Chapter 102: Lost Wanderer (2/2)
The headaches started as screams of cursed Death spirits resounded, quickly made visible by Claire’s runes the monsters advanced on them and were quickly dealt with by Trian’s lightning. Less than in the cave before but still a sizable amount. The skeleton stopped it’s black fire attack and turned its head towards the apparent intruders as lighting flashed around the cave to end the spirits.
“Whhh...whh..wheereee?” the sinister voice resounded inside Ilea’s head and she fought with all her power against the opponent’s assault on her mind. A globe of light formed around the team as Eve’s illusions were extinguished, Claire’s shield forming a barrier against the powerful pressure.
[Lost Wanderer of Elysium – lvl ??]
“Anybody see it’s level?” Claire asked but none of the team responded, Trian and Kyrian breathing heavily after the shield came up. The creature was advancing on them while Claire’s shield shook under the mental assault.
“Do we have anything on it?” no reply either. Ilea was sure the name wasn’t mentioned in any of the monster books she had and Liam hadn’t talked about it either.
“It’s an unknown. Blast it with everything you have, Eve and Ilea try to distract it. It if hits for more than half your health Ilea we’re out of here.” Ilea smiled brightly as she nodded to Claire’s assessment.
“I’ll distract it alright.” she said as the beast slowly walked towards the shining dome of silvery light.
“Focus and move out as soon as the shield breaks. Everyone but Ilea with me.” Claire said and laid out a half circle of runed plates on the back of the sphere that was being assaulted. The team moved behind the line and Ilea stood in front of it, ready to blink away as soon as the shield was broken.
The wanderer stopped and lifted its four spindly black arms, mana forming a black pulsing sphere between them before a roaring dark fire was unleashed onto the dome. It broke in just under two seconds, the team of mercenaries jumping into action.
Ilea blinked above the creature and kicked its silver skull with her full force and all destructive spells activated. The mana left her leg on impact as a loud noise resounded, her bone colliding with the creature’s head. Neither gave in but one of the creature’s arms whipped out towards her, making her blink away. A loud crack resounded as a massive bolt of lightning impacted the creature from above while runes were formed with metal needles on the stony ground below it.
A moment later the runes came to life and the creature wailed out in pain as the curse took root. More and more lighting impacted it while Ilea blinked in and out to deliver her attacks. The mental pressure from the monster was weighing on her and she felt herself getting slower. The second stage of Form of Ash and Ember kicked in soon after and counteracted that.
Eve was standing between the others with outstretched arms and closed eyes as she protected the group from the pressure. Claire’s shield shuddered as she threw out runed stones towards the monster. Just when the creature used its arms to cut through the runes on the ground, a massive explosion resounded as she ground below the wanderer was destroyed. Ilea narrowly avoided one of its arms with her next attack that she delivered as the monster fell into the hole below. The nearly three meter tall enemy sunk in nearly to half of its size.
“Ilea to me!” Claire shouted as more lighting was cast onto their foe. Blinking next to Claire, Ilea understood immediately and took the load of stones from Claire to blink back above the confused wanderer to drop the payload into the whole. A whipped arm brushed her leg and broke through her Veil, not able to penetrate her elven armor. Ilea landed as a massive explosion resounded behind her.
More lightning followed as Ilea moved all the ash she had created in the meantime towards the beast and surrounded it, forming small walls around the broken in part of the ground to make it even harder for the wanderer to escape. Wails resounded from it as the pressure lightened, lightning, explosions and cursed needles and spears rushing in to rob the monster of it’s life force.
Ilea stood back not to get caught in the now constant barrage of spells, choosing to summon her bow to shoot some ice arrows at the creature’s legs, hoping to make it even harder for it to move. She was flying above now, only seeing the wanderer through her sphere as a massive cloud of ash and fire was obstructing the view. Nobody relented, even when the beast started throwing black fireballs around the room.
When Claire’s shield went down, Ilea blinked in front of the group and formed walls of ash while trying to block the explosions of dark fire with her own body and wings. With her armor and shroud the damage was manageable and she stayed at full health thanks to Hunter Recovery. Claire shouted to her in the middle but Ilea just gave a thumbs up, letting the woman concentrate on her impressive explosion magic.
The rune mage made the wanderer fall deeper and deeper into the newly formed pit, being very accurate with her spells. Kyrian’s needles were constantly cutting into the creature as curse runes were formed and reformed around the walls of its prison. Ilea managed to quickly check on Eve in the middle of the assault and shouted for Claire to activate her shield again. She healed Eve, removing a big part of the mental pressure she was under.
Two minutes later the woman nodded again and Ilea went back to her defensive role with the shield down again. The now controlled encounter went on for another six minutes until they finally received a message.
‘ding’ ‘Your group has defeated [Lost Wanderer of Elysium – lvl 262]. For killing an adversary 50 or more levels above your own you receive bonus experience.
‘ding’ ‘Azarinth First Hunter has reached level 204. 5 Stat points awarded’
‘ding’ ‘You have learned the skill General: Dark Magic Resistance – lvl 1
You have stood against a being of true darkness. Its magic was not able to pierce your defenses and you stand to tell the tale. This skill will help you repeat such actions.’
“Wow, only one level for that. What the hell.” Ilea uttered a little frustrated.
“Welcome to the two hundreds. I didn’t get a single one. Plus you’re in a group now, don’t forget that.” Trian said but he didn’t seem to be annoyed at the fact. He would’ve died that day were it not for the team he was with and Ilea knew he was aware of that fact.
‘Inheritor of Eternal Ash didn’t even level and I have no idea how much it will take for another one there…’ the thought was a little sobering but then again Ilea had progressed at an enormous speed in the past year and she was at a point where actual fighting experience meant more than the experience gained from killing enemies. The latter would come in time. Considering the massive gains she had gotten that day already Ilea was quite confident in her newfound power. ‘One drake at a time.’ she thought as she checked on the team.
Eve was the only one with more than a little damage done to her but it was nothing a bit of healing magic couldn’t fix. Luckily her spell affected damage to the mind as well.
“What is that...oh my god...” the sudden exclaim by Eve made everybody look at her as she advanced on the still glowing spot on the floor. “Ilea come, we need your healing magic!” she shouted and the healer quickly blinked next to her, seeing the small figure on the ground before her. A shining silhouette of a winged creature.
[Fae – lvl 83]
“It’s dying.” Ilea said and started pouring her magic into the creature. Her attempts were blocked by the shining light glowing around the misty Fae. It had six wings on its back and had a vague humanoid shape. The creature was shaking slightly but looked up a moment later and met Ilea’s eyes.
The Fae’s head was round and held no discernible features other than two white eyes on its pitch black head. Ilea felt a pull on her mind and smiled as the creature didn’t recoil. It hadn’t been an attack, otherwise her second stage of mental resistance would’ve produced a feedback. She smiled at the creature as she continued to try and reach it with her hands and healing magic. Suddenly the light opened up to let her through, reaching the Fae a moment later as she perceived its confusing physiology with her healing magic.
She didn’t know what to heal or where the damage was but simply continued to pour in mana.