Nick started to feel a tinge of frustration but then he slapped both his cheeks with his hands in order to prevent himself from going down a rabbit hole of negativity. Nick reorganized his thoughts and proceeded to process magic energy outside of his body. Black miasma formed over the magic formation and remained there while Nick flew into the air and thought:
(I'm not going to give up because of one flop. I just have to keep searching. The rationale for me even investigating this area for magic materials is the high concentration of magic beasts. Typically, magic beasts would not concentrate within an area with few resources. Of course, that doesn't mean that there must be ores or other valuable materials below the ground but I am willing to bet that it is so.)
Nick went on to clear another large area next to the first clearing by killing the rank 2 and lower magic beasts and getting rid of the trees and plants in the same way that he had before. He also harvested magic beast souls and fed them into Silent Ark's fuel reserves like before.
Nick then manipulated the black miasma that was flowing over the magic formation in order for it to interact closely with the magic formation, following which, the Mining and Detection Formation actually began visibly moving over the ground in order to move to the next cleared area. Nick mused at this time:
(I basically just thought of using my foundation laws' processing ability to manipulate the magic formation like this. The black miasma is my own magic energy and has my will imbued within it so by allowing the magic formation to consume it, I can manipulate the magic formation from afar instead of sticking to the ground and manipulating it from there. The advantages of a special mindscape can manifest in interesting ways.)
The glowing brown magic formation moved a few kilometers across the ground, similar to a shifting shadow that could not disturb anything that it passed over. When the magic formation was in place at the new clearing, Nick returned to standing over it and activated its detection method once again. Pulses of soul path magic power radiated into the ground from the magic formation and Nick spent the next thirty minutes searching the ground for resources but found nothing once again.
Nick then generated black miasma over the magic formation and rose into the air. He then looked over the seemingly vast valley and his dashed hopes reignited. Nick spent the next two days doing what he had done before, which included choosing a new area to clear, killing the magic beasts there, getting rid of plants and vegetation in the area and then moving the Mining and Detection Formation to that area, so that he could use its detection method again once it was in place.
Over those two days, Nick killed thousands of magic beasts, cleared over three dozen kilometers of woodland and fed thousands of magic beast souls into Silent Ark. At the end of the second day, Nick finally detected what seemed like large deposits of magic materials over thirty kilometers below the ground. Nick thought:
(On Grand Earth, no mining company would be crazy enough to go searching thirty kilometers below solid ground for minerals because the methods required for such a search would not typically be available to them. Thirty kilometers below solid ground is not easy to investigate. Even companies that specialize in mining magic materials would not necessarily aimlessly use magic to search so deep because the deeper their methods scouted, the less sensitive they would be. My method is different though. The earth path aspect of my magic formation basically lessons the resistance of the earth path laws below the surface tremendously and aids the soul path magic power that it emits in pushing farther down without being weakened by much. I also have the advantage that I am a master in earth path and a scholar in soul path, so the methods that I create can tackle problems exactly and efficiently. Even medium sized mining companies may not have masters as a part of their staff. Not to mention, the quality of my own soul results in any soul path method that I employ being extremely stable and effective. How many people doing tasks like this would have a soul like mine?)
Nick realized that he had many advantages, too many to just end up failing. He continued to use the magic formation's detection method to get a better understanding of the general size of the area where the deposits rested. After an hour Nick of investigating, Nick realized that the area where the deposits were, spanned over a few kilometers and that the deposits were densely concentrated.
Nick quickly cancelled both Tyrant Domain and Saturn. he then willed for Silent Ark to lower itself to the ground by directing his black miasma like magic energy to flow from his body towards it and then interact with Silent Ark's exterior. Silent Ark responded to the will within Nick's magic energy and flew down from the sky and hovered over the magic formation. Nick had been moving Silent Ark this way for the past few days after realizing that his magic energy could be used in such a way.
(It seems that my magic energy has a profound effect on magic formations but I already partly figured that out during the time that I was developing my Advanced Blade Works Formation a year ago...)
