"What is the Order of the United Realms?"
Two men wearing black, 3-piece dress suits walked along a wide corridor while the slightly older-looking of the two asked the younger-looking man a question. The corridor was about four meters high and its floor and walls were lined with grey bricks. The only differences observable about the mode of dress of the two men were that the older man wore a white dress shirt and red tie while the younger man wore a light-blue dress shirt with a matching tie, and the older man wore black leather dress shoes that looked far more expensive than the younger man's black dress shoes.
The older man seemed to be in his early thirties, had a pale complexion, well-groomed, straight, black hair that extended down to the nape of his neck, and eyes that were entirely dark in color, no whites being visible. The younger man seemed to be in his mid to late twenties, had slightly tanned skin, green eyes, and short, gelled, red hair that had the pattern of a beast horn trimmed into it at the right side of his head.
Both men walked in tandem, and the younger man sported a relaxed expression while brushing some lint off his left shoulder using his right hand. The younger man soon replied:
"Why ask me that now, Lister? Do you think that I would be on this job without knowing what the Order of the United Realm is?"
The man called Lister maintained a plain expression as he spoke in response:
"Humor me, Chris."
The man called Chris did not change his expression, but he did lightly sigh before replying:
"The Order of the United Realm is Grand Earth's foremost realm exploration, administration and magic research agency. It is administrated collectively by heads of states of over one hundred countries, and is often used for military expansion into 'tricky' realms that no one country or even a few countries can explore successfully by themselves. In other words, it is the highest magical authority in our world."
Lister replied without emotion after Chris stopped speaking:
"Well, at least I know now that you're not completely ignorant."
Chris stopped walking in response to Lister's comment and spat on the brick floor before responding with a tone that indicated his annoyance with his older colleague:
"Be careful. I don't like being underestimated."
Lister heard Chris' words, and also stopped walking, after which, he turned around to look Chris squarely in the eyes. He stared at Chris in silence for five seconds before speaking again:
"Don't get wound up over a few words. It's unbecoming. Besides, I have my reasons for asking my question and speaking the way I did. Would it surprise you that there are people working in this organization that don't really know what our mission here is?"
Chris' expression relaxed once more, proceeding to walk to Lister's side, saying:
"I'm not surprised, but so what? It doesn't matter whether there are ignorant people here in The Order or not. They just need to perform their roles and everything should be fine. For example, it's my job to kick ass in the field, so I don't much care about what the other departments and units are doing. I don't get paid to care about that."
Lister slightly shook his head in disapproval before motioning his head to indicate that Chris should follow him forward. Lister began walking down the corridor once again with Chris in tandem. Lister spoke like a teacher educating his student:
"Your thought process is wrong. You're new here, so let me fill you in. Every unit within this organization has a distinct purpose that is intended to enhance all our skills, abilities and effectiveness. We are proud Magicians, the best of the best. How could there be wasted effort?"
Chris raised his right eyebrow, and asked:
"What are you getting at exactly, Lister?"
Lister answered him plainly:
"Even though you are a member of the Combat Department, you are far from being even among the most combat proficient in The Order, even when considering the other departments like the Research, Discipline, Botany, and Manufacturing Departments. We all have our specialties, but the most successful of us have used The Order's resources to boost our abilities in all areas, particularly in combat. Do you know what that means?"
Chris stayed quiet for a few seconds. Soon, he answered while shrugging his shoulders:
"It probably means that there are a few people in other departments that can last for some time against my magic power."
Lister replied:
"Not quite. It means that since you took up your post today, and have not had the time to make use of the opportunities here, you are actually among the weakest within the Order of the United Realms. That must shock you, right?"
Chris reflexively burst out laughing when he heard Lister say that he was among the weakest within The Order. After nearly ten seconds of laughing, Chris finally stopped to respond to Lister:
"You are definitely bullshitting. I graduated at the top of Malicious Fire Academy. I have a divergent grade mindscape, two advanced apprentice grade magic tools, I am proficient in six rank 3 spells and I am almost a sound path master. You actually want me to believe that I am weak? Even if I am rank 3 initial stage, you must be pulling my leg. I can definitely go toe-to-toe with the best rank 3s here like I did back in the academy."
