of clothes with the value of the carcasses. How many do you want?"
Nick sighed:
"Just hand me five sets of everything that I already asked for and throw in a travel bag while you're at it."
Nick was going to just leave it at that since he did not have anywhere to store them but then he thought to ask:
"Is the additional value worth a space band or a magic sword?"
The soldier replied:
"We do not sell space bands here and although we do have swords, the additional value of the carcasses will only get you a standard issue non-magical military machete."
Nick's expression became filled with bitterness at hearing that and replied:
"I'll take it."
Five minute later Nick left the resource center with his new travel bag filled with new clothes and shoes floating beside him and his new machete in hand. The machete mas made from a titanium alloy and had only one sharp edge with the end of its blade being curved instead of pointed.
After Nick left, a door at the left side of the room opened and Roy Mathers walked up to the counter, saying:
"It seems that he's not dead even after that explosion occurred at his safe-house container. Did you two notice anything strange about him?"
The male soldier replied simply:
"No."
The female soldier, however, had more to say:
"The space magic that I felt around him felt formidable and he had a certain bizarre aura about him. I don't know how to explain it..."
Roy raised his right hand, signalling for her to stop and said:
"I understand."
Roy then returned to his room, not saying another word.
*****************************
Rain suddenly came pouring down and Nick was forced to run to a tree near to the resource center to seek shelter. By the time he got under the protection of the tree's leaves, he was already soaking wet.
(I purposely let the rain pour down on me as a form of shower but I used Space to keep my travel bag and machete dry though.)
Nick quickly took off his wet clothes and shoes and put on a set of jeans pants, polo shirt, dark blue jeans jacket and black work boots that he received from the resource center. Nick then sat wearily at the base of the tree, watching the rain drops as they fell to the ground.
(Who would of thought that after all that work, I would end up homeless and poverty stricken.)
Nick sighed as his stomach grumbled from hunger.
(I am not in the best of circumstances but there is hope as long as I still believe in myself. Nick Capitol, you are amazing.)
Nick pursed his lips in sadness but in the next moment a firm resolve filled his gaze.
(I have work to do.)
In this time of sadness, Nick turned to his one saving grace - his ability to make spells.
(Since I've lost everything, I have to start earning materials and items through the undergrounds. It's been months since I went down there and no doubt, the students that I battled earlier have probably already spread word about my abilities. I should use this time to add to my current methods.)
Nick's thoughts began to spin in a frenzy as all sorts of ideas came into being.
(With my space path master attainment, all sorts of possibilities are now known to me. Add my soul path scholar attainment to that and the range of possibilities grow even wider.)
Nick sat under the tree, working out the concepts for new spells in his mind as the rain fell heavily. He did not move from that spot for hours and simply stared blankly at the falling rain which did not stop until sunrise the next morning.
As the sun rose, people exited their tents and began to walk around. Nick raised himself from his sitting position at the base of the tree and flexed his stiff arms.
(Man, it was really cold last night.)
After Nick moved around a bit, he breathed in deeply and focused on the laws for a spell that he was now forming within his mindscape. His body soon radiated with magic energy and when the laws were fully drawn, dozens of ice pillars made of crystalized magic energy shot towards them as Nick's spell activated.
(Soul Capturing Coat.)
A cloud of thick, translucent miasma was exuded from all over Nick's body and quickly condensed to form a clear, flexible, long sleeved coat that reached down to his ankles. Nick observed the results of his new spell with satisfaction.
(This spell is rank 2 intermediate grade and belongs to both soul path and space path.)
Nick readied himself and then cast Blink, disappearing and reappearing twenty meters from his original position.
(The space path laws on my body are increasing the effectiveness of the space path spells that I use by a large margin. This must be the advantage that magic beasts have that make them stronger than Magicians at the same level when they get to higher ranks.)
Nick used Blink six more times until he arrived at his intended destination. A few meters away from him stood a large stone monolith that was at least twelve meters high and eight meters wide.
"I wonder if she still comes here. By my calculations, the spell on that monolith would take a few years to study If I was the one studying it."
