Chapter 670: Ice (1/2)
Chapter 670 Ice
“In the west lie sets of islands, some as large as entire nations, the ones I visited varying greatly in climate, species, and danger. Few of the islands were hospitable, fewer even with sapient locals, let alone ones willing to communicate with me,” he said. “I have made it a habit not to travel over the open ocean for too long, but I’m sure there are other landmasses in the south as well.”
I wonder if the Krahen Isles are part of those western islands, Ilea thought. “Thanks, suppose I’ll have to explore that part of the world myself. Not like I’ve been to most places on this continent anyway.”
She stood up again. “Thanks again for all the information. May I?” Ilea said, holding out her hand towards Nes.
The mark set, she informed Scipio of Hallowfort’s location based on Tremor, various landmarks, and the Penumra dungeon. The Meadow would likely make contact anyway, or he would have to figure something out to do so himself.
“Just mention Lilith,” she said and walked towards the exit. “Now… what do I do with the others.”
“Do you need a few spells to chase you?” Scipio asked.
“No, no. I think I’ll be fine,” Ilea said. “That’s goodbye then, for a while. Hope you succeed with your work.”
“As do we,” Nes answered. “You are welcome here, Lilith.”
“Appreciate it, see you around,” Ilea said and vanished through the enchantments. She continued onward, appearing next to her allies. “We’re leaving,” she said and moved them away, teleporting a few times up the mountain before she stopped and turned around, looking down towards the way they had come from. “Got the key, but I might’ve woken up whatever was guarding it. No, we don’t want to fight it,” she said.
“How boring,” Feyrair and Pierce said at the same time, glancing at each other, both likely annoyed that they would say the same thing.
Ilea used the moment to set her third tier transfer destination before she summoned the locator.
“Nothing seems to be following,” Verena said.
“Good,” Ilea murmured. “The closest key is north,” she added, looking towards the high reaching mountains. She caught a glimpse of a set of wings between two mountain peaks before they vanished behind the snow covered stone. “Up for it?”
The three gave their assent, Ilea taking the lead as they traveled northwards.
“You okay?” she asked, looking at the two elders after a few minutes of flight. They were covered in ice, their breathing more strained.
“I’m fine,” Pierce said.
Verena burned a little brighter. “Trying not to attract attention,” she said.
Ilea stopped. “We’re here anyway,” she said, the locator pointing down towards solid stone. She couldn’t see anything in her dominion either, forming an ash drill before she started digging.
Pierce formed a metal dome above once they had enough space in the hole, shivering as lightning flowed through her. “Much better,” she murmured, Verena and Feyrair on fire close to her.
Ilea decided no to comment. She had noticed the colder temperatures but after her experiences in Erendar, the ice here hardly bothered her. It’s still quite a ways off, she thought, checking the locator as her ash shattered and ground stone.
“How many more do we need anyway?” Pierce asked. “We found four already.”
“You don’t seem particularly invested,” Fey commented.
“All we found were either empty ruins or unreasonably powerful enemies. I thought I’d get to join some epic battles, not loot abandoned caves or be chased by literal dragons,” she said.
“If you were a higher level, it could’ve been us to chase the dragon,” Ilea mused.
The woman huffed. “Even you couldn’t fight that thing, how am I supposed to keep up?”
“You have a couple decades of a head start,” Ilea said. “I assume that would provide you with enough time to train.”
“Ah, but you assume all I do is fight, but not everyone lives such a sad and lonely lifestyle,” Pierce answered. “You probably lack any understanding of the arts.”
“Oh d-” Ilea stopped herself, the ground breaking open into a bright underground tunnel, one she hadn’t perceived within her sphere. “This place didn’t show up,” she whispered, looking down into the light blue environment.
The others quieted down, Ilea trying to figure out why her dominion couldn’t pierce through. There were no enchantments she could discern, just a faint glow of magic now that she focused on it more actively. The density in the area was high in general, hiding the space from her previously.
“It’s even colder down there,” Pierce said.
“You can wait here if you like,” Ilea said and jumped down, her wings spreading in the perfectly rectangular tunnel she had found herself in. Blue streaks of light flowed through the partially see through walls made of what looked like ice.
‘ding’ ‘You have entered the City of Glass dungeon’
She set down onto the ground and touched the wall, ice spreading onto her ash before her body fought back, preventing further freezing. “It’s a dungeon,” she said. “Good place to level ice resistance if you three don’t have that maxed out yet.”
Ilea didn’t plan to push her resistance to the third tier, only having one point currently available.
Verena jumped down, landing on the ground where her boots instantly started freezing over. Her fires intensified, keeping the frost off her but not managing to melt any of the floor.
Feyrair didn’t seem to be bothered at all, Pierce simply deciding to float with constant lightning flowing over her armor to keep the cold air from damaging her.
“Further down,” Ilea informed, following the corridor until they came up on a set of stairs. Her dominion could only push through the weird magical fog for about two meters before her perception blurred slightly. Her eyes however worked normally.
They came into an expansive hall, mists of magic flowing through the air and walls, statues of ice depicting various monsters and people distributed throughout the area.
Ilea checked them with her healing and dominion but found nothing indicating that they were still alive, or in anyway constructs that would suddenly attack as she very much expected. They scanned the hall, looking for whatever creature had frozen these beings or at least sculpted them.
“New prey… invades our halls,” a whisper flowed through the area, a block of ice falling down to block the entrance.
Ilea appeared near the block and punched through with Archon Strike, tempered seal exploding a moment later as her fists cracked the entire block, the others preparing to fight.
“Nonono, please don’t leave already!” another voice said, still with a whisper like quality but less distorted.
“We will kill you all, or you can choose to stay,” the first whisper said.
“A gauntlet. You stay and entertain, and you reap the rewards!” a third voice said, this one a much higher pitch.
Ilea turned around, finding the three figures floating above the field of statues, humanoid wisps of blue light and freezing air. They glowed with magical energy that reminded Ilea of Maro, just quite a bit more intense.
[Frozen Lich Fragment – lvl ????]
[Frozen Lich Fragment – lvl ???]
[Frozen Lich Fragment – lvl ????]
The first two were close to one thousand, the third a few hundred levels higher. She could barely tell them apart other than by their levels, the first one floating with crossed arms and shining blue eyes, the second one a little slumped, its eyes dim, the third one smaller than the others and occasionally hopping up and down.
Ilea noted that the damage she had dealt to the entrance had already reformed, the wall perfectly even like the rest of the hall, her memory alone informing her about where the entrance was.
“Who are you people?” she asked, stepping past her comrades who were prepared for battle, the Elders a little more apprehensive than Feyrair who seemed excited to start.
“Hmm yes, I like that one, the elf. Flames of creation and dragon touched, fortunate, strong, a good elf,” the smallest of the three said in its high pitched tone. “You will walk the path of the owl!”
“We’re not going to walk any-” Ilea said, Feyrair already gone including the smallest of the three Lich fragments.
“You two look scared. I too was scared. You will walk the path of pain, and I shall tell you of our cursed fate, follow me,” the slumped being whispered and activated its spell, the two elders vanishing. “Please, don’t interfere with the paths not destined for you, ashen healer.”
Ilea held on, not allowing the creature to teleport when it vanished nonetheless. She attached herself to it, appearing in another hall with dozens of paintings on the walls, writing set in frozen plates in front of the museum like exhibits.