Chapter 459: Request (2/2)

He was done a few minutes later, joining them again with a smile.

Ilea had to admit that his face was easy on the eyes. Perhaps not the most striking appearance but it might not be fair to compare him to level two hundred mages and warriors, enough money, time and power on their hands to get all they could out of their appearance.

Compared to when she had found him, in Arthur Redleaf’s employ, the man now positively glowed. He looked a few decades younger too.

His gear consisted of belts and pockets, strapped onto an intricate light weight armor with bits of steel and leather. Masterful work but what else was to be expected from Balduur and Iana. The most striking part was that all the pockets, straps and belts were part of the clothes. They didn’t have to be fastened individually. Otherwise they might have very well left on the next morning.

“I think with this I can distract a few monsters. Or set up some barriers at least,” he said, gingerly opening and closing some of the compartments.

“Good. Ready then?” Ilea asked. She wasn’t in a hurry because of the request itself but perhaps there was a chance that she could be back for her morning session after all.

The two looked at each other.

“I guess so,” Iana said. “You will carry us?”

“Yes, I will,” Ilea said as her ashen armor formed, limbs moving out to grab the two. “I don’t want you to die so I’ll have to hold on pretty tightly. My healing should offset any damage you would take but I will have an eye on the both of you.”

“Going off your estimation, we would pass out and die after less than a minute of flight,” Christopher said as he looked at the ashen limbs, nodding to one of them as if it was a living creature.

“We will test,” Ilea said. “If you can’t take it, I’ll go alone.”

Ilea’s normal flight speed without charged wings was already quite taxing on the two. She was sure they would pass out after a few minutes without her healing and the ashen cocoons she had formed around them.

The test with charged wings was successful too, both of her passengers passing out after a while, their vitals however stable thanks to her continued healing. Delivering two enchanters to Riverwatch, now where was that large fucking mountain?

Just under three hours later, the dark winged healer reached the intended destination.

The suns hadn’t gone down quite yet and visibility was good.

Ilea spotted the town from a high distance, just a speck to her enhanced eyes but it was unmistakable, sitting next to the mountain Karth and the river flowing past.

The town was neither on fire nor besieged as far as she could tell. Enough for her to swerve away and towards the Azarinth temple.

Ilea slowed down considerably, going low and into the forest to avoid any interested eyes. Her sphere, blink and third tier wings made the dangerous journey quite simple. Not that trees would stand against her flying form.

It would be moot however, if she avoided tracks on the ground but left behind dozens of felled trees.

She did spot a few of them on the way, some likely not downed more than a few months ago but that didn’t change her opinion. The temple was close enough and they soon reached it without interruption.

“Here we are,” she said and checked the area. There were tracks and she saw magic residue. Nothing that would suggest humans or other bipedal creatures.

Ilea laid both of her travel companions onto the grass and pushed a little more healing into them than before.

Both shot up immediately, eyes wide open as they reoriented themselves.

“What! What happened? Where are we!?” Iana said out loud.

“How long have we been out?” Christopher asked as he cupped his face with both hands.

“A little over three hours, I think,” Ilea said. “We are near Riverwatch. Far enough away not to attract any attention. And this,” she gestured behind them. “Is an Azarinth temple. Past its glory.”

“This is where you got your class,” Iana said, already over the experience. Likely due to the constant healing.

“Three hours?” Christopher said as he scrambled to find a booklet in one of his pockets. “That is… incredible… truly. If people can move at that speed, a teleportation device becomes obsolete in the first place… storage devices would solve the wind resistance issue and the logistics of transferring large amounts of goods,” he murmured to himself as he took some notes.

“The world is bigger than the human plains, Christopher. And I doubt many will be able to fly this fast, nor do I want to become a delivery girl,” Ilea said.

“Of course. I am simply looking at the possibilities. Well, the enchantments you wanted to show us, they are here?” he asked.

“Yes. Follow me,” Ilea said.

“Marvelous… it’s healing isn’t it?” Christopher asked and looked to Iana.

She nodded, moving her hand over the inscriptions, barely visible without any perception skills. “It invades whoever gets too close, thus activating the enchantment without a previous charge. Ilea, do you happen to have a skill to steal mana from someone?”

“Part of one skill does that, yeah,” she said.

“But nobody mentioned gaining a drain resistance I assume? It’s a healing skill,” Iana correctly assumed.

Ilea just nodded.

“Can you recreate it?” Ilea asked.

“I’m not sure yet. The chance is low however, because neither of us can channel the type of mana necessary. The principles however, might be useful.”

“Perfect. The second thing is in the room this teleportation thing leads you to. A fountain that produces healing water,” she said.

“We will look at it as soon as we’re done here,” Iana said, focused on the runes.

“How long do you think you will need?” Ilea asked.

The enchantress looked up. “As long as we can.”

Ilea nodded. “I don’t think there should be anything too dangerous around. For your level at least. If something does show up, just teleport below using the enchantment.”

“You won’t stay?” Christopher asked, glancing around the dark temple.

“I have other plans. I would leave a mark but I’m out currently. I’m sure you’ll be safe. I will sweep the area to check if anything is around but I survived here for weeks on end, below level one hundred,” she said.

“It’s alright. We aren’t defenseless, Ilea,” the enchantress said, giving her a thumbs up with an armored hand.

You don’t look defenseless. But if a Specter or Praetorian showed up, you wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Good. I will check in on you again. You have food and water as well as provisions?” she asked.

Iana nodded.

“Okay. If I’m not back in three days, assume I’m dead. Go back to Ravenhall and continue your work,” she said.

“What exactly are you planning?” Iana asked.

“I hope you aren’t getting in too much danger,” Christopher said.

“Your funding will be guaranteed anyway, don’t worry,” Ilea said. “I plan to meet an old acquaintance and help out an independent city with an unspecified problem. Just don’t want you two to be stranded in case something finally manages to put me down… though it is more and more unlikely.”

“We will figure it out, don’t worry about us. I welcome the opportunity to be in the wild, studying ancient runes without my overprotective father looking over me,” Iana said.

Christopher gulped. “I had hoped it was finally over.”

“Don’t worry, we don’t plan to face Taleen. And if it becomes too dangerous, we will leave,” Iana said, patting his back.

“Well, knock yourselves out. Ah, if any Bluemoon Grass has grown in the meantime, harvest but don’t eat it. It hurts and there’s a high chance it can kill you. Well, maybe not you at this level but I would still be careful. Stay safe and I’ll see you later,” Ilea said and waved.

“You too. Have fun on your adventure,” Iana said, beaming with joy in her eyes. The dangerous looking armor gave the farewell an odd feel.

“Have… fun,” Christopher said, shaking his head.

Ilea chuckled at the sight and vanished, appearing on top of her temple. A single ashen limb moved out and marked a few new discoveries on her small map next to the compass rose.

It felt a little weird, to stand here now, where she had started in this weird and fantastical world. If the wolves or drakes had gotten me, it would have ended somewhere here, in the woods. But it didn’t.

Her wings spread as an armor made of ash covered her. The fear and uncertainty that vividly came to her mind as memories of her first months came back to her were no more. All was replaced by confidence in her magic and abilities. The only feeling she shared with her past self that had struggled to survive in this temple, was excitement.

If only she had knownthat in a year or two, she would be flying through the skies.