"That's true. Alright, flashy it is, but when the goddesses get mad, you get to tell them that it was your idea!"

Lin says "Haha! Alright, I will protect you from the big, mean goddesses."

"I will hold you to that!"

I stop flying forward and just hover in place, staying as still as possible. Then I wait while Lin builds the structure of the spell and then I enhance it. I pour all of my remaining mana into boosting its power and area of effect.

Lin unleashes the spell once she can't hold it anymore and the sky goes dark. The spell creates black clouds that cover the sky and then flashes of red light can be seen within them. A minute passes and the lights become brighter and brighter before fire rains down.

At first it is just like raindrops, but soon it changes into dragons made of fire. They are serpentine forms, a lot like eastern dragons and there are hundreds of them. They descend from the sky and head straight down to the ground, it is an awe inspiring sight.

As each dragon impacts the ground, it creates an explosion that covers hundreds of feet around it. Everything at or near the impact sight is vaporized almost instantly. Even the beasts outside the impact zone die from the intense heat generated by the explosions.

It really looks like the end of the world down there, but this is only the beginning. Just as the explosions from the fire dragons are ending the second wave descends. This is followed by a third wave and only after that do the dark clouds disperse.

After the dust and smoke from the explosions settles, all that is left is a wasteland. The entire area is nothing but blackened ground and craters, there is nothing living. There are not even any bodies, all the beasts and everything else was reduced to ash.

Lin says "What happened? That was way too powerful! Didn't you enhance it a bit too much?"

"I didn't do anything different from last time! I have no idea why the effect was so much bigger this time."

Lin says "It was at least three times more powerful than when we used it on the pirates. You must have done something different?"

"No, I just enhanced your spell. I am pretty sure I used the same amount of mana as last time. Didn't you do something different?"

Lin says "No! I cast the spell exactly like I did last time."

"You didn't make any improvements to the spell? Your knowledge of magic has definitely improved since the last time you cast the spell."

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Lin says "No. Well, I did fix a couple of small mistakes in the spell's structure, but that wouldn't make that much of a difference."

"Would that little bit of difference maybe involve increasing the mana efficiency?"

Lin says "No, at least it shouldn't have. Even if it did, it would only be by a tiny amount. Not enough to increase the effect of the spell by three times!"

"Not even if it improved the efficiency of the mana I used to enhance the spell?"

Lin says "I don't see how the small changes I made could do something like that. Then again, I don't entirely understand how you enhance spells, so it might be possible."

"Well, that is the only thing that changed. What else could it be?"

Lin says "Well, we have both gotten stronger since we last cast it and both of us have improved our knowledge of magic. Maybe that could explain it."

"I guess there is no way to know for sure, but we will have to be careful from now on. This has definitely drawn some attention."

Lin says "Yeah, sorry. I didn't think it would be this bad."

"It's alright, but we should get out of here before anyone decides to come and see what happened."

"Uh oh. It looks like it's too late."

Lin points and when I look in the direction she is pointing I see a pillar of white light. It is already touching the ground, so chances are that an avatar is soon to appear. I immediately start flying forward again, maybe if we are lucky we can avoid the avatar.

"Wait, did you get any exp for all that?"

Lin says "Are you kidding? I gained two levels!"

"That's weird, I didn't get any exp at all."

Lin says "Really? Not even from the ones you killed with spells?"

"Nope, nothing."

Lin says "Didn't you get a share the last time we did this?"

"I think so. Oh well, as long as you leveled up it's fine."

Lin says "No, it's not! It is not fair if I am taking all of the exp."

"Life isn't fair. Besides, there isn't much we can do about it. We don't know or control how the system works."

Lin says "That's true, but I still feel bad about it."

"You have no reason to. It's not like you intentionally stole the exp. Stop worrying about it. Instead, we should be worried about getting out of here before an angry avatar starts chasing us."

Lin says "Aren't you used to that by now?"

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean that I want one chasing me if I can help it. Besides, I would prefer not being chased while I am trying to figure out what the demons are up to."

Lin says "You are the one flying, it isn't like there is anything I can do."

"I am pretty much out of mana. Can you do something to hide our presence or at least make us harder to spot?"

Lin says "I'll see what I can do, give me a second."

I continue flying and then I start feeling the mana around us move as Lin casts a spell. The clouds suddenly return, but this time they are white and fluffy clouds. Knowing what she intends, I increase my altitude until I am inside the clouds.

Lin then casts another spell to hide our presence and hopefully keep the avatar from detecting us. If we are lucky, the avatar will be too busy looking at the aftermath of our spell to notice us. We just need to avoid it until I can see what the demons are hiding, after that we can just leave.

The only problem with hiding in the clouds is that I can no longer see the ground. So, I fly blind for five minutes to get away from the area the avatar is in and then drop down. As soon as I break through the bottom of the clouds I take a look around.

I don't see the avatar, which is a relief, but I do see the ruins of a city below me. There is hardly anything left of it, but from above the straight lines make it obvious. From ground level it would be much harder to realize it even if you were standing inside it.