Varrus watched on as hundreds of Mana Stones took on the shape of trees. Their translucent crystalline shapes emanated an insane amount of mana after absorbing the ambient energy from both the leylines, and the environment.

Vandercross was levitating above it all, and began to manipulate the trees like they were an extension of his own limbs.

Branches snaked out of the ground to ensnare Varrus, the closer they came to contacting his skin, he could feel a mana draining function. If they got ahold of him, he was certain to be sucked dry!

Fortunately, he was standing side by side with his wife. Syra was quick to dice any branches into pieces. However, upon destruction, the crystalline roots would either explode in a wave of uncontrollable Arcane energy, or immediately reform from the tree for another attack.

All the while, Vandercross was controlling this forest, he would shoot homing Arcane Barrage at Varrus and Syra in a almost never ending stream of attacks.

Each Arcane Barrage consisted of 5 basketball sized balls of pure white energy.

Varrus was forced to toss up a ward every 5-10 seconds in response. The impact of the Arcane Barrage was powerful like any other Heroes attack, but was blocked with little effort.

Whilst Varrus was in this seeming stalemate, he would toss Bolide after Bolide in between Arcane Barrages. Meteorites moved to take Vandercross out of the sky, however, he had a spherical shield of Arcane around him at all times.

The old man was surrounded by a bubble of energy, and flying like Magneto from the X-men cartoons. Varrus tried a few cheeky Illusion spells, such as Pale Shadow, Backlash, and Illusionary Pyre, but his shield blocked them all!

He saw it waver several times, but the constant stream of mana funneling into him made any offensive spell moot.

Varrus tried his patented Master tier Destruction spell, Forbidden Sun. Yet the giant ball of fiery death was ineffective against this forest of Mana Stones. When the ball dropped down on top of Vandercross, the flowers on the trees blossomed, and sucked all the mana dry from the spell in a matter of seconds!

Instead of spawning in a thousand fire elementals, this time, Vandercross used the mana from Varrus's spell to double the size of the forest, and increase the width of the trees by a factor of 3!

Varrus felt like vomiting when he saw this. He had overwhelmed the Mana Stones at the beginning of the conflict, but once Vandercross had so many in one spot, he practically became unavailable!

These Mana Stones were beginning to become a serious problem! As long as Vandercross had them online, he practically had an unlimited amount of mana, and the perfect magical defense! If they became stalled for too long, then the other Convocation members could finish up their fights, and take action against Varrus and Syra together!

Destroying them all with magic wasn't feasible because they would simply absorb Varrus’s energy, and redirect it to make more Mana Stones. Furthermore, whilst Vandercross’s barrier would be weak to Varrus’s lightning magic, the Mana Stones would act as an impossible barrier. If he was to take his father out, he would have to get dangerously close!

That left Varrus with 3 options.

1) Destroy them with brute force, something Syra was more than capable of. 2) Use non-attributed spells like telekinesis to destroy/remove them from play. And 3) Absorb each of the Mana Stones as they advanced.

Grinning to himself, Varruz decided to go with option 4, all of the above!

“Cover me Syra, I have a spell to make you stronger. When I finish, we advance toward Vandercross to end all of this!” Varrus called out.

“You are safe in my hands, my love.” Syra flashed a smile, and began to block both the Arcane Barrage with barriers of her own, and dice the trees apart.

Once he got close, Varrus's various perks would reduce Vandercross’s magic resistance to 0%. It pained him that as a glass cannon, he had to get within 20ft to have these perks activate, but it was his only option!

Pulling up his Illusion skill tree, and doing some quick math for the boosts he was about to enact, Varrus began formulating his plan of attack.

Commanding Presence - In combat, you radiate an aura of mystical nobility that touches allied creatures and people within 40 feet. Those affected gain 20% extra attack damage and have a 20% chance of a critical strike.

Kindred Mage: Mind affecting spells are 15 points stronger / 30 if you are the same race.

Illusion Mastery (2) - Illusion spells cost 50% less Magicka, Illusion spells last 100% longer, and mind affecting Illusion spells are 20pts stronger.

Imposing Presence - You radiate an aura of mystical charisma that touches all within 40 feet. Any Illusion spell you cast on those affected is 25% more powerful and lasts 30% longer.

Crown of the False King - Commanding Presence also increases armor by 80 points and magic resistance by 20%.

Imperious Splendor - Commanding Presence and Crown of the False King are twice as powerful as long as you remain above 75% Health.

Pandemonium - Those affected by a Frenzy spell or effect within the radius of Imposing Presence gain 50% extra attack damage.

That is to say that the buffs affecting Syra would add up to a staggering:

160 Armor

40% magic resistance

50% more powerful Illusion spells + 50pts

140% attack damage increase

40% crit chance increase

And of course, if Syra (or any other ally under these effects) were struck by a weapon, Protect Your God would activate. Which for 5 seconds, would enhance an ally under the effect of Commanding Presence to increase their attack damage by 250%!

