"That should be enough."

Nick spent a few hours meditating after he woke up and did a few reps of pushups. He was now feeling hungry but before going to the cafeteria, he started assessing his progress.

"Within the last two weeks, I not only made progress on my meditation and spell creating, I have also developed a better understanding of space magic and soul magic."

"To increase my combat capabilities which should be a priority of mine, I've decided to focus on increasing my understanding of both types of magic by selecting and using a few select apprentice grade spells from both the inheritances that I possess. I've decided to practice four spells from my space magic inheritance, one each for movement, defense, attack and hiding. From my soul magic inheritance, I'm focusing on four apprentice grade spells, one each for scouting and restriction and two for attacking, soul magic is very suitable for combat after all."

"In total I have about sixty five spells and formations from both inheritances but I am not qualified to use the majority of them and out of the nineteen that I am qualified to use I only chose to use half of them because of my limited experience and magic energy reserves which does not allow me to use a large number of spells effectively."

"My space spells are Blink for movement, Half A Kilometer for defense, Rumbling Pillar for attack and Clear Space for hiding. My soul spells are Soul Vision for scouting, Soul Pressure for restriction and Ghost Eyes and Spirit Quake for attack. With these spells, and the fact that I've already memorized their laws, in addition to Big, I should be a more formidable combat Magician."

Nick went under his bed and brought out one of his transport briefcases which he opened and took out his battle vest which currently held about fifty of his throwing knives.

(My old friend.)

Nick smiled thinking of all he had been through with this vest. He hadn't worn it since the end of year exam and it still had a little smell to it because Nick had never remembered to wash it but he didn't mind. Nick put on the vest and left his dorm room and after having a quiet meal in the cafeteria, he headed to the battle simulation building where he was planning to spend most of the day.

Nick walked into the battle simulation building like he owned the place, swaggering while wearing his smelly vest. Nick walked to the clerk's counter and asked:

"Good morning, is it possible for you to recreate the last simulation that I had encountered when I was here last?"

The clerk scrunched his face because of the strange smell that was coming from Nick and replied respectfully despite his unease:

"Yes, that is possible, just give me your student ID and I will have that particular simulation recreated."

Nick was pleased. He remembered the many defeats that he had experienced in that simulation and would surely avenge himself this time.

"I have a question. Do the enemies in the simulation have souls?"

The clerk gave a very professional response:

"This building uses magic the produce simulations that mirror reality in an absolutely realistic sense so while the simulated enemies don't have real souls, what they have is very similar in that it behaves the same and can be manipulated the same as if it was a real soul."

Nick nodded his head in satisfaction. He was planning to practice his soul spells which would be pointless if his enemies did not have souls. Nick handed over his student ID and after the clerk did something with his computer, he told Nick:

"Go to room 4 over there to begin you simulation."

Nick took back his student ID and went to room 4 and entered. As soon as he closed the door behind him, the room's appearance became clear as a cavern with thirteen pillars of solid rock in the distance. Nick smiled, took out two of his knives, one in each hand and ran to the rock pillars. When he was about twelve meters from the pillar farthest to the right, a rock spike jutted out towards him with great speed; as it was close to impaling him, Nick acted.

(Blink.)

Nick used his space magic movement spell to dodge the pillar, appearing ten inches away from its direct path. Nick successfully used the spell but wore a bitter expression.

(The consumption of the spell really is two much. Teleporting ten inches actually consumed over 2000 magical units of my magic energy. I have to use blink sparingly.)

After dodging the rock spike, Nick focused on where he felt a source of magic energy existed but was hiding somewhere on the rock pillar and used his next spell.

(Soul Vision.)

Within Nick's mind he could now see himself running towards the pillar from a frontal perspective which means his enemy was looking right at him. Soul Vision worked by using magic to form a connection with another being's soul in order to share their vision. The only requirements of the spell was that the spell's target had to have a weaker soul and Nick had to be able to sense their magic energy.

Devouring all those beast souls two weeks ago had strengthened Nick's soul beyond the level of a normal Apprentice Magician and at the apprentice level, hardly anyone could stop their exuded magic energy from being sensed once they used a spell so using Soul Vision effectively was no problem.

As Nick moved closer to the rock pillar, another stone spike was sent out after him, but instead of dodging, Nick smiled.

(Got you. Spirit Quake.)

The stone spike that was jutting out towards Nick suddenly crumbled apart and fell to the ground as dust while a fit of coughing could be heard from the rock pillar's direction. Now, using Soul Vision, Nick saw his enemy's hand after he had wiped blood from his mouth and now the hand was covered with blood; Nick's target had coughed up blood as backlash for the failure of his spell after Nick had cast Spirit Quake.

Spirit Quake worked by using a magical connection to another person's soul to cause a quake like disturbance. The soul was closely connected to the mind so causing the soul to quake would violently disturb the mind which would result in any Magician failing while casting a spell, the spell also had a high chance of damaging the soul which would impair the target's mental faculties. Since Nick and his enemy were already connected through Soul Vision, Nick just had to use the spell at the right time to reap the most rewards.

