Chapter Forty-Seven

-1000 Charge.

Assisted Kill! Queen Black Widow Level 189.

Level up! Path of Lightning reached Level 6.

Level up! Path of Lightning reached Level 7.

Level up! Path of Lightning reached Level 8.

Level up! Path of Lightning reached Level 9.

Level up! Path of Lightning reached Level 10.

Achievement! Triple-Leveled Kill.

“Really? At least you had help this time.”

Reward: Nope, I’m not giving you anything. It will only encourage more reckless behavior.

Elysia collapsed to her knees, vision spinning as she stared at the smoking corpse missing its abdomen. In its place was a crater, with Thrazk’s war hammer resting undamaged at the bottom.

Thrazk dropped into the crater with a thud to retrieve his war hammer, turning to Elysia before speaking in an excited tone. “Marvelous! Such a display would even impress our Elementalists.”

She gave a nod of her head, only half-listening to Thrazk as a pounding headache made its presence known. Numbness spread as she collapsed the rest of the way to the ground.

Before she hit the ground, Thrazk hopped out of the crater, catching Elysia. “Don’t fight it, young elemental. You earned some rest.”

Contrary to Thrazk’s intentions, his voice snapped her mind back into focus. She pushed back the numbness as she sprang to her feet. Her legs trembled as she stumbled back several steps toward the spider queen’s corpse. Something round found its way under her foot, sending her tumbling backward.

Thrazk shot forward, catching Elysia again, this time just before she fell into a pool of whitish liquid leaking out of the spider queen’s gaping mandibles.

After a few weak struggles, Elysia gave up, going limp in Thrazk’s arms.

Understanding her discomfort, Thrazk set her against an intact section of a brick wall. “Sorry if I scared you, young elemental.”

While Elysia formulated a response, Ione climbed out of her hiding spot under some rubble. Her violet eyes locked on the spider corpse, hunger taking hold. On instinct, she circled around the pool of whitish liquid still sizzling on the pavement. Instead, Ione took several bites out of the back of the spider where the abdomen used to connect. A purr sounded as she nibbled on the spider queen.

Unaware of Ione’s disgusting meal, Elysia looked up at Thrazk before speaking. “It’s OK. I’m just not comfortable with someone I don’t know holding me. Especially someone as strong as you.”

To change the subject, Elysia directed her attention to the pile of shining crystals in front of the spider queen. A thought flashed through her mind of Thrazk taking the entire pile.

Thrazk followed Elysia’s gaze to their loot after catching Elysia’s change of expression. He bent down and scooped up the pile of crystals.

Elysia tensed as her thought was proving themselves true before she kicked herself mentally. What was she thinking? He did all the work. She just smote the already defeated boss. The levels alone were enough payment, and maybe she could use him to help her improve her chances of getting past the turtle. Still, hopefully, she wouldn’t need any help and the river to Lake Kennedy would work.

As her thoughts went on a tangent, Thrazk materialized a pouch from nowhere, then dropped one of the two whitish crystals and around fifteen of the fifty smaller blue crystals into it. He turned to the oblivious girl, dropping the pouch in her lap.

The sudden weight resting on her thighs broke her from her internal monologue. Her gaze shot down to the pouch, then up to Thrazk with a confused expression present.

Thrazk nodded his head in respect. “Your payment for the loot boost. Thank you for the help. If you ever find yourself in Urus, I would love to meet again. Maybe we could do a delve in Neah Bay sometime or any other dungeon you have the first clear bonus.”

Elysia returned the nod of respect as she opened the pouch, eyes widening. “Are you sure you want to give me this much?” she blurted before clamping her mouth shut as her hands moved on their own to hide her loot.

With a deep voice full of mirth, Thrazk spoke, “Of course. I came here hoping to get maybe one low-grade skill crystal, but your loot bonus gave us two high-quality skill crystals. If anything, I’m the one who should be paying you more, but I need the mana crystals to return to Urus.”

Before he could change his mind, Elysia tied the pouch to her suit’s belt and pushed her still-trembling legs into action. She swayed on her feet, forced to rest her hand on the wall. Worried, she delved inside her body but found it to be healthy. A quick check of her status showed her charge full, only adding to her confusion.

“First time overcharging a skill?” guessed Thrazk.

Elysia stared up at Thrazk with a tilt of her head. “Overcharging a skill?”

While inspecting his hammer, Thrazk explained, “That lightning bolt seemed stronger than the one you hit me with, so I assumed you tried to add extra to it. While impressive for someone of your age, I would avoid trying it again until you practice in a safe environment.”

Elysia frowned as she asked. “Does that mean I can use my element without a skill?”

“I’m not well versed with elementals, but our elementalists struggle with calling their element freely after they enter a path. The current theory is the system limits their freedom for their own safety because of the power boost. This doesn’t mean you can’t use your element without a skill, it just takes a lot of practice and control.”

