Ilea tested her newfound abilities a little longer, making sure that various grapples or touching adow still allowed her to blink or displace herself. Everything seed to work fine.
Her third tier of Phaseshift wasnt unlimited either. Her third tier healing didnt recover her health instantly. Near that but not instantly. Her sacrifices could be stacked and increased due to the third tiers nature but there was a point where it simply wasnt efficient anymore due to how much mana her recovery cost and the gradually less aningful returns.
Ilea covered the ground in ash, activating phaseshift and keeping it active for a few seconds, all the while using her full health sacrifice to fuel Flare of Creation.
The spell deactivated and she burst into fla. Ilea kept Flare of Creations third tier active however, extending the flas to the ash already prepared.
By now the flas were bright and blazing, moving as Ilea moved the ash.
A few seconds passed and they dimd noticeably. She stopped fueling it with additional health and watched the flas dim once more.
Double the power for a while, she thought and smirked. I need more health.
It would only get more expensive the higher Flare of Creation leveled.
A beautiful little fla, adow said.
Dont mock . Im not a thousand years old. Im sure Ill be able to fight you by that ti, she said.
Aw. Im sorry. I didnt an to make fun of your achievent. I ant what I said. You simply dont have the resources to form sothing Id consider an actual fla, adow said and patted her back with so wood.
Still dont know if its being sarcastic, Ilea thought. She really had taught the tree too well. Or was it just a coincidence? The Ice Elental was much less snarky, that much was true. It was asleep again. By now she was glad the creature hadnt eaten her for waking her up previously.
Petting her was still an impossible task, its defenses still quite potent despite its state. Whenever it twitched or moved in its dreams, the being destroyed a part of the hall, quickly repaired by adow.
It was an impractical pet but Ilea still liked the idea.
Her and the Trakorov would make a wonderful pair. They could cuddle up. Maybe the heat and cold thing might be an issue. Or a benefit.
Shes just so cute, isnt she? Ilea asked, looking at the absolutely massive wolf creature.
She is, adow agreed. Im proud to have helped her achieve more sapience.
Can she have children? Ilea asked.
I dont think so. She lacks any reproductive organs though Elentals are a mystery to anyway. Perhaps she can split sohow or form a smaller version of herself? Maybe one that you could pet? adow suggested.
Now youre just teasing , Ilea said and touched the tree absentmindedly.
About your gold magic resistance, you know I could just ask him, adow said.
I dont want him to know how close we are. But I appreciate it. Hes going to owe after all this is over anyway. If I dont have it by then, thats whenhe wont be able to refuse, she said.
Youre too stubborn. You live to help others but refuse when help is presented to you, adow said.
I dont refuse help. Im just doing this to protect you, Ilea said.
Charming. But you forget that Im an incomprehensible magic god. That human is nothing to , adow said.
Dont act so tough all the ti, dear, Ilea said. I know that deep down youre just a warm ball of a thousand eyes.
Dont make rip you apart again, adow said.
We could try you know, have an actual bout, she said with a smile.
No holding back? Ilea with all due respect, that wouldnt be good for you, adow said.
I cant feel pain and I can regenerate constantly. Ill let you know once I reach the end of my resources. Or I can just teleport away, she said.
You forget that Im a high level space magic practitioner. But if you really want it, perhaps you could put my mind at ease concerning your plan to stay here, it said.
Youre still worried? Really? Ilea asked. I even have a third tier drain resistance. What kind of levels are we talking about with the Daughters? Higher than Wolfie here?
No. Not those who would descend in two weeks. Theyre probably between one and two thousand, adow said.
And theyre much worse at magic than you, right? So lets try. Co at with the intent to kill, she said with a bright grin, spreading her wings as she flew back.
I cant truly think of killing you but I suppose if were testing your resilience, we may as well try. Ill have to hold back to keep this place hidden but it should be enough, adow said.
Finally, Ilea thought and activated all her buffs, except her health sacrificing ones.
Then let teach you a lesson, young human. First. I may be immobile but this, is my domain, adow said, a powerful wave of mana pushing outwards.
Ilea watched on as a pale white barrier thrumd to life around the whole hall, bending around the Ice Elental to exclude it entirely. It didnt even wake up.
The mana waves that continuously flowed out from the center of the hall pushed her back physically, her wings working to counteract it. She felt herself tensing up, her ashen armor slightly shaved away with each pulse.
She felt an imnse pressure that tried to hold her down. It was a familiar skill adow had used to keep her from moving. Ilea pushed against it, setting herself the goal of reaching the tree. Her wings flapped but she moved painfully slow.
She blinked but was pushed back by a barrier that ford where she had appeared. A front of solid rock ford around the tree when she was suddenly displaced back a few ters by one of adows spells.
