The group looked at him as if awaiting an answer and Marcus looked as if no thought was present in his mind. A few minutes passed before the demon seems to have grown impatient and walked over to where he sat. His hand positioning his spear making sure he would be able to protect himself if attacked.

  When he was a few steps from Marcus he let out a scream that caused Marcus to look at him almost robotically. The group watched as the demon convulsed a little and his skin flaked before he fell down unresponsive.

  “Oh.” A silent sound escaped Marcus as he watched. With a thought he made the numerous traps become dormant before turning towards the three. “You should really heal your friend there. He will not be in great condition once he awakens.” He gave them free advice before looking at the boy.

  “What is your class?” he asked. The boy looked at him with his eyes blinking slowly.

  “Heal him and I will tell you.” The boy spoke. His chest seemed to have suddenly grown heavy while his hands reached for his weapons. He seemed to have caught on with how Marcus worked.

  “Fine but that will cost you more than just the name of your class.” He warned as a six pointed spell circle appeared above the demon. “Do you have anything that you can give to me? Something like that spear.” He asked as the spell paused awaiting an answer.

  “I have this, a sword with a lesser blessing from the Endless Light. It has no use to me as I have a better one but I have heard that mages such as yourself love studying this such as these.” The paladin was the one who spoke. In his hand was the sword he had once wielded, now filled with chips and dents and the guard was no more.

  Looking at it, Marcus could feel some greater power slowly sloshing around the sword, making the mana around his study avoid it. Mana flooded the spell circle making it light up as did his eyes, and a calming beam of starlight fell on the demon causing his wounds to heal.

  The sword floated towards Marcus as he turned his eyes to the boy, waiting.

  “Starlight Swordsman.” He spoke silently but in the silence filling the study, only broken by the grunts of the healed demon, Marcus heard him clearly. This caused the small stars in his eyes to glow a little before they dimmed.

  “That explains it.” He muttered to himself as some questions that he had were answered. He now knew why the system had given the boy a spear that should have carried celestial mana but it didn’t have it anymore.

  The boy must have absorbed it and he may have even interacted with some eldritch forces when he got his class.

  “Will you help us mage or not?” An annoying and grating voice came from the position of the demon causing all eyes to turn to him. “We will be ambushed by that blasted wyvern at any moment and we don’t have time to deal with your eccentric kind.” He complained.

  Marcus remembered the reason they had intruded into his abode but before he could deal with that he had another question.

  “How did you even enter this place?” he asked with some curiosity but mostly due to caution. He saw a small smile on the face of the boy before the woman who had been silently watching his study pulled a small stone.

  “We were given this by the system to return to that rift and with it we can come back here at any time.” She had a small smirk on her lips as she said so unlike the demon who burst out in a small chuckle.

  “Help us mage or we shall make sure your enemies have access to your lair at any moment.” Marcus was sure that the demon had some bad experiences with mages.

  It was true that most mages would grow anxious at the thought of anyone teleporting to their layer or tower, but Marcus had no such problem. It would be annoying but the only enemies he had were beings that could reach across realms and blow him up with a whisper from any plane of existence they are in.

  The paladin however, seemed to have realized that they were trying to intimidate a mage whilst inside his lair. He looked at the three in silent disappointed which the numerous fake stars above his lair made sure was seen by all.

  Their confusion was all that Marcus needed to congratulate himself on changing the enchantments on the ceiling. Now they would show mock stars when it was night and a mock star when it was day, thereby circumnavigating the voice of the stars.

  “I’m sorry but we truly do need your help. The Angel Michael has been hunting us for the past week and he has sent the beast that is currently chasing us.” He took in a deep breath once the full attention of Marcus was at him. “We would like to employ your services, protect us as we journey towards the Belcose Kingdom’s capital and I can assure you that I have a great artefact that can increase your knowledge and power.”

  The paladin didn’t wait for a question before he called forth a book. It was white with a golden symbol of the order of Light on its front. “The Grimoire of the Bright Tower’s seventh master.” He spoke giving Marcus a moment to salivate over the book, before pulling it back to whence he had pulled it from.

  The Bright Tower was a contrast said to be crafted from the light of the Endless Light. A piece of a god that was shaped by the numerous demigods that had fought with him against the fiends of the abyss. It had also been blessed by nearly all gods that had been walking the earth then.

  Every Master reigned for a hundred thousand years before leaving for the divine realms to serve their god. The seventh master was said to have reached the peaks of magic and even the goddess of the craft had called him her equal.

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  “It’s a fake, that much is sure but even then it would be a wonderful trade.” He spoke to the paladin who didn’t seem to take it to heart for the book being called a fake.

  With a deep sigh, Marcus looked towards the spear of the stars. He knew that his research would be delayed by some time and it pained him but it would also give him time to discover the true origins of the runes he had copied. Taking the small notebook he noticed for the others to come close to him.

  With a flash of blue light, they disappeared from the lair and appeared in a plain. Before they could even breath in, a giant beast befell them. It had a wingspan of ten meters with claws and teeth that glittered underneath the stars and muscles that popped outwards as magic ran through them.

  “Stopped running now have you?” It’s voice shook the very air around it and assaulted their ears causing momentary ringing which Marcus fixed by running his mana through his body. The wyvern looked towards Marcus and it’s reptilian eyes narrowed.

