Chapter 501st Ilea’s Fist (1/2)

Chapter 501st Ilea’s Fist

Ilea had three more crates of valuables at the end of their short detour, and a hundred and ten more pieces of gold.

She checked her messages again with a bit of apprehension.

‘ding’ ‘The Azarinth Sentinel reaches lvl 359 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘The Azarinth Sentinel reaches lvl 360 – Five stat points awarded – One Core skill point awarded’

‘ding’ ‘Kin of Ash reaches lvl 358 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘Kin of Ash reaches lvl 359 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘Kin of Ash reaches lvl 360 – Five stat points awarded – One Core skill point awarded’

‘ding’ ‘The Faen Valkyrie reaches lvl 105 – One stat point awarded’ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

...

‘ding’ ‘Absolute Destruction reaches 3rd lvl 27’

‘ding’ ‘Heart of Cinder reaches 3rd lvl 24’

‘ding’ ‘Storm of Cinders reaches 3rd lvl 21’

‘ding’ ‘Force reaches 2nd lvl 4’

…

‘

‘ding’ ‘Flare of Creation reaches 2nd lvl 7’

‘ding’ ‘Flare of Creation reaches 2nd lvl 8’

‘ding’ ‘Displacement reaches 2nd lvl 9’

‘ding’ ‘Displacement reaches 2nd lvl 10’

‘ding’ ‘Space Shift reaches 2nd lvl 3’

‘ding’ ‘Space Awareness reaches lvl 16’

‘ding’ ‘Space Awareness reaches lvl 17’

‘ding’ ‘Monster Hunter reaches 3rd lvl 3’

‘ding’ ‘Wood Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 3’

“Why the frown? You’re at three sixty, got a ton of wealth and surely a bunch of skill levels too,” Hector said.

“I’m blasting through the levels… that’s the issue. I should probably focus on my third Class skills more before leveling so much,” she said.

“Eh, maybe. I tried between two and three hundred, got all the skills to nearly the highest possible level and then… nothing. Not a single potential evolution. I doubt there will be one until four or even five hundred, as powerful and unique as they’re supposed to be,” he said. “You got Core skill points at three sixty?”

Ilea nodded. “We aren’t necessarily the same though,” she said.

“Oh, of course. I’m just one example. It might not be perfectly efficient but this is highly beneficial. You can hide inside a tomb and train your skills once we’re done here,” he said and laughed.

“You almost sound like you want me here. Is it maybe you who developed a crush?” she asked with a smile.

“I’m happy to invite you to dinner, Ilea. Right now I’m just glad to have another monster with me. We’re progressing quickly. I doubt Velamyr expected us to clear out a town in less than a day. Nor do I think the Order of Truth expected as much. Should have summoned more powerful creatures,” he said and laughed.

“Don’t jinx it,” Ilea said and looked at the map. “Mophis is mostly clear, except for a few hundred Cursed. Seyna or Nara?”

“Nara has likely not been touched by anybody. If we move now, we have the first pick for both wealth left behind and monsters infesting the city,” Hector said. “We’re also getting into stronghold territory of the Order and Baralia. I doubt many of the nobles in Nara were taken out by the ritual.”

Ilea considered it for a short while and finally nodded. “Then let’s get there before either army returns to claim what’s left.”

He laughed and grabbed on to one of her ashen limbs. “Spoken like a true pirate! You should really think about becoming one.”

“I’m not the biggest on hats, I’m afraid,” Ilea said and sped off.

Ilea put thirty stat points into Vitality, bringing her total health to a whopping 12991.

It didn’t sit perfectly right with her to level so quickly in her third Class, her skills somewhat falling behind. She had high second tier skills in her Azarinth Healer Class before even reaching level one hundred.

Hector was right of course, she wouldn’t hide away or slow their pace just because her skill development wasn’t perfectly optimal. If that even really was the case.

He told her that there had been no evolution for him, despite working on only his skills for quite some time. The man however had a motive to keep her around and fighting at her full capacity, which made her doubt his word somewhat.

Only somewhat though, she had a feeling he didn’t exactly care. Even if she left, he would continue this on his own. Slower and perhaps a little annoyed but at the same time happy that he didn’t have to share the spoils anymore.

Nara was quite different than Mophis, or really any city Ilea had seen so far in Elos.

The walls looked like the lowest fourth of a pyramid, reaching at least thirty meters in height before they opened up to reveal the high buildings and towers beyond.

She knew that few cities really built high in Elos because there was so much space available and building below ground was both easier and safer, with earth magic around.

When she saw the towers reaching hundreds of meters in height, punching into the gathering dark clouds above, she knew that there was only one explanation. A massive dick measuring contest.

“Fools I tell you,” Hector said as they slowed down a few kilometers away from the city.

Ilea had flown low for the last ten minutes, just in case something spotted them in the sky.

“You think they’re angering the Dragons?” she asked.

“You say that word quite lightly, not having met one,” he said and glanced at her.

“How do you know I haven’t met one?” Ilea said.

“Because you’re still alive,” he said. “Admittedly… it would be interesting to see. I wonder how you could be killed.”

“Overwhelming force, I’d say,” Ilea suggested.

“Which Dragons should have, according to the legends,” he said.

“What could kill you then?” she asked.

He laughed. “I’m not exactly as durable as you are… very slippery though. A Leviathan nearly succeeded once. A Basilisk could do it too I suppose. Most four marks if they really set their minds to it, not that they care about a puny human enough to get their fat asses moving.”

“Not all of them are huge,” Ilea said.

“That sounds like a good story. Care to share?” he asked as they slowly moved towards the sprawling city.

Rain started falling, the first strikes of lightning flashing in the distance.

“Not really,” Ilea said.

He didn’t seem to mind, just nodding lightly. “The rain will be quite useful.”

“For you,” she said.

“How about a bet? The one who kills more gets sixty percent of the wealth we find,” he suggested.

Ilea rolled her eyes. “I don’t feel like keeping a count.”

“So boring. You can just look through your messages afterwards,” he said. “Just takes ten minutes or so to count.”

“I don’t feel like it,” Ilea said. She knew the humans and monsters they were killing were either not themselves anymore or already entirely gone. Putting a number to it all felt too morbid. They had all been living, breathing, and thinking people. She had a feeling at least part of that applied to the monsters that had come through the fractured or weakened space.

He grumbled a few curses but let it go after a few seconds, visibly excited to continue with the fighting.