Chapter 422 Recovery (Patreon)

Author's note February 1st: Hello all :). New chapter up and two again on Tuesday hopefully. Glad you liked the last batch so much!

Also thanks a ton for the continued support everyone. It's such a delight to write this story for you.

For March, April and May, I'll have to reduce chapters due to the civic duty I mentioned before. I will warn you again right before the March cycle comes around.

I won't modify the tiers and as of yet it's difficult to say how many chapters I'll be able to put out in those months (I'll shoot for 2-3 chapters a week). I suggest to either reduce your pledge to the 2$ one (you'll be caught up again in two weeks!) or to sit those months out if you feel like the value isn't there.

I thought about stopping the campaign but getting money is a huge motivator for me to get stuff done. Reducing prices and then upping them again will piss off some people so I'll just leave it as is. Again, if you feel like the value isn't there, I encourage you to reduce or drop your pledge at the end of February.

It's still a month away though and I hope I can keep it interesting and exciting either way :).

Thanks again and have a fantastic weekend :)!

PDF/EPUB: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32241245

Chapter 422 Recovery

Ilea nodded immediately, blinking towards the Trakorov as she started cutting out large swaths of corruption, healing magic flowing into the creature. She found an injured Catelyn bleeding from a dozen wounds on her large body, coloring the glass below her in a crimson color.

Ilea kept one limb connected to the Trakorov, flying closer to the fox before she extended a limb to her as well, healing flowing into both of them.

Catelyn was barely conscious, her eyes without focus as she was dragged closer to Ilea, wounds closing.

She grabbed the massive fox by two tails and flew back to the Trakorov, continuing her corruption removal session.

Elfie joined her a moment later, still injured but helping nonetheless, his barriers ripping out as much corruption as they could.

Catelyn coughed and struggled against the ash before she realized what was happening. “W-” she coughed up blood as her form returned to normal, paws gripping the ashen limbs close to her. “We did it… we killed the Elemental,” her voice was rough.

“Yes. If we lose this one to the corruption, we will have failed nonetheless!” Niivalyr shouted, hissing as one of his barriers slipped off the carapace.

“Some fire would be helpful,” Ilea said to the fox, “I’m losing to the blood manipulation.”

Healing a creature this large with such an enormous health pool and hundreds of wounds wasn’t the same as keeping someone at her level of power alive.

Catelyn growled and changed form again, flames lighting up around her. “This isn’t how I intended to celebrate,” she commented and started burning into the spreading corruption.

They fought the spread for nearly twenty minutes, Elfie at one point leaving to grab Maro for additional help.

Ilea was slowly becoming a little nervous, the Trakorov’s condition not getting better.

When it huffed and opened its eyes, she thought they had lost it until her own eyes went wide. “Flee!” she shouted with her voice enhanced. She watched her friends teleport away as a wave of heat washed over her, the ashen armor reforming a moment later.

Ilea blinked on top of the Trakorov’s head as she continued healing the creature.

[Trakorov – lvl ????]

“Thought I lost you there,” she said and relaxed, her back leaning against one of the horns.

The creature huffed, tired and hurt, its eyes looking up before they closed.

Ilea smiled when the Fae appeared in front of her, gesturing at the scene around them before it twirled and bowed, giggling in her mind.

“Thanks for the intervention earlier,” Ilea said with a smile.

The creature tilted its head to the side and once again giggled, feigning ignorance.

“I should thank you too,” Maro said as he approached again, “Sure that thing won’t turn on us?”

The Trakorov opened one eye, making Maro jolt back, getting some distance again.

Ilea laughed and tapped the horn behind her. “This one is way to fucking slow to catch us. Nor are we anywhere near nutritious enough to gain its attention.”

“You’re very optimistic,” Maro said, floating closer again, arms crossed.

“I’m also making it up. You should leave before it returns to its full strength, I only trust that it doesn’t eat me or the Fae and even that is sketchy,” Ilea said.

The man nodded before he chuckled. “Thanks. I mean it,” his voice was serious again, no hint of ridicule audible.

“Oh? Did the close brush with death actually impact you?” Ilea asked.

“It’s not the first and I doubt it will be the last. This dungeon… has shown me some things,” Maro said.

“That you love fighting Elementals?” Ilea joked.

