Chapter 446: Purpose (2/2)

The Golems at the very least had tried to kill her. And still she deemed the process necessary, the skill levels important. I need to slow down for a little while. Am I addicted to the thrill of highly dangerous situations by now? I guess I am, because this shit is boring.

She sighed and focused on her meditation, the time passing much quicker that way. When noon came, she thanked the people and made sure they would spread the word about the next day.

Avatar of Ash still made sure the time hadn’t been wasted entirely.

‘ding’ ‘Earth Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 4’

‘ding’ ‘Earth Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 5’

‘ding’ ‘Water Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 4’

An underwhelming result for the time invested. There had been fire too, arcane, wind, corrosion, ice and poison. All of them either stuck at level twenty in the second tier or the damage was just not enough to grant her a level in the third tier.

Can’t believe this is how some nobles do it… without Avatar of Ash. I’ll try it for a week. If it’s still that slow I’ll much rather go to more dungeons, at least let things attack me that have an intent to kill.

“You’re grumpy. What is it?” Trian asked with a smile, following her down to one of the lowest floors of their headquarters.

“The training was pretty boring and unsuccessful,” she said.

“No success in the dungeon? Or did you not find it? Told you, you should have used a guide.”

“No, the dungeon was fine. Interesting new skills there. Level two fifty Golems with various gem based magic. No, I’m talking about this morning. Only twelve people showed up,” she said.

“Only twelve…,” he murmured and chuckled right after. “Give it some time, alright? You’ve been in such a rush,” he said and walked to the nearby stone wall, activating a hidden rune that disabled the anti teleportation enchantments in the floor.

Both of them disappeared, appearing in the stairwell below, leading to the seventh floor down.

“Ilea,” he started and looked at her, stopping on the wooden stairs as he touched her shoulder. “You have reached such enormous power in such a short while. I remember when we went toe to toe… and now look at you. You should be proud! And you should give yourself a break. Your adventures in the north were insane from what you have shared of them but now you are here. You can relax.”

“The Ascended would have come for you already if it really cared, those are your words. And we are doing everything we can in case something of that level in power attacks. Remember, the highest level demons were nearly four marks too. And the Hand took them out.”

“He would have killed me, you know?” she said. What am I even talking about.

“It’s ok,” Trian said and suddenly hugged her tight.

Ilea didn’t fight back. She didn’t really get what was happening but it didn’t feel bad.

“You’re back now, safe and sound. You were bound to stumble upon something insurmountable at one point or the other. Maybe pick up a hobby that doesn’t involve fighting dangerous beasts?” he suggested.

“That’s not it, Trian,” she said and pushed him away a little, the man letting go.

“That thing could think… could talk, communicate with me. It wasn’t some weird creature like the Trakorov or the Fae, something unconcerned with us. It was here for a reason and it tried to kill me. That thing could wipe out this whole city if-”

The man zapped her with a bolt of lightning that would have killed any of their students. “Look at me,” he said.

Ilea rolled her eyes.

“If it’s that powerful, why worry? If it could just come and kill everyone then there is not much we can do. So tell me, Ilea. What is it you want?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Have a life where I don’t have to think about protecting whole cities?” she asked.

He smiled. “I get it. You want it back, the freedom you had back when you joined the Hand. Traveling the lands without a concern on your mind other than the next hunt. I could tell you know? The way you enjoyed it, loved the fights, the blood. I was scared of you for a time, not because of what you were but of what you could become.”

“And here we are,” he said and spread his arms. “You are even more terrifying than I ever dared imagine.”

“After I got my revenge… hollow and… meaningless as it was… I had a lot of time to think. About how I joined the Hand, became powerful enough to challenge most every noble in the capital. It didn’t help in the end. They died all the same. I thought about how you got me out, had found the only survivors, had helped me find the people responsible.”

“We always knew there were dangers out there. Elves, Taleen, Demons unimaginable creatures capable of large scale destruction. And still we live our lives. We walk around in our little cities, build our little homes, trade, eat and fuck. You know about the war in Baralia. It’s not the only conflict among humans and you know that very well. Hundreds if not thousands die every day because of us. Because of humans.”

“Even if there weren’t any monsters out there, we would still do the same. Worse probably. Even if you had the power to defeat any creature out there, you cannot change what we are. Don’t think yourself the center of the continent, Ilea. And don’t assume the Ascended is needed to destroy us. We are quite capable of that ourselves.”

“Great. That definitely lifted my mood,” Ilea said.

Trian shrugged. “It’s the reality of it. Demons, caused by us. The elves… well I guess that could have been avoided. All the wars, slavery, murders… that’s on us. And even if you do everything right, things don’t always line up. People die for little reason and cities get razed for even less.”

“However, you made a difference. You came and got me out when I was in a dump, thinking on the meaninglessness of life. You showed me that sometimes I just have to focus on what I can do. That sometimes it’s better to ignore the larger threats lurking in the dark and instead focus on the light you hold, however meager it might seem,” he said.

“Now you sound like a cleric,” Ilea said with a smile.

“Cleric, mage, scholar… I’m human. You already provided so many people with work, your investments and the values you demand leading to a lot of tangible prosperity. Why not enjoy it? Be grateful for what you have done and are still doing?”

“You want the freedom back that you had? At the same time you don’t want to abandon everyone. So what can you do?”

Ilea shrugged.

“Well first things first, you can trust in us a little more. In me, Claire, the leaders of Ravenhall. This city is stronger than it has ever been, its defenses rivaling the capital of Lys. And we are far from done. The Sentinels will grow, will learn. We will slowly build and increase our strength. You are a part of that and perhaps you are right and at the moment we would have to rely on you too much. So focus on what you can do to change that,” he said.

“I could just leave and never come back,” Ilea said and chuckled.

“You could. The seeds you have sown will surely flourish. Or perhaps we will be wiped out by another power. But even you might not be enough to stop them, so why worry?” he asked.

“Are you telling me that nothing matters anyway?” she said.

“No, Ilea. I’m telling you that you matter, that the Sentinels matter. That Claire and I, matter. That all the lives we changed here matter. Just as much as all the people that died during the Demon summoning mattered. What I’m telling you is that you should focus on what you Can do, what we can do. Instead of focusing on the unknown and what we cannot possibly achieve,” the man said.

Ilea snorted. “That makes a surprising amount of sense. You made all that up under that tree in the Haven?”

“No. I was taught about some philosophy back home. Back then it was boring and meaningless to me. Only power mattered, my eyes focused on the capital, other nobles. Blind to the size of the world and the scraps humanity fights and dies over. It just made sense to me. After all that has happened. All I could do was take the next step.”

Ilea took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened them again and lightly punched the man’s shoulder. “Know what? I’ll try that. It doesn’t sound too bad.”

Maybe I didn’t quite get how big the world really was either. Might as well enjoy the ride before a random wormhole farts out a level one million world ending creature.

“I like that look on you,” he said with a smile, walking down the stairs.

“What look?” Ilea asked.

“You’re hungry,” Trian said.

“No I’m not. I just ate,” Ilea answered.

Trian just laughed. “Come on, you wanted to see Iana. Our torture lesson starts in half an hour.”