Chapter 546: Of Gods and Myths (1/2)

‘ding’ ‘Your group has defeated [Werebear – lvl 320]

Ilea watched as the remains were eaten by the flame of creation.

“It’s done,” she said, putting out the flames and removing her ash.

“We saw,” Horace said as he walked inside, grabbing one of the dropped torches near the entrance.

“That thing was so quick,” Pain murmured. She remained outside, resting on some rubble in the stairwell.

Baleron used a healing spell on her.

Not a level out of it, Ilea thought. Understandable.

She summoned her hammer again and cleaned it with ash, pieces of flesh, bone, and blood wiped away in an instant.

“You really are her,” Horace said, flickering torchlight reflected in his one good eye. “Did you store the body?”

“There was none left,” Ilea said.

He nodded slowly. A chuckle escaped him, the sound slowly building up until his laughter echoed through the Werebear den.

The man calmed down again and smiled. “I knew it wasn’t a coincidence. You were here for a reason,” he said. “A Shadow, to vanquish this evil.”

“He wasn’t evil. Just a monster. Born by mana or taken over by a Class, curse, or corruption. Who knows,” she said, walking through the hall and towards the altar.

“He has killed many,” Horace said.

The others still remained outside.

“As monsters do,” Ilea said, looking at the symbols. She felt magic from them but they weren’t runes or connected in any way. Just infused blood, primal and full of emotion.

Are my lessons paying off or why am I picking this up?

“You feel it too, don’t you?” Horace said as he stepped closer. His eye flickered with recognition as he looked at the stone altar.

“You’ve been here before,” Ilea said.

He glanced at her.

“Yes,” he said in a whisper, checking to see if the others were close.

“Power was promised and power he received,” the man said. “May he rest in peace.”

“What is this?” Ilea asked, about to tap the altar with her hand.

“Don’t touch it!” Horace exclaimed. “Powerful blood magic has been bound to this stone. Now that Andre is gone, the magic is bound yet again.”

“Now I want to touch it even more,” Ilea said. “Will it turn me into a Werebear?”

“Don’t jest… these matters are… I’m forgetting who you are. It is… an altar to Varrah, a god of blood and power. You will be offered a choice, should you wish to gain power. Andre thought himself ready. I was the only one of the Acolytes to survive his change,” Horace said.

God of blood and power.

“I’ll destroy it then,” Ilea said.

“That is ill advised. We should collapse this whole place. It’s the only way to make sure,” he said.

“Why not do that in the first place?” Ilea asked.

“It was the plan. I had to make sure he was here, and that he was injured enough to die,” Horace said.

“You weren’t equipped to kill that thing,” Ilea said.

He didn’t look at her, instead keeping his eyes focused on the ground.

“Are you two alright?!” Baleron called out from outside.

“We’re fine!” Ilea replied.

“I knew he was hunting still. I had… hoped,” Horace said and sobbed. “That he would die. Of old age… another predator. I got stronger. I did. But so did he.”

Ilea slapped him.

“They would’ve died because of you. You stupid selfish fuck,” she said.

He recoiled, touching his face and finding his hand bloodied.

“I…,” he started.

“God of fuck,” she said and kicked the altar with all the might she could muster.

Horace staggered back. “What have you done?”

“Hey, finding four marks to hunt isn’t as easy as it sounds. And my Blood Magic Resistance is pretty damn high,” Ilea said.

The altar splintered apart, pieces of stone falling to the ground or hitting the wall behind. A surge of magic followed, bursting out from the symbols that had been painted and were now broken.

Ilea displaced Horace out of the hall once more, using her sphere to pull the energy towards herself.

The energy seemed almost graspable, wisps of deep red magic flowing within her magic perception. It moved slow, more like a liquid than anything else.

“You are. Worthy. Will you choose… to accept… this gift?” a whisper resounded within her mind as soon as the wisps touched her body.

“No,” Ilea replied.

“Regrettable. There is no vessel. I do not wish. You harm,” the voice said, growing evermore quiet.

The magic surged into her, burning into her armor and through to her skin and very blood.

There was no pain, Ilea healing against the damage as she’d done thousands of times before. She let the blood magic ravage through her own, the energy contained within her body.

