Continuing on past the seal, the entire cave system began to grow more complicated. Up until this point, the caves had been fairly straightforward, and mostly natural looking. There were only a few points where it had been obvious that someone took a chisel to the wall and shaped the stone by their own hands.

Here, however, there wasn’t a piece of the cave wall untouched by human hands and carvings. Frequently stopping to admire the intricate patterns etched into the stone itself, I found myself once again amazed at the level of detail here in Ashenload.

The carvings themselves were easily understood—depicted scenes of life, and of it’s vibrancy. One of the more striking carvings involved a hunting party, and a dragon.

The hunting party set out before the sun had risen, giving a heartfelt goodbye to their families. They journeyed far afield, searching for prey in a barren and blasted landscape. The danger of the hunt was presented in the wary posture and watchful gaze of the hunters, and in the losses. Two hunters had gotten careless, and died to some sort of plant. Three more fell to beasts unrecognizable.

This isn’t a leisure hunt. This is a hunt for survival—something done out of necessity.

The hunters themselves wandered for a few weeks, searching for something.

They never found it.

Instead, a dragon nearly wiped out the whole hunting party. But they did not go down easily, and the dragon itself was killed by the only hunter left standing. This final hunter consumed the dragon’s heart, and grew strong. He ventured forth once more, seeking something greater than a meal this time.

And he found it.

The hunter went back to the starving tribe, and led them to a place of plenty, defending them with his newfound strength on the way.

And this is just one set of carvings among hundreds lining the walls. I hadn’t thought all this would end up looking so…remarkable. This stuff wasn’t anticipated at all.

Continuing onwards, the carvings only grew more refined, and seemed to detail a history. Starting with the tribe and the hunters, it showed the rise of a nation, and the prosperity of a people. The carvings always depicted a single character—that of the last hunter, who had consumed the heart of a dragon and gave his people everything. And though the nation rose around him, and countless generations were born and died, he remained constant.

The carvings continued, and I watched as the nation reached a point where a single man was not about to keep it together any longer. This great state and utopia began fracturing around the edges, with civilization only growing more complex and the people finding ever more reasons to disagree with one another.

And like in all things, a breaking point had to be reached. In this case, it came at the hands of the hunter-king’s only son. The hunter-king was driven out, and the son took the mantle of power.

The nation fell soon after, with the son indulging himself in his new power, and ignoring the problems outside. The hunter-king could only watch in sadness as everything he had ever worked for crumbled, lost now.

The hunter left, leaving his disgraced nation to it’s ruin.

He wandered, seeking something unknown, and seeing everything along the way. The carvings depicted his journey, his adventures, and his character.

Eventually, the hunter found a body of water, stretching as far as the eye could see. This man, now of countless age, threw himself into the water, letting it take him wherever it might.

Of course the story continued on past this point. He reached an unknown land, filled with unknown people and gods.

However, there were now points on the carvings that were gouged out, as if someone couldn’t bear the sight of some scenes depicted. There was one large section of wall that was just…missing. It was completely blank, with carvings before and after that point.

The carvings after this blank section of wall took a dramatic shift thought, with the tone becoming darker, and with the hunter gradually…changing. It was as if he were not completely human anymore. He certainly didn’t act that way.

I’ll spare you the rest of the details.

Regardless, this hunter didn’t become a nice person in the end.

The cave tunnel soon came to an end, and the story within the carvings ended with it. Past that point, things opened up into a massive and cavernous space deep within the earth. In the center of the cavern, a single stone obelisk rose from the ground. Even from where I was standing, it was clear that there were words carved upon the structure, and that this was the single most important thing in the cavern. I mean, there were also other things here—like chests lining the walls, likely filled with various treasures and rare weapons.

They just weren’t as important feeling as that single pillar standing tall in the middle of a still and silent space. Getting closer to it only intensified the feeling of importance imparted by the obelisk. And the words written upon it…they were carved into the stone almost angrily, with a savage intent. These were the words of a man furious at his lot.

I didn’t read the words though. That would push events into motion badly, and with the wrong sort of timing.

No—I can’t be the first one to read what’s written there. It has to be someone else.

So, the cavern saw me standing in front of the obelisk, facing the tunnel that led down here.

Those that were following me should be arriving soon, given the booms echoing down to where I was waiting—they were likely bombarding the seal up above with various magics and abilities. After all, they didn’t know a way to open the seal without completely destroying it first.

The explosions and deep thudding noises ramped up in intensity slowly, as a greater number of players reached the seal, and added their own strength to the bombardment. Sure that the seal would fall within minutes, I prepared a quick spell which would render me invisible to the mob of people that are surely going to rush down the tunnel as soon as it was gone.

