Evidently, a little over three years was a long time. There was no longer a camp with some stone walls from the minotaurs. Oh sure, there were some tents on the outskirts from some wandering orc tribes. But the city itself was made of massive granite slabs, dozens of feet tall and wide. No evident cuts or slices in them. Minotaurs and orcs alike walked along the tops of the new walls.
Shortly after the safe line away from the mana rift, smooth walkways were evident. Some twenty or thirty feet wide. Towers were dotting the landscape as well, orc scouts or minotaur scouts keeping watch. Trillia was walking extra slow, not only to take in all the sights but also because walking was still slightly foggy.
She was vaguely aware someone was speaking. She just ignored it. Trillia didn't even register that she had walked away from the others as they called after her or tried to follow.
Slowly meandering through the forest.
Something in the back of her mind was itching, calling her. [Mana Sight] was toggled on. The names of all the plants around her showed up, all their various alchemical uses. Most plants apparently had plant mana manipulation. That sort of made sense? Trillia wondered just how many types of mana there were.
She wandered and wandered. Everything was just a distant buzz in the back of her mind. Briefly, she had been stopped, by some other force holding her arms or shoulders, but she ignored those as well. Gently pulling away until they let her go.
Time passed, and she stood in front of a cave, well off the beaten path. Cave was a generous term, really. Anyone but her wouldn't be able to stand in the thing. Her mother would have to crawl, given how tall she was. Finally, she stopped at the mouth of the cave.
Divine Trait Awakened!
[Spawn Seeker]
Spawn Seeker calls you towards the spawn of great and terrifying creatures so that they might be purged from Alirast.
Trillia blinked a few times. Suddenly, her senses came back to her. The others stood around her with weapons drawn. They could feel something. Trillia called out.
"There's a spawn here! Becareful!"
As if on cue, a low growl rumbled from the cave. What looked like a bear slowly plodded out. The dimensions were impossible, however, as the thing looked like a small cub or dog inside the cave. But as it stepped outside, it grew and grew.
And grew.
Trait [Spawn Seeker] activated!
Skills buffed!
[Morphling Cub - Primordial Spawned Beast - 533]
Notable Traits:
Primordial Spawn
Adamant Hide
On all four, it stood as tall as Amelia. On its hind legs, it was taller than Amara. Once more, fear jumped into Trillia's mind. She barely registered it as her traits and skills continued to try and stamp out the useless emotion. Her right-hand shot to her side for a weapon, only to realize there wasn't one there.
The others wasted no time. Ralrouk had been a very large and imposing Orc before she went into the pod. Now? Now she was pretty sure their family had giant somewhere in their lineage. With a growl of his own, Ralrouk just ran up at the thing. Amara screamed for him to get back. This was a [Primordial Spawn], not something he should be fighting. Or at least, that was the thought.
Her traits and skills stopped things like fear or panic, but not dumbstruck awe.
Everyone sort of froze for a moment, with the exception of Amara, who moved in behind her son to follow up the attack as Ralrouk rammed into the bear. An orc racial skill Trillia hadn't gotten yet showed itself. Large tusks and fangs extended from Ralrouk's mouth. The two giant creatures bit into one another, blood flowing freely. Despite being a [Primordial Spawn], it seemed to come out worse in that exchange.
Ralrouk had a blood-based class, as the flow of blood around the two of them turned into thin needles and sliced into flesh. Amara grabbed her son's shoulder and vaulted him. A dozen weapons that had formed around her raked across the bear's back, easily parting flesh and hide. Tormash threw out a javelin, impaling the creature. Lurog was throwing weird bright orange alchemical mixtures at Ralrouk. Trillia watched as her brother's wounds began to mend in front of her.
Ba'Shoon had her hands on Amelia's shoulders, casting some form of buff. Finally, her best friend opened her maw, and Trillia was nearly flattened by the sound. Ralrouk's flesh tore off in chunks, as did the bear's. Amara seemed almost completely immune to it. Trillia's senses finally overcame the awe. She had no skills to help except a single one.
So she began using [Restorative Chant] on Ralrouk as much as she could. Turns out, when you have millions of mana. It's quite easy to cast a spell repeatedly. The walk out of the mana rift had nearly tripled the amount of mana she had. It was now being put to good use.
Less than a minute after the fight started, the bear lay dead. Trillia didn't stop, though. She continued to use the skill on everyone. Mentally she set her [Limitless Mana] so that thirty or so thousand mana immediately drained and overflowed into allies nearby. Trillia set it back to maximum once they seemed to be restored.
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Amara stared at her a moment before reaching over to smack Ralrouk on the back of the head.
"I told you not to engage, boy! I don't give a damn how big you are. I am still your Chieftain!"
Ralrouk began to shrink back down to his tiny size of seven feet. He had the same dark blue skin Tormash had, but his eyes were a bright red. Unlike the lean muscled shape, Tormash kept his body in. Ralrouk was just a large orc. Huge belly and very broad shoulders. Despite looking like he could crush most creatures with his bare hands - also his preferred fighting style - he looked down at the ground meekly.
"Forgive me, Chieftain. I am accustomed to being the first in to ensure no one is harmed."
