Meera walked through the woods, wanting to check on her notifications. After all, she had killed quite a few of the Cultists. It was scary how easy it had gotten, and that too with her regular chakrams. She was right in assuming that as she grew stronger and invested more points into her Dexterity, her chakrams also grew stronger.
"Hey, witch, you know where you're going, right?" Meera asked.
"Of course, dearie," Kalrina replied. "The fact that you asked that cultist and not me hurt. But I'll swallow this insult because I know, deep down, you care for me."
Meera heaved a heavy sigh. "It will be a glorious day when I'm finally rid of you."
The witch laughed and took the lead. It was difficult going at first, but the witch finally found the trail through the woods they had taken from Eryx's glade to the dragon keep. The path was well-trodden, wide enough for two people to walk easily but not wide enough to be called a dirt road.
Now, Meera brought up her notifications.
*ding!*
[You have killed 6 Frostweavers – Level 323 – Level 409.]
*ding!*
[Congratulation. The Shadow Image has gained 4 levels and reached Level 471. You have been awarded 12 stat points]
[Congratulations. Chakram of Echoes effect activated. Upon reaching Level 470 in your main class, you have earned one more Chakrams.]
One regular chakram appeared on her arm, bringing the number of chakrams to thirteen.
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Mirror's Affinity has reached Level 363. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 368% boost.]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics has reached Level 183]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Druvis Might has reached Level 171]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Mirror Phantom has reached Level 166]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Mirror Step has reached Level 227]
She wasn't surprised that she hadn't gained many more levels in other things, as she didn't use many skills in her last fight and mainly relied on her chakrams. I wished my chakrams gained experience like my skills, too.
She wasn't sad about this for too long, as her chakrams had other effects. She moved on to the skills she had stolen. She doubted there would be any worth keeping or that would work well with her mirror and shadow skills unless she wanted to change her entire skillset.
The way her class worked now was that most of her mirror skills were offensive, while most of her shadow skills were supportive. However, there were some powerful offensive shadow skills as well.
In any case, let's see what these Frostweavers gave me.
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Exploding Spear. Exploding Spear – Type: Active. You can create a sharp spear of ice that pierces enemies with deadly precision. Upon impact, it shatters into razor-sharp shards, causing additional damage. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Frigid Wave. Frigid Wave – Type: Active. You can unleash a wave of icy energy surging forward, freezing everything in its path and slowing enemies caught in the blast. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
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She couldn't lie. She was intrigued, especially by the Exploding Spear skill. Now, if only it created a mirror spear instead of an icy one, she would've taken the skill in a heartbeat. However, even then, giving up a skill would have been hard as all her skills were high-level. She passed up on these skills and moved on to the next ones.
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Icy Shield. Icy Shield – Type: Active. You can create an intricate shield of ice of varying size and thickness that blocks incoming damage. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Icy Roots. Icy Roots – Type: Active. You can shoot icy tendrils from the ground to grab and immobilize enemies, freezing them over time. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
Pass. Already have Mirror Shield and Nightstalker Bindings.
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the general skill Frost Sense. You can use frost to detect enemies in the area by sensing their heat signatures against the cold environment. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
The second skill was Frigid Wave again. Meera paused at this. Frost Sense could come in handy where she was going. Even if she couldn't create her own frost because she wasn't a Frostweaver, she figured it was cold as hell up there from what she had seen of the planet.
*ding!*
[You have acquired the skill Frost Sense – Level 1]
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Frozen Blockade. Frozen Blockade – Type: Active. You can summon an icy wall to block enemies' attacks or shield allies. The wall can explode into shards when dismissed. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Ice Ball. Ice Ball – Type: Active. You can throw an ice ball, which immediately freezes the enemy on contact. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
Meera groaned inwardly. These were all good skills. She could've easily made an ice class, but she would have to give up her shadow skills, which were already high-leveled and powered up by Shadow Affinity. She cursed her lack of open skill slots and gave up on these and the rest, which were more forms of ice attacks, as they did not go with her class. If she had received an Ice Affinity skill, that would have been different, but she didn't.
