Chapter 97: Change (1/2)

The metal hold of the spear like arrow laid cold against Ilea’s hand as she carefully pulled the string of her massive bow backwards, focusing on the moving targets set before her. The last bit of breath left Ilea’s mouth and she let go, the wind enchantment of her bow coming to life in the last moment, giving her arrow just a bit more speed. She watched it fly and punch through three targets before the metal arrow buried itself inside the wall of the training hall.

A dull noise resounded and then silence came to the hall as Ilea breathed in her next breath.

“Passable, at best.” came the harsh verdict from her teacher. Ilea smiled brightly as her bow vanished inside one of her bracelets and she went for a big hug. Martha’s dodging skills weren’t quite up to dealing with the agile Ilea and she quickly found herself caught in her pupil’s embrace.

For the first time in three months Ilea had been deemed passable. She still sadly lacked any archery related skills but still it was a big achievement for the healer turned warrior standing inside one of the Hand’s training halls, hugging her teacher.

“Thank you so much for teaching me!” Ilea exclaimed, finally letting go of the woman who was already gasping for air. It had been a fun time for Ilea. Next to her more serious and demanding training in all her other skills and learning about monsters living in Elos, she found archery to be a surprisingly fun past time. Additionally it would add a somewhat dangerous ranged attack to her arsenal of skills, even though she didn’t have any related skills to enhance it.

“Don’t get so excited. You still lack any skills. Why do you even focus on this, it’s a waste of bloody time.” the woman commented but Ilea was already not listening anymore, still happy about her previous comment. She left Martha to her negative blabbering to wait in another hall for her team fighting lesson. Tomorrow they would get their first mission after everybody had agreed, considering their skill growth. Kyrian had delayed the whole thing another week as he wanted to get his second class’ skills just a little higher.

Not just her archery had improved in the past three months and Ilea quickly checked through her skills and stats as she sat waiting in the training hall where team 34 would soon join her for their daily lesson. She was ready to level her classes again and if she was honest she was itching to finally get some real action again. They all had a lot of close calls in their bouts but there was something exciting about the unknown that simply wasn’t there anymore fighting against her team members.

Name: Ilea Spears

Unspent statpoints: 0

Unspent 3rd tier skill points [Azarinth First Hunter]: 0

Class 1: Azarinth First Hunter – lvl 203

- Active: Destruction – 2nd lvl 20

Class 2: Ash Wielder – lvl 199

- Active: Shroud of Ash – 2nd lvl 10

General Skills:

- Elos Standard language - lvl 5

Status:

Vitality: 575

Health: 5750/5750

The big changes were of course the new second stages for Azarinth Reversal and many of her Ash Wielder skills.

Passive: Azarinth Reversal – 2nd lvl 2:

Ilea had already tried this and it effectively meant that she could drain a small amount of mana with every attack using Destruction, nearly making it pay for itself. Additionally every prolonged touch would lead to destructive mana being forced into her opponents, without having to consider her ability to heal herself. The skill became something she started using in every single fight compared to the occasional surprise it had been for her enemies before.

Active: Ash Surge – 2nd lvl 4

The second stage of Ash Surge added surprising diversity to the spell. Ilea could now summon ash in a controlled manner in front of her or to her side to manipulate it. Additionally she wouldn’t blind her team mates whenever she used the skill. The density addition to the second stage made it usable as a distraction even in the last moment of an attack and there was little reason for Ilea to hold back on using the spell, except of course for the mana cost.

Passive: Ash and Ember Manipulation – 2nd lvl 9:

Ash and Ember Manipulation was a little strange to define for Ilea. Even before it reached the second stage she wasn’t sure if it was a viable skill to have. It had come from Fire Manipulation she had gotten with her Fire Mage class. With the second stage she was now much more in control of any ash she summoned through her Ash Surge or even through her wings. When Ilea found herself in front of a mirror and summoned her black elven armor while she controlled some ash around her, she was determined to never lose the skill. It simply looked too good and she had the feeling that it influenced all her other ashen skills.

It was only reasonable to assume that Fire Manipulation increased one’s power of fire spells, why would this be any different?

‘Passive: Ashen Wings – 2ndlvl 2