Lister heard Chris' words but said nothing in response. He simply kept walking forward, leading the younger Magician towards their intended destination. Chris noticed Lister's strange silence in response to his claims, and decided to hound him a little:
"Didn't you here me, Lister. The Order did not recruit a cupcake. Put any rank 3 initial stage, or even middle stage in front of me and I'll beat them. You hear me!…"
Chris continued to boast and declare his strength for another minute before the two men finally approached their destination, which seemed to be an ordinary, grey steel door at the very end of the brick-lined corridor. At this point, Chris stopped speaking, and took a good look at the seemingly ordinary steel door. Lister spoke at this time:
"We will test your claims right now. I hope that your pride holds up. Either way, this is for your own good."
Chris frowned in response to those words, thinking:
(This door looks normal to the eyes, but there is magic imbued within it that is blocking my scouting spell from penetrating inside. I didn't realize it while at a distance, but now that we are so close, it's obvious that the door is nullifying my magic power passively. What kind of material is this door made of? Never mind that, why did Lister bring me down here in the first place? He told me before we came to this section of HQ that he was going to fill me in on some things before I start going into the field, but that he needed a proper context to do so. Is the 'context' what's behind this door?)
Not giving Chris any time to ask questions, Lister pushed the steel door, and entered the room beyond it. Chris followed his lead soon after, and found himself standing in a room with a floor space equivalent to a football field. The walls and ceiling were made of the same hard, grey brick that lined the corridor, but the floor was clearly made of a kind of magic metal that Chris could not identify.
The floor of the room emitted a faint magical pressure, was rough to the touch like sandpaper and had been painted a dull-grey, almost the same color as the walls and ceiling. The room was empty except for Lister, Chris, and a dark-skinned man that was currently sitting cross-legged at the center of the metal floor, looking absentmindedly at the space in front of him.
Chris eyed the dark-skinned man for a few seconds, confused as to his identity, and skeptic about his mode of dress. The dark-skinned man had a chiseled, shaved face, seemed to be in his early twenties, had short, curly hair, and blue eyes. He was currently wearing a cheap cloth martial arts uniform consisting of a white vest, white pants, and a black belt, as well as a pair of black cloth shoes. To Chris, the man seemed as ordinary as could be if only judged by appearance.
He, however, noted that despite the fact that the man took a meditative position, he could not sense any magic energy or magic power being emitted from or being directly absorbed by this man at all.
Chris unconsciously uttered:
"...That's strange."
Chris had reasons for saying those words:
(Non-magicians are not allowed this far in HQ. Not to mention that the flow of magic energy in this room indicates that this man is at least at the center of a disturbance to the current flow of magic energy present in this room, but I can no longer sense magic energy after it approaches that man's body by about one meter…strange. I don't think that even most rank 4 Magicians can conceal their own magic energy completely while meditating. Who is this?)
The dark-skinned man apparently sensed the presence of Lister and Chris because no sooner than they had arrived, the man's despondent eyes focused as he snapped out of his stupor, and stood up to face them. The flow of magic energy in the room then become normal. Following which, the dark-skinned man demanded:
"Lister, you better have a good explanation for asking me to come meet you here, then have me wait for two hours after the time of our appointment. Well, let's hear it!"
Lister maintained his plain expression, but rubbed his nose using his right hand before replying:
"I had some unexpected engagements before I was able to pick up a rookie and come down here. Let me introduce you. Homer Fen, this is Chris Umber. Chris, that person is Homer Fen, a very promising member of the Personnel Department's Training Unit. He has only been on the job for half a year."
After Lister introduced the two men, they eyed each other for a few seconds before Homer placed his focus on Lister again, and continued to complain:
"I don't care about your reasons. You could have damn well called instead of have me wait so long in suspense. I even resorted to meditating to pass the time."
