Chapter 854 Dust

Ilea swam down with her wings spread. She rushed through the dark waters without fear, and found an enchanted stone slab at the bottom of the underground lake. The enchantments here were different. Space magic, of a nature that reminded her of some of her training sessions with the Meadow.

It managed to teach me something after all, she thought, raising her brows and smiling to herself. Not sure how I feel about that. Punching things is really all I should ever know.

The runes were simple enough for her to understand. Teleportation. Short range and powered by the user. Ilea couldn't tell where the enchantment would bring her, or if it was meant as a trap.

Perhaps it had been sprung a long while back, but what she thought was more likely, was an entrance to the sealed city. A way in without a need to damage anything the Druned had set up. Considering they had asked her to go, she thought that option the most likely. She knew there were monsters inside after all, so it wasn’t exactly a trap.

Any slightly determined scavenger would find this. A way in, to prevent stubborn looters or explorers from unleashing the supposed death trapped within.

She touched the large stone slab, noting that words had once been engraved into it, faded now.

She wasn't particularly concerned with the supposed death, having faced the corruption of the Descent and the traps of the Taleen. If anything, she was intrigued. Breaking the enchantments would take some time, even for her. Mostly due to how many there were. Activating random teleportation enchantments was generally not something advisable, but Ilea was Ilea.

She channeled mana into the enchantment and saw the stone slab light up within her dominion. A pull came and went, the direction towards the stone wall ahead. Right. My resistance.

She deactivated it and tried again.

This time, Ilea felt the pull and was moved with it, appearing in a dark hall.

The air was stuffy and moist, the ceiling and walls even, built by someone or monsters that really enjoyed right angles. She was glad for her ash mantle, adding another layer against the rot that she smelled.

Skeletons, overgrown with plants and fungus. Empty eye sockets, faded cloth, and rusted armor. She saw dozens in the perfectly dark hall. Chest plates dented in, crushed skulls, and broken bones. She didn’t move yet, silent as she perceived the tomb.

‘ding’ ‘You have entered the Paarah dungeon’

‘ding’ ‘You have found the ancient city of Paarah – One Core skill point awarded’

She could tell that some of the dead had once been elves, the sharp teeth and claws an obvious tell. The Mava were even more obvious. Other humanoids had died here, some small and stocky, others adorned with small tusks. Dwarves and Orcs, she presumed. In between lay splintered rock, some parts covered in layered steel armor. Burnt, melted, and pierced, others entirely shattered. Golems, much like the Druned, but far larger than anything she had seen in the temporary Mava settlements.

Larger and armored.

She wasn’t surprised at the reveal. If she had found this place without having been sent by the Druned, she would’ve just thought them another form of Guardian. Machines or golems, creations made to face other nations, other peoples, or simply to defend one’s own against the wilderness and its monsters.

So were the Druned made here? Or were they just another species that joined the city? She couldn’t tell, but found a few smaller golems in the darkness around her. Everything was still, only the ambient mana present as Ilea inspected the remains.

Deciding that there was little else to be found in the vicinity, she spread her wings and floated off the ground, flying through the room. Small craters and cracks in the floor and walls suggested an extensive battle, coupled with the many projectiles she saw below the dead, the rubble, and the vegetation. At one end of the hall, she could spot an exit, half crumbled stone in the way. All of it was simple. Only the angles suggesting she hadn’t stumbled into a random cavern.

Out of the entrance, she came into a corridor, at the end of which she saw stairs going up. Claustrophobic. Ilea had to dissolve her wings as she made her way through the tight passageway. She went up the stairs and found a stone wall, half broken in at the center. Faint light poured in from the other side.

Ilea checked for enchantments and teleported into the hallway she could perceive on the other side.

A deep blue carpet covered the entire length of the long room, several small chandeliers hung from the beautifully carved white ceiling three meters above. The lingering smell of rot remained, fungus having grown out through cracks in the walls, much of the carpet infested with the growth. Ilea could see armored skeletons smashed into the walls, crushed by whatever they had faced. Others wore no armor, remains of fabric sticking to their broken forms. Perhaps once dresses, or uniforms, she couldn’t be sure.

Again, there were cracks and dents visible in the walls, but the battle that had raged here seemed to have been far less extensive than what Ilea had found below. She found the faint light had come from one of the chandeliers. A pale light, magical in nature.

And it still works.

Compared to the obvious enchanted contraptions she had seen many times within the Taleen cities, the pale, near blue light that she saw here felt like an imitation of fire. Its magical source was obvious due to the color and origin, but the light occasionally moved and flickered, in an almost natural way.

