Leveling Up The World 8: A LitRPG Adventure, page 36
Sure enough, the creature popped up in the sky right above them, then slowly descended to the ground. At least that was someone Dallion could rely on.
PURPLE CRYSTAL OBELISK
Once again, luck was on Dallion’s side. Using combat splitting, he gave Lux instructions to fly in dozens of directions, then return in precisely two seconds. Since the firebird didn’t have anyone to worry about, it flew at full speed quickly finding a cluster of obelisks ahead. From what Dallion understood, there were four of them, at the very least.
After over an hour of cautious flying, the obelisks became visible to the naked eye. At that point, things got really interesting.
Stop, he told the aetherfish.
“There’s six of them,” he said. “About a hundred feet apart.”
The way they were in position each protected the “brain” of the rest, making a quick win impossible. Trying to talk the creatures out of it was also unlikely. They lacked the curiosity of the aetherfish and were created for the sole purpose of stopping novices from passing the challenge.
“What’s beyond that?” Raven asked.
“I’ve no idea. Splitting doesn’t let me get that far.”
That was a lie. Lux had tried flying through or above the cluster but, each time, the obelisks had reacted. Either they would break up into swarms of insects or cast a lighting blast at him from the ground. The result was the same.
“We’ll have to fight our way through.”
“That’s the plan?” Phoil scoffed. “We barely survived one of those things. There’s no way we can fight six.”
It’s not like you did anything, Dallion grumbled mentally.
Unfortunately, the large boy was right. With such a number difference, the scarabisks could win through brute strength alone. Spark attacks and all the other complex spells that the group had prepared were pointless in a direct confrontation. Yet, Dallion felt this to be the correct approach.
“Can’t you use your shardfly spell?” Cheska turned to Dallion. “There’s four of us. If we throw enough at them, we’ll win.”
“That was used for distraction,” Dallion said. “Besides, they’ve seen it before so will have a counter. They’ve also seen your chain spell.” He added with a note of disapproval.
All eyes fell on Raven.
“We could use the cards,” Iksa suggested. “Just like we planned. We don’t have to fight—”
“No,” the black-haired noble said firmly. “This might be the final realm.”
“You said that the number of obelisks didn’t matter.” Dallion crossed his arms.
“It’s not the number but the layers. We defeated one, then we came across a cluster of others. If this is the largest fight of the trial, the final realm will follow. All we need is to reach it.”
“That’s not how the mage described it.”
“The heart is not the end of the realm. It leads to the place we must go. All fighting will be done here. The last part is a riddle.”
A combination of riddles and combat. It sounded logical, and yet Dallion felt that Raven was hiding something. Worse, he feared that the echoes were hiding things from Raven as well, only telling him what he needed to know bit by bit. The boy was probably aware of the general outline, if even that. All specifics were spoon-fed to him as the group went on.
“There’s an easy way to confirm it,” Dallion said after a while. “You said there must be one main obelisk beyond this, right? Describe it to me.”
“If all of us can’t manage to get through the basic ones together, why do you think you can?” Raven stared at him.
“There’s a way I can manage. It’s not pleasant, and it might now work, but I’m willing to try.”
“You’re hiding things.”
“Of course, I am.” Dallion smiled. “So are you.”
Getting into arguments isn’t the way to win anyone over, dear boy, Nil said.
It’s too late for that, Dallion replied. This way, at least I might get some actual information.
What did I tell you about making enemies?
Results are all that matter. If we get the Moonstones, all will be forgiven. If we don’t, I’ll be blamed even if I’ve been nice all the time.
Dallion summoned his armadil shield.
“You’ll try rushing through with that?” Cheska blinked.
“That’s the beauty of combat splitting,” Dallion replied. “If I fail, no one will ever find out. So, Raven, what will it be?”
“We’ll trust you on this.” The black-haired noble nodded. “The key one should be taller, made entirely of purple crystal…just like the magic cubes. If that’s there, you’ll know it’s the right one.”
“Okay.” Dallion looked into the distance. “If it’s not there, I’ll come back, and then we’ll decide what to do. If it’s there, I’ll rely on you to fight your way to me.”
No one objected. Ironically, Dallion would have preferred it if someone had. Asking the aetherfish to move closer to the ground, he jumped off. The rest of the group soon followed, leaving the creature rather disappointed. Despite the fight it had witnessed, it was still very eager to see what would happen. In the end, it agreed to remain a safe distance away and let Dallion proceed with his plan.
You could use the help, the armadil shield said. Those creatures are sturdier than you think.
“Cocoon me.” Dallion ignored the guardian.
The shield extended, forming a metal sphere. Before it was complete, Lux flew out, wrapping the outside in flames. From then on, the plan was simple: The firebird would propel the ball between the obelisks, right to the heart, if it existed. It was all a matter of speed. Dallion doubted that the shield could withstand the swarm’s magic attacks, even with Lux’s help. He was relying on passing through before the scarabisks had a chance to react.
“Ready?” he prepared mentally, then split into ten instances. In nine of them, he added, “Go.”
