Chapter 144: Lakes and Crystals (2/2)

“Aaah, a dimensional spawning pool. Impressive.” Weavy beamed into their minds, still it felt like he was talking to himself.

“You know about it?” Kyrian asked. His helmet was off and he glanced towards Ilea a couple times.

“Yes, I read about this ritual but you need an incredible energy source in the surroundings to create it. Afterwards it can sustain itself for years if not longer.” the demon communicated and continued. “It’s a direct connection to another plane and it attracts spawn to it. The ones coming out are the ones that found it on the other side.”

“Can we use it to go there?” Ilea asked, now more than eager to find that elder again after she saw the damage he had caused.

“No. Only spawn and only one way.” the demon dashed her small hope. Ilea sighed but ultimately didn’t care much. People have died, yes but none of the few she actually cared about. The man was a mass murderer at this point but it wasn’t like she went after dictators back on earth. With his power he wouldn’t be easy to fight either. Ilea thought that perhaps she should focus on her own power first before she undertook operations like that.

‘Speaking of...’ she thought and brought up the relevant information in her head.

‘3rd tier skill points available [Azarinth First Hunter]: 1’

‘Skills available for third tier advancement in [Azarinth First Hunter]:’

- Hunter Recovery

- State of Azarinth

- Azarinth Fighting

Apparently neither Destruction nor Hunter Sphere had fulfilled the requirements to become a third tier skill. Ilea thought about her choice while the others were talking to Weavy about the ritual and the lake. Her healing spell was the first choice immediately, considering the losses and near deaths she had experienced in the past months it seemed vital to get some sort of edge in her healing.

‘Then again I’m not getting stronger through that, simply less killable. Whatever that third tier might give me it probably wouldn’t help much again that demon, Green was his name, or against the elder Adam...’ she would reach level 240 at some point where she could still choose her Recovery spell but for now Ilea decided against it.

That left State of Azarinth and Azarinth Fighting. Both of them had been used by Ilea near constantly since getting them so long ago but somehow the decision was easy for her. The flashy glow was a better sell than a simple improvement to her fighting skills.

‘ding’ ‘State of Azarinth advances to 3rd tier’

‘Active: State of Azarinth – 3rd lvl 1:

Your body glows with the power of Azarinth, increasing your resilience, speed and strength by 55% [Effect after bonuses 220%].

2nd stage: Your sight, hearing and sense of smell is also affected by State of Azarinth

3rd stage: You are one with State of Azarinth. The skill’s upkeep has been removed. Instead you may overcharge it with your life’s energy. The amount depends on both skill level and health used.

Category: Aura – Body Enhancement’

Ilea hoped she didn’t make the wrong choice as she read through the new information. The upkeep removal was nice and with her long fights it would ease down on her mana consumption considerably. The overcharge thing was ambiguous at best. A life for skill effect. Ilea though that she could only use the overcharge ability while her Healing spell was taking care of her at the same time.

She shrugged and used the new ability. Her mind raced as she instinctively decided on a number, one hundred. The murky question in her head asked for a level of power and Ilea chose at random again. A split second had passed as Ilea activated the skill before a wrong feeling coupled by a weird pain shot through her body. One hundred points of health were ripped from her being before a light red glow shone from the inside of her armor.

Ilea looked at her hands as she removed her gauntlets. The runes were still there, slightly changed in form but recognizable to her still. The difference was that these runes shone red. Much more subdued than her previous blue shine but she attributed that to the low level of the skill, at least in its third stage. She felt more powerful, not comparable to herself with all her buffs active but certainly stronger than with just State of Azarinth before.

As quickly as the moment had come, it vanished again and so did the shine. Both her teammates had stopped talking to Weavy and were instead looking at her, specifically her arms. State of Azarinth was still active, Ilea found but there was no glow anymore. Apparently the You are one with State of Azarinth meant more than just the removal of its mana cost.

It made her a little sad that the shine was gone, it was after all the edge it had on Azarinth Fighting when she chose it over the other skill. At least it would be less obvious that she was using a skill now and she could have it active at all times without any cost. She wondered if it worked while sleeping as well but considering she didn’t have to consciously hold it active, it was possible.

“Whatcha got?” Trian asked as he nodded towards her.

“I’ll tell you later.” she answered. “What are we going to do about the lake?” she asked, not interested to share her newfound power with the people not part of her group.

“Well as far as the demon says, theres little we can do to stop the spell now. It’s self sustaining, all we can do is kill the demons that come out of it.” the lightning mage answered.

Ilea nodded. “Use it for training then? Like a dungeon or something.” she said.

“A level two hundred dungeon.” Kyrian supplied as Trian nodded.

“Perfect for the Hand then but also a responsibility. If one of these gets out a whole city could fall.” Kyrian added.

“Ah, let’s not overdramatize it. At least now the human cities now how to handle them.” Ilea said. “Now this is getting boring, we have three mages and one fucked up demon here to thin the enemy numbers and get some more experience out of this mess. The rest can handle the situation here I assume?” Ilea asked them and Trian nodded.

“Fine with me. Hey, we’re gonna get some fresh air.” he said, the last part directed at the others standing on the ledge. Complaints were ignored as the four flew back towards the exit of Eregar’s Haven. Demons would be an interesting addition to this place, now truly only an environment for level two hundred people.