RhaegarRRL
patreon
Chapter 254 Questionable Cooperation
🕑 Added 2019-07-18 14:56:04 +0000 UTCAuthor's note July 30th: Hope you enjoy the chapters :). More likely coming on Thursday.
Author's note July 18th: Hey all, hope you like the chapters. Double today because of the 650 Goal! Didn't expect that to be reached so quickly :). Thank you for the continued support. Not sure if I'll do double release goals again because it's hard to say how much I'm able to write. I'll keep you updated though as always.
Cheers and have a good day.
Chapter 254 Questionable Cooperation
You thought they just fought like that for three hours without rest?
Ilea remembered Taleen machines fighting for much longer than that. Miststalkers didnt let up with draining either. Plenty of monsters can do that.
Terok grunted, Aye, emphasis on monsters. Well I can tell you that these are definitely great if you want to train your skills and learn to fight against swordmasters. As much as I hate to admit it, Ive not seen a better one than those either.
Ilea didnt feel like being a smart ass and just nodded, So theyre like me in a sense. Durable and self healing? I never felt anything through my skill though and it allows me to understand the state of someones body.
Terok shrugged in his exoskeleton, I suppose that could be said. Though I think theyd do more damage to you.
I feel personally attacked. Ilea said but she knew from experience that it was true. Her fists werent blades and had no way of cutting or heavily denting their armor. Neither of her gauntlets had that ability either, her heavy ones too slow to get a clean hit anyway.
You shouldnt. Youre not an undead. Theyre unfeeling, single purposed in fights and equipped with high quality gear.
Ilea was all that as well when it came to fighting but she wasnt about to get into that. Somethings fueling them then. Is that normal in a dungeon?
Another shrug, Guess well find out. Necromancer might be part of the dungeon, any idea where they might be?
The palace. Its in the lit up part of the city but the knights there are much more nasty than anything else Ive fought here. I dont feel safe with engaging them. She explained.
Terok thought about her words, Maybe I can sneak in?
Getting in isnt much of a problem. Teleporting gets you there but if we alert even one of them it might be over and Im not dragging your corpse out of there. Ilea said, Ill explain the layout and everything I know. You think about places for us to visit where I can fight non regenerating enemies.
Does ash blind them? She asked, tapping on the notebook with her pen. Terok was working on his rig a couple meters away, both staying in the cathedral at the highest point of Tremor. The dwarfs metallic eye swirled and zoomed in on the steel plate he was scratching into, part of the previously destroyed head. Night had fallen and the two were sitting in warm magical light provided by the engineer. Ilea had spent most of her nights outside with the Miststalkers, the lack of light in the dungeon never becoming an issue.
Terok had put up the two repaired lamps on the railing of the first floor, overlooking the big hall on ground level. We tried smoke before, freezing, fire, dark magic. They seem to rush into whatever magic they can find. Youve seen how big they are havent you? Once they notice anything intruding the dungeon, they group up, more and more appearing. Your high poison resistance might be enough to battle them but combined with the ranged monsters I doubt youd be very effective. At least I dont believe they can heal themselves. The dwarf explained. Ilea put a question mark next to the hastily sketched Drop Saurian inhabiting the Penumra dungeon.
It wouldve been the closest to Hallowfort, next to the Descent of course. Levels unknown? Ilea asked and saw him nod through her sphere, a small white spark visible in the corner of her eye when he finished fixing another enchantment. I could try again but it might not be the best start. If they catch me and prevent me from blinking Id be toast probably. Their damage potential was hard to gauge but it likely wasnt below the knights of Tremor.
The city leading to the Descent. You said it was dangerous? The page in her notebook was flipped, the name of the dungeon in question written at the top of the page.
Ye. People arent as nice as they are in town so you have to look out for any random person, dark one or otherwise down there. Its all very old, different monsters from further down sometimes make their way up and walls break, flooding entire sections. Some tunnels leading along the sea bring the most dangerous creatures inside, other than the miststalkers sometimes wandering in at night.
Blue Reapers theyre called. Mind magic supposedly and lightning. Theyre pretty small but anybody encountering them drops dead damn near immediately. Fuming at the mouth and paralyzed. Even groups cant take them down, the monsters just switching to area attacks just as powerful. The only saving grace is that they dont seem to be interested in the place, likely they wander in from a further away dungeon. Neither do they attack if not provoked.
Might be a stupid idea to do so then. Ilea said, Mind magic and lightning are some of my highest resistances though so depending on just how hard they hit they might be perfect for leveling.
