Azarinth Healer

Chapter 339: Skill Testing

Chapter 339: Skill Testing

Thats insane. And its not powered by mana alone but generated heat thats stored within you? Trian asked as his eyes sparkled with joy.

Yes. It does cost mana to channel but not much at this level. Normally its released in a sphere around me but the third tier allows me to use it like you just saw. A cone of flame shot out from either arm. She explained, feeling a little weird that Trian of all people would be such a fan of her ability.

Either what about those ashen ones? Very impressive manipulation by the way, I assume theyre considered part of your body? He asked.

Ilea scratched her head, I havent actually tested that. Pretty recent that one. And yes, theyre part of my body.

Does the sphere damage your ash when it expands? He asked again.

I should really do more testing. Ilea thought and smiled, happy to have people pointing things like this out for her. I miss the simple days, where a fist to a monsters head was enough. All this Intelligence and here I am.

She tested both, generating heat with mana, one of her ashen limbs moving ahead of herself and pointing back at her. She created some ash and let it float before her face, leaving room for the blast to reach her ashen armor as well as the wings and limbs she spread behind her. She focused on the ashen limb and released the spell.

Fire and energy washed over her, slightly damaging the ash in front of her but neither her armor, her wings or even the ashen limbs behind her. Ok that doesnt make any sense.

Trian shook his head, No, it does. It doesnt damage your body.

Ilea nodded and tried again, having an idea. She formed a dome of ash and connected it to one of her limbs before releasing another lightly charged blast of Heart of Cinder. This time however, the dome was damaged. What? She asked.

I dont know. Its supposed to be part of your body. Maybe it has something to do with familiarity as well? Trian asked, his hand on his chin. What about when you release it as a sphere?

The test ended in the same way. I mean it doesnt damage my bone armor or clothes either. She said, Magic mumbo jumbo, man. She shook her head. Thats why I dont overthink this stuff too much.

There has to be a reason. I cant see past your ashen armor with my magic sight but if you have something similar you might be able to spot it. He stepped past her and looked at the floor. Hmm I mean Im not sure. Try again, use it on yourself but stand next to the wall. That way we can tell where the beam actually goes.

Ilea sighed, not particularly seeing the reason why they were doing this. If I aim it at my enemies, it will deal damage to them. She tried, basically making a shadow puppet of herself, just that the light was a deadly beam of energy, heat and fire.

Ilea concentrated on her magic sight added to her sphere and closed her eyes, releasing the spell and trying to make out what happened exactly. Indeed, the spell didnt burn the wall where her limbs hovered, neither did it damage the stone behind her body or wings. What was peculiar was the fact that the magic in the spell seemed to be absorbed again by the protrusions.

Yea. Trian said, It just flowed back into you. I think it has to do with the substance of your ash. The spell is aligned with your body, meaning the energy gets absorbed again. At least in part. I suspect its so little that you barely notice, especially with it being mostly heat and not pure mana.

Good to know. She murmured.

At least you know that if someone is behind your wings, you cant aim at them. Trian said.

She tested again with the sphere instead and found the limitation didnt apply there, the energy flowing past her ashen limbs and wings. And why is this working instead?

The man again scratched his chin, The source is different. You release the spell from your core, slightly below your chest I think. The magic registers your body, where it is and whats a part of it. I suppose it forms the energy around those parts instead of just sending it out of your limb.

Im not sure how this knowledge will be of any use. She said.

Trian smiled at her and chuckled, You will never change, will you? Most other mages would test their skills until exhaustion, to understand every little piece of it. I suppose your way is more instinct based. The results speak for themselves, I suppose. He laughed. Any other cool things you can show me?

Ilea rolled her eyes, Definitely agree on the instinct part. I do like to trust my gut. Not just when it comes to food.

Do you even need to eat at this point? He asked, tilting his head to the side.

I do. The need comes less from my body and more from my mind. She explained and left it at that.

The vampyr looked at her with raised eyebrows, Oh k. He murmured something to himself, I noticed my mana drain didnt really work. I even took damage after a while.

She nodded, Yea, I have the second tier resistance maxed at level twenty. Its harder to drain obviously and if you use the mana, you take damage. It should increase with each unit of mana drained.

Fascinating. I didnt know about the effects.

Also I can drain a part of your spells mana. Not sure how much though, its kind of unclear. She added.

You mean the second tier lightning resistance? He asked.

Ilea shook her head lightly, No. I mean yes. That too. I have an additional skill that absorbs mana.

He looked at her wide eyed, You are what a combination of skills. If we can train people to have at least similar classes, He mused, The Mending Pact will rise in power, surely.

Ilea groaned, I dont remember you joking so much.

He shrugged, I said I changed. In many ways, I think. Not taking everything so seriously is one thing I strove for. You were a good role model.

