“Every journey must come to an end, eventually. All we can do is cherish the memories that it gave us, then move on.”

-Mark Ocean, chronicler of Nortanis.

Nashariel pov

The dragokin flew in the direction of the Infirmary, nose deeply buried in the last volume of 'Rune circles: A hundred and one formations for your every need.’

Fortunately, the couple of Cursed dragons had the entire four-book series in their lair. Nashariel’s improved Intellect had made the read and studying a breeze.

Which had left her with nothing to read after an hour or so.

And I can’t even make some practice until I’m Mature! She mentally grumbled. Perhaps Vel might find them useful?

/I’m sure that she’ll enthusiastically throw herself at some Curse studies/ Asha replied sarcastically.

Eh, better than nothing. Formations aren’t even always bad, like the ones that we have at the Hospital and in Clinics. They improve healing skills and whatnot.

/Fair. Talking about Clinics, we’re almost there/

Nashariel quickly finished the last chapter, gently putting the book inside her mantle.

The Paladins had set up another defensive perimeter, kept safe by the lingering burning light on the ground. Nashariel’s Apex skill had allowed her Territory to seep deep in the terrain, at least for now, and its splendor was actively repelling most critters. Those who didn’t listen to their instincts died a quick death.

Nashariel surveyed the area, then landed in the middle of the camp, where Aghe greeted her with a wave of her hand. “Good to see you, Comrade!” The woman’s eye bags had finally subsisted, leaving behind a healthy-looking human.

The omnidragon nodded. “I found their lair. There should be everything that they stole from you.” Minus a few things. “Have you found someone else?”

Aghe sighed in relief. “Thank you, really. We need everything we can get our hands on, in these dark times.” She then smiled. “A few people rejoined us! They said the light healed their wounds and gave them enough strength to get rid of the rubble they were under. On their behalf, thank you.”

Nashariel smiled in turn. “Glad to hear that! Do you need anything else? Because I want to rejoin my team and Callen told us that there are many more places that require our help.”

“How long will your skill linger?”

“I have no idea. This is the first time that I use it, and my normal aura has never lasted for so long.” She had been able to will off only the active part of [Nashariel’s blessed asylum], not its side effects.

/I wonder if we can use that skill even with other elements. The area would become a dead zone tho/

Nashariel shivered at the thought of using an area this big to infuse it with Poison, or Curse, or… anything other than Light attunements, really. Let’s not experiment with that yet, shall we?

Asha rolled her metaphorical eyes.

Unaware of her mental conversation, Aghe nodded. “A fine baptism for such an impressive skill.” She swept her gaze on the ruins and the busy crowd around her. “Unless you can magically rebuild our walls, you have done everything that you could. Go help our people, Comrade, Alka knows how much do we need it.” She stretched out her hand. “And thank you for everything, especially for staying even after our… indecorous behavior.”

Nashariel shook her head. “I can’t imagine what you’ve endured and for how long. It’s fine.” Not that I like it tho. “I’ll be on my way then. Good luck.”

The two women shook their hands, then Nashariel soared back to the crystal.

Should I renew it? She asked, looking at the glowing ground.

/I mean, it depends. Callen said that we have lots of cities to take care of, do you want to help still?/

Well, yeah. So you’re for conserving our resources, then?

Asha mentally shrugged. /You can also argue that he won’t have the necessary mana to teleport us again this soon. He should have teleported a fair number of people by now. Your choice/

Nashariel hummed. The mana wasn’t giving any sign of weakening yet. On the contrary, it had grown a tad stronger. Let’s not; I don’t want monsters to spawn inside the walls too.

/Fair enough/

The omnidragon entered the half-destroyed house that housed the large Core. No one was there, but Callen told her that pinging was enough for him to recall her back. She laid her hand on the Core, then did as instructed.

/Did the Quest give us anything at all?/

Nashariel checked. A few congratulations, a hundred stat, skill points, and five levels. She read with a displeased smirk. This definitely wasn’t a good reward for beating two Cursed dragons and clearing out an entire city. I guess that he had to hurry…

/Disappointing. How do the rewards work, by the way?/

Nashariel shrugged. I don’t know honestly. I always assumed that the system decided them.

Soon, the Core shone a brilliant light, and Nashariel found herself back into the Cleansing Angel.

The first thing that she noticed, was that Dorel was on the ground, ashen pale, and immobile.

