“At the risk of stating the obvious, you could have just drained the earth attuned mana,” said Eveline. “That would have weakened them enough that –”

Panting, Zeke rested his hammer on the ground. “I know that. I didn’t want to do that.”

“You’d rather spend three days whacking them with a hammer?” she asked.

Zeke frowned. It wasn’t as if he had forgotten his own nature. So long as he was attuned to a certain type of mana, he could manipulate it at least enough to drain it into his own stores. However, the whole point of the fight hadn’t been to take the easiest road. It wasn’t training – not specifically – but fighting the mountain elementals had been a way to test himself against long odds.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been in your head for years now, so that’s saying something,” Eveline said the moment the thought had crossed his mind. “If you keep doing this, you’re going to end up biting off more than you can chew. You do realize that, don’t you?”

“I was keeping the ability to drain them in my back pocket,” Zeke said. “If it got to be too difficult, I would have used it.”

“And what if they killed you too quickly for you to respond?” she asked.

“They didn’t.”

“Because the things were barely more intelligent than beasts. If something with that level of power and the brains of an actual person were to fight you, you’d be in real trouble,” Eveline countered.

“I don’t know if something like that exists. If I fought the necromantic vessel right now, I think I could kill it without using [Wrath of Annihilation].”

“Don’t kid yourself. You’d get squashed, same as last time,” Eveline said.

Zeke didn’t see the point in arguing with her. Not to mention that, after three days of battle, he was incredibly tired. Not physically, but a film of weariness clung to his mind. That was how thing worked, now that his attributes had gotten so inflated. He could fight almost indefinitely, but his mind, while enhanced, was still that of a human. And a person could only focus for so long before things started to blur together.

“You don’t –”

“I don’t want to hear it, Eveline. You’ve said what you wanted to say, so just drop it,” he said with a weary sigh.

“Fine.”

Then, she retreated into his mind, quarantining herself in her own corner. Zeke could tear down the walls she erected, but he didn’t mind giving her a little privacy. Even if she didn’t really respect his own.

“I heard that,” Eveline’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Wasn’t hiding it,” he muttered. Then, he looked around the battlefield. It looked like someone had dumped hundreds of tons of gravel in the valley. In some places, the rocks had been piled high enough to resemble dunes, but in others, there was nothing but bare earth. It was difficult to look at those and remember the massive mountain elementals, and if he’d just stumbled upon the site, he might not have. However, he’d smashed those things to bits himself, often with his bare hands, so he knew precisely what each pile represented.

Unfortunately, nothing useful remained of the elementals. He’d destroyed the cores, and what mana they’d contained had been used to animate the broken shards. So, all that was left were those piles of mundane gravel. Seeing that, Zeke took one last look around before crossing the valley and continuing on his way. After two more days, he summoned his gate and returned to his manor to rest for a while.

As he did, the kobold rangers fanned out, searching the area and directing hunting parties to powerful creatures. Like that, a few more days passed, and the kobolds swept through the surrounding area, killing anything dangerous and gaining a significant amount of experience.

For his part, Zeke took that opportunity to rest and spend some time with Adara. But to his surprise, she was the one who cut it short, citing a need to tend to her own responsibilities within the army. Eveline made a few snide remarks about that, pointing out that everyone’s lives didn’t revolve around Zeke’s whims.

So, after a week of rest, Zeke left his manor and headed back into the mountains. The gate, he dismissed a day later, which he hoped gave the kobolds enough time to return to the tower. If not, they were more than capable of returning to the Muk’ti Plains of their own volition.

So, Zeke wasn’t worried about them.

“So you keep telling yourself,” Eveline said. “I think we both know that’s not true, though.”

Zeke didn’t respond, but in his own mind, he could acknowledge that he couldn’t keep his mind off of his people. They could flourish without him, he knew. They’d proven that much. However, he still kept fussing over their well-being. It was more than just responsibility.

“It’s love, Ezekiel. You love them. Maybe not each one individually, but as a whole. Like a parent.”

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“I…I guess,” Zeke admitted. It was such a strange concept. He usually thought of himself as quite young, but by that point, he was nearing thirty years old. If he’d survived having his kidney removed, he might’ve been married with children by this point.

“Is that what you want?” asked Eveline.

Pulling himself to the top of a cliff, Zeke answered, “I don’t know. Maybe one day. But with all of this…”

“Probably not.”

