Meera paced in her training room. It had been an hour or so since Veridiana left her, saying she would visit as often as possible. She bade Meera to continue her training by herself. Now, as much as Meera wanted to do that and get even stronger, she wanted to run from this place even more.
It had been almost ten days since she had come here. She couldn't call them a waste as she had grown so much, but it had been ten days since she figured out Neel was on Ealisto. Since Silas and Cossus were there, it must mean Neel was also there. His trail had somewhat gone cold as she couldn't get much more out of the sorceress Firaan before Aksha burst through the door.
If Veridiana spoke truly about the lines of the Arbiter, then she had to take a little detour to the University of Saranya anyway. Find out about the actual words of the great prophecy, and then somehow pick up Neel's trail.
Silas and Cossus were heading towards the Warlocks of Winter's Embrace, so that would be her next target. If she could find the Warlocks, she was sure she could pick up Neel's trail again, or maybe someone in the Varsha Empire had heard news of the Champion. If not, Winter's Embrace would be her next stop after the University.
But all that came after she escaped from this dragon's corpse. She figured she had waited long enough. She put all the Mana potions that Veridiana had left her in her Hoard Belt. She left the training room and entered what she figured was Veridiana's lavish living room. All the tapestry and furniture were decorated with all sorts of dragon designs. Dragons soared through the clouds or breathed fire. One of the massive paintings depicted a pair of dragons dancing through the skies in pairs. The dragon with red scales felt oddly familiar, while its partner with bluish-white scales was massive.
Thankfully, Veridiana had left no one to guard Meera—probably because she couldn't spare anyone—which would make her escape easier. She moved for the door but stopped when she noticed the rose-like flower with red and blue petals. She sniffed, and it smelled sweet and strongly earthy. She liked the smell, and without meaning to, she picked a couple, took another whiff, and placed them in her Dragon Hoard Belt.
She went to the door and pushed on it, and not surprisingly, it was locked. This door led to the stairs they had taken to come up from one of the lower lungs or Hall of Judgment. She pushed on it again, patted it down, trying to find a secret switch, and cursed herself for even thinking that. After all, she was in the house of sorceresses; they didn't even comb their hair without using magic.
She sighed. Guess there is no choice.
She had hoped to do this silently but would have to force her way out. She activated her newly evolved skill, Druvis Might.
Strength like none she had ever felt coursed through her veins. She retracted her armor on her right arm, and it was rippling with muscles. Several thick veins had popped out along the length of her forearm. It was like she had become a ripped bodybuilder. She was sure she had abs, and as much as she wanted to see those, this skill was draining her Stamina, and she needed that. She readied her fist to punch the stone door but stopped when a thought entered her mind.
Before I leave, I should try to make it again.
She nodded to herself. She had more Mana now and Mana potions to refill her Mana. Even if she only managed to make an unsuccessful one, it could still be used once. And she had a strong feeling she was going to need it.
She walked back to the couches where she sat when she first came into this room. She took out a Mana potion from her Belt, uncorked it, and set it on the wooden table carved in the shape of a dragon. She pulled off two level 2 chakrams and got in position.
Okay, time to make a Level 3 Chakram.
She touched the edges of the chakrams and pumped Mana into them as she pushed them together. Just like every time she had done this before, the chakrams pushed back. But when she made level 2 chakrams, the pushback wasn't as great as this. These level 2 chakrams pushed back like two great magnets that were hell-bent on not touching.
She kept an eye on her Mana stat, which was in freefall. She opened the floodgates of her Mana, for she didn't want another failure like last time. She was not going to make an unsuccessful one. Her Mana passed the halfway mark, and the chakrams in her hand glowed bright like two sharp, circular tubes. They felt hot to the touch, growing hotter still and brighter.
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She gritted her teeth and kept pushing them together. Finally, when her Mana dropped past the quarter mark, the chakrams started to go into one another. But she didn't want to fail again. She bent down quickly like the head of a striking snake, gripped the Mana vial in her teeth, and rose, drinking the bottle until the last drop of the blue liquid was down her throat.
Immediately, her Mana refilled. She smirked and continued the downpour of Mana into the chakrams. She roared as she pushed harder, and the chakrams fell into each other.