Then there was Wilting, one of many debuffs that would affect Varrus's enemies if he got within 30ft of them.

Wilting - Those affected by a Calm spell or effect within the radius of Imposing Presence lose 200 points of armor and 50% magic resistance.

Finally, most of these perks that weren't already active, would go into effect once he cast an illusion spell. In this case, Varrus opted for the Master tier spell, Call to Arms.

Call to Arms gives allies a 25-point boost to one-handed, two-handed, archery, health, and stamina for ten minutes.

With the aforementioned boosts, Call to Arms was enhanced by a (12.5+25+50 =) 87.5 boost lasting twenty minutes due to Illusion Mastery.

The boosts to armor, stamina and health weren't that significant in the grand scheme of things. As discovered from his tests, 160 armor was strong enough to block an arrow from an average longbow. Impressive, but nothing to brag about in a world of magic, and other insane mageotechnology. However, the bonus skill to one handed, and two handed was extreme!

When Varrus trained with Lor'Themar, he could tell that every single point in his one-handed modified his skill by an insane degree. He could feel himself improve drastically, and that was from a paltry skill level from 20 -> 30.

He could only imagine what a boost in skill for someone like Syra who was already at the peak to go even further beyond!

Waving his hands, Varrus unleashed Call to Arms, buffing Syra with the insane percentile increases in magic resist, crit chance, and attack damage.

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Varrus noticed the change immediately. Where before, Syra was locked in a passive state where she could neither advance or retreat-a position that could be defined as a losing stalemate-she now moved like a winged tiger hopped up on redbull.

That girl’s sword flashed so fast, that the crystalline trees were chopped to bits before they could even explode!

Even the Arcane Barrage was disregarded by her, as she stopped trying to shield them, and began to cut the balls of pure energy in half!

Watching her advance, chipping away at the crystal forest like a man with a chainsaw shaving through ice put Varrus into a trance.

This was his hot, sexy, deadly wife!

“Go Syra, go!” Varrus whooped from the side.

Goddam! He couldn't wait till he got his hands on enough adamantium for her new buster sword!

Of course, Varrus wasn't simply playing cheerleader as his wife acted as primary tank and dps.

He began to support her with telekinesis. Any Mana Stone that entered his sight was either yeeted to the back of the crater, outside of Vandercross’s range of control, or brought directly in front of him.

By casting a quick Dispel Magic on the crystalline tree, and breaking it into smaller chunks, Varrus could steal the Mana Stones into his inventory.

Their teamwork was flawless, and transformed them into an unstoppable juggernaut.

Tree branches began to shoot concentrated beams at them like high pressure water cannons, shoot up stakes randomly from the ground with the intent to impale, explode like mines, and more.

Yet thanks to Syra's speed enchantments, she intercepted every threat before it could reach Varrus, and with the Illusion buffs, had the strength to eliminate every threat before it fully realized.

Varrus and Syra had pressed forward, and were both sweating from the constant barrage of attacks, and many close calls.

But they had finally advanced to within 50 feet of Vandercross. He was within their sights. Just thirty more feet, and Varrus could enact the perk Sotha’s Maelstrom, and reduce Vandercross’s magic resistance by 100%!

Sotha's Maelstrom: Emit radiation that reduces the magic resistance of nearby enemies within 20 feet by 5% per second, up to 100%. Lasts 120 seconds.

“Simply wonderful! I had worried that the future was bleak upon mine return. Yet this surprise is truly touching. Individually, you are both phenomenal, yet susceptible to my magic. But when paired together, you, Syra, and Varrus are the perfect duo. Bravo!” Vandercross politely clapped at both of them.

Yet even as Vandercross praised Syra and Varrus, his attacks never let up, and in fact, as they drew closer, only seemed to increase in speed.

Leaves began to fall down from the trees, and came at them from all angles. Varrus couldn't cast a wind spell and blow them away, as they would simply absorb the magic.

Tens of thousands of razor sharp leaves made of pure Arcane energy came at them like speeding bullets. In this case, telekinesis was more of a target spell, and was excellent on a single object, yet in a mass battle like this, he could stop maybe 10 or 20 out of ten thousand leaves before they made contact!

As a physical object, they dealt both piercing damage, and magic damage. Varrus didn't think his shields/wards could stand up to such a mass bombardment, and despite Syra's best efforts, there was no way she could catch them all. Ultimately, they would be swarmed like a baby elephant facing a pack of hyenas, and die from a thousand cuts.

However, that didn't mean he was without recourse!

Varrus did have a few non-attributed spells that could turn the tide!

Chief amongst them was the Expert Alteration spell, Tumble Magnet!

By spamming the spell, a dozen+ basketball sized orbs spread out in a 360 direction from his position, and began to move the leaves off course.

Already, hundreds of leaves collided with one another, or into nearby trees, causing a chain reaction of explosions due to the volatile nature of mana.