Since he caught his enemy unaware, Nick wasn't going to waste anymore time. While his enemy was still suffering from the effect Spirit Quake, when Nick got to two meters of the rock pillar, he put his knives into his vest's pockets and clasped his hands, using another spell.

(Rumbling Pillar.)

The moment Nick use this spell, 5000 magical units from his magic sea were consumed. The space surrounding the rock pillar in front of Nick seemed to shake violently and cracking, crumbling, breaking sounds could then be heard as the pillar started to fall apart. Rock after rock fell to the ground and eventually a bleeding corpse also fell from among the rocks of the shattered pillar; it was the corpse of a white man wearing a bright red robe that was bleeding from his mouth, nose and ears.

Rumbling Pillar was a space spell that caused a section of space to shake, twist and turn violently resulting in what seemed like a loud rumble. The description within the inheritance stated that the spell could shatter solid rock if a high amount of magic energy was used in its activation. Nick was now seeing that the description was true; the corpse of the Magician fell so listlessly that Nick believed that all of his bones must have been broken by the spell. The spell was effective but at the cost of one fifth of Nick's magic energy.

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(If my mindscape did not have its special advantage, I would not dare to use this spell so wildly. Most rank 1 Apprentice Magicians only had a 5,000-7,000 magical unit capacity while I have a 25,000 magical unit capacity)

Nick noticed some movement from the other pillars as human shaped figures of stone appeared, jutting out from the other twelve rock pillars. They each looked at the dead Magician, then at Nick and with expressions filled with hatred, they hid within their pillars once again.

(To end the simulation, I have to kill all of these bastards so there is no point waiting here, I have to take the initiative to end this.)

Nick back tracked by about ten meters to position himself as well as to passively recover some of his magic energy. It did not take long before the ground behind him started jutting out with such high speed and harshness, in a crescent shape, that assured Nick that if he was hit, he would die a quick death.

Nick ran towards the pillars with a rapid pace in order to out run the approaching attack from behind. Nick had positioned himself purposely so that he was running towards the center of the pillar formation and when he was about eight meters from each pillar, the enemy Magicians finally acted; twelve stone spikes came rushing towards Nick, as if to skewer him from the front and sides but Nick was prepared for this.

(Half A Kilometer.)

Nick cast his space magic defensive spell and as the stone spikes came within a meter of him, their movements seemed to have slowed drastically.

(Half A Kilometer affects a radius of one meter around me and forces all ranged attacks to travel 500 meters to reach me within the affected space so it gives the impression that the attacks have slowed but they just have to travel a really long distance to get to me.)

Nick looked all round him at the twelve pillars and smiled, sensing his enemy's magic power as it was exuded from their bodies.

(Spirit Quake.)

All twelve pillars crumbled as each Magician experienced a degree of spell casting failure and backlash.

(Casting that spell on twelve people simultaneously cost me about 6000 magical units. Some of the spells can actually be used as area of effect attacks and not just on a single target, they are really top quality goods.)

(Soul Vision.)

With all of his enemies' visual information at his disposal, Nick took out two of his knives, one in each hand, turning there blade to a horizontal position pointing at the rock pillars to the farthest left and right.

(Big.)

(Big.)

After casting Big twice Nick's magic energy storage dropped to about two fifths of its capacity and the blades of his knives grew thicker, widened by a meter each and extended, cutting through two pillars, one on Nick's right and the other on Nick's left. Nick was forced to drop his knives after the pillars were cut through because of their new weight but his goal had been achieved as two of the pillars fell to the ground and the Magicians that were hiding emerged from their fallen hiding places with menacing expressions. Nick used another spell:

(Clear Space.)

The two enemy Magicians that came out of their hiding places were puzzled as Nick seemed to just vanish in front of them. They looked around but could no longer see him. This continued until the Magician that was to the left of Nick noticed a blade extending through his heart.

"Huh?"

That was the Magician's last utterance as he fell to the ground, lifeless, Nick suddenly appearing in front of the lifeless corpse. The other Magician standing on the ground saw this and was enraged as he clasped his hands and cast a spell. The Ground under Nick's feet turned into a face and Nick was standing on its mouth; as the face tried to open its mouth in order to swallow Nick, he used his spell:

(Blink.)

Nick appeared five feet from the mouth's opening and cast another spell.

(Clear Space.)

Clear Space was a spell that made a certain area of space seem void of a certain object or objects as if they were not there and it was practically making Nick invisible to his enemies wherever he went while it was active. This spell had very little consumption at 120 magical units per second. When Nick next appeared, he stood right in front the Magician and cast a spell.

(Ghost Eyes.)

Nick stared with his now glowing purple eyes into the Magician's eyes and within a moment, the enemy Magician started to drool and lost all the focus in his eyes; soon after the Magician fell lifeless to the ground.

(Ghost Eyes uses a visual connection to force our souls into conflict, damage being done based on the strength of our own souls and since my soul is apparently far stronger, my victory was overwhelming. This spell is no doubt deadly, the downside being that if my opponent happened to have a stronger soul, I would be the one to end up as a corpse.)