  He didn’t wait it to speak as a spell circle formed above it’s head and an icicle fell from it. Although this did t do anything to it, only breaking down once it came in contact with the scales, Marcus didn’t intend it to do any harm.

  From the same spell circle came a pillar of flames that enveloped the beast. While his study hadn’t uncovered the secret of the cycling spell circles, he had been able to discover a clever use of runes.

  The icicle spell was changed to make runes of most of the elements he could control to occupy it’s spell circle. With a change in the focus to a fire rune, and making the majority of runes become weaker fire runes, this created a spell with a different affinity but the same use.

  When the flame pillar disappeared the wyvern was left with some burn marks on its scale but yet it was unharmed.

  Marcus waved his wand again and a new spell circle appeared before him, covering the group as they were watching the duel. As the effects of the barrier spell took place, a breath attack befell it. It lasted a few seconds before it was abruptly jerked above and destroyed the still standing spell circle.

  “Woe unto you mage, your tricks will not work on the greatest of beasts, Azine the great light dragon.” It boasted but before it could shut its mouth a stream of liquid fell into its mouth chocking it.

  “You are a wyvern you foolish lizard.” Marcus heard the demon say behind his barrier. He had left it running whilst his hand held up his wand where a stream of water was choking the wyvern. At his right was another spell circle being constructed.

  He had gauged the beast’s power and it would be at the middle levels of rank two. Something he could handle. With a flex of his will, he caused the water stream to change into a stream of fire which later exploded before an arrow of rock rocked towards the beast’s eye.

  A pained roar escaped the new smokescreen made from the evaporated water. Marcus didn’t wait for the beast to show itself as he weaved another spell into being both with his mind and his wand. This was his method of fighting. One hides the other.

  The beast jumped up with it’s great wings pushing the mist away revealing a floating beast with wounds on its snout and a damaged eye with a stone arrow sticking from it.

  “What wyvern is harmed by fire?” Marcus couldn’t help but ask when he saw the burns. Even if it’s affinity had been changed into light, the body of a draconic being should be resistant to magic to a certain extent. This caused some worry to appear in his heart and it was proven right.

  Numerous runes flared up around the wyvern but concentrated around it’s wings. With a best of mana, that destroyed a lot of the runes, light swords were made. They rushed towards him but he detonated the spell he had been forming with his wand, pushing him towards the shield he had made. It acted like a film of liquid when it met him, but the turned into a solid wall when a sword reached it.

  “What is that?” He heard the boy ask before he answers him almost on instinct. “Spell weave, an ability that only dragons can have.” The confusion they felt wasn’t equal to his. He knew that only dragons could weave mana into runes so why was this dragon able to do it.

  “Is it really a stunted dragon?” Like all beasts, some dragons were born at the lower end of the intellectual and genetic spectrum, so it wasn’t unheard of. However, from what he knew the smallest of dragons would dwarf this one before him. He let out a breath.

  “I just have to treat it as a dragon.” He muttered as a new spell circle was being constructed in his mind. Runes flared I to life around him as his eyes took on a deep white light. The swords that were falling paused for a moment before they crumbled along with their runes.

  The ones surrounding Marcus were spread out around the plain before they all imploded onto themselves. Silence filled the air broken only by the laughter of the dragon.

  “Seems as if your pretty display–“ it didn’t get to finish as a large gash appeared on its side. Shock appeared on its eye before another appeared on its wing. This led to the shock becoming fear on its way down.

  Even as it fell, deep slashed appeared on its body when it reached the ground, with an indent being formed, it’s wings were nearly removed with some ribs showing. Marcus walked towards it as the slashed, now weaker, continued to pelt it. His wand glowed at the tip with the same starry mana that filled him.

  “Who sent you for them?” His voice was tired but that only added to the edge in it. The dragon tried to roar at him but a weaker slash appeared on its snout.

  “It was a man with angel wings on his back and a glowing halo behind him. He said that with the artefact they carry I can finally become a true light dragon.” With a voice filled with fear the dragon spoke.

  Marcus turned towards the four people he was about to escort. With a deep sigh he willed for the spell in his mind to become reality. A large spell circle formed underneath the beast, and with a burst of light it was impaled with a shinny blade. Blood dyed the ruined plain but he didn’t care as he walked towards them.

  “We need to leave here as whatever sent it may came back.” He still wasn’t sold on that being an angel as everyone knew the whole race was killed or sealed in the abyss during it’s sealing. The act has been detailed in numerous holy books and even mages had proven it by asking summoned demons.

  “We also need to make an oath that you will give me the book once you reach the capital.” With that show of strength he knew they wouldn’t dare try to worm out of the deal, ad the path made it so that the very system would side with him.

  “What is it that you want me to place as stake?” The paladin asked to which a small smile formed on Marcus’s lips. “I want the total cumilation of divine mana you have.” He spoke to which the paladin sucked in a deep breath.

  Marcus had noticed that the divine mana the man had in him was comparable to some greater artefacts, and those were things that could kill even rank eight beings easily.

  The paladin nodded before he spoke the oath.” I, Amos Ludwing, swear to the Endless Light and the Eternal System that if I refuse to give the Bright Tower’s seventh master’s grimoire to the mage who shall escort me, Alicia Moon, Justine and the demon Bael to Lehad, then you are free to strike me down and gift him the divine mana I possess.”

  A bright sun appeared above the two before extending tendrils to the trio gawking at it followed by a message from the system to both of them.

  Your path has been sealed by the Endless Light and you have come under his gaze