Chapter 577: Flames (1/2)
Chapter 577 Flames
Ilea felt her ash burn away, the heat itself tugging at her skin and innards. Ash covered her eyes, lest they burst from the intense fires.
Her Lava Magic Resistance absorbed what it could, entirely overwhelmed with the devastating power.
Anybody lesser would’ve molten away but Ilea didn’t survive four mark attacks without reason. And fire was one of her specialties.
She turned around when the ash in front of her had been stripped away, falling now that her wings were gone. Her back burned but her armor already reformed in front of her chest and slightly molten face. She felt no pain and watched with joy as her health slowly dwindled away, brought up again by her hampered healing.
Feyrair slammed to the ground with his massive body, the claws digging deep and burning with white flame. His jaws closed and the spell subsided.
Ilea’s armor reformed as she turned back towards him, her wings appearing yet again. Lightning roared around them, one bolt slashing through the dragonling’s left wing, punching through the thick hide and evoking a hiss from him in turn.
“Wonderful presentation. I’ll be sure to invite you to my next barbecue,” Ilea said, lifting her hand towards the creature. She felt her chest nearly burst from the heat and power stored within, the cracks of ember light caused by her aura seemed to glow with more intensity as Heart of Cinder continued to charge.
The spell released, Ilea watching Feyrair’s eyes widen before she veered her hand slightly to the right.
A beam of bright burning energy rushed past the elf in dragon form, its light illuminating the vicinity cast in shadow by the arcane storm. The very air vibrated as it was pushed aside, burnt to nothing.
Ilea lowered her hand, looking at the furrow in the land her spell had left behind, the dragon’s wing reduced to nothing as he staggered to the side, his own fire ringing with the lingering flames of hers.
He roared, the limb reforming as his claws burst with bright energy, cutting even deeper into the ground but Ilea was done waiting.
My turn, she thought, Flare of Creation bursting out as she sacrificed her health for both her auras. She vanished and appeared to the elf’s side, her fists hitting hard with fully charged spells. She hit six times and slashed his tough skin with her many limbs, not quite managing to get through entirely.
Feyrair had been stronger before, now likely even more so. But what he lacked in speed now showed ten fold with his massive body.
Ilea could sense the attacks coming, teleporting around the creature as she laid into him with consecutive heavy hitting punches. She ducked under his quick moving tail, cutting into it with her ash. Ash that now spread around the whole creature, pushing destructive healing into it with every passing moment.
Heat and flame erupted periodically from the elf but she simply powered through, any health, ash, or skin he stripped away was back before his next attack. Lightning struck time and time again, hitting the large form while Ilea simply let the magic pass or blinked aside.
Deep furrows showed on his back, her constant unrelenting attacks adding to his slow demise.
A heavy hit to his jaw seemed to finish the job, magic bursting out with a last surge as the elf returned to his humanoid form.
He staggered, blood dripping freely from a dozen wounds, all closing quickly. His left eye was shut.
Ilea appeared next to him, holding up her arm as her third tier displacement formed above.
Asay appeared close by, looking up.
The next bolt would’ve hit close by, instead vanishing into her gate and slamming into the ground a hundred meters away.
The brightly dressed elf grinned and floated closer, wisps of pure arcane energy floating around his unarmored form.
Only a few seconds had passed but Feyrair’s wounds had already healed, his eye reformed and looking at Ilea.
“I am here now,” Asay said, “Your spell is no longer necessary.”
Ilea didn’t doubt the elf, having seen his display from before. Displacement deactivated, the shift in space returning to normal.
“Humbled yet again,” Feyrair said, his voice not suggesting a fight had taken place, let alone with him as a participant. His scale armor had reformed, a part of his body just as much as Ilea’s ash was part of hers. “I had hoped my evolutions would close the gap.”
She smiled at him and touched his shoulder. “They did. But as you have improved, so did I.”
This time he grinned, his sharp teeth slightly ajar and his eyes wild. “We shall hunt together!”
