Zenith of Sorcery

Hishur

Marcus had expected there would be serious consequences from his brief jaunt to another world. Great Sea probably wouldn't be able to detect the rift, since they clearly couldn't detect the dead giant's space beneath the tower either – the place probably shielded itself from detection, and that would likely extend to any rift opened from within there. However, while Great Sea wouldn't know he had gone to another world, they would likely notice he had left the region again.

He wasn't supposed to do that. It wouldn't have surprised him if he came back to find an irate Great Sea emissary nearby, demanding he explain himself.

Instead, the situation turned out to be much, much worse. The moment he stepped out of the rift, he was immediately beset by his remaining students. It was not a joyful greeting of someone who missed him, but a panicked rush of a group seeking reassurance from their leader. Marcus had experienced this sort of situation many times during the Academy War, and so he knew immediately that something had gone horribly wrong while he was away.

All of his students were inside the tower, as were a number of other adults. Helvran he could easily understand, but there was also his friend Beortan, as well as four mages from Great Tree Academy – Titus and three others who Marcus did not recognize.

Most of his students were crowding around him, talking over each other in panicked tones. The only exception was Iris, who was staring at something in the distance through a window. She gave him a brief glance, looking completely unsurprised to see him back, and then turned back to whatever had captured her attention.

As for the rest, they were saying something about a… siege?

What?

"Everyone, calm down!" he ordered.

It took a few tries, but he managed to calm them down and get them to speak one by one and explain things. He was told that while he was away, multiple foreign groups had come over, ostensibly seeking to talk with him. When they found him absent, they set up camps just outside the tower, surrounding the tower and stopping his students from venturing out or getting supplies from the outside world.

Marcus didn't believe these people happened to have visited his tower coincidentally while he was away. They came here precisely because he was away. Evidently it wasn't just the Great Sea Academy who was tracking his movements.

He strode forth towards the nearest window, where Iris was looking into the distance. She silently stepped to the side, making space for him. He peered through the opening and could immediately see groups of tents outside his base, just outside of the range of his wards. The tents were large, colorful, and luxurious-looking, clearly belonging to powerful, wealthy people.

The two main tents both had flags above them, making it very obvious who they belonged to. One was a light blue flag with a crossed hammer and a lightning bolt. The lightning bolt symbol was enchanted and periodically flashed with bright bluish-white light. The other flag was purple, with a white outline of a mountain peak in the center. It had no obvious magic from this distance, but based on Marcus's previous experience, it could probably be used to exert invisible pressure on anyone in the vicinity if the flag controller wished so.

Great academies were fond of making magical flags like this to remind others of their power and prestige.

The buildings he had made around the tower and the fields he established were untouched. His students had wisely decided to abandon them for the relative safety of the tower itself, but it didn't seem like his "guests" had vandalized them so far. Unfriendly as they were, they clearly weren't willing to go too far.

"So it's just forces from Crystal Mountain Academy and Giant Thunder Hall, then?" Marcus asked out loud, directing his question to the adults in the room.

"You want even more enemies on your doorstep?" Beortan asked jokingly.

"I would expect at least Great Sea Academy to be here as well," Marcus said. "Are they seriously letting this happen? This is their territory."

"Yes, they really are," Beortan said, sounding a little frustrated. "I came over as soon as I heard what was happening, but there is no sign anyone else from Adria is coming over to help. They are probably just going to sit back and watch how things unfold."

"Both the forces of the Crystal Mountain Academy and Giant Thunder Hall arrived at roughly the same time," Helvran noted. "Thankfully, my raven was already out in the woods when they trapped us in here, so I was able to contact Klukas and his group through him, who then contacted Beortan and Titus on our behalf."

"They haven't really attacked anyone yet," Beortan said. "They are 'just' camping outside the tower and being a nuisance. This is probably the excuse the Great Sea leadership is going to use about being so slow to act."

"It's ridiculous," Titus spat. "This is an invasion! What kind of worthless overlord would let something like this slide?"

"Are you going to do anything about this? Would your minor academy really rebel if the gathered forces killed you here and turned this place into a charred ruin?" Beortan challenged him. Titus stewed in silence, but said nothing. "I don't like this either, but Gaius clearly thinks he can get away with this, and he's probably right."