“It will be an epic tale, that is sure. My role in it will be a little bit more glorious than the truth too,” he said in his usual charm. “But it will be good…,” he paused, serious again as he stored his helmet and looked up at the warm light. “To leave it at telling stories. For a while at least,”

Ilea nodded. “I appreciate the help and I’m sure Catelyn and Elana do too. Just make sure not to stir up too much trouble wherever you go.”

He smiled and gave her a nod. “I will stir up some trouble. But I will take care of it myself, that I promise you. And if you ever need me, come for me. I won’t ever be able to pay back the debt I owe to you.”

“Live your life and don’t lose yourself to drugs and gambling. Help out when there’s trouble close by and stay loyal to your friends,” Ilea said, her face revealed as she smiled at him.

Maro chuckled. “How very noble and boring. Didn’t take you for an honorable knight.”

“I’m not. But I do care about those I consider friends,” Ilea said and played around with a dagger she formed out of ash. “Do that, Maro Invalar, former King of Rhyvor and I will see your debt as paid.”

He didn’t seem to be sure if he should take her seriously. Maro settled on a slight smile before he bowed, still floating. “It was an honor, to fight by your side, Ilea of Ash,” the man said with a commanding voice.

He looked up with a smirk.

Here we go, she thought and grabbed the handle of the dagger, aiming at him.

“I name you Knight of Rhyvor, the mos-” he moved his head to dodge the sloppily thrown dagger, the ash veering towards his face in the last moment.

The king laughed and vanished, flying up and away. “I’ll check on the survivors, hope they weren’t eaten by a bunch of scorpions in the meantime!” he shouted and waved.

Ilea nodded, looking at the Fae that was floating quietly.

It bowed. Knight.

“Oh come the fuck on!” she threw a ball of ash that vanished before it hit the creature.

It giggled and floated around before it landed on one of the horns.

“I too will join the expedition. What will you do?” Catelyn asked as she approached, a wary look on the Trakorov.

Elfie was next to her, his face uncovered.

“Have a moment, heal this monster and then, dunno. There were a bunch of resistances I still plan to get. As well as the rest of the layers,” Ilea said.

“The gate to the twenty first layer is located within the Trakorov’s cavern. We found no other way to proceed farther down. Do inform me should you find more corrupted beings, I won’t trust the sphere without making sure,” Catelyn said.

“Seems like a good idea. I’ll let you know if something shows up. Ilas still has his request, if he didn’t somehow die in the midst of all this,” Ilea added.

Catelyn nodded. “Do stay safe. May we… ask for your assistance on the nineteenth layer? The rest should be manageable for the survivors and us.”

“Of course, I will finish up here first and then join you. You should get some rest as well, Catelyn,” Ilea replied.

“Too much was revealed, too much yet undone. I will have to discuss with the council how we handle both the creators of this place as well as the corruption,” she said and sighed.

“Resistance training,” Ilea whispered.

“Yes, yes… it will be a headache to convince people but I see no other option to protect us against the possibility of another outbreak,” Catelyn said and sighed. “Thank you for the help, Ilea. Without you, this whole thing could have spread over all the lands we know.”

Ilea waved her off. “Wouldn’t have found a better place to train. Add it to my Hallowfort account,” she said.

“Your account?” the fox asked before she smiled and chuckled. “Very well, so it shall be. I’ve been thinking about a statue as well.”

“Under no circumstances-” Ilea started.

“Pure gold,” Elfie said. “It should be at least as tall as the one holding the city. Perhaps build another city entirely.” He smirked and looked at Catelyn.

The fox nodded. “Hmm, yes. Perhaps it can be arranged. Enough jokes now, there is much to be done. Thank you, again and do come let me know when you leave,” she said. “Niivalyr, you know where to find me.”

The elf nodded and watched her go.

“It is a shame, truly. To have saved one such as you and yet my debt remains in your favor,” he said with a light smirk.

Ilea laughed, summoning one of Keyla’s meals and starting to eat. “We are friends now, Elfie. Helping each other out is what we do.”

“A naive and simple human notion,” he said and approached. “It will be useful to have you by our side.”

“You want me to help with the dungeon?” she asked between bites, summoning another meal and moving it towards the elf on an ashen tablet.

“Thank you. No, not yet at the very least. We have much to learn and while it would be simple to rely on your power, we should focus on increasing our own. For now at least, I do believe our sense of pride is leading to more problems than it is solving them. This is however not the only Taleen dungeon, not by far. And it is our fight, not yours.” he said, summoning a fork.

