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Chapter 314 Worthy Opponents
🕑 Added 2019-09-28 12:03:25 +0000 UTCAuthor's note Sept 28th: Hey all. I hope you like the chapters. Feeling uninspired today. Gonna check out Code Vein. More hopefully coming on Tuesday.
Let me know about plot ideas you'd like to see. There's a ton in my list but it doesn't hurt to ask the hive :).
Cheers and a good weekend to you all. Oh and I'm not sick anymore, yey.
Chapter 314 Worthy Opponents
Ilea checked the plethora of messages she had received during the battle in Lisburg. Most of them were kill notifications, the highest level being a 261 mage.
ding You have defeated [Spearmaster lvl 151 / Iron Defender lvl 138]
ding You have defeated [Soul of Fire lvl 189 / Sharpshooter lvl 172]
ding Blood Magic Resistance reaches lvl 15
ding Dark Magic Resistance reaches lvl 13
ding You have learned the General skill: Stamina Drain Resistance
Stamina Drain Resistance lvl 1
The more rarely used drain magic focused on Stamina. Its effects are not as immediately noticeable as Health or Mana drain skills but the end result is just as devastating. You have leaned to resist such spells to an extent.
For all the death and chaos, the yield was certainly lackluster. At least the new resistance boosted her resilience thanks to Avatar of Ash. Probably the biggest change. The three were quiet as they flew towards Hallowfort. Ilea had Terok hold onto her back to allow for a faster flight. It was luckily dark enough already, no arcane storms active anymore. Maro could nearly keep up with her, the added weight of Terok making little difference.
What was that mist accruing all over the place? Maro asked when they entered the caves above the town.
Miststalkers. Cant kill them yet well actually. I should probably try again at some point, with all the changes. They drain mana and health, use mist magic when youre closer so I suggest staying away.
Interesting. Yea without a healer even I dont want to try drain monsters. The benefits usually come with a somewhat lacking defense so you should definitely face them again. Maro explained. If youre looking to fight more monsters that is.
Ilea didnt reply, listening instead to the noises coming from the caves around. Dead. Maro said after they found the destroyed gate and went inside.
Sounds like its already over. Terok said, the trio appearing in the crystal lit caves where both the Descent as well as Hallowfort lay. Smoke was rising from the town. Various buildings covered in flames. The bridge had been cut, likely not stopping many of the attackers. They landed on the statue holding the settlement, bones piling up as Maro moved them from his ring to the ground, the wet sounds of corpses landing on stone as Ilea looked over annoyed.
There was blood everywhere, Maro simply adding to the massacre. Dark ones as well as Feynor. Ilea moved a big body to the side, the thick armor punctured in at least fifty places, head dented in. Fuckers. She grabbed the heavy hammer and stored it in her necklace. The thing now manageable compared to last time she had lifted it. May you find peace. She thought and moved on, the two behind her following slowly, more and more of the corpses standing up. Maro dont use the dark ones.
She found an injured one holding a wound on his belly when she reached the square where the Hunters Den was located. Crouching down, she healed the wolf like creature, The Feynor. Where are they? Where are the survivors? Injured?
He winced, barely conscious as he coughed up blood, Ileas healing moving quickly to stitch up the cuts, regenerate the lost arm. The Abyss we are to gather there. Should an attack happen barricade it. Came from below. She nodded, standing up as soon as he was stable, his arm recovered. Thank you Warrior of Ash , He smiled as she nodded, blinking down the stairs and running towards the inn, Terok and Maro as well as a part of his undead moving quickly.
The inn was warded, her sphere unable to pierce the walls and her blink unable to bring her inside. Instead, she simply kicked in the doors, three dark ones holding them closed were flung backwards as she stepped inside. Lightning smashed into her chest as she moved in, her steps slowed by dark magic wrapping around her legs before she heard Haidens voice from further back, Hold! She is no enemy!
The spells stopped, the mages looking at her and then Haiden, confused. Do you have healers? Ilea asked, blinking to the cat who was wearing light armor for once, head covered in dark steel. Where are the Feynor? Dozens of Dark Ones looked at the newcomers with fear and confusion, some with weapons unsheathed, hammers and spears in hand. Others tried to get closer to the walls.
The injured are in a back room. The city is cleared, the attackers were more numerous coming from the Abyss. Catelyn went down there an hour ago. He informed her quickly, moving to the room as Ilea followed.
You two, go help the fox.
