Norris stepped onto the stage, his pace deliberate and measured. Norris cleared his throat, commanding the room's attention.
"Alright everyone, let's get started. As everyone knows, I'm Norris. As your Mage adviser, I'm sure you're all aware of my role. In the upcoming war, we'll be playing a crucial part in logistics. But, I've managed to negotiate a more hands-on involvement for us."
He stopped for emphasis,"We'll be forming a battle group to take to the battlefield, earning resources through our achievements. I've already selected the members, and I'd like to introduce them now. Our first member is..." Norris paused, as if in anticipation for something.
Lister, a newly evolved sentient mage stepped forward, his eyes locked on Norris. "By what right do you decide who's in this battle group?", his big frame making him stand out. The room fell silent, then erupted into murmurs. Most mages didn't care much about what was happening but that didn't mean a good show was going to be rejected.
Norris's expression remained unreadable, his silence only adding to the tension. He took in the expressions of everyone in the room. He had anticipated this so he decided to hint that he had selected and grouped without their prior knowledge to garner their resentment. He preferred that dissatisfaction erupted sooner rather than later. There's only one way to convince this people...or undead; through the fist.
***
Lister, a hulking Death Knight, stood tall in a desolate field, his battered black armor adorned with jagged spikes and serrated edges. His eyes, aglow with a burning soul flame, burned with malevolent energy, and a massive black sword hung at his side.
Across from him, Norris, a lich, stood calmly, his slender form draped in a dark robe, his eyes also aglow with a burning soul flame. A silver-hilted sword hung at his side. The air was heavy with tension as they faced off, surrounded by the barren landscape.
Mages could be vaguely seen afar using whatever means they can to observe.
Norris summoned an initiate undead skeleton (3rd-tier spell). With the variable of being in the same plane and Norris summoning only one undead, the amount of mana needed to cast the spell was significantly less.
A ripple of dark energy spreads through the air, forming into a dark mass of shadow. From its depths, a Initiate skeletal warrior emerges.
Lister on the other hand summoned a ghoul in a spectral form(3rd-tier spell).
A dark, ghostly ghoul drifted into view before Lister like it emerged from the underworld.
It lunged at the skeletal warrior with them both engaging in a brawl. The skeleton snatched a bone and wielded it like a club, but the ghoul's superhuman strength proved overwhelming. With strength that could crush ribs, the ghoul fought with reckless abandon.
With that scene as shield, Norris retreated swiftly creating a sense of space while chanting a spell; clone technique (5th-tier spell).
They might both be Mages but Lister is a death knight. One carefully timed swing and Norris will be incapacitated.
Lister knowing his advantage crept closer to Norris till he reached a distance and stopped. This was a carefully considered distance. He could launch a charge at Norris and also avoid any surprises easily. Though his hesitation made Norris finish chanting the spell.
***
"Sigh!!! To be honest I don't wanna do this stuff but it's the quickest way for me to have authority over the mages in the territory. A duel with me showing my strength and outsmarting my opponent should convince them.", Norris thought while casting the spell.
Winning the fight could have been easier but he had to fight with an handicap. "Ohh!! the death realm resonates with me. I guess two clones it is".
The clone spell(5th tier spell) was swiftly created. The clone spell being a spell Norris created and one of his core spells made it faster to cast.
The ambient energy abundant in the realm unpredictably easing the casting process as a variable, Norris created two clones.
With that, he had assurance to cast his a 5th tier spell. This one will take longer and he needed to be uninterrupted to avoid backlash.
Lister, anticipating this move after seeing the clone spell. Noticing Norris's uncertain calm, Lister controlled the spectral ghoul to swiftly dispatch the skeleton at the cost of an injury and limped towards Norris, seeking to grasp his tactics and the source of his confidence.
Despite its disadvantage, the skeleton's warrior instincts had allowed it to utilize the reach of its makeshift club, landing a few blows before ultimately succumbing to the spectral ghoul's brute power.
At the same time, Lister cast a spell while moving. Casting while moving is a difficulty technique as movement disrupts concentration needed to cast spell. Lister moving shows confidence and ease.
Norris began to step back while still casting the spell with one of his clones going to meet the ghoul coming. Leaving one clone behind to accompany Norris. The spectral ghoul though an initiate and injured had enough strength to crack an adult human ribs. This made it not ideal to come near Norris as it could potentially disrupt Norris casting process.
The clone cast the highest tier of spell it could potentially cast; tier 3 spell on itself, body reinforcement spell(tier 2) was augumented by adding more mana to it making it reach tier 3.
The clone swiftly used martial techniques with his reinforced body to carry the ghoul.
With the spectral ghoul lifted in a fireman lift struggling, the clone kept on running, trying to get near Lister for a win-win situation.