She froze. Ignoring Garran and Callen’s presence, she shifted into Healing, bursting her friend with restoring skills. She carelessly burned Omnia, feeding her Breath and auras with it until Dorel twitched a few times.

A bit of color returned on his face, but nothing more.

“What happened to him?!” She snarled.

“I don’t know! We are barely managing to keep him alive!” Callen shouted.

Tapping in her Omnia, Nashariel used [Omnidragon supply] to generate Panacea, the Healing special resource. Despite the curative healing, Dorel still didn’t wake up.

/There’s poison in his body… and the Shell that we left on him has been shattered!/

Nashariel noticed that the unknown substance was suppressing her healing. In the span of moments, Dorel had already paled again but stopped worsening. The poison is keeping him stable, but unconscious… She nudged [Omnidragon superiority] for help.

Soon, her memories showed her a life where she herself had used poison to blackmail several high-profile people.

The ‘Princess’ slumber’ was designed to keep a person in a permanent comatose state, only canceled by the specific antidote or Tier 3 Healing magic. Tier 2 could suffice if a caster was sufficiently skilled, but… that was unlikely.

Shit! Nashariel stopped casting, dropping on her ass while glaring at Dorel’s immobile form.

“Something’s wrong?” Garran asked. Nashariel could see that he was guessing something.

“Princess’ slumber. I cannot help him.” She replied somberly. Not even if I buy every single Healing skill… She thought, clenching her fists.

Both Paladins cursed loudly and glanced at each other.

“Can it be her…?”

Garran’s eye twitched. “That wicked criminal… Yes, she would use a Tier 3 poison.”

Nashariel narrowed her gaze at them. “Who did this?”

“Someone that we have tried to capture for decades.” Callen started, also stopping his casting. “She goes by the name of ‘Black huntress’, and she’s said to capture highly valuable people for… reasons.”

The name rang some bells in Nashariel’s head. Did we read something about her?

/No/

“Continue.”

Callen shrugged. “That’s all, really. She’s too elusive for us to find during normal times, let alone in this chaos. We don’t know her Tier, but she’s highly skilled and extremely dangerous.”

“Good. Teleport me where Dorel went; I’ll deal with her.” Nashariel snarled. For some reason, the more Callen talked about her, the angrier she grew.

Both the men’s eyes widened. “Have you gone mad?! She will kill or put you to sleep too!” Garran shouted. “You cannot lose your focus, think of the rest of your team. They would follow you to their deaths too.” He continued in a more subdued tone.

Nashariel forced her wrath down her throat. There it sat, seething like embers, but tamed. He’s right, but… Her tail slammed against the ground, cracking the stone floor.

Neither of the men said anything about it.

“So, what now?” She asked instead.

Garran sighed in relief.

Callen hid it better, but his traits had softened already. “Thank Valka. Rest for now; I’ll look for help.” The mage got up, dusted his clothes, then walked to the Core. He seemingly moved his hands randomly, but Nashariel deduced that he was scrolling through Astill-only-knew how many screens.

She muttered her thanks, then gently hauled her friend on her shoulders. I’ll get you out of this sleep… Her Presence flared for a moment. …and drown that bitch in [Dragonfire]!

Back into their temporary room, Nashariel laid Dorel on his bed.

She dropped on hers, quickly dissolving and re-summoning her armor. The omnidragon allowed her memories to be displayed, following the source of her anger.

*Commence Astral journey? *

Oh shit, no!

*Astral journey pending. *

She sighed in relief.

/Something happened?/

I have been offered an Astral journey. I refused, but I think that I knew the Huntress in another life. Her anger spoke volumes about their relationship.

/Oh. Will you take it?/

Gods, no! I just wanted some memories… As if the skill had listened, flashes displayed in Nashariel’s mind.

She saw a young chestnut-haired girl with icy eyes, dressed in dark leather armor. The human frowned, shouted, and sometimes even begged. Nashariel’s past incarnation mocked her, calling her too kind-hearted for this world.

Nashariel also remembered how she had killed her.

Valania had murdered her incarnation just as she was about to reach Maturity. Nashariel felt the ice-cold assassin’s dagger pierce her brain, barring her from reacting. Then Valania kept stabbing her until the omnidragon’s body had simply given in to blood loss.

Nashariel jerked awake, suffocating a scream.

/… Bad memories again?/ Asha softly asked after a moment.

Nashariel silently nodded. She killed me, once.

/… You might want to make that Astral journey/

Why? Nashariel already knew the answer, but…

/Because, if she already killed you once, she’ll do it again. How much time ago was it? I bet a century at least, enough to power up a lot more. If she comes after you again…/ The skill left her sentence hanging.

