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Chapter 328 Rescue Mission
🕑 Added 2019-10-15 12:21:47 +0000 UTCAuthor's note October 26th: Hey guys and gals, hope you're doing alright. New chapters up and more hopefully coming on Tuesday :).
I hope you're having a good weekend. Thanks for the continued support, comments, interest and critique. I really appreciate it!
Author's note October 15th: Hey all, new chapters up :). Let me know what you think. More hopefully on Thursday.
I agree that the loot in the Vault chapter was kind of boring but it felt right to me nonetheless. All of it would be incredibly valuable to anybody else but Ilea. Terok was ecstatic for a reason. She can still do things with it but you have to remember that Rhyvor was a kingdom of man, Maro near the pinnacle of it. While sure, I could have added some random cool items, I don't think they would/should have been more than an interesting toy at best.
I like the aspect of loot but generally prefer when a character's power is more integrated in them than just a suit of armor or a bunch of rings. Anyway, do let me know about item ideas you would like to see. Nothing that would give her a major power up or anything but more along the lines of her early cloak or the drowning ring.
Chapter 328 Rescue Mission
There was a location too, by flight it would only take a couple minutes to reach it. If the area hadnt changed too drastically. You want to find the corpse? She asked as he closed the book.
Why not. He shrugged.
The area outside the wall was full of the Soul Rippers, I thought you werent keen on fighting them. Not that we could, even together. Theyre triple marks and I couldnt damage them at all before my evolution. She replied.
He waved her off, Didnt you talk about fighting them? Plus you changed quite a bit, didnt you? Might be worth a shot, at least I could send him off properly, he doesnt deserve to rot , He was serious about it and Ilea definitely respected the wish.
Sure, I want to try out some other things first though. Also we should fight one first, in the lower regions but inside the walls. Just to see how we do.
Of course, Ive got plenty to work through as well. And my ash magic resistance is only at level two so keep it up. He gave her a thumbs up, Ilea getting up.
She summoned the golden key and threw it to him, stepping a couple meters away. Thanks. He said, having caught the thing.
Alright, lets try this. She thought and jumped up, summoning the Armaments of Trials around herself, her senses cut off immediately. My sphere barely gets through. She noted the weird effect she usually associated with enchantments especially against her skill. Even with her added magic sense, she simply saw nothing. Her eyes brought little too, only the faint light of her buffs illuminating the tight space in front of her face.
Glad Im not claustrophobic. Here goes nothing , She started trying different skills, her destruction not even activating, her hands unable to even form fists. What she could do however was release healing magic into the steel, as well as the reversed ability. The same was true for her Storm of Cinders and Heart of Cinder abilities. The magic wasnt reflected off the steel but instead flowed into it somehow.
Nothing happened at first but as she continued pushing both healing and reversed healing into the steel, after a couple minutes she saw a faint glow in her sphere, the blue light of her azarinth mana but subdued, dulled as if she was in a thick fog. She concentrated on her perception, trusting in the skill completely as she closed her eyes and tried to only think about the magic around her, her destructive reverse healing turned off and only her non reversed version remaining.
The pulse was noticeable, ever so slightly brighter with each minute of meditation and healing. The mist was clearing before she heard a dull knocking around her. Putting the armor into her necklace, she found Maro holding up his fist into the air, a confused expression on his face. Oh, youre alive. Thought Id check. Its been two hours since you summoned that, thing. Couldnt see into it either.
Yea, been trying to figure it out. I cant really move in it. She said and summoned it next to her, I can use my healing magic on it from within ,
He touched it once more, That Dark One smith made it? She nodded, Fascinating the enchantments I can see, theyre incredibly basic. He could do something like this with metals only?
What do you mean something like this?
Maro looked at her, Its blocking my vision too. Thats usually done with enchantments but he somehow managed it with just a composition of metals and very basic obscuring runes. He explained.
Think of the possibilities of him with his enchanter equivalent. Ilea chuckled. Her sphere was at the top of the second tier and yet she felt like she understood the skill a little better. He made it specifically for me, not conventional armor the name suggests its for training, or meant as a challenge to overcome.
The man nodded, Good luck with that. Hey Im kind of bored going through all those records. More reading than Ive done in months.
Second bout then? She asked, putting away the armor again.
He cringed, I was more thinking on the Soul Ripper and maybe Captain Reyker?
