Jordan Kelvin openly sighed and then replied:
"Don't say that, Ben. I might start feeling the same way. Nick should only be a few years older than us, right? How do you think that he became so powerful?"
One of the more recently hired young men offered his opinion:
"How do you know that Nick is really only a few years older than us? Remember that we as Magicians frequent realms that can have drastically faster flows of time than Grand Earth. Forgotten Peril is just one example where its time flow is thirty times that of Grand Earth but we don't age according to that flow and remain as youthful as we would be if we were still on Grand Earth. Maybe Nick is not young and is an old monster that stays in certain realms to cultivate for long periods."
The five other rank 2 Magicians heard that theory and felt that it was the likely explanation. They all knew that Nick was too skilled to actually be of similar age to them, and that was considering time spent in special realms, such as Never Ending Battlefield, during their academy years.
Ben Facey rubbed his cleanly shaved chin using his right hand before saying:
"You're right. It's easy to forget the advantages we have as Magicians compared to normal people. Idealistically, we could live for long periods of time while barely looking our appropriate age. Still, I wonder just how powerful Nick really is. I remember watching him fight during the inter-academy competition hosted by the royal family a few years ago and even back then, he did not seem normal."
Jordan dismissively waved his right hand in response to Ben's statement and replied:
"You're thinking too much, man. Sure, Nick seems like a weirdo but could he be weirder than bright light William Rollins or Kirst Eltshire? Do you remember their battle during that competition? Nick is probably really strong, but there are stronger and stranger Magicians out there. Just focus on your own power and who knows, we might be as strong as or even stronger than Nick after a short period of development."
The five other rank 2 Magicians looked doubtfully at each other in response to Jordan's words before soon slowly shaking their heads. Ben then said:
"I'm not so sure about that, Jordan. I don't think that any of us will suddenly get up one day, being able to create a magic formation like the Calamity Cultivation Formation. Anyway, the calamity lilies are all mature, so Nick should be coming back to harvest them, assuming that he isn't being held up by something. We will finally be able to leave Forgotten Peril, then."
One of the newer hires spoke at this point:
"I heard that the company sells each calamity lily for over £1,000,000,000. There are so much of them. Do you think that Nick would miss a few of them?"
The other five Magicians knew what their colleague meant and in response to his question, they all looked at him like he was an idiot. All of them present had a family background that involved magic and so they knew very well what the consequences were of stealing from a powerful Magician or even one that was in-the-making:
DAMNATION
There was no better word to describe what would happen if Nick found out that any of them stole from him. Not to mention that no one here was close, so they could not trust each other. Ben quickly and sternly scolded his junior for having asked the question:
"Irish, don't mess around! If you do something stupid, you alone will bear the consequences."
The man that was apparently named Irish chuckled lightly after being scolded. His face developed a childish grin before he said:
"I was only pulling at everyone's leg. No need to get so serious, Ben. Besides, I'm paid plenty already. When I get back home, I'm going to buy a sweet ride and flex on my old girlfriend."
Jordan squinted his eyes at Irish and thought:
(Hmph! He's bull-shitting. If he thinks that cheap grin and those shitty words can fool me, he is still too green. He was trying to tempt us, no doubt; birds die for food, people die for wealth. Too bad for him that no one here is stupid enough to take the bait.)
After Irish spoke, an awkward silence developed among the six Magicians and they each aimlessly looked at the surrounding calamity lilies before two pillars of grey fog appeared within a few meters of them, extending from the fog created by the Absorb Life Battle Formation that covered the area like an animated dome.
The two pillars of fog dissipated to reveal their colleagues, Shawn Martin and Tony Gillies, who were the ones in charge of manipulating the Absorb Life Battle Formation. Shawn and Tony briskly walked over to the six others while Tony spoke:
"Nick is heading this way. We sensed the Absorb Life Battle Formation responding to his magic."
While Nick had given Tony and Shawn temporary influence over the Absorb Life Battle Formation, his own will was still the dominating presence that had ultimate control of the magic formation. Once Nick was close enough to the magic formation, his will within it became excited in response to sensing that he was close and trying to make use of his authority over it. Tony and Shawn naturally sensed what was going on because Nick did not try to hide it.