There would definitely be consequences if that happened, Marcus felt. However, a lot of the blame would probably fall on Marcus himself, rather than Gaius. The consul would probably claim he thought Marcus would handle things personally, being such a powerful mage and all.

"Do they have spirit-rank adepts in their… delegations?" Marcus asked.

"Yes," Helvran said. "Crystal Mountain Academy has Headmaster Hishur leading the group, while Giant Thunder Hall sent an elder named Horik."

Horik… Marcus knew that name. He had defeated Horik's war party during the war and made him flee. He was definitely not a friend of his.

As for Hishur, he was a young spirit adept, a rising star of the Crystal Mountain Academy. Marcus only learned of him after coming back from his exile and talking with people. There shouldn't be any personal grudges between them.

"It's odd that Crystal Mountain Academy sent their leader to do this," Marcus remarked, frowning.

"You probably know this, but they're not in the best shape," Beortan noted.

Marcus hummed, still confused at the choice. He could understand Crystal Mountain Academy nursing a bit of a grudge, but sending the leader of an entire academy like this was a pretty bold move. It made it impossible for Crystal Mountain Academy to distance itself from this move if it ended up going south. He usually thought of Giant Thunder Hall as the more reckless organization, but they seemed to be taking this far more cautiously and sensibly.

"If they have spirit manifestation mages in their group, they could have attacked the place before Beortan arrived," Marcus reasoned. "So they're after something else."

"Actually, Giant Thunder Hall did want to attack us," Helvran said.

"Yeah!" Volesus added from the back. His students were listening to the conversation, but mostly seemed content to let the adults talk. "They… they openly talked about killing us all and stuff!"

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "And the Crystal Mountain Academy?"

"Headmaster Hishur refused to participate in any attack on us, but he also said the Giant Thunder Hall were free to do as they wished," Helvran noted. "Thankfully, a third party got involved. A spirit-ranked warrior adept called Timijan, from a minor faction called the White Pine Mercenary Guild, came to visit you and was present when these two arrived. He sided with us when the Giant Thunder Hall started making aggressive moves, and since he is a spirit-ranked adept, he managed to make them back off."

Timijan… after a few seconds, Marcus realized who Helvran was talking about. It was that guy blocking the roads towards the coast, making trouble for Crystal Mountain Academy.

Headmaster Hishur must have really enjoyed seeing him here…

"I know who Timijan is," Marcus admitted.

"Though he did make Giant Thunder Hall back off, I'm not sure he's a friend. He did say he wanted to fight you," Helvran noted. He paused for a moment. "He also said you promised him a fight."

Maybe? Kind of?

"Anyway," said Marcus, changing the subject, "I can also see some other people further in the distance, separate from everyone else. What's that about?"

"Harpy Feather Academy and the Academy of the Sacred Hearth," said Iris from the side. "Vultures looking for scraps."

Ah yes. The two local powers. Klukas and the others said they used to make trouble for the Amethyst Academy. No doubt they were watching closely how this situation would unfold. It was smart to do so, but there was also some truth in Iris's comment – fishing in troubled waters was a time-honored tradition among adepts. If they could reap some kind of minor benefit out of the wreckage once the two powers were done with Marcus's tower, they doubtlessly would.

There was a brief moment of silence as Marcus considered what to do next.

"What do we do?" Claudia whined impatiently behind him.

He gave her a mildly annoyed look.

"Now I march out and tell these invaders to clear out and go home," Marcus said. He glanced at Beortan and Titus. "I'm going to need your help for this. Can you back me up out there?"

Marcus was highly tempted to simply attack Giant Thunder Hall, since they actually voiced a desire to hurt his students, but the fact was… they didn't actually do it in the end. He should at least give Horik a chance to explain himself before escalating things.

"Of course. I didn't come over here just to leave now," Beortan said. "You need to know something, though. The reason I didn't just disperse all these people myself is that Hishur claims to be a spirit unification mage, just like me."

"Ah," Marcus nodded.