Terok motioned to Maro and the two rushed down towards the Descent, dozens of dead Feynor and skeletons following the necromancer, some of the Dark Ones nearly attacking the former before others stopped them. Ilea blinked into the room as soon as it had reached her spheres influence. Since when am I so squeamish. She was appalled by the smell, the sounds, the overwhelming scent of iron, wetness of blood on the floor. A single healer was there as well, a dark one with reddened eyes, tears still rolling down their cheeks as it moved from person to person, sending whatever little mana they had to stabilize the dozens of heavily injured.
Ileas ashen limbs moved through the groups, checking on each as she determined the most important to treat. Worse than I thought. She started with those about to die, her mana quickly rushing into them, focusing only to treat the worst of wounds before moving on to the next. Their health would recover on its own, given enough time but broken bones, open cuts, infections as well as fevers and coughs would slow it down, even make it impossible to recover at all.
The battles had been recent, meaning she could take care of missing limbs, ears, eyes or other body parts as well. The lacking knowledge on most of their anatomy had her use the reconstruction skill without advanced methods like she could on herself. The rebuilding was slow, taking much more mana than her own bodys or another humans would require. Still, together with the other healer, they quickly stabilized the group. The two worked without words, Haiden leaving again when he saw them start. The other healer was at level one twenty and after seeing her work, the being had sat down and started meditating, pulses of healing energy flowing through the room as Ilea saw the health of all recover slowly, infections taken care off and even the blood on the floor slowly evaporating.
She in turn focused on the individuals more, healing the missing limbs and taking care of the bad wounds that the pulses mostly ignored or could only start closing before they opened again. The likely sheer lack of mana and recovery the lower leveled dark one had would make this endeavor difficult anyway but she was glad she wasnt alone. There were too many here and simply spreading out her ash and healing all of them would suck her dry damn near instantly, not that it worked at all. The control she needed for effective healing could only be delivered with her ashen limbs or by touching them with her real body.
Ten minutes later, the worst had been taken care of and Ilea started focusing on two or three people at once, regrowing limbs as they coughed and screamed. They worked in silence, the pulses vanishing after a couple minutes but starting again two or three minutes later. It likely used up more mana the more people there were. She was impressed by the number of near corpses that had been brought into the storage room.
Good work. She said, clasping the dark ones shoulder as she stepped over, Can I leave you alone for a while?
The being looked back, eyes focused and hard before it nodded, another pulse of healing power washing through the room as if to confirm. She didnt wait, blinking twice to reach the tunnel leading down into the city between Hallowfort and the Descent. There were dozens of warriors and mages near the entrance, poised and focused as they waited for enemies coming up. She jumped down, their eyes focused on her before she focused on the magic around her. Dead, undead, skeletons. Quickly, she sensed the trail and rushed through the darkness, seeing the dozens of Feynor corpses all around, only increasing in number the closer she got.
Some skeletons lay broken too. Soon she saw light flickering in the distance, increasing in speed and blinking before she appeared in a big hall, the heat burning down on her. Flames still clung to many of the bodies around her, others had half of their torsos rotten off. There she is. She heard Terok, the dwarf wincing as he lay unmoving with his back on the wall near the entrance of another tunnel.
Appearing before him, she pushed healing mana into him. Theres still a bunch remaining. Catelyn must have run into a trap. Maro moved ahead. Bringing him back to half health and taking care of the worst wounds, she nodded.
Thought you could heal yourself now. She commented.
The dwarf chuckled, Low level skill still. Only reason Im still alive. Now stop being sassy and go. She nodded and rushed onward. Corpses littered the whole way and the next hall showed a similar picture. When she passed through the next hallway, she could hear fighting coming from ahead. Maro was deflecting a Feynors attacks, his body and arms clad in purple flame, beams shooting out that were in turn dodged by the drake like being, half his armor burnt away. Dozens of them were fighting the skeletons as well as their brethren, slain Feynor quickly standing up again to join their enemy.
The groups seemed more organized than those in Lisburg, healers as well as barrier mages present, the rest carefully moving the undead into corners, taking out Maros troops with efficient formations. Still he stood, pushing them back, slaying them with his own numbers rising. Dont interfere. Help the fox, shes one hall ahead. He said, no pause in his attacks and without fatigue in his voice, the Feynor he was facing hissed and appeared behind Ilea.
She simply blinked too, the glint of Maros beam coming at her the last thing she saw before she ran towards the Feynor guarding the entrance. Barriers were up, her ashen limbs crashing into them before she sped up and smashed her fists into them, the softened up invisible blockade shattering as her Destruction spread through it. She blinked right after, ignoring the enemies that remained. The heat increased again, Ilea starting to charge up her Heart of Cinder in addition, rushing into the flames.
