Nothing happened as Ilea walked into the corridor. The ruin looked a lot less like a cave and more like a place to live in at that point. Ilea kept walking, looking around to see magical lights placed on the stone corridors wall. The way led deeper into the ground before another door blocked the way. Eves illusions were standing in front of it and vanished as they saw Ilea approach. The squad followed after them while the rest of the adventurers waited in the hall, looking into the corridor and ready to join in should there be sothing reasonable to fight, sothing they could attack safely from a distance.
I cant see inside the room beyond... Ilea said as she touched the stone door, blocking the way further in.
Open up then. Trian said and gestured for her to take action. Ilea obliged and punched through the door, only to find her fist stopped completely after breaking through the stone.
Hmm, weird... Ilea said and punched another couple tis before she simply ripped the rest of the stone out from its place on the wall. A golden shimring light appeared beyond, likely the thing blocking Ileas fist. She touched it and found her hand unhurt but stopped nonetheless.
A barrier Clarie comnted and walked next to Ilea, touching the barrier herself. This is nothing ordinary...
Yea, its a golden barrier inside a ruin. Probably not that ordinary. Ilea said. Should I punch it? she asked, expecting a groan but Claire just shrugged.
Sure, go for it. This is not based on runes that much I can tell you. Id try sothing similar as with the blood magic one yesterday but with the small surface area we can access, your attacks are probably a better bet. The heavy gauntlets are probably the best way, barriers tend to focus more on energy and magical attacks. she finished and stepped aside.
Ill try first... Trian said as magic gathered around him. Ilea blinked a couple ters away to join the others waiting and watched the man unleash an attack similar to the one used against the stone guardian. Contrary to his expectations, the lightning was reflected right back towards him upon impact and he teleported away to let the energy flow into the stone wall further back. The explosion rattled the walls as chunks of stone fell down, blocking the entrance to the hall they were in.
Good job mate. Ilea gave Trian a thumbs up and smiled. The man shrugged and motioned for her to continue.
Knock yourself out dustgirl. he said which made Ilea look at him confused.
Did he just give a nickna. Dustgirl, I like it. Impressive, his growth is comparable to the hamster I never had. she thought and walked to the barrier. Alright, lets see if my arm gets ripped off from this. Step back folks if you dont want a red shower. she grinned below her helt as the heavy obsidian gauntlets appeared around her hands. A pale blue and red glow illuminated the inside of her helt and armor as her fist impacted with the comparable power of an iron junk thrown by a cave troll. The impact flowed through her body and made her clench her jaw as she looked at the slight flicker in the barrier.
Another three punches had the exact sa result. Maybe without... she thought and stored her gauntlets back inside of the bracelets made for them. The next punch was fueled with Destruction and Wave of Ember, her fists surrounded by ash which she tried to form into a spike. The kinetic impact and spike of ash didnt seem to do much but sothing was different this ti. The destructive mana flowed into the barrier and was visibly disturbing the golden glow from the inside. Huh.. Ilea said and continued.
More and more of her mana was sizzling inside the barrier until a small hole was opened up. Hey guys this is working. Should I blink inside? she asked and continued her attacks.
Dont, we better go in there together. Whatever or whover is causing this might not be taken down by you alone. Claire said and Ilea saw Kyrian nod at the comnt.
Alright. she said and punched again, only to find no resistance at all to her arm that moved through the now open doorway. No golden shimr could be seen anymore as Ileas montum took her further into the room, now past the door fra. Her mind sent the signal to blink backwards as Ilea ca up on sothing blocking her way. A dull pain ca from her legs below as she failed to land on her legs. Looking down and around, she found that both her legs had been cut off at the knee and blood started to flow. Behind her the golden barrier was back as if it had been there forever, blocking her attempted escape.
Her team jumped into motion, Kyrian shooting his tal spikes into the barrier and Eve using her enchanted daggers to cut through it. Ilea was falling down and caught herself with her hands, before healing mana circled through her body, imdiately stopping the bleeding. She ca up on the floor when a sudden golden light appeared re centiters away from her neck, only visible to her thanks to the Sphere that was now cut off at the door but could now also penetrate further into the structure.
