The laws carved into the sword's parts were written in Valteese so Nick could read the symbols just fine but the meanings that they conveyed were related to blade path and Nick's attainment was admittedly only ordinary so typically, he would have to spend much effort correcting the laws and he would still probably fail.
(That would be the case for an ordinary person but my Eyes of The Fated give me the edge because my talent makes me sensitive to the patterns in the laws related to my affinities and by extension indicate the possible meanings behind their patterns. I just have to use a process of elimination to decide on likely correct alternatives for the mistakes that I find.)
While that seemed fairly straight forward when thought about within his mind, Nick found that doing it practically was difficult and time consuming. Thousands of symbols meant that many patterns could be generated giving different meanings so a process of elimination for just one inconsistency resulted in Nick working through hundreds of possibilities, his only other aid being his great mental acuity resulting from his developed mindscape.
(One step at a time...)
Nick eliminated possible corrections one by one until some hours later he found what he thought would be the best solution to the first inconsistency. Nick only recorded the solution down and moved on to the next inconsistency.
(I'll focus on finding inconsistencies and developing alternative arrangement of laws in order to find a viable solution to each one for now.)
Nick spent the next three days doing just that without leaving his work table except to shower, eat and relieve himself. His eyes became bloodshot, his nose sometimes released snot uncontrollably and his ears developed a slight ringing after about two days.
Nick felt that right now he was close to passing out but he gritted his teeth, saying:
"I'm close to finishing my work. I have already figured out the solutions that I intend to apply to the sword's laws, now I just have to carve them into the sword magically."
Nick knew that this was the truly troublesome part in his attempt to fix the sword. Plainly speaking, if he did not do this with fine control and if too much of his solutions were wrong he would probably destroy any hopes of the sword ever being usable.
"I have to believe in myself and my skills if I'm ever going to become the person that I want to be. There is no shame in trying and failing, the shame would be in not trying at all."
As for waiting for a later time when his blade path attainment was higher, Nick shook his head when he first thought of that course of action.
(The problems are not greatly related to my understanding of blade path. If I were to read a sentence that stated, 'The cow drank the horse in the trough.', I would know that the sentence is ridiculous on its face. It is the same here with the tampering done to the laws on the sword; the Eyes of the Fated make it easy for me to identify the obviously ridiculous parts which allow me the opportunity to replace it with something more logical to get a meaningful statement. It would be like replacing 'horse' with 'water' in my example. My work is basically just proof reading and editing. The difficulty lies in making sure that I don't ruin the sword by making the statements represented by its laws more ridiculous, resulting in a loss of the overall context, like stating, 'The cattle are in contact with the water in the trough.'. The latter sentence is more logical than the original but it's clearly not what was intended based on the initial context.)
Nick got to work immediately.
(Dominate The Space.)
Greyish magic power radiated from Nick, creating a special space. Nick began using his magic power to carve over the laws on the sword, slowly applying the corrections.
(Dominate The Space is a more suitable method than Space to make corrections because of its rule path laws which help ease the contradiction and conflict between the blade path laws of the sword and the space path laws of my spell. Space path has great utility even if it had issues of high magic energy consumption and complexity.)
Because of his fine control of his space path magic power, Nick was able to finish the corrections in half a day. As soon a he carved the last correction, however, his blood shot eyes rapidly closed and his head fell onto his work table.
Nick had fallen unconscious from complete exhaustion, not knowing whether his attempt at fixing Failed Tool succeeded or not. Nick's right hand still remained on a section of the sword's blade and unbeknownst to him, as soon as he had fallen unconscious, a dull grey miasma seeped out from the sword and enveloped his right hand's fingers.
Nick's consciousness suddenly awakened from the darkness of sleep and found itself in a void.
(Huh? This place sort of looks like outer space. Is this a dream?)
Nick looked around but saw nothing but a void that never ended. Soon, however, a cloud of dull grey miasma appeared close to Nick and quickly morphed into what seemed like a dragon that had four strong legs, dull, thick, grey scales covering its body, a pair of leathery wings with flesh colored undersides, a maw with sharp protruding, jagged teeth, a long tail where it scales became like sharp blades and eyes the color of mercury.
Nick quickly recognized what kind of dragon it was.
"Why am I dreaming about a blade dragon?"
