Chapter 133
“Hunting shadows in the tower.”
That means I need to find other ways to take advantage of him.
“Do you have a way to copy the image projected on one object and store it on another, then display it?” she asked suddenly.
“...Mmm... There is a spell that can copy an image, but I would have to bind it to some crystal and make some modifications to the spell in order to do something like what you indicate. I assume you wish to display the image on more than one occasion.”
“Right, you have about four hours to get it! Then I want you to travel to the duchy of Brincy in the human kingdom of Balsahty and look for a tower that recently sprouted from the earth. An army of humans must be fighting monsters near the entrance.”
“... Does the saintess want me to participate in a human war?”
“No, what I need from you is to wait near the tower without anyone discovering you, until I give you a signal and you come for me. Then you will teleport me and a group of acquaintances to the north of the kingdom of Solis, near the duchy of Lanish in the kingdom of Balsahty.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to take them directly to the duchy of Lanish? I have not traveled there before but I have been close, so I could take you there," replied the elf without understanding why she was making it so complicated.
“No. You had mentioned something about the hunters’ guild before, I want the boys and I to register there, although I would prefer to do it in a different kingdom than theirs” in fact she planned to do it using the gender change ring she had looted from the office of the elf merchant who ordered to kidnap her.
That way it will be less easy to catch us. She thought.
“In fact, if you can take us to two different cities to register, that would be ideal," she added. “And bring enough potions to supply me.”
“I will need several mana potions to be able to make such a trip. I may not have the amount you wish available for today.“
“Then start preparing them, I’ll give you two more hours” then she started to do the math of how long it had taken her to get to the twelfth floor, and decided to add a little more, in case the twentieth through the thirtieth floors were much more difficult than it had been so far. “Better make it three. Expect my next call in seven hours.”
“Could you please give me a little more time?”
“...I’m not sure. I’m already on the twelfth floor of the tower and while I have no idea how many floors this thing is, it took me a little over three hours to get here...maybe four.”
“Are you communicating from inside a tower? Are you by any chance talking about those towers that occasionally sprout out of the ground and monsters come out of it?” The elf seemed suddenly very interested in that information.
“Yes.”
“How is it possible that you can communicate from inside them? That’s supposed to be impossible!”
“Well, apparently it’s not as impossible as you thought, because I’m doing it right now," she replied in a dry voice.
“I’ve heard that those towers only sprout up in human kingdoms and they are very jealous about who they allow in! There are even rumors that some kings use them as a training ground for their soldiers," continued the elf, completely oblivious to Kalysto’s lack of interest. “How did the saintess get permission?”
“That’s not important now. Start preparing everything. I’ll get back to you when I conquer the twentieth floor. Over and out!” It was after she put the communication crystal back in her inventory that she remembered that he wouldn’t recognize the expression, “Damn!.... Well...it doesn’t matter now.”
And she started down the narrow corridor until, after more than ten minutes of walking, she finally reached the end of the corridor where she found a wide path which stretched in several directions. So she took the path to the right, wanting to get to the spot in her window that symbolized Rita.
But after walking for several minutes, she passed near a wall, which her map indicated. Behind it was a small cave in which hundreds of red dots glowed. And while most of them seemed to be huddled near one end of the cavity, others were scattered around. So after putting her cell phone in one of the pockets of her combat pants, as she decided to call them to differentiate them from training pants, Kalysto placed the palms of her hands on the cold wall of earth and stone. And while she was tempted to try her skill at manipulating the earth and piercing it, just as those giant earthworms had done, she wasn’t sure how thick these walls were and how much she could take without breathing, so she decided to use the less risky option.
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“Mana manipulation! Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!” She conjured and concentrated her mana so that the golden light, instead of surrounding her, pierced the wall.
[You have gained 300 experience points!] x15
[Warning! The user has less than 10 MP left. Please wait a few minutes before attempting to use any skills again or your health will be severely affected]
Kalysto grimaced at the last sign, though she was glad to see that her experiment worked, in part.