Nick entered Silent Ark and took his seat but kept Silent Ark's door open. He continuously processed magic energy outside of his body from within Silent Ark and had it flow to the outside and then to the magic formation below. Once the magic formation's detection method had locked onto the magic material deposits, Nick did not need to direct the magic formation to extract them because that task was automatic part of its design. Nick just had to contribute magic energy to the magic formation to keep it operating.
(The earth path method that the Mining and Detection formation uses steadily shifts the magic materials within the ground, eventually bringing them to the surface where they are stored in place. I used space path to do something similar when I previously came to Forgotten Peril but I was not an earth path master at that time and now I know that earth path is better suited for tasks like mining the ground. At least using earth path results in less disturbance and has less of a chance of damaging the magic materials as opposed to space path.)
Nick sat within Silent Ark and multi-tasked by processing magic energy outside his body, directing the magic energy towards the Mining and Detection Formation and training his Cursed Vessel and Spatial Awareness talents. Nick did all this nonstop over the next two weeks. The process of mining the magic material deposits took so long because Nick did it without disturbing the ground too much and also because of the fact that the deposits were large in volume and originally situated far below the surface.
(Formation path does not guarantee instant results. Depending on the nature of the task, and extracting materials from solid ground is a difficult task, the time taken to produce results can be great so as not to damage the materials being mined or attracting unwanted attention from magic beasts or people.)
At the end of the two weeks, the Mining and Detection Formation stopped shifting magic materials to the surface because it had collected all the materials that Nick had detected using its soul path scouting method.
Nick sensed a change in the magic formation and rushed outside to see the results of the work completed. Nick had turned off Silent Ark's holographic displays to save fuel so he had not been monitoring the mining using Silent Ark but he was doing so using Spatial Awareness, which was about just as good in this case. All through the mining process, rank 2 magic beasts stayed away from the magic formation, probably because of the presence of Nick's magic power.
There were now large piles of ores resting on top of the Mining and Detection Formation at sections all over its surface. Nick used Tyrant Sense to properly look over the ores and he discovered a variety of colors within the ores which indicated that many different kinds of materials existed within the ores and refinement was necessary before the materials could be sold at an appropriate price.
After Nick finished looking over the pieces of ore, he estimated their combined weight at over four hundred tonnes. Nick mused:
(This is a large find but only the beginning.)
Nick spent about half a day storing the ores within his newer, red and black space band, even working throughout the night but when he was almost finished with the task, he was interrupted by a group of rank 2 Magicians that emerged from the nearby woodland.
This group consisted of twenty people, having a mix of both males and females. The man that seemed to be leading the group had a height of a little over six feet, had a pale-white complexion, short brown hair and dark eyes; the man wore a set of red leather combat armor. The leading man muttered to himself in Valteese:
"What do we have here?"
One of the females, who had long, curly, red hair, wore blue leather combat armor and stood beside the leading man, eyed the Mining and Detection Formation in front of them, then Silent Ark and then finally her eyes ended up on Nick himself. She spoke excitedly but her expression also revealed that she was a little wary of Nick:
"This is a very complex magic formation...it's probably an earth path and also...a soul path magic formation. Look at that weird, all black device over there, it must be some kind of advanced magic tool. Based on his magic power, that guy with the white hair standing over the magic formation is at least rank 3. Jean, we should go over and introduce ourselves. He might be able to help use get through Beast Land easier."
Jean looked at Nick carefully and had a different opinion; he replied:
"Margaret, are you trying to get use killed? If we do assume that guy is rank 3, he could crush us like ants. Why would you want to go introduce yourself to him? The complexity of the magic formation in front of us should tell you that he means business. Also, haven't you realized that a very large section of Beast Land has been cleared out? If that guy is responsible, then we have even more reason to stay away from him. We should leave while he doesn't seem to care about us."
The woman, who was apparently named Margaret, did not seem to want to give up so easily. Nick only glanced at the rank 2 Magicians before returning to storing the rest of the magic ore that was left resting over the magic formation. After Nick stored every piece, he released his black miasma like magic energy towards Silent Ark in order to direct it to rise over forty meters into the air. Nick was about to cast Tyrant Domain and Saturn once again to continue his search efforts but Margaret shouted from the side without stepping onto the magic formation:
"Hey mister, you seem strong, so let's be friends, okay!"
