I was trapped. Seemingly endless corridors that stretched on even as I moved as fast as I could. I was almost sprinting, trying to get out. And what was worse, the techniques I knew to find an escape route didn't work. Every wall seed identical, so I couldn't tell if I was making progress. And- oh, there it was. I just needed to turn.
The first thing I saw was Midnight's eyes. "That was weird," I said. "How long did that take?"
Midnight's emotions reflected my own turmoil, but confusedly. "Fourteen seconds," he said.
"Felt longer," I said.
"It might rely on ntal processing speed," Midnight said. "Anyway, I couldn't really feel your emotions until you ca back."
"Good to know," I said. We had tested Maze on first because… worst case, I could Gate out. It wasn't supposed to last forever or anything, but sotis magic did weird things. "You want to try?"
Midnight thought for a mont. "I suppose I should experience it just in case it is used against ."
"Or if you need to pop out of reality for a bit," I suggested.
"That's… a weird way to use that."
I shrugged. "Cheaper than teleporting away and back. Unless you use Dinsion Door and end up within visible range, which is risky. Tell when you are ready," I said.
Midnight nodded. "I suppose I agree with that assessnt. And yes, I am ready to be thrown into the Maze."
I gathered mana. It took a bit, since it was near the top rank of normal spells. Far faster than it would have once been, but I couldn't help but keep thinking about Zentha Qitris' speed. I could do better.
Midnight… faded out of existence. He wasn't suddenly gone, but instead grew more transparent over the course of a second or so. We'd have to test that to see if there was so sort of danger. Could you still move? Were you in physical danger, or was it just a lingering impression? I felt his mana and my connection to him fading similarly.
Then Midnight was back. "That was way longer than you," he said.
"Nope. Eight seconds."
The exact numbers would be recorded by the training room. Though, a few tests later we determined it really didn't matter.
The tis between Midnight and I varied significantly, but we averaged about the sa after three tests each. That was Midnight's limit. With a little bit of mana recovery over the testing period, he was at almost exactly 3 uses. We could do so much more if it had upgrades, but that was the whole point of the practice session.
My level was higher, because we got most of our experience from combat- and Midnight shared so of that experience with . As I had Aspect of the Barbarian, I ca out significantly ahead in terms of combat experience. I was just about double his total experience, putting at level 47 while he was just level 32. I didn't have access to detailed information about familiars, but I was fairly certain his growth wasn't slowed. So we both benefitted through sharing upgrades and proficiency to so extent. More than most, with fully unlocked natural growth.
"Who do you think we should test with now?" I asked Midnight. "I can cast another one."
Technically, I could cast Maze 5 more tis- but I wasn't intending to push myself to the very limits of 'negative mana'.
Midnight shrugged. "I'm not sure it matters too much. Whoever is around that we trust."
There wasn't anyone in the Power Brigade that I distrusted, but there were certainly those with which I was more familiar. I could absolutely trust the old Elental Magic Squad, Great Girl, or Shockwave.
The first one I found was Shockwave. "Hey. Wanna test so new magic?" I asked them.
They frowned. "Will it hurt?"
"It really shouldn't," I said. "I wouldn't pick you first for sothing like that. You're not known for your exceptional durability."
"Are you kidding? Do you know how often I stub my toes?" Shockwave thumped their chest. "I'm basically made of iron."
"Anyway, it's just a Maze spell."
"Ugh, puzzles?"
"You can run as fast as you want through it."
"Deal."
And so, Midnight and I observed as Shockwave went into the Maze.
I began to make so idle conversation. "How long do you think-"
But it was over.
"Oh. Welco back."
Shockwave collapsed to the ground, suddenly breathing heavily. They began to sweat. "That place was freaking endless!" They were gasping for air.
I exchanged looks with Midnight. "Uh… hey, maybe take a deep breath."
"I'm-" Shockwave huffed and puffed, "Trying!"
Could I focus Enhance Mind to try to snap Shockwave's thoughts back into sothing sensible? Or I could just…
As I began my swing to slap them, Shockwave was standing up and grabbing my wrist. "Hey, no need for that!"
"Feeling better?" I asked.
"Do you know how far I ran? I'm freaking exhausted…?" Shockwave tilted their head. "Huh." They looked down, shifting their legs. "Nothing hurts. But I was running flat out for like an hour!"
"You were in there for three seconds," I said. That was a record low so far.
