Among the many reasons that Lady Karire had been fighting, the evacuation had a large influence on her.
To her, the devil that whispered in her ears wanted Avina gone. It would be the price of her most recent rebellion.
An entire [Great City] for one life. For one misbehaviour.
She wanted to fight the fate that the devil was forcing her to travel on. So, she battled and killed with all her might and heart, all so that more citizens would survive. And with their survival, Avina would live on.
To the masses though, Lady Karire was selfless and valiant. They optimistically misunderstood her intentions, while Lady Karire did not care to correct them. The people would admire her while she would continue to rebel against the heavens in secret.
With Lady Karire and Apple massacring sea beasts on the front lines, many of those who were stranded by the floods had been able to escape. Lives were saved and preserved as a mass migration occurred in Avina.
Those of the northern and southern regions could already see the tides at their doorsteps.
They were scrambling to higher ground, bringing with them as much of their [lives] as they could. They lugged their possessions, riches, and mementoes and fled to the hills. They brought all that defined their everyday life with them, fearing the dread of absolute loss.
To the east of Avina, things were a bit different. There was choking tranquillity as an atmosphere of creeping fear loomed upon the area.
When morning came, the Undead Remnants had seemingly vanished under the sunlight. The few Undead Remnants that had approached the Eastern Wall had been slain under the meticulous guidance of Lotus Weizhe. The knights at his disposal were able to gain an inkling of what they were up against.
They saw how one small wound could end them if left unattended. One small nick, one small scratch,
That was all it took for the Manic Undeath to begin its infection.
Even their swords would grow dull with just a few slashes. Their armours rusted and melted whenever they were struck. And their enchantments were also broken under the dissolution of their gear.
Every living thing that came into contact with those evolved Undead Remnants died. Inanimate objects deteriorated to join the dead ashen soil.
At this point, if you were a defender of Avina, you had to pick your poison.
Would you risk being torn to shreds by the maws of a ship-sized sea beast after being swallowed whole?
Or would you rather risk being dissolved into a grey fog to then be assimilated by a monster after one small unnoticed wound?
There was the option of escape of course... but things were not as simple as that. Escaping south would lead you to a dead end. Going south brought one closer to the subterranean kingdoms and the armies of Illum who have already begun marching in.
Going south meant you would be at the centre of turmoil.
As for the north... well, the north was more or less the seaside. The shores of the Holy Nation of Illyas was in the shape of a triangle since the country was situated at the very north of the entire diamond-shaped continent.
If you went directly north from Avina, the sea would eventually greet you, and that meant a beast tide. You had to head northeast to follow the shoreline, but what did going east mean? Risking an encounter with the Undead Remnants who now roamed the nearby plains.
The great seaside city of Avina was besieged by beasts and the undead on all sides.
.
.
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{[ April 23, 102 A.A. ]}
{[ Arthime Mansion, Great City Avina ]}
"We can only fight," Lady Karire exhaustedly said, answering the questions her husband had been posing to her on what they could do.
The couple had returned home after twenty-four hours of dealing with the problems in the city. They were Artists and had weaker bodies and weaker Wills. They lacked stamina, and thus they needed rest more than Dictators and Evolvers.
Apple was still on the front lines. Whenever he rested, he regenerated his [Health] and [Energy]. His lighter wounds would close entirely while his body would be filled with strength.
All he needed was somewhere to lie down and nap for the greatest effects.
There was a Rank 2 Dictator named Liam who had also fought with Lady Karire and Apple. To him, things were even simpler given his unique way of using Tangible Will.
He would find a spot to sit down in the midst of chaos. Purple Tangible Will would then emanate from his relaxed form, suppressing the thousands of beasts swimming below the surface of the waters. His suppressive aura could spread across a radius of a kilometre, becoming weaker the further away the purple waves of Tangible Will got from his body.
Liam's knights would just place him on their shoulders, killing the weakened monsters as they went. The Rank 2 Dictator was practically half asleep as he meditated, regenerating his Mystic Energy just as quickly as he spent it.
Athelei and Aria had been listening to these stories after being freed from the protective prison they had voluntarily walked into.