Jean's eyes opened wide in shock as he stared at Margaret like she was crazy. Nick turned slightly to look at the 'bold' woman and thought:
(Is she nuts? Doesn't she get where we are and what rank I am? I didn't plan on doing anything to them but they should be running for the hills just in case, not trying to interact with me.)
Before Nick could seriously ask the woman if she was okay in the head, however, he sensed the presence of a powerful magic beast nearby. Even Spatial Awareness was triggered and the image of a magic beast the size of two oil tankers appeared within Nick's mind. Nick turned away from the mob of rank 2 Magicians and watched as a magic beast that Nick assumed to be rank 3, based on the magic power that was radiating from it, walked out of a section of the woodlands, opposite to him.
This magic beast looked like a moose that had two thick, curved bone antlers situated at the sides of its head. It had dull-orange fur with three gold, ring like patterns around its neck, it had two gold colored eyes, pointed teeth and four hooved legs. The magic beast was at most two-meters-tall standing up and its body was at least four-meters-long. The magic beast breathed heavily as it glared at Nick, as if he was its natural enemy.
The twenty rank 2 Magicians balked when they saw the rank 3 magic beast and even Margaret's expression froze. Jean immediately signaled for everyone to retreat backwards but their movements were noticed by the rank 3 magic beast and it shifted its glare from Nick to them as a result. Shivers ran down all of their spines when that glare that was filled with intelligence focused on them. Margaret softly asked Jean:
"Why would a rank 3 Magic beast be here? They don't usually come out of their hiding places for anything, even to hunt for food most days."
Jean replied while keeping his eyes on the large magic beast:
"It must have been attracted by the disturbance caused by the magic formation and the clearing of the trees."
Margaret replied:
"Then its appearance is the white haired guy's fault. He killed all of us."
Nick ignored the twenty rank 2 Magicians and summoned the unsheathed Pressure Piece from his space band into his right grip. Noticing the appearance of the weapon in Nick's hand, the moose like magic beast's body radiated an intense, brown magic power and it quickly raised and stomped down its two front legs, following which, the ground below Nick's Mining and Detection Formation immediately rose into the air at the speed of a geyser and then did a U-turn in order to slam its apex into the ground to the immediate right of its base.
The attack happened so fast that Margaret responded by screaming out without thinking:
"He's dead! We're next!"
Based on the magic power that the rank 2 students sensed, they knew that they did not have a chance of defeating or defending against the moose magic beast. A few moments after Margaret's outburst, however, Nick appeared standing on the magic beast's back amidst a flash of blue light.
Nick then cast:
(Tyrant Armor.)
(Tyrant Form.)
Nick's entire right arm was instantly wrapped in a layer of black colored magic power that made the arm look metallic at a glance and that sparked with flashes of red and black lights. The sparks of red light quickly vanished and only the sparks of black light remained. Nick quickly slashed at the moose magic beast's back using Pressure Piece; Nick's arm and Pressure Piece appeared like a faint blur as they moved.
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
Nick was evidently too fast for the magic beast to react in time to defend itself and so Nick cut into the magic beast's back, which resulted in the magic beast being deeply cut over eighty times near its back's center, but although the wounds bled profusely, Nick did not manage to cut into bone. Nick reasoned at this time:
(Its flesh is too thick.)
The Magic beast finally reacted by sounding an ear piercing howl, following which, three spikes made out of what seemed to be stone jutted out from the moose magic beast's back, beginning one meter away from Nick's immediate front, in order to attempt to impale Nick but he was already prepared for anything.
(Tyrant Sense.)
(Pluto.)
The three stone spikes crashed into Nick's torso but they went through him like he was not real. Nick took the opportunity to side step the stone spikes, making sure that they no longer put his body in danger before casting Pluto again to return his torso from the adjacent space. Nick then covered his entire body with Tyrant Armor and jumped up from the moose magic beast's back; Nick noticed that the wounds that he had created using Pressure Piece had now been covered with a thick layer of stone, beginning from where the stone spikes had jutted out from.
