Aliandra “Where do we go?” Ali asked, turning to look at Ryn as they stood waiting in li the Novaspark Academy of Magic. She was a little out of breath, having had to rush across town to get Ryn, and then to the bank to get money. But they had still arrived ahead of Mato and Malika.
Where are they? Ali wasn’t sure what was keeping them, but given how much pain Malika was in, it couldn’t be good.
“We should go to Vertias,” Ryn answered, putting the ats away. “It seems to be the closest major towhe northern border of the Torian kingdom with a Teleport Locus listed.”
The line moved on, and Ali found herself finally fag the receptionist. He looked harried by the sheer number of people, but he still looked up at her from behind his desk with a small smile.
“Emergency transport to Vertias for four please,” Ali said.
“Of course,” he answered, fiddling with a panel and doing a few calcutions. “Professor Addlestone is avaible, and the fee for four to Vertias will be forty-fold and six silver.”
Ryn gasped at the price, but Ali simply emptied her pou the ter and ted out the s quickly, pushing them over to the receptionist. It was most of her remaining money, but she didn’t care – they could always make more. It was a good thing teleportation services were open again – Ali hadn’t been sure if she could trust the rumors that the Torians had been driven off, but she had seen no signs of any suppression magi the way over.
“Here you go,” he answered, returning an invoid a mana-sigoken. “Room 6301.”
Ali o him, taking the receipt and token. She remembered the way from when she had teleported out to Volle a Naia.
“Ali, that’s expensive. Maybe I should stay behind?” Ryn whispered.
“No, I need your help whe there. I have no idea where to go.” She hadn’t realized just how much she relied on for navigation, and now that he was gone she felt lost.
Ali turo see Mato entering via the huge doorway into the academy, and Ali’s heart ached to see him carrying Malika in his arms. Her friend, who had been so powerful in battle, was reduced to an invalid who couldn’t even walk on her own.
It took just a couple of mio get upstairs to the office of the etric professor of space magid suddenly they were iias, standing in the ter of an inscribed teleportation locus.
***
“We rent a wagon from the distriear the city’s northern gate,” Ryn said, looking up from the tourist material she had grabbed from the teleportation locus receiving room.
“No,” Ali said. “That’s too slow, I’ll fly us. Hop on.” She summoned a broad disk of barrier magi the middle of the street and climbed up onto it. She hovered awkwardly by while Mato id Malika gently down in the ter. She itched to help, but with her size and ck of strength, she would simply be in Mato’s way. After Malika was finally situated, Ali sat down beside her while Mato and Ryn took their pces toward the front and Ali set them shooting off over rooftops to the sound of startled shouts from passersby.
“Go north,” Ryn said, her nose already buried in the maps.
Ali directed the barrier out of the nate at a healthy clip, finding an arid dusty ndscape with sparse bushes and withered trees dotted about. The dry air had an unfamiliar, peppery tang perhaps from the bushes. Below them, the road wound its way northward, but it seemed only to be maintained for the first kilometer or two, and after that, it petered out into an a dirt track with ruts where geions of wagon wheels had carved grooves deep into the rocky ground.
“This way?” Ali asked.
“Yes, follow the road,” Ryn said, gng up from her books and maps.
“Ok,” Ali said. Through the haze of heat and dust, the mountains slowly loomed rger as the day wore on. She hadn’t had the moo teleport her minions, nor did she have a lot of space left on the barrier disk, so, for safety reasons, she summoned a couple of emerald-green Poison Wyverns to act as an aerial escort. With nothier to do, she also summoned a flight of Luminous Dragoo act as extra eyes and a single Kobold Acolyte, just in case.
“I’m scared, Ali,” Malika whispered.
“We’re right here with you, Malika,” Ali said. Malika had expined how her bloodline was ing her maximum health, stamina, and mana uably. It seemed even more terrifying than her domain withdrawal – at least her withdrawal redictable and had a simple fix. Not knowing what to do, Ali simply held her hand and sped them along.