Ilea laughed, I can see that. I think a middle ground is good though. I was damn near apathetic for a long time.

True. Trian said, reeling back their subject, I think itd be good to test your mana absorption ability. Is it active or passive?

Its passive. Ilea replied, The efficiency is determined by the mana used for the spell and my resistance to it. At least thats the wording in the skill.

Hmm, with our regeneration its going to be difficult to test, adding in the lightning resistance bonus. That one isnt very high usually so it should still be a reasonable test. One strong blast is probably best. Whats your lightning resistance at? Trian asked, lightning flowing over his arm.

Second tier, level six. She replied.

I believe it was around ten percent absorption at level one for the resistance, probably up to thirteen percent then with your level. I tested Claire and it varied between one percent and ten at level one, depending on well we didnt really find a definitive answer. He paused, So, the damage itself doesnt get affected at all by that absorption skill? He asked.

Not that I know. There are other skills that reduce magical damage as well as resilience in general but I think its completely separate.

He nodded, Good. So thats twenty six levels of lightning resistance. Can you use up some mana, Ill hit you with a single attack afterwards.

Ilea nodded, sacrificing two thousand health before healing herself back instantly. Alright, Im down around seven hundred mana. Hit me.

I want to know what you just did oh well. Trian said before a single massive lightning bolt discharged from his hand, slamming into her chest. She had to step back a single step as the energy flowed through her. Her health was down only two hundred points, regenerating quickly.

Around one hundred and ninety mana from that. Ilea said.

He got out his notebook again, Five hundred mana used, one ninety would be thirty eight percent. He noted it down and nodded, Lets do that again. Until we can ignore the randomness of your Lightning Resistance absorption.

They tested with another thirty or so attacks, Trian continuously writing down the numbers, Twenty six levels in resistance and with all taken into account your should more or less gain either around 1.4 percent per level of your absorption skill or what I assume, ten percent if you have the resistance and then one percent for each level in the resistance.

Ilea ran it through in her head, So if its at the end of the second tier, I get 50 percent of the mana used in the spell? Thats insane.

I mean, you need the resistance at that level. How many of them do you have? He asked.

Like twenty, thirty? I dont feel like counting right now. A lot in the second tier as well. Ilea replied. Its super simple to train with a healing spell and Pain Tolerance in the second tier. It just negates pain altogether.

Yea, I did hear about that one. You still need people or monsters to train you. The healing is an issue as well but most of all, you need to get to the second tier of Pain Tolerance. Im at level five and honestly, Id rather keep it that way. He sighed.

As to what I did earlier, I can activate a third tier aura by sacrificing health. Then I use my third tier healing to instantly recover, using a chunk of mana. Ilea explained.

He shook his head and blasted her stomach again, continuing the resistance training, Youre even harder to kill now. I should really level more to get those third tier skills. He said. You should train your healing by sacrificing health randomly.

She nodded, taking a step forward against the lightning, I did that before. Its alright but in the third tier it takes ages. Id rather just fight something and heal myself. More efficient I think.

Probably. He replied, Thing is, most people wouldnt prefer fighting monsters all the time. With your healing and level Id assume youre not really aging anymore. Getting a couple skill levels by shutting yourself inside an academy for a decade or two would be the reasonable thing to do. He paused his lightning, Of course Im not suggesting you do that. I know youd rather starve.

Yea, mate Id rather have fun than doing that. Ilea said and laughed, I can see the reason of course but I suppose you could train for decades in a library too when youre level fifty, then at level one hundred and then again at my level. Fighting and progressing is at least exciting. I didnt get here because I wanted power, not mainly at least.

He nodded, I know. You have to agree though that a lot of close death situations you undoubtedly had on your way could have been avoided with more preparation and skill leveling in between. The lightning slammed into her again.

ding Lightning Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 7

Probably. Might have gotten myself into other situations though. She said.

You? Yea I can see that. Trian laughed. Cant believe that my magic isnt even damaging you anymore. He added, Most of the nobles wouldnt even think about offending me. Theyd be terrified of you.

She smirked, Exactly the way I like my politics. She replied, Oh, I actually did get attacked by someone calling himself a noble today. In case you hear about it, he was being a haughty idiot.

From north of here then, I assume? Most from the region around here are actually quite competent. They know and respect the Hand and act accordingly. The higher ups from smaller cities in the somewhat safe areas of the plains are usually the hardest to deal with. The influx of self declared nobles moving here has slowed down considerably though. He explained.

I dont care much, have to be honest there. Ilea said with a smile.

He chuckled, I can see that. Its why Im here after all. You would think I had a similar opinion on nobles after all that has happened. Yet I find it refreshing. The position of power I was bestowed certainly helps.

What position? Noble manager? Are you hired by the city or the Hand? Or are you just considered the highest noble around here? Mayor or governor? She said, tilting her head to the side.