When the ghoul was about to break free, it decisively detonated itself.
The ground shook beneath its feet as it sprinted forward, sending nearby rocks and debris rolling and scattering in all directions. The clone's momentum carried it forward even after detonation, its reinforced body disintegrating as it continued to run, now a human-shaped projectile of explosive force and shredded bones, hurtling towards Lister with devastating effect. The explosion ripped through the desolate field, sending a massive shockwave creating a crater where the clone had detonated.
Bruteforce is not enough to fight someone of Norris calibre even if just a clone. The spectral ghoul was finished, though it felt more like a projection had stopped projecting, as it disappears like a cancelled hologram.
The unusual way it died got Norris thinking, "What kind of kind creature was this. A spectral mimic? A projection of a contracted creature? A special kind of ghost?". Norris thought while casting the spell.
Lister was undeterred by the explosion. His calculation showing he wasn't going to be affected. He continued till he finished his incantation and visualization and cast the Echo summoning spell(5th tier spell). He was right. The clone….. or whatever was left of it, stopped mere inches a way from him.
The effect of Lister's spell taking place, a glowing light formed into a ghostly warrior that looked uncannily human. The warrior's see-through body revealed defined muscles, its biceps and triceps visible beneath its translucent skin, as well as the contours of its abdominal muscles. It was a sublimation spectral warrior.
One of the masks hanging from Lister's waistband dinmed. Norris seeing this looked at the mask with certainty, "looks like the mask are mediums he used to summon his core summons. Three mask means three summons. The ghoul, weak didn't need one. Which means three core summons and lesser summons.". Norris thought sizing up his enemy forces.
This changed some of his conjectures but he needed more observation. Of course he wasn't so sure but nothing wrong with taking an educated guess. It might not even be the mask and Lister just loved special effects. It could also be a diversion.
The spectral warrior's gaze fell upon Lister and with a look of disgust and he raised his sword to attack his summoner, but he was swiftly controlled. First stiff, then mechanically it started moving towards Norris to attack him.
Norris retaliated with the spell he had been chanting summon undead(3rd-tier). It was the spell he first casted at the beginning but this time much more grand.
This time he employed the technique he had learned in Makarsd. Resonating with the echo through his astral body, the ambient energy around was mobilised. This will act as a variable to amp up the spell. He also used more mana to augument the spell. This drove the spell to 5th tier.
Using the amped up spell, Norris could summon contracted undeads. Norris had been prepared for potential fights since he built his mage tower. He signed contract with Undeads to help them evolve and they will reciprocate by helping him fight. Since they didn't answer (they can't answer, they are not sentient), he took it as a yes. He also grouped them as a party.
He connected to his mage tower where he had not been for a long time and summoned what he had prepared. A small legion, the best legion, he called them undead party 1.
The ground shuddered as dark energy burst forth, and Undead Party 1 emerged from the earth: a ghoul tank, an archer skeletal warrior, and three skeletal warriors, their bones and tattered flesh reassembled from the very soil itself.
The clone with Norris went to undead legion and swiftly took control to prevent the undeads without sentience from fighting among themselves. He then led them as they went to intercept the summoned warrior.
Lister seeing that the warrior had no chance to attack Norris, controlled it to attack the summons. This left no clone with Norris, leaving him unguarded.
The warrior's massive sword crashed down, but Norris's clone swiftly cast a spell, slowing the blade's descent and giving the tank shield bearer just enough time to raise their shield and absorb the impact. Through the telepathic link, Norris clone directed the three undead warriors to press the attack from different angles, while the archer fired a swift arrow that struck the warrior's exposed flank, the clone's mental guidance ensuring perfect coordination and timing among the party members.
The warrior's massive sword crashed down, but Norris's clone's spell slowed its descent, allowing the tank shield bearer to barely hold against its brute strength. The three undead warriors and archer attacked from all sides, but the warrior's ghostly blade sliced through them with deadly precision.
However, despite its swift and precise movements, Norris's clone maintained control, directing the undead legion to swarm and harass it, gradually wearing it down. The warrior's powerful attacks became a relentless onslaught that the undead party could not fully counter, but Norris's clone's strategic direction allowed them to stay ahead, turning the warrior's advantage into a draining disadvantage.
As the battle raged on, the clone buffed his undead minions with a eerie glow, restoring their strength and resilience. The undead shrugged off grievous injuries, staying in the fight, while the warrior was beginning to reach his limit.
The undead legion which was no match for it managed to hold on due to the ability of Norris clone to take advantage of the adventurers party style to always give him trouble when he was about to finish them off.
While the fight between summons was going on, Lister seized the distraction to strike at Norris, delivering a powerful blow.