As promising as this outcome was, it was not enough!

“Syra, come close!” Varrus yelled at her.

As soon as she was within an arms-length, Varrus began to cast Raise Wall like it was going out of style, and constantly threw up a roof of enchanted bricks overhead with the spell he learnt from the architect.

Muffled explosions rocked the foundation, and Varrus felt his ears ring due to the constant bombardment.

Whenever a gap in the walls opened up, Varrus would advance towards Vandercross, then toss up another set of walls, and toss out more Tumble Magnets.

Varrus and Syra advanced like turtles. Protected by the wall overhead, and moving a few steps forward at a time, Varrus eventually got within 20ft of Vandercross!

The effects of Wilting, and Sotha's Maelstrom reduced Vandercross’s magic resist to 0!

When a gap in his wall was created, this time, Varrus went on the offense, and created a corridor with a small hole, so that he could have line of sight on Vandercross.

With his left hand, he repeatedly blasted the old man with a lightning attributed spell, Lightning Strike, destroying his shield.

Whereas with his right hand, Varrus cast a Restoration spell with the intent of ending it all.

Thanks to the perks Crusaders Fire, and Hallowed Burial, his Restoration spells would do 55% more damage to Undead!

However, Vandercross had adjusted to the sudden attack, and blocked the attributed attack with the endless stream of leaves!

Danger flashed in Varrus's eyes as his surprise attack failed. However, just because his attributed attack could be blocked, didn't mean he was out of options!

With his left hand, he shot out another lightning attack to act as a distraction, however, his true intention was to land the Apprentice Illusion spell, Thoughtsteal.

Thoughtsteal: Equip the spells the target has equipped. Lasts for 120 seconds or until unequipped.

He was going to take Vandercross out with his own family magic!

A burst of knowledge pain entered Varrus's mind, but he ignored the sudden headache, and slight nose bleed in favor of analyzing the over a dozen Mana Stone related magics that popped up on his interface.

He didn't have much time to analyze these different spells, as the stream of leaves, branches, and roots was never ending! If he didn't do something and fast, then no matter how much Syra protected him, he would eventually be overwhelmed and perish!

Thinking on his feet, he decided the most important spell among them was the Master tier channeling spell, Mana Stone Control.

Without hesitation, Varrus swapped to this spell, and began to contest Vandercross for control of the forest.

His skill was amateurish, however, he caught Vandercross for surprise a second time within seconds, and the old man was in shock.

“Syra, do it!” Varrus shouted with an urgent tone of voice.

He felt his control over the forest slipping as Vandercross began to reassert his control.

Syra glanced at him in worry for a second, obviously reticent to leave him defenseless, and open to attack.

“Go! Show him why we're the perfect couple!” Varrus gasped as his concentration over the spell began to lapse and a backlash almost occurred.

Syra winked at Varrus, then soared into the sky.

“I am sorry, papi.” Syra said with some melancholy in her voice.

“I could not be prouder.” Vandercross grinned, and interposed a dozen giant trees in between himself and Syra.

Syra cut through all of them at once with one slice, and advanced upon Vandercross in a flash.

Shieldless due to Varrus's spells, Vandercross was wide open, and was pierced in the chest.

A second later, Syra came rocketing downward, and impaled Vandercross deep into the earth.

Varrus gulped in relief as he felt the forest completely fall under his control.

“Here, my final gift to you, son. My beautiful boy, stand strong, and always watch your back. Take care.” Vandercross looked peaceful as he presented a tiny crystal to Varrus.

Taking it out of his hand, Varrus looked on with mixed emotions as the Light shining from Syra's sword finally turned Vandercross into ashes, purifying him from this world.

Varrus placed the crystal in his inventory, and it read [Vandercross Family Artes].

His eyes widened as he realized what this was. Varrus tried to absorb the knowledge like he had done with books in the past, however, as this was not a book, the knowledge held within did not get absorbed.

Whilst Varrus was disappointed, that didn't mean he was angry. This was another means to magic that he could study. If taken to the next level, it could even be the thing that advanced him to the Legendary tier. A level shared by demigods!

Varrus didn't feel particularly close to this transmigrated parent, but that didn't mean he wasn't thankful.

For his arranged marriage, cozy lifestyle, political power, and more.

“Thank you.” Varrus whispered, and bowed at Vandercross’s ashes.

Syra held him in a side hug, and he saw tears dripping down her face.

“Chin up, my Sun, we still have an assassin to deal with.” Varrus lifted Syra's face, and stole a kiss across her cheek.

Syra hugged him even tighter than before, and remained silent.

Varrus chuckled at her, then glanced at the Mana Stone forest. Half of it remained, and was raring to go.

Whilst Thoughtsteal was still in play, he would make the most of it!

Vandercross was down, Rommath and The rest of the Old Guard were soon to follow!

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AN: Read 25 chapters ahead at: karpqq p tr e on