The acceleration was immense, pressing Dallion against the inside of the shield. There was a time when such an action might have cracked a few ribs, or worse. With the current value of his body trait, it was little more than an inconvenience.
“How is it?” he asked after a few seconds. “Did we stir them up?”
Oh, we stirred them up, all right, the shield replied. I think you should take a look.
“Show me.” Dallion stretched the length of his combat splitting for as much as he could.
The sphere cracked open. As anyone would put it there was good news and bad news. The good news was that the crystal obelisk Raven had described was there a few miles ahead. The not so good news was that there was a shoal of quite large and carnivorous-looking fish swimming around it. Given the capabilities of the scarabisks, Dallion had no doubt that these would be a lot tougher.
The surprises didn’t end there, though. A wall of dusk was visible in the distance. Looking closely, it became clear that it wasn’t dusk but thousands upon thousands of scarabisks. Dallion’s actions had disturbed them, but unlike before, they’d closed off the area instead of fighting outright.
There was only a moment left for Dallion to make a decision: Did he choose an instance that had gone past the circle of insects or remain outside and share what he had seen. The ego within him decided to remain. A moment later, all other instances were gone.
Brave choice, the shield said. You won’t face the rock scarabs but a bunch of killer whales instead.
“It’s all part of the trial.” The guard obelisks had let him in, so there had to be a way to be able to get past the fish.
Other than a dragon, the only creature of similar size Dallion had seen was the vine whale back in the sword world item. These seemed markedly more vicious. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
While he stood, the firebird leaped off the surface of the shield back onto Dallion.
“What do you think, Lux?” Dallion asked. “Should I have a chat with them?”
Good idea, Boss! the firebird chirped in response.
“Good thing you’re around.” Dallion smiled. Going with such an approach was a terrible idea, though one he couldn’t ignore. At the very least, he’d see how they would react.
Splitting, an instance of Dallion flew straight at the whales. The more he approached, the more impressed he was with their size. If left alone in the wilderness, such a creature could crush small towns. Even cities would have a hard time fighting them all off.
Three quarters of the distance there, one of the creatures saw him. With a single brisk action, it turned his direction, letting out a high-pitched noise. Cracks spread from obelisk, covering the ground in all of Dallion’s instances. Purple earth and rocks filled the air as dozens more whales emerged from the surface, rising. Several rushed toward Dallion’s instances, full of killing intent.
COMBAT INITIATED
Crap! Dallion quickly shifted to the instance the farthest away. He had definitely not expected this.
Half a hundred monsters were rising to the sky, filling up the space all the way to the wall of insects. If Dallion had to guess, he’d say there were at least as many more still beneath ground.
“Avoid anything big!” Dallion ordered, summoning his harpsisword. “And don’t go toward the insects!”
A spark infused like attack flew in the direction of the nearest whale. The only thing it did upon striking it was push the monstrous creature a few dozen feet back without even leaving a mark. At first, Dallion couldn’t understand why. When focusing his layer vision on a whale, he saw that the scales weren’t in fact scales but thousands of small magic barriers covering the creature in a suit of impenetrable armor.
Illusions, Ruby said, flicking his wings.
“Where?”
I don’t know. Everywhere.
“Astreza, Berannah, Centor, Dararr, Emion, Felygn, Galatea,” Dallion recited the names of the Moons. His adrenaline had spiked, but the experience gained as a hunter had taught him that he needed to remain calm. No matter the threat, worrying wasn’t going to help.
Two whales clashed less than twenty feet away. Each of the monsters had the intention of eating him, and neither was willing to let the other have its way. Dallion took advantage, ordering Lux to fly him to one of the relatively safe spots in the surrounding area.
For all intents and purposes, it was as if he were in an aquarium full of piranhas. From this moment on, nothing was safe. Then again, that also meant that he could freely go to the obelisk itself without worrying what would happen. Just as he was about to, a stream of miniature jellyfish emerged a short distance away. The way the creatures moved was peculiar: instead of flying through the air, as everything else apparently did, they teleported in short bouts, disappearing and reappearing dozens of feet away.
Just great, Dallion thought.
There was only one entity whose being was filled with curiosity to such an extent…even if that entity had had transformed into a swarm of thumb-sized versions of itself.
“Lux, get me to the tip of the obelisk!” Dallion did a point attack, pushing back a whale that had gotten dangerously close.
This time, the whale didn’t let the attack go unpunished. Dozens of its scales flickered. Magic symbols appeared within, combining in one single spell.
Focus, Dallion told himself, attempting to discern the spell’s nature. The thousands of symbols were grouped in sets of three repeated over and over: summon, force, and water.
“Shield, cocoon both of us!”
Dallion had barely managed to say so when a tsunami was brought into existence, crashing into him.
UNLIMITED POWER
MODERATE WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 20%
Even a hundred instances proved useless against the new attack. While the armadil shield protected Dallion from the raw force of the wave, it didn’t come without its consequences. It had been quite a while before Dallion had received damage from being crashed to the ground. It was a harsh reminder that his overconfidence wasn’t merited. Despite all his weapons and abilities, he remained a novice when it came to magic.