The moment that the second Magician died, four stone spikes rushed towards Nick's position from four of the ten remaining pillars.

"Not so fast."

(Soul Quake.)

The four stone spikes crumbled as the enemy Magicians experienced backlashes. Nick cast Clear Space and when he reappeared he was already twelve meters from the nearest pillar.

(I need time to recover my magic energy. Passively, that should take about three minutes in this situation, I just have to keep my distance and be wary of their spells.)

Nick waited for over a minute, continuously moving around because he was wary of his enemy's spell that could cause the ground to jut out violently but they did not cast it until another minute and thirty seconds had passed.

(That should be as a result of the effects of Soul Quake, the Magician's are having trouble coordinating their attacks.)

Nick's magic energy had recovered to a little over 21,000 magical units so he was not afraid. Nick ran towards the ten remaining pillars until the ground behind him became still and all ten pillars sent a stone spike each toward him. Nick cast Half A Kilometer and ran past the stone spikes without much trouble; he could hear the spikes hit the ground of his former position with a sickening thud but Nick just kept running toward the group of pillars on his right.

(Clear Space.)

Nick disappeared from the sight of his enemies once again but they could hear his running footsteps so one of the Magicians jumped from his pillar to the ground, landing with a heavy stomp that shattered much of the cavern's stone floor. During the upheaval, Nick reappeared about two meters from one of the rock pillars and as soon as he could be seen, the Magician hiding within that pillar sent a stone spike toward him.

(Spirit Quake.)

(Clear Space.)

Nick cast two spells in succession and the stone spike sent by the Magician crumbled. This time that Nick cast Soul Quake was different though, in that the Magician that was affected by it was ejected from the rock pillar and fell lifelessly to the ground, blood oozing from his nose, mouth and ears. Nick looked on indifferently.

(The backlash probably killed him this time. Being a Magician is dangerous, failing to cast a spell can even lead to your death or it could be that he actually died from the damage of Soul Quake. Soul Quake's damage isn't supposed to be high but since Apprentice Magicians aren't known for having strong soul defenses, my spell might be more effective than it should be and his soul shattered as a result.)

Nick didn't care which one it was, he was just glad that another Magician was dead. Nick quickly found his way to the nearest rock pillar and reappeared but before the Magician within this pillar could attack him, Nick acted first.

(Rumbling Pillar.)

The space around the pillar shook violently, causing it to crumble completely and from the wreck, the corpse of another dead Magician wearing a bright red robe could be seen.

(I've got 11,000 magical units left after that attack and eight enemies, this battle really has my blood boiling. Clear Space.)

Nick disappeared once again so the Magician on the ground decided to return to his own pillar for a better chance at defending against Nick but before he could, Nick cast his spell.

(Soul Pressure.)

The Magician froze in place as blood oozed from his nose, mouth and ears. Nick appeared in front of him and used his Ghost Eyes, the Magician only lasted two seconds before falling to the ground lifelessly.

(Another one down.)

After another Magician died, Nick heard the sound of feet hitting the ground as he turned around and saw seven Magicians standing in unison some eleven meters away from him.

(They gathered really quickly, they must have something big planned but they made a mistake. I had always cast Rumbling Pillar at a close distance on purpose to give them the wrong impression and it seems to have worked, they've made my job easier.)

Rumbling Pillar was a powerful apprentice grade space spell that could, in fact, be cast from fifteen meters away at the cost of a fair amount of magic energy and a decrease in power but its effects were still not something that the bare human body could cope with.

Nick's enemies seemed to be gathering magic energy to cast a powerful spell as the magic energy within the cavern became turbulent quickly but Nick remained calm and clasped his hands.

(Rumbling Pillar.)

Eleven meters away from Nick, the space around the Magicians shook madly, with far less power than before but the fracturing of bones could still be heard. The Magicians were force to stop their spell casting in order to avoid suffering a backlash but the damage from Rumbling Pillar sent most of them sprawling on the ground. Nick did not waste any time in running towards his enemies to finish them off.

(4,000 magical units left.)

The seven Magicians were still conscious and seeing that Nick was quickly approaching them, four of the Magicians slowly raised themselves from the ground and each began to prepare a spell to counter Nick, each spell being cast in quick succession.

A wave of mud moved towards Nick, one Magician launched a javelin of stone at Nick, another clasped his hands and created a face made of stone under Nick's feet and the fourth Magician summoned a rock golem and ordered it to attack Nick.

Nick felt shivers run down his spine at this moment but tried to remain as calm as possible, putting on an air of indifference.

"Pointless."

(Soul Quake.)

Nick's spell hit all seven Magicians, bottoming out his store of magic energy; the four Magicians that had cast their spells had their minds disrupted which caused their spells to fail and break apart and they each suffered varying backlashes and died where they stood. The other three got off easier but were too beaten up to move a muscle so Nick easily ran up to them a slit each of their throats with his knives.

SIMULATION ENDED

Those Neon colored words appeared as the space around Nick warped and he now stood inside a white walled room. Nick looked at the ceiling for some time before doing a fist pump towards it, saying:

"I am the greatest."