However, something odd happened.

For a moment, things went silent. The pounding ceased, and nothing happened for a good minute or two. I looked up the tunnel, wondering what the hell was going on.

Then, an absolutely massive boom resounded down the tunnel, and a sound like glass breaking accompanied it.

There was no yelling or a rush of people as excepted. Instead, the footsteps of four or five different people echoed down to me, and I could faintly hear their voices as they walked closer.

“…Sure that it’s her?” Asked a man, though his voice was pitched slightly high, and quivered a bit.

“That’s what people are saying.” Rumbled someone else. “She did that thing she always does. Plenty saw her come here.”

“I know, I know. It’s just, are we sure it’s her? I’d hate to have expended all these favors to deal with a false alarm.”

“Sigrid, my friend—No need to worry about such things!” Interjected a third voice. “Even had you not called in those favors, we would still be here. If it turns out to be this ‘false alarm’ of yours, we will still be willing to help you with this venture in the future!”

“Really?” Asked Sigrid.

“But of course! We all think Deus needs to be taught a thing about this pecking order. In fact, I am of the thought that most here would not care about favors.”

“Wait! So, I didn’t have to call in those…”

“It’s too late to call them back. We’ve already accepted this task in exchange for the favors owed.” Spoke another member of the group, this one female.

“Nira speaks with truth.” Said the fifth member of the group, his voice aged. “The favor’s have already been exchanged. There’s no doubling back on your word now, Sigrid.”

“Damn it. Alright. But, we have to take care of Deus, okay?”

“None of us are saying that we won’t.”

“Shh, I think we’re nearly there. There’s something up ahead.”

“Everyone get ready.”

From the end of the tunnel, appeared a group of five.

I knew who these five were. In fact, most people would know who these five were.

Leading the group out of the tunnel, Sigrid of the Wind was the first to see me. He stopped, and the rest of the group lined up on either side of him.

Nira the Vine Mistress, Hoid of the Earth, Galthor the Volcano, and Gabriel the Chaos-Bringer.

All of them were wearing red robes, like my own.

“Why are you people here?” I asked. Their group tensed up at my words, and after noticing that my hand was resting solidly on my sword’s hilt.

“Well, we just wanted to see what sort of thing could catch the Sword Mage’s attention.” Answered Sigrid.

“Oh, and revenge.” Added Galthor somewhat humorously.

“Aye. Little Sigrid didn’t take kindly to your beating him. So, he called us to help better get his payback. Everything worked out well, and we decided to help him!” Said Hoid.

“That’s all? How useless.” I scoffed.

“Waddya mean ‘how useless’?!” Said Gabriel, who spoke up for the first time. “Girly, you’re facing five Red Robes! Five!”

“And? Already beat Sigrid.”

“That was only one Red Robe. We’re here to teach you the proper order of things!”

“Calm down, Gabriel. There’s no need to get so caught up in things. We have a job to do.”

“Ah…Right… Sorry sis.” Said Gabriel, speaking to Nira.

A tense silence followed.

It was broken by an impatient Sigrid.

“What the hell are we waiting for? Come on, we’re here to beat her, right?! Let’s go!”

I sighed, and shook my head. If these people want to fight me, then it would be impolite to not oblige, right? They all fell into ready positions, staffs and wands at the ready as my sword was drawn—which was of course a katana, mirroring the unfair skill I have with the weapon in real life.

The five red robes started chanting, preparing their spells. The cadences and rhythms of each chant varied based on the caster’s particular affinities and specializations. However, each one of them began radiating mana at levels only achievable by the very greatest of mages in Ashenload. It would generally be a bad idea to take whatever they’re about to throw at me head-on, so it was slightly imperative that they not hit me.

Now, in a normal mages battle both sides would charge up their spells, and bombard each other from range. Duels in this manner are a test on the strength of a mage’s spells and shields. I.E—whoever can last the longest will normally win.

I can’t play by those rules, though. For one, doing so would be stupidity in it’s highest form, as illusion mages don’t get shield spells good enough to do more than keep the rain off them. We also don’t have offensive spells, per say.

Everything is sacrificed for our pure battlefield control.

For instance, a single little illusion threw all five Red Robes off guard, instantly putting me at an advantage.

The illusion itself was simple.

To the Red Robes, it looked as if I suddenly charged at them, sword held high and a murderous look on my face. Their shields flared to full strength in response to the ‘charge’. Meanwhile, the real me casually walked off to one side, and brought the illusions to full strength. Yes, illusions.

