Chapter 458 – Flies

“Mage Teft,” called the newly advanced S Rank Wood mage Erika Padget, as she rushed over. “I am so glad I was able to find you.”

“What is the matter?” Mage Teft asked.

“Mage Harris and the others are calling for all the A Rank mages to head to the fifty-second floor to assist in the clearing.”

"It is about time they called the A Rankers up,” Mage Teft commented more to herself than to Mage Padget. “If they haven’t advanced by now, they aren’t going to unless they have a chance to gain more experience.”

“That was the consensus of the Assembly as well.”

“What is the rallying point for the A Rankers?” Mage Teft asked.

Most likely it would be the safe area of the fifty-second floor. This location would let all the A Rankers rest in the safe area closest to the battle. Once they were all gathered and their tasks assigned it would then only be a relatively short jaunt to their various battlefields.

“The S Ranks have retreated to the safe zone by the fifty-second floor entrance to rest while they await the A Rankers. They want everyone gathered and ready for battle by the morning,” Mage Padget reported.

“Then you had better keep moving to the lower floors,” Mage Teft told the Wood mage.

Damion and Mage Teft watched as Mage Padget entered the passageway to the previous floor and vanished. It was currently midafternoon, if everyone was to be on the fifty-second floor and battle ready by the morning, then they needed to get moving.

“Well, it seems the time left before you reveal everything is running out,” Mage Teft said to Damion as they started towards the passageway to the next floor. “The Atlantis council as well as Mage Thresbane already know. So, will you reveal all your affinities and fight to your maximum capabilities in the upcoming battle, or will you hold back and use only Ice?”

Mage Teft’s question put to voice the very thing he had been considering as the worked to raise his magic power over the last few days. Just using his Ice affinity would indeed limit his battle capabilities, but he was not sure if he was ready to reveal everything just yet. It was only a matter of time before he had to, after all, the seal on the Mother World required a true mage. If he was going to undo it, he would have to reveal his prowess.

If he did reveal his multiple affinities, would he be welcomed or doubted for keeping it a secret for so long? And what of his other secrets? He certainly was not going to reveal the Magic System, but he knew the Atlantis S Rank, and now SS Rank, mages were making use of the grimoires already. Since he had shown them it was possible for mages with fixed affinities to use them, they each jumped at the chance to widen their spell arsenals.

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“I think I should reveal my multiple affinities soon, maybe during this battle,” Damion answered after giving the matter further consideration.

“And why is that?”

“Because the enchantment on the Mother World requires a true mage to break it, and I am, thus far, our world’s only true mage and likely the strongest true mage of any human world. Or at least that was the impression Visneer and Visault gave me.”

“Are you going to…” Mage Teft began, but Damion raised his hand to silence her.

An odd tag from True Sight had suddenly revealed itself not too far away. True Sight was showing him that there was an A Rank Transformation mage nearby, but strangely, he could not see the mage. The only mage he knew of with the Transformation affinity was Yara Parivar, though the last time he had run into her she was a peak B Rank so it was possible she had managed to advance.

"Mage Parivar, is that you?" Damion said loudly.

The question made Mage Teft realize they were not alone, though she saw no signs of the Transformation mage either. Damion, however, was keeping his eyes on the identification tag provided by True Sight and he was eventually able to discern why he thought he could not see Mage Parivar while he could still see her Rank and affinity. Flying a few dozen meters away from them was a small insect, no larger than a common house fly.

Once he spotted the fly and how the tag moved along with it, Damion realized that it was the Transformation mage, though so far, she had not reverted to her human form.

To emphasize that he had identified her, Damion cast Summon Ice and crafted the block of ice into two hollow half spheres. Positioning them on either side of the fly he clamped them together and, despite the Transformation mage’s attempt to avoid them, she was trapped.

With True Sight blocked by the solid ice of the sphere, the Rank tag vanished, confirming Damion was correct in his guess.

“It isn’t nice to spy on people,” Damion said to the ice sphere.

A moment later the ice sphere burst open and revealed Mage Parivar in her form fitting jumpsuit.

“That was really cold of you,” Mage Parivar told Damion as she rubbed her arms, pretending to try and get warm.

“Who told you to try and spy on us?” Mage Teft demanded.

“I wasn’t spying, just flying to the next floors to reach the staging area on fifty-two. When I saw the two of you from a distance as a flying Demonic Beast, I thought I would fly closer as something smaller and hitch a ride and catch some sleep as well.”

“Really?” Damion could hardly believe her story, but if she had been flying behind them, unless he had turned around and looked, he never would have spotted her.

“Really. You know, I may be able to turn into just about any Demonic Beast I’ve ever met, but using my ability takes both mana and physical stamina. I don’t have a cool Ice Sword to fly around on, when I fly as an eagle or a falcon, I have to actually fly.”

Damion turned to Mage Teft for her opinion and the S Rank mage simply shrugged her shoulders. Mage Parivar’s story was conceivably true and neither of them saw any fluctuations in her aura to indicate she was lying, but that did not mean she was telling the whole truth. However, when he had spotted her, she was a fair distance away and while her Transform affinity might let her change into things, that did not mean it granted her exceptional hearing.

“If you are tired, why don’t you rest here for a bit, while we travel on ahead.”

“That won’t necessary,” Mage Teft said. “Damion, you go on ahead. Reaching the staging area won’t be a problem for you. I will remain with Mage Parivar to let her rest before moving on to the next floor.”

Damion said nothing to either of the women. He simply cast Ice Sword and flew off at top speed after giving them both a quick nod. He doubted Mage Teft would do anything but scare Mage Parivar, just to ensure that she did not decide to put her affinity to future espionage activities. Still, whatever she did, he thought it best he was not a party to it.