LiseEclaire
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Leveling up the World (Chapter 721)
🕑 Added 2023-03-21 22:27:09 +0000 UTCEven in his occasional moments of desperation, Dallion had to admire the construction of the prison realm. If things were different, he would have even asked to learn how to make them himself.
It turned out that the three-dimensional maze surrounded the room, while also being surrounded by it. The closest thing that Dallion could compare it to was the basic examples of four-dimensional space he had seen in science fiction movies back on Earth. From what he remembered, back then he had found the idea of tesseracts and other impossible shapes rather cool. Naturally, he had never been locked in one.
For days Dallion would leave the room, exploring every corner of the maze. Each time, he’d follow a magic thread, consuming it in the process. Originally, his hope was twofold: try and find a hidden exit that Nil had overlooked or, failing that, weaken the realm by depriving it of magic. Sadly, neither seemed to work. The prison remained just as impenetrable as before.
“Quite an interesting flaw you’ve found,” Nil said. “At the time, I didn’t think anyone would get beyond the room.”
Little good it’s done me, Dallion thought. It was tempting to give up, but like in life, giving up wouldn’t solve the problem.
“If it’s any relief, no one made it this far,” the echo added. “Other than the emperor.”
“Wow. Thanks, Nil. Second best—first loser.”
“Does being in a foul mood help?”
Dallion leaned back against the wall. There was no denying that the echo was correct. However, that hadn’t stopped Nil from being in a foul mood all the times Dallion messed up in the past. Like many things, advice was highly subjective.
“Caught by the perfect storm,” Dallion whispered. If he didn’t have his blocking ring on, there was a chance that someone in his realm would be able to help him out. “And the emperor never mentioned how he escaped?”
“I wasn’t exactly in a position to ask. You must remember it was my first time seeing the man up close. I handed him the prison item, activated it, then he smiled and handed it back.”
“Sounds like spellcraft. Does the emperor have magic?”
“Such questions aren’t particularly healthy, even here.”
“How much worse can it get? If I don’t get out fast, I’ll die anyway.”
“True, but what will happen if you manage to get out? You’ve seen what it was like to be chased by a countess. Imagine what will happen if you get the emperor pissed. Neither I, the Academy, not even the Order of the Seven Moons will be able to protect you.”
“I’ll take my chances.” It’s not like I have anything else to do.
Hesitation covered the echo’s face. Even as a copy of Adzorg, Nil was displaying a remarkable degree of caution. Being a former archmage it was very likely that he had made a Moon vow to serve the emperor while he was alive. Not even banishment would be enough to free him from such a vow.
“I’m not certain,” he admitted. “There have been many mages in the emperor’s line. Some even passed through the Academy, though that’s become rare. The imperial family takes care of its own. Even most of the tutors from branching imperial families. One has to be exceptionally skilled to be summoned otherwise.”
The echo cast a spell. A light statue of a supernaturally tall man appeared in the room. His head was almost touching the ceiling, indicating he had to be well above seven feet tall. The design of the clothes was masterful, though nowhere as intricate as Dallion would have expected for someone of such stature. Then again, this was only Nil’s recreation of the man.
“It is believed that the emperor has mastery of all skills,” Nil said. “Some have their doubts, although they would never admit it in public.”
Dallion nodded. This probably was Nil’s way of saying that Adzorg was uncertain of the fact.
“However, that doesn’t matter. If he were weak, the Archdukes would have allied and taken him down.”
According to the history scrolls Dallion had read in his library ring, there had been a similar attempt centuries ago. The five archdukes at the time had attacked the emperor in his very throne room, attempting a coup. Details were lacking, but the emperor continued to rule afterwards, while the nobles had had a “change of heart,” becoming his most loyal supporters.
“Alright.” Dallion stood up. The fact that he had escaped meant that there had to be a way. “Nil, if you were trapped in this realm now, would you be able to escape?”
“With my current level of magic? Probably.”
Dallion felt more arrogance in the answer than fact. Still, the fact that the echo had chosen to remain in the realm made him think that he had a shot at it. Once more, he examined the walls. By now he had left the room so many times that he knew the locations of the invisible seams by heart. In theory, he could try breaking up the room in separate pieces in the hope it would crumble. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was all Dallion had.
The entire room was quickly covered in heat symbols. Ignoring the discomfort this caused in enclosed space, Dallion proceeded to cast a series of ice spells, sliding them between parts of the walls like plaster between bricks. Once the walls were done, Dallion did the same to the floor and ceiling.
A few grains of glass-like sand crumbled from the corner of the room, falling to the floor.
“Well, it was a good attempt, dear boy,” Nil said, with an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Get some rest and tomorrow you might find a better…” his voice trailed off. Dallion had gone to the corner.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he bent down and picked up the grain of sand.
There was no magic in it. By all accounts, it was just a standard fragment of quartz-like material. In the eyes of Dallion, though, it was a lot more. Somehow, he had managed to cause the material to lose part of its self-restoration capabilities.
“The walls don’t make the prison,” he said slowly.
Nil had been wrong. Rather, he had purposefully omitted quite a lot. Was it a split up? Or did the echo really want to help Dallion despite the imposed restrictions? If they were ever going to meet again in the real world, there'd be a lot of things to discuss.
