Wild Era 3, Ch 5: The Ashen Halls

You have entered The Ashen Halls.

The voice of the Path rang in Kelin’s mind as he appeared on the other side of the portal. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he strengthened his mana shield and looked around. 

The dungeon stretched out in rows of rolling dark grey hills and tumbled stone ruins, extending for miles into the distance where it blended with the horizon. 

Almost everything was shades of grey and black, which fit the name of the Ashen Halls, and the difference between the land and the clouds was a matter of texture more than color, but there was one exception.

Strange wisps of ethereal light floated across the hills in a mix of silver, white, and green, giving the land a ghostly allure. Here and there, some darker shades were present as well, but they were nearly invisible against the darkness. 

To most, they would have seemed random, but Kelin was able to make the mystery of the pattern. They were rising up from the ley lines below the earth and drifting through the area, moving with the flow of mana.

They weren’t pure mana, but partially mixed with necrotic energy and soul magic, creating something like mana ghosts. 

Concentrations of them marked areas of interest and danger, which matched up with his analysis of the mana nodes. There were three of them, marking the location of Challenges and the final boss.

He activated a couple of Warden’s Talismans, turning them into layered shields, and then tapped his staff on the ground as he set off.

It didn’t take him long to find the first wandering monster. It was shambling through the hills and tossing aside bits of broken stone as it sniffed at the air.

He analyzed it as soon as he caught sight of it.

Ashen Wight. Level 180. Undead. 

Its body was humanoid, but it was almost seven feet tall and gangly. It had dark grey skin that matched the ruined stones, long and ropy muscles, and sharp claws that were six inches long. Its eyes were a glowing grey-white that swirled like a cloud of ash.

Its attention locked onto him as soon as sensed the analysis and it let out a snarl as it spun to face him.

Its body blurred as it leapt, its claws rising in a savage, disemboweling strike.

It was fast and deadly.

A Soulfire Bolt met it and hurled it away in an explosion of golden flame, but the wight tumbled to the side and leapt back to its feet. 

Its body was charred where the bolt had landed, but it was mostly unharmed. 

It let out a howl that sounded through the area and then it leapt again, only to find another Soulfire Bolt in its way, which hurled it away again, this time to slam against a wall of broken stones.

Kelin was calm as he studied the creature, analyzing its defense. It was a durable thing, with skin that was stronger than some armor and almost as dense as infused iron ore.

In the distance, he could sense other undead approaching, more wights and something else that were answering this one’s call, but it would take them a few moments to arrive.

He wasn’t using Blaze or even intensifying his spells yet, since he wanted to test his abilities and get a sense of the strength of the dungeon. He planned to do some training in each battle before he finished off everything with Wildfire.

The impact of his spells against the wight told him a number of important things, starting with the fact that his regular spells were around Level 170 or a bit higher.

Over time, it would be enough to wear the wight down.

He had a significant number of artifacts, enchantments, Law bonuses, Class enhancements, and a physique that augmented his spell strength. 

All combined, they added about 117% to his Soul magic, 129.5% to Soulfire, and 142% to pure Fire spells. 

Between that and his own skill, his spells were far stronger than his level suggested. 

Once he Intensified them, the spell cost and power would triple, and if he added Blaze on top of  that, it would add 3.2 times the mana density, which was even more powerful than simply increasing the overall strength.

In a pinch, his spell strength could surge from ten to twenty times his base or higher, which placed him well into the Second Evolution in strength, but the effectiveness depended on the monsters’ resistances and the tiers of their defense. 

Most of his abilities were still at Elite, so if something had an Epic-level defensive shield or other ability, a large part of that strength would be deflected.

He threw a few more Soulfire Bolts at the wight, testing its strength in various ways, and then he set his Soulfire Sigil into the air. 

He created a ward around himself in its light and let the wight recover as he waited for its reinforcements to arrive. He needed to train his defenses too and it was best to do it all at once. 

Verasun had been Level 254, which had been quite a bit stronger than him, and he’d had a Second Evolution mana field to help, so Kelin had needed to rely on talismans to win, but these monsters were well within his range. 

It was only a moment before the approaching monsters came into view. 

There were five of them. 

Two were wights that were loping along on long limbs, while the other three were black-armored figures that moved with almost as much speed. 

