Simultaneously, both mages prepared for battle. The difference was that while Dallion was taking off the ring artifacts that prevented him from casting spells, Adzorg put on such that allowed him to. Even after the old man’s deleveling at the hands of the order, there was no telling who had the upper hand. All that Dallion knew was that he preferred to have a squad of battle mages with him for the task.

“Ruby, wound him!” Dallion ordered as he grabbed his aura sword.

The shardfly broke its illusion emerging on Dallion’s shoulder, then sent a few well-aimed wind slashes in the direction of the old man. Several hit Adzorg in the legs, causing a layer of deep purple to flash over the area.

“Didn’t think you’d become so vicious, dear boy.” The man cast a spell, lifting him in the air. “Commendable execution.”

Ignoring the taunts, Dallion cast a series of spells to increase his reaction trait, rise up in the air, and surround himself with aether barriers.

Adzorg did the same. Using fingers, he wasn’t able to match the quantity of spells one could do with an aura sword. Yet, he made up for that in quality, combining multiple spells in one. The spell circles he drew weren’t mere spell circles, but chains hooked one to the other, each containing symbols Dallion had never seen.

“Ruby, pass through!” Dallion said as he swung the aura sword leaving a trail of spell circles in the air.

Pausing its attacks, the shardfly flew through, following the flight path of a butterfly. Each time it passed through a spell circle, hundreds of shardfly copies poured out, all flying towards Adzorg.

“I’d hoped I taught you better, dear boy.” The man sighed as he cast an eleven-circle spell. “Never use the same tricks.”

A flash of light passed through the air, erasing all the shardfly copies in the process.

Dallion’s harpsisword moved on its own, sending out a point attack at the mage. The strike missed by inches, flying by the man and bouncing off the pillar of purple light behind him.

Harp, what was that? Dallion gripped the hilt of the weapon tighter.

You’ll always hesitate when facing him, the nymph replied unapologetically. You still want to convince him to surrender, even if he doesn’t intend to.

It’s my battle, Harp! Dallion gritted his teeth, casting a dozen aether projectile spells. I can handle it.

No, you can’t.

You think I’m not ready?

No, I think you don’t want to. You’re more empath than mage. That’s what makes you you, that’s the best part of you. The vibrations that composed her voice became softer, warmer. However, it’s also the thing that will get you killed. I won’t allow that.

A sphere of magic symbols emerged around Adzorg. Its complexity made it impossible to tell what the purpose was. Yet, Dallion didn’t have to decipher the spell to know. He had seen part of that spell before, back in the Learning Hall of the Academy—that was the spell used to create a perfect illusion.

“Spark!” Dallion whispered, doing three line strikes in immediate succession.

The lines of glowing white split the air, slicing the sphere in three.

Dallion felt a lump in his throat. Had he stopped the spell? More importantly, had he accidentally killed Adzorg? Based on everything he’d heard about the ex-archmage, there was no way such a simple attack could be successful. And still…

“No hesitation.” The circle cleared, revealing the mage in a full suit of armor. This wasn’t a magical construct, but real sky steel armor that didn’t suit him in the least. Even so, it had the properties to stop most attacks, even spark ones. “Using spark against mages, going straight for line attacks now that you can use them. It’s a shame you didn’t do more of that at the Academy.”

“I did,” Dallion said, darting through the air straight at the old man.

“You’ve learned a thing or two about strategy and tactics. But you’ve still got a ways to go.”

Not even bothering to evade the attacks, Adzorg flew up towards the opening. While the vortex had filled most of it, a thin circle of sky remained between the rock and the glowing aether. The fact that Adzorg wanted to escape so badly suggested that he had already obtained the item he was looking for. In turn that meant that Dallion couldn’t afford to let him go.

“Ruby, block his path!” Dallion ordered. “Gleam, try to get rid of his armor!”

Gleam? Dallion wondered. Why did I say that?

The spectral shardfly remained in the banished realm. Dallion had roamed through all the archmage materials he had on the topic and had yet to find a way to summon her back. Maybe Harp was right, maybe facing Adzorg was beyond him right now. Even if that was the case, though, he still had to see it through.

Wind slashes flew at the man, only to be negated by a wind barrier. Despite his looks, the mage was crafty. More a strategist and theoretician, he’d never engaged in battle as far as Dallion had known him. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t. One didn’t just become a guild captain because of looks.

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Adzorg flew through the crack leading to the upper level. Dallion followed soon after.

Shouts and yells came from everywhere as dwarves ran in panic through tunnels and caverns, seeking places to hide as the town crumbled around them. Rock and steel that had seemed unbreakable were now crumbling like clay. The light crystals that provided light had become so energized by their vicinity to the vortex that they shone like midday sun.

The moment he flew into the second level, Dallion spun his aura sword, casting a multitude of healing spells.

“Healing magic?” Adzorg asked, summoning a swarm of aether bats at Dallion. “Being soft is a good thing, though not when it’s pointless.”