Dozens of mages of warriors were positioned around a five meter tall and even longer fox clad in flame, teeth as long as her arms and roaring.
ding You have heard a mighty beasts roar. You are paralyzed for 0.5 seconds.
She noticed the change in her body but fought against it, the moment passing before her ashen limbs spread out, shearing into the mages who already struggled against the constant fire flaring up around them. Ilea blinked through, the flames sticking to her armor of ash as she landed on one of them, the mage wrestled to the ground as her ashen limbs crashed into his shields and armor below, her fists crashing onto his helmet time and time again.
A sudden burst of ice froze her up but her legs remained wrapped around him, her ash cracking the ice in the next second before her assault continued, his shields broken through with loud cracks, helmet deformed with the first punch before a heavy projectile impacted her, sending her towards the wall. She saw someone appear next to the injured mage as she tried blinking. The spear clinging to her flared up, preventing her skill before it exploded in green shards that dug into her armor, digging in further and further as they started moving.
Ilea shed her armor, moving the shards away with her ash before a new one formed, two Feynor appearing next to her. Hear of Cinder was released, making their weapons slow down, a scythe and shining claws before she blinked again, her armor reformed. The ice mage was already standing again, Ilea reactivating her area skill as she blinked at the two. This time she ducked, avoiding another spear from the other mage, her limbs lashing out at them as they jumped away, the ice mage vanishing before she felt the air around her cool down, her ash freezing over before she blinked.
The fox released a wave of fire, clawing at the warriors that had attacked her, three more mages sending their magic into them, another two spreading their magic outwards around the group. Ilea saw it in her sphere but couldnt see the effect before entering the area. Curses as well as a mana and stamina drain. She pushed on, the barriers stopping her ash as she formed lances, charging up Absolute Destruction while her limbs weakened the mana intrusion defense.
She heard the ice mage scream, ripping away the deformed helmet before his wounds slowly recovered, another Feynor touching him with a hand, hard eyes looking at Ilea. Leave and live! She shouted, her fist charging up as she stood unmoving behind the barrier, the mages focusing on the fox.
Ilea unleashed her punch, blue magic flowing through the barrier, a loud crash resounding before she blinked, spells rushing past behind her as she slammed into their healer, ashen limbs whirling around as they tried to pierce and slash into the mages that vanished or jumped away, raising their shields before her lances rushed at them. Two avoided the black missiles but one was pierced, having concentrated too much on the limbs coming for him. The lance was stopped by his bones but still sent him sprawling as Ilea pumped her destructive mana into the healer below her.
[Warrior lvl 305]
Several thoughts flashed through her at once when she saw the scythe wielder appear behind her, fire burning over them all in the instant after. Ileas armor barely moved but the scythe wielding warrior had buckled over, screaming before his armor started melting. The Feynor she held down was burning too, his scales melting but reforming quickly before she smashed her fist down, health sacrificed before eight hundred mana spread into him. Her position now hidden by the continuous stream of fire from the fox allowed her limbs to cut into the one below her.
She focused on his neck, cutting in again and again before she saw his spine, her ash glancing off, unable to get through. Her punches sent more and more destructive mana into him while her reverse Reconstruction worked against his recovery. The Feynor was certainly on her level when it came to regenerating his own wounds but hadnt shown an instant heal like she could manage with her third tier. Her Meditation was working hard to recover her mana but she was already using way too much. His resistance against the flames seemed high too, the scythe wielder having vanished out of the fire already, his back melted and his screams still resounding from somewhere to the side.
Sacrificing health again, her fist slammed down, Heart of Cinder releasing just as it started to damage her. The metal was now washed away, half of the warrior gone, his brain exposed as her ashen limbs cut into it. His bones were still undamaged but she didnt stop, her damage overwhelming before the ding resounded in her mind. The flames around her turned and moved towards the screaming warrior, her body suddenly freezing up entirely, icicles forming on her ash before she blinked away, appearing next to the Feynor struggling to rip out her ashen lance.
Ileas mana was down to half, her mind pushing the lance further into his wound as he screamed, his magic identified as the cursing and drain kind. He added health drain to the mix when she moved closer, the ice on her ash cracking before she dodged a spear flying at her. The thing exploded when it passed, sending black and green shrapnel into her armor, digging into it as her limbs added shallow cuts into the curse mage, denting his armor as she pushed him back.
The fox roared behind her, the shrapnel reaching her skin before they exploded once again, ripping into her flesh as one of them appeared behind her, Ilea turning to face the warrior as his claws ripped into her flesh and ash alike.