The six Magicians breathed a sigh of relief after they heard Tony's words and Jordan muttered softly but audibly while a complicated expression dominated his face:
"We will be going home soon."
Tony, Shawn and Ben noticed Jordan's expression and understood what he must be feeling at this time because the three of them were all having similar complicated feelings. Shawn mused:
(We actually progressed in our individual cultivation during the past two years by being allowed to man the Absorb Life Battle Formation or the Calamity Cultivation Formation. I didn't think that interacting with the Absorb Life Battle Formation would benefit my cultivation so much but even an idiot would learn a few things after interacting with something for over four years. I chose to specialize in soul path because it is great for combat and through Nick's soul path magic formation, I gained a lot of insight. I watched it literally drain the life out of so many rank 1 and rank 2 magic beasts that I can't help but feel that my specialization in soul path was not in vain.)
Tony spoke aloud at this time:
"The past two years…were filled with useful experiences. We should all talk about them at a great bar I know when we get back to Grand Earth. My treat."
The other seven gave Tony approving looks, which soon turned wary when they sensed a magical presence appear from amid the surrounding fog. Nick then slowly walked out from the Absorb Life Battle Formation's Fog while radiating the formless magic power of his spell, Saturn, which he had used to fly here as quickly as possible. He could have teleported to this plateau immediately if he had used a space magic formation, but after killing the space path baboon magic beast, he wanted to spend as much time as he could using his magic power before returning to Grand Earth. Nick mused:
(The baboon magic beast was definitely stronger than the rank 3 dog magic beast that I fought in Beast Land. Although its powers weren't as flashy, they posed a greater threat. I came out on top because of my high space path attainment, my awesome spells and because my affinity with space path seemed stronger than that magic beast's. After defeating it, I feel so much more filled with energy.)
Nick indifferently looked at his subordinates, who seemed to have already gathered to meet him. Nick kept Saturn active while walking over to them. The eight rank 2 Magicians also walked forward to meet with Nick but they had visibly uncomfortable expressions on their faces because Nick's magic power made them feel a sort of unpleasantness that was hard to describe.
Ben internally commented:
(If I didn't know better, I'd say that it felt like we were walking towards a magic beast and not a Magician. Hmmm…I must have been isolated on this plateau for too long. I'm even having stupid thoughts about Nick.)
After Nick stood immediately in front of the group less than one minute later, he observed them for a few seconds using his magic sense, then thought:
(The quality of their magic energy has increased since I last saw them, but they are still no where near what it takes to get to rank 3. Well…I guess that's to be expected.)
Nick cast Tyrant Domain and Tyrant Sense, following which, he closely examined the calamity lilies using the resulting magic power before even speaking to his subordinates. All eight rank 2 Magicians could not help but form a brief frown when they sensed Nick's magic power envelop them because the unpleasantness that they had been feeling since Nick arrived increased at this time, but they quickly buried their discomfort so as not to upset Nick.
Nick noticed their discomfort, but thought that it was because they were not used to experiencing rank 3 power so casually. Nick's own magic power dominated the surroundings, but it was hard to make sense of the calamity lilies' physical characteristics because of their luck path laws that were resisting his magic. Regardless, the resistance of the luck path laws suggested that the calamity lilies were of fine quality.
Understanding that, Nick retracted his magic power and canceled Tyrant Domain and Tyrant Sense after a few seconds. He then addressed his subordinates:
"You all have evidently done well in maintaining the situation as it should be. I couldn't ask for better employees. Now, I'm going to harvest the calamity lilies."
Ben dropped his currently stiff attitude and briefly tried to act lively by giving Nick a thumbs-up while saying:
"No problem, boss. With your initial set up, guarding a field of flowers was easy as counting my ten toes. It must be great to be so proficient in creating magic formations."
Nick replied indifferently:
"Magic formations are useful for all kinds of tasks. It is all in your best interest to learn about them, even just superficially."