Strangely enough, he did not feel the slightest bit of unease or fright, instead the dragon's appearance gave him a feeling of comfort and familiarity. The dragon soon raised its front right leg and used the blade like claw on one of its fingers to carve out a set of Valteesian symbols in the void that manifested as dull grey light. For some reason, Nick could hardly make out the meaning of the symbols.
"Those are laws, right? Let's see, they say something about...Dragon's Advantage..."
BAM!
Nick suddenly jolted awake which caused him to lose his balance and fall over with his work stool. He slowly got up and after placing his stool upright, he noticed that the finger tips of his right hand's fingers were bleeding.
"Whaaaaat?"
Nick quickly summoned a basic healing potion from his space band and drank it in one gulp. The cuts on his fingers closed up soon after and so Nick went to his bathroom to wash the blood from his right hand before returning to his work desk to examine Failed Tool.
"Did I fix it?"
Slade spoke at this time:
[When you fell unconscious, a soul fragment emerged from the sword and interacted with your right hand for a few minutes before returning to the sword. Your efforts clearly did something.]
Nick became ecstatic.
"Really? Alright, let's check it out."
Failed Tool was a nearly 0.8 meter length sword, it's blade was one edged, having the shape of saber's, its handle was layered with actual dull-grey magic beast scales and its guard was oval in shape and made from a kind of charcoal colored metalloid. Its blade was also dull grey in color and so smooth that it reflected Nick's image when he looked at it.
Nick didn't waste any time and raised Failed Tool by the handle, then swung it at his work table with a fair amount of effort.
SHHIIIINGGGG! PUUUUUCCCCKKKK!
The work table was sliced in two, following which the pieces collapsed in opposite directions.
"Success!"
Nick gripped Failed Tool like it was his own life line and tried to influence it with his magic energy. He soon felt magic power begin to radiate from it, reflecting a grey light from the sword's smooth blade.
"This is its magic power? What does it do exactly other than give me some decent lighting?"
Nick figured that he would not know until he tested the sword out in a real battle so he stored it within his space band for now. Nick still remembered his dream from earlier and the few symbols that he was able to read from the laws that the dragon made.
"Dragon's Advantage..."
Nick left his workspace and went to his office on the first floor. He went on the archive section of the Ministry of Magic military website and used his brass ring to gain access to its search function. He used his second search opportunity to search for results related to the keywords, 'Dragon's Advantage'.
Many results were populated for those keywords and after about two hours of going through them, only one seemed to be relevant to Nick. He read a portion of his findings out loud:
"...Dragon's Advantage is a magical talent usually found to be possessed by dragons, particularly ones that are not raised in resource rich realms. The talent seems to increase their endurance and agility in proportion to their battle experience. Dragons found with this talent are notoriously more physically savage and robust than their brethren that more often rely on the intensity of their innate or learnt spells during battle. The talent is assumed by observation to be earned at uncertain probability through intimate interaction between two dragons that do not already possess the talent. Dragons with the talent also seem to attract the attention and hostility of other dragons belonging to different species more easily."
Nick lost interest in the talent after reading the document.
"If it's a talent that is earned by dragons then it has nothing to do with me."
Nick immediately abandoned the website to look at his emails and soon discovered that he had received an email describing his next exam.
"It's two day away, huh? That gives me enough time to prepare."
*************************************************************************
Two days later...
Hundreds of students gathered at a large clearing located within the academy's southern woodlands. This was the same place that Nick had been for the beginning of his last end of year exam.
Nick stood a fair distance away from the other students while leaning on a tree that provided him with a good amount of shade from the sun. For the exam, Nick wore a pair of dark-blue jeans with a matching denim jacket with artwork depicting a tiger on its back and a blue and grey striped polo shirt and one pair of black, fitting, leather gloves. At his sides, Nick had two swords holstered, Failed Tool at his left side and Pressure Piece now taking the secondary position at his right side.
(The mere fact that Failed Tool has an active magical ability means that it is an advanced apprentice grade sword so it will be my main weapon from now on. After I learnt about the date of the exam, I quickly went to one of the academy's weapons stores to have a sheath made for it out of advanced apprentice grade magic beast skin that turned out to be more expensive than I expected. I wanted to test the sword out in a simulated battle but after fixing the sword, I had an insane urge to meditate and I just couldn't hold out anymore so I had been meditating until this morning. Well, I guess the exam is as good a place to test the sword as any other.)
