Chapter 572: Training Considerations (1/2)

Chapter 572 Training Considerations

He crossed his arms and sighed.

“Can we borrow your enchanters? I think it’s best if we keep this under wraps,” he said.

“Sure, as soon as they have the time. You’d have to pry them away from Meadow with more than orders or words right now. I suggest you have this dungeon walled off. Just in case,” she said.

“Of course. We can risk having an entrance right into our underground. It was only a matter of time with our fast expansion,” Sulivhaan said.

“Well the gates are off right now. Let’s just hope the Defenders were just used for their intended purpose,” Ilea said.

Sulivhaan had the aura of a frown.

“And I thought we were getting close to high security,” he murmured.

“You are. And if things go south, we can contain whatever comes out of these gates down here. Worst case we collapse it all and destroy the gates. They probably won’t be fissures that sustain themselves, otherwise there wouldn’t be any structures. At least I hope so,” she said.

Sulivhaan nodded after a while. “Can… I ask you to stay here for a few hours? Not for what may come out but what may come down here. I don’t trust Finnley’s team.”

“I don’t mind,” Ilea said and sat down, keeping track of the cats. Four and six seem to like each other, she noted with a smile.

“Good. I’ll be back soon. Thank you for your time and help,” Sulivhaan said and bowed.

“Don’t you bow to me. We’re friends, even if we may have differing opinions on some things. Don’t you forget that,” Ilea said.

“That we are. It’s been a joy to see you grow in power but lately I admit, the joy has been joined by a hint of fear. You’re likely more powerful than even the Elders by now,” he said.

“Even better to have me as a friend then,” Ilea said with a broad smirk. “I’m not going to become a queen or dictator, Sulivhaan. Don’t you worry. Our council is secure, no matter how strong I become.”

“Words spoken, promises made. I give you the benefit of the doubt, Ilea. And I trust you based on your actions. But even you must see the corrupting nature of power,” he said.

“Oh I certainly do. Which is why I need friends that are a little more grounded than me,” she said. “Not you though, you’re pretty out there too.”

The man allowed himself a chuckle. “I won’t deny that. I’ll get to work then. Get help from the guard should it be required.”

“I will, thanks,” Ilea said and focused fully on her cat lady endeavors.

Now that I think about it. Elos has quite a few interesting cat lady options. Summoning, taming, maybe even turning into a cat oneself. Plus there are species out there a little more frightening than a house cat.

Ilea spent the next four to five hours down in her dark cavern. None of the gates suddenly activated and spewed out monsters or demons, neither did any opportunist rogue or Shadow sneak in to steal anything or try to study the ancient structures.

Utterly boring.

At least she had her cats.

‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Huntress reaches 3rd lvl 21’

A surprisingly quick method, she thought. Even without danger, focusing on all the cats proved enough of a challenge to bring her skill to the next level in just a few hours of focused training.

Sulivhaan finally appeared next to her.

“Nothing?” he asked.

“Nope. Not a single cosmic horror trying to slither out and devour me,” Ilea said. “Very disappointing.”

“I can imagine,” Sulivhaan said. “Thanks for your sacrifice.”

“Everything for council and country,” she said. “Are we a country now by the way?”

“A city state at the moment, though the existence and growth of Morhill will soon suggest otherwise. An alliance of city states perhaps, counting Riverwatch and potentially Hallowfort in the future,” he said.

“Huh,” Ilea mused. “Anything else I can help you with?”

The two teleported through the dungeon until they reached a newly formed stone wall with various enchantments placed on it. The structure blocked the exit.

“Let me deactivate the enchantments,” he said.

“Anything against space magic?” Ilea asked.

The man glanced over. “No. We have few people who can set that up. I didn’t think it a priority.”

“It isn’t,” Ilea said and displaced the two of them through the structure. Four more walls followed before they appeared in the underground where they had started the little expedition.

“The barriers are quite intricately planned out. It should be enough to hold even a demon invasion for a time. More measures are already being implemented but for now we consider the risk acceptable,” Sulivhaan explained, unfazed by her teleportation.

“Good to know. Call for me if something gets through anyway,” Ilea said and winked.

“We will. Though our first priority will be to prevent such in the first place,” Sulivhaan said.

“Will you be in town for a while?” he asked.

“Another five days or so. Let me know if anything else comes up,” she said.

“I will. Thank you,” Sulivhaan said. “It’s good to have you.”

“Damn right it is,” Ilea said with a smile. “See you around.”

Ilea continued her cat training, adding more critters to her little network with each level in her skill.

Her other focus was Ash Magic Resistance.

She spent the next few days in the Sentinel Headquarters, both helping the students train and training herself.

The initial pain tolerance training was something only few of the students had worked on in her absence, the lack of mental healing quite daunting.

Now that she was around, they could repeat their sessions a lot more regularly, without working through everything on their own and through counseling.

Trian was on the lookout for arcane healers or other healers with the ability to heal recent damage to the mind.

The peer pressure many of the students were under forced many of them to push further than may have been healthy. The degree of high risk and long term damage was near impossible to pin down however.

“It’s not exactly a prerequisite, is it?” she asked the faculty.

“No, but the benefits are too much to ignore. Both from our perspective and theirs,” Trian said. “There are many ways for them to work through the experiences of pain tolerance training and generally resistance training but your healing is the best method we’ve found so far.”

“I can help out whenever I’m here but I assume that won’t be enough,” she said.

“It’s just more efficient. It’s not impossible to handle without your presence. What I’m more interested in is a way to replicate what your skill does to the mind,” he said.

“It’s arcane healing, right?” Sidney asked.

Ilea nodded.

“Can’t someone else get a Class like that? Or do you dislike the option?” she asked.

“I don’t care. The problem is the elixir is rare and dangerous. Kills a large percentage of those who eat it. Alice Forkspear actually survived it and should by now have gained a Class similar to mine. Finding her, let alone convincing her to join the Sentinels for the purpose of mental healing is downright impossible however. Nor do I think it a good idea,” Ilea said.

“Do you know where the elixir is found?” Orthan asked.

“I stumbled upon it before getting a Class. Ate it all though and it’s growing very slowly,” she said. “Do you have a map?”

The man pointed to the map hanging on a nearby wall.

Ilea formed an ashen arrow and showed them the location of the Azarinth temple. “It’s not perfectly accurate but you’ll find it.”

“We have plenty of experienced mages that could help cultivate the elixir,” Orthan said.

“But we won’t use it if the danger is as high as Ilea suggests,” Trian said.

“And how would we even test it? If we manage to modify it at all,” Lyza asked.

“Feed it to animals or monsters?” Orthan asked. “Or sentenced prisoners of war. There should be plenty in the Empire by now.”

“I won’t stand by that,” Trian said.