Chapter 232: The Northern Night (1/2)
Traveling through the cracks in the land proved rather simple for Ilea, gifted with flight, high durability and endurance. The creek she had found previously was the only source of water she had seen so far and the shadows were already stretching far to the west, almost no light finding the bottom of the crevice she was currently moving through. The howling wind could be heard rushing by above, the cover of the glen protecting the creatures seeking shelter within. She could hear them before passing over the small hill, her Sphere informing her about the size and form of what creatures lay beyond. One of them looked up, its scaled head turning her way before it hissed, the other two bipedal bird like animals turned her way as well.
[Burrow Dragoon – lvl 205]
The closest one read as the three fanned out to surround their prey. “So you want to play?” Two of them quickly advanced, their height a little lower than Ilea’s but the claws on their feet nearly as long as her hand. Yellow eyes focused on her as the last one of them jumped up and twirled before it crashed and dug into the earth, Ilea’s brows rising as she jumped backwards, seeing the Dragoon advance through the ground with her Sphere. It reached her before the running ones did, its jaw snapping at the air before it landed again, digging into the ground.
They had neither arms nor wings, most of their weight probably distributed between claws and teeth. At least that’s what Ilea thought when she blinked next to one of the murder chickens, the monster just jumping up to burrow like its pal had done before it. Ilea’s fist alongside five limbs of ash crashed into its side, six loads of wave of ember with a side of Destruction rushed into the beast, the impact sending it skidding for several meters before it cried out in pain, hissing at her. Heavier than I thought.
Stepping to her left, Ilea avoided the emerging Dragoon, its leg rushing out to dig into her ash. Crouching downwards to avoid its attack, Ilea grabbed on to one of its legs and twirled around, throwing it at the hissing monster. The third beast emerged, its maw closing around her foot before she had let go of the second one, preventing her blink from activating. Its teeth ground through her Veil and fought hard against her armor before eight tendrils of ash smashed into the beast, Ilea pulling it up and out of the ground with her legs before she smashed her fist into its hard skull. Again and again until one of its eyes closed, a crack reverberating.
Ilea saw the other two approaching below and spread her wings, ascending with all the power she had, dragging the one Dragoon out of the stone while she continued her assault. Her armor groaned under the stress but the beast didn’t manage to get through. Its limbs stopped moving another three punches later, Ilea putting her hands inside its maw and pulling it apart. Sweat dropped from her brow as she groaned, finally breaking open the beast’s jaws and dropping its lifeless body towards the hissing monsters below.
Blinking behind one of them, the grabbed its tail and whirled it around, impacting the second one while her ash and touch delivered Wave of Ember as well as reversed Hunter Recovery. Breathing out hard, she watched the monster get up and burrow, Ilea still holding on to the other beast that desperately tried to get away. Jumping up, her wings helping in the process, she twirled and smashed the emerging beast with its specimen, smiling when it bit down into the other monster’s back. Jaw locked in place, Ilea let go of them before landing on top of the now intertwined beasts, one groaning in pain as teeth, fists and destructive mana rained into its scaled head.
It died a moment later, Ilea quickly taking care of the last one that remained locked in place, the only danger remaining its frantically moving legs that tried to claw at her. The bloodied yellow golden scales glittered a little in the sunshine that would soon leave the crevice behind until the night came and went.
‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Burrow Dragoon – lvl 205]
‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Burrow Dragoon – lvl 217]
‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Burrow Dragoon – lvl 222]
‘ding’ ‘Wave of Ember reaches 2nd lvl 17’
And here I thought the north was going to be good to raise my classes again. Ilea smashed her fists together and breathed out. There were scratches on her armor but no further damage. Compared to the lightning bolt from before, where the force was distributed amongst her whole armor, the Dragoon had attacked a specific part, its teeth and jaw strength apparently enough to damage it. Let’s not end up with our head inside of that jaw.
Leaving the corpses behind, she moved on as the land became more and more dark. The glen became thinner and thinner until she could barely move through it at its lowest point, instead jumping up to fit through. Moving from an jutting stone to another, she found her visibility lowering. Coming out on the other side, she found herself looking into a deep crevice, mist looked to be falling into it from the top. She could hardly make out the ground and jumped down. A small creek flowed slowly towards her direction, growing vegetation pushed out of the slits and cracks on the ground.
As the night progressed, Ilea could see sparkling stars shining down from above, their light reflected in the water of the creek as a thin mist rolled into the glen. Like a cascade of water, the mist flowed down from the dangerous terrain above. Where is it coming from?
The question remained unanswered when the area around her turned eerily calm. She couldn’t make out the sound of the flowing water just a couple meters over, her breathing quickening as she prepared, for something. She knew not what. Seeing the mist pour in from all directions around her Ilea thought it best to fly up and observe the area but her body froze when she heard a noise.
A humming switching between high and low notes in an eerily unnatural rhythm. Her body screamed at her to get the hell out of there but she couldn’t move an inch.
‘ding’ ‘You have heard the song of a mighty creature – Your body is paralyzed for three seconds.’
The time passed slowly as she watched something twist in the mist, four limbs moving towards her with frightening speed, a ghostly floating form dancing as if pushed by an unearthly wind before six white eyes opened and stared at her, black feline pupils staring into her two. Unblinking and unwavering the barely visible creature moved towards her in twirling motions, its eyes focused on her at all times before she could finally move again.
[Miststalker – lvl ??]
Ilea’s wings spread while she felt her mana and health drain, the familiar sensation not surprising her. The four limbs ending in what looked like blades reached out to her while she ascended, the soundless weapons slashing through the mist. The humming continued but left her unaffected, Ilea debating if she should engage the creepy monster when her body locked up again, her form falling down towards the mists.
‘ding’ ‘You have heard the song of a mighty creature – Your body is paralyzed for three seconds.’
‘ding’ ‘Veteran reaches lvl 4’
The seconds passed before she blinked up, her wings forming just before she dropped again.
‘ding’ ‘You have heard the song of a mighty creature – Your body is paralyzed for two seconds.’
As she fell, her heart sunk. Dozens of the creatures moved through the mists, their songs intertwining into a terrifying concert of death. All of them moved towards her. Her health and mana started draining faster as more of the creatures advanced on her. Her body moved again for a second before another one of them froze her in place. She had blinked up and away but not far enough to get out of the deathly crevice.
‘ding’ ‘You have heard the song of a mighty creature – Your body is paralyzed for two seconds.’
One of the monsters slashed its bladed scythe like arm at her, Ilea’s mind flashing back to her first encounter with a Taleen Guardian. It dissipated at her armor but she felt the magic flow into her, a cold feeling spreading where it had hit her. Curse.