Just as Nick was ready to search, he actually spotted a lone figure sitting in front of the monolith, staring blankly at it. Nick focused on the figure and soon realized that it was the very person that he was looking for. Magic energy seemed to be constantly flowing around Jessica Jones's body that now sported visibly dirty, soiled clothes. The hair on her head wasn't the same bright blonde as before and seemed to be duller and contain a few strands of grey hair; Jessica also seemed much thinner than before, looking like she had barely been eating.
Nick looked on, impressed and thought:
(This woman is really not simple. How long has she been here studying that monolith? Well, I guess I shouldn't disturb her since she seems intent on cultivating. With that kind of focus, I'm curious to see what the result of her studying will be.)
Nick's indifferent expression softened a bit before he suddenly disappeared from the area.
******************************************
Nick suddenly appeared on the dirt ground of the entrance to an underground tunnel with machete in hand. His soul capturing coat fluttered even though there was no wind present and the space a few inches around him was rich with magic power.
(I have to go back to the second floor again. Let the exploration begin.)
Nick ran forward through the tunnel and eventually moved into a large cavern. Nick did not stop running and eventually, a group of four tractor sized crab like magic beasts with dirt brown colored carapaces noticed him. Nick only glanced at them as they approached his flank and then manipulated his special space to expand by twelve meters in all directions, forming a sort of cubed room filled with his magic power. The magic beasts ran sideways through the special space without reacting to it and Nick willed the space around them to warp and twist.
The magic beasts stopped moving and their bodies contorted until they started to fold in unnatural ways. The magic beasts started to bleed from their orifices and within moments, they became compressed balls of meat.
Nick floated all four meatballs to his side and after running a few more meters, he stopped and took a bite of one of the meatballs. Blood oozed out of his mouth as Nick chomped down on the leathery flesh of the magic beast. Nick eventually swallowed to meat and then cast his spell:
(Growth.)
Nick felt a warmth circulate inside him as the magic energy within his surroundings flowed to him without him needing to meditate.
(I didn't use Growth frequently before because I was still trying to understand the magic beasts within this realm to ascertain if whether eating them would be hazardous to me. After all these years, I think that I can conclude that magic beast flesh is extremely nourishing even if ate raw and there should be little chance of it carrying disease or being poisonous, that is, if the magic beast is of an appropriate path.)
Nick hadn't eaten for over a day so he was intent on having his fill of meat even though it was bland and bloody. Nick finished one meatball and cast growth again, feeling the nourishment of the magic energy flowing inside him and coming towards him. Nick quickly threw away the three other meatballs and continued on his way.
Soon, he met another magic beast as it was crawling out of a large crevice situated within a broad column of rock that extended from the ground to the ceiling. The magic beasts was two and a half meters tall and looked similar to a naked Minotaur with curved horns at the sides of its head. Nick quickly changed his direction in order to intercept it.
The magic beast soon noticed Nick and snarled at him menacingly with its pitch black eyes. It rushed out, running on its two legs to meet him. Nick held the handle of his machete firmly with his right hand and swung it in the direction of the magic beast.
(Cleave.)
A thin wave of formless magic power shot out at the magic beasts but sensing the attack, the magic beast quickened its pace while releasing a large amount of magic energy from its body. Its muscles visibly bulged and its brown fur stood up. All in all, the magic beast became at least 20% bulkier as it rushed towards Nick's attack. Cleave's power soon crashed into the magic beast but completely dissipated thereafter having no effect.
Nick breathed in deeply and cast another spell:
(Soul Pressure.)
The magic beast quickly froze in place from the effects of Soul Pressure and was forced to its knees where it took a bowing position with its hands placed firmly on the ground and its arms straightened, trying to keep its body from lowering any further.
Nick disappeared from his position and a moment later, reappeared in front of the magic beast. Nick grabbed the magic beast by the head and looked squarely into its pitch black eyes.
(Ghost Eyes.)
A mystical connection formed between Nick's soul and the magic beast's soul and a contest of strength between them followed which not surprisingly, Nick won in mere moments as the magic beast started foaming at the mouth and bleeding heavily from its eyes, ears and mouth. Nick willed and his soul capturing coat expanded and quickly wrapped itself around the magic beast, soon retracting as a translucent miasma which was the magic beast's soul was drawn out of the its body and absorbed by Nick's coat. The soul capturing coat then shrunk to its original size and the magic beast's body went limp as Nick let go of its head. The effects of Soul Pressure no longer affected it since the body lost its soul but it still fell to the ground, lifeless like a rag doll.
