Ice and aether blades clashed against one another as Baron d’Argent and Gregord exchanged blows midair. Both were exceptional when it came to swordsmanship and both had a large number of supporting magic spells. The speed was such that hummingbirds would get busy. Just as the avatar casted a dozen swiftness spells onto himself, so had Gregord.

“Using ice to stop aether,” the archmage said. “Very clever.”

Floating back, the hero performed a double vertical strike using both swords. The weapons were blocked by the ice blades the avatar had created, yet the raw strength proved too much, causing them to shatter.

Ice fragments flew everywhere as the aether blades sank into the avatar’s shoulder. Having lost a large part of their strength, they only penetrated half an inch, but that was enough to cause the dungeon’s energy consumption to spike. Maintaining his avatar was getting more and more difficult.

Taking every opportunity provided to him, Theo used telekinesis to propel the ice fragments straight into Gregord’s face. From this distance, this was no different than a precision blast directed at a single target.

Both flew back, while casting their most potent spells. Two outlines emerged in the spot where they had been. For close to a second, the two overlapping rectangles struggled to remain in reality, then spontaneously disappeared just as fast as they had emerged.

It actually worked, Theo thought. It didn’t look like he could rely on the method to counter Gregord’s spells, but it was amusing to see, nonetheless.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Gregord asked. The right part of his face was covered in small holes, as were a large part of his clothes. There was no blood to be seen, though.

“It’s a gift,” the avatar replied. “Why don’t your wounds heal? You’ve an avatar.”

“Realism. Wouldn’t be fair to the candidates if I appeared indestructible. Although in your case…” The holes covering Gregord quickly shrank to the point of vanishing altogether. “We’re both avatars, after all. The only difference is that I don’t have to hide it.”

The statement annoyed Theo somewhat, mostly because it was true. Gregord the hero, and all other Gregords for that matter, were merely the result of a spell—an afterthought left by a once great now dead mage. None of them had to hide anything or be ashamed of it. Then again, they didn’t have a horde of heroes ready to leap at the opportunity to destroy them.

“You’re doing better than most of the rest, by the way. There’s a good chance our fight will be over first.”

“You’re surrendering?” the avatar asked. He knew that it was too good to be true, but he couldn’t stop himself from uttering the words.

“No. We just fight faster.” Gregord summoned multiple new aether swords, throwing each one at the baron.

In response, Theo’s avatar cast aether shield after aether shield, blocking the blades before they could reach their target. Hundreds of sphered fireballs were cast in response, creating a series of explosions in a two-hundred-mile radius.

The blast engulfed the dungeon’s avatar as well, causing a certain amount of damage, but that wasn’t of consequence. As long as Theo could come on top, he didn’t care how much energy he’d spend, at least not in the immediate future.

Sending shards of ice in all directions, he then quickly cast an invulnerable aether sphere around his avatar, just in case. No sooner had he done so, than a massive lightning bolt struck the surface of the aether sphere. Unable to destroy the barrier, the bolt split, sending electric charges all over the sphere.

Quickly taking advantage of his indestructibility, the avatar flew forward, straight in the direction where the bolt had come from. There was a sudden sense of propulsion followed by a sudden thump as the sphere slammed into Gregord as both sped out of the cloud of post-explosion smoke.

Without delay, the avatar cast several hundred entangle spells, wrapping his opponent in a cocoon of aether threads. In normal circumstances, the spell wouldn’t have a chance of success, but the unorthodox way of using an aether bubble had stunned Gregord for a fraction of a second, creating a momentary opening.

ENTANGLE - ULTRA

Spend 100 energy to magically bind a creature or object for one minute. The bind may be broken depending on the amount of strength exerted on it.

Another ultra? That was rather handy. It would be a lie if Theo didn’t consider this particular spell useful, although having it reach this level just now was the last thing he expected. It wasn’t that it mattered. At this point, he could freely call the fight won without the fear of jinxing it. Regardless of Gregord’s abilities, even he had to admit defeat. There was literally nothing that he could do to break free from the aether cocoon.