Lister quipped in response:
"If you don't care about my reasons, why the hell did you demand an explanation? Besides, you could have called me."
Homer squinted his eyes in response to Lister's words while thinking:
(Oh shit…he's right.)
Homer then sheepishly rubbed his own nose using his right hand, his expression becoming slightly embarrassed. He soon put his right hand down, at which point, his expression became plain, and he said:
"Alright, enough about the past. What are we doing here, right now? Don't forget that you said that you would get me some special magic stew later in exchange for this meeting."
Lister nodded his head once before looking at Chris, and then using his head to motion Chris to go forward. Chris had no idea what Lister's intentions were but he decided to take a few steps forward in response to his senior's urging. Homer and Chris locked eyes again, after which, Lister finally explained the situation:
"Homer, I asked you here to do a little sparring with this rookie. I want him to have an idea of how strong Magicians outside of the Combat Department can be, so that he knows how hard he'll have to work."
Both Homer and Chris opened their eyes wide, neither of them wanting to believe Lister's words. Chris thought:
(You brought me down here to spar with someone from the Training Unit? Is that a joke? You know what they say - those who can't do, teach. What could I possibly learn from this person?)
Homer thought:
(He's using me to train some rookie. Well…that is technically my job, but doing an unscheduled spar does not contribute to my performance rating. I would never have agreed to come down here if I knew that this was Lister's goal. He must be trying to influence this guy's career away from prying eyes. I should have asked for more than a meal in exchange for this meeting. Sigh, since I'm already here, I might as well do 'Dead Man' Lister a favour.)
Chris turned his head to silently stare at Lister, as if to ask him for an additional explanation, but Lister did not plan on giving him one. Lister instead asked Homer:
"Will you spar?"
Homer placed both his hands into his pants pockets, and responded flippantly:
"Sure, Mr. Inconsiderate. Let's have a spar, but if I injure him severely, the healing will be your responsibility. Is that agreed?"
Lister nodded his head once, replying:
"That's fair."
Chris, however, had his concerns about the situation:
"Hey. I haven't agreed. Why do I need to spar with some random guy from the Personnel Department? If you want to find out just how strong I am, why don't you spar with me yourself?"
Lister looked at Chris without changing his expression, and then replied:
"I won't spar with you because I would defeat you in an instant. Such a thing would not benefit you. Homer, on the other hand, is better at holding back than I am."
Chris heard those words, after which, his expression immediately became sour. He spoke to Lister with clear anger in his tone:
"Hey, stop messing around. I am strong!"
Lister proceeded to put his right index finger into his right ear canal and dig for some wax while saying:
"I'm sure that you think you are. If you really are the shit, then this spar will be of no challenge to you, and we can move on afterwards with you having proved yourself. Let me tell you, if you don't spar here and now, you may not live to regret that decision. Listen to your senior, and do the sensible thing."
Chris spat on the floor in response to Lister's words, but then turned to face Homer while thinking:
(I'll show you that I am the shit.)
Sensing Chris' resolution, Lister spoke decisive words:
"Begin the spar, no holds barred on your part, Chris. It's best if you don't die by accident."
Saying that, Lister began walking to one far-end of the room to watch the action; he would not interfere. Chris looked at Lister's receding back for a few seconds, and spat once more before fully turning his attention to Homer. Chris said:
"It looks like my senior doubts my abilities. I need to use you as a test dummy for a while. I hope that you're cool with that."
Homer, with his hands still within his pants pockets, shrugged his shoulders, and then replied:
"Do your worst. Fair warning, though. I may not be in the Combat Department, but I am no pushover either."
Chris ignored Homer's latter words, and slowly stepped towards the center of the room, where Homer was standing. At this time, Chris' body began exuding a formless cloud of magic power; Homer stood on the spot, seemingly doing nothing of note as Chris approached him.