Soon, a woman with short, blonde hair approached Nick and spoke in a friendly tone:
"Nick, you should have called me so that I would know where to find you. I've been searching for you for fifteen minutes. I finally figured out where you might be by thinking about where would an edgy loner place himself in a situation like this."
Nick's right eyelid twitched when he heard that, replying:
"Don't call me edgy. What do you want, Cindy?"
Cindy shrugged her frail shoulders, the right one of which had a silver bow that had several silk like bowstrings embedded it in hoisted over it. Nick observed Cindy for a moment and noticed her attire of a pair of fitted khaki pants and a tucked in white buttoned up, long sleeved blouse. Cindy replied to Nick:
"I just wanted to wait here with you until the exam begins."
Nick felt uncomfortable about someone being so persistently close to him even if he and Cindy had intimate contact in the past but considering the circumstance, he figured that it was not worth making a fuss over it.
Cindy leaned on the same tree as Nick and said aloud:
"I wonder what form the exam is going to take."
Nick internally sighed:
(I hate small talk and how would I know what form the exam is going to take? The email that I received only detailed the day and time of the exam and stated that all second years should gather in this clearing before the appointed time.)
"Who knows."
Cindy pursed her lips in displeasure in response to Nick's indifferent and short response, thinking:
(What is wrong with this man? Doesn't he know how to have a normal conversation. It's like if I don't talk to him about magic, he isn't interested in what I have to say. Hpmh! Don't you ignore me, you big nerd.)
Nick ignored Cindy and focused on the floating platform that was currently raised over the middle of the clearing. It had been there since before Nick arrived and he guessed that that would be where the academy's staff would address the students from.
As soon as the time became 9 am, five figures appeared on the stage. Three of them wore hooded Magician's robes with their features hidden while two men stood out to address the students. One of them that wore a three piece black suit with a white dress shirt and black dress shoes and who had a head full of curly, red hair spoke first:
"My name is Lucious Hardin and I am one of your invigilators for this exam. This exam will take the form of group explorations where you will be tasked to find materials throughout a realm that can be used to create a set of magical items. Your scores will be based on your group's application of magic, the quality and quantity of the materials that you find and the time it takes you to find all of them. The exam will be conducted inside one of the academy's private realms that does not contain magic beasts so your only opponents will be other students. There are no rules against hoarding or stealing materials and groups that end up with all its members incapacitated will be removed from the exam and their scores calculated based on their progress. Purposeful killing is not allowed and there are mechanisms in place that will interfere with such actions. On the off chance that such an event takes place, the culprit of such an result and their group will be disqualified from the exam and given a failing grade."
Lucious stopped speaking and the man next to him took over in addressing the students. This man was clearly older than Lucious, being middle aged and he was dressed in a grey tracksuit with sneakers. He had a full head of curly, grey hair and he sported a friendly expression on his face. He spoke genially:
"My name is Sam Dawkins and I am also one of your invigilators for this exam. The realm that you will be sent to is relatively small, about the size of a private island and as Lucious already stated, it has no magic beasts but plenty of native resources grow there. The time difference between Grand Earth and the realm is about 1:3 in terms of hours and the exam will last a total of twelve Grand Earth hours, giving you thirty six hours to collect materials. You will be given a list of the resources that you are to find along with their descriptions, recommended quantity and possible locations. We will not provide you with space bands and keeping the quality of your materials at the same standard after you have obtained them is your own problem. Oh, and a little note, extra points are given to groups that eliminate other groups depending on how the elimination took place."
Sam stopped speaking and Lucious took over once again:
"We will give you one hour to form your groups of up to five students and after you are done, you are to indicate so by shouting and we will give you lists of materials and immediately transport your group into the realm. As soon as you get to the realm, you are allowed to begin your exploration and yes, that does mean that it is possible for groups to get a head start. If there are persons who are not in a group after one hour, they will be randomly placed in one and sent to the realm anyway."
Lucious stopped speaking and the five staff members stepped back on the stone platform, indicating that the students were to make their groups on their own.
Cindy immediately asked Nick:
"Nick, you and I are in the same group, right?"
Nick internally sighed:
(I didn't think that there would be a group requirement. I guess Cindy will do as a warm body. The requirement is up to five people so just the two of us will suffice. I will get the lists right now.)