Nick quickly rose ten meters above the magic beast before pointing his left index finger at Silent Ark. His black miasma like magic energy that was still manifested around Silent Ark, interacted with Silent Ark's exterior, which resulted in Silent Ark moving rapidly towards the moose magic beast at over two hundred kilometers per hour according to Nick's will. Sensing the incoming Silent Ark, the moose magic beast ignored Nick and ran to intercept Silent Ark head-on while its antlers turned to spiked stone and curved in order to point directly at Silent Ark.
The moose magic beast positioned its head at an appropriate angle and within two seconds, it and Silent Ark crashed into each other, the moose magic beast's stone antlers piercing into Silent Ark's metal bow but the moose magic beast was also forced back by a dozen feet as a result of Silent Ark's momentum. At that point, while the moose magic beast's antlers were still lodged within Silent Ark's bow, Nick cast Neptune again and quickly appeared below the moose magic beast's head amidst a flash of blue magic power.
Before the moose magic beast could respond to Nick's sudden appearance so close to it, Nick swung Pressure Piece upwards, towards the moose magic beast's head, faster than the naked eye could see; black miasma like magic energy exhaust emanated from Nick as his next spell resolved:
(Tyrant Aurora.)
A wide arc of gray blade light immediately shot out from Pressure Piece and enveloped the moose magic beast's head within moments; the magic beast growled in pain as a result. Nick did not ease up there; he put strength into his legs and ran towards the moose magic beast's front right leg at incredible speed while his body sparked with flashes of black light. When Nick reached immediately in front of the moose magic beast's front right leg a moment later, he ruthlessly swung Pressure Piece into it.
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
Blood spurted everywhere as the moose magic beast's leg was nearly half cut through in many places. This resulted in the moose magic beast thrashing its head and eventually dislodging its antler from Silent Ark. The grey blade light dissipated by this time, revealing the moose magic beast's ruined fur, skin and flesh, that was now covered in deep-brown blood due to most of its face being flayed, and some parts of its cheek bones were clearly visible.
The moose magic beast used its magic power to cover its injured front right leg with stone and then it lowered its head in order to bite at Nick with its sharp teeth at the same time. Nick did not retreat from his position and simply gripped Pressure Piece tighter and swung the sword at the moose magic beast's head while his right arm sparked intensely with flashes of black light.
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
Pressure Piece and the moose magic beast's sharp teeth collided and waves of black miasma like magic energy and brown earth path magic power radiated into the surrounding as Nick poured magic energy into Tyrant Armor and the moose magic beast poured its magic power into its face, hardening it and its teeth with stone like layers that helped to defend it against the sharpness of Pressure Piece. Nick actually managed to compete with the magic beast in terms of strength for a short time until the moose magic beast's gold eyes became blood shot and then it used the rest of its physical strength to overwhelm Nick and throw him back by over twenty meters.
The magic beast ignored the stationary Silent Ark and ran past it in order to chase Nick. Its Antlers changed shape in order to become like bulls' horns, growing two times in size and becoming even more pointed than before while being coated in more layers of stone. The magic beast ran toward Nick at the speed of a runaway train; Nick himself had been pushed back but remained on his feet and after stopping his backward movement by placing enough strength in his legs, Nick mobilized his Cursed Vessel talent's power:
(Dreadful Aura.)
A dark, fear inducing aura spread out from Nick and instantly bathed the surroundings, even enveloping the twenty rank 2 Magicians that were positioned over ten dozen meters away. The moose magic beast and the students felt an intense discomfort and the students froze stiff, unable to speak or move but the moose magic beast still kept running forward until in its view, Nick's body was replaced by the vague figure of a hippo-sized, winged magic beast that was made of black miasma and that had red and blue eyes.
The winged magic beast opened its mouth as if to roar at the moose magic beast but no sound came out. Witnessing the appearance of the winged magic beast, for some reason the moose magic beast's instincts forced it to stop running, after which, it too froze stiff. Nick saw the magic beast's frozen stance as soon as it became that way and acted without hesitation.