Terok laughed at that, waving her off, Of course the most dangerous magic is what youre best against. And you struggle with mindless undead swinging swords. Dont worry though, most everyone in Hallowfort would love to see the little fuckers taken care of. We dont have guilds here but there are prices for their tiny heads. An easy way to make money as well if youre looking for that.
Ilea tapped the notebook and wrote down Blue Reaper below The Descent. What about further down? You said there were layers to the dungeon, different entirely.
Terok walked over and gestured for the pen, Ilea handing it to the dwarf who quickly added a couple sections on the page. The first layer is mostly harmless, to a human it might even be nicer than Hallowfort. Why some of the more nature inclined races rather reside there. The second layer is a big cave with traps and earth magic insects of varying levels. After that comes a big layer filled with water. I never ventured there but came close several times. Further below lies Heroes Descent, probably a place built by the city above and those who made the statue Hallowfort sits on. People dont share information on it but those who can venture there or further either come out rich or die trying.
He added some information on each of the layers, not many Ilea admitted. If there was a town at the fourth layer called Heroes Descent then it probably meant that was the starting point for the initial citizens. You think it goes much further down?
The language of the city is Standard and they liked their statues, murals and inscriptions. It is said that Heroes Descent is where the strongest are tested, where they are trained and sent to recover artifacts, magic and technology of the deep. That dungeon was like a religion to them. There is information on more layers there but its apparently neither accurate nor plentiful. He explained, moving a hand through his black greasy hair. Guess youll find out when you go there.
Unrelated did you see the same necromancer connection for the undead knights that nearly killed you? Ilea asked, switching back to the page about Tremor.
Now that you mention it no. You really mean to face them again? One had a triple mark. I doubt you can reasonably fight monsters at level five hundred and higher. Not when theyre so small and specialized. He said.
Ilea considered it but having fought them she had to agree with him. Even if they didnt have an ability to recover, the noise and required space to fight had already brought three of them upon her. Maybe I can lure one out A test for later.
Why would you even fight them? Just go for something you can kill much easier until youve safely increased your powers. Terok suggested.
Ilea couldnt deny the logic but it hadnt brought her to where she was today, what she was. Doesnt sound very fun, now does it? He laughed instead of lecturing her, a trait she definitely appreciated after the treatment most humans had given her.
I think you should try the Descent then. Maybe but only maaaybe try to fight a Blue Reaper. Only if your resistances are in the second tier and you have some way to heal damage to your mind. Otherwise I strongly suggest not doing it. The monsters in the descent range from level two hundred to triple marks in the third layer already, depending on how unlucky your are. Or lucky as someone like you might see it. He said with a smile.
She nodded, Sounds reasonable. What about the monsters in the lake below Hallowfort? I saw some shapes but decided not to engage back when I was there.
Terok shook his head, Nothing that would be worth the trouble. Most creatures are below two hundred even, except the whales. Black creatures lined with bone if the stories are to be believed. Some say they feast on Miststalkers at night. I suggest you wait with finding out until you can survive and kill whole groups of stalkers.
Ilea grunted but if there was a reason not to fight underwater, she definitely welcomed it. Any other places or monsters? Not underground maybe?
Terok scratched his beard but looked skeptical, None of the beasts are any easier to deal with than what is down here. The few you might be able to kill without getting overwhelmed are either below your level or too elusive to catch, even for specialized trackers. You could go look for dark ones farther north or hunt Feynor but you dont strike me as a murderer.
At least I dont look it. She considered coldly, her mouth a thin line as she remembered all the people she had killed. The faces blurred together. His assumption was right of course, she wouldnt hunt intelligent life, conscious feeling creatures for her own power alone. Revenge, self defense or at least a highly irritating character would be reason enough but purely for her own gains? That was a line she didnt want to cross. The human in her, the one born and raised on Earth with modern morals and ideas couldnt simply shed it all. Perhaps, she thought, if there were a reason standing above life itself. For the greater good or to stop some overwhelming force threatening all she holds dear. Even then it would be a hard choice, one she hoped shed never have to face.
Never heard of Feynor. Another kind of awakened beast?
Terok grunted as another plate of metal floated his way, the dwarf starting to cut into it with a thin black knife, No. They reside as close to the highest mountains in the north as they can. Sentient and apparently related to Dragons themselves. The look apparently is closer to Lizardmen but Ive never met any. Everyone who has though reports they attack on sight. A tough people but as long as they stay far away from here I dont care what they do.
