Chapter 435: Cosmic Knowledge (1/2)
“Where to then?” Ilea asked after a while. “Do you still want to travel with me, now that we’re done with that dungeon?”
Unsure
Time
Away
Long
“Away from home?” Ilea asked.
The Fae nodded.
“Well, as much as I have enjoyed exploring the Descent with you, I won’t hold you back. I’m sure we both have plenty of things to worry about back home.”
The Fae looked at her and then up at the moons. It tapped its leg as it sat on her shoulder.
Visit?
“You can visit whenever, just make sure the people around don’t spot you. You Fae seem to be a desirable thing to many.”
No
Visit
Me
It paused.
Us
“You want me to visit your home? What about the rules?” Ilea asked. She was certainly intrigued but if it put the little one in danger, she’d rather not. Similar to Elfie and his Domain. Not that he himself would be welcomed with open arms at this point.
Trust, was all the Fae sent.
“You should never trust a human. Just as a general rule. I wouldn’t want you or your kind to get hurt,” Ilea said.
Home
Safe
“You think so?”
Dangerous
Mana
“More dangerous than the twenty fourth layer?” she asked.
Yes
Ilea looked at the Fae. “I don’t really want to feel that pain again, little one.”
No
Drain
“So it’s a little more dense than the layer itself was but it won’t hurt me because you won’t funnel it all into my body?”
The Fae nodded and twirled.
“If you don’t think it will be an issue, then I would love to see your home. Are you sure the Ascended won’t follow?”
Misplaced
Concern
“I’ll trust you on this, ancient one,” she said.
Mental
Resistance
Third?
“Yeah, it’s in the third tier. Why?”
Us
The Fae sent and stopped to consider.
Human
Mind
Fragile
“I’ll let you know if I can’t handle it. Is it a pressure I can escape?”
Unsure
“Sounds intriguing at least. Do you want me to visit now or some other time?” Ilea felt a little like her six year old self having made a new friend, now discussing visiting each other’s homes. Is it going to have to ask its parents?
Now
Tired
“I’m happy to join then. Can you teleport us again?” Ilea asked. “Oh… before we go. I can teleport out from there right? Or is it blocked off? You saw my skill before when I started using it.”
Leaving
Works
Entering
Difficult
It started draining mana, Ilea’s resistance turned off.
Her mana had recovered enough to allow for the nearly ten thousand points the Fae required. Instead however, it kept going.
Ilea felt like she was powering a spell of her own, so easily did the mana flow out and into the creature. She was impressed such a small and low level being could even hold all the power she felt from it.
It seemed creatures around them noticed as well, some of the monsters in the forest below running away just as a bunch of birds flew out of the trees to get some distance to the magical phenomenon forming in the skies above.
I hope we won’t attract something powerful. Ilea kept a lookout for the Ascended or something else. Is this a thing now? Constantly checking my back for that fucker?
She decided that it would be alright for a while. Contrary to most other things that could beat her close to death, the Ascended was a sapient being, one capable of tracking her down to finish the job.
Space shifted once again.
Ilea immediately felt the mana around her, crashing into her like waves of water. As if she was teleported into the depths of the ocean with all the weight and pressure suddenly pushing her down.
Holy fuck, she thought and went on one knee.
Okay, she sent to the Fae from whom she felt slight concern within her sphere. She couldn’t quite place where the creature was, her arcane perception muddled by the magic.
This really is an issue… my sphere is the main thing I can trust once my eyes fail.
She looked up and found the moons staring back at her. Much closer than they had been a moment prior. The winds were strong here and the air thin. Neither bothered her nearly as much as the mana density itself.
Ilea saw a sharp decline to her left, clouds visible far below, slightly illuminated by the moonlight. We are definitely high up.
The stars above added to the scenery, as did the sharp rocks jutting out of the terrain. This was the peak of a mountain. She glanced around but found nothing else reaching these heights. Some of the summits in the distance peaked out of the clouds but nothing quite as impressive as this.
There was no plateau per se. Just wild outcrops of stone and rock, without a visible path. The highest point was still around thirty meters farther up.
She slowly adjusted to the mana and kept a focus on breathing steadily. The thin air surprisingly didn’t bother her body. Her rational mind told her she would need to exert herself more here, would need to be careful and move slowly but nothing else seemed to support that notion.