(Neptune.)
Nick disappeared from his position amidst a flash of blue magic power and then reappeared in midair at the immediate left side of the moose magic beast's head in the same manner. Nick instantly summoned Failed Tool from his space band into his left grip and then swung down both of his swords at the nape of the moose magic beast's neck.
Within a split second, Nick completely covered Pressure Piece and Failed Tool in Tyrant Armor's black, soul path coating. While both his arms and both his swords sparked with flashes of black light and while moving at speeds that made them blur, Nick cut into the moose magic beast's neck using both swords simultaneously. Sensing the extreme danger, the magic beast forced itself out of its frozen state and the hairs all over its body stood up and every muscle it had contracted. The moose magic beast was obviously about to make a forceful maneuver but it was too late.
The moose magic beast's neck sparked with flashes of black light and Nick's swords and magic power tore through its flesh and vertebrae. Following that, the moose magic beast's head flew away from its body by over fifteen meters as a result of the force of Nick's magic power while most of its remaining neck was blasted apart.
Blood splattered heavily on Nick but he quickly cast Neptune again in order to disappear amidst a flash of blue magic power and then reappeared on the ground in the same manner next to the still standing, headless magic beast carcass. Deep-brown blood flowed from the carcass' neck wound like a fountain, steaming as it formed a pool at the carcasses feet. The carcass remained standing for five more seconds before it fell onto the ground amidst its self-created pool of blood.
Nick lowered his arms, cancelled Tyrant Armor and Tyrant Form, dispelled the dreadful aura and finally stored Pressure Piece and Failed Tool back into his older space band. Nick didn't want to waste any more time, so he stored the moose magic beast's carcass within his space band, then he cast Saturn in order to drag the disembodied head of the magic beast over to himself, storing it within his older space band too.
After checking on his own body and confirming that he had no injuries, Nick turned to face the rank 2 Magicians, saying sternly:
"Leave now and don't let me see you near me again."
The rank 2 Magicians did not need another warning; they were already freed from their frozen states as soon as Nick dispelled the dreadful aura but they had also witnessed the appearance of the winged beast that was made of black miasma as well as its disappearance, at which point, Nick took the place of the creature. They were absolutely terrified of Nick as a result and wanted nothing to do with him. All twenty rank 2 Magicians ran into the woodlands
Nick cast Tyrant Sense to observe their movements and as soon as they ran out of the range of his spell, Nick's body eased somewhat, thinking:
(I could have killed those people but honestly, it didn't feel right to do so because I wouldn't have gained anything from committing the act.)
Nick looked at the former battlefield around him and sighed continuously, especially when he looked at the now damaged Silent Ark that had two sizable holes in its bow. He soon resolved:
(I'll have to place down the Mining and Detection Formation again since the magic beast basically destroyed the last one with its earth path magic power. Silent Ark can still be used for movement but using it for battle again would be risky. I knew that I might have had to eventually fight rank 3 magic beasts but I never expected things to go the way they did. The battle wasn't easy but it was manageable. By using my spells well, mobilizing Silent Ark and using my Cursed Vessel talent, I triumphed. This is a case of my advantages as a result of my cultivation stacking to give me a qualitative boost. I am no longer the man that had to run in fear from rank 3 existences a few years ago. I can hold my own and win.)
Nick thought through the battle and assumed that the moose magic beast had not reached the equivalent standard of rank 3 middle stage yet but it had exceptional intelligence which was evident from how it went after Silent Ark after Nick mobilized the magic formation against it and how it ignored Silent Ark once it became damaged.
(Maybe, it suspected that I would not use Silent Ark again or it found me a greater threat at that point. Either way, rank 3 magic beasts are very intelligent. I better hurry up with mining the rest of this area.)
Of course, Nick was not going to back off because of one rank 3 magic beast. He had a company to make prosper and nothing was going to get in the way of that. After spending some time within Silent Ark meditating, Nick returned to the outside and cast Tyrant Domain and Saturn in order to use their effects to clear another section of Beast Land.