Nick's subordinates nodded their heads in serious contemplation because the results of the Calamity Cultivation Formation seemed miraculous from their perspective. The latter magic formation used earth path to nurture luck path plants and they could not begin to understand how that was made possible even though it happened.
Nick looked into the distance at the facility that had been built, occupying nearly half of the plateau, and asked:
"Did you all find your accomodations suitable?"
Jordan assumed that Nick was asking for their opinion of the building and gave a brief critique:
"The facility was well built and isolated us from the outside environment perfectly. The only problem is that we did not have furniture and had to use sleeping bags while we stayed in there and without a source of electricity, the ventilation and temperature systems were half useless."
Hearing those words, Nick suddenly remembered that he had never given the eight Magicians bedding because he had not thought about that after the building was erected. He had also taken back the portable living arrangements that he had previously given the men, so they could not transfer the furnishings from them; the lack of electricity was not something that he could have dealt with until he returned to Grand Earth. He began thinking better of the eight for not calling him to complain about those things over the past two years.
Nick awkwardly rubbed the back his head using his right hand and said:
"My bad on both points. I didn't think that much about those things before I left you. I'll have Joyce compensate you for the discomfort when we return to Grand Earth."
If Nick wasn't their boss, he would not care about such things, but it was natural for a company that stationed its employees in a faraway land to make provisions for their long-term comfort. Based on the books that he had read, he knew that much, but failed to take heed, so he would compensate them for his oversight.
When the eight rank 2 Magicians heard about extra compensation, they developed light smiles, but their smiles turned bitter the next moment when Nick scolded them:
"Even if I did overlook your needs, why did you all not have proper bedding and furniture for yourselves? Are you also telling me that there is not one magic electricity generator within your space bands?"
The eight rank 2 Magicians' expressions became awkward before they spoke in their own defense, one after the other:
"I don't have a space band."
"Neither do I."
"Space bands are expensive and my family didn't think that I needed to own one during my academy years so if I needed one, I just borrowed it from the academy. I obviously can't do that now that I am a licensed graduate."
"Don't forget, boss. We all graduated fairly recently and haven't had the opportunity to save up money to buy space bands. Even the cheapest second-hand models cost more than £700,000,000."
"I guess I could have asked my family for a space band as a graduation present, but honestly, I thought that would've made me seem needy."
"Space bands aren't cabbages, Nick. I thought that the company that I would work for would provide me with one to do business. Just like how you bought Miss Riley a new space band…"
…
After Nick heard all the excuses, he found out that not only did his subordinates not have their own space bands, they could not afford them without their families' support but they did not seek for that help after getting hired because they thought that he would supply them with their own company issued space bands. Nick internally cursed:
(What the fuck? These people might be from well-off families, but they are poor Magicians. Riley is a normal person, so naturally, I will buy her a space band, but you all are Magicians and cannot afford one on your own accounts? Wait…)
A realization suddenly dawned on Nick:
(I am not a normal Magician. I was able to use my high attainments that I had obtained through lucky encounters and difficult cultivation to make money. Other Magicians would obviously not be able to do such things.)
After a few seconds, Nick seriously asked himself:
(How hard is it to earn money?)
Nick never had the feeling that earning a lot of money was especially hard because he had been gradually increasing his income through his creativity since his first year at Richter Order Academy, but now he was starting to think that it was actually harder than he made it seem.
(So, for a normal person, without the support of their family, spending millions of pounds on a magic tool is not normal and even if their family was willing to give them that money, they would probably use it to directly aid their cultivation, for example, by buying life-saving spells, not buying a space band. Apparently, most paths have storage type spells that can be acquired at a far lower cost than a space band and that is what these guys have been using to store their food, water and other supplies.)
Nick realized that his subordinates' money sense was different from his own, and so he had to stop his scolding and instead say:
"Work hard or you will all die in places like this."
Nick's subordinates visibly cringed when they heard that but they knew it was the truth, so they did not argue. Nick stopped speaking to his subordinates soon after advising them.