"I'm good, but Hishur has a fearsome reputation," Beortan told him. "I figured it was best to be careful and wait."

Marcus took half an hour to switch some of the spells he was attuned to, changed his simple wooden staff to his real combat one, and then left the tower with Beortan. Titus and his men stayed behind to guard his students, just in case some of the subordinate mages and warriors tried to take them hostage or hurt them while Marcus and Beortan were busy fighting the spirit rank mages.

Before he left, he saw Titus conjure an illusory screen that followed Marcus's movements, allowing him to watch what was happening from inside the tower. His students immediately crowded around it, eager to see the confrontation with their own eyes too.

Marcus could have easily disrupted the spell, but opted not to.

He wondered what his uninvited guests would think about him suddenly walking out of the tower. Teleportation wasn't a thing on Tasloa, so it would almost certainly imply he somehow got past their siege without them detecting it, no? Well, they could think whatever they like – Marcus certainly wasn't going to explain anything.

Actually, what did Beortan and Titus think about this? Had Helvran and his students explained to them what was happening with him? They hadn't seemed too shocked to see him in the tower…

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. There would be time to worry about such things later.

For now, he had uninvited guests to expel from his domain.

* * * *

Marcus hadn't even reached any of the tents when both of the groups moved to meet him. It was clear they were on the lookout for any movements around the tower.

There were about twenty people facing Marcus – seven from Crystal Mountain Academy, and thirteen from Giant Thunder Hall. He also spotted Timijan approaching the gathering with relaxed, confident steps. He appeared to be alone, and didn't seem as hostile to Marcus as the two main groups were. It was hard to tell, because he had a sort of wild appearance that naturally hinted at violence and aggression, but it seemed to Marcus that he was not itching for a fight.

Unlike the other two groups. The group from Crystal Mountain and the one from Thunder Hall were both glowering and making faces at him and Beortan, staves and weapons at the ready, looking like they were about to rush at them at any moment if given the word.

They also kept giving each other wary glances, however, and the two groups kept each other firmly separate. That was encouraging, since it suggested this was not a unified front and more of an alliance of convenience.

Marcus focused his attention towards Hishur, since he seemed to be the highest ranked adept on the opposing side. The man was imposingly built, being very tall and muscular, more like a warrior adept than a mage. This impression was not helped by the staff he carried, which looked more like a two-handed mace than a typical focusing tool. He had a long sculpted beard, and wore a surprisingly plain brown robe – it was decorated with golden thread here and there, but that was still too mundane for someone of his position. It seemed Hishur was a practical sort, eschewing grandeur and luxury. It gave Marcus a somewhat favorable impression of the man, since it reminded him a little of himself.

Alas, it didn't seem like Hishur was similarly impressed with Marcus, because he was giving him a stony, unfriendly look, and his posture suggested he was ready to fight. He clearly had very strong opinions in regards to Marcus.

"What a sight this is," Marcus told the man. "Crystal Mountain Academy and Giant Thunder Hall working together on something. I never thought I'd see the day."

Crystal Mountain and Thunder Hall were traditional enemies with one another. They competed for control of the same general region, fighting over the resources of the Bloodstone Mountains and trying to sabotage each other. It had been this way for a very long time, and it was unusual to see them cooperate in anything, much less something like this.

"These are just some stray dogs that trailed after me, hoping to catch a few scraps of meat," Hishur said, glancing at the Thunder Hall party contemptuously for a moment before returning his attention to Marcus. "I have nothing with them being here."

"Bold words for someone who didn't have the guts to attack this place when we first got here," Horik said, sneering at the man. He pointed at Timijan, who had arrived at the gathering by now. "You even let this rogue get involved. Even though he's from your territory, you seem to have no control over him at all. How weak Crystal Mountain has become. Pathetic."

Horik was an aging man in his sixties, one of his eyes ruined and covered by an eye-patch, and many old scars visible all over his skin. His hair was greying, and unlike Hishur, he dressed in a manner that made his station very clear to everyone around him. He was wearing a brilliantly blue robe - richly decorated with golden thread and jeweled buttons. A long cape with the insignia of his personal family crest was attached to his shoulders, and he held an elaborate staff, which had a golden fist clutching a power stone at the top.