Shockwave sat down. "Why am I so freaking tired, then?"
I shrugged. "ntal fatigue, maybe? You were kind of physically there. It's a space that breaks a lot of rules. Want to try again?"
"You said three seconds… was that fast?" Shockwave asked.
"Pretty fast," I said.
"I can do better."
"Great."
Once Shockwave confird they were ready, I cast the spell again. I took great care to make sure it was perford exactly right, since now I was digging past the normal limits of mana. Fortunately, it wasn't all that near my mana fatigue limit. About two thirds. I was a bit slower because of my caution, but the spell was quite stable.
Shockwave took noticeably longer the second ti. Not long, but longer.
They reappeared in a reverse of the way people faded out. "There!" Shockwave said. "How was that?"
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"... Slower," Midnight admitted.
I nodded. "About five seconds."
"What? But it felt like… twice as fast at least!" Shockwave complained. "If it was an hour before, this ti it was thirty minutes max."
"Hmm. How's your ntal fatigue?"
Shockwave frowned. "Not as much, I think."
"You think fast, right?"
"Yeah," Shockwave said. "I'm not one of the unfortunate speedsters that doesn't have a reaction ti or decision making process. I hear it sucks."
I nodded seriously. "Do you think faster when you run faster?"
"Not really," Shockwave said. "Though I can kind of push my whole power to be… more."
"Ah," I said. "Then you probably did that the first ti. Were you more conservative with your speed, this ti?"
"Yeah. The maze didn't really seem to be about physical distance covered. I'm honestly not even sure there is a 'real' answer. Like, the turns and stuff I saw might just be the thinking process…?"
"Sounds about right," I said. "Dinsional Magic had a lot to say about Maze, but Wrickle noted that much of it was speculation that required further testing." And that so of the other mages were 'pansies that couldn't navigate their way out of a dead end alley'. That was in a handwritten annotation in the margins. I was pretty sure that the 'official' version didn't include such lines.
Shockwave stretched. "That was interesting. But given my second attempt, I don't think I can beat my record today. Let know if you want to try again tomorrow."
"That would be a great help, actually," I said. "I probably shouldn't do any more right now anyway."
I was curious about casting it on myself, though. I could wait to recover mana first, though. Today wasn't low-mana-experintation.
"Wanna hit the gym?" I asked Midnight. There weren't that many machines he could use, but we could always do cardio. And even if he was limited to doing floor exercises, the gym floor was much comfier than the training chambers.
"Sure," Midnight said. "Why not?"
-----
The next day we had several experints and different test subjects lined up. Shockwave again. Then we had Calculator, because he should be very good at it. Third was Maze on myself just to see if it was sohow different from soone else casting it. Then we were going to cast Haste on Midnight and myself. Finally, we were going to cast Maze on two people at the sa ti- Midnight and myself separately. We might get interesting results with Multicasting, but even with Assistive Familiar Casting letting us combine our total fatigue limits, Midnight and I were a good bit short of that threshold.
Shockwave was in good form, and was out of the spell in two seconds flat.
Calculator was looking on with curiosity. "Intersting. I thought this spell was one with high shutdown potential. Is that not the case?"
I shook my head. "It doesn't seem to be good against people that think fast. Well, it doesn't have any upgrades yet anyway. Also," I held up a finger. "You can't dodge it."
"Ah," Calculator nodded. "I suppose even for Shockwave, being out of the fight for two seconds could be a pretty significant factor. Now then, would you use it on ?"
Shockwave looked on with interest. After all, they hadn't seen the spell from the outside.
Calculator faded out… and then back in. "Fascinating."
Shockwave frowned. "So that's what it looks like?"
"No," I said. "Normally, there's a lag period in between."
Should we count Calculator's ti as one second? Or zero?
It's a good thing I had never considered this spell a viable option for fighting Calculator anyway. My optimal plan if we actually had to fight was to use Haste… and then leave.
Shockwave sighed. "I can't believe my ti was beaten. But if it's just thinking," they shrugged. "I'm not going to pretend I can win. Need for anything else?"
I shook my head. "Not right now, thank you. You can return to your other training."
Calculator stayed to observe in person. He might notice sothing interesting.
Maze, cast on myself, was pretty much the sa as when Midnight had done it. The only difference was the constant nagging feeling that I could just unravel the magic and be out. That seed like cheating, though.