All three had long two-handed swords and helmets that revealed nothing of their faces except their eyes, which glowed with the same ashen light as the wights. 

Black and dark blue necrotic energy crackled around them like a cloud, tracing out runic patterns on their armor and along their weapons.

Kelin analyzed the one at the front.

Fallen Knight. Level 184. Undead.

The two behind it were similar, with one at Level 183 instead.

He didn’t bother to intercept them, so the impact as they struck his ward was considerable. The ward shuddered as small cracks ran through it that blazed with a mix of necrotic energy and soulfire.

He scanned the area, but these were the only undead that had come to the call, so he kept an eye on his mana as he settled in for a good training session.

The impacts came like hammer blows, crashing into his ward and trying to slice it apart, and Soulfire Bolts and other spells flew out in response.

He rotated through his abilities, intensifying and combining them in a dozen different ways as he did his best to let the battle stress his meridians and capability.

For the most part, he was pushing himself, rather than being pushed by these undead. Despite their level, they were little more than training targets.

It was a sign that his capabilities were swiftly exceeding the First Evolution and that he needed to start thinking about the Second, where things would become harder again, as well as to the nature of his future Law, even though it was still far off.

Once he reached that level, the nature of his Law would mean more than pure power, although it would still rely on it as a base.

Despite his advantage, he kept his attention on his spells and didn’t let his mind wander as he worked to weave his mana more tightly and to strike the undead with unerring precision.

Explosions of Soulfire, defensive shields, reactive wards, and more erupted around him as he unleashed a Soulfire Inferno to blaze across the area, slowly incinerating the undead.

He kept the power at its base level, so it would take some time, but the Law of Endless Flame and Ascending Flame were surging within, sending the flames higher. 

It was a transition from something mundane to a power that was far more profound, and the inferno turned a brilliant golden hue as it burned, until wisps of flame that seemed alive leapt from the edges, turning into twisting sparks that tried to transform into figures of their own.

Kelin leaned on his staff as he studied the flames, letting them fill his mind with ideas for the future.

He needed to decide soon where to take his abilities and what his Second Evolution would be. Part of that decision would come soon with his Level 150 class ability.

As his mana began to dip to half, he walked forward out of his ward, abandoning the defense for something more personal. 

Swords and claws landed on his mana shield, which was much less efficient, and his mana dipped precipitously.

A mage was never intended to endure so many blows in a row. 

Mana shields were notoriously expensive to maintain under duress, partly because they were designed to completely block damage, not allowing even a resonance or a small impact through.

The best way to train the ability was to subject it to that sort of damage and work to mitigate it, which required advancing the nature of the shield.

Kelin had a different idea, one that would work better with his Soulfire physique.

As the blows landed on his shield, he studied the impact patterns and the weave of Soulfire, and then he began to experiment with the structure, pulling it apart and redesigning parts of it, before he restored it to take another blow.

After a bit, he unleashed a Soul Paralysis to stun the undead and then stepped back into his ward, where he sat down to meditate as they continued to attack.

Their movements were weaker than before as their bodies began to crumble under the inferno, and the ward wasn’t taking as much damage, so he let the inferno fade away and simply endured their attacks.

He had no intention of killing them yet. He wanted a larger group in order to get the greatest benefit from the level difference.

After a little while, his mana recovered and he stood up. 

He dismissed the ward and tucked away his sigil, and then he began to walk through the dungeon, heading deeper toward the closest mana concentration.

The sky was dark and mixed with grey clouds and rare wisps of light, but no moon or stars were visible. It was like being at the bottom of a murky sea, or perhaps walking beneath the ashes of a fire that had burned away all living things.

As he walked on, the undead followed after, still trying to attack. They were no longer as swift or as dangerous as before, but barely holding on. 

Their blows still shook his mana shield, so he set part of his mind to work on the redesign as he searched for more enemies.

One by one, he attracted small groups throughout the dungeon and added them to the mob. 

He removed limbs, destroyed weapons, and disabled them in a dozen ways as he went, ensuring that the threat never built up too much.

It took him a couple of hours and several pauses to regain his mana, but eventually he had collected around a hundred undead in a horde that trailed after him.

There were dozens of wights and knights, some Darksoul Draugr at Level 185, Stoneburn Wraiths at 186, and a few other things. About half were corporeal and the other half was incorporeal.

