The magic circle pulsed and spread crawling along the ground until it covered the now glass like surface created from the barrage of lightning magic Del let loose. Then as the formation activated an audible cracking sound could be heard as a 3 meter sphere sphere appeared to shatter like glass. Revealing a smiling figure decked in a material so dark it seemed to devour the light around it. He sat calmly in the middle of the scorched field atop a chair glistening with black stones. “A dispel magic circle created on the fly in just under a minute. I am very impressed.” The man cloaked in black said in his high pitched voice, staring at him the way a grey eater might stare at a child who wandered into the forest alone.
Quin looked to Nihilo and shuddered at the presence of the man who almost single handed, managed to strike down the demi-god of shadows in an attempt to supplant him in a bid for divinity. Then back at the boy who had just humiliated him in combat with a simple trick and still managed to feel some pity for him. “I at least would have given you an honorable death boy.”
Dellam stood looking into the dark eyes of the man whose face no one had seen in nearly 14 years, he had seen him once in the headmaster's study as a young student. Looking upon the man whose power was said to be on par with the best on the continent. “So you were how they kept track of me?” he said struggling to get the words out.
Dellam had carved the magic formations into the ground to strengthen the effect and lengthen it’s duration. Magic can be cast in many ways but the strongest effects tend to come from methods that imposed the users will on reality through a physical medium. In general spell casting that medium is the caster. For those looking to strengthen spells with little effort during combat a spell circle projection could be made, but this had the distinct disadvantage of showing your enemy exactly which spells you were using. The most powerful widely known method was to physically carve the spell formation into an object with magic, but this method takes time and far more energy than the previously stated methods. This circle he had so cleverly set to hopefully block out whatever method the council was using, had just become his cage.
Nihilo laughed while looking at the three in front of him. “ you managed to sever the communication spells i had set up for this fight. I wonder what Brontes would have me do in this situation.” Laughing now he started walking toward Del casually playing with his long black hair, twirling it around the finger on his left hand. “Ah, i have been following you for so long i haven’t been able to get my haircut in what feels like forever. It was hard hiding from you this long you know, which made this task a little more bearable. Brontes has asked me to do alot of boring jobs over the years. Things that required a “light touch” with no evidence left behind, but they were all so easy. Not you though i had to keep my distance with you, even as i watched you sleep you would wake with a start whenever i got close. I have wanted to kill you for a long time. Your spell wasn’t able to break Brontes’s restrictions on me so now would be your best chance. Why not try your luck?”
Del began to step back edging his way out of the circle, had he known this monster was what was lying in wait he might have considered running to a different continent. Maybe even a different world if he could convince a powerful enough country to give him access to a travel site. Not that it was likely, but a man can dream. “You know i think i have had enough fighting for today.” Del lept backwards out of the circle and immediately prepared to use a long range teleport spell to Kareth. The country lying to the Lunar kingdoms south had been his refuge for years. ‘Not sure how long this prick has been following me so all of my previous hideouts are out of the question.’ he thought to himself lamenting the loss of his assets. ‘But at least the research itself is safe thanks to the breakthroughs he made six years ago on his excursion to Helthorn the former seat of power in the undead kings empire. Back then they all thought i was a joke so there should have been no need to tail me, so the odds were good that they haven’t made a real connection to my research and the undead king's work.’ Del’s thoughts were cut short as Nihilo’s cloak extended off his body and devoured the ground around him in an 8 meter wide circle effectively destroying the formations effect. “Shit!”
Nihilo launched forward as the teleportation spell took effect cutting Del’s legs off at the knees. Nihilo smiled hearing his screams before he disappeared in front of his eyes. “There is no running from me boy i will find you no matter where you go.”
Del hit the ground shocked by how little the meaty stumps where his legs used to be hurt. They hadn’t been cut so much as they seemed to have evaporated without a trace, a black film stretched over the ends of the wounds which slowly spread further up his legs reaching toward his groin. “Nope, no no no no no.” he yelled using his remaining mana to form a blade and severing the affected areas, which were eaten by the dark energy and seemed to fade into nothing. “What the fuck was that?” he said to himself rooting around in his side bag for more regrowth reagents. “Damn i used the last one in that fight with the wolf, it will take days for these wounds to heal with my accelerated healing alone. Lets see i have 3 mana boosters, 2 maximize summons potions for 5 elements, strength, speed, more shit i don't need right now...shit. I don't have time for this he must have some way to find me, i can't stay here.” Del downed a mana booster and a mana recovery potion then began to teleport throughout the forest looking for a good place to hide. The area was one he spent some time in when he was 18 he would hunt bandits in these woods to pay for his tuition at Luna academy. He didn’t like to work inside the Lunar kingdoms at the time because adventuring work was against school policy for any student who had not graduated. This was all to maintain the school and the kingdoms reputation for having some of the most adept mages on the planet.
Del hovered over a section of forest scanning for signs of life and extending his detection spells range to the limit. “There.” he said looking in the direction of a clearing about 12 kilometers away. The spells accuracy wasn’t as good when extended as much as it was now but it should be good enough he could see the location in his mind if he focused on the location. The information floods in like a waterfall though and if not for his many augmentations to his mind, body and soul, the flood of information would knock him unconscious.