Amara sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Old man Lurog had walked over to Trillia. She turned to look as he began poking her with a stick. Trillia giggled and swatted it away as it started to tickle. The old man croaked.
"What was that skill, child? My mana was instantly replenished!"
Trillia was about to speak. A wave of notifications hit her, and she stumbled and fell forward. A half dozen hands moved to catch her.
For aiding in the defeat of a [Primordial Spawn] you are granted one floating level to assign where you want it.
Your group has defeated [Morphling Cub]!
More experience is awarded for defeating a creature more than 20 times your level!
Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!
Less experience is awarded for contributing very little to the fight!
Trait found on enemy: [Primordial Spawn] Experience awarded is doubled!
Species: [Mortal]; [Orc] Level 21 -> Level 27
Subspecies: [Mana-Infused Orc-Adolescent;Runt] Level 14 -> Level 19
No Damage Dealt, No Class Skills used. Class Experience severely reduced!
Class: [Runic Scholar] Level 0 - > Level 2
Class: [Fencer] Level 0 -> Level 1
Trillia's head finally stopped being swimmy. The others looked at her with amused expressions. Tormash and Ralrouk had begun harvesting the bear-like enemy. Amara spoke with a grin.
"Yeah. The first levels in your first classes are extremely potent. It shouldn't hit you that hard after this. We still can't scan you, so you'll have to fill us in."
Trillia was happy to do so.
"How do I see what my classes are offering?"
After a brief explanation, Trillia brought that information up in front of her.
[Runic Scholar]
Active Skills:
Rune Disruption
Rapid Rune Spell
Passive Skills:
Rune Sight
[Fencer]
Active Skills: Riposte
Well. It made sense there weren't a lot of options as they were pretty low-level.
With more fiddling, she read aloud the explanation of each skill.
"Runic Disruption. This skill allows you to pour your mana into a rune in an offensive capacity. To attack the rune itself. It is recommended practicing this skill on artifacts and runes you do not need. As the intent to attack an enemy, and the intent to attack the rune itself can sometimes be difficult for new Manipulators to do."
"Rapid Rune Spell. This skill allows you to craft custom runes for any rune-based spells you know. At level 0, you understand how to do so. Every level there after gives you another slot for a custom rune. The ratio is five to one. One of your custom-crafted runes counts as up to five other runes in a sequence."
"Rune Sight. This skill can be toggled on or off. You can see any rune work and have a keen understanding of the original intent behind the runes. At this skill level, it allows you to see the runes of enemy spells, as well as wild runes that spawn near mana wells."
"Riposte. This skill allows you to use your Dexterity to parry an attack with one of your own. Higher levels will allow you to attack more than once every time you use Riposte."
Obviously, she just took them all. She had the space anyway. Amara sat on the ground in front of her, thinking. Ba'Shoon was the first to speak.
"I may borrow you. Rune Sight seems incredibly useful. One of the problems with enchanting, already enchanted gear is that you often have to work around mana runes that can't be seen. It's doable, but I don't have a lot of good skills to do it with. Especially not something that seems so simple as that."
Trillia's grin was ear to ear. She'd get to learn enchanting that way! From Ba'Shoon, no less. She knew that the offer stood before she went into the pod, but Trillia was happy to know she was already going to be useful. Amara's voice pulled her from her reverie.
"You need to learn to control Spawn Seeker. You seemed lost in a daze Trillia. We couldn't get through to you. It worked out well this time because we were all here. But on your own? I doubt you could have taken that thing."
Trillia nodded solemnly at that. It was completely true. Which scared Trillia. Mentally she chastised the world core.
'If I'm supposed to fight for you eventually, maybe try not to kill me immediately. Dawn, I think my realm is dumb.'
Once Ralrouk and Tormash were finished harvesting their kill, nothing was left. Not even blood. Ralrouk looked inside the cave.
"Should we investigate now?"
Amara immediately shook her head.
"No. Let's get Trillia home. Let's rest, get some food in our systems, and let everything soak in finally. We can send a scout back out here. I don't want to risk any more of these damn things."
Everyone nodded. They began making their way back to the main road that led to the city. As they got close to the gates, Trillia was a little stunned. Sure, it had seemed huge when they were on the hill looking at it. But up close? Her eyes just kept going up and up the walls. A shiver ran down her spine. Turning her head to Amelia.
"Is this what your home was like?"
Amelia took her hand and smiled.
"Much, much smaller. The walls of God's Watch were a hundred feet tall. Nearly three times the height of these. Minotaur stone and earth magic is extremely potent. We also get significant bonuses for fighting in our cities."
Trillia nodded. They followed after Amara. Trillia knew immediately she was going to get so, so very lost in the city now. It was so much larger. As soon as they were inside the walls, all the smells hit her nose. So, so many delicious smelling foods. There were also people here besides orcs and minotaurs. Trillia turned an inquisitive glance at her mother and Amelia. Amara is the one who answered.
"Kincairne has people in it that don't care about mana sickness at all. They are trying to find a way to permanently bridge the rift. So that we can trade freely once more. Instead of just sending messages."
Trillia nodded. Her mind once more pulling, telling her to go to Kincairne. She followed her mother to their new home. Ready to see her father again. Honestly, she also just wanted to sleep in not soup.