Thalion sat before the ashes of his friends, watching as the wind slowly carried them away. He had no idea how long he remained there in silence. Two of their fighters had been lost in the battle with the orcs, but almost every orc had been captured alive.
Later, he heard whispers how a few warriors had accidentally killed an orc and, in panic, hid the body inside their spatial rings so he wouldn’t notice.
When all the orcs were finally shackled and dragged to the dungeons, Thalion rose to his feet and turned back toward the city. There was too much to do, he couldn’t afford to waste more ti. The black pillar would need to be placed sowhere it could be charged properly. His armor still needed repairs and fresh crystals for power. Then there was the Leviathan… and that massive crystal.
First: find a new place for the pillar and order the slow execution of the orcs after placed inside it with lightning, if possible. Oh and very slowly.
Next: visit Lucan and start crafting.
And sowhere in between, maybe do a quick test of his skills now empowered by his bloodline, though right now, he wanted sothing far less action-heavy.
The guards at the gate stared silently as Thalion leapt onto the wall in a single, massive bound. He moved quickly over the rooftops, sending Evelyn a short ssage, though he didn’t need to. She was already waiting at his tower, eager to continue with Cathrin.
The witch still lived, after all.
“What’s next?” Evelyn asked simply. Thalion was grateful for that, he didn’t want to speak of what had happened only hours earlier.
“I’ll place the pillar in the entrance hall. Then I’ll head to Lucan for so crafting. When you’re done with Cathrin, arrange for a group of orcs to be placed inside the pillar and shocked to death. Lightning works best for torture in there,” Thalion said flatly, his voice empty. At the mont, he felt dead inside.
“Well then, hurry up. I’m not planning on killing Cathrin too fast, we’ve only just begun.” Evelyn’s smile was all venom.
“On second thought, I’ll bring it up later. Have fun down here and make sure the elf stays alive. I might need him later. And don’t let anyone else in. Just send a ssage when you’re done,” Thalion ordered before leaving. Evelyn only nodded.
Word of Thalion’s foul mood had spread quickly, and people made sure to clear his path as he moved toward Lucan’s forge. He kept his aura tightly restrained the whole way. His bloodline flas were strong enough to kill or serously wound the weaker survivors.
The city was overflowing with people, enough that it might beco a problem soon. At present, 23,569 survivors lived here, the number rising daily as newcors arrived, either seeking safety or being escorted in by hunting parties.
The street with the smithies was cramd with people waiting for weapons or armor. Only a handful of smiths had no crowd and those were the best. The elite. Kaldrek and Maike had ordered them to craft only for those who had truly earned their place in the city.
Lucan was one of them.
Thalion couldn’t help but smile when he stepped into the man’s forge. Lucan had massive underground chambers now for explosive testing, plus a few oversized labs Thalion still thought unnecessary, but there was enough space to place the massive blue crystal in the shrinking formation, and that was what mattered.
Descending into one of the largest chambers, Thalion found Lucan, just as the man placed what looked like a bomb in the center and hurried over.
“Hey, Thalion. I’m sorry about what happened. But if you want to blow the orcs up, you’ve co to the right guy. I’ve got the perfect bomb for it—the BMB-41. A truly magnificent masterpiece.” Lucan’s eyes were bright with excitent.
“Thanks for the offer, but I already have plans for the orcs. By the way, those slow-moving torpedoes? Genius. Ankhet didn’t even realize they’d explode. Basically won the fight in the end,” Thalion said with a grin, his grief montarily forgotten.
“Hahaha! Told you I’m a genius. So, what’s the plan? We could do normal crafting too. I’ve been working on a tal armor and a broadsword lately, but bombs are way more fun.”
“Actually, a bit of both,” Thalion said. “I’ve got a few things to handle in a short ti. First, I need to figure out exactly how these runes work, every single one on this bow.” He handed the weapon to Lucan.
“Oh, and by the way, the bow makes blood arrows explode,” Thalion added with a sheepish smile.
Lucan froze. “Wait… it makes blood explode?”
Thalion nodded.
Lucan’s grin widened dangerously. “Alright. We’re starting with this one.”
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