As soon as Chris reached within eight meters of Homer, he clapped his hands, the sound echoing throughout the entire room. Lister slightly raised his right eyebrow as he sensed the magic power that erupted along with the propagating sound waves.
Homer also felt the spreading magic power, and finally decided to remove his hands from his pockets. He sensed that the magic power that was currently filling the room was not simple, but to irritate his opponent, he asked:
"Starting things off with a whimper instead of a whisper, huh?"
Chris ignored his words, and focused his efforts on resolving his spell:
(Marauding Call)
Chris' magic power momentarily surged as the room was filled with the sounds of deep hums. Seconds after, Homer opened both his eyes wide as he heard the hums that filled the room become gradually louder. With the increase in loudness soon came an intense magical pressure that seemed to be moving towards his immediate front at an incredibly fast rate; the pressure was formless and getting more forceful as it approached. The moment before the magical pressure assaulted him, however, Homer thought:
(Sound path, huh? Not a typical path to cultivate, but not one of the rare paths either. Hmph! Bring it on…)
SPLAT!
As soon as the formless magic pressure crashed into Homer, his training clothes were immediately torn through, and a bloody wound was created extending from the middle of his chest to his groin. Within moments, a large volume of blood along with shards of bone and pieces of flesh spurted out from his ghastly wound, and under the effects of a mysterious pull, reach half-a-meter away from him. For a moment, Homer Umber was the epitome of tragedy.
With his thoughts spinning far more rapidly than any non-magical super computer, Homer sensed his ghastly state as severe pain assaulted him, and internally critiqued:
(He messed me up pretty bad, and so quickly too. The presentation of his magic is loud and obvious, but its offensive power is actually very difficult to defend against. My entire body had been soaked in magic power during my time in this room, but most of his spell's effect somehow breached that active defense. Interesting…)
Chris came to realize that Homer could not defend against his spell, and weirdly, this made him worried:
(I started off with an advanced grade spell because this guy seemed so nonchalant that it was impressive - I thought that he would be tough, but he might actually die from a wound like that. Will I get kicked out of The Order for killing another Magician?…)
Before Chris could think any further about the situation, in quick succession, Homer's blue eyes slightly shimmered before he cast and resolved his counter spells in an instant:
(Retract Space)
(Blood Mend)
Before Homer's blood fell to the floor, the space within one meter around him warped for a few seconds, rapidly dispelling Chris' sound path magic, and drawing Homer's lost blood back into his body. Following that, Chris witnessed threads that seemed to be made of blood emerge from Homer's abdomen and sew up his wound in mere moments. The threads then went on to sew up and form part of his clothes, basically undoing all the ruin that Chris had performed.
Chris opened both his eyes wide in shock, thinking:
(He used spells; that I could see, but I could not sense his magic power or any magic energy emit from him. Not only that, Homer apparently used both space and blood magic so skillfully. Does he specialize in two types of magic?)
Lister watched the spar with much anticipation. He knew Homer's abilities and was glad that his intentions were being carried out:
(See, Chris. You think that you are special? Homer specializes in both space and blood magic, and even has rank 3 spells for both paths. Dual specializations are not that rare among high level Magicians, but at rank 3 such a thing is an incredible advantage if the Magician is sufficiently skilled. While most Magician's who specialize in one kind of magic do have spells that incorporate principles of another path, that scenario and what is happening here is completely different. Homer isn't mimicking space path or blood path, or even dabbling in either. He has excellent command of both…)
Homer patted his repaired chest that was now slightly sore, and then breathed out deeply. He took a few steps forward towards Chris while speaking. Despite the deep hums still resounding within the atmosphere, Chris heard Homer clearly:
"Your spell is tricky. It has penetrative power that isn't typical. I assume that the key to that is my hearing the hums all around. As long as I hear the hums, my magic cannot completely block the offensive power of your spell. Since the hums are still present, I am also guessing that this sound path spell can be maintained for a while. Are any of my assumptions correct?"