So, I sat back, a smirk on my face as pandemonium erupted.

Hiya there!

Just your friendly neighborhood narrator here. Yes, yes—the same one as from Chapter 27, with that wonderful disappearing patrol group. Don’t worry, that was only mildly important.

No, I just thought I would take over at this point, since Revy’s pretty much stopped paying attention with her toys. She has a nasty habit of doing that, even outside of this game. Part of the arrogance she hides, probably.

Anyway, she can’t really go over what happens in these bits, since she simply doesn’t care about them. Really, do you notice the ants being trod upon under your feet? And yes, I’m referring to five of Ashenload’s Red Robes as ants. It’s because only overwhelming strength will break Revy down, and things are too equal here.

“But there are five of them!”, you might say.

Yes, well, are you forgetting what Revy’s specialization is?

It’s battlefield control. There’s no use in approaching her with numbers, since she can easily separate a group out, and face them one on one.

Trap the rest of them in various illusions until she gets around to dealing with them. That's how she does things.

It’s a terrifyingly effective tactic. And one of the reasons why illusionists are so heavily controlled in human governed space now. Well, other than that whole thing with people not liking the idea of someone being able to mess with their heads.

Anyway, it might be better to show you what I mean by all this, right? After all, there’s a perfect example of a good illusionist right here, and she has people to fight.

So, Revy first sends a single illusion of herself barreling towards the five Red Robes. They strengthen their shields, anticipating a forward assault from her. However, Revy splits the illusion just before it reaches any one person.

Now, all five of the Red Robes see their own individual Revy coming for only them, on an individual basis. And each one of the Red Robes reacts differently. One causes a large earth wall to appear before him, blocking illusory Revy’s path. Another brought binding vines to life, and seeked to tie Revy down. The floor beneath another Revy instantly melted into slag, it’s surface having been heated into magma.

Each of the Red Robes dealt with their ‘Revy’ in a different way.

However, the illusions only grew more complex from there. A very, very slight look of concentration passed across Revy’s face as she instantly created 5 separate illusions of the same scenario, trapping each of the Red Robes in their own unique version of the situation.

Basically, think of it like this—Revy has just created a separate room around each of the Red Robes. Inside each room, she’s created a fake reality to fool the one trapped. With this fake reality, she can manipulate the Red Robes in whichever way she wishes.

This is something probably only achievable by Revy though. To create five different realities around specific scenarios, and have them react to whatever happens requires her to split her attention in five ways.

She has to pay attention to what’s happening in all five instances of her illusions. To the normal person, this feat is nearly impossible. Revy makes light of it, though. Hell, she’s not even devoting a fraction of her mind to the task. All the pain and suffering she went through as a kid pays its dividends now.

Anyway, I should be getting back to what’s happening, right?

Each of the Red Robes found themselves fighting an instance of Revy, unaware that their peers were fighting a slightly different battle. As the one known as Sigrid brought this fight into being, let’s observe things from his own perspective.

“Everyone get ready, she’s charging!” Shouted Sigrid, seeing Revy barreling directly towards him.

‘She want’s to take me out first…probably think’s I’m the weakest here. Damn it! I’ll show her!’ He thought. Sigrid readied himself, chanting a quick spell.

“Fetters of wind, bind!” He called out. The air roiled around Revy, a small cyclone raised into existence by Sigrid’s magic. It wrapped around Revy, bringing her to a halt for a small moment in time. Then, she slashed with her sword, and cut the cyclone apart—to his astonishment.

“Guys, be on guard! She can cut through magic!” He yelled.

“Aye, we saw that, ya idiot!” retorted Hoid. “Just hit ‘er with all we’ve got!”

Everyone manifested their own magics, attacking Revy in a different way. But each time a spell approached Revy, she simply slashed with her sword and unraveled it. The only one who had any sort of success was Galthor, whose magic melted the ground beneath Revy, miring her knee-deep in lava. The heat itself did nothing to her, but the lava itself slowed down Revy’s charge by quite a bit, and gave the other Red Robes time to prepare their next spells.

“Hit her again!” Yelled Sigrid.

“We know, you fool!” Someone yelled back at him.

Four spells shot away from them and bolted towards Revy, who was still stuck in the lava. The impact showered dust and bits of lava all over the place. A few of the larger chunks impacted the shields erected around the Red Robes, and slid to the ground.

“Did we get her?” Asked one of them.

That question was answered a split second later, when the dust cleared enough to reveal Revy standing right where she had been before, totally unharmed.

A nasty smile spread across her face.

“Gonna have to try harder.”

So, they did.