(As indicated by its name, the soul capturing coat is able to force out and absorb another being's soul, strengthening itself. This spell was not all that difficult to design since I had my spell, Retrieve Soul, as a reference. The space path aspect involves how the spell is able to capture souls without becoming bulkier.)
Nick observed the still thin layer of clear magic power that looked like a coat and smiled, pleased that it worked as expected.
Nick ignored the carcass and did not try to eat it because its skin seemed unreasonably thick when he attempted to cut it with Cleave.
(Using this machete means that I am unable to bring out the full power of Cleave since it is just a normal weapon and casting Big Cleave with it will probably break it apart.)
Nick shook his head, realizing that two of his most lethal methods were unusable. Nick spent the next fours hours exploring the second floor while fighting magic beasts and eventually he was able to capture forty six souls of rank 2 magic beasts. Nick continued his exploration after that, not running into anymore magic beasts.
(Are they avoiding me or have I not encountered any more because the second floor is so large? Hmmm...It's hard to say; the growing magic power of the soul capturing coat might be giving me away.)
Just as Nick was running past the base of a raised stone platform, he sensed the power of several spells approaching him rapidly. Nick stopped his movements and willed for his soul capturing coat to expand, creating a protective imperfect sphere made of translucent souls around him. The soul barrier was hit with fire, wind, metal and corrosive darkness attacks but it held up under the pressure.
When the effects of the opposing spells cleared, Nick was able to see that above him, on top of the stone platform, a group of over twelve students stood there watching him. He heard a loud voice reverberating throughout the cavern.
"Nick Capitol, did you think that we would meet again?"
A bald young man stepped forward and showed himself as he puffed out his chest in order to look imposing. Nick squinted his eyes at muttered a name:
"Daryl Smith."
Daryl looked at Nick with a smug expression and said:
"After our last encounter, you certainly became famous in Shelter Town as a heavy hitter and here I thought that I wouldn't get the chance to settle the score because no one from the academy saw you again for months. I only heard rumors of a weird white haired man sometimes running around the settlement near the undergrounds. Now that I have you within my sights, we can finally duke it out to see which one of us is stronger."
Nick replied with disinterest:
"Big talk for a guy who needs an entourage to explore these floors."
Daryl's right eyelid twitched at hearing that and Cindy Reece who was beside him looked on with concern. She did not want to fight with Nick since the last time they fought ended up with so many people being killed by him. It took several weeks for their whole team to return to the undergrounds again from Shelter Town. She spoke with some disapproval in her tone:
"Daryl, can't you just let things be, us killing each other shouldn't result in grudges since that's a part of the exam's rules?"
Daryl snorted, saying:
"Fuck those rules, we're here to get stronger and that means facing down strong opponents. This Nick Capitol looks like he has improved but so have I. I'll be satisfied if I can just send him to his death once. Cindy, shoot a few arrows at him for me; the rest of you should be prepared to launch attacks at any moment."
Daryl did not care that he out numbered Nick, if he killed him, it would still count as his win.
(There is no cheater and cheated in death, just silence.)
Daryl understood that after Nick had killed him months ago. Cindy sighed and readied her silver magic bow and as she pulled back its string, five arrows made of scarlet flames appeared. When she let the string go, they flew straight at Nick with terrifying speed.
(Burning True Arrows)
Nick raised his left index finger towards the arrows and cast Space. A special space was instantly created within a ten by ten by ten meter area and Nick manipulated the special space to teleport the burning arrows five meters away from its original line of fire, completely dodging the attack. The arrows hit the ground several meters away from Nick, leaving it charred black and emitting a pitch black smoke. Nick immediately followed up by casting another spell:
(Petrifying Souls.)
Five ghostly figures made of a translucent mist emerged from Nick's soul capturing coat, they were similar in shape to some of the magic beasts that Nick had fought before. The ghostly figures quickly flew up to the stone platform and proceeded to ram into the defending students who witnessed the ghostly figures flying straight through their defenses and their bodies. Bronze skin, water spheres and wind barriers could not defend against these ghosts. Daryl asked in frustration:
"What are those things?"