Elysia’s expression turned downcast, prompting Thrazk to add, “Don’t be discouraged. From what I can see, you have a lot of talent. Our elementalists struggle to even overcharge their skills until their first decade into the path. If you visit Urus, I could get my clutch sister to give you some pointers.”

“That’s if I can even get into Urus. You said yourself she is unpredictable, and I do look human,” she mumbled in a self-deprecating tone.

With a mysterious smile, Thrazk replied, “We will see.”

Thrazk made his war hammer disappear along with the remaining crystals before speaking once again, “Well, I better be on my way. Good luck. I hope we meet again.”

Elysia forced a smile as she looked up at the hulking, armored figure. “Thank you for the help and information. If we meet again, I would love to conquer Neah Bay again—though you will have to help me avoid the pesky humans.”

“To delve again with you, I most certainly would,” replied Thrazk as he turned to leave.

He disappeared through the barrier a moment later.

A thought caused Elysia to scramble after him. Joe might attack him.

Elysia ignored the dungeon completion notification in favor of scanning her surroundings for Thrazk. Her eyes widened when she spotted a hulking figure standing on the shore, staring at Umbra.

He glanced back at her before his armor disappeared.

A gasp escaped Elysia’s mouth as she stared slack-jawed at the tall, scaled being. He gave a smile filled with razor-sharp teeth before he dove into the water.

Elysia stumbled to the shore on her still-weak legs, staring down into the dark depths to find Thrazk gone. He really wasn’t human. Lizard person wasn’t her first guess.

The approaching Umbra drew her attention. She stumbled on board, making eye contact with Joe, who was standing on deck with a worried expression. “Who or what was that?”

“That was Thrazk. No idea what they call themselves as a race,” replied Elysia, blinking her heavy eyelids.

Joe glanced at the water before returning his attention to Elysia to ask, “Am I right in assuming this Thrazk is friendly?”

“Yeah, and if he wasn’t, I would run. He practically toyed with a Level 189 Spider Queen.”

Joe let out a whistle. “Damn, yeah, he could crush me. China Creek pushed me to level 90, but I couldn’t hope to fight that monster.”

Before he could ask anything else, Elysia raised her hand to stall the conversation as she shook her head to stay awake, only to aggravate her headache. “I need a nap. Could we shelve the questions for later? Tell Eva to try the river, but if it looks too shallow, wait here until I wake up. Also, she can have the whitish crystal.”

Before saying any more, Elysia stumbled downstairs, her vision darkening with each step as her body turned to lead.

With numb hands, Elysia struggled out of the combat suit before flopping on her bed naked. She passed out within a second, joined by Ione, who curled into her left side to sleep off her meal.

Several hours later, Elysia roused with a groan. She stretched her arms above her head and pointed her toes, then snuggled into the silky sheets.

After another fifteen minutes, she awakened enough to notice a weight to her left. Her hand found familiar soft fur, causing her to frown. She lifted her head to find Ione curled into her side, eyes taking a measure of her companion. How did she grow so much? She was the size of a large kitten, but now she could rival a full-grown Maine Coon. She hoped she didn’t get much bigger. If she did, she couldn’t carry her.

Elysia sat up, causing Ione to awaken with a chirp. Unable to resist, Elysia gave Ione a few head strokes before climbing out of bed, to Ione’s dismay.

After changing into a pair of form-fitting black pants and a light blue T-shirt, she wandered toward the door with Ione following her.

The setting sun glowed through the windows in the empty area outside her bedroom. She must have slept for a while. Hopefully, nothing had happened while she was out.

Fearing the worst, Elysia ascended the stairs to find Joe and Eva sitting on the couch in the control room, holding hands. The moment she entered, their hands separated as their head jerked in Elysia’s direction.

Elysia smirked. “Don’t mind me.”

Eva’s face reddened a few more shades, but Joe returned a smile as he reported. “We refueled from a tank in Ucluelet, and I found another raft from a boat while you were napping. I took the raft into the river to Lake Kennedy but I found the river was much shallower than the reports said. Anything larger than a small fishing boat would beach itself.”

Elysia glanced out the window with a frown. They were floating near the mouth of the river to the northwest of Ucluelet. As Joe said, with her enhanced eyesight she saw several sandbars peaking above the surface.

Next, she turned toward the open water behind them. “What do you think the chances are they still have patrols watching?”

“High, but we may have a chance once night falls,” responded Joe, having expected the question.

She fell silent for a few moments in thought, eyes scanning the water for any activity. If they made it past the patrols, would Urus let them through? Thrazk said she was sentient and probably powerful. Something told her they couldn’t just sneak past her.

A sigh escaped her mouth, stuck with no good option. “Our best bet is to sneak past the patrols and hope Urus lets us through.”

