Chapter 710 Introductions
Trian looked around the underground domain. The cube like structure set into the stone ground looked interesting, especially compared to the few stone buildings that were present as well. He had of course known about the teleportation gates beforehand but he hadnt quite grasped the reality of it until he stepped onto the platform and appeared here. In the supposed North.
Akis new form wasnt a surprise. It had only been a matter of ti until Ilea wouldve found his colleague an upgrade to his previous form. Necessary too, the students were getting off too easily. He allowed himself a slight smile, looking at the large but slender form walk through the very air. Enormous power radiated from its form, a near invisible shield protecting the machine. He just hoped the other mbers of the Council didnt think to convince Aki to work for them instead. He wouldnt. Hes a Sentinel through and through.
The floating form in the distance talking to a dwarf didnt stand out in the grand sche of things. The smith Ilea had ntioned, he assud. They had been inford about the various beings that lived here in Hallowfort, though the town itself would be located up above. He glanced at Kyrian and looked towards the black grass, a crystal tree visible a few hundred ters away. Pillars of stone rose throughout the vicinity, fireflies moving in serene patterns over the downright eerie adow. Beyond, the cavern opened up, what he knew to be crystal light coming in from outside. The edge of a cliff suggested a drop, how far he didnt know.
Kyrian glanced at him and gave him a slight nod.
He straightened and bowed in a respectful manner, ignoring the looks he was surely getting from both the present representatives, the Elders, and his friends. Greetings, Endless adow, he said in a clear voice. He waited a few seconds, almost starting to feel a little silly when he felt a magical presence connect to his mind.
Greetings, young human. You are receptive. Do scream should this cause you any distress, the voice spoke, undefinable to any standard. A voice, commanding power. Almost mocking, patronizing, but not arrogant. Simply knowing.
It doesnt seem to be an issue. And we have an arcane healer present anyway. I have heard a lot about you, he said, used to telepathy by now with Ileas new acquisition. Ready to et another friend of hers, he thought, squishing the feeling of being in the presence of a god. Just treat it like you would Ilea.
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Navalis glanced at the Headmaster who had greeted what she assud to be the overwhelming presence behind them. She gulped as she watched him move towards it, the others too preoccupied with the Taleen death machine to react. Is he communicating through telepathy? She turned to Wayland but the man seed focused on the Pursuer too, green eyes taking them in as the machine stepped behind the woman she had once known to be Ilea.
It irked her. She wanted to see, wanted to learn everything she could about this place and its denizens but she knew it was beyond her. Navalis ground her teeth when she noticed Ilea looking right at her.
No need to freak out. Were you not inford? the womans voice appeared in her mind.
Telepathy. Shes a mind mage too now? She had thought the arcane presence was her main magic, and with all the stories of ash, she assud that to be her second. A general skill? Or another Class, if such a thing is even possible?
You can reply you know, Ilea said. Co on, we fought Elves together, Im still the sa, just way, way more powerful.
Are you really? You dont feel the sa, Navalis said, imdiately regretting her words. It was so easy to slip with telepathy, the lack of air and movent of her mouth barriers not present. Her eyes opened wide.
Im above level five hundred. Dont tell the others. Plenty of evolutions and a third Class. Ill have to show you so of my magic later, the space stuff is super cool, the woman said and smiled, winking at her.
Shes the sa. No monster would be so nonchalant. Five hundred?
[Battle Healer lvl ??]
Is she hiding it then? Her magic feels closer to that of the Pursuer, maybe even beyond. She gulped again. Sorry, its just a lot to take in. I didnt know what we were going to do. Sulivhaan only spoke of a eting.
Yeah, they were fucking with you, Ilea said with a smile. Though he seems just as freaked out as you are. Rock wants to fight it seems. Maybe you can dissuade him, I dont want to shatter his self confidence.
Shes genuinely concerned. Not a surprise with her power. The stories of Lilith were confird to her. Beyond even. Navalis assud they were not exactly exaggerated, but more the opposite. Her acquaintance from a few years past had risen in power to the point where the entirety of the Shadows Hand would fall to her. She had seen her sustain and heal from injuries back when she had been at two hundred, she couldnt even imagine what a healer at her level could survive.
The Elders didnt react much to the introduction of the Pursuer, but Lucas seed curious as to the visitors and the surrounding people. Hes not in the know, not like the other Elders. I thought he had died years ago, Navalis thought and bowed respectfully towards the three people.
Elder Quil nodded in response. Pierce seed excited, watching the various people but mainly Sulivhaan and Wayland.
Does she know the man? Past dealings or an enemy? No, more the curiosity one would show to a friend, similar to how Kyrian watched Trian.
Aki will return to the Headquarters soon, but well have to figure out how to hide him throughout the city to avoid a panic, Ilea continued. Hes a three mark after all.