From what he knew, Horik had not miraculously advanced in ranks while Marcus was away from the Silver League, so he didn't feel particularly threatened by him. That said, Horik was known to have been absolutely vicious during the war, infamous for massacring groups of weaker adepts or even unarmed civilians. He was an incredibly good flyer and had a number of strange movement abilities and spells that allowed him to outmaneuver other mages to strike at their weak point, and could always retreat if things went south for him. Marcus was sure he could defeat Horik, but he wasn't sure he could finish him off. Giant Thunder Hall probably sent him here because they knew he would be able to retreat no matter what.

Marcus pointed his finger at Horik, causing it to glow with crackling lightning. All of the Thunder Hall adepts around him immediately stepped back from their leader and assumed combat positions, but Horik himself just scowled at Marcus's move.

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"You should thank your personal god you weren't able to hurt my students while I was away, Butcher of Irongate," Marcus told him. "You fled with your tail between your legs the last time we fought. All the running in the world would not save you this time."

"Bah! Do you know how many people I have plotting my downfall?" Horik said. "What's one more? Honestly, if I wanted your students dead, do you think they'd still be breathing? This Timijan of yours is only one man, and I have twelve others accompanying me. While I was fighting him, they could have gone ahead and taken care of a few defenseless brats."

"You underestimate me!" Timijan shouted from the side. "I am a practitioner of the White Pine Technique. Protection is one of the cornerstones of my path!"

Marcus had never heard of this White Pine Technique, but he did know that pine trees were often associated with the sticky resin they bled when damaged, and this in turn made them associated with amber and protection. Maybe he really could have protected his students, especially with Helvran's help.

"Hmph," Marcus said, lowering his hand and dismissing the offensive spell. "So why are you here, then? Just to provoke me?"

"We want our Orb of Flight back," Horik said.

"No," said Marcus simply. "Anything else?"

"Don't be so hasty, former general," Horik said, a nasty smile on his face. "We can all see the lack of response by your superiors, how precarious your position really is. Only your personal friends came over to help you. You're making a powerful enemy and you can't protect your students forever. What about the next time you need to leave them for a while? Or the next?"

"Your Giant Thunder Hall is full of petty raiders and lunatics like you. Giving you the orb wouldn't make you any less likely to target me – it would just tell you I'm an easy target for further extortions," Marcus said, unmoved by the threat. "The Orb of Flight is mine. If you want it back, you better cough up something of equal value in return. Otherwise, stop wasting my time and get off my backyard."

"Enough," Hishur suddenly said. "You can argue with the dogs from Thunder Hall later. I was here first and I want to speak with you."

"I haven't forgotten you, Headmaster Hishur," Marcus said, turning towards him. "Let's not beat around the bush. You're here for the tablets, aren't you? Let me ask you bluntly – if I hand them over to you right now, are you going to leave this place quietly and bury this grudge for good?"

The silence stretched for several seconds. Hishur's six subordinates seemed surprised at his words, as was everyone else – the group from Giant Thunder Hall, Timijan, and even Beortan. It was not common knowledge that Marcus had gotten a pair of heritage tablets from Crystal Mountain Academy. Understandably, they weren't too keen on advertising this, even if they were unhappy about the matter. And even people who knew, like Beortan, were surprised that Marcus was willing to entertain just giving them back like this. It wasn't how Marcus generally operated.

However, the one person who didn't look surprised was Headmaster Hishur. He simply stared at Marcus, meeting his gaze with a silent, unreadable expression. He didn't answer Marcus's question.

In a way, though, that silence was its own answer.

"I see. So in the end, there is no way to resolve this without a fight," Marcus remarked. "It's just as well. To tell you the truth, I have been itching to fight you from the moment I saw you here."

Although it may not have looked like it, Marcus was actually far more furious about Crystal Mountain Academy being here like this than he was about Giant Thunder Hall. Yes, he had been somewhat opportunistic in demanding heritage tablets from them in exchange for saving them, but at the end of the day, he had saved their academy. Surely that counted for something? Yet, here they were, allowing Giant Thunder Hall to set up a base on his doorstep, behaving like it was none of their business if they slaughtered Marcus's students. Marcus expected them to be angry, but they weren't implacable enemies, and there were some lines that shouldn't be crossed.