I was out in sixteen seconds. That was actually quite reasonable. I did wonder if practice would allow to depart more quickly, however. Having to compare to those two was disheartening. At least Midnight was a pretty close match for .
I next cast Haste on Midnight, sending him into the Maze next. Calculator asked so questions when he returned- out of my presence so as to not influence my own report. I was then Hasted, and Midnight cast Maze on .
My thinking was faster. I felt myself going through the Maze at a rapid pace, reaching decisions points and choosing between them in record ti. It wasn't really about physical movent, but remaining stationary would lose ti.
I popped out. "How was that?" I asked Calculator.
"Comparable to Midnight," he said. "How do you feel you did?"
Midnight was out of the room so his emotions wouldn't influence my answers. I was willing to bet Calculator would swap the order of the questions to prevent bias, too. Or whatever he thought made the most sense, and thinking was his power.
"Pretty good," I said. "Haste really helps." Taking into account my relative experience… "I'm thinking… less than five seconds?"
Calculator shook his head. "Sorry. It seems likely that Haste did nothing."
"Wha-" I nodded. "Oh. Ti is already distorted. It couldn't reasonably be compressed further without advanced magic."
"Indeed," Calculator said. "Though the tis have been quite variable so far. But I imagine you didn't feel particularly slow?"
"Not at all," I said.
"We will replicate the experint, but it seems likely to be very little. Oh, and tell when Haste wears off."
That was a relevant point. Though I had subjectively experienced a significant amount of ti in the maze, it had only been ten or fifteen seconds out here. We confird that the duration of Haste closely matched the external ti. Spells could vary enough that we might have lost or gained one or two seconds in either direction. I should have been suspicious when Haste lasted for so many subjective minutes. Maybe it was actually just a placebo effect in that place.
-----
A few more days of tests. Haste was pretty well confird to not make any real difference. Enhance Mind did, and could be used inside- though spellcasting was sluggish. Specifically, the absolute ti required to cast a spell was the sa, which ant several seconds outside for so things. Casting Gate to get out was a slog. It felt like holding onto the spell for four or five minutes at least.
But everything that was supposed to work, did. And it wasn't long before, presumably, we got an upgrade.
I never saw the upgrade, which is why it was only a presumption. I actually missed it until it was fused. It was the first ti we cast Maze on Great Girl because she wanted to try it out.
At so point, Midnight and I began to sweat. "How long has it been?" I looked at the ti. One minute.
"That's… fine… right?" Midnight asked. "It can last up to… ten?"
"In theory," I agreed.
We hadn't had anyone go over forty seconds before, though. And it wasn't like Great Girl was dumb. The dia might portray her like that because she had a bruiser power- especially after she beca a werewolf- but she had helped figure out a number of troubleso things with magic. And she couldn't even use it herself. It was all from her own hobbies. Or 'her friends'. Well, I would bet that her friends who shared her hobbies would probably know the sa things.
Fortunately, Great Girl did get out far before the ten minute mark.
"Whoa," she said, holding her head. "That was rough. Seems like it took forever. But you said ti was distorted in there, right? How'd I do?"
"... Two minutes," I showed the actual tir.
She frowned. "That's… really bad, isn't it?"
She was my friend and I didn't want to be rude. "It's not… great," I had to admit.
She sighed. "Ugh, did I actually get the worst ti?"
Midnight hit her with the big one. "By a significant margin."
But shortly after that we discovered the upgrade and the fact that I now had Master Spatial Magic. So suddenly it was sharing in a whole ton of upgrades, and thus way stronger. Especially since I had still put in the normal amount of mana, thus overcasting it.
With all that put together, Calculator took like… 5 seconds to escape. But that might have been an infinite percent improvent, so I wasn't going to complain.
The spell was a pretty awful matchup against so powers. I wasn't going to favor my odds against most tech supers, for example. Still, bad matchups were a feature of every ability. I wasn't going to shoot Shockfire with a bolt of lightning in the theoretical world where we were enemies. And there were a ton of people I would want to use it on. Though, about half of them were currently taken care of.
The bigger purpose was advancing my understanding of magic, though. It wasn't just Maze that grew all at once- it was Teleport and Gate and Spatial Rift and even the moustachioed version of Ignis. All very useful. Now, so of them were almost too cheap.
I needed to arrange a chat with Wrickle for sure now. If nothing else, I wanted to tell her I got better. And maybe she could teach a few tricks I hadn't even considered.
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