[Warrior lvl 310]
His helmet had been melted onto his face, blinding him entirely. The rest of his body was steaming, half molten and black but the attacks werent any less powerful. Still, her wounds were recovering quickly, her ash reforming as she focused on deflecting his claws and continuing her assault onto the curse mage behind her. Ileas movements were slow, allowing for meditation in between strikes. When she finally grabbed onto the warriors hands, she moved him towards the oncoming spear, seeing the projectile stop an instant later.
Fire rushed over the three of them as she heard the fox roar. The scythe wielder moved in and dug his weapon into the monsters leg, the flames moving up and away from her enemies. She watched the claw warrior scream through his molten skin and steel as he moved apart her arms, kicking her in the stomach and sending her back, his arms free again. Two thousand mana left. She thought, her armor reforming before shards of ice crashed into both her and the fox. When another lance rushed at her, a purple beam intercepted it, sending it crashing into a nearby wall before skeletons rushed in, cut apart by scythes and claws. She stepped towards Maro and the fox too moved closer, the heat setting his shield and her armor aflame, neither inhibited as her limbs reached the two, quickly healing their injuries. Their healer is down. She said, grinning as her own ashen lance slammed into an incoming metal one sent by their highest level mage, his armor black and undamaged.
Comments
Alexander Belousov
This is a disturbingly accurate analogy, I feel. Have a "like".
L Pedersen
So I imagine all the people on this website currently spamming f5 as cats waiting for their human to get back from whatever place it goes during the day so it can feed us
L Pedersen
Take heart and persevere! There is still time left in the day!
The latest I have ever seen an update is 21:00 my time. Now it's 21:30... No chappie today?? :-(
Daniel Drake
you know, i wrote this, but i forgot the most important thing to say. THANK YOU for all your hard work on this amazing story =), have a good day!
Matthias
I hope we get to see the kill notifications this release. I really want to know the class(es) of the healer. from how that was written, I half suspect they may have been azarinth as well
PloofDoodle
indubitably
Thaabit Rivertree
Agree on the release schedule. 2 chapters a post is better than one a day
j0ntsa
F5 squad here?
rkdesc
That taste of large-scale societal influence we got from her investment in Claire and Ravenhall felt almost as interesting to me as her initial run of grinding levels and gaining powerful skills. There's definitely a lot of potential there if done right
Alan McBrayer
Between her dealings with dark ones, elves, dwarves, demons, necromancers, librarians, ancient humans, and her own ancient order Ilea has more knowledge of the world that most any other human we've met. I would like to see her use some of the information to help progress larger portions of the world, not her personally, but introducing people who can work together to figure some of this stuff out. Maybe bring Terok down south to bring industry to Ravenhall, bring the baking mercenary north to teach dark ones the joy of cupcakes, tease Dagon with the knowledge of elven oracles, three suns in the sky, and cities of dark ones just to see him have a nerdgasm, bring Maro to her demon and necromancer friends so they can do more than just research in a cave, maybe take Elena with her when she takes revenge on the Forkspears so she can fix the corruption in that city. I love how she really helped a great deal of people in Ravenhall by helping put Claire in charge, giving her a bunch of money and a few guidelines and then flying off to have adventures. Ilea doesn't really have the temperament or skill set to really help the world, but she does know a surprising number of people who could do so and who owe her many favors. This way we can still have our favorite battle junkie punching her way through ancient dungeons and corrupt nobles while also getting an occasional update on how the world is slowly healing.
Rip Woodham
Yeah, I had to reread all the combat. Tried to read it fast caught up in the action and was all confused by the end. But read it slowly focusing and understood it fine.
Alan McBrayer
She could look for dark one enclaves beneath the human lands
Daniel Drake
Personally, I would like to see IIea go south and take care of the golden lilly! would love to see maro tagging along to at least he meets Clare and wants to stay and help Clare ;). I think its finally time for Trian to get off his ass and travel with IIea again, I also like the idea of an apprentice for IIea, but hopefully a new character we have not meet yet. Alice should be doing her own thing, to bring back the Azarinth Order since IIea does not care about that.
Hasome
Plot ideas: go in search of good leather or find a leatherworker for her new armor. Head south and recruit a new chef or two, maybe even run down pots (the baker guy, not sure if I got the name right). Maybe find a promising crafter and power level them to open her own leatherworking shop in the south? Catch up with Roland or head back to explore Karth or the area surrounding the Azarinth Ruins. Try to ride that giant lizard by the Arleen dungeon to get some levels in veteran. Search out the dwarves since approaching the elves would only bring fighting. Search out the demon that ran off at Ravenhall. Do a stint in collecting for Ilea's art / armor/ weapons / library for her home. Head south beyond human lands (likely poor idea since it would be too similar to a North lands arc).