Using his usual method, Dallion went back into the maze. This time, instead of wandering off, he created three dozen echoes and started drawing heat symbols everywhere in the vicinity. It didn’t take long for him to find the areas of weakness there as well.
“Thought of something?” The echo appeared behind him.
“Yep.” Dallion created another ice cube and put it in a segment of the wall. “And I have you to thank.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Hopefully, that means that things will get back to what they were before?”
Hardly, Dalliont thought, but didn’t say a thing.
Hours passed. Icifying the maze was a lot more difficult than one would expect. Dallion had no illusions that the breakout would be easy, but with every segment he modified, he’d see evidence that he was on the right track. There always were small things: grans of sand, a scratch on the floor that would remain, a faint grinding sound coming from nowhere in particular… Adzorg had done a good job in making the walls be both magic source and conductor. The amount of energy involved had to be astronomical. Creating a buffer between the segments was enough to introduce resistance to the system, and with enough resistance, it was inevitable that the whole thing would collapse. From here on it was all a race between Dallion and Phoil; time moved a lot faster within the prison realm, but there was a lot that needed to be done to ensure an escape.
Day after day, Dallion and his echoes toiled on, moving in circles round the room. If his theory was cored, he had to make sure that all the segments in the immediate vicinity were modified before moving on.
“You need to rest.” Nil approached. “Even with your mind trait, maintaining so many echoes takes its toll.”
“I’ll be fine.” Dallion wiped the sweat off his forehead. Of everyone present, he was the only one sweating. Thankfully, the headaches hadn’t started yet.
“I know you think that the sooner you get out of here, the better off you’d be, but keep in mind that escaping is not your true goal.”
“Eh?” Dallion glanced over his shoulder.
“Your main goal is to defeat the boy. If he finishes you off once you get out, it would all have been for nothing, not to mention slightly ironic.”
“I’m not a single digit, Nil. I’m used to reality shifts.”
“That might be, but you’ve always known when you were returning to the real world. This time it would be different.”
“I’ve been ejected before.” Dallion got back to drawing symbols.
“I’m aware that every day counts, but you could spare a few hours, especially with all those echoes doing your job for you.”
Fatigue and hunger had their say, convincing Dallion that he could afford a short rest. Finishing the wall segment he started, he then sat on the ground and closed his eyes.
The echo joined him.
“What’s your plan once you get out?” Nil asked.
So, you’re admitting I’m going to get out? Dallion suppressed his smile. “Warn the archmage.”
“Is that wise?”
“You think he’s involved?”
“The current archmage is an idiot with no courage and a complete lack of imagination. All his adult life he wanted to get the post and now that he has it, the only thing he’s worried about is someone taking it from him.” Nil let out an annoyed snort. “He might even reward you for helping him. No doubt you’ll earn a new shiny title or two. Perfectly useless, but very impressive in noble circles.”
“Doesn’t sound like you approve.”
“What I want isn’t the topic here. I’d rather see that traitor burn, but I won’t be the one who has to make the choice.”
Are you suggesting what I think you are? Dallion wondered.
History always rewarded those who chose the winning side. Did Nil believe that getting rid of the archmage would be better for the Academy? More importantly, was there a chance that it could happen? Everything had been meticulously planned so far, so it wouldn’t be without reason. Yet, would Dallion be welcome to join that side, even if he wanted to? Or maybe the old echo was suggesting something far worse.
“You have to defeat the boy,” Nil continued. “That much is a given. What then? And please be specific.”
“I leave the Learning Hall.”
“Yes?”
“I go to the—”
“How do you deal with the shardflies? Not to mention the actually powerful mages who are behind it all? Maybe you’re skilled enough to defeat an apprentice. Maybe.” Nil wagged his finger. “Not a mage, though.”
Dallion couldn’t answer.
“But let’s say that you take advantage of the chaos and manage to find an ally. Maybe you even crush the coup. What then? The Academy won’t just let you leave, not after everything that’s happened. You’ll have to join a faction with enough pull to gain that privilege.”
“What does it matter?” Dallion didn’t like the way this was going. “They’re a thousand things that could happen. Let me deal with the most obvious before I have to worry about—”
“Are you ready to forsake Euryale? Or the Academy? It’s very possible that you’ll be forced to do both, and nothing in your incredibly fortunate life has prepared you for such a choice!”
All of Dallion’s echoes stopped working. They could feel the whirling of emotions within him.
“You look upon life as if it were a game. True, you’ve gone through some extremely unpleasant situations that many haven’t, but deep down, you still act as if nothing can harm you. I had hoped that going beyond level fort would teach you how to plan better, but you’re still incapable of looking two steps ahead. You see parts of the big picture, but only deal with what is thrown your way, never directing events one way or another. Was it your idea to form the alliance and get the Moonstone? Did you choose what classes to go to, or were they chosen for you? For that matter, did you even choose to obtain magic?” The echo took a deep breath. “Even now you’re so focused on getting out of your immediate mess that you aren’t focusing on what would follow.”
Dallion stood up. Without a word, he turned around and got back to wedging ice in the maze walls.
“Is that it?” Nil crossed his arms. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
“I don’t trust you, Nil.” The words finally left his mouth. “Not anymore. I’ll find a way out of the prison realm, then out of the Learning Hall. What I do after that is my business!”