"You and I are golden, Cindy. We don't need other members so I'll let them know that we are ready."
Cindy became a little concerned about Nick's unwillingness to recruit other members since less members made it easier for their group to be eliminated.
(What is he thinking, we should at least discuss strategy. This is the problem with loner types. Doesn't he know that most licensed Magicians go on missions in groups? Even though it would be a pain, I could probably get Daryl to put away his grudge for the duration of the exam and join us. That man cares more about his results than anything else.)
Nick was about to shout that they were ready and Cindy was about to stop him when a woman dressed in a red, long sleeved dress that reached down to her knees approached he and Cindy. Nick noticed her quickly as she was fairly beautiful with a head full of long, shiny, black hair and she had strange silver colored eyes, not that that mattered much him. He had never seen her before but she eyed him with a disapproving interest. The woman asked with haughtiness in her tone:
"Are you Nick Capitol?"
Nick turned his head to fully face the woman and then replied to her:
"Whose asking?"
The woman openly snorted before responding with a slightly grudging tone:
"I am Pearl Wiles, the niece of Andrew Wiles. You, Nick Capitol, are supposed to somehow be my tutor but I would like to know what qualifications you have for that being the case?"
Nick opened both his eyes wide in surprise as he looked at the woman.
(She's the niece that Lieutenant Andrew Wiles wants me to tutor in space magic? I thought that since it had been half a year since the mid-year exam and I was never approached, that Wiles had forgotten the deal. I guess I was wrong. What do I do about her...)
Nick knew that it was impossible for him to renege on his agreement with Andrew Wiles since the latter was a powerful Magician, possibly had a complicated background and was clearly far more connected that Nick himself was.
(Ignore her at my own peril. Sigh, all my problems stem from the fact that I am too weak. I'll have to deal with her for now but why has she just shown up?)
Nick moved away from the tree and stood up straight before he addressed Pearl again:
"My qualifications? Why didn't you ask your uncle about that?"
Pearl lightly stamped her foot, saying:
"Don't you pry into my family life."
Pearl had been heart broken for months since over six months ago, her uncle Andrew unilaterally made a decision to have her transferred to Richter Order Academy, an academy about two levels lower in prestige than her previous academy. He even told her to get close to a Nick Capitol because he was extremely skilled in space magic.
Pearl was not naive and had grown up in a wealthy family all her life where valuable connections were made by any means so she had an idea of what 'get close to' meant but she refused to resign herself to that so easily.
Andrew had met Pearl inside her dorm room at her previous academy and the conversation between he and her went something like:
"I'm having you transferred to Richter Order Academy. There is a young man there name Nick Capitol that I think is promising. He practises space path magic which you also have a naturally high affinity for. I want you to get close to him so that I can make use of him later."
"But uncle Andrew, I already made friends at my academy and besides, I don't want to practise space magic. Why can't you have someone else in the family do it?"
"Pearl, this isn't just for me. I really do think that Nick Capitol is promising and finding a good companion for his niece is the duty of any well meaning uncle. C'mon, don't be stubborn."
"I won't do it!"
Andrew's tone became cold in response to her refusal and he replied with absolute authority in his disposition:
"You will do it and do well. If you end up thinking that Nick is too weak, you can always get rid of him later but for now, I want you to enter his inner circle without spoiling yourself. Also, the military might want to recruit him later so see if you can find away to stoke any feeling of patriotism he may have."
Pearl felt angry and wronged but her uncle was not a man to be trifled with. Andrew Wiles would likely be the next patriarch of their family and had inherited a star path legacy that was developed all the way to rank 8. He also had several unnamed magical talents that resulted in the current patriarch treating him like an indispensable treasure, far more valuable than even his older brothers and even her own father who had a very successful position in a large realm exploration company.
Pearl knew that she had no choice but put up one last attempt at resistance:
"I'll have to talk to daddy about this..."
Andrew interrupted her mid-sentence:
"I've already told him what the situation is. He agreed to my plans."
Pearl's shoulders slumped down in defeat and she then asked:
"When do I leave for Richter Order Academy?"
Andrew's cold expression immediately reverted back to his usual flippant one with his eyes squinted slightly.
"Head there by the end of the week. You're free to do what you want once you get there but you must interact with Nick before this school year ends."
