Chapter 497: Chapter 497: Ruins

Helena remained in her chair for a little while after Ilea had left. The meeting had been quite productive. Maya glanced into the room and quietly closed the door again as soon as she confirmed that Helena was alive. Is it? she wondered. Ilea hadnt shown many of her skills. She had ways to detect even the best of her assassins, had an armor like defense hidden under her shirt, and she had the aura of someone with Veteran in the second tier, perhaps even the third. The sphere she felt around her felt like a perception aura but it could have very well been something else entirely. The way she had moved suggested more than one high level combat skill and the thin lines of fire on her skin suggested body enhancement skills. Likely more than one. A healer with body enhancement and ash at her side. It could be quite dangerous, perhaps even too much for me. Her level isnt much higher but it might overwhelm my battle experience nonetheless. Helena assumed she had fought far more than Ilea, the difference in their experience surely quite vast. Especially against human opponents. She had admittedly gotten a little rusty in the last few decades but experience didnt just fade at this level. The girl was young. Perhaps as young as she looked like. Helena hadnt detected any acting or falsehoods, meaning the character Ilea portrayed was likely her real one. Someone who enjoyed battle for the sheer sake of it, not a noble nor someone interested in political influence. She had risen in power quickly, perhaps faster than most. She thought it unlikely that the girl had remained hidden and unknown, especially with her erratic and sudden appearance on the board. It suggested a powerful Class or several of them. Reaching level two hundred was possible with luck alone but three fifty? Helena thought it highly improbable. The girl was dangerous, that much was clear. She had intervened in Riverwatch and had asked for the slaves to be freed. Perhaps the citys recent involvement with infiltrating the kingdom had something to do with Lilith after all. Helena hadnt been sure if Ilea just went to protect the city and with it her friend in the guard, or if she was there to fight Baralia. Perhaps it was both in the end. She did feel quite strong about slavery it seemed. A good addition, if she actually joins. The fact that she hadnt actually joined the war herself and only acted to defend Riverwatch suggested she wouldnt intrude on other territories without very good reasons. Her insistence on questioning her assassins guild was frankly annoying but Helena couldnt fault the young woman. Ilea was right when she called them both murderers, why she still insisted that an assassins guild was any worse than slaughtering half an army of soldiers was however ridiculous. She had her principles and while she seemed uneducated at first, Helena couldnt help but find some of her questioning intriguing. Almost as if the girl had been frustrated, but not for the usual reasons. Helena had confirmed that Lilith wasnt a monster but instead remained human despite her power. She wasnt a threat to humanity but instead a potentially highly important asset. The lack of initial interest in the war and her high level suggested she had seen more than her fair share of the horrors lurking both within and outside the human plains. She smiled bitterly. So full of life and empathy. Ilea wasnt yet tired of fighting and neither was she a born leader or administrator. She could trust and delegate, that much was clear by now. Helena judged it impossible for someone like Ilea to manage the wealth and assets attributed to Lilith. Someone else was behind that but nobody that actively controlled her, she wouldnt have been as confrontational and careless in this meeting otherwise. She judged it useless to question Ilea about Ravenhalls independence and the potential role Alyris had played in that. If anybody knew more, it wasnt Ilea. The girl had time to enhance her skills and fight battles without risking an insurrection. For Helena, that possibility had long since passed. Nor did she have any interest in facing creatures that would raise her level. Not anymore, not if not absolutely necessary. Most important of all, Ilea had actually enjoyed the cake. Helena snickered when she remembered her asking if she could take the rest with her. Nobody had ever done that. It filled her heart with some long forgotten warmth. She really hoped that Velamyr and the Pirate would support her. Unlikely that three people would veto her. Michael doesnt care and Elisora will like her. Nero and Elijah might be a problem whileElizabeth is a sure veto. In the end she could still trade with Ilea personally, or with the person managing her assets. But without the status and connections she would gain by becoming a member herself, Helena thought it unlikely that Ilea could keep up her speed of expansion. As secure as Ravenhall is, Riverwatch will be contested. She hoped Lilith proved herself in Baralia. Helena couldnt deny that she liked the woman, not just because she liked her baking. Perhaps its part of it, she admitted to herself and took another sip of ice tea.