It made Athelei wonder what kind of 'effects' his Tangible Will would have once he completely got rid of the gold influence that dyed it in a different colour.
He thought about how Irene's golden Will was born for power. It was an immense and versatile weapon that she used to climb higher and higher heights. Her orbs and lances of gleaming gold could blast away her enemies without remorse.
On the other hand, Liam's purple Will seemed to be the man's laziness given form. Sir Xiu had commented from the side that many people were jealous of his manner of practising. He just slept all day, strengthening his Tangible Will with every extra hour he put into sleep-meditating.
If those two opposite Wills could be translated into words...
Then Irene's Will would be, [More! More! More!]
While Liam's Will would be, [Don't bother me.]
'Only time can tell...' Athelei was excited to see just how his desires allowed him to fight. He also had his Mystic Pattern circle to look forward to.
For now though, it was time to study again. A child's life in the midst of turmoil was like this. Athelei was currently a fragile existence without his fog-body, and he was not fond of tempting unintended endings.
Athelei placed the Tidal Tome onto his desk and opened it to the page he had been on before he carved Area into his mind. He began jotting things down onto the books in his mental library.
Dozens of water-based Mystic Patterns was being recorded and memorised. There were offensive patterns like water bullets, water blades, and water waves; defensive patterns such as water screens, water walls, and water barriers; and utility patterns such as water generation, shallow healing, and water cleaning.
With these Mystic Patterns stored in his mind library, Athelei had more or less set himself at mid-level Rank 0 Artist. It was a feat that would've taken a typical artist two or three years, while an Artist with a purple Nebula Gem usually took a year.
The reasons for his speedy advance was simple: His mental attributes, [Intelligence], [Will], and [Psychic] were all quite high despite his feeble age. Normal children did not have these kinds of statistics, and even if they did, humans usually slept a lot. Athelei did not sleep. He kept learning, practising, and studying every minute he could. He was rarely well and truly asleep at night.
If he tried to rapidly progress through an Evolver's growth, it would be much much harder in comparison. In fact, he might have to practise for eight years to even hope of reaching Rank 1. His human body was just not up to par at his young age, but Athelei was counting on his Unnamed Mutation to perhaps change a few things.
That, and he was still monitoring the effects of the Boon of Longevity had on his growth now that his fog-body had recombined with his physical body.
Now, to reach peak Rank 0 Artist, Athelei knew he would have to actually learn and master all these Mystic Patterns he had memorised. Perhaps adding other elements to his arsenal would be decent as well. Null-attribute Mystic Patterns like Hunter, Sway, and Guide were important too, as those had very mysterious effects.
Take Doppelganger, with its body-changing abilities for example; Athelei had already memorised the pattern after just one look at it, but it was as complex as a sequence of patterns. In fact, Lady Karire said that it could've been a sequence of patterns at one point, but the true phantoms probably found a way to simplify it enough to consider it a pattern.
He had yet to achieve the dexterity and finesse required to draw Doppelganger in the air.
ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!
An explosive sound of deafening magnitudes arrived like one of Sir Xiu's sonic attacks.
Athelei felt the floor beneath his feet quake. A miniature earthquake shook the entire Arthime mansion, forcing the young boy to run to his balcony to see what kind of abomination could have made such a mind-numbing roar.
It was easy to spot the culprit. In fact, the culprit looked rather familiar...
"Ulthasiair!" Athelei gasped when he saw a long serpentine body rising out of the water in the distance. Its eyes were deviously leering at the flooded city and its scales were shining in the late morning sunlight, looking like pristine blue and gold armour.
Athelei had been wondering where the named mutant beast had gone, and now he had even more questions.
Ulthasiair looked different from how he remembered it. There were new majestic horns sitting on its draconic head like a king's crown and its underbelly gleamed in a magnificent silver when it had previously been a dull light blue.
Athelei couldn't help but execute Inspect.
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Ulthasiair
Health: 920/920 -> 1200/1200
Defence: 42 -> 61
Strength: 58 -> 79
Dexterity: 39 -> 42
- Race: Mutant Sea Serpent (3% Lesser Water Dragon) -> (10% Lesser Water Dragon)
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