Ilea cracked her neck and fists, Sure. We can give it a shot. Do you have anything else youd like to do in the week that we have to wait?
The man shrugged, Not particularly. Im sure you have plenty of things on your list.
Mostly involving training, but yes.
Thats fine with me. I could use the levels too, another two or three third tier skills would make a huge difference. Especially for my shield. Having it crushed so easily by those Praetorians and you has been a little shocking. Ridiculous monsters here in the north. He said, Ilea grinning at him as viciously as she could manage.
Come then, lets find one of those monsters.
Ugly fuckers. She whispered to the man standing next to her on the roof of a rotting house, Ilea crouching as she watched the Soul Ripper through her sphere. They were twenty meters away but she was pretty sure the monster heard her, still not moving an inch from its position at the side of its chosen wall, fungi growing near the beast.
I was more thinking of terrifying. Fits too I suppose. Whats the approach? He asked.
I grapple, you beam. She said, the necromancer snorting before she turned his way, Better suggestions.
No. Lets go. He replied, Ilea grinning in the dark before she spread her wings and jumped off the side of the building, speeding up.
There you go, She noticed a twitch in its elongated hands right before the beast jumped, flying at her with outstretched arms. Ilea blinked above it, her ashen limbs closing around the beast and pulling her towards its spine. The pull added speed to her movement before her fist slammed into it, Absolute Destruction spreading into it as her reversed mana added to its pains. Maros purple beam lit up a part of the surroundings, the skin of the monster a similar color she noted, simply much darker.
It landed and thrashed, spinning as it tried getting her off of it. Several houses were simply crashed through, Ilea easily ignoring the stone and steel slamming against her back. The monster stopped suddenly and turned its head backwards, a shiver going through her as she stared at the writhing tentacles, Maros death beam burning right into them. She felt the damage coming thanks to her Azarinth Fighting and let go, blinking away before a chunk of air as well as Maros beam vanished from her previous position.
The pull of the vacuum moved her forward a little. She watched Maro sending another beam at the beast before it jumped away, barely interrupted by the houses. They followed through the air but lost it when it jumped again. Any idea how much damage we did? He asked, the two slowing down but unconsciously flying higher to make sure none of them jumped them from below.
None very little I would guess. The skin and bones felt just as hard as when I hit one before my evolution. It had at least showed a new move by turning its head backwards.
So we just damage them a little and they flee? He asked, Very unusual.
Not every monster is constantly bloodthirsty. She suggested. With how they waited for prey on the side of the walls, she thought of them more of an ambush creature. Like the plants that ate insects, just waiting until something came close.
Ones so powerful usually are. He added, Seems like you can at least handle them defensively. He looked her way, more a question than a statement.
We can look for him. Lets just stay this high. Can you see to the ground?
He nodded, Not well at this distance and without light but I should be able to spot the area at least. If it still looks similar.
They continued their flight, keeping up a high speed to make it harder for any monsters to attack them from below. Theres , He started, hesitating as he slowed down, Ilea, there are hundreds beyond the wall.
She looked down but didnt see or hear a thing, goosebumps forming on her skin, Want to move on?
Maro didnt reply, simply picking up the same speed as before. A couple minutes of silent flight later, the man spoke up once again, Hes there.
What do you mean? Found the corpse? She asked.
No no hes there, walking around. He still has a sword. The creatures move out of his way. He replied.
Ilea raised her eyebrows, Interesting. Hes undead then they avoid him? Perhaps there was something about him they didnt like. Or whatever they could take from him was long gone.
Looks that way, maybe hes bait , theyre looking up at us Ilea. His voice was steady but she could tell he was tense.
Thinking on it, she tapped her chin, the two hovering over the area. Do you have a bunch of undead remaining? She asked after a while, the king nodding in response, Hand me one, revive it as I hold it up. She said. A Feynor corpse appeared, Ilea taking it with two ashen limbs and holding it in place as his magic flowed into it, animating the body, its eyes opening and muscles tensing up.
Show me where the knight is, Ill hover above and drop it. Maro moved a couple meters through the air before he nodded. She moved the undead closer to him and dropped it. The body fell for a couple seconds before she heard the noises, impacts on metal, then earth. Silence returned as she looked over at Maro.
Its bait. He said simply.
Did all of them jump? She asked but he shook his head, dropping a bunch of bones down. This time no noises resounded.
I suppose theyre only going for things that have mana.