Chris silently stared at the approaching Homer, not intending to confirm or deny the latter's guesses:
(I just need a few more seconds until I can hit him again with the 'sound pressure'. Let him talk all he wants.)
Seeing that Chris did not intend to answer him, Homer slightly shook his head before saying:
"Your method is good, but I don't intend to be pummeled to death by it."
Homer said this, and then proceeded to snap his right middle finger and thumb together, casting another one of his spells:
(Simple Restrict Space)
The moment after Homer cast his spell, the hums could no longer be heard by him; there was only silence as far as he was concerned. Not knowing the exact change that had just taken place, since Chris still could not sense Homer's magic power, he assumed that Homer was simply acting confident. Chris thought:
(It must take a lot of effort and power to reverse the damage of my Marauding Call. Let's see how many times he can do that.)
Chris willed and the sound pressure that wounded Homer previously, quickly gathered a few meters from the latter's immediate front and, crashed towards him, making contact like before, but unlike before, Homer was sure that he could defend himself against the sound magic:
(Bloody Reinforcement)
All of Homer's blood and vascular system was immediately, and heavily saturated with magic power; his skin became slightly darker as a result. His muscles also became thicker, but his body remained relatively slim.
The formless sound pressure fiercely crashed into Homer, but unlike before, it only felt like a light sting to him, and did nothing except slightly ruffle his clothes. Seeing that his spell was rendered ineffective, Chris squinted his eyes, and prepared to move from his position, thinking:
(He's interfered with the penetrating effect of my magic, somehow.)
Chris shifted his feet towards his left side, and then stomped with his left foot, casting his spell:
(Catapult Step)
A loud drum beat erupted following Chris' stomp. His figure then immediately blurred, and moved almost linearly to Homer's immediate right side. At this point, Chris realized that being this close to Homer, he could not hear the hums from his still active Marauding Call:
(So, this is why the sound pressure failed to penetrate Homer's defense - he has managed to cancel out the sound of the hums. This should be space magic, right? Why can't I clearly sense it using my magic sense?)
Soon dispelling those distracting thoughts, Chris acted once more by slapping Homer on the right shoulder using his left hand. Chris thought that his move might end up soundless, affected by the same phenomena restricting the sound of his Marauding Call, but his slap on Homer's shoulder resulted in a loud clamor:
(Cacophony Assault)
Homer heard the harsh sounds while feeling the impact on his right shoulder, and was not surprised, since one of his active space path spells had a powerful sensory effect that allowed him to follow Chris' movements:
(Simple Restrict Realm is a spell that not only prevents others from sensing my magical output and input within one meter around my body, but it also allows me to sense the physical changes in that same area of space…)
At the point of impact between Chris' left hand, and Homer's right shoulder, Homer concentrated space magic power quickly, attempting to mitigate whatever power that Chris was trying to impress on him:
(Reject Space)
Homer's right shoulder instantly erupted with magic power, but at the same time he felt severe pain run through his right side, starting at his right shoulder which made him cringe a little bit.
BOOM!
Chris' sound magic and Homer's space magic collided and competed for a moment, producing a relatively small shock wave. Immediately afterwards, the space within two inches around Chris warped and he was sent flying fifteen meters away from Homer at the speed of canon fire. Quickly realizing his circumstance for what it was, Chris cast one of his defensive spells:
(Harmonic Cushion)
Bright yellow sound waves that sounded similar to ocean breeze immediately formed, first by being propagated from Chris' left breast, and then eventually moving up to two inches away from his body in all directions. The air that came in contact with the yellow sound waves vibrated rhythmically. Before he knew it, Chris crashed harshly into the metal floor, resulting in a loud thump, but he remained unharmed by the fall.
Homer, on the other hand, remained standing in his spot with the only indication that he had been affected by Chris' magic being the fact that he was now flexing his right shoulder. Chris gritted his teeth while he jumped to his feet, canceling Harmonic Cushion as he did so. He decided to change tactics immediately:
(Marauding Call can't penetrate his defense so easily right now. Besides that, the fact that he can somehow cancel sounds originating from outside his space path spell's range probably means that I need to get him to dispel that strange space that exists around him.)