Harp and Nil had often told him that brute strength without understanding was only likely to succeed by luck. Using spark attacks granted some freedom, but they were the equivalent of a scalpel. Using them to pierce armor was not only impossible but outright stupid. True, with enough scalpels, pretty much everything became possible, and that was largely how Dallion had used his ability so far.
Coming to that realization, one can only be relieved that the Star never got access to such power. If he had managed to capture Aether and obtained the spellcraft skill gem, Dallion would never have stood a chance.
Water dripped into the metal sphere. The shield, despite all his benefits, was unable to stop the liquid.
It’s just water, Harp said.
Dallion nodded.
“Shield, open up,” he said.
Are you sure? the dryad guardian asked.
“I can hold my breath.”
That’s not what I’m worried about…
As the shield contracted, water poured in. Dallion expected to find himself underwater, but it only reached his knees. The bigger issue, as the shield had said, was the whales. Despite their massive size, several of them had clustered together, eager to have a bite of him.
It was curious how they could see him. Either their perception was high or they were using other means. The scales of several of them flickered.
This time, Dallion didn’t wait for the spell to be complete.
“Lux, lift me up!” he ordered. And right in time.
No sooner had he shot up than several more wave spells came into effect, flooding the whole area. Interestingly enough, the scarabisks surrounding it moved close together, creating a wall of combined magic spheres that allowed the water to gather up like in a fishbowl.
This was no random event. A higher mind was at work, or at the very least a conglomerate of creatures with the sole aim of getting Dallion to lose the challenge. Still, for some reason, none of the creatures seemed to attack the group outside.
Splitting into instances, Dallion looked around. Half of the whales were slowly moving his direction, with the rest remaining close to the central obelisk—the single remaining structure that hadn’t dissolved into stone insects.
A safe distance away, Raven and the rest stood there, observing the events with interest. No doubt their echoes were exchanging notes in their personal realms, discussing viable strategies to deal with the unfolding situation.
You’re some help! Dallion aimed at the eye of the nearest whale, then threw his harpsisword. His hope was that Harp would step in, providing him with an instant solution to the problem. Alas, the weapon simply bounced off the transparent eyelid, falling into the water. This time, he was on his own.
Think, he told himself.
His fingers moved about, drawing the symbols of a fireball. A sphere of flames emerged in Dallion’s hand, followed by target markers appearing on several of the whales. Choosing a target, Dallion threw it with all his might.
CRITICAL STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased 200%
The giant being twitched, pulling away way faster than Dallion expected it to move. Fire, apparently, hurt them. Rather, it was the magic of the fire that did the trick. One simple spell had done more damage that several line attacks ever could. The issue was that Dallion wasn’t able to control fireballs to a large degree. Then again, maybe he didn’t have to.
“Lux, get me to the wounded one,” he said. “Match its speed and keep me near the wound.”
You got it, Boss! The firebird sounded all too eager to oblige. Thrusting Dallion up, then down, it flew after the escaping whale, reaching it in a matter of seconds.
Flying around the creature in spiral fashion, Lux went to the affected area. One look was enough to make it clear that everything was made to be a trial. At this point, there could be no doubt that the whole thing was a trial—no way a novice fireball could cause that much harm. It had literally eaten off a whole chunk of the whale as if it were a volley of cannon balls.
Nil, can I enter realms while here? Dallion asked.
That’s a tricky one. Normally, you shouldn’t be able to. But since this is the domain of Galatea, who knows? Personally, I would recommend against—
Before he could finish, Dallion made an attempt to enter his own awakening realm. There was no result. More precisely, the results were unlike anything he had experienced before. For a fraction of a second, he almost saw the green outlines of a textless rectangle. As he tried to move through it, though, he found himself unable to do so. It was as if he were trying to fly through a very thin layer of plastic. A glimpse of his realm flashed before his eyes, vanishing just as fast as it had appeared.
—it, Nil completed his sentence. You never know what might happen.
Got it, Dallion replied.
That was a shame. It would have been nice to cast a “rocket,” same as he had against the chainling. On the other hand, there was no reason he couldn’t replicate the effects.
Wasting no time, Dallion cast a spell summoning a dartbow bolt. He had learned that spell early on, since it would prove quite useful in standard combat. Normally, he’d just summon the bladebow as well, but didn’t want to risk it with all the water about. Instead, he hastily drew a series of speed symbols on the bolt itself. This was one of the trickier things. The “faster” the arrow became, the tighter he had to hold it since even the slightest motion would cause it to slide out of his hand.
After the seventh speed symbol, Dallion felt that was the limit. Sweat covering his face, he drew a heat symbol on the tip, then quickly threw it at the wounded spot of the whale before his fingers got burned.
The arrow darted forward faster than the human eye, creating a small explosion as it went into the creature.
FATAL STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased 500%
The damage was significant, causing the whale to fall into the water with a great splash.
Good show, dear boy! Nil cheered. A bit more and you could have killed it.
