Chapter 124: Into the Light (1/2)

Ilea looked through the corpses to see if any items were dropped or if any of the demons wore anything valuable or interesting while Trian checked out the runed control panel in the middle of the hall which had made the elder vanish. She had gained another couple levels in both classes and some skills but nothing changed significantly.

Her new second stage of Hunter’s Sight revealed nothing about the demons she was fighting. Some of the mages they had killed at the beginning panicked right before they died but that was evident on their reduced but not completely absent facial expressions. Ilea activated her buffs when she saw something a little unexpected, a mind weaver hiding below a pile of demon corpses.

“I can see you demon, come out or die.” she said, Trian glancing towards her but continuing his tinkering right after. The demon moved immediately but was obviously stuck under the corpses, its strength not enough to move the massive pile of flesh even in the slightest.

“It’s Me!” it shouted into her mind, Ilea’s eye twitching at the sudden assault of mind magic.

“Why not just say that immediately you idiot.” she said and walked over, grabbing the first best corpse and flinging it away, the body landing with a thud on the metal ground, its innards and blood splattering the gray with red. Another ten seconds later the demon was lying before her, looking at her with his biologically big eyes, or lack thereof. Ilea just grabbed his leg and flung him away as well, the demon using his levitation magic to somewhat dampen the impact.

“Don’t use your mind magic like that, I’ve told you before. It’s like me just randomly punching you. I can start doing that if you like.” Ilea suggested but the demon got up quickly and held out his clawed hands to soothe her.

“No, no. I don’t think I’m as resilient as you are to my magic.” the monster said, floating a little above the corpses around him. Ilea could feel a little distress in the demon when he looked at her. A good thing she thought, lest he makes a bad decision that will cost his life. She continued her work while the demon joined Trian, the two immediately sharing their thoughts on the runes and their respective functions, nobody bothered by the blood soaked cloth the demon was dressed in.

Ilea had reduced her perception of smell inside her sphere to the minimum, the stench not overwhelming her anymore. ‘Another one...’ she thought as she pushed aside a massive demon corpse, taking the small mana crystal lying below. She had found eight in total, each only having a charge of three, whatever that meant. Compared to the fifty charges in the one she got from the dog it was obviously worse.

Looking up to the faraway ceiling that was tinted in orange red light, Ilea held up the crystal and looked through it and remembered the first time she ran out onto a battlefield with a smile on her face. Dale had been there, looking over the inexperienced healer. It all could’ve ended there, with her breaking down in the midst of that ambush. “But it didn’t.” Ilea said out loud and made the crystal vanish. Trian’s concerns meant more to her than he knew, her regards of him gaining favor again and again.

He was a good man and a good friend, putting on the noble asshat facade whenever he spoke to people but she knew there was more to him. Of course he didn’t know that she kept up her sphere while she rested in the middle of the field, her second stage of Azarinth Perception ensuring that no attack would outright kill her in one blow. In the midst of them she could see them, smell them and it was then that she felt most confident in her abilities. Ilea would get strong enough to fight the Taleen Praetorians, she would gather enough knowledge to find out what had happened to her, what had brought her here. And most important of all she’ll have fun doing it.

A flash of light and loud crackling noise brought her out of her thoughts, looking over to the others she found Trian’s body slightly smoking from the control panel’s feedback. Blinking over she checked but found him barely damaged, healing the rest with her spell. “It’s gonna take a while isn’t it?” she asked but he just ignored her. The demon looked away, Ilea sighing and walking away, removing her helmet and summoning a cloth to clean it.

“I’ll be nearby, call out when you’re further.” she said. Her helmet cleaned up, she summoned one of Albert’s books and started reading, sitting on a metal ledge far enough away from the carnage to not smell terrible.

“Ilea! You might want to see this!” Trian’s shout got her out of the concentration, the woman placing a small piece of paper into the book and snapping it closed. It vanished as her helmet came back over her head.

“Progress already? Been barely two hours.” she said, her tone a little on the sarcastic side. Trian didn’t answer but showed her as lightning flowed into specific runes, a holographic image coming to life above the control panel. The image flowed between sceneries, Ilea using her buffs to enhance her body to the fullest, trying to see the different environments. There were deserts, rock, water, fire, snow and many more. Ilea thought the snow was more prevalent but the images were moving quickly.

“Are those places we can go to?” she asked, seeing glimpses of different civilizations rarely in between. More so than the massive and terrifying creatures she saw as well, one of them looking right back at her.

“Space squids, what the fuck...” she said, taking a step back.

“Are you alright? I can’t make it slow down. This rune here is supposed to be responsible for targeting but I have no idea how to do that. At least we think it does that...” Trian explained, the last part not inciting confidence in Ilea.

“Dagger, got any ideas?” he asked.

“It’s Aki, and no. Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I know a lot about demonic runes.” the dagger said.

“Not demonic, the Lost use… older runes. Different.” the demon beamed into their minds.

“Just think of something real hard? Like Viscera maybe?” Ilea asked and Trian shrugged, activating the runes again. This time there were more glimpses of cities and underground halls but nothing looked quite like the city they’ve grown to know.

“So thinking does have an influence. Can I try?” Ilea asked, having an idea.

“I don’t think you can activate the rune.” Trian said.

“Well you keep it activated and I’ll just touch it, I think I can at least let some mana seep into it.” she said and used reversed reconstruction to push her mana into the rune. This time cities appeared again, a glimpse of earth made her release her spell and take a step back. “That’s...” the possibility was there. Whatever this device was it had the power to bring her back home. Still the images had been moving incredibly quickly and Ilea hadn’t yet started trying her initial idea but still, there was a possibility.

“I need a moment.” she said and walked away, going back to the same place she had waited for the others. Trian just shrugged and continued to focus on something, even trying to talk to the runes.

“You’ve seen it, haven’t you?” Aki asked. Ilea nodded after a while.