Leveling up the World

The sensation of omnipotence vanished, bringing Dallion back to reality. Confusion quickly followed; confusion as to what he was doing, why the magic had faded, and why Ruby had sliced his hand off. Looking at the small creature, it was easy to forget that shardflies were actually rather deadly creatures of the wilderness. So far, he had never had a reason to harm Dallion, but that didn’t mean he should be taken lightly.

“Why?” Dallion asked, still coming down from the buzz of the magic surge.

There was no need for an answer. Part of Dallion realized that was the only way to get him to stop wasting his magic. A bit more and he’d have exhausted himself to the point that he’d be useless at best and magicless at worst.

Dallion looked at his hand. There was no blood there, just a clean line at the end on his wrist, as if someone had erased the rest of his hand with an eraser. The wound wouldn’t cause any permanent damage outside of the Moon’s realm. Unfortunately, it also reduced his efficiency in half.

You needed it, Ruby replied, then flew back onto Dallion's shoulder.

The response was so typical of the shadfly that Dallion almost wanted to laugh. He almost would have, if it wasn’t for the tricky situation he was in.

His spells had caused several aether whales to fall to the ground. The scales of many were casting healing spells, but it would be a long while before they could be adequately functional again. Raven’s spell had quite a punch, especially against magical creatures. Yet if there was one thing that nature abhorred, even in magic realms, it was a vacuum. With most of the whales away from the obelisk gone, the scarabesks had broken ranks, pouring in to fill the gap.

Between them and the remaining whales, Dallion had no chance. Every fiber in his being screamed for him to get the heck out of here, and for once, he listened.

“Lux, get me somewhere safe.”

With a chirp, the firebird flew up, going for the only unprotected direction in the air. The aether whales didn’t even make an attempt to follow, but the scarabisks noticeably changed direction.

“What are you doing?” Dallion heard Raven’s voice, amplified several times with a spell.

“Getting out of here,” Dallion replied after casting a similar amplification spell with his left hand. “What does it look like?”

“You can’t quit now! Now when we’re so close!”

“Did you get a good look? There are probably millions of insects aiming to kill me, and once they do, they’ll come after you. Your best chance is to take advantage of this and try to get to the obelisk. With the four of you, maybe you’ll stand a chance.”

“You’re the one who’s supposed to trigger the obelisk! Not us!”

Was that the plan all along, or was Raven making things up? According to his original plan, they were supposed to bypass the obelisks altogether. If that were the case, what he was saying now was utter crap.

Quite possibly the black-haired came to the same conclusion, for shortly after, Dallion spotted another guardian “spirit” fly past him, making the connecting point to the banished realm. The rest of the group seemed to have given up as well, choosing to go back to their original plan. Dallion was even inclined to let them, when Ruby suddenly flew off without warning.

“Ruby!” Dallion shouted. “What’s gotten into you?”

She’s there! The shardfly said. I felt her.

There was no need to ask who he was referring to. There was only one being which Ruby revered to such an extent—Gleam.

“Are you sure?”

She’s just beyond the realm.

Back on Earth, that would have sounded incredibly profound or cheesy. Ruby had none of those qualities. A jolt of emotion passed through Dallion. Could there be a way to get Gleam back? Aether had offered as much when asking Dallion to set him free, not to mention that Dallion had spoken with Gleam just before making the deal. Maybe there was a real possibility.

Using his left hand, Dallion cast two voice amplification spells.

“Aetherfish, I need you for a favor!” he shouted.

The very next moment, the large jellyfish popped up a few feet away from him.

“Distract the insects for a bit,” Dallion said. “I’ll try not to take long, but I can’t be sure.”

Distract them? The creature asked.

“You don’t have to kill or fight them, just keep them occupied. Can you do that?”

Sure. I can do that.

Magic symbols emerged within the jellyfish. Once the spell was complete, the entire creature popped into thousands of smaller jellyfish, each the size of a thumb. Definitely an innovative approach, but Dallion didn’t have time to admire it. Directing Lux to Ruby, Dallion drew several speed symbols on the shardfly mid-flight. Barely had he finished when Ruby zipped into the distance.

“Follow him,” Dallion whispered to Lux.

For close to five seconds the shardfly changed directions, like an eighties Earth arcade machine. Then he stopped.

Here, he said, wings fluttering like a hummingbird.

“Are you sure?”

Yes.

Dallion took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Concentrating, he tried to remember the spell Iksa had used to create a portal opening. If he’d only known a minute earlier, he could have done it. Now all that endless power had gone, along with most of the knowledge. He still knew the basics—the way he’d cast the spells, the symbols involved, and the overall shape of the pattern. However, remembering how to do it in practice was as difficult as pulling teeth from a stone.

Eyes still closed, Dallion moved his fingers. Symbols emerged, connecting together along a multi-circle frame. Each symbol was drawn individually, using only as much magic as needed. Halfway through, Dallion opened his eyes. It was all execution now. His fingers seemed to figure out their own way; all the training in class and in his personal realm had paid off, creating a sort of muscle memory. Only the unknown symbols needed concentration.

It was slow and definitely not easy, but ultimately, the spell was cast. A tear formed in the air, quickly growing into a portal.

That’s it, Dallion thought, relaxing.