I need to regenerate. Trian stopped his magic once more, The previous governor died in the demon summoning, its been kind of awkward since then, at least in regards to that. The empire didnt appoint anybody else and Claire kind of took over the tasks that would be required of that role. Since then many others have taken up certain tasks but Lys still hasnt done anything about it.

He cracked his neck, I suppose its easier to just let us handle stuff on our own down here. Ravenhall is one of the outermost cities in their territory.

Ilea nodded, The establishment of our organization wont be a problem in that regard either then.

I hope so. The man replied, glancing at her, I think most of the basics are covered for now. Ill get to work if you dont mind.

She crossed her arms and smiled, I wont stop you. Ill try to come back from time to time, also because of the class thing. Maybe I can find a bunch of healers that could help.

He grinned, Do that. Yet theres enough I can work on anyway, especially once we have a couple teachers and trainers as well as volunteers. Even if theres no class yet. Rooms will need to be furnished, facilities prepared.

The two made their way back, Trian locking the gate behind them. He breathed in the cold air outside and smiled at her, See you then, dont do anything too stupid. And dont get yourself killed.

Ilea chuckled, Its not like you depend on the income, Trian.

He rolled his eyes, The southern healing tribe depends on you, Ilea.

Of course it does. See you, Trian. You dont do anything ridiculous either.

He waved his hand sideways and vanished with a grin on his face.

Ilea stretched and yawned.

How you doin, fair healer? an adventurer in full plate and a claymore on his back asked her, walking by.

She glanced his way and shook her head lightly, Im alright, how you doin?

I dont know, I have never gotten this far. May I invite you to supper sometime? The man asked, surprising Ilea.

[Warrior lvl 109]

Im fine, thanks. She declined and spread her wings, flying off towards Viscera. There were some things she needed from the two librarians. Seems like the healer tag makes people less scared of me at least. Now, Im not sure if thats a good thing or not.

ding Identify reaches lvl 9

I will see what I can find. Elise said, Eve Aillan and a man named Albert or Scipio, the descriptions of their abilities should help tremendously.

Hire people too, you can use this to pay them. Ilea said, dumping thirty gold coins on the table the woman was sitting at. Try to be a little discreet and if possible only use people you trust personally.

Dagon walked in and laughed, Overpaying people again, I see? He commented, I thought you were already gone.

I wish. Ilea sighed, forming an ashen chair and falling into it, Theres another thing I need from the two of you.

Whatever you need, the information you provided earlier is worth damn near all my secrets. Dagon sighed, Not that you still need to trade for anything.

She had thought it was an iron rule for him to always ask for something in return. Books and information on healing classes of any kind, medicine, first aid, anatomy, healing potions, injuries and related runes and enchantments if you have anything. Trian will have copies made so just give all of that to him.

Elise nodded, I can collect what you need. Do you plan to enhance your healing class?

Not exactly. Youll see in time, I suppose. She replied with a smile.

The next stop was outside the city itself, Ilea flying northwards to the village of Indur. Im getting tired of all this organizational stuff while Maro is building his undead army to destroy all of humanity from within. She decided to get a meal and drink once she was done with the enchantress and the smith.

She found it already nice to fly out of the city, the snowy landscape spreading before her. A deep breath entered her lungs, the cold air welcoming her back into the wild. I need to get some sense dampening skill again. She hadnt managed to get used to all the sensations in the city, even after staying there for nearly a day now. There were escapes of course and with all her gold as well as restaurants and other places she owned, she could get a whole terrace to herself. Not the same as out here. She thought, after two minutes of flying not a single sign of human life visible.

Ilea did try to avoid the road, instead flying over a nearby summit, checking for arcane storms out of habit. There were none of course. Twenty minutes of flying later, she landed and stepped closer to the cliff side before her. Good thing Im not terrified of heights. The ghost town of Morhill was visible, no clouds nearby. No refugees visible. She thought. Ravenhall took everybody in, or the dangers were so high that people still deemed the town inhabitable.

Even if there had been people in the cellars and houses somewhere, she expected at least some signs of life, burning fires or nearby hunters. The dirt road leading past the city and towards Ravenhall was covered in snow, empty as far as the eye could see. Indur wasnt visible, a little off the path and located in a nearby valley between the high reaching mountains.

She crossed the rest of the way, leaving the ghost town behind and landing outside the little village. Smoke was rising from several of the buildings and the walls were higher now, sturdier. A steel gate had been added, a single fur clad heavy plated warrior standing atop with crossed arms.

Ho there, what is your business in Indur?

Ilea waved, Meeting an old smith and his lovely daughter. Her ashen armor receded, revealing the bone below.

Entry fee is one silver. The man said, hand moving to the hilt of his ax.