บท 67: Intricacies Of Magic
From two proud warriors exchanging blows like there was no tomorrow to two mages that just stood there.
At least, Cradled Lich hadn't moved a milimeter since the start, not even casting a single spell from the looks of it, was she so good that no one could notice the movements of mana and the formation of spells?
Well, yes but not here, she really hadn't done anything yet, simply standing menacingly in her puffy robes that seemed too big for her.
She was a skeleton after all, little clothing that could be found wouldn't let her float inside, but clearly, she had gone the extra mile to find such ridiculously large robes.
Right now, her bony face was hidden from view by a hood and since her arms were just hanging down, not even her skeletal hands could be seen.
On the other side, her opponents was also one to make dubious wardrobe choices, everything seemed fine for a mage until you got to his hat, which Hogan got his nickname from.
Wide Hat Hogan hadn't gotten this name for no reason, his hat, which fitted nicely on top of his head, extended so much that when sitting down, he would be in shadows wherever the sun might be.
This could lead one to believe that perhaps, Hogan was one that could manipulate shadows, justifying this ridiculous thing.
But no, he was just a weirdo with questionable tastes.
The man had been much more lively compared to the undead, demonstrating the fact that he wasn't a foolish mage, not one of those that had to focus on a single thing to hope to produce good results.
His overwhelmingly high affinity with gravity magic had carved a path out for him to learn the free-usage of magic with much more ease than others, for his affinity was such, that even the mana naturally coursing through his mana pathways had a hint of gravity to it.
So he had taken time to learn about the other ways of casting magic and were they many, not every single one of them could be easily used in a fight however.
With great dexterity, he drew an intricate magic circle in front of him, Axio had no clue what it could be for but not the first minister.
It was one of the basics in that area, enhancing spells that went through it, although this circle had been customised by Hogan to get rid of some glaring weaknesses and to empower it.
Without stopping, he also added sigils around the circle, serving a similar purpose to the circle as well as adding more speed to the future spell.
Whilst doing all of this, he had been muttering something, beginner mages tended to speak the name of the spells they used or to recite something to help them focus, this was something they should eventually grow out of.
Here however, it wasn't useless, meaningless blabber, it was an incantation, a technique, which due to the glaring stupidity and weakness of speaking your spells aloud was generally disregarded.
However, although the casting speed of incantations tended to be long and obvious due to all the speaking, it was a tool that allowed mages to cast spells of elements they couldn't even use themselves.
Since most incantations relied on making a demand for a certain spell or certain mana type to a greater being.
Incantations generally worked better with one used a special language, but they were difficult to learn and one would rarely have the chance to even attempt to.
As such, the repertoire of incantations was small, unless one tried their hands at making their own.
Having been a criminal for a long time, Hogan had to make use of the second option and in his own language too.
He spoke softly but his lips were read easily by the lich, who could only marvel at how much Hogan wanted to empower a single spell.
The man with the big hat then quickly casted his spell, which was rather simple but no less deadly.
A big, round ball of crompressed gravity mana, which was set to do one thing, suck everything around itself in.
Concept inspired from nothing on Hogan's part, for the black holes in space weren't something he had knowledge of.
Such a spell of great force wouldn't have been allowed to be cast in other circumstances, Undying Prophet might not die from it but he would be stuck in place for a while and even a mastodon like The Condemned wouldn't want to lose a chunk of flesh to it.
In fact, Hogan hadn't been expecting to be allowed to complete it at all, he was a mage but by infusing gravity into his body, he could deliver punches of incredible strength, so he had planned to cause the spell to break apart, use a scroll of teleportation hidden on his person and take the fight in close quarters.
He was more confident in his close-combat skills than magic against a lich.
Especially seeing her refined mana, one could only achieve such a thing by endlessly focusing on it solely, he could only guess that she wouldn't be a skilled fighter as well.
The orb of condensed gravity shot forward, already powerful when it was first conjured, but doubling when passing through the circle as well as suddenly being given a boost in speed.
The lich didn't move from her position as the orb of pure destruction and murder flew her way, only extending one arm forward, and poking the orb with a finger once it got close.
Wide Hat Hogan felt like dropping dead instantly, there was no greater dishonor for a mage than having a spell being taken over, especially such a powerful one!
Spells were typically infused with the caster's own mana, which was unique to them, making the mana much harder to control than natural mana.
To add insult to injury, Cradled Lich then absorbed the spell, demonstrating that her own mana was much superior to his, leagues apart.
So far from one another that Hogan appeared like a little goober next to her.
Still, he didn't dwell on this humiliation and went to use the teleportation scroll, now he was certain that there was no way she could proficiently defend herself in close-quarters!
However... His body didn't respond, in fact, he felt sluggish and incredibly cold as a primal fear overtook his entire being.
He was already dead.
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