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Chapter 398 Benevolent Sentinel
🕑 Added 2020-01-04 13:10:40 +0000 UTCAuthor's note January 16th: Hello there. New chapters up and more hopefully on Saturday!
Have a good day :).
Author's note January 4th: Hello everyone. New chapters up and more hopefully on Tuesday :).
Thank you for another month of insane support! I hope I can keep it exciting :).
Chapter 398 Benevolent Sentinel
Ilea crash landed on an island, her arms locked around the Wyverns neck as they slid to a stop, leaving behind a line in the stone.
A last wave of fire expanded, burning into the stone and the nearby plants as well as Ileas ashen armor.
Ilea heard the noise in her mind resound, signaling the creature had died. She stopped her shredder extension that had bitten through half of its neck by now and stored the corpse. The healer landed on one knee, the space below her suddenly empty.
Ash reformed, as did her skin and the bone armor between. Meditation had been active for a while, her mana regenerating quickly. She blinked away and hid within the nearby bushes.
No light needed for all this to grow? she wondered. Perhaps it was mana alone that supplied the growth, or the crystals above somehow sent energy through the sea of mist.
She waited for a while, prepared to face another one of the creatures.
Nothing showed itself however.
ding You have defeated [Cliff Wyvern lvl 608] For defeating an enemy two hundred and ninety or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted
ding Azarinth Reversal reaches 3rd lvl 11
ding True Ash Creation reaches 3rd lvl 14
ding Avatar of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 3
No levels from that one, she sighed. The fight had been simple enough, Ilea now knowing how to handle them pretty easily. Their instincts were good, likely not expecting her to simply ignore the flames and their teeth as she did.
A suicidal approach for anybody without Pain Tolerance and Heat Resistance in the second tier, as well as an insane level of defense and regeneration.
For her however, it worked.
Ilea noticed movement in her sphere, spotting a creature that looked a little like a bear. Thin and with two tusks jutting from its mouth. It hid behind a tree, looking straight at her.
She checked the surroundings and got up slowly.
[Tusk Bear lvl 303]
Shouldnt be too dangerous for me. Ilea thought, having dealt with similarly high leveled creatures back in the first layer.
The bear looked at her but didnt move at first. It took a step towards her, showing its teeth before it roared.
Not exactly an intimidating sound.
Ilea crouched, her talk with Lucas fresh on her mind. This thing could rip apart most humans in the southern lands, maybe even a member of the Hand. And yet here it was, looking positively malnourished, close to death.
She was about to just leave when she saw a small cut on its leg, orange ooze dripping out.
Ah fuck, she murmured.
The bear approached, once more showing its teeth. On all fours now, it prepared to charge or leap. Desperate.
Nobody is ever going to come down here. Might as well help out.
It attacked, charging with surprising speed as its maw opened, showing sharp teeth.
Ilea let the bear bite into her ash, its weight coming down on her as she braced against it. Ashen limbs moved to immobilize its arms and legs, its mouth uselessly biting into the powerful armor.
She summoned a chunk of meat she still had from her own kitchen, slamming the thing into its mouth. Calm down, Im not food, she patted its fur and checked the cut on its leg.
Thats pretty nasty, not gonna lie, Ilea healed the creature before two of her ashen limbs closed around its left thigh. A quick jab separated the whole leg, enticing a pained roar from the dying bear.
Its alright, she reassured it again and healed the leg back, this time without corruption.
Ilea summoned another piece of meat and threw it into the nearby bushes. Now fuck off.
She released it and pushed the creature aside, already looking healthier than before.
A sigh left her as she leaned on a nearby tree, watching the bear run for the meat.
Ilea watched as it reached the meal, a smile on her face as her wings spread once more. She turned and barely saw another Wyvern, swooping down, its talons slamming into the Tusk Bear before it was flung off the island, limp and bloody.
Fuck, she murmured, following the Wyvern.
It caught the bear mid flight before landing on another island, gulping down a third of the monster before it noticed Ilea.
I just healed it, she hissed, her voice imbued with power.
The Wyvern turned towards her and roared.
ding You have heard the challenge of the Cliff Wyvern You resist its effects
Fucking right I do.
ding Veteran reaches lvl 15
Ill rip its remains out of your stomach, she said and advanced, stepping into the flames that enveloped her.
How come I search for six hours and now I find two? Fucking with me and my bear.
Ashen spears slammed into its wings, unable to penetrate the powerful scales.
The Wyvern roared once more, biting down on her head.
Ilea dodged, going to one knee as its mouth closed around her shoulder.