Nick summoned his Compact Garden Formation from his newer space band and began harvesting the mature calamity lilies as well as most of the top soil that they were rooted in. Since Nick already had experience doing this, he absentmindedly used the Compact Garden Formation's magic to obtain the luck path plants and the top soil while he thought about what he would be doing next:
(I'll process and sell this batch of calamity lilies before hiring Bianca Daneel to make a space path magic tool from the baboon magic beast that I recently killed. During that time, I need to dedicate myself to meditation, after all, I am still quite a distance away from rank 3 middle stage. Hmmm…I should probably continue my experiments using magic beast DNA and pseudo-souls. I do have sufficient capital to try all sorts of things…)
Nick's eight subordinates moved away from him, standing at the entrance of the facility, as they watched their boss' efforts to earn a fortune by extracting the calamity lilies and storing them into his strange space path spell. They all looked on with unconcealed envy and yearning, but did not dare to put their thoughts into audible words.
After a while, Irish Tepid spoke softly while observing Nick's actions, but the other seven Magicians heard his words clearly:
"I wonder if I could set my sister up with Nick. He seems like a real hard chap, but I've heard people say that my sister is 'top shelf'. Yeah…that could work."
The other seven Magicians stared at Irish for a few seconds with obvious contempt in their gazes before Ben uttered in exasperation:
"I think that there might be something wrong with your head."
Irish turned to look at Ben who was at his left flank before replying:
"Hmph! You're just salty because you didn't think of a honey trap first. I bet that your sister would lose out to mine. I know that my sister is pretty because she looks like me."
Ben opened his eyes wide and his mouth slightly hung open in response to Irish's words, not able to reply to him:
"..."
The other six Magicians simply shook their heads disapprovingly after hearing Irish's arrogant words and ignored him from then on, staying quiet until Nick was ready to give them instructions.
Nick completed his extraction of the calamity lilies in fourteen hours after non-stop work. His subordinates had not moved from their positions in front of the facility even after it became dark, so that they would not miss a moment of watching Nick collect the luck path plants. Nick mused:
(That should be about seven thousand healthy calamity lilies that I collected. Sigh, there were actually hundreds that had defects and some kind of magical rot and so the yield was not as high as I thought it would be. I am still completely ignorant of luck path, so I should have expected that there is a failure rate involved in cultivating calamity lilies using my magic formation. The failure rate seems low, though; I don't feel too bad about it.)
The defective calamity lilies all turned to a yellow paste that smelt like feces when he tried to extract them along with the top soil. Nick hesitated for a while each time this happened, but ultimately stored all the foul smelling yellow paste that he gained into his newer space band for future assessment and experimentation.
It was now night time within Forgotten Peril, but Nick had no intention of getting any rest. He quickly supplied his Absorb Life Battle Formation with more magic materials to make sure that it would keep operating for a few years on its own at the very least.
At this time, the Absorb Life Battle Formation spread its fog towards every magic material that Nick summoned from his space band and at his internal command, assimilated the magic materials like ice falling into boiling water.
As soon as Nick was done supplying the magic formation with materials, a bright, blue flash of light then enveloped him and vanished within moments along with Nick himself. The blue light reappeared in front of Nick's subordinates a moment later and when it abated, Nick reappeared in its place, emitting a stifling space path aura. His subordinates expressions became tense, but before they could utter a coherent word, Nick gave an order:
"Get in gear. We are returning to Grand Earth immediately."
**************************************
A man wearing a luxurious-looking, black, Gothic magician's robe sat at his desk completing documents by using his favourite black, antique ball-point pen. This man seemed to be of western-European descent, and had a head full of straight, black hair that reached down to the nape of his neck. The man looked to be in his early forties, his skin was pale-white, he had a high nose bridge and ominous, dark eyes.
The room that he was sitting in was mostly colored black and also had a Gothic style that would fill anyone who saw it with an ominous feeling. The room had two dark leather sofas that flanked a circular, black lumber coffee table stationed at the center of the room at opposite sides. The four walls were lined with bookshelves, which strangely enough, featured only black-colored books.
The room also featured a black and grey carpet that covered the entire floor. At one end of the room, near the middle of a wall, the man remained composed while his black lumber desk slightly glistened with black luster under the influence of the strange twinkling black lights hovering below the seemingly glass-like ceiling.