“Hmm,” she mused, letting the residual magic dissipate within her, absorbed by Sentinel Core and countered by her healing and sheer resilience. Disappointing, she thought and walked towards the exit, large ashen spheres crashing into the pillars close to her.

The hall collapsed behind her when she emerged into the light.

“What happened?” Horace asked, his voice trembling.

“That mana… I felt it from here,” Baleron whispered.

“You guys should get out more,” Ilea said and rolled her eyes.

“Werebear defeated, your friend can rest in peace,” she added and looked at Horace. “I hope you do the right thing.”

“Eat up,” Ilea said, putting a bowl of stew in front of the boy she had found in the basement.

He didn’t talk much, glancing at the three arguing adventurers.

“You stupid fucking retarded shit eating fuckbag of a blood sucking vulture!” Pain spat more than said, her fingers tapping Horace’s armor with loud clangs.

“I’m sorry,” the man murmured. It was the only thing he had said for the past ten minutes.

At least they hadn’t killed him yet.

Baleron joined Ilea and the boy, sitting down with a sigh.

“You don’t seem to give a shit?” Ilea said, eating a few bites of the stew the mage had cooked.

“I was surprised. But to be honest, I kind of expected it. All men have their secrets. And in the end, we came out alive, and stronger,” he said.

“Yeah, because I was there,” Ilea said.

“A sign perhaps. Luck is not random. We were meant to survive, and we have. Horace is only a piece of fate, as are you,” he said.

“How do I get fate resistance?” Ilea asked.

He chuckled.

“Sure she won’t kill him?” Ilea asked.

Baleron waved her off. “It’s not the first time. He’s a good adventurer. Experienced. Not the best or most honest man. We know.”

“And you still stay with him?” Ilea asked with a smile.

“You should never trust a man without failings. I’m relieved this remnant of his past has been taken care of. Now we can profit from being here during the war, as we had intended,” he said.

“I guess,” Ilea said and sipped one her ale. She remembered Edwin and his group, even her Shadow team hadn’t been exactly forthright with their intentions. It had caused a lot of issues for her, Ilea simply being more trusting and naive at her core.

She hoped her experienced had made her a little more prone to sense these things but by now she had reached such a level of power, where it rarely even mattered. The Meadow could cause major issues for her if her trust had been misplaced. By now she just doubted that heavily.

The Lily she met with scrutiny from the start. But even Hector wouldn’t be stupid enough to go against her directly.

She found she didn’t really mind Horace’s deceit. It had made for an interesting few hours.

Speaking of interesting, Ilea thought and focused on her mark. It was still moving, albeit slowly.

The boy was finally eating, not quite as intimidated by the group as he had been earlier.

“Lilith,” Baleron said. He seemed to taste the name as he said it, smirking in the process. He leaned back in his chair as he looked at her.

The boy looked up and glanced between them before he continued wolfing down his food.

“You really are the fucking worst piece of shit I’ve ever met! And I’ve met a lot of them!” Pain said before she left the house, slamming the door so hard it shook on its hinges.

“Is she gonna leave?” Ilea asked.

“Yeah. She’s going to kill a few monsters. I’ll prepare a bath for when she comes back. Always so bloody, our Pain,” Baleron said, smiling wistfully.

“Maybe you could draw a bath for me in the meantime,” Ilea said, leaning a little closer.

The man looked at her before his eyebrows rose.

“I can do that, if you wish. Though I believe it is something else you seek. Am I wrong?” he asked.

“Not exactly,” Ilea said.

“I see. I apologize. I don’t have that… need. It’s not you, I simply do not enjoy it,” Baleron said.

“A shame. It’s okay of course. You’re pretty flirty considering that fact,” she said with a smirk.

“I’ve been told. That is something I can enjoy,” he said and winked. “Though when the interest is obvious I try to be upfront about my affliction.”

Ilea shook her head. “That’s not an affliction, Baleron. It’s simply who you are. Some men like women, some like men, others simply don’t enjoy the act of sex at all.”

“Thank you. You’re actually the first woman who has reacted in this way,” he said.

“Didn’t exactly expect anything else from around here,” Ilea said.