“Urus?” asked Joe.

Elysia glanced toward Urus, though the turtle wasn’t visible behind the trees. “The massive turtle. Though, apparently, she doesn’t like being called a turtle. Thrazk said Urus is sentient and that we should avoid annoying her at all costs.”

Eva tensed, but Joe nodded his head in understanding. “That aligns with the reports from those turned away. The turtle seemed to predict their routes, blocking all means of progressing with water magic before they gave up and turned back.”

“Did this Thrazk tell you anything else?” asked Joe as Eva turned her full attention to the controls.

With a frown, Elysia replied, “Apparently, she dislikes humans, too. I hope that doesn’t cause a problem.”

“Good thing you aren’t human anymore,” commented Eva in an almost teasing tone, but her hands clenched around the steering wheel gave away her true feelings.

Elysia shrugged her shoulders with a helpless expression. “We will just have to take the risk.”

Silence descended as the trio stared out the window, waiting for the sun to set. Fortunately, she woke up at a good time as it didn’t take long.

Under the cover of night, Eva turned Umbra toward the east and pushed the throttle forward, which fortunately listened to Umbra’s bond to Elysia.

Everyone’s heads were on a swivel trying to spot movement on the dark waters, including Ione. Nothing jumped out at them as they entered the Salish Sea, but they kept their guard up as Eva turned Umbra toward the west. She kept the yacht near the shore of Vancouver Island as all eyes locked on the massive turtle, looking more like an island floating off in the distance.

Movement to the left drew Elysia’s attention away from the turtle. Her eyes widened as she spotted the silhouette of a boat. Before she could warn her crew, a blinding light shined down on them from above. “Eva, gun it!”

Not needing to be told twice, Eva shoved the throttle all away forward, jerking Umbra forward as several boats and the sound of a helicopter neared.

Elysia and Joe locked eyes before Elysia ran out onto the front deck while Joe went to the rear, both priming their magic to defend Umbra and themselves.

Fortunately, the new and improved Umbra easily outran the boats trying to surround her, leaving only the helicopter. Within minutes, the attempted barricade fell behind. The only sign it ever existed was lights shining over the dark waters. Still, the distinctive chopping of air remained fixed above them, turning night into day with its floodlight.

Repel lines dropped from the helicopter, followed by several darkly clad soldiers who landed on the rear deck. Suddenly surrounded, Joe flashed into motion, drawing his swords, but without his tactical gear, he appeared to be at a disadvantage. The floodlight shut off, bathing the deck in darkness, further weakening Joe’s position against a squad with night-vision goggles.

Drawn by the sounds of fighting, Elysia turned to give support, only for another set of repelling lines to drop from the dark sky down onto the front deck. Like Joe, the sudden ambush caught Elysia unarmed, but lightning sparked, awaiting command.

Unlike the assault on Joe with weapons intent on killing them, the five darkly clad soldiers moved to surround Elysia, then planted dark metallic slabs in a pentagon formation.

Even in the dark, Elysia instantly recognized the shields as the same material they made the cuffs out of. Her mind flashed back to her exploding the cuffs causing a vicious smile to form as she called forth a lightning bolt.

The lightning burst from her palms into the shield directly in front of her but vanished without a trace. Undeterred, Elysia let loose another lightning bolt on the same shield, this time causing the soldiers to stumble back as the shield cracked. Before the rest could take advantage, Elysia queued up a smite, targeting it between two shields to her right.

The night sky lit up, causing the fighting on the rear deck to momentarily pause. Joe took advantage, gasping for breath as he shot forward. He hamstrung two of the soldiers before the other three returned their attention to him, but no longer on the back foot, he pressed the advantage.

Back on the front deck, the smite struck home, instantly shattering two shields but leaving the soldiers behind them unharmed.

Before she could take advantage, the remaining two shielded soldiers slammed the shields together as the other three drew swords of a similar material.

Elysia caught sight of Ione sneaking behind the new formation, causing Elysia to ready another smite to finish the shields in one blow before her kitten endangered herself.

She raised her hands to release her payload, only to flinch as a booming voice filled her head and presumably everyone else’s from the reaction of the soldiers.

Humans, I warned you what would happen if you intruded upon my territory.

Even in the dark night, the towering turtle loomed just ahead, its head lifted from the water and directed toward them. Its car-sized dark eyes bore down on them, radiating disdain as a tidal wave crashed down onto Umbra. The water split around Elysia and her crew, washing away the squad. A moment later, a jet of water slammed into the helicopter overhead, sending it careening away.

Before Elysia could process what happened, an impact under Umbra caused her to stumble, then scream as the yacht shot airborne, propelled upward by a geyser. The geyser held Umbra aloft at eye level with the turtle who bore down on them imperiously.

“Greetings, Young Elemental.”