Chapter 336 – Countering Void Magic
“One down, six to go,” Mage Veers said. “Julia, I’m going to go in alone first and clear out the Demonic Beasts around the entrances. Apparently, the Alfar decided to lure all the beasts to the entrance so we would be attacked as soon as we entered the Breach. I’m willing to bet they have done the same in all the dungeons.”
“Was there anything left to find inside?” the S Rank mage asked the Void mage.
“Not that my group found. Daniel, what about you?
“We did not come across anything either. The place was picked clean. It looked to be an Earth or maybe Stone affinity farm. Too bad too, I’m sure Mage Forlani would have liked to be able to boost his B Rank affinity to A Rank with a Heavenly Enhancement Fruit.”
Mage Forlani grunted at the assessment, but did not deny it. Anyone with an affinity below A Rank would like to acquire a Heavenly Enhancement Fruit for their affinity. Especially someone at A Rank, a sudden boost to his affinity might just be the push he needed to breakthrough to S Rank.
“Too bad,” Mage Levine remarked.
“We still need to sweep them and do a clear, to make sure the Alfar did not miss anything and to prevent any of these Breaches from becoming dungeon breaks.”
“Agreed. You are the most efficient when it comes to eradicating Demonic Beasts. Quickly clear out the area around the entrances inside each Breach. Then we’ll dispatch pairs into each of the remaining six dungeons to scout and destroy the cores.”
“Then, I’d better get to it,” Mage Veers said, quickly heading over to the next Breach and walking through.
“Should I go in when he comes out? To collect any cores left behind?” Damion asked.
“How much was left behind in the last dungeon?” Julia Levine asked.
“Not a lot,” Damion admitted, remembering the scene from when he entered the last Breach. Nearly every Demonic Beast had been reduced to tiny pieces, nothing that really amounted to anything of value.
“Then let’s say no. If Axton when comes out and says he spared their cores, then you can go in and grab them, if he didn’t already bring them out, but typically, there is not much left after he unleashes his Void Storm.”
“Void Storm?”
“A tier 3 Void spell. It is quite deadly. Anything around Axton for twenty meters will be completely wiped out.”
“And the spell is only tier 3?”
“Even tier 1 and 2 spells of Void magic are incomparably deadly. Don’t fret too much about it. Spatial mages are probably one of the few who has a chance to counter a Void mage.”
“I can?” Damion was in disbelief for a moment as he tried to imagine how it was that a Spatial mage could counter a Void mage. Was it because he could use Telekinesis. The invisible force probably could not be blocked or intercepted by a Void spell. So, in theory, he could reach out and strangle a Void mage. Or perhaps it was Exile, maybe casting Exile could disrupt Void mana.
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“I said Spatial mage. You have the Spatial affinity, but unless you can create a spatial artifact you can’t really be considered a Spatial mage.”
The truth was harsh, but undeniable. Damion had no idea how to create a spatial artifact. But then, he also had not tried. If he put his mind to it, he was sure he could come up with something. And with the help of the Magic System and its ability to upgrade artifacts, that something would likely become something extraordinary.
“I never really took to being an artificer.”
“Don’t worry about it. Creating Spatial artifacts requires massive amounts of mana. Something to do with stabilizing the pocket dimension created for the artifact. Because of that requirement, most mages with the Spatial affinity are unable to be recognized as Spatial mages. Even Professor Klein at Silver Spire Magic Academy lacks enough mana to create a spatial artifact.”
“Isn’t he an A Rank mage though?” Damion asked.
“Yes he is. Now you see what I mean. It takes a lot of mana to become a true Spatial mage. But it comes with benefits.”
“Such as?”
“Well for one, true Spatial mages are exempt from having to respond to emergency beast waves. They need only open portals to allow faster travel for other mages. They are not required or expected to fight.”
“That must be nice.”
Julia smiled slightly at Damion’s comment. He was not sure if she sensed in his voice his disdain for beast waves or if she was thinking it would be nice if she too could avoid responding.
“But how does a Spatial mage counter a Void mage?” Damion asked.
“By overloading the Voids created by a Void mage.”
“You are saying there is a limit to how much a Void mage can unmake with a single attack?”
“Precisely. Void spells are very costly to cast, and it is possible to overwhelm the voids with excess materials. Stone and Earth mages are good candidates as well, but it is not always as easy for them as they have to continuously create or manipulate the ground to fill in the Voids and stay ahead of a Void mage.”
“Portal,” Damion suddenly said as he realized the strategy Mage Levine was building up to. Only he was not sure how it would work. He could only open a portal to where he had been before.
“Yes. Portal is the answer to how a Spatial mage can counter a Void mage. A strong enough Spatial mage can use their will to manipulate not just the opening of a Portal but can cause the opening to move.”
“So, I can open a Portal to somewhere I have been before and will the far end to move underground, which would then cause massive amounts of dirt and stone to be spewed out of the near end of the portal, overwhelming the Void mage. Wouldn’t this tactic work on just about everyone?”
“It can, but again, you have to have the mana to keep Portal open for a long period of time. 400 mana to cast and 100 mana per second to keep a portal open one way, that is no small amount, and it takes a lot to overwhelm Voids.”
“Has a Spatial mage ever dropped an entire mountain on someone?” Damion asked. If he could will his Portal opening large enough and move it underground, would it be possible to move an entire mountain that way?”
“The strain of creating a Portal that large will probably cause a spell to collapse. Water is much easier. Ingrid Fletcher once almost emptied a lake into someone’s mansion that would not stop trying to court her. But you didn’t hear the story from me.”
Damion stifled a laugh at the idea. It would have been quite the sight to see, but the idea of water being used to flow through a portal gave him another idea. Lava. Molten fire and rock could be quite devastating. Of course, the problem was he had no idea where an active volcano was. Still, he added finding a volcano to use as a lava farm was added to his to do list.
In the short term however, Damion decided to focus on using Portal to return spells to their owners. If he opened one end in front of him, to intercept an attack and the other right beside his enemy, he could turn the attacker’s own attacks against them. Sure, magic attacks were not too effective against the person who cast it, but he had been in fights against multiple opponents before and it would be easy to turn one of his opponents’ attacks against another.