She huffed as she stared at the beauty in her hand. The chakram was almost as wide as her chest and thicker than the length of her thumbnail. It glowed brighter than all the stars of the night combined.
*ding!
[Congratulations. You have successfully forged Chakram of Echoes - Level 3. The divine chakram has reached its formidable third form. No skill or arrow is its equal in speed. No sword, mace, or warhammer is its equal in power. It can cut through the greatest of defenses with ease. It can even deflect all attacks that land on its radiant body. The cost of wielding such a mighty weapon is a great sum of Mana.]
Meera figured there had to be a cost associated with using the chakram. Good thing she had Mana to spare. Let's try this thing out.
With a big grin, she spun the chakram on her fingers and flung it at the stone door. True to its description, the chakram shot like a bullet. Despite her superior eyes, all she saw of the chakram was the glowing streak it left behind as it zipped through the air. It was like a comet hurled from her hand. The stone door stood no chance. It was blasted to smithereens.
She looked at her Mana, and the grin melted off her face. She recalled the level 3 chakram right away. It returned to her hand as if it had teleported. The streak of its shiny light was still alive in her vision. It was going to take some time getting used to, as was the Mana cost.
Just throwing it at the stone door had cost her over 300 Mana points, and it was siphoning Mana rapidly as if someone had punched a hole in her proverbial Mana bucket.
She looked at the glowing chakram. "You're going in the use in an emergency category."
Its diameter was a little greater than her level 2 chakrams. Her first thought was to hang it in the clasp where the rest of her level 2 chakrams hung, but it would draw too much attention. If only she could dim its glow. She tried to but failed in her attempt. In the end, she had no choice but to stow her ultimate weapon in the Dragon Hoard Belt. Thankfully, her Belt lay underneath her armor so it wouldn't be lost in the heat of battle.
She wondered if she could call upon the chakram from within her Belt, but she did not want to rip it open in the attempt. Then, she made five more level 2 chakrams. These were considerably easier to create. She drank another Mana potion to refill her stat and headed for the ruined door.
Her intuition was correct. Veridiana had left no guard to watch over her. Maybe she had trusted Meera enough that she would not escape. Outside, the chaos from earlier had simmered down some but not vanished. Now, there was a hint of order to it. Sorceresses, most of whom were the Daughters of Aksha, zipped through the air, no doubt carrying orders. Ever so often, the world shook as a big explosion sounded outside. She had heard none of this in the Sovereign's chambers.
She scanned the air, and no one was coming for her. They were all too busy with the war with the dragons. Her first wish was to head straight outside, and the fastest way was to head for a wall, but then she would be jumping into the palm of the dragons. She needed to escape this place in such a manner that no one was the wiser, which meant she had to go see that infuriating creature.
She slithered out of the dragon's heart that housed Veridiana's chambers and dashed down the steps toward the stomach. She had to pass the Hall of Judgment, which was in the biggest lung. Meera could hear voices inside. The Five and Veridiana were in there. From the sounds of things, they were making battle plans.
She quickly slipped past them unnoticed and headed straight for the stomach. A sorceress followed by two initiates ran past her, but none of them gave her a moment's notice.
Things must be more tense than I imagined.
The rest of the way down was uneventful, though she almost fell off the stairs twice when two big explosions threatened to crumble the stairs. Gaining entry into the dungeons was easy enough. She activated Druvis Might and simply punched her way in.
Meera was ready to put the Daughters standing guard to a permanent sleep, but there were none. It seemed that they had all been called away to fight the dragons.
She made a right and dashed down the right corridor that held the prisoners. The dejected men in the cages looked up and begged her to let them out. But Meera had other pressing matters to attend to. She pulled off a level 2 chakram for the awaiting jailor, but she wasn't there either. She slid to a stop by the last cells.
"Ah, and here I thought you forgot about dear old me," Kalrina purred.
Meera snorted. "Shut up, witch. You better have a way of getting us out of here undetected, or I'm serving you up as lunch to the dragons."
Kalrina smiled and dusted herself off. "Oh, but I do, dearie."