Well I dont care about sentients as long as they dont stand in my way.
The dwarf finished another enchantment as he talked, You mentioned youve fought Taleen? Theres a dungeon a couple hours flight northwest but Ill be honest, that one would be more personal interest. Guardians would hardly make a dent in your experience and any of the higher class machines are few and far between.
Ilea looked at him, Fought Centurions before. I think I could trash them easily now. They were around three hundred so if there was a dungeon with more of them ,
Doubt it. What I heard was a bunch of Guardians and enough traps to kill a whole expedition of veterans. Then again thats the usual when it comes to Taleen. Paranoid fuckers. He murmured the last part.
Sounds similar to what Ive seen. I think Ill go with something else. Definitely plan to face another Praetorian if I hit another power spike. Ilea said offhandedly, the dwarf just shaking his head.
He continued his work, Well let me know, their tech is amazing and Id love to see the inner parts of their production facilities.
You think you could replicate anything? Ilea asked, remembering the teleportation gate Claire and Christopher were working on.
Terok laughed, his voice reverberating in the big hall. You dont think anybody has tried? No, I go my own way about it. The best dwarven engineers have cursed the designs as impossible, Im not going to pretend Im better than them. Inspiration is what I seek. Im a metal mage and engineer, not a machine designer. They can try to figure out the autonomous designs of the Taleen for as long as they want to. I doubt theyd have made it easy enough to simply replicate. Not with how many traps and defensive measures their towns are lined with.
Maybe a teleportation gate might not be in the books then. Christopher would continue to try of course and both Ilea and Claire would likely fund him anyway. Just for the chance of bringing such a technology to humans and the Shadows Hand. Travel time and supply lines could be cut significantly if something like a working teleportation network existed and was in their hands. Ill think about it. Maybe if all the other options dont work out. Ilea said but she saw the chances of that as rather low.
The Descent already seemed much more promising, even the Miststalkers did. If at some point she could overwhelm them with her own magic. Tell me about the Kingsguard. I wont be much help in the Descent but I can scout out this palace you talked about and maybe find out how to get in.
Ilea sighed, Didnt we talk about this? I dont want you to die Terok.
The dwarf clasped his hands together and smiled, I think you want to fight by yourself. You dont want to look after someone and you dont want to be responsible for peoples deaths. I know how you feel. Trust me, I do. With that said youre not going to change the way I think, I live. Im not going to let an opportunity like this go and the people waiting for my debt are not going to wait forever. Id like to still have a house when I get back. Either you give me ten pieces of gold or you tell me all you know about this palace and Ill find my own way around and into it. My choice and my fault if I end up as a bloody smudge in this city.
Ilea grinned, Are you blackmailing me with your own life?
Why not? You obviously care. Id expect you to do the same. Maybe you should start trusting in my abilities as much as I trust in yours. Terok said.
Ilea stared at him. He was calm and cocky. A grin was on his face as he waited for her response. There was a reason she liked him, the feeling hadnt been wrong after all. Despite his abilities he had a drive and he was willing to take risks. Risks that would cost his life if he fucked up. Yea alright Ill tell you what I know. Not much by the way. Whatever you find I get first pick. Take any history related things, books and such as well. The elf likes that stuff.
One of his eyebrows was raised at that but Ilea kept talking, If I find anything I can easily kill we can at some point go together so you get to two hundred finally. Youre working with me now understand? No secrets. Try not to be useless.
I wont be. Ill repay the debt I owe you doubly. We can work out the relationship as we go.
Ilea snorted, Youll be dead before that ever happens. The elf I mentioned, he should come back here at some point. Just mention that you work with me and that you help me look for artifacts. I doubt hed kill you but Id definitely give it a chance.
He waved her off, At least I can work with him if you never return. Only reason he probably talked to you is because he doesnt want to go in there.
Then you know how to bargain with him at least. I dont think hes particularly dangerous anyway. Maybe he can train you to resist curses if you find something to trade with him. Then you could visit Goliath without me babysitting you. Ilea suggested with a smirk before flipping her notebook to the Tremor map. Come have a look.
Terok put down the metal plate he was working on and checked out the map she had already worked on. Youre a lousy cartographer. was his first comment, Ilea flipping the side of his head before she moved to the next page, a rough sketch of the palace and the different rooms.
