Chapter 720: Head Smashing

Chapter 720: Head Smashing

There was nothing more satisfying than using a bit of high-school physics to get out of a bind. It would have been nice if simultaneously heating and cooling a wall were enough to help Dallion escape from the prison realm. Even Dallion wasnt that optimistic, although he wouldnt have had anything against a wall or two in the room collapsing. That didnt happen, although it proved something else he had heard from Earth: no material is fully homogeneous. Apparently, this applied to realms as well.

Thin lines appeared on the solid surface. Almost invisible to normal perception, they represented the boundary between hot and freezing. At first glance, the lines seemed to be of little significance, but given a bit of Earth knowledge and some awakened scholarly skills, one could see a pattern. The lines represented invisible seamsweaknesses in the monolithic material.

With a lot of patience, and even more combat splitting, Dallion sliced the walls along the lines. The material made an attempt to reform, just as Nil had explained it would. However, in one case, Dallion was able to slide a piece out, just like removing a manel from the case of a mobile phone. The block was no larger than a cube with a side of one foot, but it was enough to create a hole within the unbreachable wall.

Got you, Dallion thought.

With lightning reflexes, he tossed the block to the ground, then cast a spell summoning an ice cube in the open space. No sooner had he done so than the wall filled up any cracks, making the ice cube part of it. To be on the safe side, Dallion drew a few ice symbols on the ice.

Interesting approach, Nil said. Of course, I was just starting out back then. My better works dont have such obvious flaws.

Good thing they didnt use those, Dallion grumbled.

The block he had taken out had already started to fade away on the floor. Mere seconds after falling there, it already appeared to be part of the room again. Within minutes, it would seem like a loose tile. An hour after that, there would be no trace that anything had happened in the room at all.

Using his layer vision, Dallion tried to peek through the ice. As far as he could make out, there was a space beyond the wall. It was impossible to tell whether it was a separate room, a corridor, or just an air shaft of some sort. The important thing was that it was there.

Whats your plan from here on? Nil asked.

Dallion glanced at the echo over his shoulder. The self-confidant arrogance within him urged him to answer the question; his suspicions made him hold back.

Im starting to think like a mage, Dallion thought.

Ill see either way. The echo shrugged.

Then why ask? Dallion went to the ice patch.

With a lot of luck, he could burn through the center of it and squeeze through just before the whole thing collapsed. It had its risks, but with a few instances, Dallion reckoned he could make it happen. Then again, based on the metaphor Nil had given him regarding the material of the realm, he didnt have to. While sand and dust actively filled any opening, they could easily be displaced.

Bit by bit, Dallion cast several dozen spells, each increasing the side of the cube by a tenth of an inch. Finally, when it was large enough, he went to the other side of the room, then rushed forward, charging at it head first.

All the action movies, back on Earth, clearly illustrated that head-butting was the strongest attack possible. When combined with a point attack, that actually proved true.

Dallion shattered through the block of ice, flying into the neighboring space. Even as he did, he could feel the wall close behind him in a desperate attempt to grab his feet like quicksand.

Head Smashing

(+2 Body)

Then you know the way out!

Dear boy Nil sighed. If I could tell you, dont you think I would have? Despite what you think of me, I have no desire to see you dead. Even from a pragmatic point of view, theres nothing I would gain from your death. Ive become rather fond of you.

You just have more tasks you want me to do.

Lets assume thats true. You still need to be alive to do so.

Yea, right, Dallion thought.

How big is this place, at least?

Depends on your perspective. Definitely smaller than a world item. Larger than most common sphere items. Thats not an easy question to answer.

Even now, after everything, the echo remained vague in its answers. Either he was playing a longer con, or something was restricting him from sharing what he knew. Most likely it was a bit of both. If Dallion wanted to get out of here, he had to rely on himself. For the moment, he was doing a good job following the magic thread. Also, thanks to his mind trait, he could see the part of the maze hed gone through in his head. If one could take Nil at his word, which was no longer a given, Dallion was supposed to reach the end of the maze rather soon.

Half an hour later, Dallion arrived at a straight wall. This had to be it. Outside the initial room, there hadnt been a case of a wall lasting more than five steps without twisting in some direction. Just to be certain, Dallion continued walking along the wall for another twenty steps. There were no changes.

Is this the way out? he asked.

The echo, constantly following him a few steps behind, said nothing.

Ill take that as a yes, Dallion said to himself, and let go of the magic thread he was consuming. There was no point in keeping on with it. It had done his job, taking him to the outer layer. Now all he had to do was to break through.

Using his Nil dagger, Dallion sliced a scar on the wall. The mark shrank before his very eyes, completely disappearing in a matter of seconds. Clearly, the maze was doing a good job of distributing the material everywhere throughout the entire realm. In theory, it was supposed to be a bit less efficient now, due to the magic thread Dallion had consumed, though not by a noticeable amount.

Has anyone escaped this realm before? Dallion asked.

Just one. Nil approached. The emperor. He took a liking to my work, so asked me if he could test it out. Im still clueless how he managed.

Damn. And I thought Id be the first.

Dallion drew a series of heating and freezing symbols on the nearby sections of the wall. It didnt take long for him to see the seams that appeared. Following the same practice as last time, Dallion sliced an opening, cast an ice cube spell in it, then expanded it enough to bust through.

Mentally, he had already prepared himself to continue the fight against Phoil from the point where they let off. Spending a bit over a day in the prison realm, virtually no time should have passed in the real world.

Splitting into instances, Dallion rolled on the floor, then did several three-sixty slashes with his Nox dagger. The only issue was that he didnt find himself in mage Enroys inner sanctuary, but rather in a small windowless room the same windowless room he had started from. The shame and dimensions were just as he remembered it, as was the glowing blue rectangle in the center.

As youve probably guessed, dear boy, its not the walls that make the prison. At least. Not just them.