If Marcus had been in his shoes, he would have chased off Giant Thunder Hall and then demanded the tablets (plus interest) when Marcus came back, as payment for helping. That would have been an appropriate way of getting back at him, no?

Hishur took a deep breath, straightening himself.

"Marcus King of the Great Sea Academy," Hishur said dramatically, pointing a finger towards him. He slammed his staff against the ground for emphasis, sending out ripples of magical vibrations throughout the area. "I, Headmaster Hishur of the Crystal Mountain Academy, challenge you to a fight for the ownership of the heritage tablets you took from us!"

Marcus didn't bother to answer with words. Instead, without any warning, he launched himself forward with blinding speed, enveloped in a field of crackling blue energy. Hishur barely had time to widen his eyes in surprise before Marcus barreled into him and swept him off his feet, carrying them both off into the distance and away from the tower.

Hishur wanted a fight?

He would have one.

* * * *

Marcus flew into the air and the earth rose to meet him. A dozen rocky hands burst forth from the ground with blinding speed, grasping at him, trying to pull him into a gaping hole beneath him. A shockwave of kinetic force burst forth from him in all directions, visible only as a faint distortion in the air, and they all fell apart into gravel and were blasted away in every direction.

Marcus immediately launched his own offensive against Hishur, firing a bolt of lightning at him, so packed with power that its light was blinding. Without even waiting to see the result of it, he immediately followed it up with a swarm of fast-moving red motes that made the entire area around Hishur erupt into explosions.

Hishur hadn't been idle either, and Marcus had to dodge a couple of high-speed boulders flung at him, as well as erect a force field to defend against a barrage of shining gems that detonated on impact into a variety of energies.

The Gem Bomb spell… the tablets Marcus had gotten from Crystal Mountain had records of it, but he found it to be impractically expensive, since it burned through magical gems like crazy. Apparently Hishur didn't find the expense too much of an issue.

Marcus was not holding back much in this fight. Hishur was a spirit unification mage after all, and the defining trait of that rank was that mages had begun to fuse their spirit with their mind and body. That, in turn, allowed them to use spells on themselves with incredible power and efficiency. With access to the right spells of enhancement, defense, and transformation, a spirit unification mage could become several times more difficult to kill.

Hishur had access to the right spells. Marcus could tell he had only recently advanced to the spirit unification rank, but Crystal Mountain Academy was famed for their defensive magic, and they benefited particularly strongly from reaching this rank. Despite using powerful offensive magic on him, Marcus had failed to give the man so much as a scratch.

Then again, neither did Hishur succeed in hurting Marcus.

The two men stared at each other for a moment, assessing each other after the initial clash.

"You are not a spirit manifestation mage," Hishur said.

"If I'm not wrong, you are practicing Unbreakable Diamond Wall as your foundational technique, right?" Marcus asked, ignoring his statement. "I thought that Crystal Mountain couldn't find anyone capable of resonating with that."

Instead of answering, Hishur slammed the ground with his mace-staff, causing the earth on both sides of Marcus to rise up and try to crush him into paste. However, Marcus moved out of the way by rushing at Hishur with the same spell he had used to initiate combat and bring them both here, to this isolated clearing.

This time, Hishur was ready for him, and simply side-stepped the charge, swinging his mace at Marcus in the same movement.

Marcus had more control over his movement in this state than Hishur realized, however. He swerved to the side, evading the strike, and slammed his staff against the ground. A slow-moving wave of yellow energy erupted from him, expanding in all directions.

Hishur could have easily evaded that, but, as Marcus had hoped he would, he trusted his unbreakable body to shrug off the attack.

The seismic wave washed over Hishur, but the effect was far more underwhelming than Marcus had hoped. The man in front of him shuddered and swayed, but seemed only mildly affected.