So are you, Navalis thought.
This cube thing is going to be the northern site of the Sentinels, Trian already knows about it. You can inspect it whenever, Ilea said.
I will, thanks, the man answered in a slightly absentminded way. He had sat down on a nearby stone, a thoughtful expression on his face as he looked towards the distant tree.
Over there is Goliath, the floating Dark One, and an excellent smith from Hallowfort. Claire, Im sure you can figure out so projects that might interest him enough to actually work on it. Bralin is the dwarf next to him, hes from the Pit, another settlent closer to the Naraza mountain chain. We can talk about that stuff later, their leader well the closest they have to a leader, is interested in potential relations with us as well, Ilea explained. Dont be alard by the various beings here, all should be awakened, aning theyre capable of thought and communication. Lets get this out of the way then, Owl?
Navalis froze when she felt the presence of death intensify, the power overwhelming despite her lack of perception abilities. All she could do was fight against her instincts. A four mark wielder of magic. They had specific procedures in place whenever they encountered such a being. Standing in one place was not part of that. She saw Rock raise his hamr and imdiately touched his back to try and dissuade him.
Senia gave them a glance before she looked at Sulivhaan but the man stared forward instead.
The presence appeared next to Ilea, floating a ter above the ground. Humanoid in shape but entirely different in every other way. Its body had an ethereal quality to it, a purple sheen to its form with two glowing eyes and a line that suggested a mouth in its head. Navalis held her breath, her hand shaking lightly as she resisted the urge to teleport away. She saw the hand sign Senia gave her, the woman as tense as she was. Teleportation restricted.
[Greater Lich lvl ????]
Navalis could feel the fear now. Everyone present was a veteran, the only reason nobody had tried to flee the calm presence of both Ilea and the Elders. Claire and Kyrian seed mostly unbothered as well.
Uhm hello everyone, an ethereal voice spoke as the Lich raised a hand in a wave like gesture.
What?
Navalis watched the being glance at Ilea, the latter giving a reassuring smile and nod. Who what
Hello Owl, Claire said. Its nice to et you.
The Lich seed relieved by that, the tension broken in an instant.
Rock started laughing, Senia giving him an annoyed glare.
How is this possible? Wayland murmured, taking a step forward.
Found her in a dungeon far north, so rituals happened millennia ago, killed a monster and a problematic undead, and here we are, Ilea said and shrugged.
That doesnt explain anything!
Wayland nodded to himself, turning around as he glanced at his three shadows. This is real, right? Youre seeing this too?
All Navalis could do was give him a confirming hand sign, one only her team would understand but she didnt really consider it in the mont.
Yeah, its real alright. Or so high level illusion spell mind magic maybe, Rock said as he looked around with his hamr in hand.
That thing wont help you here, Navalis thought.
There is nothing like that here, Sulivhaan said in a calm voice. Greetings, Greater Lich Owl, he added and bowed. Are you a representative of Hallowfort?
I no I just the Lich said and looked at Ilea, her eyes glowing a little brighter.
Aki stepped over and touched her ethereal back with his morphing silver arm, long fingers ending in spikes.
Navalis gulped at the sight.
Shes just a resident. The adow teaches her to handle her overwhelming power. So that she doesnt just kill people with her presence alone, Ilea explained.
The adow teaches a four mark? Navalis didnt dare look towards the grass.
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The edges of the domain were clear, usual travelers moving through the hidden crevices in the lands, lightning distorting the perception of the all seeing adow where it truck into the ravaged stone. The day had co like any other and yet it felt significant. More so than most others.
Life was brought into the world, and taken away. New beings would awaken, others forever gone, their chance at enlightennt snuffed out by the cruel hands of reality. Civilization as known to Elos would soon reach another stage, long range teleportation capable of bringing together species and peoples of distant lands. Their values and history would clash and grate, the comfort of their walls breached by the ways of the fabric. The fate of thousands lay on the scales of ti, and the adow saw those at the very center.
The potential of endless wars and unprecedented death was a reality, and still it trusted the one being at the center of this new age. She herself neither considered the true significance of her character in the weave of relations nor did she want the responsibility that ca with such a position. And precisely because of those facts, was she the perfect initiator. Those she had gathered around her were beings from different pasts, species of all kinds of make, beings that would fear and fight each other for a sheer lack of similarity.
Ilea had enjoyed the title given to her, the position of Primordial Arbiter, yet she failed to grasp the significance of its existence. Even the adow was impressed at the trust given to her, not just by itself but by the beings present in this historical event. An undead Lich, feared by those who had encountered such, cursed by others. A Taleen machine, accepted by Elves. Humans in the North, about to et the Council of Hallowfort, awakened beings they wouldve considered monsters without the presence and significance of Lilith.