Ilea glanced between the two elves and addressed Asay. “Is that some kind of marriage proposal?”
He giggled, covering his mouth with a joyous look in his purple eyes before he replied. “Do not fret, young human. This elf has no concept of your courting. It is merely the thrill of the hunt, and his wish to share in it with you. A thrill you must know, for someone so mighty and yet so young.”
“Do not speak for me, Asay,” Feyrair said and hissed, only bringing more enjoyment to the other elf.
Ilea smiled and stepped towards the dragonling, her mouth nearly brushing his pointy ear. “I wouldn’t be opposed to other things as well,” she whispered and took a step back. “We shall hunt together either way,” she added with a wicked grin.
She addressed Asay before the warrior could form a cohesive reply. “Your magic seems quite impressive too. Are you interested in a mock battle too?”
They slowly flew towards the crevice, the storm above continuing its journey through the north.
“I am not particularly interested in the arts of war, let alone the competition of ones magic against another,” Asay said. “Both of your displays of resilience leave my magic with little chance to gain the upper hand, nor a way to entice interest. For what am I but a shadow to the wild storms of this region?”
“You are an arcane mage then?” Ilea asked. The wisps and manipulation of the lightning had been indicators but there was a chance he had more up his sleeve.
“The study of the most pure forms of mana have left me with no way to branch into other forms in which it may occur. The future is uncertain and just as volatile as our time right now. Perhaps these circumstances will change at one point or the other,” Asay spoke, magic twirling around him, wisps and shapes that lent his floating form an ethereal quality.
“Can you heal?” Ilea asked. It wasn’t fully a shot in the dark, her sphere picking up something quite familiar from his wisps.
He smiled. “Indeed, I am both a master of arcane restoration and destruction.”
She laughed, the parallels almost direct. And yet the two of them seemed so very different. “My healing is arcane in nature too,” she said.
“I have noticed, human. Peculiar, with your limiting biological cage. However if humanity has proven to possess anything, it is a keen sense for ingenuity and a will to improvise,” Asay spoke.
“Could you teach a human without a changed biology?” Ilea asked.
“I see neither a possibility, nor a reason for me to engage in such affairs,” Asay said with a smile.
“A shame,” she said. “Feyrair, we have to do that again later. Are you up for some resistance training? Your fire might be enough.”
“Most certainly. The more I can resist your ash, the more my chances rise. You said your healing is arcane in nature, but my resistance hasn’t risen,” he replied.
“It is no the arcane energy that invades your form, but healing, twisted and changed to seek destruction,” Asay supplied. “Quite an intriguing application, and testament to humanity’s depravity.”
“Hey, I didn’t make the Class. And if it works, I don’t really care how twisted it is. I’ve met plenty of decent necromancers, blood, and curse mages. Magic is just a tool to be used,” she said.
“Not when a will is weak. Magical schools just like political or inherited powers are corrupting in nature. Humans perhaps may have a choice as they ascend, to try and resist their temptations, knowing where they came from. The decision to resist what has always been natural is not quite as forgiving,” Asay said.
“Cry me a river. You poor powerful elf,” Ilea said, winking at him with a smirk on her face.
The elf giggled, quite aware of her sarcasm. “It is truly a delight, to have been brought to your attention. I must thank the both of you, for that marvelous display. However I would’ve preferred a synergy instead of competition.”
Ah, so that’s what you’re into.
“We’ll get ample opportunity against the Taleen,” Feyrair said. “I do hope you will share your power too, instead of watching from the back.”
“I merely have an interest to explore what lies beyond the boundaries our Oracles have set. Though I may be labeled as cursed, I have little stake in your cause,” Asay said.
Feyrair hissed but didn’t comment on his words.
“So you won’t join the fights?” Ilea asked. “Why are you even here?”
Didn’t Isalthar specifically seek those two out?
“I can heal and support. Should the situation truly demand it, perhaps I may be able to offer more than that,” Asay said, winking at her with an amused expression. “Tell me, human. What is your stake in our plight?”