She looked over, Can you reach them from here with your beam? Maybe we can scatter them? She formed and fired off a bunch of ashen lances in turn.
No, also they dodged your attacks. He commented, Ilea instead just forming a mist of ash that immediately dropped down. Are you trying to bury them? Certainly got the captains attention if its even him.
Hmm, no. Not really. But the more ash thats down there, the harder it will be for them to get to me. She replied. Ill need as many distractions as you can make.
Maro stared at her before he laughed, You are crazy. Sure?
She nodded, If I cant avoid them Ill blink out. The chaos even with only a couple dropped undead should be enough. I just hope the knight isnt higher than the others.
Can you kill him so quickly?
No. Ill carry it out.
Worth a shot. Ill try to give you as much time as possible. Maro said, Ilea forming a small platform of ash for him to drop and form his skeletons on. She continued to create more ash, the soft flakes falling down like snow, her sphere showing them in a dark red color. The magic faded from them as she let go, yet the ash remained.
Half an hour later, the two were hovering over the hordes of Soul Rippers and the lone Undead looking up at them. May the gods have mercy and there isnt a winged version of them somewhere out there. She thought, concentrating on the sixteen limbs of ash, each carrying a single skeleton. Additionally there were twenty small platforms of ash with a skeleton or undead on each. Maro held five of them too, two holding onto his legs and one on his back.
Tell me when youre ready. He said.
Ilea activated Heart of Cinder, waiting for it to charge as she hovered right over the undead. One of my more brain dead ideas. She said with a grin. Maro laughed to her side, serious again a moment later.
Drop them. She said, Maros undead falling. A moment later she let go of the undead held up by her limbs. One more second passed and she stopped controlling the ashen platforms that held up the skeletons around her. She followed them down, flying straight as she sped up to her full speed. Maro followed a couple meters behind her, her sphere already picking up the Soul Rippers that flew by, catching the bait. She blinked to avoid one of them, closing the distance to the undead.
[Undead Rose Knight - ???]
The armored knight screeched at her, beams of death magic slamming into the Soul Rippers above. Heart of Cinder was released, staggering the knight and swirling up the mountains of ash around her, Ilea willing it all into a massive whirlwind as she wrapped her ashen limbs around the knights limbs and body. Her wings moved and made her ascend, the remaining limbs crashing into the jumping Soul Rippers, Ilea dodging and weaving through. She severed the connection to avoid two of them, appearing behind the knight and grappling him as her wings brought her higher once more.
One of the Soul Rippers flying at them was avoided with a twirl, a second and third one slowed by purple beams from above, their trajectory disturbed enough to allow her escape. The knight struggled but she was successful in keeping his blade away from her, another set of enemies were interrupted by death magic and her ashen limbs before she finally reached Maro. The necromancer appeared before her, his hand slamming into the undeads chest.
Quick, hes paralyzed for a couple seconds! He shouted, the noises from below calming down again. Ilea sped up, Maro falling behind as she shot for the sunlit part of the city. The knight started moving again, Ilea holding down his sword arm with ten of her limbs, struggling against his overwhelming strength.
The two tumbled through the air, Ilea letting go of him as soon as they reached the upper parts of the city. The undead crashed into a house, taking one of the walls with him before he stood up and rushed out, focused on Ilea who landed in the open square in front of the house. Sword swinging downwards, she folded her wings in front of her when a purple beam slammed into the undeads chest, the creature blocking with its sword as it skidded back a couple meters.
Take it out? She asked, Maro landing next to her as the creature screeched once more.
Maro put a hand on her shoulder, eyes focused on the undead, Id like to fight this one alone. You did enough. He added, taking a step towards the undead, his shield and purple flames activating, Thank you.
Ilea remained where she was, her wings vanishing as she crossed her arms. He lifted his hands and spoke, Kohn Reyker you can rest now. She felt the power in his words, the magic that slammed into the creature decaying its Stonehammer steel armor as it struggled against him. Maro dodged to the side casually when the sword was thrown, the undead crashing into his shield, punching it before the sword came back. Again the necromancer stepped to the side, crouching as the weapon flew over him.