Seismic energy attacks were not something Marcus had picked up from Crystal Mountain heritage tablets, so he had high hopes that Hishur would have no experience with them… but he was wrong. The man was either enough of an earth magic expert to deal with them, or Crystal Mountain's defensive magic was even better than rumors said it was.

Hishur suddenly erupted into a nova of kinetic energy, blasting Marcus away from him. However, it turned out that he hadn't done so randomly, because the moment Marcus stabilized himself, he realized he had been blown away into a carefully laid trap.

A web of thin crystal bars started forming a mesh of sorts around him, rapidly enclosing him inside some kind of construct.

A deadly trap for someone else, perhaps, but Hishur was a fool for trying to use crystal magic against someone who had been learning it as well. Marcus poked the mesh in different places with his staff, channeling some of his mana at it, and the Crystal Prison spell immediately fell apart, the mesh collapsing impotently to the ground.

Marcus decided to use some crystal magic of his own. He took out a handful of red gems from his pocket and threw them into the air, levitating them telekinetically with his shaping skill. They quickly formed a simple array behind him, resonating with the spell he was already casting and amplifying it.

Hishur was already attacking him again, launching more stone hands at him, but Marcus didn't try to defend this time. Instead, he simply finished his spell, causing a massive vortex of fire and scorching air to erupt out of his outstretched hands and rush at Hishur. It washed over the incoming rock hands, melting them into slag and blasting them away; it melted the ground above which it flew, despite not touching it, and set the nearby trees ablaze.

Visibly surprised at the ferocity of the spell, Hishur caused two ribbons of earth to spiral out of the ground around him, enveloping him inside a spiky dome of earth. But it was not enough – not enough to fully shield him from the blast. The fire vortex blasted his barrier away, melting and scattering it until it completely fell apart.

In the aftermath, Hishur was still there, crouching on the molten ground, clutching his mace tightly with both hands. He was alive… but not unharmed. His robe, no doubt enchanted with protective magic, had a number of big holes burned into it, and was smoking heavily. Hishur's skin was very red, as if he had spent far too much time in the sun.

Hishur rose to his feet slowly, seemingly unbothered by the molten ground he was standing on. The corner of his beard was burning slightly, but a quick gesture from Hishur snuffed the flame out.

The man looked very angry.

Marcus debated internally the merits of casting that spell again on him. It would be a little inefficient, but he thought he could make Hishur unable to continue fighting with another six or seven castings of the amplified fire vortex spell.

"I see my fears were well-founded," Hishur said. "You are far better at crystal magic than my fellow elders imagined. However, I've come here prepared!"

Hishur then took out an object that Marcus found strangely familiar – a large purple crystal the size of a human fist. It pulsed with faint inner light, matching the pace of Hishur's breathing.

This… wasn't this the same kind of purple stone that Marcus had recovered from that slime back in the dead giant's cave?

Suddenly, a lot of his old suspicions were confirmed.

"You're the one who killed the leader of the Amethyst Academy, aren't you?" Marcus asked him.

"So what if I did?" Hishur asked angrily.

Marcus chuckled at him.

"You came here all righteously angry that I extorted your academy a little, but now it turns out you outright murdered a man for his ancestral treasure. You destroyed an entire minor academy over it. Doesn't it strike you as a bit hypocritical?" Marcus told Hishur.

Hishur's face twisted into an outraged scowl.

"Extorted my academy 'a little'!?" He demanded angrily. "And what ancestral treasure!? The man was a nobody from a new academy he founded himself. He had nobody but himself to blame. He didn't have the strength to keep it, so this treasure didn't truly belong to him!"

"Hmph," Marcus said. "I got to say… I felt a little bad about fighting you until now, considering you do have some minor excuses to hate me." Hishur visibly gritted his teeth, looking like he was going to explode. The purple crystal in his hand flashed ominously. "However, you have done a great job in making me lose all respect for you. If you truly think that way, then I was also justified. Crystal Mountain Academy was simply too weak to keep its heritage tablets, and so they don't belong to you!"

"You have no idea what power I have at my command!" Hishur spat. He raised the purple crystal above his head, where it began to float with its own power. "That man wasn't even a spirit manifestation mage and couldn't make full use of the Soul Amethyst, but I! I am going to crush you!"