Chris quickly canceled his Marauding Call spell, following which, the deep hums all around ceased. Before he could make anymore moves, however, Homer finally acted against him. Homer pointed his right index finger at Chris, and cast Retract Space.
Following this, a warping linear section of space that had the thickness of his right index finger was generated from his right index fingertip to Chris' navel area. No sooner than Chris noticed the warped space at his midsection, he poured a great amount of magic energy into activating his defensive spell, Harmonic Cushion, again while thinking:
(Harmonic Cushion is a basic grade rank 3 defensive spell that significantly reduces the shock of most physical impacts while also providing extreme magical resistance…)
Bright-yellow sound waves that vibrated the air quickly surrounded Chris on all sides, even forming a faint barrier between himself and Homer's thin warping space. Despite Chris' defense, however, Homer's space magic penetrated the layer of magical sound, and under its influence, a chunk of flesh the size of a tennis ball was ripped out from Chris' midsection. The flesh chunk was rapidly dragged towards Homer by the space magic, the warped space receding along with the detached flesh.
Chris' detached flesh was quickly caught into Homer's right grip, and in response, Homer continued to hold the bloody flesh firmly. Chris coughed out a mouthful of blood while enduring intense pain, but did not forget to cast his healing spell:
(Harsh Throb)
Following the casting of his spell, a low continuous beat emanated from the wound in Chris' midsection, and only moments later, scarlet flesh formed where the wound had been, which stopped the bleeding completely. The beats of Chris' Harsh Throb spell then ceased as he canceled it.
At being made whole again, Chris breathed out a sigh of relief, but did not intend to drop his guard. He then eyed Homer sternly as he watched his opponent firmly handle his bloody flesh. Homer glanced at the chunk of flesh within his right grip for a second before stretch his right arm towards Chris, and casting a spell:
(Blood Seeker)
The flesh chunk quickly liquefied into pure blood before morphing into a one-foot-and-a-half-long blood dagger that Homer seemed to wield with unusual dexterity as he juggled it repeatedly for six seconds. Chris was a little unnerved by the sight:
(Fuck you! How would you like it if I tore out a piece of you and started playing with it? Sigh, at least I was able to get a feel for his magic power when he hit me with that last attack. I was right, beyond a certain range, I can sense his magic. While his magic power remains within that range, it is very hard to make accurate judgments about it. For example, I can't deduce what the general strength of his defense is; I can hardly even tell when and whether he is using blood or space magic by magic sense alone. My scouting method is no help here either because his magic can cancel the propagation of sound.)
At the end of the six seconds, Homer threw the blood dagger into the air once more, but instead of catching it, he cast his spell, Reject Space, on it. Following that, the space immediately around the blood dagger warped, causing it to rapidly fly towards Chris at canon fire speed. The dagger moved incredibly fast, so Chris was forced to make the decision of tanking it rather than dodging it.
Since he already had Harmonic Cushion active, he assumed that in the worst case, he might have to bleed a little after standing up to this blood path attack:
(It's not just blood path. That blood dagger is probably being propelled by a space path method. He is using space path to compliment blood path. That's quite some skill. I have to act too.)
The blood dagger collided with Chris' left thigh in quick succession. The bright-yellow sound waves of his Harmonic Cushion put up some resistance for a few milliseconds before a profound connection between the blood dagger and Chris' own blood resulted in the dagger being allowed to pass through Harmonic Cushion's magic defense.
Chris' left thigh was then impaled; the blood dagger was lodged into his thigh, its tip exiting at his rear. At the same time, he quickly stretched out both his arms and clapped them once towards Homer, at which point his magic power output surged:
(Harmonic Interference)
A fast moving yellow pulse that emitted the sound of a gong quickly spread out from Chris' hands in all directions, but Homer was not impressed despite sensing the intense sound magic:
(Another sound path spell. Too bad for him that I can't hear it, and so I doubt that it will get past my blood path defense if it is offensive, and the effects of my Simple Restrict Space is likely to resist mechanical or electromagnetic based waves that originate beyond one meter of me.)