The beams continued for half a minute, the undead breaking through his shield several times, the king simply teleporting away whenever it happened and reengaging with his ranged attack. Ilea felt a little cheated, knowing she had to get close and personal, dodging all their strikes from melee range. Then again the undead rose knights were taken care of rather easily after her evolutions. Finally, the undead collapsed and Maros magic ceased.
ding Your group has defeated [Undead Rose Knight lvl 509] For defeating an enemy two hundred or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted.
ding Blink reaches 3rd lvl 11
ding True Ash Creation reaches 3rd lvl 8
ding Ash and Ember Unity reaches 3rd lvl 8
The danger of the whole ordeal must have played into those skill levels. She was sure. Just killing the knight wouldnt have granted the levels, even if it was two hundred levels above her own. She walked over to the king, on his knees and looking defeated, the corpse lying before him, unmoving.
Ilea simply stood there and gave him time and space to deal with it. He spoke, his voice cracking with the second word, He walked those plains for thousands of years. Long dead. He shook his head, While I was right here. Unconscious, not doing anything.
You did everything you could. All your undead would not be enough to challenge those Soul Rippers, even with their levels raised by the dungeon. Ilea said bluntly.
He looked at his hands and sighed, Your consoling sucks. Slowly, he got up, Well at least hes free now. This idiot died for Rhyvor, to uncover something about those monsters. Maro wiped at his face before he walked over to the nearby house, collecting enough furniture to build a small pyre. She waited, knowing that he didnt want her help with it.
When the fire was burning, the two watched the flames consume the rotten armor and corpse, the once powerful guard captain put to rest one final time. I didnt like him either. Maro said after a while, He loved Elana, I think. Still, he was loyal to Rhyvor. And so was I. Thats the only reason we never openly disputed. He paused and shook his head, Even he didnt deserve this fate. Rest in peace. He walked off then, the body not even consumed fully when Ilea spoke up.
Theres a ring here. Its unaffected by the flames. She took a step forward and grabbed it, taking it off the finger as the flames licked over her arm.
Comments
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
I forgot what it was like to blaze through chapters upon chapters until I became a patron and was reintroduced to the feeling... but now I feel I have overdosed on chapters and am experiencing severe withdrawal 😢
Inslayer
Sure enough, but why would she bother? Usually she took their armor and all, but now it was the inexperienced necromancer. That guy burned him with his armor and all still on... Just kidding. But spatial rings are rare enough that no one else other than the kingsguard should have then and even then we don't know. Mostly influencial people have spatial rings, not the strong ones, as you said.
G. Harthane
Not for the advance chapters but you can just read on RoyalRoad if the site is pissing you off :). Setting up a website with payment system and unlockable chapters is an option but right now Patreon does all that for me. Apologies.
Silver Beard
There seems to be a huge lack of the tell tales of what you would expect folks to need without one. Where are the heavy packs or porters, etc that would have to have if you didn’t have a storage device...
Silver Beard
My biggest complaint is not so much quantity- but except for this ‘ring’ she just found- none of the high profile kills she’s made had storage devices of their own?! Seems far fetched that all the high-profile folks would NOT have one...
PloofDoodle
I wont say that she lost her ability to detect hidden paths and such, moreso that it changed by making it rely on her spotting a difference in mana rather than a feeling 'of something off'
Tetsuki
I think the problem is more of that most really high leveled people are mages. And Ilea is especially good against those. And from what we have seen so far. Armor doesn't really add much to a mage VS mage battle. Since you don't get any resistance buff, only defence is added. But most damage seems to be attribute one in high level. So I think the only really important thing are skill levels, class and combat experience.
a class guide for wine makers/vintners would fit the feel of the kingdom
Darastrix
When will Ilea come back from the North? It's been teased for so many chapters...
Morog T Tiny
I have had it with patreon, the incompetent web site. Do you operate on any other site?
Psy
I like the idea of items that are useful for things other than fighting, a mug that can transform shit beer to good beer it has a sample of for example. She doesn’t need much to fight but there are a lot of options to make life better while wandering like she does.
Han Pol
I think a good metric would be somebody with no level appropriate gear, should generally loose against a char in the same weight class early level 300's who has ancient gear that is fitting. ) Her stronger class should still negate that advantage, but for somebody with an average class, let's assume the golden Lilly and Maro both have average ones, the better gear of one might be a huge factor for a win.
Azareck
She already does that with her ash doesn't she?
Emma Carlin
What about some kind of magic device that creates a 3D images of what the user is thinking about? Like a holographic diagram. It wouldn't increase her power at all, but would let her better explain Earth concepts to people. Might be useful in some ways.