Copy that and go from there. The doors are closed and in this section everything is still powered. She motioned to some of the rooms and hallways. I think it looks nice. This would probably be the best place to try and get in. Theres a single guard and he didnt patrol as far as I could tell. The door is open. I suggest putting something between to allow teleportation to work.
This door here has two guards, why I think its the most interesting but theyre somewhat close and you might have difficulties getting there depending on how far you can teleport. Ive only fought one of them, the variant with a single big sword and no shield. They have wind magic or something of the like that could cut through my Niameer armor from fifty meters away. Faster than I could move with my wings so I suggest you dont alert them. Ilea explained what she knew so far.
The elf is still translating the log book of the captain of the guard but he got bored and went to explore other places. Maybe youll find something in there that helps.
Terok nodded, Not a lot to work with but Ill check it out. I assume that coloring means youve cleared the area?
Ilea confirmed with a grunt, You can check the rest out as well but I didnt find anything other than undead, dust and really really old furniture.
Comments
G. Harthane
Glad you like them :)
G. Harthane
Ah, missed that. Will correct at some point. Thanks.
G. Harthane
I'll try not to. Thanks
ArturScott
it shoud be, as always
Baka
New chapters today?
Baka
I have thought the same thing.
Morog T Tiny
I wonder if is a good idea to restrict herself to hand to hand. even though it is her strength, sometimes it might benefit her to have a reach weapon. Something that can be used as cover as well as extended reach. A 2 handed sword like the Rose Guard carries might be a good secondary weapon to learn a bit, the same as improved skills with her bow. It looks like she needs better range or she needs to get even faster and more damage resistant.
closeded
You might want to replace the "now that you mention it" with an "I already told you." This Chapter: “Unrelated… did you see the same necromancer connection for the undead knights that nearly killed you?” Ilea asked, switching back to the page about Tremor. “Now that you mention it… no. You really mean to face them again? One had a triple mark. I doubt you can reasonably fight monsters at level five hundred and higher. Not when they’re so small and specialized.” He said. In Chapter 252: "Also how I noticed that the knights patrolling parts of the city have a magical connection to somewhere. The undead knights didn’t have that, not sure what that is about. Normally undead are the ones having a connection to their summoner."
Arkeus
So, mmh. Her Body Enhancement spells are: - State Of Azarinth - Hunter’s Sight - Azarinth Reversal - Azarinth Perception - Azarinth Fighting - Veil of Ash - Embered Body Heat - Form of Ash and Ember - Ashen Warrior - Body of Ash - Eyes of Ash - Ashen Wings If she wants to push for purposeful level 300 classes that lean toward Body Enhancement, she probably need at least one other Body Enhancement skill with Azarinth First Hunter (Hunter’s Sight/Azarinth Fighting/Azarinth Perception all could work). If she wants to be /sure/, she might want to get 2 rather than 1, but that means no Body of the first hunter/ Azarinth Hunting Sphere/ Hunter recovery. As for Inheritor of Eternal Ash, I am still hoping for a level 250 class evolution (espcially if she kills that level 400+ undead knight), but she likewise probably need at least one other skill that is Body Enhancement at T3 beside Veil of Ash. Ashen Wings is tempting, especially considering how weak Body of Ash/Eyes of Ash/Form of Ember and Ash/Ashen Warrior are. Still, there is significant chance that getting one of those to T3 will all but lock them being evolved at level 300. And, if she gets a class evolution at 250, those might become less lacklustre.
J H
I'm sure we'll see how they are doing at some point but they aren't ever going to be in Ilea's party. They are really low leveled and nobody can match Ilea's growth. She's already beyond her old party by herself after a few months. Maybe Kyrian will be forced to grow at enormous speed to survive his Taleen dungeon and will catch up with her, but I bet she'll still be far ahead. She's on a lonely path.
Thaabit Rivertree
Thanks for the extra chapters
Baka
I wonder if we will see the wood and dust mage grouping with Ilea at some point. It will be cool if she helps people with unique classes and forms her own guild. I like guild/base/empire building aspects to stories :)
Baka
Cool chapters, thanks G. Harthane!
Corwin Amber
Thanks for the chapters
sharkattack
Ripping off the knights' heads doesn't work, but arms seems like the way to go
J H
We still don't know what level the nuggets even are. Imagine Ilea coming across a nest of a few dozen at level 490 and just stomping on them all while bleeding from the ears and eyes. She'd level up a bunch of times. I still think finding a momma nugget with a ??? level would be a godsend for her, both for resistance training and leveling.