More importantly at the mont though, Ilea appeared behind the golden line that had co to be next to her neck and focused on reforming the parts of her legs that were now lying behind the barrier, including the parts of elven armor below her knees. Her senses were working on overdrive, trying to prepare for the next and inevitable attack as the golden line from before shot through the air where she had been before. Her legs were reforming quickly as more and more golden lines appeared around her, never closer than five centiters but always in positions that would normally be invisible to her and ready to cut a spot where her armor wasnt covering her.
Her elven gear was pretty good at the coverage but it seed whover was attacking her had a similar skill to her Sphere at least. The golden lines went straight forward so far and with her blinks, Ilea managed to dodge them in ti. After two blinks, the room filled with lines of golden shimring light and she aligned her body in a way that her armor would block the hits she wasnt able to dodge. The golden light hit her in several places at once, luckily only scratching her armor before she was flung around by the force of the magic. It cuts through the Veil like its butter... she thought as the room continued to shine in magical golden light.
The others were still working on the barrier but found most of their attacks to be ineffective. Claire was calmly laying out plates in front of the barrier and scratching around the door fra to prepare her intrusion while Eve and Kyrian continued their assault. Trian stayed out of it to avoid hurting himself or anybody else with the likely reflection of his magic.
Cant get out... Ilea thought as the shock of several impacts went through her body. Her armor was showing so rather worriso cuts by now, sothing that hadnt happened before. One of the golden lines managed to cut through an unarmored part near her elbow joint, drawing blood and nearly severing her arm. It healed quickly as Ilea continued to dodge, this ti going further into the structure, towards the center of the barrier. Her perceptive Sphere was cut off in a way that made it easy for her to determine its center. Another room was behind the first one and just like before there was a door Ilea couldnt see through. Alright, here we go. she thought and appeared next to the door with a fully powered spin kick, driving the full montum through the rock. Her leg hit another barrier but this ti she had expected it as mana started flowing into it from all her destructive skills. Even the offensive capabilities of her ash creation, veil of ash and her wings ca to bear onto the barrier.
More and more golden lights focused on the area around the door which made it hard for Ilea to approach it but then again there was no reason to attack the barrier where the door was. Ilea smashed through the walls around her, appearing and disappearing all over the place while ash surged around her from thin air, forming into spiked ghostly arms that shattered against the golden light. More and more of the walls were punched through and the golden barrier was now riddled with Ileas destructive mana sizzling inside of the golden light. Right before she managed to form a small hole again the enemys attacks stopped.
Stop please, or we will all be buried by stone. a male voice said from behind her, a hazy form in her sphere as she turned around to look at him. Im sure you would survive it and so will I but Im not so sure about the others, especially the ones waiting further above. Ilea stopped her attacks and started ditating, recovering parts of the mana and stamina she had lost during the ordeal.
[Mage lvl ??]
Youre the one controlling the barriers? And the light? she asked, mostly to stall for ti to have her team break through. She wasnt so sure she wanted that, considering his offensive potential. Eve and Kyrian would likely be torn to shreds in re monts. The barrier she had been attacking vanished as the man walked past her.
Yes, that would be . Youre with the shadows hand I presu, seeing that armor. It looks elvish in aesthetics so youre not part of any random squad never heard of soone with your abilities in the Hand though. Perhaps my records are lacking. he said, completely without tension.
It was only a matter of ti until the guild would seek help. Im glad it was the Hand after all. Luckily Im mostly done here, only a couple books Id like to keep. he said, vanishing and appearing in the next room. Ilea blinked in front of him and quickly locked eyes with his nearly golden eyes. He looked to be around fifty but sothing told her the man was much older, if he was human at all.
Who are you? Are you responsible for killing all those adventurers? Ilea asked as he looked away and grabbed a book from a shelf next to him. It vanished as did another dozen or so in the span of two seconds.
You may call Albert. This place was not built by so I take no responsibility in any of the killings, though I must say it is useful and I regret losing it. he said and continued with his book eating through the room, the blue coat he was wearing slid on the stone floor as he continued his work. Ilea was pretty sure the man wasnt a danger to her anymore, simply concerned for his possessions. She was wary as well, continuing her mana recovery and thinking of a way of attack should the need arise. The life of her team and the adventurers was more important than attacking the man at the mont and a fight would certainly cause at least a partial cave in.
You will not fight for this place? Why attack then? she asked and started copying his actions, walking around the room parallel to him and touching books to make them vanish. He glanced at her quickly and furrowed his brows but didnt react further.
