Chapter 619: Bird food (2/2)
Kyrian scratched his cheek, catching himself and stopping. “She was worried. But once I told her I’d bring back a real Bluetail claw, she was ready to send me away with the next caravan.”
Trian laughed. “She reminds me of my younger self.”
Kyrian snorted. “I wonder why.”
“How dare you offend nobility like that. I will have you know that my childhood was full of hardship. Different outfits to choose from, dancing lessons, harsh instructors,” Trian said.
“It sounds horrific. I wish you could’ve grown up searching for metals below the Asila dungeons. Sunlight and affection are entirely unneeded anyway,” Kyrian said.
“I don’t know if I like this confident you. I was taught to be witty, can’t have a peasant speak to me like that,” Trian replied.
Kyrian stood up and spread his arms. “Who knows, maybe I’m the last living son of an assassinated former king.”
“You’ve been reading too much,” Trian said.
“Ilea has a good library. Already collecting dust. Least I could do was offer those stories some attention,” Kyrian said. He found himself smiling. “Thank you, Trian. Really.”
“Go on, praise me more, peasant,” Trian said, the look in his eyes saying more than the words coming out of his mouth.
Or Kyrian believed so anyway. The man had brought him back to life, he and the Sentinels. It felt good. Around them he thought he was a different person altogether. Confident, smart, and capable. He almost started to believe that he had become one of the most powerful humans in the region. Almost.
“Don’t get lost again,” Trian said.
“I’ll do my best,” Kyrian answered, cracking his neck. “Wish me luck, I’ll have to face a likely bored Ilea.”
Trian grimaced, watching as Kyrian raised his hand, revealing the dissipating mark. “That’s the worst kind. Should’ve done that somewhere far away from the city. I don’t want to end up as collateral damage.”
“You’re the reason I did it here. I’m sure she won’t go overboard if her precious Sentinels are close by,” Kyrian suggested.
“Just hope for Lilith and not Ilea,” Trian said.
Kyrian smiled. “I was thinking the other way around.”
He glanced back, finding an ashen figure standing in front of a closed door, wings flowing away as icy blue eyes stared at him. Kyrian could smell blood, both old and fresh. He turned around and spread his arms, a thick helmet of steel closing over his head. Just in case.
“Three weeks,” she said.
Three and a half technically.
She sighed. “Do you still want to come or not? You don’t have to.”
He deflated a little. “I’ll come.”
“If you need more time…,” Ilea said.
“Don’t,” Kyrian answered. “I’m ready,” he said and walked over, touching her shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t call for you earlier. I just…,”
“Don’t apologize. There is no need. I could’ve come as well. Just… didn’t want to pressure you,” Ilea said.
And I didn’t want to interrupt you, Kyrian thought. “Thank you.”
Ilea scratched her cheek, looking at the nearby wall. “I… we… might’ve done some work on the Bluetail population.”
He just laughed. “They reproduce like rabbits. Just give it a month.”
“They’re not born of mana?” Ilea asked.
Kyrian shrugged. “I didn’t look for their nests. I just know their numbers always recovered.”
“We have to hunt even more then…,” Ilea murmured.
“I doubt it’s possible to defeat them all. I have a few other interesting places in mind anyway. I’m sure you’re up for a change,” Kyrian said.
Ilea nodded to herself. “Only got three four marks. A change would be nice.”
Three. Four marks.
Kyrian schooled his expression, remembering that he was wearing a helmet once more. “Poor you.”
“Do I detect sarcasm?” Ilea asked, nodding to Trian before giving him a thumbs up.
The lightning mage smiled before he pointed to the door. “You’re wasting time. Now leave my office.”
________________________
Ilea obliged, displacing herself and Kyrian out through the headquarters, bringing them to the city gates where they left normally.
She glanced at the metal mage, surprised when his helmet peeled back again. He looked more calm. Handsome.