Ilea started using her teleportation spells whenever they werent on cooldown, trying to get closer but always hitting solid stone, wood, or barriers that hadnt been there before. The solid wall continued to build around the tree.
Every ti she teleported, the adow pushed her back again, only split seconds allowing her to deliver so blows against the wall of defenses. Any damage she dealt had reford already once she appeared again.
An arcane barrier ford around the defensive periter, growing thicker with each passing mont.
Her spells coupled with Flare of Creation burned into the dense barrier but despite her efforts, any weakness reford faster than she could cause them. adow even had a way to put her flas out completely.
Barrier magic is versatile. I rely use it to protect but its offensive potential is quite staggering, adow said in a booming voice, pushing against Ileas ears and mind.
She saw hundreds of tiny barriers form around her, each thin as a razor and angled in a way to cut her.
Displacent worked on them but her efforts were countered partially. Even when it worked, she could only move less than a fourth.
The view her precognition provided wasnt promising.
Phaseshift was activated but the second it took to change the space of her body was too long.
She teleported but new barriers simply ford all around her, several hundred tiny magical blades cutting into her armor.
Her defenses resisted but were ultimately breached, her ashen armor cut deeply before her skin was reached. Phaseshift activated when blood started to show on dozens of cuts.
The barriers imdiately moved through her, vanishing after they lost their purpose.
Ilea healed the damage, not that much thanks to her changed health calculation. Otherwise so of the cuts would have fucked up a few organs already, likely dealing more damage than a simple deep cut to her arms.
She started stacking her health sacrifice spells as a stone platform ca into existence below her. Complex runes instantly ford, forcing her to teleport away.
The platform appeared right where she did, the runes coming to life just as two massive barriers ford in front and behind her.
They closed in, Ilea finding herself unable to teleport. Both of her abilities were stopped by whatever runic field adow had created.
Motherfucker.
The barriers stopped moving a few centiters away from her phased body.
Ilea was sure shed be paste once her body returned to its physical form.
Will you survive it if I squash you? adow asked in a normal tone.
Have fun trying, Ilea said.
Her body returned to its physical form, Azarinth Awakening and Flare of Creation exploding in power and intensity, the white flas instantly igniting the thick barriers.
Ilea felt the pressure build as the barriers started to squash her, the power of her spells not enough to breach the thick constructs, nor enough to teleport out of the magic field below.
Her body groaned, blood cells exploding under the pressure. Her eyes popped as all the air was pushed out of her lungs. She felt her organs tremble, her whole form slowly flattened between the two barriers.
Wooden tendrils appeared next to her and started digging into her body. When they reached a certain depth, they ripped whole chunks out, ignoring the durability of her bones by simply cutting through the connecting tissue. Phaseshift was still on cooldown.
Reverse healing, Storm of Cinders, Heart of Cinder, Absolute Destruction, plain old ash, and all the strength she could muster pressed against the overwhelming power. All for nothing.
New barriers appeared where her arms would have reford, preventing her healing from recovering the lost limbs.
Ilea activated her third tier Displacent, squeezing one end between her back and the barrier, the other outside of the hall itself. She used her ash to squeeze herself through but the wood and barriers kept her in place.
When she realized that the exit of her gateway was blocked by a barrier on the other side, she didnt know what to do anymore.
adow ripped her apart until only her head remained, barriers all around to physically prevent her from recovering the missing limbs and wood digging deep into her skull. Only her brain remained intact, left alone by the creature.
Do I win? adow asked.
This is barely a scratch, Ilea said and activated phaseshift again.
Do I really need to push you further? All youre doing is delayingthe inevitable, adow said. I wont be using spells for you to absorb mana from. Ill just keep your brain from regenerating fully until you run out of either health or mana. Sounds lovely, doesnt it?
Alright. Alright, Ilea said, annoyed and disappointed.
The barriers vanished, as did the rock and wood.
Ilea reford with a pout, her armor covering her again quickly. She crossed her arms in front of her.
Did I miss sothing? she asked.
You shouldnt have faced in the first place, the adow said.
Besides that. Your barriers even prevented from destroying the stone plates that stopped my teleportation. How did that work anyway? It ford damn near instantly, youre insane, she said.
Your offensive power is simply inconsequential to my creations. I admit that my knowledge of your skill set allowed to pin you down quickly. Had I not known it, it may have taken another five to six seconds. Enough for you to escape perhaps. Or enough to surprise with either Phaseshift or your gate creation. It is unfortunate that Im a master of space magic, adow said.
Very unfortunate indeed. If you couldnt stop my teleportation, I couldve escaped. Right? she asked.