So when I try to manipulate the way a skill works, I spend too much mana... like five times as much.
And as she admired the number of red dots that had decreased on her map, she was glad. Though apparently the rest that had been huddled in a corner before, noticed her presence and began to move away from the corner they had been in so far and began to move closer towards where she was.
She then took a step back and switched to the inventory tab, from where she pulled out a mana crystal.
[Does the user wish to absorb this mana crystal?]
[YES/NO]
Yes! she thought as she jumped back and continued to move away from the wall she had been leaning against as soon as the first specters began to break through the walls.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 6000 MP!]
She immediately stretched her hands forward and at the same instant that the first specter let out a chilling shriek that seemed to call out to the rest of his people, Kalysto started to conjure.
”Mana Manipulation! Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!” she shouted, refocusing on projecting her mana forward instead of to the surroundings.
[The skill Dispel Ezhil has risen to level 7!]
[The skill Ezhil Purification has risen to level 14!]
[The skill Mana Manipulation has leveled up to level 13!]
And as her golden light spread out, dozens of specters came through the walls and, as soon as they came in contact with her light, they disintegrated.
[You have gained 300 experience points!] x125
[You have gained 200 experience points!] x75
[You have earned 250 experience points!] x10
And as more specters died, more seemed to come from everywhere, bursting through the walls.
One even emerged from the wall behind her back.
And as the golden light of her skill dissipated, she nearly ran out of mana.
A strong dizziness seized her, her stomach churned as nausea rose in her throat and her knees shook, making her fall to the ground as her vision darkened. And a wave of vomit spewed out of her mouth without her being able to stop it.
Unintentionally avoiding the outstretched claws of one of the specters as she ducked.
[Warning! User has less than 3 MP left. Please wait a few minutes before attempting to use any skills again or your health will be severely affected.]
3MP?...In...inventory. She thought, feeling her head heavy and how her thoughts seemed to slip away like water through her fingers.
With trembling hands she reached into the locker where she kept her mana stones and pulled out a small one at the same time as a specter pierced the wall and flew up to her, burying its sharp claws in her arms.
[Does the user wish to absorb this mana crystal?]
[YES/NO]
Yes! she thought as pain seized her and the new specter, much larger and more intimidating than the ones she had seen so far, opened its huge mouth with the intention of devouring her.
[Congratulations, the user has acquired 4000 MP!]
[The passive skill Mental Defense has been activated.]
[The passive skill Pain Resistance has been activated.
Ezhil Purification! She thought, bathing in the golden light as she slowly regained control of her body.
[You have gained 400 experience points!]
“Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!” she shouted, again. Making sure to let her skills run with absolute freedom as she disposed of the new group of specters that had come to meet her.
[Dispel Ezhil’s skill has risen to level 8!]
I’ll never do anything like that again, ever! She promised herself as she got back up with some effort, leaning against the wall.
“Water creation!” She whispered and two jets of water spurted from the palms of her hands and she took the opportunity to get rid of the unpleasant taste of vomit that permeated her mouth. Then she took out a one-liter plastic bottle from her inventory, filled with holy water, and drank it halfway. “Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!” she muttered and then pulled out a thel and began to eat it, enjoying the sweet taste of the juicy fruit.
I’ll never try to manipulate my skills like that again! I almost died!
[You have gained 250 experience points!] x20
[You have leveled up!]
[The user is now level 33!]
[You’ve gained 200 experience points!] x50
And while the golden light finished eliminating the remaining specters, she finished eating the thel. But just as she took the last bite, a strong pressure flooded the air when at the same instant a new creature appeared.
Dressed completely in black, with a cloak that hid its face and more than two meters tall, the dark aura emitted by the new monster took her by surprise. As did the huge scythe held in his cadaverous hands.
And a crown of bones rested on his head.
“Intruder..." his raspy voice from beyond the grave made her skin crawl and sent shivers all over her body. “... you will die today.”