Psy
For loot maybe something like a portable house or camp stored in a dimensional item. I imagine a high level mage would want to travel in comfort, or to bring their lab/library etc with them.
Memorable treasure does not need to be powerful. A randomly color changing rock can turn out to be a key item or just part of a moving mural. Decanter of endless water could be extremely useful, or just a way to make a shower. Toy robot could walk around, dance, endlessly transform, translate everything said into an obscure language, or self repair for durability. Entertainment could be a bookshelf of trashy novels, music box, holographic movie, camera with photos, board game with Magic AI etc etc. Utility items don’t need to be very useful to be interesting like Night vision goggles, ambient magic sensors, stealth equipment, short range teleportation, gardening tools, or whatnot that’s just not her style. Knowledge is another big one, a class guide with evolution path requirements could cap out at 200 and still be highly valuable to others. Make it personal and be for a cook/baker. Learning utility magic without the system like a cleaning spell or just magnetic north could take years to master and still be a great diversion. Stuff that’s more her style could be a self massaging chair or self balancing levitating mattress platform are exactly the kind of thing a wealthy adventure would want.
Morog T Tiny
Think of all the junk we pick up from living, A king would pick up great oddities with little use to himself but great value that would end up in a vault. What would you give a necromancer? jewel covered skeletons? odd trinkets? powerful jewelry? magical staffs? Things that are beautiful but have little use. I think that is the kind of padding that chapter needs. one use items. knick nacks and such made out of rare materials. Magical mistakes that turned out useful.
Michael C
Sorry. Typing on mobile while on the bus. Cant scroll up in edit mode to fix spelling and grammar.
Michael C
You should consider another lesbian scene. Imagine if there is an evolved female succubus that is spawning the soul rippers from humans she sucked dry. She could have massive resistences. She fears noone. Smack our girl around like a rag doll. But her one weakness is she gets lost in sexual pleasure as she consumesife energy. Our girl goes to zero health, but her mana is still max and keeps her alive. The succubus is delerious with pleasure from overfeeding and our girl kills her with reverse healing (which has no resistences)
Michael C
Ahhhhh. You f!er. Damn you! This is your worse cliffhanger yet. If I had to wait a month to find out about that ring I would be pissed.
whatbm
As for loot ideas. Maro liked to go exploring and dungeon diving when he was a king. Maybe he found something(s) that he stuck in the treasury because he didn't know what they were. Maybe Ilia uses one of those things and gets an effect similar to a Psychoactive Skin item, maybe something to give her back her hidden trap/path perception that she lost with her class evolution.
Alan McBrayer
The Praetorians didn't drop anything either. I'm guessing loot only drops from dungeon/mana created bosses. The dog dungeon is the only one we've seen which hadn't been created from an ancient ruin or cult.
Corwin Amber
thanks for the chapters
Atlas Dwarf
Thanks for the chapter. I wonder if there's a second part of a Tremor Dungeon for the Soul Rippers considering she never got a 'dungeon drop' like the Alpha Hound trinket. Also a few ideas for the ring: mana camouflage (could help explain how the knight got so far out), sound dampening, or paralysis reduction (similar to Veteran). Edit: It was mentioned Ilea put the Armament of Trials set into her necklace when she got out but the king talks like she still has it out.
Garend
Hundreds? Well that's a Drake for the future.
hm... items and loot. hard things to balance right. In Books as in games... but thinking about what is possible with magic in this world it feel wrong for there not to be good items. runes, glyphs, enchantments, monster materials, etc.? perfect for making cool equipment to boost your strength. for ilea any item that gave mana or some kind of regen would be huge. Boots that increase stamina regen? Gloves that add a freeze/slow effect to your punshes? and there are thousands of other options.
Yshua
I recently tried to interest a friend in this novel and he didn’t make it far enough to get hooked. Looking back really makes me appreciate how much you’ve grown as an author- I’m so glad you stuck with it through those first growing pains! Thank you for writing such an enjoyable work :)
Yshua
I always look forward to Azarinth Healer! I also really appreciate your editorial style :)
Tsaimath
It's the one ring! Or maybe the other ring
Arnon Parenti
Loot is half the adventure, never give away loot chapters.
searchnresqtoo
LOL, every tuesday/thursday/saturday; I refresh the page a couple extra times hoping there were more than 2 chapters released.
First, thanks for the chapter and waiting for more.