Of course. But the fact remains that I did. Your resistances are high but the sheer energy a creature like can use to stop you will simply be overwhelming. Had you created burning ash below the barriers to damage the delicate runes, you may have gained a split second to teleport away, adow said.
I admit that I underestimated you. Anything else I missed? she asked.
The creature laughed, a sense of serenity returning with the fireflies that once again floated through the adow. The sound of flowing water the only audible thing in the hall.
Underestimated. Said a level four hundred to one above two thousand. The first wave of mana should have vaporizedyou, adow said. The fact that you can even stand here without coughing up blood is impressive enough. Let alone demonstrating a real possibility of escaping the clutches of myself.
One, Im not at four hundred yet. Two, demonstrating a possibility isnt exactly the sa as actually accomplishing said feat, Ilea said.
You power is entirely too high for an evolution at four hundred. But you should reach that conclusion soon enough, adow said. Perhaps once youve gained more power, you would wish to try again. I do hope I didnt traumatize you with this demonstration.
Ilea smiled. Oh no. Not at all. If anything, this proved that theres a chance.
A sigh went through the hall. A chance of what?
winning this fight, Ilea said.
Youre delusional, the adow said.
Ilea shrugged. Again?
She spent the next few hours trying the sa thing but as she adapted, so did the adow.
When she started to focus entirely on the anti teleportation runes, the adow simply covered the entire hall. When she focused fully on defense and healing, the adow still overwheld her in ti. It felt like playing chess with nothing but pawns against an ancient grandmaster.
While her defensive and evasive asures failed, her offensive ones did so spectacularly. Nothing got through the monsters defense even remotely. It even reford the tiny cracks and scratches on the stone and wood it created. Not that it really had to.
After hundreds of attempts, she had managed to escape exactly zero tis. If anything, she was getting worse.
Am I teaching this creature how to defeat ?
It didnt matter. adow could have finished her a thousand tis over by now. Wood harder than her ash could bore into her immobilized skull without issue.
The creature did complint her bones but proved even them to be useless against its creations.
Despite her insistence, the adow refused to destroy her brain even once. If anything it felt like a slap in the face to her. Like a parent not taking off the training wheels despite the childs insistence.
I think this is as far as Ill get, she admitted finally.
Your attempts did get better, adow said.
Youre not helping, she said. Im going to hunt a spirit now.
Do greet them from , the adow said, a spacial breeze flowing through the area.
Ilea looked at the sleeping wolf and to the tree, unsure which one would be more terrifying to face. From the wolf at least, she might be able to escape.
Probably has a way to freeze space itself, and within, she thought and left the hall.
I really should have started testing these new abilities with the Astrals. Now myspirit is broken and my day is ruined.
Ilea decided it was ti to break other spirits to reform her own.
First, she needed a target.
She flew out into the cold, now actually much warr than adows hall.
Her charged wings brought her into a nearby desert quickly, one use of Monster Hunter enough to wake up so monsters.
[Spirit of Death lvl 459]
It looked a little like a scorpion but most of its form was lted and distorted, oozing with black sli.
Ripley would have a field day in Erendar.
The creature slamd its death magic enhanced stinger into her chest, the thing scratching past her ashen armor before it dug into the ground.
Flare of Creation activated as a mist of ash descended onto the creature. All of it ignited with the pale fla, reversed healing coupled with the fires quickly destroying the being both from within and without.
Five more creatures had appeared in the anti, hundreds more running, flying, or slithering towards her location.
Three of them jumped her, Ilea nearly buckling under the weight. She managed to stabilize herself with a few ashen limbs. Space Awareness let her differentiate the flows of their mana, Ilea displacing herself upwards before Heart of Cinder fired from an extended ashen limb.
Much more manageable, she thought and took a deep breath. Its really quite nice that the adow doesnt like killing awakened creatures. And that it cant move on its own.
She had finally grown at least so confidence in escaping the Ascendeds clutches should they et again. Now she wasnt quite as sure. Well Heart of Cinder already burned through its tal. I doubt it could pin down even close to as easily as the adow.
The Ascended could create tal, aning it too could form runes in the blink of an eye. Coupled with the space magic it wielded, she may still be in trouble.
Just kill more things. Evolve you damn shits, she thought, looking at her Classes.
Fighting the spirits was enjoyable but she definitely had to take a break for a day or two soon. Being among these incomprehensible monsters for extended periods of ti wasnt good for her ntal health, whether or not she used arcane healing.
In a way she understood how mortals thought of them as gods. Even her puny old self inspired songs and struck fear in peoples hearts.
Co on then, at least an Astral. Barely in their seven fucking hundreds and just a mindless arcane zombie, she murmured to herself, letting the flas of death flow through her phased form, the creatures left confused and searching until her body returned to their fabric of space.
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