Chapter 776: Immune. Immune. Immune. (1/2)

Ilea stepped back when the Elves started tearing open the ground, some of them hissing at each other. She assumed they were arguing about who got to go first. That nice railing. And it’s gone.

She watched the masked elf move closer to her whilst everyone else either stepped away from the entrance or tore away the stone. The elf downright moved on all fours as he got closer, looking up at her before he straightened.

[Wood Mage – lvl ???]

She gauged him to be close to eight hundred but not quite there. He had a strange feel about him. “Hi,” she sent, establishing a connection. Somehow she felt like it was the right approach.

He tilted his head to the side, his hands raised before he clapped once and hissed. A hiss like nothing she had heard before. It sounded, joyous in a way. Not only amused but happy.

“Hi,” he sent back and giggled. “Human. Healer. Lilith. Space mage. Why ash?”

“Why not?” she asked.

He recoiled, taking several steps back as he went back into a crouch. He raised a hand to his masked face and looked down to the ground. “Why not…”

“Why wood?” Ilea asked in turn, getting his attention back.

“Wood. It’s everywhere, all around. Not here, deep below, but some roots reach far,” he said as he twirled, roots sprouting from his hands with leaves and flowers growing out in various shades and hues, a few even glowing to illuminate his form.

The first heavy hitting magic reverberated through the hall, the entire structure vibrating slightly as the more eager elves started their attempts to break through the barrier.

Ilea didn’t like their chances but she would have her go as well. Until then she wanted to learn more about the strange elf.

“You’re wasting your time, human,” Veratin commented as he walked by.

She assumed the fire mage wanted to have a go at the barrier as well, his magic downright palpable.

Envious about my attention, are we? She wasn’t sure. Either he was interested in her or he just had a lot of disdain for the wood mage. He would certainly not be strong enough to challenge the crouching bird elf. Few here would be, herself included. Maybe.

“What’s your name? I’m Lilith,” she said.

“Names. I am known as Naradan. But I am the one who moves through the forest. The one who breaths the air of life. I am the hunter, and I am the hunted. Who are you?” the elf answered, glancing at her as he leaned forward in anticipation.

“Interesting… hmm… I am known as Lilith. The one who fights. The one who heals. I am a Sentinel. Free and flying, a being of ash and embers,” she said. It could use some work but she felt it was close enough.

The elf giggled. It was a strange sound coming from an elf in the first place. He bowed in an exaggerated manner. “Thank you, Lilith. For introductions.”

“The same to you, Naradan,” she said with a smile. More explosions resounded, bits and pieces of stone flying through the hall now as dust fell from the ceiling. One nearby hunter slapped away a falling chunk of rock.

The wood mage glanced around before he vanished, appearing near the ceiling. Roots grew from his legs as he watched the Hunters below whilst upside down.

“I like that one,” she sent to Kyrian.

“Did he want to eat you?” Zorithanael asked, looking up at the wood elf before he glanced at her, silver eyes taking her in.

“Who knows?” Ilea mused, forming an ashen chair to join the group. She heard the familiar roar of Feyrair’s dragon form and glanced over, seeing him breathe in, a torrent of flames rushing down into the bright barrier a moment later.

“Who knows indeed,” Zori said, watching the dragonling as well. “The flame of creation. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Ilea smiled. “It is.”

Kyrian chuckled from behind them, his arms crossed, still covered in metal.

Ilea hadn’t removed her mantle either. It just felt right to be armored around so many unknown elves. Beings most humans would consider monsters. Some of them seemed close enough. She wondered what would’ve happened if she found this room at level one hundred. Would they have killed her? Just for being a human? Or for being too weak? After her short delve into the Still Valley, she really felt like some of the elves acted purely on instinct, or just on a whim, their moods more important than reason. Was it just due to their education? Or was it really their nature?

What would humans do if they just lived in a wasteland of ice trees? No need for food either really, just hunting for fun when prey comes wandering in, or perhaps going out on some fun adventures. She had compared young elves to children or teenagers before but maybe her perspective wasn’t exactly right. “Which domain are you from, Zorithanael?”

The elf glanced at her, a wave of sound magic lashing out at a one meter broad chunk of rock that came his way, stopping the thing in its tracks entirely. It fell to the ground with a heavy impact.

“The Domain of Dark, young human. In the western mountains of Vannok. I have not been there in… a long time,” he sent. “Where do you hail from, Wanderer?”

“Domain of Dark. Caverns I assume?” she sent. “I’m not from this realm.”

“A wanderer indeed,” he said with a toothy smirk. “By choice?”

Ilea shook her head.

“A rare thing either way. It is fortunate that you have found your way in these strange lands. My former home… yes. It was warm. Dark. Quiet. I feel comfortable in the depths. I did not see sunlight until after I had joined the Hunters,” he spoke.

“How did you even learn about them?” Ilea asked.

“There are those of us who learn. Those of us who talk. First you share stories. Perhaps you learn to write from someone else. Gifts exchanged. An Oracle might take interest or pity, may teach you of the world, of sunlight, the sea, the northern storms. I have learned from ancient kin. Perhaps you have seen the raging fires of the eastern Wastes, the metal armies of unfeeling machines moving through the Navali forest on their hunt for elven kind, but as they move on the surface, they move below. Thousands, from caverns, cliffs, and cracks they come. To hunt. Unending in numbers and unwavering in their purpose,” he spoke.

“Did you meet many Oracles?” Ilea asked.

He paused, looking at her for a while. “What about you?”

Ilea smiled. “Only one. Recently.”

“Did you speak?” he asked.

“Yes. We… exchanged gifts, I suppose.”

He smiled. “Indeed. You are quite strange. Yes. I have met a few in my time, though all of my domain. They live in the darkness, deep below the earth. The very magic around you feels… alive, when they are present. I myself have felt… insignificant. Perhaps due to my nature. Have you felt the same?”

Ilea thought about it for a while, watching bright fires explode down into the barrier, half the hall gone again now that the elves were trying to break through. Hissing and taunting comments had already faded into background noise for her.

“She was certainly powerful. A being of magic… very strange, and ancient. But I felt similar with the Elementals I have encountered. I think it’s just a matter of pure magical prowess,” she said.

“Elementals… yes. The few I have seen were, more a natural force. Though with Oracles there is more intent. A being of thought,” he said.

“Maybe. But you know… when I first encountered elves, I was barely level fifty. They were monsters to me. Everyone around me ran for their lives. We could barely escape one, even in a group of fifty. And you are beings of thought as well,” she said.

“I… am sorry. That you have suffered at the hands of our kind. You call us beings of thought, but I sometimes question that statement,” he said and gestured to the hissing mages sending spells against each other and the barrier.

“Don’t overestimate the average human,” Ilea said with a grin.

“In which domain did you meet an Oracle? Or did you see one in the northern marshes?” he asked.

“The Still Valley,” Ilea said.

He hissed, amused at her answer. “I knew one could escape. Even more amusing that it’s a human. No offense.”

“None taken. I thought the same when I heard about it. But it’s dangerous. Space magic and teleportation in general is barely usable down there. And the Oracle’s ice magic affected me despite third tier resistances and a shit ton of healing, heat, and regeneration,” she said.

“Yes. They are powerful beings. As are you, though I know of no human who has reached such levels. You may very well be stronger than I,” Zori said.