Pearl's mood grew worse as she remembered that conversation. Her uncle had never made such a selfish demand of her before and she was still hurt by his inconsideration. She wanted to take out her negative emotions on Nick right now since she thought that they were about the same in terms of power.
Nick spoke indifferently and decided to make use of her words to act on his deal with Andrew:
"Since you want to find out my qualifications, then you should join my group for the exam. You haven't already joined one, right?"
Pearl answered immediately:
"Who wants to be in a group with a fart like you?"
Pearl said that but also thought that it would be a good opportunity to not only superficially comply with her uncle's demands but also make things difficult for Nick. After the exam, she can just tell her uncle that he misjudged Nick who was clearly incompetent.
Nick didn't get angry at Pearl's insult and just lightly chuckled while partially unsheathing Failed Tool. Nick applied his magic energy to it and the visible part of its blade flashed with grey light after which the tree next to Pearl was cut in half.
Nick said with menace in his tone:
"Don't push it or I'll give you a fight you wouldn't believe."
Pearl slightly turned her head to look at the destroyed tree and mused:
(Was that blade light? Nick's sword must be advanced grade but if he thinks that showing is enough to scare me, he's in trouble.)
The grey light shining from Failed Tool abated and Nick fully sheathed it again. He thought:
(I already figured out what the light generated by Failed Tool is - blade light. Just like how sword path has sword aura that can cut through objects, blade path has blade light that can do the same but in a more discreet manner. Of course, blade path also has blade aura but blade aura is generally not directly offensive. Like Nick's Blade Aura and Blade Escape spells indicate, blade aura has a more ancillary nature.)
Pearl transformed her irritated expression into a more plain one and made a superficial apology:
"I got too excited. I apologize."
Nick nodded his head in acceptance but knew that her apology didn't mean much.
(Birds chirp and women lie. It's not that they all do it all the time but unless you're in very good graces with the one that you are dealing with, you better know what you're in for.)
Nick replied:
"Don't sweat it. Does that mean that you will join my group?"
Pear nodded her head in affirmation, saying:
"I will but if you slow me down, my uncle will hear about it."
Nick replied simply while returning to lean on the tree:
"Naturally."
Cindy watched the exchange between Nick and Pearl with some confusion and worry but in the end decided not to ask questions about their relationship since the exam was the most important thing right now. Cindy moved away from the tree and greeted Pearl, after which she tried to make light conversation:
"Hello, my name is Cindy Reece and I will also be in your group. Let's do our best, okay."
Pearl replied politely, like the pseudo-aristocrat that she was:
"I hope that we get along well. Don't mind my little exchange with Nick. He happens to have some history with my family..."
...
While Cindy and Pearl were talking, the five Magicians on the platform observed where Nick was standing and discussed:
"Lucious, It looks like we have some excitable students in the mix this time around. That boy has a very good sword at his waist."
"Yeah...I remember when I attended my academy and I caused bigger disturbances than that during exams. He's still green, Sam"
"You two, stop reminiscing and focus on the other students too. Many seem to be having trouble forming groups, most are probably trying to find the most powerful possible members among themselves."
"Although Magicians do usually carry out missions in groups, a mature person relies on themselves. Who they partner up with shouldn't actually be that big of a consideration if they had the skills that they should have learnt by now."
"That's easy for you to say. You were raised in a wealthy family with innumerable resources and decent training. You have to consider each students background when assessing their decisions."
...
While the invigilators discussed and as Nick was about to indicate his groups readiness, another person showed up to demand entry into his group:
"Nick Capitol, I, Jessie Auburn will be your fourth group member."
Nick squinted his eyes in response to the young man's declaration and then observed him closely.
(Short, black, gelled hair and light brown eyes. He's wearing full brown combat attire made from mostly leather. I've never seen this man before. Why is he interested in being in my group? Because of my reputation? I don't need any dead weight.)
Nick shook his head slowly and replied:
"Listen Jessie, I don't know why you want to be in my group but I'm not looking for people to huddle up with and sing songs by the camp fire. You should find someone more charming to group with."
Jessie laughed heartily when he heard that and then replied:
"You know, we've already sort of met each other. Don't you remember in the mid-year exam on the grassy plain when I tore that ice-for-brain's arm off with my Whirlwind Raptor Transformation."