If this were going to be the norm, she would end up crying by the end of it. She would have done so now, but she wasn't too fascinated with ice-related powers. As they were all about controlling and freezing your enemy in place while she could see the benefits of that, she was all about movement and hitting your enemy in the hardest way possible.
Now, the only thing left was to assign her stat points, head to Drurith, and hope that no one else ambushed them.
She assigned the bulk of her points to Focus, increasing her Mana pool like always. More Mana was always good. Then she put some points into Perception, as it was lagging, and finally, she put more points into Dexterity, which would strengthen her chakrams.
Their way was clear and devoid of enemies. Meera had even begun to hope that they had left their enemies behind them, but that hope was dashed, no more like decimated, when she felt a new sensation she hadn't felt before, thanks to her newest skill—Frost Sense.
Meera would describe it as like a blip on the radar. She felt the warmth of the people or large animals disturbing the cold night. She figured this skill would only work at night, as during the day, it would be warm enough that it would be hard to pick the heat of other people against the environment.
She looked around them and didn't notice anyone lurking in the trees. She didn't know the range of Frost Sense, but it definitely couldn't have been more than her Mirrorstrike Vision. Unless the ones following them were doing a good job hiding amongst the trees or casting an illusion on themselves.
She tapped the witch on her arm and whispered. "I think someone is following us."
To her credit, Kalrina didn't swivel her head or make it obvious, but Meera was sure she was surveying their surroundings with her mirrors as well.
"I see no one," she replied in a whisper.
"Neither do I, but I feel like someone is there."
The blips on the radar grew stronger the more they walked, and Meera wasn't sure if they were walking towards them or being followed. To check out her theory, she stopped in place, her eyes taking in everything—every leaf that moved, every branch that swayed. Her ears conveyed nothing, and then, finally, she saw it.
A tree vanished, and out of it came a beautiful woman wearing a dark, skin-tight outfit akin to a ninja.
[Sorceress of Hunting – Level 473]
But that was not all. A few more trees vanished, and from them came the Daughters of Aksha, which seemed to delight upon seeing the witch.
"Ah, and here I thought I would have to wait a long time to kill another one of these things," Kalrina said.
Meera crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in a look that said, 'Really?'
"What?" Kalrina said. "You cannot fault a girl if she wishes to have some fun."
Meera shook her head. "Anyways, who is the sorceress?"
"Let me give my own introduction," said the sorceress stepping onto the path. "I am—"
"Tavelia," Kalrina interrupted her. "She likes to hunt beasts and other creatures for her sick experiments. If what you saw in the Cave of Wraiths sickened you, oh wait, till you see what's in her room, you will swear that Edwyn was nice to all those he tortured. I daresay she even puts Aksha to shame for her creativity in inflicting pain."
Tavelia's upper lip twitched. "You can guess why I'm here. I've tracked you since you left our humble abode. Now, it would be best for everyone if you come back willingly."
To Meera's right, she saw flecks of white in trees racing towards them and getting larger. Surprisingly, they did not trigger her Frost Sense. Maybe the Cultists have a way of lowering their body temperature.
"We'd come willingly," Meera said. "But they'll have trouble accepting that." She pointed to her right, and a moment later, the Cultists arrived.
There were only three of them, and this group was stronger than the last. They were comparable in levels to the sorceress. All were around level 450.
"Back off, sorceresses. They're coming with us," Kalrina said in a heavy voice. Then looked to the cultists. "I'm sorry I couldn't resist. I knew you would say something like this, so I took the liberty of saving us some time. I hope you don't mind, my dears."
The man in the lead glared at her. "You can keep this one. We only want the Champion's sister."
"They're both coming with us," Tavelia growled. "Scurry back to your frozen wasteland of a home. You will not survive here long in this heat."
The man snorted. "Will you?"
Meera was the first to hear it, as no one else reacted to the sound of wings flapping. "Oh shit, you brought them too."
Then a dragon roared, shaking the very ground beneath their feet.