He actually looked at her, making her smirk. “What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Woman things. You wouldn’t understand,” she said and spread her wings. “Follow me.”
They quickly reached the gate prototype leading north.
“A taleen gate this close to Ravenhall?” Kyrian asked.
She smiled. “Nope. This is human made. Mostly.”
“What do you mean mostly?” Kyrian asked, the spell activating.
The two appeared within Meadow’s realm, Iana and Christopher focused intensely on a stone platform filled with runes.
“Oh, hello there,” the Meadow spoke. “Still no evolution. Why are you stalling, Ilea?”
“Fuck you too, tree,” she said.
“And you bring another interesting human. Can you hear me?” the tree asked.
“I can, yes,” Kyrian said and bowed lightly. “Nice to meet you, sir tree.”
“Is he mocking me? I can’t tell,” Meadow said.
Ilea glanced at Kyrian and back to Meadow. “I can’t tell either.”
“I’m glad you found your friend, Ilea. Do you require a lift, as you like to call it?” the Meadow asked.
“Yep, closest Taleen dungeon with a functioning gate,” she said.
“Ah yes. I did analyze the map,” the Meadow said. “Show me yours, I will point it out to you. Based on the location and likely altitude, it should be a small facility.”
Ilea did as it asked, the tree sending them on their way a few moments later. “Thanks.”
“Meadowspeed,” it said right before activating its spell.
“This fucking tree,” Ilea murmured when they appeared in a crevice close to the Taleen dungeon.
Kyrian laughed.
“Don’t encourage it,” she said.
“Can’t say I dislike that creature,” he answered and flew up and out of the crevice. “This way, right?”
She followed, the two of them rushing through the raging arcane storms without a care in the world, Kyrian occasionally hit, his armor deflecting the lightning without even leaving an impact.
“Jealous?” he asked.
“Don’t get cocky now, metal boy,” Ilea said.
“Ah, envious is the right word. Apologies, I’m still working on my reading,” he said.
“Enjoyed your time, didn’t you?” Ilea asked in a dry tone.
“Very much, yes,” Kyrian replied. “Can’t wait to fight more Bluetails.”
“Same,” Ilea replied, scrolling through the advancements she had made in the past weeks.
‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Northern Bluetail – lvl 821]’
She had found two Mature ones, in addition to several dozen eight and nine hundred ones. Also hundreds that were lower still. The challenge however wasn’t close to the same as the first four mark she had bested. Ilea knew all their moves, had an answer to all their spells. The only reason she still deemed it more than valuable to fight the monsters was the ridiculous level difference.
‘ding’ ‘The Azarinth Sentinel has reached lvl 488 – Five stat points awarded’
‘ding’ ‘Kin of Ash has reached lvl 481 – Five stat points awarded’
‘ding’ ‘The Faen Valkyrie has reached lvl 439 – One stat point awarded’
Compared to her first kill, the many hundreds of high level Bluetails provided greatly diminished returns for her levels. And yet she still advanced faster than she had on Erendar. At first she thought the levels of the beings more than exaggerated but watching Feyrair and Neiphato fight the creatures, she came to the conclusion that her skill set just fit the enemy very well.
The dragonling could kill the monsters more quickly, but he simply couldn’t face any above eight fifty, his regeneration and mana not able to keep up, despite comparable resilience. It was certainly interesting to watch the Elves from time to time.
‘ding’ ‘Phaseshift reaches 3rd lvl 21’
‘ding’ ‘Flare of Creation reaches 3rd lvl 26’
‘ding’ ‘Body of the Valkyrie reaches 3rd lvl 23’
‘ding’ ‘Deviant of Humanity reaches 3rd lvl 4’ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
‘ding’ ‘Water Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 4’
‘ding’ ‘Wind Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 6’
Her skills grew less from the countless battles than from the single four mark she had fought under water. She did wonder how much of it had to do with the fear and danger she was in back then, and how much was simply based on the fact that she got continuously more familiar with the creatures. Both likely played a role.