Like the taste? she asked, wedging an ashen limb into its slightly open mouth and releasing a beam of heat and cinders.
Ashen limbs cut into the creatures eyes as she held on to its head, her shoulder mangled but released.
You will die here, her voice thundered through the creature.
ding Monster Hunter reaches lvl 2
Ilea ripped off the Wyverns head after it had been killed, falling like the rest of them. She looked at the thing, its tongue hanging out in a grotesque manner.
She thought about keeping it but decided against it, instead throwing the head near the dead bear. May you both feed something else.
Ilea did store the rest of the corpse in her necklace.
ding You have defeated [Cliff Wyvern lvl 581] For defeating an enemy two hundred and fifty or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted
ding The Azarinth Sentinel has reached lvl 323 Five stat points awarded
ding Kin of Ash has reached lvl 322 Five stat points awarded
ding Sentinel Reconstruction reaches 3rd lvl 19
ding Sentinel Core reaches 3rd lvl 11
ding Azarinth Fighting reaches 3rd lvl 17
ding Heart of Cinder reaches 3rd lvl 10
She sighed once more and jumped off the island, continuing her flight through the layer. At least he didnt die to corruption.
Ilea encountered two more bears in the next hour, both in a healthier state than the previous one.
They avoided her, one even running into a cave to get away.
No more monsters showed up, Ilea soon landing on what she assumed to be the bottom of the ninth layer. Rock formations jutted out, devoid of the same greens that grew on top of the plateaus.
Pillars of stone grew from the bottom and vanished into the mists above.
Ilea noticed the smell first, familiar now but still just as heavy. Corpses littered the ground. Bears, Wyverns as well as a bunch of dead Wisp Ravens, the birds sometimes showing up on the edge of her sphere, their level ranging in the two hundreds.
They all had one thing in common. Corruption, she lifted some of the corpses and saw the orange ooze dripping out. Many were charred, taken out by the Wyverns that remained untainted.
They dealt with it themselves, Ilea mused. So much for world ending threat, she smiled.
She sliced open her arm and slathered some of the corruption into it. In case a Wyvern attacked, she could simply rip it out again.
No wonder so few of them remained.
There were dozens of creatures, just in the range of her sphere alone. Ilea was sure this layer had looked quite a bit different before the corruption came. More beasts to fight and levels to be gained but Ilea wasnt sure she could reliably take out two Wyverns at a time, let alone three or four.
Depending on how fast they regenerate, we might have an issue going back up.
Then again, we somehow got down. Well find a way back out, even if we have to dig a tunnel ourselves.
Ilea smiled and formed a drill bit with her ash, combining her limbs in the process. Might want to try that at some point, now that its so much harder.
She flew a couple meters above ground, avoiding the corpses. Most of the Wyverns were quite literally ripped apart, most of their scales charred and unusable. She still found five corpses that looked to be in passable shape.
Burning hot ash removed the remaining corruption before she stored them in her necklace. The other creatures, she ignored, their corpses easily coming apart with a couple strikes of her ashen limbs.
Twenty minutes later, she found a cave entrance leading down. Pieces of charred clothes remained near the entrance, as well as a small message carved into the stone.
Expedition came through Be vary of lightning
Ilea wasnt sure if it was carved by her group or by the expedition.
ding Blood Manipulation Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 1
Blood Manipulation Resistance 2nd lvl 1
A rare gift similar to poisons having an effect with dangerous results. Your blood was tampered with through magic but you have survived, making it harder for the next attempt by your enemy.
2nd stage: Stop putting weird substances you find into open wounds. Perhaps your parents told you that playing in dirt was good for your immune system but there are limits. Your body can now fight blood manipulation actively.
We both know I wont stop with it, Ilea said to herself and whatever god, system, supervisor, virus or delirious fever dream was talking to her.
Her resistance was off to level the skill faster but she checked quickly what it would look like with it being active.
She saw the corruption slowly recede, as if it was taken over by her own body. Hmm, seems like a good thing to have. Maybe some of the creatures developed this as well? Lets hope so.
If they did, no matter how often they got injured, they wouldnt get corrupted. Were they to survive in the first place of course.
Ilea checked her stats quickly and decided on Vitality and Wisdom for her ten remaining points. While Intelligence provided more, it was mostly offensive. Prioritizing offense over defense was a horrible mistake, in her experience that was.
