Chapter 193

This wasn’t the first time Nick had to adapt a spell on the fly, but it was definitely the riskiest one.Spiritual magic had a way of tainting every spell it touched that was hard to articulate, but he knew that if he allowed the Phobos’ natural ability to take control of his , he would lose it forever.

That wasn’t necessarily a negative. The resulting magic could potentially be even more useful, for all he knew.

The problem was that he didn’t know. The risk was far too high. And yet, the process had already begun. Thus, Nick fell deeply into the vortex of magic, concentrating on his to track every subtle change.

He could try to forcibly separate the two magics, but was already frayed at this point. It would take days of meditation to fully recover, and even then, it might never return to its original state.

Which meant he needed to do something different.

Taking a look at the Phobos’ magic that he had pulled out revealed a more complex structure than he’d expected. Sure, its origin was a pure spirit, something that had probably existed for eons, given how primal the emotion that birthed it was, but what he was seeing was more than that.

The fear sensitivity he had known would be present. However, the majority of the matrix was driven by a desire to discover more of itself, to peer through the layers of reality, and to let nothing escape its terrible gaze.

After all, was already a spell born from his desire to know. Sure, the applications were different, but not so much in nature. If he could just…

Grabbing hold of the raw mass of magic flowing into him, Nick began to pull it apart. Along with it came chunks of his own spell, but he wasn’t worried about that now that he had seen the underlying similarities.

If push came to shove, he was confident he could reconstruct enough of to need only a day of effort to get back to normal, but he doubted he’d need to.

There was an opportunity there.

He already knew that spiritual magic was shaped by emotions. Whether it was fear, anger, lust, or more benign feelings, it didn’t really matter. The concepts that made it work were the same.

And so, Nick took that part of himself that trembled at the sight of the unknown, that primal portion of his brain that couldn’t comprehend all the wonders he created, all the things he could see with his own eyes.

That had yet to be affected by his vastly increased power.

That could serve as an anchor, and as he went to attach the Phobos’ magic to it, he felt it slot in without needing to force it, as if it had always been meant for that.

then followed, becoming the new structure of the spell. It flowed and molded itself to the new space he had carved out in his soul, filling everything he allowed it to, much like air would fill a vacuum.

And the more esoteric part of it, which allowed him to look into the ether, absorbed all the leftover power. The Phobos’ natural ability to peer through the layers, to find prey, became just another extension, mending the frayed areas and creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

By the time Nick finished adjusting the matrix, the storm he’d been summoning had already dispersed, and the sun had begun to set.

He sat up with a stretch, tentatively allowing his senses to reach beyond his body.

Colors he hadn’t previously known revealed themselves to him. New shades, conveying information that his mind found difficult to grasp, poured in, requiring a few minutes to adjust.

Fortunately, his mental stats had long since surpassed mundane limits, and instead of his brain leaking out of his ears, he was gifted with a vastly enhanced perception.

Two pulsing blobs of purple lay just a few feet away from him, and he knew without even having to process it that they were the two thunderhoof calves that had somehow survived the ordeal.

Both were absolutely terrified and had almost no control over their bodies, but Nick could see the loop of fear imposed by the Phobos begin to loosen as their inherent magic resisted it, now that the spirit was gone.

It took only a moment to send a burst of calm into them. Nick watched as the spiritually charged bursts flew through the air, much faster than his earlier had been capable of.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

When they struck, the leftover magic finally fell apart, but instead of bolting, as their instincts must have been screaming at them to do, the two calves lay there docilely, blinking at him with wide, copper eyes.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have developed a new spell:

+211.000 Exp

You have participated in the defeat of

+58.000 Exp

Your Trait: Minor Spiritual Affinity has ranked up!

+100.000 Exp

Level up!

Level up!

NICK CROWLEY

LEVEL

MANA

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Occultist/Human

The smile that spread across Nick’s face could only be described as gleeful.

“I was starting to wonder whether you had gotten yourself killed.” Rhea shot him a sidelong glance as he dropped down from the sky.

Her annoyed expression didn’t quite work, because Nick could now see a swirling mix of worry, relief, amusement, and affection within her.

Really, his new spell was basically cheating.

“Unless the dragon has decided to wake up and take his annoyance out on me, I seriously doubt there is anything else that could harm me out here.” He replied smugly, enjoying the way her fond annoyance spiked.

