Chapter 192: The Librarian (1/2)

“I’m aware of that.” Ilea said, smiling. “Looking to get a teleportation ability as well?” She asked, the man answering with a grunt.

“Doubt my classes can spew that up.” He said as they ascended again, just barely over the rooftops.

“Back to the center then? Or out into the wild?” The man asked.

Ilea watched the burning city, the center a shining beacon as spells rained down on it, retaliation coming from within just a moment later. If there still were any survivors in these parts, it would be hard to find them if none of the enemy soldiers did that. By now Ilea thought she had at least instilled a conscious into some of the murderous rapists being part of both armies. That was as much as she could do. She wasn’t about to pick sides in a war she didn’t understand, nor care about.

“I’m not sure how easy it would be to get in again. Both the city and especially the center.” Ilea said.

“What if we can’t get out anymore either?” Kyrian asked.

“Do you really thing the elite, royalty and generals of the Empire don’t have a way to save their own skin?” Ilea asked with a smile.

“We just might get stuck there for a while.” He answered.

“I’ll leave tomorrow. Maybe it’s best if you stay in the clocktower? I’m sure I’ll find a way out. Did so before out of a shielded city. You though?” She said, thinking mostly of her Sphere and Blink abilities, both great at getting into and out of places.

“I suppose you’re right.” The man said after a while. “Don’t die on me, ok?” He added.

“You neither. If I’m not there in a couple days, I suggest you leave for Ravenhall. It’s going to be more and more dangerous the longer we stay here.” Ilea said and Kyrian nodded.

“I will. Good luck on your search.” He said and flew off. Ilea did the same but compared to him, rushing directly towards the shining center of the capital. An area at least as big as the whole city of Riverwatch, with much higher buildings as well.

The second stage of her Embered Body Heat was certainly effective at distraction, if nothing else. Perhaps at higher stages the heat would actually manage to seriously injure someone. At least she now had an effective area attack against really weak enemies.

Landing near the central shield, Ilea rushed through the streets, avoiding soldiers of both sides as she looked for a checkpoint to get into the center. Should I? She thought and instead blinked into a house close to the shield dome. Seeing through the dome with her Sphere worked she found. Blinking through it didn’t. If she couldn’t get in, she couldn’t get out either. At least that was the likely scenario.

Checking around, she found that the shield didn’t extend underground but as soon as an explosion or spell ripped a part of the street away, it would fill in the gap near immediately. There have to be sewers or something around… The thought led her to check any possible entryways below the ground. Sure enough there were some. Not as many as the sewage system right outside the central district but there were some entryways.

Blinking downwards around twenty meters, Ilea entered one of them and walked towards the center with hands held high. She was sure there were people defending this place as well and sure enough as soon as she had reached a certain spot, scorch marks around the metal tube she was in, fire came rushing towards her.

Her Veil of Ash combined with her healing power and Heat Resistance made the attack seem more like a warm summer breeze. She walked on, shouting into the tunnel. “I’m not the enemy!”

Another attack came, this time water. Ilea blinked into it again and again until the powerful stream ended. Either they didn’t hear her or they didn’t care. Perhaps the attacks were traps or runes, not even initiated by a sentient being at the other end.

Blinking further, she rounded a corner and finally came up on the defensive force. A shield shimmered in the dark and she could see at least ten people standing behind it, one of them preparing another spell. This time she could identify them through the shield as she walked onwards. None above two hundred she found. A risky test but one she felt necessary should she want to leave the center again.

The barrier flickered when the mage behind it released his spell. A greenish mist entered the tunnel and flowed towards her, the shield closing again right after. Intrigued by the spell, Ilea let it come closer, touching and breathing in just the edge to make sure she could still blink away if it was more dangerous than she suspected.

‘ding’ ‘You have been poisoned by the Mist of Lys -50 HP/s for five minutes.’

A rather strong poison but other than reducing her healing ability a little while she countered it, nothing special. Empire of Lys… Maybe it’s a spell they discovered here. Of course they had biological weapons at their disposal. Without an insanely high defense to poisons or a healing skill, a lot of people would succumb to this attack but who in their right mind would come through this tunnel to engage in such an easily defensible spot. Especially with shield mages in place.

Walking closer and through the mist, she was surprised to find the people behind the shield stayed calm and collected. Perhaps they expected her to fall down any moment now. The poison did take a while to drain all life after all. Ilea didn’t stop though and instead kept walking, trying to blink through the barrier but again finding it impossible. Even blinking into the corners of the room wasn’t possible, runes likely put up to prevent such a thing.

“I’m not your enemy.” She said as she stood right in front of the barrier, the people behind it looking at each other with confusion.

“You cannot enter here and the poison will kill you soon. Leave.” One of the mages said after a moment.

Perhaps I cannot enter. Ilea thought. But I can certainly leave.

Turning around, she left again, not about to engage that group of people, unsure if she could even break through the shield. Although her Destruction spell was surprisingly good at well, destroying them. Even that high level guy Albert who had found Cless couldn’t stop her.

Blinking up again, Ilea moved through the streets, finding a check point a couple minutes later. The opening in the shield had gotten much smaller, mostly only allowing the defenders to shoot spells towards the street before them. Nobody else was entering at the moment but one of the soldiers waved her in immediately upon seeing her.

“The Shadow is back. It’ll be good to have you.” He said as she entered.

“Are you going out again?” He added, making her stop in her tracks.

“Perhaps later. I need to restock and prepare a new route. Baralia has taken over a big part of the city. It’s getting dangerous to move around. When are you closing the barrier for good?” She asked, hoping that her bullshit would convince the man.

“Tonight likely. No official command yet but the way things are going I’d say tonight. Most of the soldiers are already back and the rest are either dead or fleeing.” He said.

“Any other way to come and go?” Ilea asked but he shook his head.

“I’m afraid not. At least not to my knowledge. I’m sure the assassins have a way. Perhaps you should speak to Major Falken.” He said and she nodded.

Most definitely not. She thought, walking through the big plaza full of soldiers, mages, war machines and supplies. Defensive structures were built before her eyes, earth and stone mages forming the very ground to their wills. It’s gonna be pretty difficult to penetrate that one. She thought, looking up to see the massive shining dome. Meteor like attacks coming from siege weapons exploded on impact, fire and stone rolling off the barrier like raindrops on an umbrella.

Mages working together. Ilea thought about perhaps an attacking group of mages creating a massive offensive spell like the big red light she had seen coming from the center earlier. She couldn’t quite figure out where it had come from but there were a lot of machines and buildings around hershe didn’t know the purpose of.

The poison was gone from her body now, earlier than the message had implied. Either her Healing spell or her resistance had done more than she had expected. Not quite knowing where to go, Ilea went to the library again. If anything the woman could tell her where to find something interesting in the central district.

Upon entering, she found that the person behind the counter was someone else. Something about the way the man looked at her made her a little uncomfortable. There was only one guard sitting in the corner this time.

“What do you want?” The man asked, obviously occupied with whatever he was reading.