Matthew Robinson
Plot thoughts: Alice Forkspear, and the Forkspears are tied to Golden Lily someway (not main actors but a part of it); The Hand and what Clare and Cless are doing and Sulivhaan and Dagon's reaction to Lucas; Roland and daughter Lily(?) get to Ravenhall; they find Albert the mage who knows Maro and had Cless in the ruins; Ilea uses the Tungston Key in the Taleen dungeon she's been in with Terok and they all teleport to Iz (they kill at least one Pratorian before leaving); Ilea asks Dagon about the Foundation of Glass. Forgive the spelling it's late. Thanks. Side Note: The fighting in this chapter got a bit confusing at certain points. I believe it was because of the identifiers used. Not 100% certain. I just know something about following the fight was difficult. I simply assumed everyone was something to be killed by Ilea except the Fox (which I think you should just refer to her as Katelyn (spelled that wrong).
Lowe K. Lyesmith
This is what I came for! Good story and casual violence. Good! ❤️
Jonathan
When she grouped with Sulivhaan's group to kill her first three elves, I don't think they held her back.
Oh and on the apprentice idea, it would be cool is she was the leader of a small low level group. Including Cless, Alice, and I think itd be super cool if she could meet a very young dark one, which she could add to the team to make 3 apprentices. She could train them up and I think it could make for a cool arc.
I would like to see Ilea take on an apprentice and power level them. I think Cless also being from earth would be a good place to start. I'd also like to see Ilea go on a search for more substances like the blue grass that gives her advanced leveling speed, and distribute it out to her party members/apprentice. And maybe creating a new version or subgroup within the hand. Maybe creating a new organization that is found in unexplored places like the north.
FusedBump96
Plot wise I think that it could easily go one of two ways. For me, I think I'm more interested in Ilea (and/or Maro and Terok) going back down south to the Human lands and seeing how things have changed and how Ilea's views on things will change how she interacts with people and organisations- especially compared to how she was before her stay in the north. BUT I think that's purely because there has been a lot more development down south and a lot of the characters I'm most heavily invested in are there and so clearly I'm going to find a plot that involves them more appealing. However, there are absolutely no in world time constraints for that plot. She could go back now or in 5 (in universe) years and it would make perfect sense for the same plot to happen (like the Baralia-Empire war could eaaaaasily drag on for years). There is no in-universe reason that that arc/plot has to happen NOW. So the second thing I think could be interesting is to continue this arc in the north with the Feynor and the Dark Ones. Or, hell, you could even wrap that arc up (to be returned to later or fully complete) and then start/continue the elf/Taleen arc and have her go south by way of the elven forest and explore elven culture* and her Tungsten key maybe before that arc then catapults her straight back south into the Baralia conflict or whatever you have planned (whatever happened to Alice Forkspear?). * If you did want to go back via the Elven forest to explore their culture and their war on the Taleen machines you would have to do some fairly serious character development for Elfie and the coterie of Cerethil(?) hunters. Specifically (in my opinion) they need to be more than tertiary characters and the romance subplot either gets developed- either casual or proper relationship (please no) or dropped. Edit: The Elven forest idea is probably my least favourite simply because I think it would take a lot of planning/plotting and development to make work and the I can all too easily see it going wrong if it gets bogged down. Quick critique: The fight in this chapter is a bit confusing, it's very quick and the perspective doesn't keep pace well enough for me to quickly intuit what's going on. To make it clearer this chapter probably needed another couple of hundred words to more clearly delineate who's doing what and where it's happening in relation to the 'readers' perspective. Also I like the two chapter release schedule. I find it a lot more satisfying than 1 ~every day. Much easier to maintain my interest and while keeping a decent handle on the plot.
tibbish
Nah she is a battle junky and is perfectly fine killing once the other side makes it clear they're gonna try to kill her no matter what. She won't normally start the fights but she is just fine finishing them
Baba Vader
Thanks for the chapters! I feel like its time to go back soon and expand on the previous plot points, namely the Golden Lily, Cless and other realm travelers and the Taleen teleportation stuff (also what happened to Kirian).