“However it would be helpful for you to introduce me to the one named Isalthar,” the elf added.

“Sure. I can get you when I go back south,” Ilea said.

He held up a hand. “There is no rush. I shall be grateful for a meeting in the next six months, the earlier the better of course.”

“Of course. Thanks for helping out with this Niivalyr and for saving my life,” she said.

The elf bowed. “It is not solely for you that I have joined this quest. As to saving your life… I have a notion that you would have survived anyway.”

“We will never know,” Ilea said and took another bite, smiling at the elf.

“You could ask it for help, to answer that question,” he said and put on another steel mask. “I will return with the survivors and let you… finish with this,” he gestured at the general vicinity.

That might be a helpful test. Lava Magic Resistance is on the list anyway, Ilea thought and nodded, waving at the elf as he departed.

Still plenty to look over, she thought and checked the notifications.

‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Reconstruction reaches 3rd lvl 24’
‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Reconstruction reaches 3rd lvl 25’

‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Awakening reaches 3rd lvl 23’

‘ding’ ‘Blink reaches 3rd lvl 16’

‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Core reaches 3rd lvl 19’

‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Fighting reaches 3rd lvl 22’

‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Perception reaches 3rd lvl 4’

‘ding’ ‘Armor of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 24’

‘ding’ ‘Aspect of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 21’

‘ding’ ‘Heart of Cinder reaches 3rd lvl 12’

‘ding’ ‘Ashen Wings reaches 3rd lvl 4’

‘ding’ ‘Keeper of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 18’

‘ding’ ‘Monster Hunter reaches lvl 15’

‘ding’ ‘Veteran reaches 2nd lvl 9’

‘ding’ ‘Earth Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 3’

‘ding’ ‘Lava Magic Resistance reaches lvl 4’
…
‘ding’ ‘Lava Magic Resistance reaches lvl 10’

‘ding’ ‘Sand Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 15’
‘ding’ ‘Sand Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 16’

‘ding’ ‘Sound Magic Resistance reaches lvl 4’

Should probably keep fighting powerful beings like that for a while until my skills max again. In case of an evolution at four hundred.

She thought about the seventy stat points and decided to invest them into Vitality and Wisdom. Most going towards the latter.

Her third tier points went into the remaining skills each class had left.

‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Huntress reaches 3rd lvl 1’

Passive: Sentinel Huntress – 3rd lvl 1
Huntress turned Sentinel. Your eyes are unmatched and so is your nose. Perceive the smallest irregularities in your surroundings as well as the ambient mana to find clues about your target’s whereabouts.
2nd stage: You gain a sense for the distress in the people around you. Amplify this by sacrificing mana.
3rd stage: Through Azarinth magic, you may mark an enemy or ally with the Sentinel Mark. Allies may use the stored mana to signal The Azarinth Sentinel. Each level in the third tier adds an additional mark that can be used. Marks forcefully applied have a limited duration.
Category: Body Enhancement

Interesting. What exactly does it do though? I’ll have to test that later. Don’t want to mark the Fae with something I don’t understand yet.

One mark per third tier level? Meaning right now it’s limited to one. And an ally can signal me? Ilea was pretty happy about that. It might be able to solve the long range communication problem her and Claire had. She would of course be the one to bear her first mark, in case Ravenhall required her presence.

The people she met in the north could take care of themselves, most of them at least. Claire isn’t exactly the weakest person either but other than a select few, I think I outclass most Shadows by now, she thought with a smile.

If it worked with no range limitations, the skill just skyrocketed in her list of useful abilities, even though she had thought about replacing it with another buff from time to time. Her classes continued to be immensely poor when it came to new skills.

Ilea smiled and leveled her last remaining class skill to the third tier.

‘ding’ ‘Eyes of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 1’

Passive: Eyes of Ash – lvl 3rd lvl 1

Increases your perception by 50.5% [404%] when fighting without a weapon.

2nd stage: Effects apply with weapons as well. Opportunity calls, you notice possible critical weak points on enemies with more ease.
3rd stage: Your eyes are vastly improved. Great distances and a lack of light won’t pose a problem to you anymore.

Category: Body Enhancement – Ashen magic

Ilea instantly noticed the change, everything both close and far turning immediately more sharp. It felt like upgrading from a flip phone to the newest smart phone, both screen quality and camera.

This is fucking weird, she thought and closed her eyes after a couple seconds. She could see the individual sand kernels a hundred meters away, could see the distant form of Elfie, flying at great speed. The intricate designs on the back of his armored robe, the damage to the fabric on his right shoulder.