Lister also mused at this time:
(It's not that Chris' sound path magic hasn't been impressive thus far, considering that this is only a spar, but Homer's powers have simply been more impressive. The blood dagger, for example, was not simple. It must have used some strange connection that exists between it and Chris to mostly ignore the latter's sound path defense; the blood that the dagger is made of was derived from Chris' own flesh in the first place. Even Homer's space magic has a strange profoundness about it. Blood magic is powerful in all areas while space magic is often mysterious in its workings. Homer is using these two paths' peculiarities to his best advantage at all times.)
The yellow pulse took mere moments to come in contact with the special space existing one meter around Homer. At that point, something that the Space and Blood Magician did not expect to happen took place. Homer heard the sound of a loud gong, and realized that his special space that he had maintained using two powerful space path spells was collapsing:
(What? The powers of Simple Restrict Space and Simple Restrict Realm are being broken up. Simple Restrict Realm prevents my magic energy from being sensed while Simple Restrict Space is supposed to stop most of his annoying sounds dead in their tracks. His last sound path method must be exceptionally high quality goods.)
Homer's special space warped violently for a few moments before it completely collapsed like a shattered glass house. At the same time, the blood dagger that had impaled Chris' left thigh expanded explosively, causing Chris to suddenly lose three quarters of his left leg, the larger piece having been separated from him and turned to blood that formed a small pool beneath him. Chris was shocked by the power of the blood dagger, but while he fell to the floor because of his sudden loss of balance, he cast another of his spells, having been preparing this one within his mindscape since Homer knocked him away:
(Soothe End Sound)
Chris' body suddenly erupted with a tremendous amount of formless magic power, and in fact, one half of his magic energy reserves were instantly consumed in resolving this spell. The room was immediately inundated with a sound akin to that of a church bell.
Homer heard this sound and the hairs all over his body stood up, and three beads of sweat slid down his face. He was alarmed for the first time since the spar started:
(That magic power is definitely the result of a rank 3 advanced grade spell, and not a normal one at that. I have to defend!)
Homer gritted his teeth while casting his best defensive spell:
(Reject Space and Realm)
The world around Homer immediately became a pitch-black void, and he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking:
(Reject Space and Realm creates an artificial void within a meter of me in every direction. It's almost as if I am not currently within Grand earth, almost like I've created another realm, so Chris' sound path attack cannot reach me, much less harm me.)
Beyond the void, Chris fell face first onto the floor while bleeding from the stump where his left leg had been moments ago. He quickly raised his head and looked at the shadowy space that seemed to emerge where Homer was previously standing. Chris understood what the purpose of this space path method probably was, but instead of being concerned, he smiled while reflexively speaking his thoughts out loud:
"Your method is useless in defending against my Soothe End Sound. My divergent mindscape gives my sound path magic the quality of 'sure-hit', 'sure-resolution' once the relevant sound is heard. Nice try, though."
Lister heard Chris' words and was not surprised:
(I had initially thought that the mechanisms of his first offensive spell was what gave his initial attack such penetrative power, but it was soon not difficult to deduce that it was Chris' magic energy itself that had the relevant characteristic. I could sense that his magic energy was itself atypical while he cast his spells throughout the spar.
Divergent mindscapes are like this. They grant peculiar qualities to spells cast using the caster's own magic energy. The people in charge have a way of recruiting dangerous powers into our Combat Department. I just had to figure out how dangerous Chris was before he and I went into the field together. I did not waste my time in bringing him here or making a deal with Homer.)
Within Homer's void, his heart sank as he continued to hear the sound of a church bell after a short pause. He then suddenly felt light-headed, and soon lost control of his magic power, causing the pitch-black void to quickly dissipate.