Books McGee
I think Ilea grinning at the end is kinda out of place, she just killed a healer, and not exactly cleanly; from what we've seen so far I would think she would be bothered by that
tibbish
Yeah I'm kind've surprised she didn't get the elf with the wood magic to work her over a bit so she could lvl her wood res. I know he wnated to get rid of his wood magic but I don't think he has done it yet
I could see her starting to focus more on some of the puzzles around around her about the world and slowly working them out. The Tungsten key, the leaders and goals of the elves, the north and how it came to be, the Glass Foundation, Realm Travel and ancient races.
Dominic Falcon
Oddly enough, I think at this point I'd like to see Ilea go back to the human lands and see how her morals (having gone up against those in the north) have changed; what she'll do with the warring factions. Ilea heading into elven lands might be interesting as well. Or, perhaps instead of elven lands directly, the taldeen dungeons that are spawning the machines the elves are fighting.
Rip Woodham
Ilea with a disciple..... hah! That'd be something to see. :-)
Rip Woodham
After giving these chapters a more thorough read it's interesting that Maro and Catelyn appear to be around Ilea's level of capability. Not because of raw power or level though they have that, but in terms of sheer ability. I thought Maro would disappoint but he really hasn't. Well his summons are weak but shrug. Maybe I had low expectations. His summons aren't a crutch though but just a tool in his kit he uses intelligently. He's impressive. Catelyn held on for a long time and was giving them hell. When Ilea came she reacted instantly and appropriately to situations of opportunity created by her, while being under the most pressure herself. She and Maro can both take care of themselves well against things that would threaten Ilea, even if not quite as well. I like the dynamic and think we might be seeing them as a group in the future. I've always felt like Ilea's groups have held her back and been annoying before. In the Hand, with the Elves, in the Descent.... every time. Technically she had a good team in the Hand but it was still... meh. This trio is different. I actually want them to face things together after this chapter. :-) Maybe they could even grow together, though ultimately their drive would fail to match Ilea's. In any case, I'm looking forward to some group challenges now!
agentjongon
Extremely effective if done right.
Robert Nolan
Ok, I know it was a typo butniw we have to see her find the legendary shoes of power before going home.
For options I think fit Ilea. Try to get a few resistances from dark ones. Finish clearing lvl 500 undead. Ask about other dungeons, or go back to the poison dungeon etc. After treasury visit dwarf city with Terok. Go south, and check up on friends. Keep going south, or go even further north etc to see new areas. Use random teleport to explore a bunch of dungeons for treasure or find exit to see new parts of the world. She knows 4 elves so she might visit that forest, might want higher level though. Just visit some of the other races, cat people etc. Longer term go home or other advanced civilization for a music player etc. Further out of left field, learn some magic without using system, I think she could cast fire spells without a class at one point. Perhaps learn to read runes or the stars for navigation. Try an pick up other general skills, actually use under water breathing. Try to fly as high as possible. Actually look for a dragon, or go back and try and kill the basilisks.
rkdesc
Yeah, it'd be nice to explore a little more into the crafting side of magic that was hinted at with the alchemists and enchanters -- not to say that Ilea should pick it up as a hobby for herself, but rather stumble across some more interesting higher-end magical effects. Like a cloak of unnoticeability, a mask that magically induces terror, or some herbs that accelerate time. Maybe an investigation into some discovery about the green moss that's everywhere in Taleen dungeons. DImension-hopping toads and large-areas infected by mind-controlling fungus are some of the more interesting animal types I've seen in other works. There's a lot of room for the awe of discovery and alien environments in this setting.
G. Harthane
Apologies about the cut here, I know it's a shit one. I do try to be pretty harsh on the word count though, otherwise I'd be struggling even more than I already am to get the chapters done :P. And I doubt you'd want a "Just one chapter today because it's 5k words long" post!
Morog T Tiny
I want her to gain a 3rd class... keep up the good work
I would like to see some time spent discovering more in regards to some of the items Ilea has come to own, like the tungsten key and the ancient armor Goliath crafted for her. I'm really curious about the puzzles these represent.
Tim Deral
Hmm. I would honestly like her to simply teleport back to ravenhall and make like 3-4 chill chapters, where she shoes of her powers but no real threat appears. Then she could light a spark for a magic school. That could be a great side project aswell. After that I*d start changing the lvling process. I'd introduce a Achievement/quest systhem after lvl 300. So instead of lvling you for example do a "heroic deed" and gain 10 strength for that etc etc. It would freshen things up and you'd avoid the gigantic strength gap between normal humans and her ^^ Gl having a lot of fun atm.
Jonathan
Someone knows her basic WoW PvP strategy: Kill the Healer first!
