“Oh! That was a good one, yeah I can’t deny that, and the twist at the end with Ivana falling for Terrance’s brother instead of meddling in Terrance and Victoria’s life.”
“I thought that she was a lot nicer once she found someone to settle with instead of chasing and disrupting others, felt kind of sad for her,” Delilah sighed.
“So, what is up, you’re all business-y,” Egbert said, his voice turning authoritative and bossy.
Egbert’s words were a hidden sword and a cold bucket on Delilah’s head.
Her excitement faded. She didn’t answer immediately, gathering her thoughts she stood up and turned to the window, seeing a group of soldiers that were joking and playing around with one another as they were ordering food, the older lady dealing with them was playfully chastising them, using her towel to attack some of them as they fell around laughing.
Delilah stood there and watched the people: there, teachers, students, traders, workers, farmers, soldiers, people from all walks of life were gathered together.
Alvans greeted one another and then went about their business or joined friends with smiles and hugs.
A shadow slowly appeared next to her, Egbert looked over her shoulder, with him there, she felt that he was the strongest shadow.
She had come to rely on his mind, on his suggestions. He was a big goof but she relaxed around him, he wanted what was best for Alva at his core. Even if he wasn’t sworn to carry out Erik, Rugrat and her orders, she could see his own excitement and the joy he took from helping Alva to grow.
He was like a father to them all or a goofy uncle that hung out in the corner and made everyone laugh using that goofiness to drain away their anxiety.
Looking out of her window Delilah caught the serving lady, as she snuck an egg into each of the soldier’s dinners. She took the piping hot meals with a younger lady.
They served the soldiers, joking and laughing. The soldiers saw the eggs, she admonished them and they all had thankful expressions as she pinched one man’s arm. He flexed his muscles as she appeared shocked of how strong he was. They all fell about laughing as she patted the man on the back, they started eating and thanked her.
She waved their compliments away and headed over to greet some new customers, putting her towel on her shoulder.
“That’s Miss Sabina, her daughter was Corporal Helena Sabina, she died when taking Vuzgal,” Delilah said. “She fell apart when I gave her the news, she was inconsolable, but when the army returned from Vuzgal, her store that had been closed, reopened.
Delilah felt her eyes growing wet, a sad smile on her face.
“I went and asked if she was okay, that she could rest. That woman’s a tiger!” Delilah chuckled. “You know what she said? She said, ‘Well miss Delilah, my Helena loved my pork noodle soup, she brought her friends every week. I might not be able to make it for my Helena, but don’t her fellow Army members deserve a welcome? Are they not her brothers and sisters? Are they not missing her as much as I do? So I’ll open my restaurant and I’ll make my pork noodle soup and I will make it until I can’t anymore, it is the part of a home that I can give them. When they go out and fight they’ll know that I’ll be here with my pork noodle soup and an ear.”
Silence fell over the room, thick and stifling.
Delilah took a shaky breath and recovered her composure.
“The path we’re walking on will lead to war. It hasn’t gone too far yet, but it will. Once the fighting starts then everything could come apart,” Delilah turned to Egbert.
“If we were to let the Willful Institute to get away with killing people from the Adventurer’s Guild, then we might as well give up on the Guild. If they do not support one another then they will fall apart. We wanted to create a place where fighters could come together and support one another, they might fail, but then they will have the support of the army to drag down the Institute.”
“Do we need to though?” Delilah asked.
Egbert stared into her eyes. “This is the Ten Realms. If we show even a slight weakness to our enemies then they will exploit it. With this action we will prove the strength of the Adventurers, we temper their abilities, in secret we bloody and train our people in combat. We will gain cities, selling them through Vuzgal we prove the power of Vuzgal and reinforce our position.”
“The cost?” Delilah asked.
“A part of our soul and the lives of those that signed up to defend Alva, to be her sword and shield,” Egbert said.
“Shit,” Delilah said.
“We are doing all we can to weaken the Institute and increase our own strength, but with fighting,” Egbert shook his head. “There is nothing sure. But, we have our orders, Erik and Rugrat have given us a mission and we will complete it.”
Delilah looked at the soldiers who were talking to one another excitedly, there were veterans of the Vuzgal conflict, others that were brand new to the military and other seniors. She had seen the new power of the trained units, she was stunned with what they could do.
Her eyes moved to Miss Sabina who was talking to the chefs, ordering meals and organizing her shop.
Chapter: Orc Plague
The stronghold was a silent grave. All of the orcs that had lived in it were now collapsed on the ground. It had been two days since the special team had reached the stronghold. With earth magic, they had created an underground base away from the tunnels and used illusion formations to dissuade anything from coming close to them.
The area around the stronghold was large so it was easy for them to find a pile of rocks to hide under, removing the defensive works they had created.
The first day had been nerve-wracking as they hid in the defensive works relying on the illusion formations to keep their position secure.
“Nothing much happening,” Rugrat said as he shifted away from one of the slits that allowed them to survey the cavern the stronghold was located in.