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Several men were making camp in what looked to be an battle damaged fortress ruin. “Bandits by the look of them.” Del pulled out a vial containing a swirling white liquid and uncorked it. Then the air around him started to compress into 20 large translucent bird-like creatures that flitted around him happily dancing through the air. “Alright calm down i need you guys to do some work for me. One of the birds flew up to his face taking the form of a young woman and laughed before returning to its bird form. Then the others followed in the laughter. “Come on you all can play later. Right now i need you to head over to that camp and spread this.” dell pulled out another vial this one containing a blue and purple powder. He then opened it and poured it out into the air which the wind spirits happily took into themselves wrapping the powder up in its airy body. 10 minutes later Del approached the fortress to the sound of the spirits laughing and a man grunting. The bandits lay on the ground unconscious with the exception of one who was groggily swinging his sword at the wind spirits circling him. “Damn you infernal things. What did you do to my men?”
“They put them to sleep.” Del remarked to the man who was fighting to stand and now eyeing him with disdain.
“My Name is Malcolm.” the man growled fighting to stay awake. “And this is my territory, if you want it fight me for it like a man. No magic tricks coward.”
“I would consider your challenge if i didn’t need the magic to stay upright right now but i don’t have a leg to stand on at the moment. Your fortitude is really something though how are you still awake?”
“You think some half-assed magic can take me down…” del cut him off with a sleep spell, then lowered himself to the ground, beads of sweat forming on his head. “I need to rest for a minute sorry, didn’t want to cut you off but i have been using way too much mana today. The boosters are starting to wear off and until i can make more i will have to use what's left sparingly.”
The wind spirits began to swirl around Del playfully chasing each other causing winds to knock over surrounding tables in the courtyard of the fortress, one picking him up in it’s beak and tossing him into the air. He fell on the cushion of wind that was it’s back and laughed. “Thanks. Alright now i need you all to look for some supplies.”
Mages council
The Masters sit in silence watching the events that transpired before the images ceased with the completion of that massive formation. “You see i told you all we needed to come at this with full force and let Nihilo handle the boy.” wendel yelled glaring at the representatives who voted for quinland to go.
Einera shot him a nasty look in return, the old woman no stranger to fools like Wendell. “You would have us cull what is still a minor threat by letting that beast get access to its full power again? At least the boy seems to take great pains to avoid killing, but what of Nihilo who has killed hundreds of people in his pursuits over the years. Had we not suppressed him when we did he may well have sparked a war with the Tolgothy god of war himself. We all know what happens when the gods go to war, do we not?”
“Old woman no one asked you for a lecture.”
“And yet clearly you need to be taught a lesson.” she began to glow her appearance reverting to a younger age, her cloudy eyes growing clearer and beginning to shine.
“What’s all this talk about me being a monster?” the room froze at the high pitched voice emanating from behind Brontes who looked mildly annoyed by the intrusion.
“Hello Nihilo.” Brontes said in the even tone he seemed to maintain at all times.
“Why did you let the boy escape?”
“Boy? Is that all i have been shadowing for 2 years, a boy?”
Laughter echoed from the rooms entrance as Quin strode in partially charred with his pupil following close behind, no longer smiling. “Boy may not be the right word after all, i severely underestimated him, but next time…”
Wendell scoffed. “Next time? so we can see you find some other way to screw this up?”
“Enough.” Brontes said flatly. “We will send Alira back out after Dellam along with Nihilo once i am done making adjustments to his restrictions. You may wait on the lower level Nihilo.”
“What you don’t want me to sit in on the meeting like the good old days?” nihilo remarked before finding himself staring at a potted plant on the first floor of the building. “Dick.”
“I will brief Alira on the parameters of her mission in the meantime preparations will need to be made for his punishment should we find ourselves unable to convince Dellam to cooperate.
Alira
Having awoken before the rest of her squad Alira wept silently for a moment seeing that that idiot put a barrier up to protect them after knocking them out. “Damn fool, i am your enemy now. Why can’t you just make this easy for me?” she wiped away her tears with he shoulder. Then broke the bindings around her wrists with earth magic and proceeded to free her men the same way. ‘Del had always been to kind for as reckless as he seemed to be, it was why she loved him once and ultimately why she left him. Although he would tell the story differently.’
A magic circle appeared on the ground near alira announcing the intention of someone teleporting in. A young green haired girl appeared looking depressed and mildly agitated. “I was sent to get you by the council. Your boyfriend just evaded our surveillance.” Mira remarked agitation clear in her voice.
“We dated for 6 months almost 10 years ago, i have moved on.”
“Sure that's why you pulled your punches during the fight right?”She intone mockingly.
“I see, you fought him and lost didn’t you?”Alira shot back.
Mira's face grew red as she started to retort, but exhaled shoulders slumped. “Quin said we were going to spend the next 6 months training in the Dregen mountains. It’s full of arachne who cast powerful magic and use poisons to drain mana from their prey. It’s a nightmare.” Mira wailed tears in her eyes.
Alira looked at the girl confused by the sudden shift in emotion. ‘i am not good with this sort of thing.’ she thought to herself. “Um, there, there.”
“Oh shut up, let's just go!” mira extended a magic circle large enough for Alira and her men then teleported them back to the academy.