Soul Amethyst… Marcus made a mental note about the name of the crystal. That would make researching it far easier in the future.

The earth around Hishur suddenly exploded upward, lifting him into the air and wrapping itself around him and the purple crystal like a giant cocoon. In the blink of an eye, four giant arms burst from the cocoon, tearing it open and revealing Hishur's new form within.

It was a giant humanoid made out of glossy polished stone, at least four meters tall, with four muscular arms. One of them held Hishur's mace-staff, while the other three were armed with a variety of weapons – a sword, a spear, and an axe. All of the weapons had a purple crystalline edge to them.

The Soul Amethyst was still there, prominently visible due to being embedded in the forehead of the stone giant.

Though Marcus wasn't familiar with the powers of the Soul Amethyst or what kind of abilities this transformed Hishur had, he was pretty sure about one thing – the transformation was highly dependent on the power of the purple crystal.

And unlike the purple slime down in the dead giant's cave, Hishur kept his crystal out in the open, where Marcus could easily target it.

He grasped at one of the magical gems still floating beside him and cast what had long since become one of his favorite spells - Ebarti's Crystal Spear. One of the most powerful crystal spells in the heritage tablets he had gotten from Crystal Mountain, and one that only a seventh rank mage could truly cast. The gem quickly lengthened into a deceptively simple crystal spear.

Hishur recognized it immediately. Even on this new, statue-like form, the look of shock was unmistakable.

"N-no…" He said, sounding almost panicked. "No!"

The giant rushed at him, incredibly fast despite its size and weight, swinging its massive weapons at Marcus.

A shield of water suddenly materialized around Marcus, paper thin and comically fragile-looking. Yet, when the giant's weapons struck against it, the full force of their blow was reflected back at the attacking giant, causing it to stumble back.

Hishur wouldn't get another chance. Marcus hurled the crystal spear straight at the Soul Amethyst at the center of the giant's forehead, hitting it right in the center.

Amazingly – or perhaps not, considering its origins – it wasn't pierced through.

But it cracked. A web of cracks immediately formed along its entire surface.

Hishur's giant form let out a loud scream, its four arms dropping their weapons and clutching the head. It started to crumble to pieces, a series of large cracks spreading across its smooth, glossy skin, starting from the forehead and gradually spreading along its entire body. Finally, it burst into pieces that rained down all around the area, showering the area in shrapnel.

Some of the pieces rained down on Marcus, but he simply let them hit him, and they bounced off harmlessly from his clothes.

Hishur wasn't the only one who was incredibly tough in body. Marcus simply usually preferred things not hitting him, even if they objectively didn't have much chance of causing him damage, and so would dodge most attacks.

As the wreckage fell to the ground, some of it soon coalesced back into the familiar form of Hishur. He was kneeling on the ground, clutching his head, which was bleeding. The Soul Amethyst was on the ground beside him, cracked but still mostly intact. Hishur was panting heavily, and though his actual wounds looked fairly light, it was obvious he was in no position to fight Marcus anymore. Marcus strongly suspected that the damage he inflicted on the Soul Amethyst caused a massive backlash inside Hishur's soul and spirit, damaging them both.

Marcus formed another crystal spear and pointed it at Hishur, who gave him a resigned look.

"Yield," Marcus ordered.

"I… You have a microcosm," the man said lamely. "You're a seventh rank mage. Why… why…"

"Yield," Marcus repeated.

"I yield, I yield," Hishur said. "Do with me as you wish."

Marcus nodded to him silently… and then dismissed the crystal spear.

He was angry at Hishur, but he had no intention of killing him.

"My rise to power was greatly helped by Crystal Mountain's heritage and spells, even if you didn't help me entirely willingly. So I will be merciful this time, despite your hostility. Just know that you have burned through all of my good will with this stunt," Marcus explained.

Hishur looked like he wanted to say something, but after a few seconds, Marcus realized he would stay quiet.

Sighing, Marcus tapped his storage bracelet and caused a pair of stone tablets to materialize in the air in front of him.