Guess I’m an eagle now, she thought and focused on herself again, her own hands. Even at such a short range, it made her nearly nauseous. She closed her eyes again and decided to use her sphere as her primary perception until she got used to the change.

The Fae sat down on her shoulder as soon as Elfie had left.

“It’s going to take a while to heal our new friend here, sure you want to wait?” Ilea asked.

The Fae nodded.

Training?

“Sure,” Ilea said and made an ashen Fae to play with the little guy, deactivating her armor and resistance to let it damage her eyes. Her Azarinth Perception was ready in case the Trakorov tried to burn her to a crisp for no reason.

Ilea played around with her interface, looking through her stats and skills as she let the Fae destroy her eyes, using her reconstruction to heal the Trakorov.

Name: Ilea Spears

Unspent statpoints: 0
Unspent 3rd tier skill points [The Azarinth Sentinel]: 0
Unspent 3rd tier skill points [Kin of Ash]: 0

Class 1: The Azarinth Sentinel – lvl 342

- Active: Absolute Destruction – 3rd lvl 20
- Active: Sentinel Reconstruction – 3rd lvl 25
- Active: Azarinth Awakening – 3rd lvl 23
- Active: Blink – 3rd lvl 16
- Active: Sentinel Sphere – 3rd lvl 7
- Passive: Sentinel Core – 3rd lvl 19
- Passive: Azarinth Fighting – 3rd lvl 22
- Passive: Sentinel Huntress – 3rd lvl 1
- Passive: Azarinth Perception – 3rd lvl 4
- Passive: Azarinth Reversal – 3rd lvl 15

Class 2: Kin of Ash – lvl 341

- Active: Armor of Ash – 3rd lvl 24
- Active: Aspect of Ash – 3rd lvl 21
- Active: True Ash Creation – 3rd lvl 20
- Active: Heart of Cinder – 3rd lvl 12
- Active: Storm of Cinders – 3rd lvl 13
- Passive: Ash and Ember Unity – 3rd lvl 19
- Passive: Ashen Wings – 3rd lvl 4
- Passive: Eyes of Ash – 3rd lvl 1
- Passive: Avatar of Ash – 3rd lvl 14
- Passive: Keeper of Ash – 3rd lvl 18

General Skills:

- Elos Standard language - lvl 6
- English Language – lvl 15
- Harmony of the Drowned – lvl 5
- Heavy Archery – lvl 5
- Identify - lvl 10
- Meditation – 2nd lvl 20
- Monster Hunter – lvl 15
- Veteran – 2nd lvl 9

- Arcane Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 17
- Ash Magic Resistance – lvl 1
- Blast Resistance – 2nd lvl 20
- Blood Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 10
- Blood Manipulation Resistance – 2nd lvl 20
- Corrosion Resistance – 2nd lvl 15
- Crystal Resistance – 2nd lvl 1
- Curse Resistance - 2nd lvl 20
- Dark Magic Resistance – lvl 15
- Death Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 8
- Dust Magic Resistance – lvl 1
- Earth Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 3
- Fear Resistance – lvl 10
- Gravity Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 3
- Health Drain Resistance – 2nd lvl 20
- Heat Resistance – 2nd lvl 20
- Ice Resistance – 2nd lvl 10
- Lava Magic Resistance – lvl 10
- Light Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 20
- Lightning Resistance – 2nd lvl 14
- Mana Drain Resistance – 2nd lvl 20
- Mental Resistance – 2nd lvl 17
- Mist Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 10
- Obsidian Magic Resistance – lvl 3
- Pain Tolerance – 2nd lvl 9
- Poison Resistance – 2nd lvl 14
- Sand Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 16
- Silver Magic Resistance – lvl 1
- Soul Magic Resistance – lvl 8
- Sound Magic Resistance – lvl 4
- Space Magic Resistance – lvl 4
- Stamina Drain Resistance – 2nd lvl 8
- Time Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 10
- Void Magic Resistance – lvl 7
- Water Resistance – 2nd lvl 1
- Wind Resistance – 2nd lvl 14
- Wood Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 1

Status:

Vitality: 811
Endurance: 400
Strength: 510
Dexterity: 415
Intelligence: 735
Wisdom: 900

Health: 8002/8110
Stamina: 4000/4000
Mana: 7829/9000

Could write a book with all that soon.