Leveling up the World

Chapter 938: Fall of the Mage Academy

Got you, Dallion thought, casting a new series of spells that drew hardened runes on the ground.

The ground solidified just when one of the colossus’ hands reached out. In normal circumstances, it would be a given that a non-magic creature couldn’t escape from this trap. Unfortunately, there was one minor detail that had eluded Dallion. Despite not being an overseer, the colossus remained the prime guardian of the realm. As such, nothing—including the ground—would keep him imprisoned for long.

After a brief pause, the hand kept on rising, as if sliding along wet clay. Not a single magic thread or speck of earth attached to it.

Unsummoing his weapons, Dallion pulled out two rocket crossbows, firing both on the spot he estimated the colossus’ head would appear.

The ground erupted like a volcano.

MODERATE HIT

Dealt damage has been increased by 150%

MODERATE HIT

Dealt damage has been increased by 150%

CRITICAL HIT

Dealt damage has been increased by 200%

Three strikes out of eight? Not at all what Dallion had hoped for. To make matters worse, they were all superficial wounds.

Splitting into hundreds of instances, Dallion spread out, casting aether barriers in front of each.

Chunks of earth slammed into half of them, shattering everything in the process. Clearly, magic wasn’t the answer. What Dallion could do, though, was return to the basics.

As he concentrated, a series of guard markers appeared, showing him how to evade the incoming projectiles. The options were so many that they were visible as a solid chunk of green, stacked one over the other.

Compared to what he’d become used to dealing in combat as a domain ruler, it all seemed so simple now. Combining guard and acrobatics let him evade half a dozen in less than a second. Doing so caused time to slow down.

“Easy,” Dallion said. He had forgotten how fun this was. There was no longer any need for him to follow the guard markers, but he did so anyway, more out of a sense of nostalgia than anything else.

Sequence after sequence was complete until time completely stopped. In the past, that would have been enough. The situation now was a bit more complicated. With all the chunks of earth in the air, Dallion had no direct line of attack. Even the colossus itself wasn’t fully visible. That left only one solution—doing a spiral attack.

An area of the air was immediately cleared as the flow of time returned to normal. Dallion didn’t delay, flying straight into another section full of projectiles, where he repeated the process.

Time slowed down, then stopped again, only this time the guardian’s head was fully visible.

Good approach, Adzorg said. You’ll still need one more to get to a good point of attack.

“Maybe,” Dallion replied.

He’d be forced to go further back to find a spot which still had earth fragments in the air, but it wasn’t impossible. His mind raced through options, coming with the optimal solution. Even after all this time, his gamer instincts urged him to go for the direct kill. There was a good chance that he’d manage it, too.

No, he told himself. There was no time for ego fulfillment. Using the time freeze, Dallion flew to the optimal location from which to start a third guard sequence series.

If the colossus had caught on to what he was doing, he didn’t show it, for he didn’t move his head, which well could have happened. A moment later, it was already too late—time had frozen again and Dallion had a perfect view of the guardian’s ear lobe and especially the external auditory canal.

“Just like an awakening trial,” Dallion said.

It was just like the Moons had told him—trials didn’t end with him. Everything up to level eighty was nothing more than a tutorial, preparing him for the real deal. Back then, each trial was a problem that came with a solution he had to find. In real life, he was given the skills to make solutions himself.

“Sorry.” Dallion focused on the target, then performed a spark infused point attack.

TERMINAL HIT

Dealt damage has been increased by 1000%

That was it. A green glow covered the gold surface of the colossus, causing him to disintegrate into a cloud of fading particles.

Making use of his abilities, Dallion skimmed through the improvement options. None of the materials were anything better than the colossus’ current composition, so he chose to leave it as it was.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The GUARDIAN of ACADEMY has submitted to your power.

You are the owner of the land of ACADEMY.

The coveted rectangle emerged, informing Dallion he had achieved his goal. It hadn’t come without its cost. While things were rather well within the realm, in the real world, he was still missing his feet. Fortunately, as a mage, they weren’t vital for battle or movement.

ACADEMY Level not increased due to lack of inhabitants

5000000 inhabitants required for ACADEMY to improve further

The CAPITAL CITY remains Level 13

“Capital city?” Dallion asked. “I never knew there were so many mages.”

Things change, Adzorg replied with a sigh. According to the records,the Academy didn’t start out as a purely magic settlement. There were common people who lived there as well. Mostly servants, soldiers, and their families.

One could gather as much, but to have several million people was a far cry from the few thousands that remained there today.

With the city under his control, Dallion was instantly able to sense everything within it. He could sense the guardians, the people, even the tens of thousands of golems buried beneath the ground. The emperor had made sure to keep them separate from the domain itself, making it impossible for Dallion to control them. However, he was able to control pretty much everything else.

LEARNING HALL has been added to the land of Sandstorm.

PRISON BASEMENT has been added to the land of Sandstorm.

ARCHMAGE ARCHIVE has been added to the land of Sandstorm.

Dallion moved the three buildings out of his new realm.

“Anything else you’d recommend, Adzorg?” he asked.