Nashariel sighed in defeat. She took a glance at Dorel’s barely breathing form and steeled herself. Let’s have a look at the other skills I need to make the journey easier. I know that I wasn’t Mature, but… better safe than sorry.

/Indeed/

With a thought, Nashariel fell into her status.

Without even looking, Nashariel bought the rest of the skills previously recommended by the system for her Journeys: [Ghost touch], [Spiritual eyes], and [Spiritual languages].

*Ghost touch Lvl 1

The immaterial has always been challenging to deal with for the unprepared. Ordinary warriors have always struggled against ghosts and the like, but this skill was always ready to come to their aid. Well, if they attuned to Spirit first.

Your body can interact with the immaterial without magical aid.

Similar magical effects stack with this skill.

Upgrade cost: 3 points Lvl.

Spiritual eyes Lvl 1

Pranksters and evil spirits sometimes plague houses and entire settlements, abusing their natural advantages to escape retribution. This skill will null their silliness and help you to see them. Obviously, this skill cannot provide the actual meaning to wound them.

Your eyes can see past matter and magic. This effect increases noticeably per level.

Upgrade cost: 4 points Lvl.

Spiritual languages Lvl 1

Seers, spiritualists, shamans, and more can peer beyond the veil, searching for answers not found in the material realm. These people often forget that the old spirits have little use for words, often using simple glances and emotions to communicate. The eyes are the mirror of the soul, after all.

Your understanding of people’s emotions, intent, and will is improved at an instinctual level. You may allow others to benefit from this effect on you.

Effect increased against incorporeal beings.

Upgrade cost: 6 points Lvl. *

And now we can start looking for more.

The burning form of Asha appeared by her side. “Ehy, I found stuff that might be useful. Wanna look?”

“Sure.”

The skill chuckled. “You won’t believe what I did find.” She put a menu in front of Nashariel.

The dragokin stared at it for a while. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. I also found the others.”

What Asha had found appeared next to the first menu.

Nashariel took a deep breath, buying the three on them instantly. Her memories flashed, making her aware of the absolutely overpowered merge that she had lost until her Superiority reached the fourth Tier, or when she merged all the Bodies into one. “Where?”

“Stamina was inside Spirit, Health in Body, and Mana in Flow.”

Nashariel cursed under her breath. Fel’s words about the missed opportunities echoed in her mind, doing little to soothe her increasing irritation.

These skills acted as multipliers of her resources and, if fused together with her original [Omnidragon prowess], would have multiplied her fourth resource too. “Well, no sense in getting upset over that.” She said.

Asha didn’t comment. “Anyway, I found other three skills that could help you, but they’re all advanced ones.”

Nashariel refocused by lightly slapping her cheeks a few times. “No, Asha. We’re spreading too thin. We already have the entirety of Darkness and its Aspects to purchase while their cost is heavily increased. We can’t afford to spend around without aim and reason.” She had made an exception for her ‘Journey’ skills and the improved resources out of their overwhelming utility, but [Improved health] had already cost her more points than the others; 20% more to be precise.

Ryahkera was fifty years older than me, but my memories told me that the assassin killed me before Maturity. I should be fine with my new stuff, right? She thought while swashing her tail left and right.

Asha nodded. “I know, but two of them are Darklight skills. I figured that, you know, since we need them now we might as well buy them.”

Nashariel hesitated, then steeled herself. “No. I know that if I look I’m gonna buy everything. As soon as we buy [Darklight mastery] tho? I’m gonna look into them for sure.” She smiled. “So thanks, Asha.”

The ashen woman shrugged. “Okay. But!” She wagged her finger in front of her. “If I feel that you’re dying or some shit, I’m spending all those points. Clear?”

Nashariel chuckled, then hugged her. “Thank you.”

After taking some time (and gathering some courage), Nashariel accepted the prompt.

She found herself in the infinite black vortex that represented all her past lives. This time, she could recognize and differentiate each incarnation from one another, hearing a constant bell in her head from the Lvl-ups. Holy crap, [Spiritual eyes] is so useful!

A bright threat connected her to one life in particular, one of the upper ones. Does the system’s prompt come with guidance? Nice.

The omnidragon felt an unseen and gentle current leading her to the window illustrating several scenes where a Shadow dragon mercilessly killing various people.

This is gonna suck, isn’t it? She thought, before getting swallowed by the window.