The adow couldnt help but feel pride. To have co here, to be part of it all, to have helped her reach further understanding, as resilient to learning as she was. This world held promise after all, the beings full of hope and potential. It considered the wasteland of Erendar, the spirits of death and the sky, roaming long forgotten lands, civilizations of hardened warriors unable to survive the harsh existence of their realm. And yet their descendants had remained. Saved from extinction by Lilith herself. In all but power, it would seem the woman was closer to divinity than the adow itself.
Its eyes moved west, always on the lookout for her enemies. Should they choose the path of violence, the adow would respond in kind. Hallowfort would stand, against those who would seek its destruction.
At the sa ti it watched the frozen humans, fear and confusion obvious as they were introduced to creatures beyond their comprehension. The conversation with Trian had shifted to practical matters of the Sentinels, the man both polite and responsible, though a slight distance remained, the common fear or reverence present just like with most awakened creatures that ca in contact with the adow. Instinctual perhaps, much like a young Star Chaser would avoid the Miststalkers of the northern night.
Few were entirely uncaring. Ilea of course, her immunity to risk and inability to sense danger most certainly correlating with her fast growth in magical power. Her ability to heal the mind was likely the only thing that had kept her sane, a foundation now to her grounded state. Human and yet so much more. Even the adow could not grasp the potential future of its friend. Verena and the self proclaid Dragonkiller were close in the way they treated its presence, though a deep seated instinctual fear remained. Perhaps Ilea is really just too stupid to understand my true power.
Hey, I heard that. Your true power is fucking terrifying by the way, youre like multi fucking dinsional, the woman replied.
Amusing. A simple conversation of course, compared to the eighty three threads of thought it currently discussed with the Faen fragnt that called itself Twin, and yet it couldnt help but enjoy the simplicity of its human friend. A genuine connection, perhaps sothing deeply rooted before even its own awakening had fully co to be. Sothing it had fulfilled with the connection to traveling Elentals and beings of similar power. It considered itself a being of guidance, but there was enjoynt in the perceived equality it felt towards Ilea, though her assumption was preposterous. Never could she be as glorious a adow as itself. A part of it knew the day would co, and it hoped it would, for it if didnt co to be, it ant the death of either one or both of them.
New possibilities opened up as the Fae explained in simple terms the complex weave of this realm. Its mind was limited still, and yet the adow remained its student. Still it felt pride in the fact that it could offer at least so considerations the being had not yet had the opportunity to decipher. A direct eting with the true Fae would not co to be but perhaps a conversation, through the fabric itself. First it had to prove itself, to the boundless source of knowledge and magical power of the primordial being. Unlike Ilea, it couldnt impress it with a few simple physical attacks, though perhaps that approach wouldve been more successful with the Baron. An opportunity squandered, but here it was, communicating with yet another of the ancient kind. It thanked Ilea once again for the opportunity, keeping a few of its eyes on the confused and overwheld humans, impressed with so little, entire new worlds opening before them as they were introduced to the beings living in its domain. Ti moved, ever onward, life vibrant in all of its perception. It was a good day, under the northern suns.
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I guess those are the strangest people around. Well Elana is gonna give so of you a few headaches too, but shes at least human, Ilea said as she looked at the group.
They were still a little overwheld but at least there hadnt been any magic thrown so far. Likely because I didnt yet invite the Elves. That can wait for another day I suppose, she thought. Ilea had refrained from healing their minds, she knew at least Sulivhaan would be offended at the gesture. He would want to process everything himself.
Enjoyable in a way, because while his mask prevented her to see his face, she could gauge quite enough with the rest of her perception. The team of Shadows was on guard, Navalis at least cald a little with her telepathy. Rock was Rock, and Senia was ready to stab sothing, not that it would do her any good with her level in her mid two hundreds.
When are the others coming down? Ilea asked the adow.
About twenty minutes, the being replied. I can inform them if the humans require more ti.
I think theyll be fine. The important ones at least, Ilea replied. Last and least important is the adow, she said and gestured in the general direction of the being.
Wouldnt it be the most important? Kyrian asked with a slight smile.
Were far too uninteresting for the multilayered eldritch being, Ilea mused.
Untrue, the adow spoke, half the people in the group turning towards it, those capable of comprehending its telepathy trying to find the source. Greetings, representatives of Ravenhall. I welco you into this domain. Whatever the outco of these talks, I guarantee your safety and a way back, should the corresponding gate not be damaged in the duration of your stay.
A large stone plate with the sa greeting scratched into it appeared before the group. Should you have any questions or concerns, simply ask and I will try my best to satisfy your curiosity.
Ilea snorted. Very mysterious, well done, she said and clapped slowly.
I am rely trying to set them at ease, it said to her.
No ntion of your world domination plan? Ilea asked.
Its supposed to be a surprise, Ilea, the adow replied.
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