Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Dust and mana settled in the center of the arena and revealed itself to be the least chaotic section of the crumbled stadium.

Alex’s mind catalogued his surroundings, multiple minds working in concert as he descended into the stands. [Feather Step] carried him lightly to solid ground, though he kept the movements short, unwilling to be stuck in a set trajectory with Kinley’s ability to hurl stone walls.

To his right, where the VIP section of the arena stood, Alex saw several men frantically bounding padded sticks on hide drums.

Between the bloodthirsty war cries of the freed humans and the ominous song of the Koru’qai that had amassed outside, the drummers were too flustered to sync up their beat and create the rhythm Alex had heard after the bout several days before.

To his left and at the far side of the arena were pained cries and yells of confusion coming from near the base of the wall.

Uniformed guards in Kinley’s colors scattered clear from the rubble, their plans to ambush anyone attempting to enter the arena backfiring because of the Koru’qai’s powerful magic.

Despite the danger to the situation and the looming fight, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Weeks on the road, experimenting, and monitoring things in the city had him feeling stifled.

Breathing deeply, he slid to a stop, allowing his forward momentum to carry him through an easy step to the stadium bench in front of him. Crouching, he leapt clear of the open space, moving at an angle to his right, avoiding several arrows and another boulder sent in his direction.

His footing slipped due to the impact, but he recovered quickly and drew the wand from his ring.

More attacks began to flow his way, though he noted that almost none of them were magical in nature, allowing barrier spells raised by his off-hand to stop most of them. Dodging absurdly large projectiles from Kinley was easier than blocking them, and he continued his zig-zag movement toward the arena at his normal speed. He was acutely aware of his mana expenditure and the fact that revealing a card like his Swift Spell too early in a fight could prove detrimental.

Before he’d made it halfway down the stands, several of those who’d been attempting to head him off were suddenly intercepted by Koru and other humans storming in through the walls. Frenetic sounds of combat joined the chaos.

From where he stood, Alex could see Kinley turn and begin yelling at his men. The distance was too great to hear what was being said, but looking to his right, Alex saw some loose rubble. He let the grin on his face grow and chuckled to himself.

Using the momentary distraction, he used his movement skill to dash to the pile before ducking behind it. Peeking around the side, he saw Kinley was still distracted, shouting at his men.

Forming a directional spell circle, he used the new control nodes to power it with two runes. When the spell was ready, he let it hang in the air near his body while moving into a squat. Stat-enhanced muscles flexed as he lifted a fallen section of the wall that would normally require a piece of heavy machinery to move.

In a fluid motion, he leaned back and made the motion to “grab” at the spell circle, holding it in his palm before taking the weight of the wall in the same hand. He sprang forward, making the awkward motion of throwing a several-ton baseball, while activating the spell just as it left his hand.

Breeze and Empower runes worked in concert, creating an overcharged blast of wind to slap into the back of the rock.

It connected with such force that the resounding thump could be heard over the clash of combat.

Several eyes, including Kinsey’s, turned in his direction, just in time to see a medium-build wizard holding onto his hat while hurling a stone three times his size across the arena.

As his robes settled, Alex looked up to see the stone hit the sand and embed itself into the wall a few meters from a completely stunned Kinley.

The unreasonable reality of the feat sank in, and Alex couldn’t keep the wild smile from turning into a slightly crazed cackle.

The feeling in his chest, the one that pumped with the natural chemicals through his muscles, reminded him of the first time he’d cast the oversized lightning ritual into a horde of monsters.

Elation and fear mixed with the nerves of pre-battle jitters to form a feeling he was starting to think was close to euphoria.

“We’re going to have a long talk after this is over, kid,” Maelis said from inside his mind.

What do you sound so skeptical for?

“Because I’m starting to question your sanity!”

Alex laughed a bit harder and pushed the thought aside while dashing forward.

Nah, that can’t be right. I’d happily lock myself away in my office and mess with magic if people would just leave me to it.

He slid under a thrown spear, using a single-rune spell to anchor his foot and stand up unnaturally fast.

As he popped up, he threw several normal wand bolts at a nearby cluster of fighters with their backs to him, focused on the Koru fighters attempting to push in.

He dropped a partially siphoned mana stone into his offhand and began refilling his reserves before closing the last bit of distance to the wall around the arena proper.

Now let’s focus and kick the shit outta this guy so I can take his item and go home.

With that, he crushed the mana-drained mana stone in his hand and flung the dust over the side before bracing his hand on the side and lightly hopping over.

Landing in the sand with a dull thud, he found a small, growing group of black and red dressed men and women. Most of them had taken the time to don armor, most made from steel or hardened leather that only protected the most vital parts of the body.

They looked at him nervously, eyes darting to the space surrounding the sands where bulky, rock-born Koru’qai swarmed inside.

There were three ground-level entrances into the arena, closed off by heavy metal gates. Fighting could be heard echoing from the tunnels beyond.

“Pull back to the arena!” Kinley shouted.

Now that Alex could hear his tone, he was surprised to note that the man sounded more frustrated or tired than angry, though this time he didn’t take his eyes off of Alex.

Getting his first real look at the man, Alex tried to scan him. He was surprised to find a thin veil surrounding his status, preventing the scan from working. Recognizing the blocking function of an item, Alex simply pushed against the block, crumbling it.