This place was discovered and should you fail to kill , others will co. I cannot hold off the combined effort of all the guilds and rcenaries nor do I wish to do so. You pushed through my barrier more quickly than I had anticipated. Intruding mana, a rather rare ability, especially for soone at level two hundred. Thus my attack, I need to collect the essentials first. If you let finish in peace, I will leave and you may do with this place as you wish. he said and continued collecting books and papers.
You may be careful who you show these to, most cults and religions will think you a heretic or demon. Sa for so governnts. he said and finally dusted off his mantle.
A sha, what a great place to work in and Ill miss her. the man turned around to Ilea and his golden eyes locked again with her own blue ones. Do take care of her, shes been through a lot. he said as golden light started to form around him. Ilea was torn for a second between interfering with whatever he was doing and simply letting him but as the mont passed, he had vanished.
Nowhere in her Sphere could she see any trace of the man but other things had appeared, Trian being one of them right next to her, lighting sparkling around him. The rest followed quickly after and checked around the room.
Are you alright? Eve said as she appeared next to Ilea before the later was caught in a tight hug. The armor made it a little awkward for Eve to get a good grip but the small woman was stronger than she looked, which to be fair applied to most adventurers, especially mbers of the Shadows Hand. Ilea pat her back in response.
Im alright Im alright. There was a man here who controlled the barriers and attacked but he vanished. I think its at least mid range teleportation because I cant sense him anymore. she said and Claire nodded, imdiately walking towards the exit.
No more danger then? she asked, looking back at the still entangled Ilea who shook her head lightly.
Not that I know of. There are other things here but I dont think dangerous. she said.
Other things? Well whatever. Ill go and stop the others from coming in imdiately, loot this place to its bones. Claire said before she walked out, leaving not only Ilea a little perplexed.
What, did she really just say that? she asked and locked eyes with Trian.
Well she is supposed to be the team leader isnt she? he asked and started to collect everything he could find with his ring. Ilea tapped Eve on her shoulder before she pushed her away a little.
Thanks for caring so much. she said and smiled to the woman in front of her whose mask smiled back.
I like you guys, dont die on . Eve said and looked around the room at an embarrassed Kyrian and an indifferent Trian. It sounded more like a command than anything else but Ilea did find it rather endearing.
Like a murder ninja ready to protect , gets all warm and fuzzy... she thought before she sighed. Kyrian, collect everything in the middle of the room, Ill swipe it up after if Trian doesnt have enough space. Eve please co with , your girl whispering skills are needed again.
Dont tell ... Eve answered and removed her mask slowly, revealing slightly red eyes.
Yep, we found another kid in a place where they dont belong. Ilea answered and slowly walked further into the structure. Interesting... she thought and knocked on the stone door. The child didnt react, too entranced in their actions it seed. After another knock, Ilea removed her helt and opened the door before the two won walked inside.
Shes drawing... Ilea said. This ti the girl reacted to the voice and looked towards the two before she smiled.
Hello. Are you Alberts friends? she asked, her blue eyes concentrating on the intruders.
I know him. Is he your dad? Ilea asked as she slowly walked closer to the girl, unable to not stare at the complicated painting on the wall which held a beauty to it that she couldnt quite attribute to a childs abilities. It reminded her of runes but less bound by their systematic nature.
No. Do you know where dad is? the girl asked which brought Ilea back to face her. She knelt down a little and saw Eve approach not the girl but the painting.
Im afraid I dont know, but maybe I can help you find him. How about that? Ilea said and smiled brightly which seed to make the girl a little less anxious.
Yes! Albert said he couldnt help yet the girl said.
Did you paint this? Eve said with an astonished voice. Its beautiful the emotion I feel within this image are overwhelming. the girl looked downwards, obviously a little embarrassed.
Yes. she managed to say and Eve continued to look at the picture, not the sa help she had been with the other girl they had found.
My na is Ilea. Whats your na little artist? And where are you from? Ilea asked, seeing in it the best chance to find any relatives the girl might have. Finding her inside of this place didnt make her very hopeful but it was a start. Perhaps Albert had abducted her. Then again the way he talked about the girl didnt seem to indicate that.
Nice to et you Ilea, my na is Cless and Im from London. Ileas mind blanked out for a full five seconds as her brain quickly rebooted and then went into overdrive.
Reviews
All reviews (0)