Where will we find an Elder? There’s nothing out here. Nothing at all.
stood staring at the corpse of the oversized Obsidian-Scaled Monitor Lizard, breathing heavily. It had been a rough fight; the monster’s tough, bck-scaled hide had protected it far too well against his arrows. He had scratches and scrapes all over his fad arms, but he had stuck to Lyeneru’s rules aen it without using flight.
“Good job,” she said, desding and summoning her skinning ko her hand.
“Thanks.” Lyeneru had made hunt every mohey entered on the way, each time giving him a differe of restris or challeo achieve. While Ambush had not been one of the skills she had been looking for, he had to admit it was a far bigger upgrade for his css than he had even dreamed of. With his ability to dey his magihas till the st possible moment, he was able to take advantage of the bonus to critical damage, applying it to his magical as well as physical damage. So far, he had beatehing she had thrown at him, and the new Ambush skill was a rge part of the reason for his success.
Aah, finally, he thought as the long-awaited chime sounded. Apparently, he wasn’t half as patient as he would have liked to think.
Archer of Light has reached level 40.+10 attribute points.
He sidered his ten points carefully. Lyeneru had reended a little more iment intth to help use more powerful bows. But I don’t have ht now. It was uhat she would have him fight, but if she did, he o i in survivability. That meant boosting his evasion, speed, ah. tinuing to follow his carefully charted pn for optimal growth, he spent five points oerity and three on intelligence, pg the st two in vitality.
Radiant Archery has reached level 26.Explorer has reached level 25.Azrael's Wings has reached level 12 (+2).
Css skill slot unlocked.New skills are avaible for Archer of Light.
Please be something good. The Pathfinder had offered him temporary use of her mentorship entment and accelerated his skill adva dramatically, and for all the help and advice, all he had to do oint in the dire of the Death Knight whenever she asked. Something she presumably had the skills to do for herself anyway. This was all for his be, and still, he yearo show her what he could do. To impress her, as impossible as that sounded.
New skill unlocked.
Css level has reached 40.Survived a battle against more than 100 foes.Dexterity has surpassed 260.
StrafeStamina: Magically split your arrow firing secutively at each of the [2 + skill/10] foes. Split arrows are hasted taking the same time to fire all arrows as a normal single shot. Light, Ranged, Area, Dexterity
Oh, nice! Area damage. Not as effective as one of Ali’s fireballs, but still, it was a multishot skill of a sort.
New skill unlocked.
Css level has reached 40.Two or more Light skills have reached 20.Killed over 50 monsters in a sitle. Intelligence has surpassed 100.Heaven’s StrikeMana: Use half your maximum mana to cause a huge pilr of light to strike your enemies from the sky.Light, Ranged, Area, Intelligence
Iing… This skill was also an area damage attack, but it sounded more like a mage skill. Does it even use my bow? It was ridiculously expensive, especially since mana was already such a problem for him. Maybe if I had an illimitable font of the stuff… smiling wryly to himself he checked the skill notification.
New skill unlocked.
Css level has reached 40.Mentor: Lyeneru Silverleaf.Defeated a higher-level enemy while dodging every attack.At least one Illusion skill has reached level 20.Dexterity has surpassed 250.Intelligence has surpassed 15e ArmorMana: Bending light around you, your body creates afterimages as it moves, making it signifitly harder to hit you. Evasion is increased by [skill x 7 + intelligence + dexterity]. Reserve: 10%Light, Defense, Illusion, Intelligence, Dexterity
Illusory armor?
“gratutions on the level up,” Lyeneru said, ing to nd beside him. “Get anythi?”
“These are my options,” said, immediately sharing his skill choices with her.
“Mirage Armor, definitely,” Lyeneru said, without even a hint of hesitation.
“Are you sure?” asked before he caught himself questioning her experience. But she didn’t seem to be annoyed by his presumption. “It’s just an illusion.”
“Strafe is strong, but it has a big weakness – you ot choose your target. I’ve seen many strafe builds locked down by a mohat outspawn their firing rate, and they are simply uo shoot the spawner,” she answered.
