Chapter 281: Helping out Strangers (1/2)

The machine was completely on the defensive already, the fight only having lasted around a minute so far. Ilea was recovering her lost mana, cracking her neck before she blinked right into the Centurion’s range. The spear lashed out, Ilea moving to deflect. Feint. The thought formed and her body moving in response, her Veil and additional ash intercepting the blow as she turned, mitigating most of the force. The weapon glanced off, Ilea tumbling a little before they were both ready again to attack. Contrary to the Centurion, her ashen limbs had continuously smashed into its body, the thing wholly incapably of dodging all the quickly moving limbs in the small room.

“You’ll be toast soon enough.” She commented, another thrust deflected before her fist smashed into its core. Ilea continued her assault, dodging and deflecting the attacks but never overextending. Her limbs were dishing out damage anyway and she knew the thing could still damage her if it got in a clean hit. It was at a similar level as the knights and they could dent her armor pretty badly if they hit cleanly.

Spear dodged, Ilea stomped down on it, crashing the metal into the floor before the machine tried to punch her. She was a little embarrassed that those attacks had hit her previously. This time she simply sidestepped before delivering a hard punch to its center, another one following right after. Feeling the mana gather, she knew the Centurion was about to detonate, the thing trying to grab her with its arms a moment later. She blinked behind it and continued her assault, spreading and forming ash around the two of them as she built wall upon wall of the black element. Each hit she focused on the center, where white light started to form.

Blinking away at the last second, she closed the dome of ash she had formed and crossed her arms in front of her. The blast ripped through her ash and into her Veil, scorching the floor and ceiling, pieces of rock and metal flying past, some into her Veil before she relaxed her stance again. Not even burnt…, The last time she had been left closer to death than she had likely ever been before. Granted the explosion had happened a lot closer than this time. Moving her Veil, the metal splinters and pieces of stone fell to the ground. Ilea noted the shrapnel that dug into the ceiling and stone benches, one table nearly split by what looked like a part of the Centurion’s arm.

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Taleen Centurion – lvl 310] – For defeating an enemy forty or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted’

‘ding’ ‘Inheritor of Eternal Ash has reached lvl 257 – Five stat points awarded’

“Big boom.” Terok commented, appearing next to her in the room as he looked around. “Sounded intense. Taleen Centurion. Heard of them but aren’t they super uncommon?”

Ilea shrugged, “Bad luck maybe.” Her main class hadn’t leveled. Most of the fight was likely decided by her ashen limbs anyway, neither healing nor her sphere used much. Destruction played a part but the amount of hits she got in with her Wave of Ember was substantially higher. It would happen soon enough. Another three and I have my next third tier skill point.

She wondered if new skills would be available and which she’d want to chose. Most of her remaining second tier Azarinth First Hunter skills were Body Enhancement spells and she certainly wanted to focus on those for her future advancements. Same went for her Ashen class. Out of her three third tier skills there, two were ashen magic. Don’t want to end up without reasonable Body Enhancement skills.

It was impossible to actually lose skills one had as far as she knew but they could change to better suit the new class evolution. If her Body Enhancement skills changed to Ashen magic, she’d lose the multiplier from her first class. She was of course partially bound by what skills were available at all but she could chose not to advance one or more skills for the time being. Like the ash creator Maro once knew. Putting her five points into Strength, she checked the remains of the Centurions.

“Bad luck?” Terok asked as he stood next to her, “There’s two of them right here.”

“Yea but why didn’t this one explode?” She moved some of the pieces with her ash but couldn’t find what would have been the core of the machine.

Terok shrugged, “Plenty of magic could prevent such a reaction. I assume it’s tied to the machine’s health. Maybe if one managed to get it down quickly enough, the explosion wouldn’t happen?”

She grunted, standing up and looking around the room. “That one has the least ivy growth.” Terok said and pointed towards one of the three hallways leading away from the room.

“And how do you know that through closed doors?”

“Checked while you were contemplating life. Or basking in your insurmountable power.” He said in a mocking tone.

Ilea chuckled, faking a serious tone, “You’re living dangerously dwarf.”

This time he outright laughed, “Your elven voice needs some work lassie. I’ll shut it when there are more enemies nearby.”

The door was opened, the lock picked by Terok before Ilea walked through without another word. Some banter was welcome but Centurions were dangerous enough. Not that anybody would’ve missed the explosion for at least a couple hundred meters, depending on how many doors and enchantments were in the way. The two moved through the corridor, occasionally stumbling upon a skeleton in rotten gear, the dwarf commenting on how long he thought they had been down there and how little the things on them were worth.

Ilea would’ve likely just taken all of it with her but Terok knew his metals. Not as well as Goliath perhaps but she could save some of her necklace space for actual valuables. Another stash of gold would be nice. Can’t come back to Claire empty handed.

“We’re coming up to the surface…,” Terok commented after walking for a while, a big stairwell leading upwards with a smaller one on each side leading down. No torches, statues or anything else adorned the area, only the green light shining down from above. Ilea felt it too, smelled the fresh air coming in.

Taking a step upwards, Ilea blinked back, spears shooting out from the side walls before they impacted the opposite sides. She just rolled her eyes and continued walking, this time more aware of the mechanical parts beneath the stone. Most of the Taleen dungeon was lined with it, gears, pumps as well as traps. It had been a while since she had walked through one, the traps often disguised between the other machines she knew not the purpose they served. The next trap she saw but not wanting to destroy half the stairwell, Ilea simply activated it again.

The spears smashed together and she kept on walking. “These weren’t made for adventurers exploring a dungeon in the north…,” Terok commented, close behind her.

“You’re not the one activating them.” She said with a smirk.

He shrugged, “Hey, if I don’t have to risk scratches on my gear.”

Rolling her eyes, Ilea emerged at the top of the stairwell, the breath caught in her lungs as she looked at the expanding landscape before her. They were on the other side of the mountain, the dungeon cut off as if a bite had been taken out of the structure. The winds were howling past, Terok shielding himself from the force. A couple hundred meters below Ilea could make out what looked like a crater in the land, in it a serpent like animal with our arms, big enough to walk over the walls of Ravenhall. Salamander. She thought but the head didn’t fit, instead what looked like a chameleon crowned the creature’s neck.

“A Behemoth Kalamon…,” Terok commented, the tone in his voice not indicating any concern.

“That thing isn’t dangerous?” Ilea asked, pointing down at the creature.