I’d say my old laboratory, but that would be wishful thinking, the old mage sighed. No, nothing comes to mind, unless you want to have a few fancy high mage buildings.

“No. I can make better ones.” Most of them were falling apart anyway, purely maintained through layers of illusions.

Dallion hesitated whether to also take the battle mage training building. For a while, it had been his home. Then again, that wasn’t a part of his life he felt a great attachment to.

Now, there was only one thing left to do. On further reflection, there were two. To Dallion’s surprise, he sensed the presence of three particular people in his new domain. For some reason, they had remained here during his attack, refusing to flee. Or, most likely, they hadn’t gotten the chance.

Alien, Dallion thought.

Adzorg had warned him that taking the Shimmering Circle straight on might be more difficult than he imagined. Yet, that was before Dallion had gained control of the domain. Now, he controlled the land itself, along with everything in it.

All three of the otherworlders were in the archmage’s complex, protected by layers of spells and a small contingent of golems. The golems Dallion could do nothing about, but the spells could easily be dispelled.

Shifting realms, Dallion went into the complex, where he flew directly to the embodiment of the created spells. The majority were illusions, filling the air like floating spiderwebs. There were also a number of defense and attack spells, portrayed as perfectly cut aether crystals with magic symbols within.

“Any of those yours?” Dallion asked, shattering one before Adzorg had a chance to respond.

The crystal cracked, then imploded into itself, blinking out of existence.

A few. I wasn’t too involved with this place.

“Then I don’t need to be careful.”

Using his harpsisword, Dallion did a three sixty spark infused slash, cutting through hundreds of spells and illusions. He repeated the process again and again, until there wasn’t a single spell left.

A bit harsh, don’t you think, dear boy?

“You can’t live surrounded by illusions all the time,” Dallion replied. “Time to have a chat with an old friend.”

There always was the option to pull the archmage and the rest of the circle directly into the realm, but Dallion chose to appear to them, instead. As he did, the sharp pain in his legs quickly reminded him of reality.

“What the—” Alien began, but before he could finish, the floor encircled his feet. Spikes extended from the floor aiming for his hands. They didn’t cause any damage, rather encased them in stone, preventing any spells from being cast.

Katka and Eleria got the same treatment. Unlike Alien, though, they didn’t struggle, aware of the skill difference.

“It’s been a while, Dallion said, as the archmage’s chair slid away from its usual spot up to him. “Nice to see you’re well.” He turned to Eleria. “I was afraid the dragons might have harmed you.”

The woman didn’t reply.

“This is pointless.” Katka showed the greatest amount of guts. “I’ve already made a vow not to harm you, remember?”

“Oh, right.” The floor binding her returned to normal. “Thanks for reminding me.”

“Harm me and the emperor will tear you—” Alien began.

A scroll on his desk unfolded, then flew right at him, severing his left hand. Screams filled the room for a moment, before Dallion cast a silence spell to counter them.

“You should be able to take care of that,” he said, retaining a stoic impression. Deep inside, he disapproved of what he was doing. Even after everything, Alien was a person and from Earth. At the same time, there was no way that Dallion could let him go unpunished. “Oh, right.” He waved his hand. A green sphere of light emerged around the wound. “You can’t cast spells right now.”

“What do you intend?” Eleria asked. “Kill us?”

“That depends entirely on you. I can’t let you fight against me, so a Moon vow will do.”

The woman hesitated.

“Or I can just kill you.”

The choice made for her, the woman could only go forward with it.

“I vow never to attack you or what is yours, be it with spells or other means,” she said reluctantly. “Is that good enough?”

The spikes went back into the floor, freeing her.

“Quite. Katka, if you could add that as well?” Dallion turned to her. “Just in case.”

“Fine.” His former superior rolled her eyes. “I vow never to attack you or what is yours, be it with spells or other means. Happy?”

Her tone forced a smile to appear on Dallion’s face.

“I’ve missed your attitude,” he admitted. “You’re free to go. Give the emperor my regards if you see him.”

“Just like that?” Emelia asked.

“Just like that. The world is different when you’re a domain ruler. You should have tried it.”

“That’s only a privilege those born without magic get to choose.”

“You didn’t have to rely just on magic.” Dallion frowned.

“I know. But the temptation was too great.”

Transforming into a puff of clouds, the woman flew out of the room. She was quickly followed by Katka who merely used a standard flight spell. That left Dallion alone with Alien.

“So, Archmage—” Dallion ended the silence spell “—how about we catch up? So much has happened since my last visit.”

Gritting his teeth, Alien glared at Dallion, pure hatred and fear emanating from him. As expected, the fear was far greater.

“What does the emperor have you doing now?”

“He’ll kill you,” the man spat. “He’ll come here and kill you!”

“I’m already at war with the emperor and not just the echo sitting on his throne. Killing you won’t change that one way or another.”

The archmage’s eyes widened. The hatred was gone, leaving only fear behind.

“You actually thought I didn’t know?” Dallion laughed. “I guess he doesn’t tell you everything. I spoke with him at the glass mounts, in case you think I’m lying. He told me what he usually did to otherworlders. To be honest, he might even thank me once I’ve dealt with you.”