“I see,” said, immediately recalling the fight against the Toxic Spitter slime in the jungle below Dal’mohra.
“Heaven’s strike is very strong, especially if you get it to work with Ambush. But that armor will keep you alive.”
“I assume it only works against sight?” asked.
“Yes,” Lyeneru said. “But the Death Knight uses sight. More importantly, most monsters use sight, and you have an advanced Identification skill. Train that till it helps you identify modes of perception and you will know which fights to run from.”
“Ok,” answered. She seemed incredibly knowledgeable, uanding the nuances of the skills even for a css that was not her own. It made sehough, she had a wealth of experience he couldn’t hope to match.
“If you disagree, you s it out after we kill the Death Knight. Or better yet, repotes of Light skill, unless it advances well. If you pick Mirage Armor, you have a det shot of surviving the Death Knight – at least, with me there to help you.”
“Yoing to let me fight?” He bit his lip. Yes, I just sounded like an idiot.
“A small role,” Lyeneru said, smirking. “I’ll admit I was a little skeptical of yht affinity at first, but that is one of the best defensive skills I’ve ever seen on a silver rank.”
Whoa, hold on a frig sed! A pliment, plus she’s going to let me fight the Death Knight? For a brief moment, it was all he could think of. Nothing else mattered. It was nigh impossible to untahe excitement and pure terror that rose within him. The Death Knight was a terrifying foe, and he was going to go up against it. He just hoped he didn’t mess it up and embarrass himself in front of her. Well, he’d be too dead too fast to be worried about the embarrassment.
Oddly, the macabre thought eased his ay and found himself actually smiling – smirking, even – as he filled his final css skill slot.
You have gaihe css skill Mirage Armor.
“I’m ready,” he said.
“Let’s hunt!” Lyeneru let a rare grin show. “Trust me, after this fight, you are never going to want to disable that skill.”
Malika Malika drifted in and out of sciousness, vaguely aware of the passage of several days upon Ali’s flying barrier and her tinued presence beside her. Her moments of luess were dominated by frantically cheg the cumutive degeion of her bloodline which progressively ed her life and energy, and her bouts of shooting pain and visual distortion.
Malika tuned out Ali’s reassurances, not because she didn’t care, but because she found it almost impossible to trate on the words while the jolts of pain punctuated each terrifying notification.
Your bloodline has deteriorated. -4% to maximum health.
I don’t want to die. The world faded to bck as she passed out once again.
Malika came to, but this time something was different. The wind on her skin was gone and she y on the ground by a rock.
We’re not moving.
Somewhere up ahead, voices were arguing. Ali, Mato, and Ryn – her stant panions for the st several days – were all spicuously absent. She groaned as she sat up, finding her body to be weak and unresponsive, but she dared not heal herself lest she trigger another round of painful notifications and the further deterioration of her bloodline.
She crawled around the rod stared out at a frontation. Mato stood out front with his chest puffed up, blog the path as he gestured emphatically with his hands. Beside him, Ali levitated on her barrier while Ryn took cover in the back. Several rge wyverns circled menagly in the air.
But Malika had only eyes for who they fronted. She gasped.
Out in the ter of the dipidated road were three people dressed in pin homespun robes. She squio try to make out the details. The two monks standing deferentially to the rear wore the colors of disciples; a slender woman with bck short-cropped curls and a stocky mountain of a man with a shaved head. At the front stood a dark, weathered monk wearing a brown robe. His arms were folded across his chest, and ad the left side of his face were the ornate runic tattoos signifying his station as an Elder.
How is he here? Malika did nhe man, but she pulled herself up to her feet to get a better look.
His pierg blue eyes fixed ohe moment she emerged.
“Child of Ahn Khen,” he spoke directly to her. “I am Elder Rezan, we have e with great haste from Kezda in search of you. I withe beginnings of your awakening in my vision; your bloodline may be in grave danger if we do not follow the proper awakening rituals.”