Nick thought for a bit and guessed that the ice-for-brains that he was referring to was Uriah Narco who Nick had a little talk with weeks after that incident. He rubbed his chin slightly with his right hand and thought:
(That magic beast was this guy's transformation. That mean's that he's of a decent standard...well, magically speaking but I really don't want anymore group members. Unless...)
Nick asked Jessie a question unrelated to the exam out of nowhere:
"Do you know how Magicians of your path can make quick transformations?"
Jessie stared at Nick blankly for a few moments, not understanding the point of such a question but he answered anyway:
"Sure, there are a few possibilities such as some rare talents, special magic tools and certain legacy spells."
Nick's eyes gleamed with enlightenment. He had been wondering for a long time how Tanner White who he had a spar with days before the end of the last exam had performed his rapid transformations. Now he had some information to run with. Nick showed a slightly grateful expression and said to Jessie:
"You're in."
Jessie was a bit confused by Nick's sudden change in attitude but since his goal had been achieved, he accepted the invitation:
"Well then, if you're not waiting for others, then can we get our lists and head to the realm now?"
Nick had the intention of doing just that before anyone else tried to join their group. He turned in the direction of the floating platform and shouted:
"Invigilators, we have formed our group and are ready to enter the realm!"
A cold voice from one of the hooded Magicians echoed from the platform in response:
"So be it."
As soon as the person finished speaking, each member in Nick's group received a list of materials to be retrieved within the realm that was detailed on a roll of parchment like paper that appeared in front of each of them in midair.
The four of them quickly took hold of their lists and soon, a magic formation glowing in silver light and in the shape of a circle designed with cryptic symbols appeared a few meters above them before it shone a thick ray of silver light down on all four of them.
When the light dissipated and the magic formation disappeared, Nick and his other three group members were nowhere to be seen. The other students in the clearing that had witnessed the scene became agitated since that was the first group to supposedly enter the realm. The scene became like a colony of moving ants as students tried to quickly find people that were willing to form groups with them.
At some distance from where Nick had disappeared from, a woman with long, blonde hair and big, sparkling eyes looked on at Nick's former position and softly declared:
"You and I are going to compete, Nick."
***************************************************************************
When the silver light dissipated from his sight, Nick found himself standing side by side with his three other group members, Cindy to his left and Pearl and Jessie to his right.
They had appeared somewhere in a forest with a thick canopy provided by very tall evergreen like trees. Nick looked around and said:
"The descriptions of the locations of the materials on our list are very vague. We need a proper look at the overall terrain of this place if we are going to find anything efficiently. I suggest that we move by air."
Jessie nodded in agreement and said:
"Nick's right. This forest has too many obstructions and its canopy too thick for us to determine where we are going. We need to leave the influence of this forest."
Both Pearl and Cindy voiced their agreement but showed awkward expressions as well. Pearl quickly declared:
"I do not have a flying movement spell so your suggestion is difficult to achieve if we are to move as a group."
Cindy then echoed:
"Yeah...I don't have a flying movement spell either."
Nick had already expected that to be the case and was prepared. He spoke confidently:
"Jessie, let me introduce you to our two other group members. This is Cindy Reece and the other is Pearl Wiles. Cindy and Pearl, you don't have to worry about not being able to fly, I can carry you along with me when I use my methods to rise above this forest's canopy. Jessie, I know that you are able to fly so I won't pay much attention to your needs, we'll decide our next move once we get above the canopy."
Jessie was a little surprised by how Nick seemed easy to work with considering that he had a reputation as a mean-spirited loner.
(Rumors are usually just that...rumors.)
Jessie replied:
"Let's go then."
Jessie began forming the laws for one of his spells within his mindscape and his entire body soon became enveloped in a white light before shrinking down. When the light dissipated, a bird like magic beast the size of several eagles combine floated in midair, having took Jessie's place. The magic beast had four wings and bronze colored skin.
(Whirlwind Raptor Transformation)
Jessie proceeded to create a tailwind as he flew upwards and within a few seconds, he went beyond the forest's canopy. Nick followed his lead by casting two of his own spells:
(Absolute Push.)
(Absolute Pull.)
Nick warned both women before he raised them up:
"Do not resist and do not cast any spells without giving me fair warning or you might end up having a very nasty fall."
Both women silently nodded their heads in understanding and a few moments later, Nick raised all three of them up into the air and within two minutes, they went beyond the forest canopy.