Nick then laid the Mining and Detection formation once again. Nick failed to find any more mineral deposits days after that but he had killed many rank 2 magic beasts, cleared dozens of kilometers of woodland and practised the use of Cursed Vessel and Spatial Awareness a great deal. After three weeks of continuous search, Nick was finally able to find large deposits of ores within a section of Beast Land, larger than the deposits that he had found before.
This time, the Mining and Detection Formation took two months to mine all the ores and bring them to the surface. Nick collected the mined ores from the magic formation in intervals of days. After the mining process was completed and all the deposits within that area were extracted, Nick estimated that he had unearthed two thousand tonnes of magic ore, a huge amount. Nick continued undertaking his operations within Beast Land for nine more months until he had cleared most of the land and killed so much of the magic beasts within the area that the remaining rank 2 magic beasts migrated out of Beast Land.
The devastation that a rank 3 Magician could carry out was evident from Nick's actions. Doing what he did to Beast Land would have been impossible as a rank 2 Magician because of magic energy constraints and his magic power would have been too weak to effect such change over just nine months. During that time, strangely, Nick met no other people or rank 3 magic beasts so his progress was unhindered and because of that, he gained a huge bounty.
(At this point, I have mined a little over seventeen thousand tonnes of magic ore and stored them within my newer space band. My crazy gambit actually worked.)
Nick's indifferent expression briefly broke into a smile before it became indifferent again. Nick had cleared most of Beast Land and only a relatively small section that was over two dozen kilometers in radius remained to be cleared. Nick flew in the air while manipulating the black miasma around him to drag the Mining and Detection Formation as well as Silent Ark along.
Silent Ark was still damaged because Nick was not willing to repair it while out in the wilderness but it had abundant fuel reserves because Nick had used Tyrant Armor to harvest thousands of rank 2 Magic beast souls during the past year. Also, Nick's use of Spatial Awareness and Cursed Vessel now felt so natural that he could activate and use them almost as instinctively as moving his right hand.
(Cursed Vessel is a strange talent. I know that it is basically a curse but that is not why I say it is strange. The more I mobilize its dreadful aura, the more it feels as if another presence besides my own lingers during it use. Does that make sense? At first, I thought that the other presence might be the wicked being but no, the presence feels too intimate and comfortable. I'll have to research the issue later.)
Over these nine months Nick had also realized something:
(My use of the black miasma to control the Mining and Detection Formation and Silent from a distance is sort of like what refinement path is supposed to specialize in. By being the user of the magic formations, I have basically refined them and so controlling them using my magic energy is due to that refinement that has already poured my will into the magic formations via my lingering magic energy and when I send more magic energy their way, the will within the newer batch of magic energy affects the will within the older batch of magic energy, allowing me to command the magic formations from afar...)
Those thoughts were a bit complicated but Nick felt like he had a decent grasp of what was going on in terms of his magic formations, by now. When Nick arrived at the edge of the uncleared section, he was about to begin another round of what he had been doing for months but a loud howl that resounded in the area, forced him to pause his actions:
AAAAWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!
Following the harrowing sound, a magic presence that did not lose out to Nick's and even seemed greater than his emerged from seemingly out of nowhere. Moments later, from within the cluster of trees, a ray of bright-green light shot out at incredible speed and enveloped Nick, not even giving him the opportunity to get a clear look at what attacked him.
The moment that the bright-green ray shot past Nick's position, however, Nick reappeared twelve meters to the left of that position, still in midair and about thirty meters above the ground. Nick internally declared:
(The enemy is definitely rank 3.)
Following Nick's conclusion, a magic beast that looked similar to a German shepherd dog but that had bright-green fur and green lights constantly sparkling around and away from its body emerged from the woodland below by rapidly running on the air until it rose to Nick's altitude about thirty meters away from him. The magic beast growled at Nick with angry eyes. Seeing the magic beast clearly, Nick realized that it was about the size of an actual German shepherd but its magic power felt profound.