Malika shuffled forward and bowed to him with the form of respect her parents had taught. “Greetings Elder Rezan, I am Malika.” She still did nhe man, but that was not surprising as the only elder she had ever met was Inaya, the Bakahn Vilge Elder.
Immediately, she saw the tension drain from Mato and Ali as they lowered their guard.
“Please do not use your bloodline skill until we plete the rituals,” Rezan said brusquely, turning away. “My camp is close; we will do it there.”
“I ot turher of them off,” Malika answered, stumbling as she tried to follow.
“You have two?” he asked, registering surprise on his weathered face.
“I have Crity and Soul Sight,” Malika answered.
Rezan raised his eyebrow in surprise. “Crity has not been seen in decades. e. Time is against us.”
Leaning heavily on Mato’s arm, Malika pressed on and as soon as they reached Rezan’s tiny camp, the pain struck again like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky. Malika gasped, driven to her knees as she clutched her head, as the world around her lurched, fading to bck briefly before returning to normal.
Your bloodline has deteriorated. -5% to maximum stamina.
Rezan turned sharply. “Your bloodline is already unstable.” It was not a question, and she could see the harsh emotion written on his face.
Malika nodded. “For three days?” she g Ali, avoiding Rezan’s eyes.
“Five days,” Ali corrected.
Rezan crouched in front of her, his eyes beginning to glow with an inner light as he held her head and stared, looking right inside of her, and she found herself entirely uo look away.
“Is there any hope?” Malika asked, ashamed of the tremor she heard in her voice.
He sighed, a frown creasing his weathered face. “You are toone for the rituals already.”
Malika’s heart dropped.
“The only ce you have now is to accelerate your awakening. In aimes, awakening was the result of surpassing yourself in battle. An awakened bloodline will heal,” he said. “But… you will have to defeat me to even have a ce at awakening.” He paused, the lines around his mouth seemingly graven in granite, yet she sensed aion – regret, perhaps – beh his stark pronou. “The only other path is death as your bloodline es you.”
Malika knew he wouldn’t alloath. If her bloodline ed her, she would lose her mind and bee destructive and violent before it tore her apart. It was his duty to end her before that happened. With luck, she would die before she could do any real damage.
Malika got to her feet and raised her guard. “I’m ready.” She staggered a little as a jolt of pain hit her.
“You realize I ot go easy on you?” Rezan said. “If you are uo awaken, you will die in this fight.”
“Don’t do it, Malika!” Ali gasped. “You ’t!”
“If this is the only ce I have, I will take it,” Malika said firmly.
To her left, Mato shifted, getting a little closer to her, and then his body twisted, growing into a tree.
“Very well,” Rezan said. Carefully removing his outer robe, he ha to one of his disciples. He stood in a rexed stance, his athletic arms and torso hardened from a lifetime of training. “You must use all your skills to defeat me. Overe the pain of the bloodline.” He took a basic stance.
Malika matched him.
“Begin,” he anded.
Malika had no doubt her ce of winning was minuscule. The Elders’ skills were legendary; she didn’t eveion going all out. Immediately, she activated her Diviep, accelerating herself to close the distan an instant, unleashing a perfectly executed bination kid punch with her Soul Strike discharging in rapid fshes. Rezan’s body shifted slightly, avoiding the kid defleg the pun his forearm with araordinary ey of motion.
“I said use everything,” he said with uling calm as he avoided her flurry of attacks. “St to ignore your Soul Sight. Do you think you defeat me without it?”
Malika leapt bad paused. Her body recoiled in anticipation of the excruciating pain, but she did what he demanded. Her entire vision exploded in a riot of colors and distortion. Rezan’s body lit up with a brilliant white energy that wavered and shimmered, ing her perception. An enormous jolt of pain drove her to her knees once more.
Your bloodline has deteriorated. -7% to maximum health.
She forced herself up with a roar that was equal parts frustration, anger, and fear, and charged him once more. Burning stamina, she poured all her roiliions and eled the pain into her attacks, blurring punches and kicks and elbow strikes while Rezan blocked eae fwlessly, his energy flickering crazily in her ed and pain-wracked vision.
