Chapter 1584 – New – Old Friends

[And that’s how we ended up here,] the mage concludes.

[Well… you’re more than welcome, I suppose. We need all the help we can get out here. Things are… oh snap!]

I barely pause to calculate before launching another empowered gravity bomb. The dense ball of mucus sails through the air towards the platform, only to be met halfway by my own spell. As always, the two collide in a hideous, noisy mess, the mana colliding violently until finally they chew through each other. They’ve been getting more and more frequent. Whoever is out there launching these bombs is really pushing it. Trying to push my reserves, perhaps? If so, they’re in for a sad time. I can make as much gravity mana as I want, and my mental fatigue is washed away each and every second! I’m fresh as a daisy out here!

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. I may not be tired, I may be mentally sharp, but my nerves are getting worse and worse. Also, the kids are really starting to get annoying. The longer I go without sleep, the more they stare at me. It’s getting creepy. Every time I shift my head, I see them, staring. Sometimes they’re nearby, in a group of soldiers, or perhaps far away, with the reserves, watching. And then, sometimes, they’re right next to me, somehow sneaking up and slipping into my nearly non-existent blindspots.

Only an ant could teach them how to sneak up on an ant! Lousy nameless ones.

[What was that?!] Mage Werilos asks, aghast. [A Doom Sphere of mucus?]

[Uh… well, yes. I suppose so. It’s super-concentrated mana of the fifth stratum, rolled up into a tight little ball and then launched at the platform from range. What did you call it?]

[A Doom Sphere,] he replies. [That’s what they’re called, right? A hyper dense, self sustaining sphere of uniform mana.]

[I mean… maybe? Are you telling me this kind of spell has… an official name?]

[Well… yes. I assumed you knew, since you use them.]

[I just came across it randomly when I was younger! I used a sphere of densely packed neutral mana to blast a monster, then started using my… uh… own personal brand of energy, which seemed to fit very well with the spell.]

I mean, it’s been my trump card for a long time. I never would have made it this far without it.

[Well… it’s a known spellform. They aren’t exactly complex, just extremely difficult to cast. Very taxing on the mind. Most mages don’t consider them worth the effort.]

I mean… yeah, they’re extremely difficult to cast. Forcing the mana to be that dense feels like clenching your teeth until they fuse together. It’s gotten easier, though, I assume because my brains have become so large and mighty.

[Why wouldn’t they be worth it? They’re rather powerful.]

[Well… they’re not exactly discriminating forms of magic. Hard to control, require a huge amount of mana and mental energy. Even at the higher tiers of magic, you can still cast spells that are easier to work with and allow for more control.]

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[And have the same effect?]

I doubt it. If everyone was flinging spells around that were equal to the gravity bomb, then it wouldn’t have been so effective for so long. Even so, I’m curious as to how much Rathwyn Werilos is prepared to say. He’s supposedly a respected mage from one of the premier places of magic in the entire Dungeon. If this guy isn’t an expert, then nobody is.

Of course, I’m sure there are limits to how much he can talk about with intelligent monsters.