Chapter 718: Bath (1/2)

Chapter 718 Bath

Ilea sipped on her wine as she returned to the Soul Forge. We’ll need a new name for this thing. The Sentinel Cube. Northern die. Soul Sanctum. She teleported up to her room but found herself unable to get inside with transfer alone. I’ll leave the name to someone a little more creative. “You changed things up I see,” she said to the Meadow, touching the door where a myriad of enchantments lit up to her magical touch. Invisible locks opened up and she was allowed inside.

“Yes. Perhaps I have been carried away a little much. Let me know if you want things changed up, I tried to apply some of the findings I’ve come to thanks to your spells and the knowledge shared by the Fae,” the being spoke.

“Well, now I’m curious,” Ilea sent back and smiled. She went inside and blinked her eyes immediately. A cool breeze greeted her, the moderately large room expanding farther than it should’ve. The door closed behind her and her dominion cut off. Her bed stood on a wooden floor, the walls made of stone bricks and decorated with a variety of weapons, treasures, and a Sentinel banner. Book shelves had been inlaid into the opposite wall, parted by an extensive hearth that looked to be inspired by the one downstairs. This one was nearly twice the size. Smoke rose from the fire up into an invisible vent.

Comfortable armchairs stood in front of the hearth, the floor in that section shifting to gray stone. Ilea squinted as she looked around. She tried to figure out how exactly the space in here was distorted. “Did you make a pocket dimension?” she sent, noting that the mental connection was still active. She could also tell that telepathy in general could be established through the strange space and all the enchantments in place, though there were privacy measures in place as well. Not that she assumed they’d do anything against the perception of the Meadow.

A satisfied thought reached her as an answer, followed by a giggle. The cool breeze in the room flowed towards the right part where the perfectly angled stone floor shifted to a more natural formation, the ground opening up where a steaming pool of turquoise water gave off steam. Fireflies flew above the pool and clung to the walls, some flickering in and out of existence from time to time. “Thoughtful. I appreciate it,” Ilea mused. “I do hope you can respect my privacy, even in such close proximity,” she said.

“Iana added a rather extensive set of enchantment requirements. Similar to their own home. I may be an ancient being with unlimited knowledge and near as much power, but the rules of magic cannot be broken. Not truly. Even someone as blind as yourself to the arcane nature of existence would immediately notice an incursion into that room. The room I set up for you by the way,” the Meadow explained.

Ilea walked into the pool, her clothes vanishing as ash moved around her waist and chest. She sighed at the already high heat but immediately started adding to it. “Thank you, Meadow. It’s really quite lovely. And you know that.”

“Receiving information from other beings is the only way to reaffirm my superiority. Otherwise I might be perceived as arrogant,” it said.

“Yes. That would be horrible,” Ilea answered, cleaning herself off in the water. The steam reduced her visibility quite a bit but she could see a few enchantments on the other side of the pool. How did they manipulate the space to this degree? She shook her head, healing her mind before she got a headache. The only place she could think of to even start a comparison was the Fae’s own domain. I wonder what I’d see there now, with my enhanced perception. My brain might just explode. “What are these for?” She had moved to the other side, brushing her hand over the marked enchantments.

“Humans tend to enjoy a good view, do they not?” the Meadow asked. “It’s set up to let you see through from your side, while obscuring everything from outside.”

Ilea activated the main rune while leaning onto the side of the pool. Her smile broadened when the wall changed to let her see the proceedings in the domain of the Meadow, the angle even allowing her to see the somewhat distant expansive caverns of Hallowfort. She looked at Goliath working with Bralin, the crystal tree to the right and back, Iana and Christopher’s building closer and to the right. Below the cube she saw the round table and all the council members and administrators preparing the festivities, the teleportation gate a little farther back.

“Hmm, yes. I like this very much,” she said, noticing that not a single one of the high level beings had looked her way when the enchantment was activated. They couldn’t see her.

Time to look through what that little expedition into Iz provided.

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Executioner Praetorian – lvl 802]’

Those levels are just ridiculous. And I shred through them so easily. She turned around and relaxed in the heating water, rather sure the Meadow had enchanted this thing to be able to withstand a sun or two. She didn’t bother to question the make of the liquid. Steam did rise but it neither started cooking nor did all of it evaporate.

‘ding’ ‘The Arcane Eternal has reached lvl 511 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘The Ashen Titan has reached lvl 509 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘The Primordial Arbiter has reached lvl 501 – One stat point awarded’

‘ding’ ‘Archon Strike [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 5’

‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Awakening [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 12’

‘ding’ ‘Arcane Dominion [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 6’

‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Core [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 13’

‘ding’ ‘Eternal Brawling [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 7’

‘ding’ ‘Arcane Circulation [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 9’

‘ding’ ‘Mantle of the Titan [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 8’

‘ding’ ‘Titan Core [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 6’

‘ding’ ‘Embered Heart [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 7’

‘ding’ ‘Tempered Seal [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 4’

‘ding’ ‘Avatar of Ash [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 12’

‘ding’ ‘Embered Form [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 4’

‘ding’ ‘Fires of Creation [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 8’

‘ding’ ‘Space Manipulation [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 6’

‘ding’ ‘Deviant of Humanity reaches 3rd lvl 25’

‘ding’ ‘Arcane Magic Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 23’

‘ding’ ‘Void Magic Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 18’

‘ding’ ‘You have faced the Guardians of the Sphere and survived – One Core skill point awarded’

And that’s enough to enhance another skill, Ilea thought with a smile. The training was certainly worth it. If only I could face those Guardians without an entire army hunting me down at the same time.

For her next enhancement, she looked to her third Class. Fabric tear for an addition to my teleports. Or Primordial Flesh for another bonus? She chose the first one after half a minute’s consideration. She felt that the downsides of resetting her remaining skills to the start of the third tier would be offset by all the other skills leveling up as fast as they did.

‘ding’ ‘Fabric Tear [Enhanced] reaches 3rd lvl 1’

Active – Fabric Tear [Enhanced] – 3rd lvl 1

Spatial anchors last for a day now? And there’s no distance limit anymore. Hmm. So basically another way for me to move people and magic at long distances. Through realms even. Wait with the day long limit I can start to ignore my third tier transfer cooldowns by just leaving a marked area wherever I start. And the spell should form instantly instead of the nearly twenty seconds for transfer.