Reborn With a Magic System

Despite his success in killing the Lamia with minimal harm, Damion felt the fight was much closer than it had appeared. The sole reason he had triumphed was because of his Ice Domain spell. Being able to deprive his opponent of the means to use mana or effectively cast spells was devastating. He just hoped no one would decide to use that strategy on him.

Resisting the urge to harvest the SS Rank core from the Lamia, Damion and company moved on, heading towards the next chamber of the ruins. According to the auto-mapper there were three chambers left. These chambers did not have many Demonic Beasts in them, what they did have were Realm Breaches.

The previous caverns and ruins they passed through had low Rank Realm Breaches. The strongest had been B Rank. Damion had elected to ignore those. While the Demonic Beasts that escaped them could cause widespread damage and chaos if allowed to the surface of Nerotath, on the Mother World the damage would be limited. The Iblis were more than capable of handling such an occurrence.

With that in mind, Damion had saved his Breach Collapsers for these last three chambers. While most Demonic Beasts had left these areas, they were still filled with Realm Breaches. Here, A Rank was the weakest of the Realm Breaches, and they were also the fewest in number. The tablet showed they were heading into a dense field of Breaches, so Damion paused to take the Breach Collapsers from the Magic System Inventory.

“These will collapse Realm Breaches,” Damion reminded them. Even though they had all been briefed on the Breach Collapsers, it was best to review the plan. After all, the shock of him killing an SS Rank Demonic Beast might have made them forget a few things. “Once you set one in a Breach throw out some of the Magic Absorbing Crystals. Hopefully, they will help offset the increase in the ambient mana from these Breaches collapsing.”

“You think the mana level will rise that quickly?” Mage Veers asked as he took his share of Breach Collapsers from the pile Damion had made of them.

“I don’t know. Not sure if anyone does. Think of it as we are clogging up the drains in a sink that still has the water running.”

“More mana coming in and less places for it go,” Mage Veers surmised. “Visault, have your people given thought to what will happen once the seal is released and mana production goes back to normal? Won’t the remaining Realm Breaches across your world cause a drastic drop in the ambient mana levels?”

“It is our hope that the Mother World, without the seal forcing the flow of mana to be greater than normal, will self-regulate and allow itself to be restored to how we once were.”

“Wouldn’t that mean that it will have to keep producing more mana?” Knight Straus suddenly realized. “If the Breaches keep draining it, won’t it still have to produce more?”

“Once the ambient level drops too low, yes, but we think it will take time for that to happen. Time enough for us to close off a large number of the open Realm Breaches,” Visault answered.

“I suppose my auto-mappers will help with that as well,” Damion added.

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“Yes. We have long since mapped and cataloged Realm Breaches. We know which ones are valuable to keep and which ones we will collapse as soon as possible. And your auto-mappers will help us locate ones we had no knowledge of and any new ones that form.”

“In that cause, let’s get to it,” Damion told them as he tossed a Breach Collapser towards the nearest Realm Breach.

The artifact landed half into the shimmering gateway to the Realm Breach. After a few moments the Breach flickered and then collapsed, leaving behind the now spent artifact. Damion tossed out a few Magic Absorbing Crystals and moved on to the next Realm Breach to repeat the process.

“We don’t need to do them all,” Damion told them as his group moved further into the ruins. “Just clear a path towards the null zone.”

“Will one of these disrupt the null zone?” Mage Parivar asked.

“That has not been tested,” Damion told her.

“I doubt it would do much,” Mage Veers offered. “Null zones are areas where mana has been locked down by an artifact array. The outer barrier is created by the mana that has been forced away from the array. The Breach Collapsers might be able to weaken an area of the outer barrier, but I there is a strong change the barrier will balance itself out. Meaning we would actually gain nothing.”

“Then what is the point in coming here?” Mage Parivar was clearly confused. She thought the plan was to somehow lower the null zone.

“I can activate one of my domain spells and head into the null zone. My domain will protect me from losing access to magic until I can locate and destroy the artifact array.”

“Don’t domain spells take a lot of mana to keep active? Aren’t you worried about running out of mana before you find the artifact?”

“I’ll be fine. Let’s keep moving.”

Mage Parivar did not like getting brushed off, but she understood why. Damion Wells was a mage that continuously deified expectations. From his schooling to his treatment of nobles, finding a labyrinth, building his own city and magic academy. If she had not witnessed him doing a bit of training in the labyrinth before, she might not have believed any of it herself.

“Will we be heading in with you?” Mage Veers asked.

If they all went in together, they would be available to fight as soon as the null zone was brought down. However, they would be useless before that since Damion’s domain spell would make it difficult to cast any spells.

“I think it would be best if you waited until the field is gone,” Damion answered. “You won’t be able to help me as quickly, but you may arrive at just the right moment to provide support.”

“Or a moment too late,” Mage Veers said darkly.

“By the time we reach the central area I don’t think there will be anything or anyone that can threaten me.”

“Careful,” Mage Veers paused after tossing out another Breach Collapser. “Pride and arrogance have led to the fall of many great knights and mages. Don’t begin to think of yourself as invincible. Your magic power may keep growing, but remember, there can always be something older and more powerful than you.”

“There’s always a bigger fish,” Damion mumbled.

“One way to put it.”

“Enough of this dreary talk,” Knight Straus grumbled. “What are we going to do once you head into the null zone? Mage Veers is strong, but that mapper of yours shows a dozen Demonic Beasts in other places of the chamber. Once you are gone we’ll seem like a tasty meal.”

“Use the Magic Absorbing Crystals,” Damion told them. “The crystals should disrupt their senses and make it harder to detect you. If you toss out enough of them they should also create a kind of mini null zone. Being creatures of magic, the Demonic Beasts should have an instinctual drive to stay away.”

“Should?”

“Mage Wells is correct,” Mage Veers cut in. “Demonic Beasts will stay away from low mana areas. That is why there are already fewer in these chambers with lots of Realm Breaches. The Breaches are sucking up the mana and driving the Demonic Beasts to richer areas.”

“I hope so,” Knight Straus grumbled again. “I haven’t survived on this world for so long just to be eaten down here.”