When he was halfway to the first Challenge entrance, he turned to face the horde and a sphere of rainbow flames appeared in his hand. Sparks of orange and red floated through the interior, burning brightly.

He threw the Wildfire at the closest knight, where it exploded into an ethereal wave of flame that swept over it and a few other ones behind it. 

The impact sent the knight staggering backward and the creature let out a snarl as it tried to raise its broken blade. Lines of necrotic energy flared across its body, outlining the sharp edges of its armor and its glowing eyes.

Undead were half made of soul energy, although a very dark type. It tried to fight back against the flames, but the Wildfire sank into the necrotic energy like flames in dry tinder. 

Dark blue was consumed by a growing blaze of prismatic light.

The knight was already on its last legs and as the Wildfire consumed it, it exploded into a massive column of flame that soared into the sky. The flames roared outward in a wave, washing over the other monsters within thirty feet. 

A moment later, the other ones that had been struck exploded as well, sending four more columns soaring upward.

The columns of flames merged together, turning into a fury of light and destruction, and swelled outward, engulfing everything around them. More explosions erupted across the field, turning into a chain reaction.

Wildfire burned in earth and sky, covering everything in sight.

Within moments, every enemy on the field lay dead, their souls incinerated and fueling a massive storm of Wildfire that towered above the area. It was two hundred feet tall and a thousand feet wide.

The only thing living was Kelin standing at the center. 

Currents of flame twisted around him, running like twining dragons along his body until they settled into a cloak that flared out behind him and a crown of prismatic fire.

The undead bodies were still intact as they lay at his feet, but their souls had burned away.

He hissed out a breath as he reached out to the inferno, forcing it to condense and grow smaller. 

Even for him, handling this many was a struggle, but slowly he began to get control of the flames as he forced them to obey his will.

They twisted like a raging ocean as they flowed back to him and with them came a tidal wave of fiery energy that crashed into his soul.

Kelin shuddered as he stood firm, enduring the impact on his soul wards. Golden waves of flame and pure soul energy hammered into his spirit and tried to overwhelm him, flooding through everything.

He seized control of the backlash, weaving it through the enchantments he’d designed, and slowly it obeyed.

Moment by moment, the impact grew less and the tides receded as the backlash was converted into glowing golden motes that flowed through the wards and into his soul.

With each one, he became slightly stronger.

It took him almost half an hour, but the flames slowly grew tame and turned into his own energy. 

Around him, the inferno died down until only a twisting ribbon of rainbow flame ran along his arms and hands.

He folded it into a sphere and then placed it above his staff, where it began to spin with the other spells he had prepared. 

He had to dismiss a Soulfire Bolt that he had stored there, since the staff could only hold four, but it was a better choice.

The power of that small sphere of Wildfire was twenty times that of the other spells. Its energy was so dense it had almost crystallized into reality, forming something like a Wildfire soul crystal.

Without his Law to maintain it, however, making Wildfire a permanent part of reality wasn’t possible. Once, he had been able to condense it like that.

After the spell was stable, he turned his attention to the field, studying the remains of the monsters.

The backlash had been respectable from a hundred monsters that were all forty levels above him, but it wasn’t enough to break his wards.

Even with the short time he’d spent in this life, he’d grown strong enough to endure this much.

Notifications began to ring in his mind and he turned his attention to them.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.

You have slain a great number of enemies above your level. Your Effective Level has been recalculated. It has risen to Level 190.

You have gained 5 Levels.

Your Soulbound Elemental has also gained 5 Levels.

You are now Level 147.

You gain 45 Intelligence, 15 Wisdom, 15 Aura, and have 30 free attribute points to assign.

As the Path’s voice faded away, Kelin chuckled as he looked at his Effective Level.

It seemed the Path was going to count his actions in all dungeons to calculate it now, not just those under his level. It hadn’t changed back at the Shadowfall dungeon, but perhaps he hadn’t killed enough things at once to make it.

If it had jumped that much a month ago, he would have been annoyed, but this time he thought it was appropriate.

His abilities and equipment were no longer lagging behind and he could still boost his damage output more than he’d shown here, so he needed challenges that were at least this strong to keep improving.

As for the level gain, he wasn’t surprised it was only five levels. 

