Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 109 - Spatial Magic

Previously:

The day of the practical exams is finally here and Kiel is inside a large arena created by the Replica Dungeon. Nelaira tricks Deora into attacking the Rroda brothers, and Deora ends up pursuing Kiel with a barrage of fireballs. Kiel runs away, dodging the fireballs, however, Deora manages to hit him with an explosive airball. Kiel loses his consciousness and remembers how he got trapped inside the burning house as a child. After waking up he gets into a life and death situation that makes him overcome his fear of fire and launch a counter attack on Deora. He manages to poison Deora, knocking him out of the competition. Seeing Kiel win his fight, Rhur finished Nelaira off in a fit of rage. Kiel manages to recover through applying a healing ointment.

* * *

"Are you feeling better, little brother?" Rhur spoke up. "Let's talk about how we will take care of the Arite." He tilted his head towards Zor. "What does your D.I. report say?"

Kiel stayed silent for several seconds before replying. "My report says that he is proficient in all kinds of different magic spells, making his battle style... unpredictable. However, as proven by the decapitated fellow, the most dangerous of his abilities is his spatial magic."

Spatial magic was a prominent branch of Arcane magic that specialized in controlling and altering space. Unlike Transmutation and Augmentation magic that controlled either the state or the properties of their target, Arcane magic gave the user complete control over its specified domain. Whatever Transmutation and Augmentation magic could do, Arcane magic could do better.

Not only that, but unlike the other two which could only target the physical world, Arcane magic, as its name implied, also allowed the mage to tap into the more mystical parts of the world. Such as giving the mage an ability to impact the intangible things like time, space, mana and the mind. If it weren't for the fact that arcane magic required pure mana, perhaps the transmutation and augmentation magic would have long been made obsolete.

As one would imagine, spatial magic could be used to teleport, create Gates and portals or even subdimensions. Yet, the usage of spatial magic didn't end there – space could be bent, twisted and torn to create various effects. Whether it was used for attack, defense or utility depended on the user.

As soon as Kiel mentioned spatial magic, Rhur's eyes widened in realization. "Ah! So back then, when he decapitated the poor sod, he used an invisible spatial blade!"

A spatial blade was an offensive application of spatial magic that sent a ripple through space resembling a sword slash. It was one of the most dangerous offensive magics that ended up splitting whatever it passed through into two without fail.

"That's my conjecture as well." Kiel nodded. "Since we couldn't sense his usage of the spatial blade, it means that he is also quite capable in magic concealing."

In other words, Zor had wrapped his Mind around his spell when he was weaving it, so no one was able to detect it with their mana sense.

Rhur's face paled. "Now this is... inconvenient... If we can't see it or feel it, how are we supposed to avoid it?"

Kiel fell silent. That was the same question he had been pondering as well.

If Elaru were here, she would be able to use her Aethernea of Sight to see the spatial blade, but he couldn't do the same.

Kiel finally got up from the floor, this time without the help of his Acceleration magic. His body was slightly sore but otherwise completely fine.

He couldn't help but sigh in lamentation. If he had access to such high-quality ointment, he could have increased the intensity of his training.

His moody thoughts only lasted for a moment, before he once again focused on the battle at hand. "Zor Arite might be targeting space instead of a physical object, however, the basic rules of magic should still apply."