She chose to go left, teleporting over the largest sections of muck and walking through the rest with her layers of ash. None of it seemed hostile, poisonous, or extremely acidic, but then Ilea knew she wasn’t exactly the best person to confirm such a thing. It would take quite a lot for her to even notice anything, especially with her mantle active. Another flight of stairs later, she came out into an expansive hall, more than ten meters high. Large glass windows lined the walls on each side, most of them shattered. What remained was murky, only faint blue light coming in from outside.

The rest of the walls were covered with large framed pieces of art, depicting landscapes, cities, and battles. Compared to the rest, the art seemed well preserved, though partially soiled by blood and dust.

The same blue carpet covered sections of the ground here, the fungus not as present. A single large chandelier had fallen from the high ceiling, the remains lying at the center of the hall as if a carcass. Ilea heard a noise and turned to look at a pile of rubble sitting in a dark corner of the hall.

There was magic present in the stone. She couldn’t recognize a form and identify only informed her that there was a pile of rubble, but she had been around the Druned for some time already. She could tell what she was looking at. A few pebbles rolled over the large pile and fell to the ground as one of the stones moved.

Slowly, the pile built itself up to a humanoid form with four arms. It was large, reaching more than double Ilea’s height, each extremity twice as thick as her entire form. Rusted plate armor covered parts of its torso, arms, and legs. Half of a helmet covered the stone head, though there were no eyes nor any other facial features she could discern. Any carved details or decorations on the rust covered metal armor had long eroded into a mesh of undefined lines and symbols.

“Greetings. I don’t suppose you’re here to invite a guest of the city to some tea?” Ilea asked as she watched the being drag four heavy two bladed battle axes out before brandishing the weapons in an offensive stance.

[Paarah Warrior – lvl ????] - [Eroded]

Didn’t think so.

Her Veteran skill informed her that the creature wasn’t far above level one thousand. The lack of communication and description from identify made her assume that whatever the being had once been, little of that remained.

Magic surged before the warrior rushed forward. A simple charge, much like what Ilea had seen from Dale and other warrior types. Though compared to the Guard Captain, what she faced here was more akin to a tank rushing at her with several tons worth of rock and metal adding to its momentum.

She stood her ground, magic flowing through her as she braced for the impact.

Before the warrior even reached her, two of its arms moved, the large axes slicing through the air in a horizontal pincer move.

Ilea crouched low, and stepped aside when a third axe came in from above. Then she braced herself against the impact of the barreling warrior, a loud crash resounding when its right leg hit her outstretched arms. She slid on the stone floor, the two coming to a halt a few meters back when a few ashen limbs smashed into the ground behind her. She smiled when spikes of rock shot out of the leg, breaking against her mantle as she felt the heavy impacts rattle through her body. She responded in kind, a punch laced with intrusive magic slamming into the armored leg before she deflected the fourth axe coming her way with her left arm.

Her intrusion failed to invade the form, most of her destructive mana returning to her. She jumped back, avoiding another set of strikes and found the same was true for her reversed healing. Something a little more physical then, she thought and checked what she could see outside of the broken windows.

A street, buildings, and trees.

Visibility was limited, but she could tell there were light sources. However she decided not to add her flame of creation to the mix if it wasn’t necessary. They were already producing enough sound, adding a flaring light source would surely attract whatever else was in the vicinity.

Ilea dodged past the fast moving axes, finding the strikes refined and well placed compared to chaotic and wild as she would’ve expected from a monster. Her precognition worked overtime to inform her of every hit and feint of the large golem, its rusted armor and crumbling stone no indication for its skill with its four weapons.

Jumping back, Ilea saw a wall of stone rising behind her, forcing her to teleport when two axes sliced past. She appeared above the being, her wings spread before she shot down, a heavy punch impacting its head, taking with it chunks of rock and bending some of the remaining metal of its helmet. She twirled to avoid a wide swing before the second axe struck her. She decided not to use her second teleport and was instead flung aside, the creature following with fast and booming steps.

She came to a stop and was prepared to face the running golem when she saw it sidestep the broken chandelier, giving her a split second longer to brace for the attack. Ilea raised a brow but didn’t mind either way. Perhaps if she had needed refuge, or a breather, she could use this to her advantage, but the fight was way too fun to consider that.

This time she charged forward, near thirty ashen limbs lashing out to deflect the axes as she twirled to avoid the vertical strike of the fourth weapon. Flying past between two arms, her right first impacted the golem’s shoulder, spinning both Ilea and the warrior as a shock wave extended through the hall. She used the momentum of the twirl to close the distance once more, her ashen limbs scraping into the stone, some finding purchase and ripping out steel and rock before she slammed down into the unbalanced warrior. One of its axes struck her leg but with the non optimal angle, Ilea simply kept going. She came to a halt on its large chest, her limbs fanning out to keep her there as she started to punch down into the stone.