Before he could spend the time to deal with them, however, five of the students that the ghostly figures touched started to turn to grey stone, starting at the point of contact.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
...
They each screamed in fright and panic but the spell turned them into solid, grey stone statues within moments. Daryl reacted by taking a deep breath and then breathing out a cloud of thick, silver fog.
(Misty Silver)
The five ghostly figures' movements became hampered by the silver fog, giving the rest of the students a reprieve. The five students who had already been turned into stone statues, however, could not be saved as they quickly crumbled apart and transformed into specks of white light, disappearing.
Daryl commanded:
"Everyone, follow me to the base of the stone platform."
Daryl quickly used both hands to slap the ground at the edge of the platform, casting a spell:
(Malleable Iron)
A mass of iron quickly emerged from the stone ground, twisting around fluidly. As Daryl willed, the iron soon shot to the base of the stone platform as it solidified and changed shape, becoming a smooth slide made of iron. Daryl was the first to jump on the slide and go down to the ground below, then went Cindy, then the remaining eight students followed. All this happened in less than a minute.
After trying to guide the ghostly figures out of the fog of silver and failing, Nick quickly decided to release them which resulted in them dissipating.
(Petrifying Souls is a spell contained within Slade's inheritance and uses captured souls to create phantoms that turn whatever being comes into contact with them into solid stone; they can also pass through defensive elemental spells to a certain degree. It works well when used with Soul Capturing Coat but the phantoms require me to actively manipulate them which is difficult for me since I basically have no attainment in enslavement path.)
Nick looked on as Daryl and his companions slid down to the ground some fifteen meters away from him and snorted. Nick willed and his special space expanded to cover Daryl's slide after which Nick slashed his machete down five times, casting Sever each time. Daryl's slide was quickly cut into five uneven pieces and the students fell down towards the ground.
One student blew out a gust of green wind from his mouth which softened the landing for himself and everyone else. When they thought that they were safe, however, space around them warped and they all suddenly appeared much closer to Nick, about five meters away from him. Daryl wasn't intimidated, however; he quickly clasped his hands and erupted with magic energy.
(Iron Needle)
The ground beneath Nick rumbled but before Nick could see what was the cause, he willed and teleported to Daryl's back instantly, casting:
(Soul Pulse.)
With Nick at the center of the magical force, the students were blown away from their positions like toys and crashed to the ground with varying degrees of internal bleeding and headaches. A five meter long sharp tipped needle burst out of Nick's previous position and stood there, intimidating but useless. Nick thought:
(If that hit me, I would have surely been skewered.)
He placed that thought to the back of his mind and cast:
(Soul Pressure.)
All the students suddenly felt that gravity was now bearing down on them as an irresistible force kept them in place. Daryl and Cindy struggled to raise their heads as blood oozed out of their eyes, nose and mouth but they both mustered their focus to attempt to cast their spells when suddenly, the second floor began to shake violently.
Nick frowned and thought:
(An earthquake?)
Nick had felt numerous earthquakes in previous months but had never felt one this severe since he came to the undergrounds. Portions of the second floor's ground began to break apart and collapse. Nick quickly cancelled Soul Pressure and used space to teleport himself away from the fissuring ground. Nick watched as a twenty meter radius hole was created in the second floor which resulted in the students that had yet to recover from Nick's attacks to fall into it, consumed by the darkness below.
The earthquake soon ended. Nick muttered:
"That was close."
With Space still active Nick expanded his special space to go down into the hole. Nick did not know why, but his special space could not penetrate the ground or walls of the second floor before so he was left with no choice but to find a pathway to the third floor by exploration. This gaping hole in the ground now gave him an opportunity to get where he was going without having to find a specific pathway.
Nick used his special space to sense what was below the hole for up to one hundred meters before his special space could not be extended further but the results of his probe were inconclusive.
(I have to go down there myself but that was the plan anyway.)
Nick willed and disappeared from his current position, reappearing on the hard ground of what he assumed to be the third floor moments later. The area was in complete darkness and the only way that Nick could tell what was in his surroundings was to use the power of his special space, however, that only work for the six meters around him in any direction, even if his special space was expanded further.
"This darkness is impenetrable."