With Tyrant Domain and Saturn active, Nick instantly summoned the unsheathed Pressure Piece from his space band and into his right grip. Nick then waved his left index finger at the dog magic beast, following which, two grapefruit-sized red spheres of magic power appeared in contact with both sides of the dog magic beast's midsection. After that, Nick attempted to tear the magic beast in half by having the two red spheres drag the dog magic beast's body into them simultaneously but the magic beast howled and the twinkling green lights around its body doubled in size.
Following that, the dog magic beast shot forward amidst a ray of green light before Nick's red spheres could affect it. The dog magic beast seemingly appeared at Nick's immediate front within an instant, at which point, the green ray dissipated and the magic beast followed up by biting towards Nick's neck. Nick reacted quickly:
(Tyrant Form.)
Using the enhanced speed granted by Tyrant Form's effect, Nick's right arm moved so fast that it appeared like a blur. Nick adeptly blocked the dog magic beast's bite by swinging Pressure Piece's blade into its maw but instead of retreating, the magic beast bit down on Pressure Piece's blade and then the twinkling lights around its body flashed and enveloped Nick and itself.
Three seconds passed by before Nick suddenly appeared beside Silent Ark, following which, he quickly stored it within his older space band. Nick also willed and the Mining and Detection Formation self-destructed, its patterns degenerating into free flowing magic energy.
Nick then cancelled Tyrant Domain and Tyrant Form, following which, he cast Neptune and disappeared from his spot amidst a flash of blue magic power in order to reappear over four kilometers away from the magic beast in the same manner. At that point, the bright-green light enveloping the dog magic beast faded and it appeared stationary in midair while it dropped something from its mouth. The object that it dropped from its mouth was apparently two thirds of Pressure Piece's blade.
Nick's eyelid twitched as he slightly raised Pressure Piece or what was left of it using his right hand. Only the hilt and one third of the blade remained following the dog magic beast biting the intermediate, apprentice grade sword. Nick muttered under his breath:
"Rest in peace, old friend."
Nick then quickly cast Neptune again to travel four more kilometers away from the dog magic beast. The dog magic beast growled at Nick and gave chase by doubling the size of the twinkling green lights around it and then shooting off towards Nick amidst a ray of green light. The magic beast was fast but not faster than instant teleportation, so Nick was always a few hundred meters ahead of it and within one minute, Nick left Beast Land with only a little over 4,000 magical units left within his mindscape.
Nick used what was left of his magic energy reserves to rapidly fly away using the effects of Saturn in order to escape the dog magic beast. By using Spatial awareness, Nick soon realized that the dog magic beast actually stopped chasing him after he had left the boundaries of Beast Land. The dog magic beast just floated in midair at the boundary, glaring at Nick from then on.
(It stopped chasing me? Oh, I see. It just wanted to kick me out of its territory. Fine, you can have your little space.)
Nick landed onto the ground a little over one kilometer from Beast Land's boundary, resting himself against the base of a tall, oak like tree. Nick cancelled Saturn and began meditating in order to actively recover his magic energy. He did not process the magic energy outside of his body because he did not want to irritate the dog magic beast that was clearly still watching him due to the space between them being unobstructed.
Within four minutes, Nick's mindscape became fully saturated with magic energy and he cast Saturn again, rose forty meters into the air and rapidly left the area. Nick had memorized the map that he had of Forgotten Peril, so he knew where he was and where he should probably head to next so he did not cry about his loss and just moved on. After sadly observing Pressure Piece for a few minutes more, Nick stored the broken magic sword within his older space band and then focused on flying to his next destination.
While flying, Nick mused:
(The dog magic beast's power was higher than the equivalent of rank 3 initial stage. Magic beasts' cultivation doesn't have stages unless they have a mindscape so its body must have had a crazy amount of light path laws embedded into. Being able to bite apart an intermediate, apprentice grade sword made from baby tyrant dragon bone is not a simple feat. The baby tyrant dragon is a rank 3, qi path magic beast that has very hard bones. Sigh. I don't mind eating a loss but I didn't like losing my magic sword. Well...at least I still have Failed Tool left. That last battle showed me that all rank 3 magic beasts are not made equal. There were two rank 3 magic beasts living in Beast Land. I killed the large moose like rank 3 magic beast but lost in an exchange to the much smaller dog like rank 3 magic beast. I really can't slack in terms of my own cultivation. It's dangerous out here, even for a rank 3 initial stage Magician.)