Archon Strike and Tempered Seal were converted into straight physical power as she felt the ridiculous energies flow through her muscles and bones, every impact reverberating through her and the hall as metal was bent aside and rock was pulverized. Seventeen hits struck true as her healing repaired the damage her body went through before she dodged to the side, a single thin spike of stone forming and rushing out from the damaged chest of the warrior. A slap of both hands crashed into her raised arms, Ilea choosing to take the hits due to the low damage.

She landed a few meters away and slid to a stop, her healing flowing through her, more to deal with the strain of her converted intrusion spells than the damage dealt to her by the golem. There had been internal bleeding in her leg but it had already healed before she was pushed back.

Watching the warrior, Ilea saw it stand up, bits and pieces of rock falling out of its damaged chest as it fell to one knee. She didn’t interfere when the warrior used two of its hands to shovel the rocks back into its chest, some of it fusing back with its body.

She had yet to use her Fourth tier.

“Are you sure you want to continue?” she sent, rolling her shoulders with a smile on her face.

The golem did not reply, instead using its charge ability once more. This time, spikes of stone shot out from the ground.

Ilea formed walls of ash and a single spear with her fully charged third tier. She shot it out towards the charging warrior, the spikes of stone pushing through her ash as she rushed forward, her limbs shattering the slowed and weakened stone. Two large stone arms covered in bits and pieces of metal moved ahead to block the spear. Ilea watched as her projectile was deflected, striking the warrior’s shoulder before moving on towards the ceiling. She waited for the remaining two axes to strike before she teleported right next to the golem’s right leg. Her punch coupled with its momentum ripped through the entire length of its knee, bending steel and shattering stone.

She turned as the golem toppled with its remaining momentum, falling to the ground and catching itself with its four arms. Two of its axes clattered to the stone floor.

It turned and tried to stand up, failing before it grabbed one of its arms. The crumbling stone came loose before the warrior reattached the arm to its missing leg. Standing once more, it brandished the three remaining axes, more pieces of rock falling of its deteriorating form.

“You’re not going to give up?” Ilea sent. She said the same question out loud, just in case it simply did not recognize her telepathy. “We don’t have to fight. But I will, if you insist.”

The golem charged.

Ilea did the same.

Four more exchanges ended with two missing arms and one remaining leg, Ilea slinging herself onto the back of the falling warrior before her ashen limbs and fists cut and slammed into the stone. She ripped away chunks and pieces, seeing in her dominion as pieces of rock rolled back to rejoin the golem, but she did not stop. Every piece of metal was gone by now, scattered onto the blue carpet and the white stone floor. Reduced to rubble, she used her ash to spread out every piece until a noise resounded in her head.

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Paarah Warrior – lvl 1032]’

‘ding’ ‘Ashen Limbs reaches 3rd lvl 3’

‘ding’ ‘Spear of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 7’

Ilea cracked her neck and stood up from the mound of stone. Pretty tough for a low level four mark.

She stood there, expecting more golems to arrive but the hall remained quiet. She noted that despite their battle, most everything remained pristine, albeit covered in varied amounts of debris. Her ashen spear had dug itself into the ceiling, retaining its form until she dissolved the ash. The hole left behind another sign of a battle in this place.

A four mark golem that doesn’t respond to my telepathy or speech. Is this the death sealed within?

Ilea looked at the chandelier and made her way to the main entrance to the hall. A large set of double doors made of dark wood. Carvings showed a large tree, split in the middle when she pushed the entrance open.

She breathed in stale and dusty air, mixed with a tinge of rot. Another hall, this one far higher reaching than the last. White stone and heavy dark wood lined the dusty interior, two sets of curved stairwells led up, one on each side of the hall. Two large and dark wooden tables, including intricate carvings depicting leaves and hammers, stood on the ground floor, decaying books and candles atop. A few shelves were set into the walls, leather bound books on the deep blue carpet, few remaining in their intended place.

Ilea saw a few more rotten skeletons and dented sets of armors containing them. Piles of spread out rubble suggested more golems but considering the burnt sections of carpet and dents in the wood and stone, Ilea assumed the battle long past. None rose when she walked past, dust and debris covering the remains of all the parties involved.

All the skeletons and their armor is crushed. Heavy impacts coupled with piles of stone rubble. What the fuck happened here?