After a few minutes of looking at one set of documents out of the several dozen that he had stacked into five piles on his desk, the man stopped writing on the documents, and stared at them for a while, making sure to pay careful attention to the photo of a man on one of the documents. Using a grave tone, he spoke after several minutes of contemplation, still looking seriously at the document:
"Reyphas, I want you to go out on an errand for me."
A youthful, but emotionless, male voice then replied from seemingly out of nowhere since there was no other indication that someone else was present in the room with the man:
"Sir Shooster. You know that I do not like going on errands. Send someone else."
The man that was called Shooster lifted his head up, away from the documents before sternly rebuking:
"If you have time to hang around in your superior's office without permission, then you have time to go on an errand. I was not asking you, I was commanding you."
The youthful voice sighed before its owner apparently relented using a strangely flippant yet bland tone:
"Fine. What's the errand, Sir Shooster?"
Shooster replied plainly:
"I will send you the full details to your cellphone in short order. For now, go to London, England. Our Order of the United Realms have to make sure that people do not forget their obligations to us."
The youthful voice made a brief, almost robotic-sounding response:
"Oh…ha, ha. Right…"
The youthful voice soon could not be heard. Shooster then placed the set of documents that he had been eyeing in the top draw of his desk, on his right side. He muttered after that:
"That boy is getting harder and harder to discover once he conceals himself in the room. It is hard to believe that he is just rank 3 initial stage. I have to make greater efforts to place magical traps in my office in the future. As for the errand…just a typical warning to an ignorant young Magician."
*************************************
After Nick and his eight rank 2 subordinates used his space path magic formation that was laid on the plateau, they returned safely to Nick's workspace within The Realm Exploration Company's building. Nick immediately contacted Carl Ogilvie, so that he and his teams could begin to prepare for the work of processing the calamity lilies.
The work day had just started and Carl was filled with energy. He spoke to Nick enthusiastically using his smartphone before hanging up:
"Consider it already done, Nick."
Nick also contacted Hank Turner and told him about his latest harvest and the impending sales opportunity. Hank spoke with confidence in response to Nick's notice:
"I'll sell them as fast as I can for as high as I can. Don't worry about a thing."
Nick soon hung up his smartphone and dismissed his eight rank 2 subordinates, who were all too happy to have some free time away from the office after having been stationed in the wilderness for over two years; they quickly and all at once left the basement floor using the elevator after Nick sent a confirmation text to James, his head of security.
Nick did not waste his time and sat in one of his office chairs to meditate, thinking:
(When Carl's teams are ready to start the processing, I'll go deliver the harvested calamity lilies and oversee the use of the Calamity Processing Formation. I need to make more progress during this period or I'm just wasting my time...)
One and a half weeks passed. During this time, Nick's workers processed and packaged a little over seven thousand calamity lilies to be sold. Two weeks later, all the calamity lilies had been sold to various companies through Hank's efforts. Hank had decided to sell the calamity lilies relatively slowly this time to increase the demand for them, and by extension, their price after each sale of a batch of a few hundred calamity lilies.
During these periods, besides occasionally checking on the processing and sale of the calamity lilies, Nick mostly meditated within his basement workspace. At the end of the three and a half weeks, The Realm Exploration Company had earned over 75 vatas in revenue from the sale of all the calamity lilies.
Nick, who was currently sitting cross-legged on the concrete floor of his workspace, and wearing a plain-white polo shirt, a pair of white ankle socks and a pair of light-blue jeans, jumped to his feet and stretched both his arms towards their respective flanks. After a few seconds, he placed his arms at his sides and proceeded to breathe in and out deeply.
Nick had spent hundreds of hours meditating within his workspace since he had returned from Forgotten Peril, and so he currently felt full of vitality as his magic energy coursed throughout his body.
(Tyrant Armor.)