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 323
- Active: Absolute Destruction 3rd lvl 18
- Active: Sentinel Reconstruction 3rd lvl 19
- Active: Azarinth Awakening 3rd lvl 17
- Active: Blink 3rd lvl 13
- Active: Sentinel Sphere 3rd lvl 2
- Passive: Sentinel Core 3rd lvl 11
- Passive: Azarinth Fighting 3rd lvl 17
- Passive: Sentinel Huntress 2nd lvl 20
- Passive: Azarinth Perception 2nd lvl 20
- Passive: Azarinth Reversal 3rd lvl 11
Class 2: Kin of Ash lvl 322
- Active: Armor of Ash 3rd lvl 19
- Active: Aspect of Ash 3rd lvl 14
- Active: True Ash Creation 3rd lvl 14
- Active: Heart of Cinder 3rd lvl 10
- Active: Storm of Cinders 3rd lvl 9
- Passive: Ash and Ember Unity 3rd lvl 11
- Passive: Ashen Wings 2nd lvl 20
- Passive: Eyes of Ash 2nd lvl 20
- Passive: Avatar of Ash 3rd lvl 3
- Passive: Keeper of Ash 3rd lvl 12
General Skills:
- Elos Standard language - lvl 6
- Harmony of the Drowned lvl 2
- Heavy Archery lvl 5
- Identify - lvl 9
- Meditation 2nd lvl 20
- Monster Hunter lvl 2
- Veteran lvl 15
- Arcane Magic Resistance 2nd lvl 16
- Ash Magic Resistance lvl 1
- Blast Resistance 2nd lvl 11
- Blood Magic Resistance lvl 15
- Blood Manipulation Resistance 2nd lvl 1
- Corrosion Resistance 2nd lvl 9
- Crystal Resistance 2nd lvl 1
- Curse Resistance - 2nd lvl 9
- Dark Magic Resistance lvl 15
- Death Magic Resistance 2nd lvl 8
- Dust Magic Resistance lvl 1
- Earth Magic Resistance 2nd lvl 2
- Fear Resistance lvl 9
- Health Drain Resistance 2nd lvl 20
- Heat Resistance 2nd lvl 20
- Gravity Magic Resistance lvl 2
- Ice Resistance 2nd lvl 7
- Light Magic Resistance 2nd lvl 4
- Lightning Resistance 2nd lvl 8
- Mana Drain Resistance 2nd lvl 20
- Mental Resistance 2nd lvl 16
- Mist Magic Resistance 2nd lvl 10
- Obsidian Magic Resistance lvl 3
- Pain Tolerance 2nd lvl 9
- Poison Resistance 2nd lvl 12
- Silver Magic Resistance lvl 1
- Soul Magic Resistance lvl 8
- Stamina Drain Resistance lvl 5
- Time Magic Resistance lvl 4
- Void Magic Resistance lvl 7
- Water Resistance 2nd lvl 1
- Wind Resistance 2nd lvl 12
- Wood Magic Resistance 2nd lvl 1
Status:
Vitality: 746
Endurance: 400
Strength: 510
Dexterity: 415
Intelligence: 735
Wisdom: 775
Health: 7428/7460
Stamina: 4000/4000
Mana: 7723/7750
Oof, my stamina, Ilea ignored it for now, knowing it regenerated rather quickly anyway. As soon as she would notice it being the deciding factor in a battle, she would level it again of course.
Luckily I did get that cost reduction with Keeper of Ash.
Well, she said to herself, looking at the remaining corruption in her arm before it was taken care of by her resistance.
She quickly walked over to one of the corpses and filled some of the empty flasks she had used in her poison training with the corrupted blood, just in case she didnt come across more of it. As unlikely as that may be.
One last time, she looked up to see if any more of the Wyverns wanted to get her. Nothing came.
She sighed and walked back to the tunnel leading down. There are like a hundred corpses down here and you had to get that fucking bear.
Layer ten, lets see, she thought and walked down, cautious of any beasts or traps that might still lay hidden.
The tunnel narrowed, the initial steep decline not present anymore as she felt a cold breeze come from the end.
She saw a vertical crack, an exit it seemed. Another powerful gust of wind washed past her, the air partially ignoring her due to her second stage resistance.
Her sphere offered little but the fact that there was open space. She stepped out, ashen limbs crashing into the flat stone extending into the distance.
Ilea was hanging from the wall and had a look at the tenth layer.
Below her, the abyss called, light shining from various crystal formations clinging to the ceiling as well as some of the stone formations.
Instead of islands of stone within a mist, the cliffs here were dominant. Huge cracks and missing sections reminded of the northern landscape. Compared to the surface, the ground level was much farther down.
