Chapter 90: Picnic (1/2)

The Tremorling is a dangerous foe. Their earth magic combined with excellent perception lets them set up traps to lure and catch any wandering adventurer. The low level is deceiving as they are proven to chose the lowest leveled and youngest members of their tribe to lure any prey towards their traps. Usually Tremorlings reside inside caves or near mountains but rare occasions have been reported of them appearing in forests as well, using the trees and bushes as extensions of their devious traps.

The picture of the beast looked incredibly cute to Ilea, ignoring their hands instead of paws. ‘Like a small puppy but with thumbs.’ she thought as she listened to Liam talk about the beast and possible ways to approach them. The first suggestions was not to. They were found to kill beings and monsters a hundred or more levels above them. A collapsing tunnel was quite deadly to a mage after all, no matter how strong their ice powers were.

Ilea smiles as none of the monsters so far seemed to pose a massive threat to her. She would likely be able to get away from nearly all of them. Killing the monsters was a completely different story though as many of them had specialized abilities to deal with her sort of attacks. Her high level would help of course but then again they were talking about common and known monsters, not about the ones that would be able to easily kill a level 200 human.

They covered only two monsters in the hour long class but Ilea tried to internalize the knowledge as best as possible. She found herself very interested in the topic which helped tremendously. Eve seemed to be half asleep and Kyrian had a hard time remembering the names and abilities when they quickly recapped the monsters from yesterday’s class.

Claire of course knew a lot about them already and could answer all questions even for the new monsters they were discussing. Being the team tactics teacher and likely the one calling the shots when the team would actually face one of the enemies, Ilea found it comforting.

The class ended soon and Liam excused himself quickly, leaving in a hurry. As everyone was getting up, Ilea proposed the same thing she had tried to convince Trian of.

“Would any of you like to continue the training, bouts and attacks you can try on me? I don’t need a lot of sleep and while I’m here it seems like a good way to spend the time.”

Kyrian nodded “I’m t...training in the wood where you found me yesterday for most of the time. You can join if you like.” he told her.

“Maybe but I’m rather busy. I’ll come join you sometimes I guess.” Eve said. Both Kyrian and Ilea looked towards Claire then.

“I… I’ve been training alone usually...” she scratched the back of her head and looked to the floor.

“Perfect, I assume you won’t argue about the efficiency. Except of course you were killing things to level up?” Ilea asked. Claire shook her head though and then looked at Ilea, her eyes brightening.

“Maybe we can get an area in Eregar’s Haven...but we’d need the whole team for that I think. We’re the lowest ranked after all.” she said and put her hand to her chin.

“What the hell’s Eregar’s Haven? And what do you mean lowest ranked? What would the impact of that be?” Ilea asked.

“It’s a place below Viscera. I’ve not been there but I hear it’s massive. A magically constructed landscape all the elders and many members of the Hand have been working on for centuries. Eregar was one of the first Elders of the order and expanded the cave system to start the whole thing. Beasts were brought down and whole ecosystems grew. I assume we’ll be seeing some of the monsters in our monster knowledge class at some point.” Claire explained while everyone else listened.

“People are not just let down there. We need to have permission from the team fighting teacher and with our low rank we also have to go there as a whole team. I think top 20 can go inside with two people and top ten can go in individually, though I don’t know how helpful that might be.” she explained.

“What stops someone from just killing everything down there? The monsters I mean.” Eve asked.

“Well they are all lower than level 200. It wouldn’t be worth anyone’s time. I have a theory that the level 200 requirement is there in big part because of Eregar’s Haven. The Elders really want to keep it the way it is.” Claire explained.

“What’s the benefit though, we can just train outside can’t we?” Ilea asked.

“I don’t know to be honest. The tournaments are down there at least.” Claire said.

“Maybe it’s just very beautiful?” Eve asked.

“T..tournaments?” Kyrian interjected.

“Yes, it’s a part of the rankings. Finished jobs and the power of killed beings is the biggest part but bouts against other teams and their members help as well. It can get very messy though that’s why they’re only held every three months or so. Many teams aren’t even there and even fewer participate but it is a good way to see people on our level fight. All teams that are in Viscera come to see the fights at least.” Claire went on. “Usually the new teams don’t join because they have to show off their abilities, not something easily shared. Killings among the hand have been relatively rare though, that’s why the tournaments are still there.”

“Oh and of course you can challenge anybody in the Haven at all times. It has no impact on the rankings and everybody can refuse but it’s an easy way to fight people on your level without them killing you. At least that isn’t allowed.” Claire finished.

“So that’s the middle elevator?” Ilea asked and Claire nodded.

“Yes, exactly. Though as I said new teams aren’t allowed to go down there except all members are present. And don’t look at me like that, don’t break that rule. We’d be expelled. Do you really want to lose a hundred gold coins just to go where you could go anyway? We just have to convince Trian to join us.” Claire said.

“Alright alright, I won’t go. If Eve promises the same...” Ilea said and looked at the woman. A smile was on her face but she sighed theatrically.

“Oooookay, I won’t sneak in either. Maybe I have already though...” she said but Ilea was sure she hadn’t. Eve likely wouldn’t have been able to not say anything about its beauty. No matter how nice it actually looked.

“Forest today then? I’ll ask Trian about the Haven tomorrow. And we need permission from Joseph.” Ilea said and the others nodded.

“When should we meet there?” Kyrian asked.

“Now? Let’s get some food first though, I’m starving.” Ilea said.

“I’ll join later as mentioned.” Eve said. ”But I know where you are so it’s fine. See ya.” she said and vanished from Ilea’s Sphere. She saw Eve smile at her as Ilea struggled to perceive the woman. There was still a weird distortion in her perception but it was less noticeable than it had been the day before.

‘You little shit...’ she thought but couldn’t help smile. That would be the woman sneaking into enemy strongholds and unknown monster infested places for the team after all.

“Let’s go then.” Ilea said to the two others who followed in silence. She would wait with revealing either her storage necklace or Aki to them for a while. It wasn’t easy for Ilea to try and not trust them already. Her life on earth had schooled her that most people were somewhat trustworthy, as long as they weren’t salespeople. Of course there would be gossip and possible bullying but there was nobody trying to kill her because she owned a new computer or was looking for someone. At least not in her circles. Life in Elos was different and Ilea slowly learned that if she wanted to stay alive, she had to be more careful about what she shared with people.

The three found themselves in the forest just thirty minutes later, with a basket of hot food and drinks. Both kept at the perfect temperature thanks to some of Claire’s runes. ‘She really is helpful for a nice pick nick.’ Ilea thought as she unpacked the food and sat down on the snowy ground. The others followed suit, sitting down as well.

“We should bring chairs or at least a blanket next time.” Claire commented, getting an approving grunt from Ilea. Kyrian didn’t seem to care either way and started eating his food happily. Claire had insisted on paying her own part but Ilea decided not to talk about it. It seemed like a rather delicate topic to the woman.