“The plague is probably running through all of the tunnels now, the experience gain has decreased to almost nothing now. It wasn’t much anyway,” Erik said.
He checked his notifications quickly.
==========
Skill: Alchemy
==========
Level: 75 (Expert)
==========
Able to identify 1 effect of the ingredient.
Ingredients are 5% more potent.
==========
==========
Skill: Stealth
==========
Level: 49 (Apprentice)
==========
When in stealth, your senses are sharpened by 5%
==========
==========
45,948,136/56,900,000 EXP till you reach Level 58
==========
As I need more experience at these higher levels, fighting beasts that are on a level or two lower than me really puts me at a disadvantage. It is only because the orcs have powerful bodies and are smart allowing them to display greater strength that I am able to even get this amount of experience.
I’ll have to wait until the Seventh Realm to start increasing levels again in earnest.
“Alright lets see what loot we can get out of this.”
==========
Dungeon Core
Grade: Common Mortal Grade
Linked: Desert Spiritual Palace
==========
==========
You have come into contact with a dungeon core. With your title: Dungeon Master, new options are revealed.
==========
Do you wish to:
Take command of the Stronghold
Destroy the Stronghold
==========
Erik put his finger on Destroy Stronghold and a new screen appeared.
==========
Destroy Stronghold: Volzig
==========
You will receive:
7289x Sandstone blocks
1x Common Mortal-Grade Dungeon Core
23x Thunder Mines
232x Thorium
1x Shield Spell Formation
534x Soul Manacles
1x Mortal-Grade Mana Cornerstone
==========
Do you wish to destroy this Dungeon?
YES/NO
==========
“Do you think that it will be safe to move on?” Storbon asked.
Erik looked out at the stronghold and the tombstones there, the bodies were slowly starting to fall apart with the Ten Realms drawing their power back.
“If we move carefully we should be okay,” Erik said.
“Kind of hard to do in tunnels, if they see us we’re going to have to fight it out,” Rugrat said.
“We lucked out that the Orcs weren’t paying attention to us when we got here, Storbon added.
“Nothing much we can do about that, just have Lucinda push her scouts out ahead and have Tian Cui checking that we’re not running into the enemy,” Erik said.
“We’ll move out in four hours. Make sure that everyone is ready. The longer we’re here the greater chance there is of someone finding us,” Rugrat said.
They checked their gear and prepared themselves.
Tian Cui was moved to the front and Lucinda moved to the rear but there were no changes to their formation otherwise.
Lucinda sent out her beasts that Erik had immunized against the effects of the orc plague.
They were rats and smaller creatures that would be hardly noticed.
“Okay, let's head out,” Rugrat said once Lucinda had confirmed that the path toward the blood core didn’t look to have many orcs along the path.
“Should we loot the stronghold?” Yao Meng asked.
“Can’t hurt, might find another horn,” Storbon said, looking to Rugrat.
“Alright, but make it quick,” Rugrat said.
It didn’t take them long to collect everything accessing the tombstones.
They found a large number of ingredients and hides, there were monster cores in the hogs as well and two of the controlling horns.
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Horn of Obedience
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Use this horn to gain the obedience of surrounding Orcs affects an area 15m x 15m.
Uses: 8/12
Duration: 1 Hour
==========
==========
Horn of Servitude
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Use this horn to gain the obedience of powerful surrounding Orcs affects an area 15m x 15m
Uses: 3/5
Duration: 1 Hour
==========
==========
Horn of Hog’s Call x3
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Use this horn to gain the obedience of surrounding hogs, affects an area 30m x 30m. Increases chances to tame.
Uses: 15/15
Duration: 2 Hours
==========
“Well, we might be able to add some of those hogs to our ranks,” Erik said as he got a Hog Horn. Yao Meng got the Horn of Obedience, Lucinda a Hog’s Horn and Rugrat took the Horn of Servitude and a Hog’s Call.
“Been missing me some bacon,” Rugrat said hungrily.
They quickly formed up and headed down the tunnel towards the blood core dungeon.
Erik smelt it before he saw it.
There were bodies all over the tunnel, a few here and there before they increased in number at an intersection in the tunnel. The green and red cloud was thinning, covering the dead orcs.
This scene repeated itself again and again.
Erik knew what the effects of purposefully spreading the plague might be, but he had underestimated just how powerful and fast it would spread.
They looted the tombstones, it was ingrained into their minds now.
They pushed onward. There were a few cases of orcs that were fighting the plague, they were stronger members, some above level Sixty, Commanders of the Orcs.
The team used their blades to finish them off, the experience they earned left them with a hollow feeling.
They pushed on, passing several encampments and other larger bases. The Special team used their helmets to block out the smell.
==========
Do you wish to:
Take command of the Stronghold
Destroy the Stronghold
==========
Erik put his finger on Destroy Stronghold and a new screen appeared.