Once Homer was revealed to both Chris and Lister, they both witnessed strips of his skin and clothes beginning to detach from parts of his body, and then turn to dust. Homer swayed like a drunken man while this happened, and for some reason he could not collect himself while he was wasting away:
(This…isn't this Soothe End Sound? It is a very notorious spell that is contained in the inheritance of a deceased member of the Scottish royal family. It is one of those spells that is so peculiar that anyone who has had proper magical training knows about it. The spell is a model for sure death attacks…)
Homer weakly focused his eyes on Chris as he swayed about. Most of his clothes had already wasted away along with much of his skin by this time. His bloody flesh was now starting to be stripped away and turned into dust. Homer, however, faintly smiled while thinking:
(...well, at least the rank 8 version is.)
Homer quickly cast his life saving spell:
(Blood Rejection)
All the magic energy within Homer's body and mindscape was instantly consumed, following which, his clothes, skin, flesh and bones turned to blood and fell to the floor, forming a small pool.
Chris was shocked because he had sensed all life leave Homer's body before the latter's spell resolved. Chris unconsciously yelled:
"He suicided!"
Chris then mused:
(I admit that casting Soothe End Sound was tantamount to killing Homer myself, but I expected that Lister would have had a method to save him. After all, the rank 3 Soothe End Sound is imperfect; it is not sure to kill its victim like the rank 8 version. Why would Homer kill himself?…)
To Chris' surprise, however, after a few seconds, the blood pool writhed and was slowly raised off the floor, forming into Homer's healthy, but naked body. Chris could sense that Homer had absolutely no magic energy coursing through his body at this time, but the latter was apparently physically unhurt, somehow.
This was in contrast to Chris himself, who had lost his left leg, and was currently bleeding out on the floor. He lamented:
(I cannot cast other spells so soon after casting Soothe End Sound successfully. Harmonic Cushion is still active, but I cannot use it to harm Homer or heal myself. Awkward…what do I do?…)
While Chris was contemplating his awkward circumstance, Homer slowly walked over to him, saying:
"I cannot recover magic energy for a while after using Blood Rejection because it basically rejects all forms of magic energy from my body in a bid to restore me according to information preserved in my DNA. I cannot use spells, but you seem to be in a similar boat or else you would have attacked me already, considering the temperament that you have shown me thus far."
Chris snorted:
"Oh yeah. Who gives a fuck? While my defensive method is still active, you cannot harm me without magic. As soon as I am able to cast spells again, you will lose this spar."
Homer raised his right eyebrow in smugness, replying:
"Aren't you forgetting that you are bleeding out right now? By your own confession, you have revealed that you cannot heal yourself. I happen to know some things about blood, and don't forget that I am the one that created that wound. You won't last another thirty seconds in that state. I am impressed that you are still conscious, though. Are you really willing to die during an unscheduled spar? There is no use dying in obscurity. Admit that I have won."
Lister openly sighed after Homer spoke, thinking:
(I expected this result. Both Homer and Chris are powerful rank 3 initial stage Magicians, but the Magician with the greater combat experience is bound to win, all things being equal. Not to mention that things were not equal; Homer's control of his magic is better than Chris' control. Casting a spell like Blood Rejection while being afflicted with Soothe End Sound was definitely not an easy feat to accomplish…)
Chris kept silent, developing a stern expression for a few seconds as he locked gazes with the naked Homer, not caring that the latter was shamelessly exposing himself to him. After over a dozen seconds of contemplation and when Homer finally stood over him while maintaining his smug expression, Chris finally relented internally:
(I have lost too much blood; I am close to death. I actually lost in a spar. I thought that battles between rank 3 Magicians were supposed to be more exciting than this. Then again, humans aren't beasts; we are not limited in our thinking. There are a myriad ways for a battle to come to a successful conclusion using all sorts of means…)
Chris' eyes opened wide in realization as he figured out the value of Lister's words before they both entered this room. Chris' face then developed an intense frown as he opened his mouth, and admitted:
"I admit to my defeat. Turns out that being a Magician is…hard."