It took more experience and effort to level up as you rose through the Evolutions and gaining five at once here was already very decent, especially since he was splitting the experience with Gaius. 

There was one last notification, which was the one he really wanted to see. It was the result of the energy that had fused into his soul.

You have refined soul energy from the battlefield and gained 57 Aura. 

There had been slightly over a hundred monsters and each of them was worth about half a point. 

It was a worthy total, and with the points from the levels, it was enough to send his Aura from 632 to 704.

This was why he’d waited to get as many monsters as possible before he started killing them. The closer his level got to theirs, the less efficient it would become. 

He glanced at the free attribute points and his status sheet, debating where they would be spent the best, and then he tossed all thirty of them into Agility, improving it to 181.

He rarely improved Agility, but it was necessary to have a small amount in it. It was his physical reaction speed and if it dropped too low his combat ability would suffer.

Being able to see what was happening and to decide what to do was based on Intelligence for the most part, but Agility was important to be able to react. 

Otherwise, monsters would start to move faster than he could handle.

It had been his second weakest attribute, only beating out Charisma, but now it leapt up to third place and was slightly higher than his Strength. 

He looked at the totals.

Strength: 167 

Constitution: 486 (+75% durability, recovery, resistance to mortal wounds from Perfect Soulfire Physique.)

Agility: 181 (+24 Increased Agility from Traveler’s Boots)

Wisdom: 383

Intelligence: 1,240

Aura: 704

Charisma: 134 

There was a long way to go, but it wasn’t bad. 

He waved away his status sheet and then got to work looting all of the corpses. 

Gaius gave him a hand to speed things up, flowing through the area with a stone wave that tore apart the undead and collected their cores and other items.

The result was a pile of undead cores, necrotic gems, and a few mana crystals, as well as some scattered weapons, armor, and other things, but nothing that was very important. 

It was only useful to sell at the guild.

Kelin threw it all into his storage, where it barely took up any of the massive space, and then turned to look out at the dungeon. 

The dark sky rolled with clouds and tangled energies, and he saw the glowing wisps everywhere flowing with it. 

Now and then, one of them rose upward into the sky and glowed more brightly, merging into the mana flows like a spirit ascending to a higher plane.

Not all of them made it. 

Some of those that tried exploded into a rain of shimmering particles that floated back down to the earth, leaving a ghostly dusting across the ruins, like they had been destroyed for their arrogance.

It was a beautiful but shadowed scene, with each wisp like a life rising brightly in the night, and Kelin spent a few moments watching it as he let the strain of the Wildfire fade from his body.

This battle had driven a few things home.

First, his Effective Level was still higher than the Path had calculated. He still had some ways to augment his strength, whether it was talismans or with Gaius’s help. 

Even Wildfire could grow stronger than he’d shown so far, although that was a risky proposition.

Second, these monsters were only good for the basic training of his skills and testing out new ideas. He’d thought he might get something out of them due to the level difference, but it seemed his strength had already exceeded their level. 

He would need something stronger if he wanted to push himself toward the Epic tier, and of the available options only the two Challenges and the boss might give him a proper opponent.

There should be another hundred or more monsters in the dungeon, so he would clear them out first, and then he would see what those Challenges held.

That meant it was time to speed things up.

He raised his staff into the air and the sphere of Wildfire surged from it, turning into a bolt that flared into the darkness. It was a hundred feet long and a dozen feet wide, like a rainbow rising from the earth to challenge the night.

It sank into the tangled skein of the mana flows, tearing them apart, and then exploded into a massive flare like a sun was born. A booming echo of thunder rolled across the sky and shook the earth. 

The dungeon let out an eerie howl as the sky lit up in darker colors and a wave of mana swept in from the horizon, surging like a tide to bury the Wildfire.

Kelin sent a couple of Blaze-enhanced Soulfire Bolts after the Wildfire, like golden lances to accompany it. 

Then he filled his staff with Earth mana and slammed it into the ground.

The earth shook, sending ruins around him toppling over and ash rising into the air. Wisps that were floating everywhere were caught up in it and sent spiraling away in a hurricane of mana.

The dungeon shuddered as its attention locked onto Kelin and he felt the flare of necrotic energy as one undead after another began to move in the distance, heading straight for him.

He tossed his sigil into the air, where it cast a golden light all around, and then he sat down, resting his staff across his knees as he waited for them.