Nick's entire body briefly flashed with dull-red and black sparks of magic power before they dissipated as if they had never appeared in the first place. He mused:
(Using Tyrant Armor has gotten easier in past months. At the very least, outside of meditation, I can keep the spell active and minimize its magical pressure on the surroundings, so that I can even use the spell freely around non-magicians. You never know when some crazy bastard is going to show up to test my patience now that my company is succeeding…)
Nick did not forget the instances of Magicians showing up to his company building to cause him problems. The most recent instance involving Gilman Crocker, who had basically extorted him, was still fresh in his mind. Nick resolved aloud:
"I need to be ready to fight at any time."
Nick then turned his thoughts towards his future plans:
(I should contact Bianca now, and get her to begin crafting a new magic tool using the carcass of the rank 3 space path baboon magic beast that I killed in Reckless State. That magic beast was really strong, so I wonder how much she will charge me this time. In any case, after I meet up with her, I'll probably begin doing some research in the new facility within Reckless State. I have got a few new ideas…)
Nick waved his right hand, and summoned a pair of laceless, black dress shoes from his older space band at his feet. After spending a short time putting his shoes on, he began walking towards the elevator, intending to make a phone call to Bianca while he rode it to his fourth floor office.
Before he even reached within two meters of the elevator, however, Nick shivered and felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Immediately after, he turned around and spoke with undisguised malice in his tone while keeping his expression indifferent:
"I do not know how exactly you were able to infiltrate this building, and find your way down here without getting caught, or how long you have been here, but none of that matters. You'll die here for sure for your bravery."
While Nick made his threat to seemingly no one, he thought:
(Someone is here, and I did not notice them until now. Their magic power is extremely faint, but I can somehow sense that a portion of the space on this floor is being influenced by profound magic.)
For about a minute, Nick's threat was followed by an awkward silence. Nick stood on the spot, looking over his surroundings while using the power of Tyrant Sense to locate the intruder. He, however, found nothing of note. But soon, an emotionless male voice sounded from seemingly out of nowhere:
"Your scouting method can't locate me, so how did you even know that I was here? Premonition? Instinct? You are emitting a strong soul path aura. Did you somehow sense my Soul?"
Nick took two steps forward, after which, he replied to the voice:
"Don't think that you can start interrogating me because you have a slight concealment advantage. Who are you?"
There was another minute of awkward silence, in which Nick continued to scout the space warily. He mused during this time:
(Magic…you never know what the hell is going to turn its ugly head at you. This person is not simple. They can not only conceal themselves from a rank 3 scouting method, they can even emit their voice without revealing their position. Although I know a faint, strange magic power is present in the room, I cannot find its exact position. This stalemate cannot continue for much longer. I should lure the person out of hiding with my power.)
When Nick was about to use greater measures against the intruder, the emotionless voice sounded again:
"You are really patient. If I did this to any of my colleagues, they would of already destroyed this room in a vain attempt to find me. Then again, hardly any of my colleagues would of noticed me while I remained hidden. You went to Richter Order Academy, right? Since when did that school produce people like you?"
Nick's right eyelid twitched after he heard the voice casually ask him about his former school. He decided to act to intimidate the intruder before any advantage that he had now was lost as time past.
(Soul Haze.)
Nick's body surged with soul magic power, following which, a relatively thin, black haze was emitted from his body and quickly spread throughout the room, saturating it with his magic power. Nick then assured himself internally:
(Whoever this person is, this soul path and rule path spell will definitely draw them out. If not, I will eat my own right index finger.)
No sooner than the black haze had saturated the basement floor, the unknown voice sounded again, but this time its tone was filled with an indication of intense curiosity:
"Oh…a soul path method? This spell is not something that I can ignore even with my concealment active. Where did you obtain a rank 3 spell like this one? Do you have connections with high ranking members of the Magicians Association or do you have a powerful inheritance? Maybe you have already aligned yourself with a strong legacy family, but I find that unlikely in your case. Nicely done. I'll show you something interesting for your troubles."
Nick was getting sick of hearing the unknown voice:
(This guy is a talker for sure. I don't like them much. He sounds like he is about to finally make a move. I have to be ready for anything.)