He threw them at a shocked Hishur, who fumbled at catching them, and ended up getting hit in his already wounded forehead. He barely seemed to feel the pain however, looking at the tablets in his hands with disbelief.

"There," Marcus said. "This better be the end of this grudge."

"But why?" Hishur asked, mystified. "You won. And there is no way you've learned everything that's on here already."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Marcus told him. "Take your damn tablets and go."

Besides, the things left there were all things he wasn't particularly compatible with. He'd already gotten all of the benefits he could reasonably expect to get out of those tablets.

* * * *

When Marcus came back to his tower, he found all the camps gone and his uninvited guests nowhere to be seen. His students and the adults who were guarding them were already milling about outside. The only newcomer who remained was Timijan, who was standing next to Beortan, engaged in lively conversation.

"Ah, Marcus! Welcome back!" Beortan greeted him as he approached. "We watched your battle with spying spells, I hope you don't mind. You should have seen Horik's reaction when he realized you were a microcosm mage at the end there – he and his forces fled so fast I thought they would even leave their tents and belongings behind. Crystal Mountain forces left to get Hishur too, so they're also gone."

Marcus shifted his attention towards Timijan. The swordsman met his gaze without fear.

"It seems I am no match for you," Timijan remarked. "I came here to fight you, of course, just like we agreed, but it seems I was too hasty. If you were just a unification mage, I would have still given it a try, but an opponent two ranks higher than me… I'm not that good."

"You helped me out by protecting my students," Marcus told him. "As far I'm concerned, we are friends now. If you ever need help with something, don't hesitate to ask. As for a fight, you're right that you're not my match, but if you insist…"

Timijan shook his head. "There are still fifth rank adepts that I haven't challenged to a fight. Once I go through them, I will move on to sixth ranked adepts, and then… well, hopefully I will advance a rank by then, but if not, I might seek you out anyway."

"Are you really just seeking out spirit adepts and asking them to fight you?" Marcus asked.

"Of course!" Timijan stated seriously. "What better way for a warrior to get insight into his fighting techniques?"

It was really a wonder that Timijan hadn't wound up dead yet, Marcus felt.

However, it was also true that if he survived his crazy battle quest, he was probably going to end up as extraordinarily powerful for his rank.

"You are too secretive, Marcus," Titus said, walking up to them with Helvran in tow. "I know you wanted to keep your power secret, but what were you thinking, having only three students to watch over you as you advance to seventh rank? They aren't even apprentices!"

Marcus gave Helvran a curious look. Was that what the story was? That his absence was due to him retreating to a secret location in order to advance to seventh rank?

"I'm sorry, Master Marcus," Helvran said. "I had to tell them the truth."

Marcus glanced at Beortan, who said nothing but gave him a knowing look. Unlike Titus, Beortan knew that Marcus had already achieved seventh rank of power long ago, so he also knew this story was nonsense. He would have to tell him the actual truth later, when they were alone.

"Ah, when you said you were close to advancing to the next rank, I really had no idea you were already a unification mage," Titus commented. "I always took you for a crude braggart, but it seems your time at Adria has caused some of their conniving nature to rub off on you…"

Despite the fact his words sounded like criticism, Marcus could see that Titus seemed very pleased with this turn of events. He already thought Marcus was a treasure for his academy when he was at spirit manifestation mage, so one could only imagine how happy he was to have a practitioner of his foundational technique at the seventh rank of power.

Microcosm mages were, as far as Marcus knew, the current apex of power on Tasloa. There were rumors that the Lygos Empire and one of the elven factions had a rank eight mage, but if so, they were extremely reclusive and never got involved in any earthly matters. As for seventh rank mages, Marcus only knew of two – one of them was the leader of Heartfire Academy, and a big reason why they were so much more prestigious than the other academies, and the other was the Head Priestess of the Illuminated Temple.

There was always a chance that there were more microcosm mages in the Silver League, hiding their true nature, just like Marcus… but probably not that many. Marcus was kind of odd. Most mages wanted to appear more powerful than they were, not less.

This incident would have far-reaching consequences, Marcus knew. There were more people watching that battle than just the parties involved in it.

But for now, he had to check up on his students and talk to Beortan. There would be time for worrying later.