Ilea kept her eyes closed, focused on the speck of energy she felt within. The armor helped to keep out any external sensations, her sphere and other skills turned off. She had first came into contact with the thing a few days prior. Her interest piqued, she spent a little more time in her Armaments of Trials, mostly meditating with a focus on the part of her she hadnt previously seen nor felt. The more she forced herself to look at it, to feel it, the more it became blurry, ending in a blinding pain that made her stop. The pain felt familiar too but she couldnt place it. As if a part of her had forgotten, had refused to cling on to the memory. She tried a few more times before deciding that it was futile to force it. Instead she tried to coexist with what she perceived, to accept it without showing any desire to unveil its secrets. Meditation helped greatly to bring her into the right state of mind and soon she felt the energy move closer, or perhaps she herself was moving. Ilea wondered if this was the closest to a spiritual experience shes ever had. She decided that meeting the Fae still topped whatever this was. ding You have learned the General Skill: Soul Perception lvl 1 Soul Perception lvl 1 Through sheer luck and naivete, you have achieved enlightenment. A part of it that is. And perhaps not really enlightenment. Others might call it that but its really just the ability to perceive your soul or essence. Its a dubious skill that might help philosophers understand a piece of lifes puzzle but for you it will be mostly useless. Congratulations regardless. A skill that didnt require killing and blood to unlock. Marvelous. Haha! Ilea called out from within her armor, unable to lift her arms at all. She stored it and spread her wings. Enough meditation for today, she thought, happy to have surprised even her own subconscious magical text employee. The insults werent lost on her but at this point she was beyond caring. If she was relegated to write someones skill information, she would sure as hell pack it full of insults and jokes. Not that she really thought an actual conscious being was behind it. The implications were a little too terrifying. She flew up in the training hall and made sure nobody was present. An eye on her wings, she formed small openings that would allow the wind to travel through. One might ask why that obvious flaw in flying tech should be implemented but the answer was quite simple. Trian had actually joked about it during one of their dungeon runs. With the magic animating her wings, the lack of aerodynamic support didnt matter as much as it really should have, allowing her to work quite a few openings into her appendages. Right now, she was working on the best possible sound. An unnerving constant whistle or an increasingly loud high pitched screech? She wasnt sure yet but the intricacies of sound manipulation were highly interesting. Ilea had never learned to play an instrument. Both a lack of opportunity, pressure, and simple talent had led to it never coming to be. Now perhaps, with all her stats and skills, the prospect didnt sound quite as difficult anymore but seeing her students work themselves to the bone, she herself focused on useful abilities too. Whistling wings are useful! she said to the uncaring void watching her always. Or perhaps the fae that were hiding in plain sight. If there really were any. Ilea left the hall, the gates closed behind her before enchantments flared up into place. Christopher and Iana continued to expand on their defenses. Every new room and hall had to be clad inenchantments before it was approved of usage. She felt it a little too much but Trian and the faculty approved. Ilea wasnt about to ignore their fears, knowing very well that they were in the middle of a sprawling city. With interested eyes and ears everywhere, powerful groups and mercenaries irking to find every secret they could sell. Or simply to satisfy some peculiar need. Something or someone like the Ascended would ignore such defenses but that argument didnt invalidate the efforts. She knew as much, even without having another talk with Trian. She walked past a few more training rooms that had been added in the past weeks, glancing inside with her sphere, the enchantments tuned to allow her mana signature to pass. The perks of advanced enchanters. A few students were meditating among piles of ash, specks of the element floating around two of them. Another student was trying to build something akin to a snowman. Quite an impossible task without control over the element. She didnt disturb them, finding two students fighting each other. Ilea blinked inside, joining the few watching eyes. Other students and Aki, each giving pointers from time to time. They had tensed a little at her sudden appearance but nobody showed an obvious reaction. She had to admit that the students were good. Much better fighters than she had been after a month with her class. Blink and punch. Quite simple, she thought, watching the young man move his staff in an expert manner, striking several times at the womans legs as she danced backwards. She jumped and twirled, a whip of fire manifesting and moving in tow, forcing him back as it lashed out. Both were fighting defensively, probing each others abilities. A test of endurance between two warriors who knew each other well. Their skills had been honed and corrected by the experienced trainers Ilea had provided. By now her own capabilities far outshone the young fighters but they got a head start. That much was sure. She wondered how much progress she would have made with teachers like Sidney or Orthan. Edwin had given her some pointers, as did others, but nothing to the extent of a dedicated teacher. Her own skills had kept her from forming bad habits, from straying too far from efficient and deadly movements. She had learned herself and with the help of magic. Her student would have the best of both worlds. Surviving in dangerous dungeons with nothing but their skills, learning to fight ravenous monsters with the sole intent to maul and kill. And at the same time training with calculating warriors who tried to hit weak points, used a variety of weapons and tactics. Who tried to exhaust and used every unfair advantage they could get. Ilea didnt have to look at Aki to know that he was proud. He, she or it. The machine had filled in the role of combat teacher and protector of the Sentinels perfectly. He had never complained or failed in any of his tasks. That was what Trian had told her. Maybe his absence from my side was a good influence, she wondered. Or perhaps she herself would have risen to the task if their positions had been reversed. How much of herself was in the machine was a mystery. Iana had yet to understand what the dagger truly was but one thing was sure, he was learning, improving. It didnt matter if he was a soul bound to steel or enchantments and magic creating an artificial intelligence, Aki had become an integral member of the Medic Sentinels. She left again when the fire whip slashed into the mans face, ending the fight as he admitted defeat. He had shown no pain and the wound had already started healing. She assumed the condition for her victory had been met, nodding once before she vanished. Ilea had kept her interactions with the students low. After a few talks with Trian he had suggested that approach. She would be the unreachable goal, the specter of the Sentinels that both protected them and kept them pushing forward. If she became too human, too much of a friend, these illusions would lose impact. At the same time it protected her from being tied down, and in part from the inevitable deaths that would come. Losing a student was one thing but a friend she had helped train was worse. Thats what she told herself at the very least. They had made a choice to be here and yet she felt a connection with these students that would make her response to one of their deaths uncertain and devastating at best. Even Eve, who she had not truly known, had made her rage, had made her investigate and look into one of the supposedly most dangerous orders in the human lands. That title didnt mean much to her anymore but at the time, her rational side should have won out. She could understand reacting that way with a family member but a teammate she had fought with for less than a year? One that hadnt even entrusted her with her true goals, her true identity? She sighed and continued up and through the expanding headquarters, whose front above ground hadnt changed in the slightest. One thing was sure. She would find out who Eve was and who had killed her. If one of her students got killed however, nothing would protect whatever had caused it. Be it fifty Ascended and an army of Elementals. Ash danced around the armored healer, her eyes cold as scenarios unknown flashed through her mind. Students and teachers alike remained in their rooms as a cold and dangerous aura came and went. A familiar sensation to them but not one anybody could get used to.
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