She fought purely instinctively, her usual calm and rational fighting style impossible with the pain she was uo mitigate, even with her Healing Mantra, and her entire field of vision and bance lurg and ing as she tried desperately to push her body faster, harder, and more precisely.
With a sudden fsh, too fast for even her reas, his left hand shot out and ected with her elbow, spinning her, and knog her to the ground. She rolled head-over-heels, briefly cradling her numbed arm against her body before she surged to her feet and attacked again. The Elder’s mouth hardened into a firm line, aruce again, hitting the same elbow. This time the fsh of energy was signifitly stronger, and Malika distantly heard a crack.
Your bloodline has deteriorated. -3% to maximum health.
In the haze of pain and ed vision, she got up from where she had somehow hit the ground, and attacked once agaiering surprise as her arm did not respond.
“Heal it,” Rezan anded firmly.
Dimly, she realized her arm hung broken at her side. She had not evehe pain. She cast Healing Mantra and the arm knit back together with a searing burst of pain that seemed to ore from her use of stamina than the grating of bone snapping back together. She unleashed another series of attacks, but Rezan blurred into a. With two powerful kicks, Rezan broke both her legs, o the shin and the other mid-thigh. She colpsed on the ground, her legs suddenly uo support her weight. She groueeth as she triggered her Healing Mantra again.
Your bloodline has deteriorated. -3% to maximum stamina.
This isn’t w, it’s killihrough the haze of pain, she felt a chill down her spine as her bloodline’s deterioration accelerated due thting. Every time she used a skill, or used her stamina or mana, it ripped and tore her up inside. She got up as soon as her legs worked, and blinked her eyes, trying to see him clearly through the ing energy. eling Sed Wind to replenish her stamina, she unched her attack. Two steps gnced off the air with Diviep as she gained height, and, with a flip, she attacked from above using a vicious krike that ected hard against Rezan’s crossed arms. As she desded, he punched her iomach with an enormous release of energy which blew her backward like a kite in a thuorm.
Ali shouted something in the background.
Dazed, Malika shook her head to clear the ringing as she regained her feet.
I haven’t hit him even onbsp;Her heart sank with despair. There had never been even a minuscule ce of her winning her awakening. She had never been so outcssed in her life. It was only due to him allowio heal herself that she was even standing.
Your bloodline has deteriorated. -7% to maximum mana.
She staggered from the pain, her vision darkening briefly.
I ot win like this. I’m just dying faster. Malika used her Healing Mantra and then refilled her stamina using Sed Wind. Summonimost determination, she ighe pain and her fears and put everything into her attack.
If I must die, I will do it fighting. She found she didn’t hate him. She had no desire to leave this world trembling in a ball, screaming in pain. If anything, her only regret was that she would miss her friends.
Don’t be silly, she told herself. They will miss you. You will be worm food.
F her body faster than it had ever gone, she charged, attag with her most powerful kick, and a flurry of high-speed punches, p all her energy into Soul Strike while she dodged his terattacks. At the end of her binatio punch finally ected with his ribs, unleashing her Soul Strike into his body.
But he simply took her strike, his body abs her damage without even fling.
With a sudden rush, his energy surged to a pure indest white in her sight, ing and shifting as it drove fshes of pain through her mind. As if in slow motion, she saw his fist blurring, splitting six ways to strike her torso, head, and chest simultaneously. She saw it, but she could not even move an in the face of his power and speed.
Instantaneous Strikes. One of the legendary martial skills detailed in the hs of Ahn Khen.
He released a powerful surge of energy through his fists, bsting through her body and catapulting her into the air. There were several loud cracks, felt more than heard in the distance, and a teariion in what felt like the core of her mind. Her vision shimmered, the world receded to a tiny point of light, and her pain faded.
Ali screamed.
Malika never evehe ground as her awareness left her.
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https:///DungeonOfKnowledgehttps:///series/1135403/dungeon-of-knowledgehttps:///fi/80744/dungeon-of-knowledge-raid-bat-litrpg
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