Theo’s mind drifted away, thinking what sort of opponents the rest of the group had faced. Without a doubt, the archmage version had to be the toughest of all. Even with Auggy being a former archmage himself, going against such an opponent was no easy feat. Logically, the best thing to do was to head in the direction of the old mage and help him win his battle. Afterwards, it was all a matter of—

A dot of light emerged on the surface of the aether sphere. Most people would have paid no notice. After all, Gregord was utterly helpless; he didn’t even have the freedom to move his fingers. And even if, by some miracle, he did manage, Theo’s aether sphere had several seconds of invulnerability left. Having been burned more often than not, the dungeon spent a substantial amount of energy to cast a swiftness ultra spell.

Reality froze, right on time for the avatar to notice several rather significant developments. For starters, the dot of light had grown transforming into the tip of a luminous blade. Not the usual purple color of aether weapons, it was glowing in a golden yellow light.

The second important change was that the glowing blade had caused the indestructible aether sphere to crack. According to all magical principles, that was supposed to be impossible. Magic rules superseded those of nature, and were supposed to be absolute. The only thing powerful enough to negate a spell was a more powerful spell.

Suddenly, a cold chill swept through the dungeon. There was one other thing that had the power to achieve the unachievable.

Using the time given to him by his ultra swiftness spell, the avatar quickly knelt down, pressing against the bottom of the aether sphere. No sooner had he done so than time returned to normal.

A golden cyclone of pure force shattered through the sphere, ripping the cocoon of aether threads in the process.

“You used a heroic strike?!” the baron shouted, doubling the distance between himself and Gregord.

“Why not?” the other sounded confused. “I’m a hero. Just because I never used it in the past doesn’t mean I never learned it. I just preferred capturing and subduing the things I was sent to fight rather than outright killing them.”

“So, you used it on me?!”

“I’m fairly sure nothing would have happened to you,” the hero said with a dismissive shrug. “You’d probably have just been cast out.”

“I’m a dungeon avatar!”

An uncomfortable moment of silence followed. Neither of the two could be certain what would follow. On the one hand, it was said that all that failed in the tower were cast out. At the same time, it was well documented that accidents were frequent. It wasn’t a rarity that mages emerged dead.

I bet you don’t even know what’s going on outside your tower, Theo thought. That sounded just like what some academic would have done—consider every theory to the smallest detail, and completely ignore the practical implications.

Instead of admitting to his oversight, Gregord responded to the awkward situation by immediately going on the offensive again. His aether blades were golden now, as he resorted to more of his heroic skills in the fight. As part of the trial, he knew that he had to be fair to any participants, granting them a possibility of moving onwards. As a hero fighting a dungeon, however, he couldn’t ignore such an obvious advantage.

More ice shields surrounded the baron. Even at reduced efficiency, they remained the best defense he had in the current circumstances. Attempting other spells, even the newly obtained entangle ultra variant proved ineffective. Gregord would simply slice through them, or pull back out of their radius of effect.

This was what it was like fighting a hero. They were powerful, calculating, with powers that far exceeded anything Theo had. Flying to the ground, he made an attempt to create a room. The effort yielded a result, causing the start of a tower to shoot up from the ground. No sooner had it done so, when the upper half was sliced clean off in a single strike.

The dungeon mentally swallowed. If it ever came to fighting Liandra, he had this to look forward to. It was largely thanks to his swiftness that the avatar was even alive.

As the blade passed inches from his face, the avatar cast an arcane identify spell on it.

AETHER BLADE – ULTRA HEROIC

An advanced variant of the aether blade that grants heroic qualities to the weapon. As such, it is no longer subject to standard magical limitations and has the ability to purge evil.

“An ultra skill,” the avatar grumbled beneath his breath.

Of course, someone like Gregord would have it. That suggested that he had been either exceptionally lucky while alive, or he had spent a significant amount of time and effort casting that particular spell to reach its pinnacle. Clearly, he hadn’t become a hero for nothing.

Facing an opponent with such an obvious skill advantage, the dungeon had no choice but to rely on the method that had managed him to survive the bureaucratic existence of his previous life—psychological pressure and distractions.

“Why did you leave your mage tower?” he asked, avoiding a series of thrusts and arc strikes. “You were claimed to be a prodigy, so why become a hero?”

