Chapter 179: Moonlit Talk (1/2)
“I can imagine that. The Centurions were already pretty scary. But to know that you faced even stronger ones… and elves as well. We encountered one a long time ago but fled after Ed managed to injure him.” Felicia said.
“They’re incredibly aggressive. Arrogant and kind of stupid.” Ilea said and chuckled, remembering the literal temper tantrums they would have.
“The ones that come here, yes. Ed talked about it once, saying that it’s dangerous to go further west. There was another Taleen dungeon in the forest, we knew where it was but people don’t usually come back from there. He said that the elves there are stronger.” Felicia said with a concerned voice.
“Might be something else as well. Like a ton of beastwolves.” Ilea answered.
Felicia punched her jokingly. “Don’t joke about that, that thing nearly ripped us apart.”
“I know. We humans are really weak aren’t we? To think that me and Edwin are already at near the top.” Ilea said and shook her head. “And still there are things out there we probably can’t even comprehend.”
“It’s exciting isn’t it?” Felicia said. “To think that we have only seen such a small part of the world.”
“I thought you wanted to live on a farm or something?” Ilea asked confused and sat up.
“Well it can still be exciting, no? I don’t have to do all that myself. I’ve seen enough exotic creatures.” Felicia said and laughed. “I’ll have time to read again if we get a farm.” she said with a nostalgic voice.
“Ever seen a dragon?” Ilea asked out of the blue when Felicia covered her mouth and looked up with a scared look on her face.
“Are you mad!?” she asked and let go of Ilea again. “You can’t just blurt out that name, nothing good comes of it.”
“Alright, alright. Always wondered why people here never mention them. They exist though, right? They have to. It’s a bloody fantasy world.” she said and chuckled.
“Maybe. I only know some stories. Of cities vanishing and whole kingdoms burning. It’s forbidden to talk of them and common knowledge that one doesn’t utter the name, lest one appears and swallows you whole.” Felicia said in a dramatic voice.
“Well now it sounds like a faery tail.” Ilea said.
“Why do you keep tempting fate? First that and now this?” Felicia asked, a disturbed look on her face. Ilea actually felt sorry now. She hadn’t really asked about those creatures before, understanding that it was kind of a taboo. With Felicia she didn’t feel so restricted.
“Apologies my lady. I’ll stop my blasphemous talk.” she said. “I’ve actually met one of the latter ones.” she added, peaking Felicia’s interest.
“You did? Well no, let’s not talk about that. One of the boys in court talked about them once and he vanished that same day.” Felicia said in a whisper.
“Interesting. I wonder where to.” Ilea said and looked to the stars. Fae and dragons, two of the most magical creatures she could think of. And yet all she truly saw so far was death.
‘No, that’s not true.’ she thought as ash started forming in her hand, a swirling ball formed quickly as it spun around. She smiled and looked at the magic before her.
“Is that ash? You’re a creator? Wow.” Felicia said and seemed genuinely impressed. “You’re not mainly a mage though.”
“I’m not. It’s my second class.” Ilea said.
“Didn’t you have something with fire? Well I guess it makes sense that it evolved. You should really focus on that. The legends always say creators were grand mages.” Felicia pondered as she looked at the sphere, reaching out to touch the swirling ash.
Ilea moved it towards the woman’s hand and let go of it after it had reached enough density to sustain itself. “I know. There are other things on my mind right now though. Other things than my skills and classes.”
“It’s good to think about things. Maybe you should take some time to train and think you know? Your revenge won’t run away. Ed… well I think he forgot to live and enjoy things as he did before he… found out about our family.” Felicia said.
Ilea looked at the woman briefly as a night breeze flowed over the clearing, rustling her hair. “What if I die on the way, what if my target dies?”
“Then so be it. Don’t forget who you are because of revenge. He was so sweet and nice before.” Felicia said, quieting down at the end and lost in thought. She laughed a moment later, filling the clearing with the noise. “And you’re strong, your best asset is your healing. You were a healer before weren’t you?”
“I was and yea, I’m pretty tough. But there are monsters out there that can beat me in mere seconds.” Ilea said.
“Then escape before that. And come back once you can face them. You’re a hunter aren’t you?” Felicia asked, catching Ilea by surprise.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked in turn.
“You hunt, you’re not the one being hunted. You’re a predator and I’m sure that if you set your mind to it you can achieve whatever you want.” Felicia said.
“Or I’ll die trying.” Ilea said before she chuckled.
“With a smile on your face.” Felicia said. “My second class is Arcane Berserker, trust me I know the feeling.” she said with a grin. “Even though I’m not normally like that. When the power rushes through me I’m one with the fight.”
“Arcane Berserker… do you lose control?” Ilea asked and the woman shook her head.
“No, not completely. Even if I’m close to death. Level two hundred helped me there.” The reply made Ilea grin.
“Wanna show me? My Wind Resistance could be higher you know.” she said and got up, her armor replaced by her Ashen Hunter Armor.
“You’re only allowed to use ash, that’s the deal.” Felicia said with a smile and Ilea blinked upwards and landed in the grass.
“Agreed.” she said with a smile, ashen spheres forming around her, a Veil of it protecting her body.
Felicia’s eyes started glowing a light green as she got up, the grass pushed aside by magical pressure alone before the air around the woman turned chaotic, cutting into the ground and the nearby trees as Ilea moved back a little further to avoid being attacked already.
Green lines formed around Felicia’s eyes before she opened them with a grin. “Ready?” she asked in a voice almost ethereal.
Ilea nodded and saw a blade of air moving towards her. It was so dense that her eyes alone let her know about it but her sphere gave her a bit more of an insight, telling her that there were dozens of smaller blades coming her way as well, covering different paths of her possible escape. A blink towards Felicia was the most reasonable thing to do and so she advanced.
Appearing behind the blades of wind, Ilea watched Felicia advance with frightening speed, her arms reaching out before cones of air were released from them. Ilea dodged both attacks with a jump, assisted by her wings before another wind blade smashed into her armor, making her tumble through the air before she landed on her feet, skidding on the ground for a couple meters.
“You’re really something. Half a year ago that would’ve halved you.” Felicia said as she slowly approached. Ilea’s ash moved then, spinning black spheres rushed towards Felicia who moved protected by a tornado around her. The spheres were torn apart but Ilea was already forming spikes, making them spin before she shot them out.
This time Felicia dodged the projectiles, her tornado moving her body as if it was controlled by a puppeteer. A cloud of ash formed around Ilea but was quickly blown away by a stream of wind.
“You’re not gonna obscure my vision.” Felicia said, sending more air blades towards Ilea. This time she dodged more defensively, not getting too close to the mage as she formed new projectiles, this time aiming for a much bigger area.
Even dodging, one of the black spikes cut through the tornado and hit Felicia on her shoulder. It didn’t pierce but the speed and weight still stunned the woman slightly.
“Creation really is something else.” Felicia murmured. “I could simply trap and crush you with air if I had such a skill.”
“Can’t you do that with your air manipulation?” Ilea asked, dodging backwards and into the woods as air blades rushed through the trees, some of them slowly sliding down do the ground, cleanly cut through.
“No, the extent of manipulating existing elements is limited. While helpful it takes time to infuse it with mana and use it more freely. Your metal mage friend does it that way. You seem to be completely in control of your ash immediately upon creation.” Felicia wondered.
“I can barely pierce your defenses though.” Ilea said with a frown.
“Hmm, I let that one pass to see how it would fare against my armor. You don’t have any skills that enhance your ash do you? Mine are basically all about making my air blades more damaging.”
“Hence they cut through trees like butter.” Ilea said.