Jonathan
Given the propensity for repetition we've seen from the Taleen, I suspect it's a great hall, treasury, dungeon, throne room, one or more Praetorian's... Deja Vu all over again. She might even be able to accelerate her Heat Resistance training in some more green fire and her Corrosion Resistance training in another lake of acid.
PloofDoodle
I feel Green is more like Ilea, in regards to motivation, he just wanted to battle and fled when things didn't go his way. He would probably just be exploring the wider world.
Arkeus
Mmmh. Was Hallowfort bigger than I thought? I had gotten the impression that Vineyard was a bigger place than Hallowfort. If Allowfort is not bigger than Vineyard, then this strike force is basically a anti-catelyne strike force. Vineyard had no 300+ attacking, but Catelyn rate like 5 different 300+ and a dozen elite high-200s. It's unsure how much Feynor and dark ones have in high levels, but considering that this stalemate has been going for hundred of years, and this is a sudden offensive, and they couldn't spare any 300s for Vineyard? This strikeforce might actually be the equivalent of "Emergency anti-cataclysm strike force". So, huh, in that case Catelyn would be a huge deal. I am probably completely off though.
Jonathan Walker
Damn you for the cliff hanger lol but still love the chapters
Atlas Dwarf
Thanks for the chapter. Interesting to see Catelyn in battle mode but I wonder where the other 'elders' of Hallowfort are, unless the Feynor already got them before moving onto Catelyn. Also will be interesting to see what the queen is up to. As for plot, short term she really should have another Resistance leveling session again, while having a training montage against current monsters (ie Mistalkers, Famine Crows, Arcane Storm) before further North exploration. Maybe even finally max out Pain Tolerance and try to get Harmony of the Drowned/Fear Resistance/Veteran to 2nd tier. Also needs to figure out her Trial armour. Long term well she can't really do most plot points until back in human lands so maybe the Dwarven Key and finding a Taleen teleportation center.
Corwin Amber
thanks for the chapters.
Simon
Good chapter! Well written. The action was good, felt more alive and fluid to me than before. I also like how you approached army fighting; the troop organization, tactics, and overall movements. I want to see ilea learn a bit of this as a consequence.
Bob Xander
One of the things I remember being mentioned at the start of the story was skill (leveling speed) boosting plants like the blue grass(?) that inducts people into the Azinarth class. Kinda surprised Ilea hasn't encountered anything like that in the north (maybe in the plant dungeon?). As other have also said, would be nice to see the other Azinarth healer (the noble) again.
Daryl
Like mentioned by some other Readers i would like to see Alice again and maybe take her in as Ilea's desciple? Well i at least want to find out more about the Forkspears agenda. I would also like to find out more about the Order.
Rip Woodham
I'd like to see a chapter of The Hand open in the North. Maro could lead it. I want to see Elana in a position of power, without stepping on any toes. Perhaps as the Hand's ambassador? The Hand is rapidly becoming something else with Ilea's involvement. But I want to see many sagas of adventure in the North first. :-) I want there to be a ton to see, explore, defeat, grow from. A slew of new and unique challenges and environs. When she finally leaves the North for some other challenging area, there could still be challenges left behind for her, and work for the Hand left to do. I want to see the Azarinth Order rise up and become something else, something nobler than it's been. I've thought for a long time this could be done through Alice like the Hand through Clare. I really like Robert's idea above of it being a neutral force for good. I want to see humanity's mentality come closer to Ilea. She'll be isolated enough from the rest by her strength, without being alienated from them through her mentality. Something like the industrial revolution, but with XP grinding hah. I think our history has shown that humanity can rise to any occasion. They just need a fire lit under them from a greater threat, with the Hand to nurture them and the Azarinth Order accepting members. ;-) I'd love to see Ilea burn out a long time into the future. When she becomes so strong that even in other realms there is little challenge for her, except those things too far above her. When humanity has begun on the road to becoming something much greater than it was when she came. Then she can turn herself into an Ashen statue and sleep for a time, until she's needed and there is more to do again!!! :-D Edit: Naturally, I am not just all about humanity. But it's mostly humanity that needs to change.
David Brims
Really really want to see what was behind that big door that Terok has ready to open in the Taleen dungeon.
Håvard
On the dawentree one do they have to intercept her again? There is an Rouge Azarinth runing around who's problem those arw. Well except the lightning mage :)
sharkattack
Lay the foundation for a Hand outpost in the north. Start a chicken nugget farm. Face her fear of swimming. Speed clear the Izna dungeon. Make friends with a mountain-sized critter. Look for the mysterious Blue Reaper dungeon. Solve the Miststalker mystery. Build another home away from home in the north. Form a team of lvl 300 dudes and attempt things way out of their league.