Ilea spread her wings and floated to the nearest surface, a small ledge to the side of a rocky cliff. The winds howled, pushing against her a little but not enough to destabilize her flight.
She landed and noticed ice crystals had formed on her armor.
Ilea couldnt hear anything other than the wind, no smells or tracks that she noticed either.
Kind of expected to get blasted as soon as I step into this layer.
She explored a little more, jumping down as her wings moved through the sometimes narrow paths.
A little while later, she found a corpse, teeming with corruption. A Wyvern, dead and burnt.
There was little remaining on it. The scales were too damaged to be of any use.
Ilea looked up, noticing the sudden new light source inside the small open space she had found. Something blueish, quickly moving.
She lay prone and covered herself in ash, a small opening for her right eye remaining as her sphere barely reached the cliff side leading to the abyss.
A ball of lightning shot up and landed inside the space, a small bird that looked a little like a sparrow. Its eyes were a bright and nearly white blue.
Ilea assumed she could see it mostly due to her newfound second tier light magic resistance. A cute lightning bird.
It tapped along the ground, looking at the corpse as well as the rest of the cave before its eyes came resting on the pile of ash.
[Elemental Fragment lvl ???]
A bolt of lightning washed over her, Ileas precognition informing her about the damage. Nothing major but undoubtedly as powerful as Trian, if not more so.
Thanks to her resistance, a chunk of the spell was transformed into mana and stamina, her Sentinel Core adding even more.
Youre not exactly what I had expected, she murmured and watched the bird take flight, zapping her with powerful arcing lightning in quick succession. The bright blue light moved through the cave, licking the walls and ripping out chunks of stone in the process before it slammed into her ashen armor.
Ilea staggered back a little with each hit but her defenses held. Lets help you a little, birdie.
The next hit burned through her ash and into her bone armor, stopping only at her skin as her muscles tensed up.
Thats more like it, she said and smiled, seeing the bird charge up more attacks yet. I think Ill stay here with you, for a while.
She carefully looked at her healing, her health and the area before she blinked to the corrupted Wyvern, taking a handful of corruption and slathering it into one of the newly formed wounds on her arm.
If thats just a fragment, there might be something else down here. Something where Ill be happy to have a little more levels in my resistance.
Comments
If she's going to be using the ash for exotic things like chainsaws, it'd be nice to see some general skills being used with the ash (or maybe learned from an activity like the sawing). There are weapon skills and she's essentially making weapons.
Robert Mullins
Please sir, can I have some more?
Dominic French
She should grind her void magic resistance I bet the the second tier effect would be something universal
ArturScott
Ehh, i'm rereading azarinth, it's too bad author disided to kill Eve it was a good vibe beetwing her and Llia(((
tibbish
I think crossbows have shown up once or twice, some city guards had them. They're probably too slow for common use and skills can offset any advantages they might have vs a regular bow anyways I bet. Guns don't seem to exist though.
tibbish
Honestly it seems to me as a Ash Creator she should be able to use it in all kinds of ways with the only major limitation being her mana/mana regen and it seems to be a major element that hasn't really been explored well in story so far. She did try a bit early on when she got the Ash Creator skill but her ash creations fell apart or were too weak back then. Now it seems things would be different. She could for instance use her skills to create new arrows and use them in conjunction with her bow to not only lvl her general purpose Archery skill (which would effect her 3rd class) but perhaps enhance those arrows with her skills (like that Ash/Fire one to make them explode) for true long range attacks. Perhaps that isn't possible but we haven't seen her try in story yet I believe either and there still could be other things she does with it. Hypothetically she could use it do stuff like build a whole house, or a fortress, or a wall, or roads, etc.
Dominic French
Or throwing spears
Dominic French
And there hasn't been anyone with crossbows or guns
Dominic French
Its ironic that as a close ranged fighter her biggest weakness at the moment is probably close ranged physical combat. Hell it's hard seeing magic take her out when it supplies her with the mana needed to heal her. Getting ripped apart by claws or other physical implements could wear her down if she was going all out though
Dominic French
Hell she could probably add chainsaw Ash tips to all her limbs for practice and greater effect
Dominic French
I like how she's is using her Ash in more creative and complicated ways. The chainsaw Ash collar on the Wyvern for example. Her limbs are still awesome, bit it is nice to see her advance in more than just levels but also in application
Han Pol
can't do that every time, it would ruin the flow for ones, of course might still be that levels a bunch of times in there and get's another good generel skill or her first time option to get a third tier generell skill.
Jonathan
I sincerely doubt it because doing so would actually weaken Avatar of Ash's bonuses, especially with second tier resistances.