Nick used Tyrant Sense's power to its absolute limit in scouting the room, so that he would not be surprised by attacks coming from any direction, and would be able to strike at his enemy wherever they appeared.
Unexpectedly, however, instead of attacking Nick directly, the intruder decided to do something else. Nick quickly observed the surfaces of the walls, ceiling and floor ripple like what you would see in a disturbed pond; even his Spatial Awareness talent was feeding him images of the ripples all over the room but not of the person who caused the phenomenon. Nick was alarmed:
(This person can hide from the effects of Spatial Awareness. Doing that while using such strong light path magic is peculiar. At the very least, I now know that I am dealing with a rank 3 initial stage Magician…)
While Nick thought about the characteristics of the intruder's magic, the black haze that spread throughout the room began to be absorbed into its rippling surfaces at visible speed, and faster than Nick was emitting the haze.
(Opaque Mirror - Temporary Seal)
Nick gritted his teeth as he watched that in just four seconds, most of his Soul Haze had been swallowed up by the intruder's method, but even then the room's surfaces continued to ripple. Nick could not help asking aloud:
"What kind of light path magic is this?"
Nick was confused. Based on the magic power that he sensed influencing the room, he was absolutely sure that his opponent was using purely light magic but this light path spell did not have the typical presentation of light path at all. He thought:
(The floor, walls and ceiling are rippling but there is no other observable change; from what I can tell, they are still solid. Is this really light path magic and where did my Soul Haze go, I cannot sense any of it that has been absorbed?)
Since Nick would not be able to get an answer to his question by simply observing the effects of the intruder's spell, he decided to act further, and deal with the intruder before the circumstances got out of his control.
(Tyrant Domain.)
Following the casting of Nick's spell, the entire basement floor was instantly tainted with a slightly grey hue, and the ripples on the floor, ceiling and walls decreased in number and speed of movement by at least half. Nick then clenched his right hand, and under his space magic's influence the ripples were suppressed completely, disappearing from view.
The unknown voice immediately sounded with much surprise embedded in its tone, different from the previously emotionless tone:
"Well…this is interesting. I thought that you were a Soul Magician, but your affinity with space magic is clearly far greater than soul magic. Suppressing my Opaque Mirror spell like this, this has never happened to me before. Alright, you win, I can't continue hiding after that show of power."
Nick suddenly sensed a surge in magic power directly above him, and so he looked up at the meter-long-radius area where new ripples had appeared. Nick squinted his eyes as he watched a man that seemed to be in his late twenties gradually emerge from the rippling ceiling until three seconds later, the man stood upside down with ripples at his feet, staring squarely into Nick's eyes. Nick made serious eye contact with the intruder in response.
The man had a head full of short, curly black hair, olive-colored skin, dark eyes and wore a fitted three-piece dress suit that included a pair of black pants, a black jacket and a purple dress shirt. Nick soon cursed at the man:
"Who the fuck are you?"
Instead of immediately replying with words, the intruder released his eye contact with Nick, and looked from side to side. He then spoke plainly while his suit began to ripple like how the room's surfaces had previously rippled:
"This space magic is stifling. If we met in the field, and you were my enemy, I would risk life and limb to kill you with my magic. Since that is not he case now, I'll just shake you up a bit."
Nick slightly frowned before spitting on the floor, and then staring at the intruder again, said afterwards:
"Shameless boasting."
The intruder smiled lightly before quickly raising his right hand, at which point, the ripples on his clothes intensified in their movement by two times. The intruder's formless magic power then immediately surged, following which, Nick sensed his perspective being suddenly altered, making him a little nauseous.
Before Nick could react, he found himself standing on the ceiling of his workspace, but the intruder was now nowhere to be seen. Confused, Nick immediately began manipulating Tyrant Sense's power to assess the situation. While he did that, however, he heard the intruder's voice clearly:
"Opaque Mirror - Identical Domain"
Following those words, Nick heard a loud hand clap and following that, his left arm suddenly vanished, leaving a shadowy stump at his left shoulder. Nick, surprised, muttered in frustration:
"I can't feel or sense my left arm anymore. What happened to my Tyrant Domain?"