==========
Destroy Stronghold: Volzig
==========
You will receive:
7289x Sandstone blocks
1x Common Mortal-Grade Dungeon Core
23x Thunder Mines
14x Teleportation Crystals
232x Thorium
1x Shield Spell Formation
534x Soul Manacles
1x Mortal-Grade Mana Cornerstone
==========
Do you wish to destroy this Dungeon?
YES/NO
==========
“The hogs aren’t affected by the plague. We could use our horns, turn them into a vanguard ahead of us, soak up damage for us,” Storbon said.
“Lucinda,” Rugrat turned to face her.
“I can do it, though the horn’s effect will weaken if I use it multiple times.”
“Do it,” Rugrat ordered.
They pushed on, the hogs moved ahead of them. A few tried eating their old masters, but it was too much for the group. as Lucinda enforced that they weren’t allowed to eat the dead. They fell onto the wounded and dying with glee, killing them and taking large bites.
Erik’s face was hard as he walked stiffly, scanning, he couldn’t focus on the fact he had started this.
So it went, looting the dead and controlling more hogs, driving them ahead of the group, growing the hogs to several hundred.
“There’s a castle up ahead,” Lucinda said over the communication channel.
“Halt,” Rugrat called out. The group took a knee.
“A castle, like the strongholds we’ve seen?”
“No, this is like a castle, a human castle. I don’t see anything on the ramparts though. I can send my scouts in,” she said.
“Humans this far in,” Rugrat muttered to himself. “Send your scouts in.”
“It looks human in design and all of the buildings are made from stone, but they’re built to fit orcs. The castle is filled with dead orcs, all of them are as strong as commanders. Shit,” Lucinda went silent.
“What is it?”
“Some of them are still alive,” she said in a low voice as if the orcs would be able to hear her.
She was silent for some more time. She eyes closed as the rest of the team scanned the surrounding area intently.
“The castle, it looks like it is blocking a tunnel entrance, and there’s something in the main square.”
They waited as Lucinda moved her scouts around.
“Damn. Okay, it looks like there are people in those carriages in the middle of the castle.”
“They must be gathering them there,” Rugrat said.
All of the carriages we’ve seen so far have been empty hopefully they were being gathered here instead of being used for food. Erik thought to himself, gripping his rifle tighter.
Rugrat was quiet for a few minutes.
“Lucinda, try and make a rough map of the castle.”
“On it boss,” Lucinda said.
***
Rugrat looked at the rough map Lucinda had drawn out. They’d fallen back to one of the strongholds as she worked.
“Okay, so the castle has three main walls that are fused with the tunnel sides. It’s basically one massive guard house for the tunnel behind it. There is one central castle in the middle of the walls with views over the surrounding area. It is five to six hundred meters from the five tunnel entrances to the walls of the castle. There is only one gate in on the main wall in the middle. There is a main road leading from the gate around the castle and to the tunnel, the other roads angle off of
the main road, leading to stone homes that the orcs live in. There is an open area behind the castle There are cages covered in tarps. I’m not sure if there are people in there or not. There are a lot of orcs in the area and they might notice and kill my beasts if I push in. There are around thirty to forty Commander level orcs that have been seen moving around. It looks like the plague reached here but the commander orcs are stronger and they could recover from the plague.” Lucinda paused. “There are orc bodies around the castle walls, orcs. It looks like they tried to approach the castle and the defenders cut them down. The gate is closed.”
“Looks like these orcs are a little more advanced,” Erik said.
“Smarter means harder,” Storbon muttered, studying the map Lucinda had drawn.
“It’s not like the places that we have seen the orcs in before. The other groups were linked in tribes, strongholds where the main forces were, there were signs of in-fighting with the orcs, while they live together they are competing amongst one another. The construction, the positioning, it screams out human to me,” Rugrat said.
“Maybe it is the leading tribe of the orcs and they adapted knowledge that they learned from humans?” Erik asked.
“With commanders as foot soldiers they must be the most powerful orc tribe in here,” Storbon said.
Erik and Rugrat had ugly looks on their faces, agreeing with Storbon.
“We’ve only got seven people, hitting them head-on isn’t going to work. Tian Cui and myself will sneak into the defenses, you guys make a distraction if we need it. We get into the city, plant charges on the walls. We properly scout the interior of the castle, spread that plague, pop the walls and then drive the hogs into the castle walls, use them to soften up the orc commanders. We’ll use the chaos to isolate the commanders and kill them,” Rugrat said.
“That’s risky,” Storbon said.
“Rugrat and Tian Cui are our best at stealth,” Erik backed him up.
“You really aren’t ever going to make protecting you two easy,” Storbon sighed.
“Not when we can be of use,” Rugrat patted him on the shoulder, knowing it must be tough for the young man.
“When I’m attacking,. you’ll be in command. Have to make sure that the hogs don’t get out from under your command, thankfully we found some more controlling horns,” Rugrat said.
“I’ll pass those over to Lucinda, she knows more about beasts and she’ll be able to understand what is going on with them better than me,” Storbon said.
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