The creatures were nothing like Dallion had seen. It wasn’t unusual that they were created out of aether—any mage was able to cast temporary constructs. Their shape was what disturbed him, not the shape of a normal creature, but a combination of ovals and triangles, making them appear out of place.

“Ruby!” Dallion said, pausing his attacks for a moment.

Flicking its wings, the shardfly greeted the bats with its usual attack. Unsurprisingly, there was no effect. The strikes cut the element connections like a razor, but did no real damage. After every strike, the elements quickly combined once more and continued with their attack.

Are you looking down on me? Dallion burst into instances.

Combining attack, guard, and acrobatics, he targeted each individual shape directly with the tip of his harpsisword. The target shattered instantly, allowing Dallion to use the skill’s bonus, continuing with a multi attack.

On the surface, it almost seemed that Adzorg had messed up. All that Dallion needed to do was evade the bats long enough to gain the time slow bonus. However, that was hardly the case. While he didn’t know what the old mage was planning exactly, he wasn’t one to make such obvious mistakes.

Dallion and Adzorg reached the first level of the city almost simultaneously. Spell circles flashed constantly around them, as both continued casting at a tremendously fast rate.

Let me fight, Harp said.

There was no denying that the mage had an advantage. While Dallion was still dealing with the aether bats, he wasn’t able to shorten the distance between them. Ruby kept on doing his best, but neither his attacks nor Dallion's spells were an issue for Adzorg, who neutralized them long before they could do anything. Somehow, the old man remained several steps ahead the entire time.

If you don’t, you’ll lose him, the nymph guardian insisted.

This was the moment to choose. It had been a while since Harp had fought his battle for him. If anything, she had said that she would no longer do so. The fact that she was offering meant she believed it to be the only way; more than that, she felt that not doing so might lead to Dallion getting harmed.

“Don’t kill him,” Dallion said as he relaxed his grip.

Receiving his permission, the harpsisword seemed to move on its own, leading his arm along with it.

Just like Gleam, Dallion thought. Harp claimed that she was in combat gear, everything she had done confirmed that. Even after revealing that she had the spellcraft skill, she rarely used it… until now.

A layer of water covered the weapon, doubling it in size. The strings were constantly vibrating, casting spells that Dallion couldn’t recognize. There were no distinguishable elements, just large intricate patterns, made entirely of minuscule magic threads.

The moment Adzorg caught sight of it, his fingers moved twice as fast, weaving a more intricate spell than any he had done before. A thick layer of sea iron emerged in front of him, just as a spray of water crystals shot out from the harpsisword, effectively pulverizing it. Even the armor the mage was wearing was severely damaged, punctured in parts.

“Harp!” Dallion tightened his grip.

He’s alright, the nymph said. Apparently, her definition of “all right” was different than that of the rest of the world. Just slightly wounded.

The aether bats near Dallion faded away. That didn’t mean the fight was over, though. Adzorg had already cast several healing spells, along with what looked like a restoration spell. As both rose up into the open air, Dallion could see the holes in the man’s armor evaporate away, until it was restored to a flawless state.

“Didn’t think you’d tip your hand,” Adzorg said. He was looking at Dallion, but it was clear that he was addressing Harp. “It seems that I underestimated you a bit.”

“Just give up!” Dallion ordered. “It doesn’t have to end like this.”

“There’s too much at stake, dear boy. I would have preferred if you were with me on this, but—”

Large spears of ice flew in the space between Adzorg and Dallion, smashing into the purple tower. Dallion’s instances spread out. A quarter of them looked in the direction of the new attack, only to see the last person he expected.

“Di?” he said in utter shock.

“I knew you two would end up fighting like this,” the ice fury said with a smirk.

She definitely wasn’t supposed to be here. It had only been a few weeks since Dallion had left her at the Academy, and yet here she was, wearing half a dozen artifacts, making up for her lack of magic trait.

Without regard to what was going on, the fury flew in the direction of the vortex, attempting to position herself between the two. From her point of view, both were dear people she found close. Unfortunately, this was the worst possible time for her to get involved.

Damn it! Dallion darted forward. Catching Adzorg was all but impossible now. All the old man had to do was cast one mass attack spell, then run away and it would be all over.

Suddenly, a second pillar shot up from the ground, twice as large as the first. In Dallion’s mind, time froze. He could see it moving on and swallowing them up. Both he and Adzorg had the means and knowledge to withstand the devastation and venture inside. The same couldn’t be said about Diroh. Even with natural skills and Academy gear, it was all but certain she’d be consumed.

Without hesitation, Dallion flew towards the fury. To his surprise and relief, Adzorg did the same. Both had come to the same realization and—by the looks of it—had opted for the same solution.

“Hold still!” Dallion shouted, as he waved his aether sword, casting dozens of aether spheres around them.

Meanwhile, Adzorg also cast a spell, although his was somewhat different. Several giant barbed rings emerged, surrounding the spheres and him along with them. All that followed was purple.

VORTEX AWAKENING

You are in a level 9 VORTEX

Defeat the guardian to Absorb the VORTEX