The question had the effect that Theo wanted. Although barely visible, Gregord paused for a moment. His next series of attacks didn’t follow until two full seconds later, although when it came it had double the ferocity.

“Didn’t like the way things were run?” the avatar poked further.

“You’ve never lived in a mage tower,” the other said, proving Theo’s point. “It’s different when you’re a valued benefactor.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I’ve seen prodigies.” The avatar cast a series of ice shards, sending them straight at his opponent. “They seem to have it easy.”

“That’s true.” Gregord pulled back, shattering each of the ice projectiles with ease. “We’re subjected to a different type of pressure. We’re cursed to follow paths plotted down for us by people who don’t have the skill to tread down them themselves. I was too naïve when I was brought to a tower, too naïve and too skilled. A terrible combination. It made me think that people treated me nice because of who they were. It took me years to see that they were only behaving that way out of fear and want.”

Memoria’s tombs appeared one after the other, each narrowly avoided thanks to the avatar’s use of swiftness ultra spells.

“How did you find out?” he asked.

“The price of excellence.” Gregord allowed himself a sigh. “After I created the memory echoes spell, I kept pushing to see how far back it could go. It was a pointless exercise, and one that even an established mage couldn’t get any practical application of. Being a prodigy, however, came with its indulgences. It took me a month, but I managed to sneak away a hundred advanced mana potions. A mana gem would have been preferable, but there are limitations to even what a prodigy could get.”

Theo could empathize. Even with all the wealth provided to the Feline tower, he had only managed to get two mana gems, one of which was depleted.

“I used them all up, driving the spell past the one-hour barrier,” Gregord continued on his own. “I still remember how excited I felt back then, so eager to go further back. I had chosen to see the past of the feasting table, because I wanted to know what people talked about when I wasn’t there. Well, I got my wish.”

“Let me guess. They hated you.”

“That would have been preferable. They were outright terrified of me. Terrified that I might be distracted by lesser things, terrified that I might have a tantrum. The whole discussion was mages discussing guardrails and methods now to keep me in line and deal with potential issues with the least amount of time and effort. It was as if they were talking about a chained monster.”

Ouch, the dungeon thought.

That was definitely one aspect he never experienced. Ever worse, thinking back to his past life, there might have been a few cases when he had participated in similar meetings. No one liked a Primadonna and there were always systems in place to diminish the risk of erratic behavior. Having the ability to turn back time and witness such a discussion would definitely make things awkward, especially for the person discussed.

“All the talk of bettering the world was nothing but manipulation to keep me in check. All the mages knew it was said for my benefit, half of them didn’t even believe in it.”

“That’s why you left?” Theo was already thinking how to take advantage of the chink on Gregord’s mental armor. Memoria’s tomb wasn’t an option, so he had to use something else.

“More or less,” Gregord said. “You know what they say? Too early to know, too late to not care. Adventuring with the hero guild helped me figure out a lot of things. That’s why I left them. After I had learned enough of how the world worked, I went into seclusion to create the perfect magic tower.”

“And then you did.”

“Not quite. I came close, but as long as there are people, there’d always be good and bad opinions. I’m not narcissistic enough to think that all my thoughts are good, but I tend to hope they are. That’s why I created this trial. The perfect tower, containing all the knowledge I never shared with anyone else. Some might say it’s a risk giving it out to anyone who could reach my chambers. Yet, what more could one hope for? Losing the knowledge would be as big a tragedy as giving it to someone to abuse it. This way there’s always a chance that worthy people learn it as well.”

“Sounds a bit idealistic.”

“Doesn’t it?” Gregord laughed. “I’ll tell you a secret. Ever after all this time, I never lost my naiveté. I just grew a thicker skin.”

Casting a multitude of swiftnesses on himself, the hero darted forward straight at the avatar.

Theo didn’t have enough time to form a plan, only bits and pieces of multiple ones. In a split second of desperation, he mangled them altogether.

Once again, time froze to a standstill. This time, inspired by Gregord’s talk, the dungeon cast a future echoes spell on his opponent’s blade.