Alex K
I feel like in terms of plot some of the earlier support characters have been forgotten and ignored for a long time, so it would be interesting to meet up again with some of them, such as the people Ilea met in the Dawntree Taleen dungeon, Alice, Roland, etc. Also the Dawntree plot line has been left alone for far too long. At this point unless a link is established between them and the Golden Lily, it would be hard to even imagine how they could present a danger to Ilea, so that needs to be dealt with soon or it will just be boring when it's eventually resolved.
Ilea wants to revolutionize how the world does war and improve relations between species, but I don't think she really has the motivation and skills to pull it off. What I think is more likely to happen is that her ideas will inspire one or more of her many companions to be the one to really push for change and not Ilea herself.
L Pedersen
I agree with you that I don't think it's Kyrian, but I don't think it would be all that hard to fool him in this instance, most humans concider dark ones monsters. "Hey metal mage, we saved your ass, come help us kill this super scary fox monster and it's minions"
Robert Nolan
Good chapter. As for plot ideas, what ever happened to Alice Forkspear, it has been hinted repeatedly that her family is still looking for her. Also, Ilea keeps acting like she wants to change the world, if only to impose some of the "rules of war". That isn't something she can do alone. What if she finds another source of Blue Moon Grass and decides to refound the order with a mission to protect civilians and stop atrocities.
agentjongon
My first thought was Kyrian. But Ilea can see a person's body through her skill and she hasn't reacted to his so I doubt that it's Kyrian. And the likelihood of Kyrian being a higher level than her is extremely low. My best guess for him powerleveling is that he can counter Praetorians due to his curse magic and kill a bunch of those. And I don't think Kyrian would aid the Feynor, unless they somehow saved his life at some point or something. But at this point I'm making wild guesses.
L Pedersen
Pretty sure Caitlyn made the roar so it would be silly if she was affected by her own ability :P
L Pedersen
It would be interesting to see her again peroid. Ilea has shown no interest in rebuilding the order of azarinth but maybe Alice could?
It would be fun to see Ilea give some pointers to the noble girl that gained an Azarinth class.
agentjongon
Catelyn has a veteran-type skill!?
Jonathan
Yep, and she currently has 15 stat points unassigned by my count, pending possible level-ups for the healer just killed.
L Pedersen
I'd love to see Maro go full on vengance mode, but I really don't want Elane to die off screen so...
Chopper
Awesome chapter! As for plot ideas I think it would be neat for her to run into Zoy at some point. With her emplyoer, Arthour Redleaf dead she has no reason to be enemies with Ilea anymore. Having a similar skill set would make for an excellent training partner. I'd really like to see her make a serious attempt at clearing the descent and finding its secrets. It would be fun to follow her as she systematically crushed every varying type of monster in the area and not return south until some event forces her hand. While she's been away the demon Green will have been busy building up his own forces in some unknown land. Ilea will find out the purpose of the tungsten key but in doing so many people will be made aware of its existence and that she has it and there will be some absurd Feynor/demon/elf/taleen/human (specifically the powerful members of the golden lilly) clash. Well its not a plot at all, just disparate ideas...
L Pedersen
High lvl metal mage in black armor? Curses? Did the Feynor find Kyrian?! Also come on! Cutting a chapter in a fight like that! Do you have a word count rule for your chapters that you'll never break for anything or something? :P
carebear90
I wonder, where the queen is. I doubt, she could hide when the enemies are all over 300 here, like it seems. I really don't want to see Maro go full "reveng for wife"mode...
PloofDoodle
He puts them in his ring
Arkeus
I wonder how Maro's skeleton army works when he travels? do they follow on foot? then how come they can follow so quickly from Vineyard to Hallowfort? Or does he put them in skeletonspace? Also surprised he is 'almost as quick as her' when travelling, considering how much of a focus Ilea has on speed + flying, when he apparently isn't much about either. Also, those Felnor seems pretty damn strong for early 300s, so they should probably be relevent to their overall armies.
Nice to see Ilea kicking some LVL 300 ass. She has proven once again that not all classes are created equal. Lack of mana seems to be Ilea's biggest hindrance currently. I think trying figure out the next stage meditation and pumping WIS are the way to go.
It's been a while since Ilea had a throw-down to the death with equal leveled humanoid non-monsters. I guess the increased damage output she received in her class evolution has the drawback of not being able to fight at near-peak for indefinite lengths of time anymore though.