Rhea simply nodded in the direction of the distant temple, where a gigantic lion far mightier than himself currently resided, and he wilted.

Curiously, the building appeared different to his new senses. Where before he had been able to tell it was a temple due to the hazy presence of a domain, he could now see powerful hues representing determination, duty, and patience lingering around, alongside a dense cloud of resignation that seemed to be slowly dispersing.

Although he didn’t know what Elia was learning, he imagined it was going well. Pushing through its defenses might now be possible, but he chose not to. Cao-leò would undoubtedly notice.

“Alright, that huge lion could beat me, too. And that giant herd of thunderhooves. And probably the massive rock worm we saw fight the lion… Ok, there might be several things.” He admitted, noticing Rhea’s lips quirk up alongside the feeling of amusement within her.

However, before he could continue the banter, a stronger sense of duty began to rise, and he closed his mouth, waiting for her to speak.

Rhea gave him a surprised look, probably having expected him to keep deflecting, “There is something I want to talk to you about.”

“Go on,” He urged.

Setting aside the instruments she held, Rhea signaled for him to follow her to two stone chairs she had transmuted, feeling a sense of pride in them.

“You’ve gotten better,” he acknowledged, earning another smile. “Could make them softer next time,” he added, and she rolled her eyes.

“I’ve been thinking about what will happen once we are back,” she said in lieu of a response, and a cloud of seriousness filled her presence.

“Are you talking about the beastmen situation? Because now that Elia has become a miko and has received the blessing of a Hunting Lord, she should be able to take care of it.” He said, but even as he spoke, he knew that wasn’t it.

“That is part of it, but I’m not really worried about it. Elia can deal with the beastmen on her own by now, and I’m sure your father will be reasonable about terms.” She said, confirming his intuition.

Nick remained quiet, knowing she wasn’t done.

“The thing I’m worried about is whether I will be able to go back to my apprenticeship as if nothing had happened.” Rhea continued, as conflicting emotions rose up. “It’s kinda fallen by the wayside these last few days, what with the situation with Akari and now the lion, but I have not forgotten about the north.”

Nick hummed, starting to understand where he was headed. Noticing the chaotic swirl within her, he realized she was primarily trying to vent, so he decided to stay quiet until she was done.

“My grandmother sent me to Ogden to become a great alchemist, sure, but also to hide me away from our enemies. If those enemies are now falling, if the tide has turned against them… Surely I have a duty to avenge those who fell to their machinations? I don’t even know if another opportunity like this will ever come again.”

She was clutching her broken dagger now, staring at it with profound sadness and anger.

In a way, it was beautiful. Although Nick was still unfamiliar with this empathic sense, he could feel from the intensity of her emotions that Rhea was truly struggling with this.

She felt torn between her duty to Ogden, her desire for revenge, her fear of going against her grandmother’s wishes, and the glee she was feeling at her enemies’ loss of their scion.

“Do you think Ogden will even allow you to leave?” He asked, trying to bring her back down to reality.

Nick was the first to say that people should follow their dreams, but Rhea was not the type of prodigy who could take on an entire noble clan by herself. It was true that she excelled at alchemy, but her class didn’t allow for powerful battle options until later on.

She had just finally gotten her first real combat spell, for heaven’s sake!

“I don’t know,” she murmured. “On one hand, he’s likely to throw me out and tell me it’s none of his business; on the other, he could tell me I’m a cretin and lock me in the shop. It’s fifty-fifty.”

Her tone conveyed amusement, along with a poorly concealed fondness for the old man. There was also curiosity, likely stemming from the odd behavior Elia had displayed when they discussed Ogden some time ago.

“Do you have an idea of what the Ultimers’ power level might be? You mentioned they were a powerful clan, so even if weakened, they might still be too strong for you.”

Dark anger surged, but Rhea quickly suppressed it with cold calculation. “I only know that the patriarch, Ephor Ultimer, is a Prestige Class. He’s also very old, well above a century, so he might not be in his prime anymore.”

Nick hissed. Yeah, age could affect people, but as far as he knew, its impact on Prestige Classes was quite limited. People like Arthur and Marthas were well past what a mundane person would consider fighting age, yet they were the most powerful residents of Floria.

Before he could try to talk her down, a powerful determination surged within Rhea, and he realized he wouldn’t be able to sway her from her course. She had lost too much to that man.

“I want your help in killing him.”