SoggyBiscuit
Well, it does say her body is able to actively fight manipulation, so I doubt it'll extend to her healing as well. Now she doesn't even need healing to counteract the corruption.
Robert Mullins
Since she just had an evolution at 300 I wouldn't expect any further evolutions till 400 at the earliest. I could see 350 being the start of 4th tier skills points or something 3rd class related or even something entirely new but not class evolutions.
Ziggy
As much as I want Ilea to hit her next evolution (at assumedly 350), I don't want her to try that without getting those third tier skills up to tier 3 level 30. But obviously that won't be easy considering her reconstruction skill, probably her most used skill, isn't even above tier 3 level 20 yet. Dunno how much she'll try and level her skills before the next evolution.
Jeff091
so is anyone still expecting: ch. 400 = Level 400 (i gave up on it, but somehow i still expect a major power up)
tibbish
Well the old way that was mentioned previously was never shown to be wrong in story either. Remember a Dark One was said to have gotten a 3rd class by performing a special action too (attacking and surviving a Basilisk I believe). So there are probably more than 1 path to a 3rd class available. They just all seem to be very difficult no matter which you choose though.
PatronTurtle
With Ilea getting Blood Manipulation Resistance tier 2 and suddenly being able to fight against it I hope this applies to all aspects of her and she can suddenly purge the corruption by healing others rather than having to cut it out and heal the flesh back.
Robert Nolan
Wait till she gets back to the Medic Sentinels, yelling at students is an irresistible temptation, especially when they keep asking the.same dumb questions.
sharkattack
Maybe a third class is obtained by levelling an X amount of General Skills to 2nd lvl 20. The quality of which is determined by the combinations levelled. And the third class unlocks 3rd tier General Skills. In this way, they're completely separate from the 2 main classes. Ilea would get some kinda bonus tank class in this case I assume.
LA
I like the idea if the veteran skill is the key to getting a 3rd class. If you hide in an area where a very high level monster is (and using its "monster hunter" skill), your veteran skill will rise fast, thereby getting your 3rd class early. Or go the Ilea way and fight a lot of strong monster that will eventually get the veteran skill high enough.
Straven
Pretty certain if a large group of people made bets on how crazy an act she'd do just to level resistances up saw this they'd of all walked away long ago. Thanks for the chapters.
Rip Woodham
Interesting bit that Monster Hunter seems to not level from killing, but rather using the skill. I fear it won't be high any time soon. :(
carebear90
I'm pretty sure she'd survive one allready. Not nessesarily shrug it of easily, but I'm pretty sure, she'd walk away from it.
carebear90
Me too. I'm also interested in how much she can level other people in Veteran through her own Monster Hunter skill... ^^
carebear90
Well... I guess it isn't really "hard" to level up, Just very time consuming. It's supposed to be a skill you have pretty much from birth on, or at least as soon as you get aware enough to use skills, and grow up with. There just isn't a way to powerlevel it, like many of her other skills. She is at the moment at a level of a child that lived in a big city (sensory input). I thought as much was obvious, when Niivalir took her low level in Identify as proof for her beeing relatively new to Elos.
Joshua Little
Any chance similar skills will merge or upgrade to a combined skill? Thanks for the chapter.
Alexander Dupree
Third tier skills keep leveling
Blaublue
Nice chapters. Will she get Lightning to 2nd20 with the help of this Little Elemental, and the theory that something happens when one has 5 2nd20 General skills will be tested? If it happens to be 10 2nd20 instead that shouldn't take long either now that she can turn her Resistance off.
MountainFox
I'm really curious what tier 2 in Identify will give now. Since it seems like the hardest skill to level the tier bonus must be insane. As usual thanks for the chappies!
Tommy Littlefield
Real excited for veteran tier 2 bonus I feel like it’s gonna be good plus will also help with next class upgrades
Ardenn Eriksen
I wonder when she'll be able to take a nuke to the face. Lvl.500 plus 3rd tier res in heat, light, and blast maybe?
Baba Vader
Thanks for the chapters!
Jonathan
Leading to the Veterinary Sentinel Medics.
Somerito
Thanks for the chapter. Lucas got to her, I can already see it, the Azarinth monster shelter.
Thanks for the chapters. Another theory is that general skills function like a class until lv 340, to get a 3rd skill point you need 5 skills 2nd lv 20 when you reach lv 200, then in lv 350 the skills don´t need 3rd skill points anymore and upgrade naturally or maybe it´s in lv 400 that this occur and you now gain 4th skill points instead.