Ruby eagerly fluttered to enter the banished realm. The moment he got close, the portal increased tenfold. Dallion instinctively split into instances, ready for whatever monster might emerge. As it turned out, the monster was one he knew well.

“I knew only you’d be crazy enough to try to come here,” Gleam said.

There was no doubt it was her, but the shardfly seemed different: large to the point that she covered the entire portal, preventing anything behind from being seen. Thousands of intricate patterns decorated her eight wings, each glowing with an endless amount of miniature magic threads. It was as if pieces of light had been captured and given color to create the creature.

“You seem well,” she said. “A bit younger, though.”

“You’re different.”

“This is what I actually am. The peak of my strength—the level I reached before being captured. If I had this much power when facing that water worm, I’d have torn his wings off.”

The “water work” in question was the spectral shardfly that had shattered Dallion’s unbreakable whip blade, effectively banishing her into the real she was currently in.

“Hey, Ruby. Good to see you too.”

The ruby shardfly kept on trying to cross into her realm, but it seemed something was preventing him. Looking at it, was like watching a butterfly fly against the wind.

“No, you can’t enter. Only he can.”

“Me?” Dallion blinked.

“You have the Moon’s magic. Only you can open the portal to the banished and step through. It won’t do you any good. You’ll die the moment you get here. There’s an almost infinite number of beings in here, many stronger than me, and quite a lot that will enjoy nothing less than killing an otherworlder.”

Ruby stopped trying to continue, but still didn’t move back.

“Can you cross over?” Dallion asked.

“Naturally. Not now, though, not this way. You need to reforge the whip-blade, but you can’t use standard forging.”

“Enchantments?”

“I can’t tell you the details. You;ll need to study a bit to find the right way. But, hey, at least you’re in the right place for that.” Gleam flapped half of her wings. “If you manage to survive this. How did you get them so riled up?”

“Practicing, I guess.”

“You really never change. And how are you doing, Lux?”

Hey, big sis! The firebird chirped, remaining in the form of a thin layer of flame around Dallion. Missed you.

“Always the same goofy ball of energy. And where’s Nox?”

“Sleeping,” Dallion replied. “Magic realms don’t do well with him.”

“I could have changed that if I were here.”

Flashes of magic light came from the nearby distance. Looking behind, Dallion saw that the aetherfish swarm had engaged the first of the approaching scarabisks. Just as Dallion had told him, the aetherish wasn’t aiming to kill or harm the insects, just fly casting dazzling spells. The Scarabisks had caught on, casting spells of their own to kill off the jellyfish swarm.

“You’re in a lot of trouble,” Gleam shared.

“I know. Felygn told me.”

“I mean right now. In a few minutes, the insects will have you surrounded and it’s all downhill from there.” There was a momentary pause. “Unless I help.”

“Didn’t you say that it’s against the rules?” Dallion moved closer. He could feel the invisible barrier separating them, but also felt that he could pass through if he wanted to.

“Magic changes the rules. I can help you without crossing over.”

Dallion concentrated on his former familiar. As much as he tried, he was unable to see her information rectangle.

“You know magic,” he said.

“Illusion is magic. You should know this by now.”

Dozens of magic circles appeared in the air. To the untrained eye it would seem as if they were appearing out of nowhere, but Dallion could see the minuscule threads that created them, flowing from the wings in the form of dust.

Within seconds, large circle-like portals gained form, all of them looking into the void.

“Better move aside,” Gleam said. “This will get messy.”

Lux moved Dallion to the side without even receiving an order. Then, the spectacle began. Crystal shards the size of swords poured out of three of the portals, darting through the air in the direction of targets. A dozen more portals followed, releasing hailstones the size of human fists.

Even in the banished realm, she still shows off, Nil grumbled. She’s too much like March.

An aether shard the size of a lance flew out of flew out, speeding determinedly at the nearest aether whale. The scales of the creature shimmered in a futile attempt to create a barrier that would save it. The aether shard not only shattered the barriers, but broke through the scales and emerged on the other side, impaling the unfortunate creature.

There was nothing that could be said. Dallion never expected Gleam to have been so powerful. If anything, while she was his familiar, she had been downplaying what she was capable of. Using pure magic alone, she was capable of destroying cities. Back in the day, maybe she had.

Vihrogon, how do you fight something like that? Dallion asked the armadil shield.

Oh, that’s simple, the dryad guardian said. You send an even bigger monster after it, and trust me, back in the day, there were many monsters. Even I’ve been called that many times.

Suffering increasing losses, the scarabisks shifted strategy, grouping together and creating a multi-shield barrier behind which the rest gathered while flying in the direction of Dallion. One direct hit and the fire layers of magic barriers were gone. Shards and hail poured on, covering the entire area with rocks and the stone remains of scarabisks.

Suddenly, the attack stopped just as abruptly as it began.

“That’s the limit of what I’m allowed,” Gleam said. “Good luck, Dal, and I hope to see you again soon.”

All spells cast by the spectral shardfly faded away. The portal to the banished realm began shrinking. Ruby made one final desperate attempt to break through, but was yet again unsuccessful.

“Ruby, don’t be like that. This won’t be the last time.”

The portal closed and with it, the tear in reality.