Chapter 93: Workaholics (1/2)

The members of team 34 walked up to the middle elevator and Claire showed the guard there the document signed by Joseph. The man nodded and motioned them through, scratching a 34 into the stone tabled that was lying on a table next to the entrance.

Magical lights lined the corridor that led towards the elevator and after a two minute descent the group came up to a hall that held another five elevators, likely there to better distribute the people and goods being transported. The blueish light in the hall gave Ilea the feeling of a club or late night bathroom lighting.

The brief thought on the existence of heroin in Elos was swept away a couple minutes later as the side of the elevator opened up to reveal something beautiful. A massively diverse and vast landscape illuminated by what seemed to be an artificial sun covered in runes spread before them, sporting mountains, trees, lakes and even a small desert in the distance.

The roof of the place was covered in magical lights and crystals that added to the illusion of a sky above. They were speechless as they descended for another five minutes, the ground coming closer and closer, the height change letting them grasp just how vast this place was.

The sound of the platform landing and the kinetic force associated with the action jump-started Ilea’s brain again and made her walk forward and out of the half opened elevator shaft. The smell of different vegetation and the blinding sun above mad her hold up her hand to her eyes. Birds sang in the distance and there was no question in her mind that Spring had come around.

Through her Sphere she saw everyone else wander about just as aimlessly though likely focused on different things. Ilea closed her eyes and breathed in and out several times before her wings spread behind her and she quickly ascended again. The view changed as she flew up and the vast landscape spread out before her again.

There was a forest to the west, with lakes and even a marsh in between. Two mountains could be seen in the distance, with their size they wouldn’t have to hide behind the very mountains they were residing in. ‘This isn’t possible...’ Ilea thought as she descended again, her mind rejecting the truth of this place. The sci fi side of her thought of some sort of pocket dimension, perhaps something like her storage device. She hadn’t noticed anything when descending with the elevator though.

“This is marvelous...” Claire exclaimed, making the group focus on her.

“Is this real? No illusions?” Eve asked.

“I believe there are some illusions at play in the distance but I think what you see is real.” Claire answered.

“Impressive.” even Trian commented on it.

“The metal is singing to me….” Kyrian said and showed a rare smile. “There is so much of it here, below the ground. The runes carved inside are strong and... old...” he said and walked in a circle.

“Good place for vacation in the winter...” Ilea said and got a chuckle from Eve.

“Oh you say it…” the woman commented before picking up a rock from the ground. “This is all real...” she said after a while.

“Eregar’s quite a guy huh?” Ilea said.

“Well he didn’t build all of this himself… there were hundreds if not thousands of mages involved and they worked on this for over a thousand years. Still they expand it today.” Claire explained.

“But why?” Trian asked, looking into the distance.

“Why what? Build it? I’m not sure. There are plenty of theories around but likely only the elders know, if at all.” Claire said and shrugged.

“I’m just glad they added forests and natural light compared to the Taleen green this is quite the improvement.” Ilea said and got a side glance from Trian.

“You’ve been inside a Taleen dungeon?” he asked.

“Yea, how I leveled up so quickly.” Ilea answered and started walking up a nearby slope covered in healthy grass.

“Against Taleen Guardians? Well there’s certainly easier ways to level up. They’re pretty much the most dangerous things we know of at level two hundred, at least when it comes to monsters without specializations.” Trian said and there was a hint of admiration in his voice.

“You know they’re not monsters right? They were made by the Taleen Dwarfs, at least that’s what I assume.” Ilea said and looked around. “Just like this was made by humans...”

“True, well let’s hope there are not Guardians here then. And let’s train. Where should we go?” Claire asked, joining Ilea’s side on the slope overlooking the proximity. They were standing in a field of grass, interspersed by hills and the occasional tree.

“We don’t know how everything looks like yet. I think something near the mountains would suit us best but let’s move around a little...” Ilea said and started walking, seeing with her Sphere that the others followed. Eve and Trian close behind followed by Claire and Kyrian.

After the grassy hills came a section of forest with some low leveled creatures inhabiting it. None of them chose to attack and neither did anybody of their team feel the need to lash out. Ilea was quite surprised there hadn’t been anybody just killing the monsters for fun. Perhaps there were ways to prevent it or maybe there were rules against that.

Claire explained upon her question. There apparently were rules in place and the possible repercussions weren’t usually worth whatever sadistic tendencies the person would satisfy. There was a whole world filled with monsters out there after all.

After around an hour’s travel at running speed, the section of forest opened up to reveal a small lake, reflecting the artificial sun’s light coming from above. Ilea saw fish inside of the lake and breathing in she found nothing in the air indicating them to be inside of the biggest cave she’d ever seen. ‘If we really are in a cave...’ she thought, repressing the upcoming thoughts on the whole nature of Elos. There was nothing these thoughts would give her except for uncertainty.

Elos was real and so where the people in it, including herself. The group ran around the lake on one of its shorelines, entering a rocky terrain covered in cave entrances and rocks that would be useful as cover. “Something like this?” Claire shouted from her position at the back of the group.

“Yea why not.” Eve said, tired of running but likely not actually exhausted.

“This will do well as a training ground. Just bouts?” Trian asked, looking towards Claire who seemed surprised that he would consult her.

“We can start with bouts, yes. I want to continue with Kyrian and his runes for a while anyway. Eve just join the others and train your magic on both of them.” Claire finished, shooing them away before getting out her notes from her pack again.

“With pleasure.” Eve said with a smile and a glint of malice in her eyes as she looked towards Trian.

The terrain made it quite a bit more interesting than the simple training hall Ilea and Trian had fought in before. Of course the earlier bout in the forest had already been an improvement but the trees were simply smashed away. Rock and small caves weren’t as easily destroyed.

Ilea certainly had the power to smash through a rock wall but the several meters thick ground made it a little more difficult. Her Sphere showed its overwhelming power in this terrain as Trian didn’t know from where she would come from, trying to find places that gave him enough space to react. He was pushed onto the defensive for the whole training session while trying to avoid Eve however possible.