After flying for two hours, Nick stopped and summoned Silent Ark again, in midair, following which, he entered its cabin through its door and cancelled Saturn. Nick then had Silent Ark move at over two hundred kilometers per hour towards his next destination, which was about three weeks away. During the wait, Nick continued to practice activating and using Cursed Vessel and Spatial Awareness.
Only a few days from his destination, however, at about midday, a rank 3 Magician actually appeared flying alongside Nick at equal speed and signaled for him to stop. Nick had always had Silent Ark's scouting method activated so he noticed the Magician as soon as he appeared within range of it but that did not mean that Nick was willing to stop to pay attention to him. Who would have thought that the Magician would come looking to bother him? Nick mused:
(Do I just ignore him? No, running away from a possibly troublesome stranger out here can result in problems later on. That guy is clearly rank 3, so his presence isn't insignificant. I'll talk to him to see what he wants.)
Nick stopped Silent Ark's movements cold and left the safety of its cabin by casting Saturn and floating beside it. The other rank 3 Magician had not stopped moving at the same time as Silent Ark and so went past it by a few meters but after he stopped and turned around, he slowly inched towards Nick. Nick cast Tyrant Sense and quickly noticed faint swirls of golden wind below the other Magician's feet and so he assumed that was the manifestation of the method that he was using to fly.
The other rank 3 Magician had a white complexion, looked to be in his early thirties and had average height; he had a head full of short, but flowing blonde hair, sharp eyebrows and dark eyes. The man wore a white magicians robe that had blue, bird shaped patterns on its lower areas. The man stopped flying towards Nick when he reached within five meters of him and introduced himself in Valteese:
"Hello. My name is Austin Campbell. I was just flying in the area to get to my next destination when I noticed your aircraft and could not help myself. I stopped you to ask what kind of magic tool that is and what company made it?"
Nick's right eyelid twitched when he heard Austin's reasons and he thought:
(He stopped me because of his curiosity? Is he crazy? Then again...should I really expect anything less from a Magician?)
Nick maintained his indifferent expression and acted to answer the man's questions. He figured that there was no harm in speaking with Austin since he had already stopped moving and left Silent Ark, anyway. Nick also thought that exchanging useful information was also a part of being a licensed Magician...in theory. He soon replied to Austin:
"This 'aircraft' is a kind of magic formation and I designed and constructed it personally."
Austin's expression became one of excitement and he then stared at Silent Ark like a fanatic and besides noticing the silver magic power wrapping around it and its black metal armor, he also noticed the two holes within its bow. Austin frowned a little when his saw the two holes and asked:
"What happened to its exterior armor?"
Nick shrugged his shoulders and answered:
"A rank 3 magic beast got the better of it in an exchange."
Austin's expression became weird as he then asked:
"You're saying that your clearly rank 2 magic formation was able to tank an attack from a rank 3 magic beast and still remain mostly intact and operable? Are you lying?"
Nick's right eyelid twitched once again in response to being doubted by Austin but thinking about the situation further, Nick could understand Austin's skepticism. Whether it was motor vehicles, aircrafts or any kind of advanced technology, magical or otherwise, taking damage from a magic beast of a higher rank usually meant near destruction or at least a serious loss of function but Silent Ark still seemed to be in relatively good working condition despite the damage done to it. Nick reasoned:
(A magic formation is not simply a piece of technology. Although its components are interconnected, as long as the magic formation's base remains undamaged, it is difficult to stop the magic formation's operation by simply damaging a few of its components. I estimate that even if half of Silent Ark's armor was blown away, I would still be able to fly it and use its methods without issue although its defensive capabilities would be ruined)
Nick replied to Austin:
"I don't care if you believe me but that's how it happened. I'm going to leave, now."
Austin smiled in response to Nick's reply and shouted in order to stop Nick from leaving.
"Wait! I'll buy that magic formation from you, just name your price!"