Arcanes
Great chapters. I actually like the Tremor dungeon now. At first I was kinda meh about it, because fighting knights seemed like a downgrade vs the more interesting monsters out there. But now I’m intrigued. Is there really a living necromencer behind the scene? Or maybe it’s some kind of formation? and for what purpose all this arrangements were made for? I have some ideas, but hopefully Ilea will learn about it eventually. And unleash the ancient evil only to demolish it right after for the thrill :) .
Atlas Dwarf
Thanks for the chapter. Blue Reapers, small creatures, and drop dead frothing from mind magic. It sounds like there are more Chicken Nuggets. Lightning flavored as well.
Jonathan Walker
I totally agree, and damn you really have a lock down of everything she has been doing and her level progress as well as class progress
Tommy Littlefield
Then again if his manipulation skill has the same 3rd tier effect as llea then any healer could heal his suit as it would be considered a part of his body 🤔
Tommy Littlefield
Hopefully her making that dwarf fight above his level gets him a sweet class upgrade maybe an upgrade to metal creation mage that lets him creat the metal specifically for his mech so he can always repair on the go though maybe a high level engineering class upgrade would provide a mech suit heal also
Baba Vader
Thanks for the chapters! So many of them :o
J H
Damn, awesome chapters. Lots of new info, hopefully next chapters we will get her initial foray into the Descent. I don't think we need to waste time with her visiting the smith and getting her armor repaired again, or Terok fixing his machine unless it gives more important conversation. Those blue reapers sound like an awesome fight for Ilea and again a way she can be very valuable to the rest of Hallowfort and kill multiple birds with one stone. Money, experience/levels, fun, challenge, and goodwill with the denizens exploring the dungeon. Now we have some solid info on class evolutions and 3rd classes finally! It goes without saying that she should and will get all her skills to 2nd 20, that's close by already. For both classes the main requirements that got her the ones she has involved killing enemies of higher levels, both alone and in groups, having many resistances, some of them in the 2nd tier, and having class skills leveled to the beginning or end of the 2nd class. So in order to maximize the potential evolutions, she should max out those accomplishments as much as possible. All skills maxed to the end of the 2nd goes without saying. If possible, although I don't think it will be depending on how long it takes her to get to 300, max out at least one 3rd tier skill. Gain as many resistances as possible, there should be 1 or 2 more she can gain from the denizens of Hallowfort or the Descent at least. Have as many in the 2nd tier as possible, there are a bunch she can get there before 300 I'm sure. Max out at least 1, but as many as possible. She should be able to at least get mana drain and health drain from the miststalkers, and if she fights blue reapers hopefully mind and lightning as well. She has 26 resistances, with 15 in the 2nd stage. Her last evolution required 15 resistances and 3 in the 2nd stage. So this is probably good enough by itself even. As for fighting higher level enemies, according to the pattern we have seen so far she needs to have killed at least 1 enemy of at high a level difference as possible. For first hunter it only counted solo kills, for other classes it counted group kills as well. Her group highest was the whale demon at 600 levels higher, her solo max is the first centurion at 140 levels higher. The first hunter requirements were for 10 solo kills 50 levels higher and 1 solo kill on a full strength opponent 100 levels higher. She's probably already got 100, maybe even 1000 solo kills for 50 higher, if she can get 100 at 100 levels higher that should be enough, but for the solo fighting I think if she can solo something 250 levels higher, so a lesser ??? enemy, that will be enough for the best possible class. Next best would be 150 higher, or 200 higher which she still has yet to do for solo kills. Finally, jeez this is a long post, finding out about 3rd classes is a definite win for Ilea. If it's just accomplishment based and that guy got one for just injuring a Basilisk by himself, Ilea can definitely at least try that. I hope she goes for that before level 300, like say go for it at 299. She already knows she should be able to escape at least. And having a third class (and/or having injured a being above level 1000) might give her even better class evolution options at 300.
Cyryl Chołodowski
Would be nice if she got those ??? solo kills before 300 (would give a very good explanation why her class is so much cooler than anybody elses - as it should be :P - once she is over 300)
Call0013
Cool Chapter Nice to see that the llea is make her final preperation before starts the final stretch to her next class evolutions.
Arkeus
“Unrelated… did you see the same necromancer connection for the undead knights that nearly killed you?” Ilea asked, switching back to the page about Tremor. <= He had already told her earlier on that they didn't
TheTiredOne
Dear author, please don't spontaneously combust because your upload speed is blazing. =)