The spell took effect, showing him the movement of the weapon. Gregord was aiming to execute a series of piercing attacks, then twist the blade and try to slice the avatar in two. There was no way that the attack would be successful, not with Theo’s legendary swashbuckling skill. On the other hand, there was no reason to not let it happen. Knowledge of the future position of the blade provided knowledge of Gregord’s arm, and a good idea of where the rest of the hero’s body would end up. As long as he made sure not to get affected, all was going to be well.

A series of multiple new spells followed, after which time quickly returned to normal.

Gregord followed up with his attacks. His thrusts were easily avoided by the dungeon’s avatar, forcing the hero to take a different approach and slash through the baron’s torso. As the blade did so, it suddenly hit an unbreakable surface. A small unbreakable aether shield had formed precisely in the spot where the golden aether weapon would have cut through the avatar’s body. Simultaneously, a light spiral had been cast just above Gregord’s chest.

Casting another swiftness ultra spell, Theo had his avatar cast a blessed fireball and shove it through the glowing portal of the light spiral.

“You used two of my spells,” Gregord said with a smile. Within him, the fire was already taking effect, devouring the magic that held him together. It had been an insanely risky move. It was a miracle that it had worked at all, but it had. “Well done,” he managed to add, just before being consumed in a burst of fire.

The avatar quickly flew back, surrounding himself with another indestructible aether shield out of necessity. Thankfully, there was no need for it. No other attacks followed; for that matter, Gregord the Hero remained completely gone, as if he’d never been there. The ground and mountains had removed all the scars of the battle that had occurred, returning to their beautifully serene state.

“You’re defeated, right?” the avatar asked.

Cautiously, he created another sphered fireball and sent it to scry in the hero’s guild building. The structure was just as fake as before, revealing nothing but solid rock inside.

“Well, that’s one,” the avatar thought.

The only annoying thing was that it didn’t come with any reward. Theo didn’t expect a floor prize, but he had hoped to receive the equivalent of a monster core. Thinking back, maybe it would have been better if he had allowed himself to get captured by a few more Memoria’s tombs. At least the earth elementals there would have boosted the level of his avatar.

Crap! The dungeon suddenly remembered.

The trial on this floor wasn’t a single battle. There were three more people facing entities just as annoying as the one he had defeated. Adding to that, thanks to his experience in the memory prison, a considerable amount of time had passed.

Renewing his flight spell, the avatar darted in the direction of Auggy. If there was anyone who needed help urgently, it had to be the old man. Ellis and Celenia were likely facing lesser versions of Gregord, so even if they were having a difficult time, Theo felt confident that he could win the battles on his own. It was Gregord, the Archmage that he was worried about. One could only imagine in terror what kinds of spells that one would use.

The landscape sped past. The avatar didn’t take notice, focusing only on what was ahead. After a while he saw a small settlement of stone houses with a tower in the middle.

“Spok!” he shouted through the spirit guide’s core pendant. “Is there anything special about mage towers?”

“Sir?” The response came almost instantly, along with a note of alarm. “Is there a particular reason for that question?”

“I’m about to do something and would like to know more on the topic.”

“Well, other than having their own defenses, magic towers are mostly ordinary structures. You could consider them to be similar to your main building, but with a lot more defensive spells.”

That already caused problems. It suggested that the moment Theo got close enough, the tower could start launching fireballs and lightning bolts at him.

“There have been ten cases in which dungeons and mage towers have gone into direct conflict,” Spok continued. “In the majority of the cases, the mage tower won.”

“What do you call a majority?”

“Nine out of ten,” the spirit guide replied. “The only time was when a small mage order erected their tower next to a rather large ancient dungeon without knowing it. The building was consumed within a week.”

“What about the surrounding buildings?”

There was a momentary pause.

“It’s rather unusual to have buildings around the mage tower,” Spok said. “The practice was abandoned centuries ago, mostly because opposing towers, nobles, and others would place spies in the buildings along with the occasional saboteur.”

That made sense. Gregord’s original tower was centuries old. It did post an interesting question, though: in the trial’s version of events, would the buildings be empty, and if not, whose side would their inhabitants take?

“Thank you, Spok.” The dungeon concentrated on his avatar.

Aether spheres preemptively emerged around him. Soon enough, he was well within the settlement around the tower. Nothing happened. There were no attacks, no traps, and—above all—no people. The few sphered fireballs that the avatar had sent out told him what he already suspected—everything was fake. It was all one giant decoration for the fight. On that note, there didn’t seem to be any fighting going on.