Just as Nick made that claim, he sensed a figure move quickly through his special space to come straight at him. The speed of his foe was so great that there was no way that Nick could stop him in time with Space. Nick quickly cast his spell:
(Instinctive Blade.)
Nick's right arm swung his machete with supernatural dexterity and speed and a moment later Nick felt another blade collide with his own. The sparks created from the impact momentarily lit up the space in front of Nick and he was able to stare right into the eyes off his opponent for a very short time.
Nick's opponent grinned at him showing its pointed, yellow, needle like teeth that was almost the same color as its wrinkled, bleached skin that turned dark brown at its two inch long nose and blood shot, pale green eyes. Nick would never make a mistake in identifying this type of magic beast for the rest of his life.
(A damn goblin.)
Nick flicked his left index finger and cast Sever, cutting into the goblin's abdomen with his magic power and disemboweling it. Nick quickly willed his soul capturing coat to drag the goblin's soul out of its body and absorb it; the goblins body fell to the ground afterwards, lifeless. At that point Nick heard at least a dozen footsteps come his way from within the darkness and so he willed his soul capturing coat to expand into an almost spherical barrier that defended against his attackers.
Nick could hear the sound a slashing and clubbing against the soul barrier and he used this time to properly sense his opponents using his special space.
(Eighteen goblins similar to the one that I killed are now attacking my barrier and have me encircled. I can't teleport because I can't properly sense my surroundings so I have no choice but to kill all of them quickly before anything else shows up.)
Nick cast his spell, Petrifying Souls, and summoned eight ghostly figures which was the current limit that he could control. The ghostly figures all flew around and through the encirclement of goblins and came in contact with them at a quick pace. The goblins screamed as they soon began to turn to stone but they were clearly unable to stop the effects of Nick's spell so they continued to attack Nick's soul barrier in a frenzy while they could but the barrier stood firm up until the last goblin was turned to solid stone and crumbled to the ground.
All of that took less than five minutes and Nick quickly retracted his soul capturing coat to its original size and began moving in a random direction, using the power of Space to sense the layout of the area around him. Nick was able to soon develop a layout of the area six meters around him in his mind and quickly ran through the dark , trying to find a possible source of light but even after spending six hours searching, he found no light.
Exhausted and hungry, Nick sat at the base of a wall as he tried to peer through the impenetrable darkness.
(When will I leave this place?)
As he was wondering that, the feint sound of moving water could be heard in the distance. Nick quickly put his ear to the ground and the sound of rushing water became clear. Nick's hopes reignited as he ran toward the direction that he thought the sound was coming from.
(Even if there is no light source where the water is, I would be able to travel a longer distance in a short amount of time with the help of the water.)
Nick ran for ten minutes until he came upon the bank of an underground stream that appeared to be deep and turbulent from his perspective. Nick quickly ignored his doubts and willed for his soul capturing coat to expand and surround his body. Seeing that his firm, almost spherical barrier of defense was in place, Nick jumped into the turbulent water that pushed him in an unknown direction.
Because of the rapid movement of the current, Nick was unable to gain a proper mental picture of what was going on around him using Space so he was practically blind as he moved along the stream in complete darkness. Nick was forced to maintain his protective barrier for four hours which wasn't difficult sine the consumption of Soul Capturing Coat was far less than Nick's magic energy recovery ability. What really got to him the entire time was his hunger and thirst but he didn't dare to drink the stream water since he did not know whether it was, in fact, water.
Nick eventually felt himself fall a few levels of distance and he crashed into a large pool filled with glowing moss, similar to the kind that he had encountered when he was isolated for eighteen months.
"Finally, some light."
Nick quickly rejoiced but as soon as he finished speaking, a threatening declaration was directed at him.
"Move and I will shove my staff right up your ass!"
Nick unconsciously clenched his butt cheeks after hearing that and the voice behind him burst out in laughter:
"Ha, ha, ha. I've met an idiot. Maybe I shouldn't blame you since this third floor is so damn creepy."
Nick quickly cast Blink and teleported several meters away from the voice, facing its source. Nick then caught sight of a tall, white youth with short, black, curly hair that sported a pair of grey crystal rimmed glasses.
The young man did a flippant salute and greeted with a Cheshire grin plastered on his face:
"Yo!"