Nick slightly gasped as he saw the beautiful sight of the vast green forest canopy below him. He absentmindedly muttered:
"Beautiful."
Pearl looked at Nick's wonder struck expression for a few moments before looking towards Jessie's position which was not too far from their own; he was currently circling around towards their position. She spoke while summoning her exam list from her space band:
"Since we don't know much about this realm we should just start off by going after the first material on the list - bitter wine. The list says that this material can be found at the bottom of many water bodies found commonly in the realm. We need about two liters of it in as pure a form as possible. Any ideas of how to find water bodies?"
Cindy shrugged her shoulders in response to Pearl's question and Jessie just continued to circle them, not giving a reply. Nick had a sudden realization:
(So this is why this kind of exam is done in groups. Rank 2 Magicians generally have limited methods and having multiple Magicians around increases the chances of one of them having a method useful for a particular task. The exam duration is only thirty six hours after all. We can't waste time moving around blindly...)
Nick thought for about fifteen seconds before he declared:
"I have the solution."
Pearl remarked:
"Okay, Patrick Star."
Nick ignored Pearl's joke and cast another of his spells, this time an advanced grade one. It took Nick about ten seconds to complete its laws since this was his first time using it in the field and because of the fact that he was currently manipulating two other spells.
(Warp Sense.)
Nick closed his eyes and focused on the space below them. Warp Sense was a space path spell that allowed Nick to scout a one thousand meters cubed space for up to twenty meters away even ignoring physical obstructions. It was his own creation and he was proud of it.
Nick forced his formless space path magic power into the ground below them and moved it lower and lower until he found what he was looking for.
(Ground water. It is very likely that ground water flows away from an above ground source. I just have to follow the reverse flow of the moving water.)
Nick spoke audibly of his plan so that the other three could hear and they all agreed with his idea, Jessie giving his assent by silence. Pearl was internally surprised that Nick not only had such a useful method that could scout into the ground but that he could cast it while maintaining the methods that kept them flying.
(It looks like uncle wasn't wrong about this man having some skills. Even if I just arrived here, I plan to make a name for myself at this academy and be its best student. I won't make things difficult at this point or I'll suffer too. I'll go along with Nick's plan for now.)
Cindy had her own thoughts:
(Nick seems to have spells for all kinds of situations. How can he study multiple kinds of magic and know so much useful and powerful spells at the same time? It's weird.)
Jessie had no opinions about Nick's methods since he grew up around many competent Magicians so Nick being reliable was an expectation of his since he had witnessed how Nick had killed a lightning path third year during the mid-year exam.
(It's always good to be with competent people no matter their reputation. Normal people are very foolish, believing that reputation is a real indication of who someone is. Competence is a far better measuring stick because it speaks to a person's character and discipline. Nick may be a loner but he is no doubt a better companion that those blabber mouths that I usually have to deal with while attending classes.)
Nick moved himself, Pearl and Cindy along through the air while Jessie followed from behind.
(The ground water in this area all flows from the same direction so it should be easy to find the source. If we end up not finding an above ground source this way in a few hours, I don't mind changing our search target to something else on the list.)
Cindy made an encouraging remark as they flew along:
"It's great that there are no magic beasts within this realm. That means that we can move almost unobstructed. We're doing great!"
Nick lightly smiled in response to her optimism before reverting back to his usual indifferent expression. After about an hour of search Nick and the rest came upon a large waterfall that flowed from the side of a tall and steep cliff that existed beyond the edge of the forest; it had a large pool at its foot that emptied into a cavern located behind the waterfall. Jessie quickly moved forward to interact with the falling waters while Nick moved himself, Cindy and Jessie closer to the ground.
He soon cancelled Warp Sense as he was about to reach the ground. At that moment, however, the image of three magic attacks being sent their way appeared in Nick's mind, each directed at either Cindy, Pearl or himself. One was a yoga ball sized fireball, the other was a cloud of green mist while the final attack was a swarm of slightly large black and orange striped bees.
Cindy and Jessica soon sensed the attacks coming from behind them and were alarmed. They instinctively tried to cast spells in their defense but Nick commanded them sternly as he already turned to face the attacks:
"Don't do anything just yet, I will deal with the attackers and you two should watch out for any other problems in the area."
Nick breathed in deeply and then breathed out. He muttered under his breath:
"This is why I grind."