“Auggy?” The avatar stopped at the base of the tower.

Damn it, old man! Theo grumbled internally. There could only be one reason for a fight to end: one side had been defeated. Either that, or the old man was wandering the inside of a Memoria’s tomb.

Normally, this would be the last thing on the avatar’s mind, but given he had no alternatives, he resorted to one of his less useful skills: tracking.

At first glance, everything seemed completely undisturbed, just as things were before a battle or after it. Soon, though, thanks to his fire scrying skill and the dozens of floating fireballs, he found out that most structures were nothing more than a chunk of stone. Among them, though, there was one which appeared slightly different. For starters, it had a faint trail of blood leading in. For another, once the fireball flew inside, Theo was able to see a fully functional room, with the old mage lying on the floor, his clothes largely covered in blood.

Without delay, the avatar flew in the direction of the man. By the time he arrived, three green aether circles had emerged around the body.

“Auggy?” the avatar began. One of the things Theo hated in his previous life was to ask pointless questions. As it turned out, though, there were times when people were left with no alternative. “Are you alive?”

“Ho, ho, ho.” The old mage managed to laugh. “Still here.” He turned to get a better look at the avatar. “I knew you’d win. You even kept your clothes this time.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” The baron approached. It was ironic that of all his spells and abilities, there weren’t any that could be useful right now. Even the arcane identify spells showed nothing.

“Well, I won mine as well,” the old man said. “Just give me a while to rest up. We’ll need to go help the kids. They’re skilled, but young, not yet used to the cruelty of the real world.”

Theo didn’t know how to react. In his experience, mages did seem overly arrogant, especially the tower academic types. At the same time, he could clearly recognize the concern in the old man’s voice.

“Alright, we’ll rest,” he said. “I think I know a minor healing spell, but…”

“Don’t worry. It’s not a good idea to mix spells. The circles will patch me up. It’ll just take me a while.” Auggy closed his eyes, relaxing on the ground. “Any chance you can summon a healing potion of the alcoholic type?”

Theo’s first reaction was disapproval. Looking at things, he decided why not? It wasn’t like things could get tremendously worse from a small sip. Using his room creation skill, he formed a second room within the structure, this one full of any type of alcohol he could think of.

“Here,” he used telekinesis to fetch one from the shelves. “I’ve no idea how you’ll drink it.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find a way.”

To the avatar’s amazement, the old man managed to reach out, grab the bottle and even remove the cork from it. Moments later, he downed down the entire thing as if it were made of air.

“That hit the spot,” he said, dropping the empty bottle next to his head onto the floor. “It’s been so long since I’ve appreciated the taste. I’ve this condition that doesn’t allow me to enjoy it. Well, unless I gulp down a large enough quantity.” He attempted to laugh, but the sound was closer to a series of coughs.

“What’s your definition of large enough?” The avatar smiled, fetching another bottle.

“Good question,” the old mage half opened an eye. “Maybe leave that for a bit later.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “I promised to tell you how I know so much about the trial, didn’t I?”

“Yes, there was that.”

“Would you believe if I told you I got my hands on some of Gregord’s secret writings?”

“No,” the avatar replied firmly. “Not while holding Gregord’s battle staff.”

“So, you noticed that? I thought you might have. That’s why I wanted to sacrifice you during the fourth-floor trial. Good thing I didn’t. It would have made things a lot more uncomfortable. Ho, ho, ho.”

The avatar shook his head.

“Well, here’s the truth,” Auggy continued. “Many, many times. I was arrogant and young and made a serious mistake. I’ve been trying to correct it ever since. You could say I’ve been drawn to the tower like a moth to the flame. I always knew it would destroy me, but I just couldn’t keep away. Not after what I did.”

“Wait.” Alarm bells were ringing in the dungeon’s mind. “I thought it was absolute that everything done in the tower remains in the tower,” he said.

“Oh, yes. All memories are locked in tight, except possibly if you reach the final floor. However, they don’t just fade away. Each time I set foot here, I remember everything that’s happened before. In a way, I’m cursed to always remember it as if it was the first time.”