Revenge of the Sorcerer King 3 - 3

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Chapter 3

Oberon

Losing this town would be a nasty blow to the Kalia Lordship. A mortal army needs more than an undead one. Mainly in the form of food. There was only so much that an area could provide to a marching army through hunting. With each town we took, Fallen Haven’s reach grows longer and safer.

“My Familia says the Frinz Lordship is still dealing with the aftermath of our visit. Both Fiden and Ethia Lordships are overwhelmed with refugees causing a food shortages in both. Your closest neighbor, Kalia is marshalling what forces it can, but with the blow from the battle at Fallen Haven. They’ve already lost a considerable number of their men.”

“Thank you, Helena. What about these Harzi and Farinhigh Lordships to the south?” Both were a good deal south of Fallen Haven, but Harzi was still close enough to be trouble if they decided to answer any calls for aid. The desert was only a barrier to a certain extent.

“Due to misinformation being spread. Both believe that the lordships are simply fighting amongst themselves. Not to mention,” Helena glanced at me with a snicker on her lips. “The Golden Throne did quite a number on Farinhigh as it passed through its lands. If it had come on land a few kilometers to the west, it would have been directly over their capital.”

“I see. A pity, but one that we can fix later. Once I have Mercy, I can go to a few battlefields from the past and make an army of undead that will force the world to its knees.”

“Any word from my mother?” Alessa asked while wringing her hands.

“We are keeping an eye on her, but we’ve not intercepted anything that indicates that she’s given out any information of us. I really cannot understand what her objective is,” Helena replied with a shake of her head.

I reached out and placed a hand on her head. “For now we know that she is moving in the direction of our living family. We’ll let her do all the hard work of tracking them down while we solidify our position here.”

“If you say so.”

Turning back to the briefing, I looked over the generals. I’d made four of them so far as they required a fair amount of time and mana investment. “We move out in the morning. I want riders moving ahead of us from now on at least fifty to a group. It will be more noticeable, but it will also allow the force to deal with most anything they might find on the road. Annihilate everything that might be able to report back.”

“Do you want my daywalkers in the group?” Alessa inquired pulling my gaze back to her. I looked over to Helena who was in charge of training Alessa for most things outside of magic. She gave me a nod.

“If your teacher thinks it will be fine then I have nothing to add. With the magic I’ve pounded into you. You should be fine unless something vampire related happens.”

“Don’t worry, Oberon. I have a good idea of my limits and abilities now. Thanks to the dungeon, I have a decent grasp of actually ordering people around as well. I promise not to charge into anything that might be too much for me.”

“Good. Then I will leave it to you.”

We discussed a few more plans before the party broke up. I stepped outside where a gray overcast met my gaze. With my claiming of the city crystal, Siateth’s reach extended over the area now. I might be immune to the sun, but like all undead, I found it considerably annoying. I made my way over to a tent and summoned my skeleton chair as I got to work researching. I felt like I was close to a breakthrough regarding the world’s magic. A breakthrough to what, even I wasn’t sure yet.

~~~

Name: Oberon Dark Phoenix

Age: N/A

Race: World Lich

Level: 137

[Necromancy Basic Magic Mastery: Expert] [Basic Magic Mastery] [Sword Mastery] [Rune Mastery: Partial Lock 30%] [Advanced Magic Mastery: Partial Lock 28%] [Contract Magic Mastery] [Space Magic Mastery: Partial Lock 10%] [State Craft: Master] [Tactics: Master] [Aura of Fear: Master] [Aura of Awe: Master] [Cartography: Expert] [Scroll Crafting: Master]

Followers: 21,676

Sin: Error! World’s Curse! EXP gain reduced by 66.6%!

Curses: World’s Curse, Ancestral Curse, Undeath, Yuin’s Resentment

Boons: Forgotten Knowledge

Enhancement: [Body + 1] [Mind + 1] [Soul + 1]

I couldn’t suppress the sigh that escaped me as I checked my status. While the followers had gone up by over double, everything else was sitting as if frozen in place. Everything we were up against was some much weaker that it barely moved my experience. I had hoped that the sieging of an entire town would have pushed some of the numbers, but regrettable only my followers showed a boost to their skills and levels.

What I had noticed though, while the experience came from killing monsters or completing tasks. The actual change in your status was fueled by the world’s ambient mana. It explained why the ambient mana wasn’t overflowing even though the magic level of the world had dropped considerable.

“Its an interesting system, though one I feel was designed by someone not looking at all the factors,” I mumbled scratching my chin.

There was a theory of the mage guilds back when I was alive that the amount of mana in the world was what drove the races to improve. With the mana level not rising, the world had basically stalled out. While the pieces fit, something told me that there were other things draining the mana from the world.

I leaned back in my chair. “It looks like I really will have to talk to the gods about this.”

Alessa

I assembled my forty strong Familia on the outside of town. While we were used to the undead. With our increased senses, the smell was enough to make some of the lesser vampires sick. While most of the forty were female, Sarius and his small band of three men made up the only men in the group.

“As soon as night sets in, we’re to set out ahead of the main army and take down anyone that might warn the surrounding communities. In particular the town that’s three days ride from here. Some of the faster undead will be accompanying us, but we make up the majority of this task force. Oberon himself entrusted it to me. We will not fail.”

A cheer went up from the women. They might have been nothing more than wallflowers a few weeks ago, but they were cold hearted killers now. In part due to becoming vampires, but for most it was the deep seated hatred that had been installed in them after being nothing more than slaves behind pieces of glass for the pleasures of men.

“Jade, Sarius.” The two moved up from the group. “Jade. You have the best eyes. Take point and scout our targets. Sarius, I want your band to follow and transport the food. We can’t leave them with the main army as it will take too much time to move back and forth.”

“Yes, mistress.” Jade bowed and moved away to start making preparations.

“If you so command,” Sarius said though he looked a little sour.

“I know you want to get in on the action, but if we’re left without our blood then we’ll be up a creek with no paddle. Next time, I promise to have you right by my side when the battle starts.”

He nodded satisfied for the moment. I watched him go before I shook my head. I might have absolute control over these beings, but they still had their thoughts and opinions. Sarius liked to be in the front lines slaughtering the enemy. I would need to find a place for him next time or his resentment might grow. Helena had told me plenty of stories were poorly managed Familia end up turning on their master when they got powerful enough.

Once the sun set, my band set out. While about half were Daywalkers the others had developed a degree of sun resistance through some experiments that Helena and I conducted. Since I couldn’t give them my blood as that would set them free of my control, we used blood from the other daywalkers. After a few doses, they all developed a small amount of sun resistance.

Running through the shadows faster than most mounts, we soon reached the first checkpoint. A crossroads that led to several villages and the next town. While it only took us a few hours to reach it, the army would take most of the night and next day. I couldn’t think of anything that moved as fast a vampire and once again couldn’t help but fathom why they hadn’t taken control of the world yet.

A black swirl appeared next to me and I straightened up as Oberon’s face appeared like on a pane of water. “Oh. As I expected you’ve already reached the checkpoint.”

“We didn’t encounter a soul during the run.”

“I see. While I’m worried someone might have managed to get word out from the town, its only a passing fret. Check the paths, if you find a village within a mortal’s day travel. Erase it.”

“Understood.” The circle vanished and I turned to the others. Time for a little hunting.

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