“Right,” he said. That was the cost of his chosen path. There were plenty of people in the Eternal Realm who’d eschewed the pursuit of power above all else, instead settling into a family life.

Sasha’s father was like that. He was one of the strongest members of her beastkin village, but he seemed to put his family before the pursuit of strength. Could Zeke have ever chosen that route?

“I think we both know the answer to that question,” Eveline said.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone who could make that choice isn’t the kind of person who’d challenge a bunch of mountain elementals to a fight,” she answered.

That made a ton of sense, though Zeke still couldn’t help but wonder about it.

“Well, it’s not too late. You can abandon everything, take that half-orc girl, and make a bunch of battle-crazed babies,” Eveline said.

“That isn’t what I was talking about.”

“Sure. But –”

“Enough, Eveline. I don’t want to discuss this anymore,” he said, striding forward. Thankfully, she let the conversation die out, and Zeke continued on in silence. Over the next few weeks, he experienced much of the same. From time to time, he was forced to fight the local wildlife, but nothing was nearly as powerful as the mountain elementals. Every couple of days, he’d stop and spend some time in the tower while letting the kobolds explore the mountains.

If he didn’t have any goals, he might’ve spent years ranging across the mountain range. There were plenty of monsters to fight, which would have made it a perfect place for his kobolds to level. And he felt certain that, if he searched for long enough, he could have found a few challenges for himself as well.

Yet, the threat posed by the Imperium – as well as his anger at what Shar Maelaine had done – meant that he couldn’t afford to tarry. So, while he didn’t rush through the mountains, he didn’t take too much longer than necessary to cross. And after two months, he finally started his descent into the Imperium. Another week, and Zeke finally left the mountains behind, exchanging those craggy peaks for verdant forest.

The area reminded Zeke of the curated forests he saw in movies and television shows, rather than the dense woods where he grew up. The trees were spaced far apart, and the wildlife seemed almost friendly.

It was such a jarring shift that Zeke couldn’t help but wonder what had prompted it.

“This is civilization, Ezekiel. To date, you’ve done nothing but trek through the wilderness. Did you truly think that everywhere was like those backwater towns you’ve visited? The world couldn’t have survived if that was the case,” Eveline explained. “This place probably has teams of warriors who cull any monster that grows too powerful or aggressive. They have woodsmen who tend the forests and fighters who hunt those who disturb the peace. This is real civilization.”

Zeke frowned, but it only took a moment for him to realize that she was right. Not about the civilization stuff – that would remain to be seen. Rather, she was correct in her assertion that his experiences in the Eternal Realm had been woefully limited. He’d seen a little of Adontis, but according to Adara, even the Knights themselves admitted it was a backwater.

But the Imperium? That was different.

And now that he was there, Zeke wanted to see just what sort of difference such civilization could make. So, it was with no small degree of eagerness that he continued through the forest, and a day later, he encountered a wide river. Knowing that such bodies of water typically led to towns and cities, Zeke followed it downstream until he finally found a stout stone bridge. Or more importantly, a road.

In the mountains, he’d mostly used his titanic form, but now that most of the danger had passed, Zeke had no problems assuming his natural shape. More importantly, he summoned his gate and asked Adara to accompany him as he made his way toward what he hoped would be a city.

Only a day later, they encountered traffic. People driving mana-motivated carriages, on horses, or a few pulling handcarts dotted the wide road. Most of the residents of the Imperium took one look at Zeke and Adara and turned their noses up. At first, Zeke thought it was due to her unusual parentage – after all, it had been an issue in Adontis – but it quickly became apparent that the problem was that they were clearly outsiders. And if there was one thing that seemed common among the people of the Imperium, it was a widespread sense of superiority.

The only reason they weren’t accosted outright was because they were both clearly high level. Otherwise, Zeke had no doubts that they would’ve been harassed until they left or were thrown into a prison. Perhaps even enslaved, given what he knew of the place.

As he and Adara traveled along the road, he had to admit that the place was beautiful, though. Idyllic, even. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought that he’d stepped into a lavish period movie set during the Regency era.

But there were signs of rot, as well. Every now and again, they’d see slaves – humans and beastkin alike – tending to the orchards. Though those sights were rare, they still sent his rage to bubbling over. More than once, he nearly shifted into his titanic form so he could wreak havoc much as he had in Adontis. If Adara hadn’t been there, he might have succumbed, but she acted as a calming force.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t just as angry as he was. Rather, she had far more experience turning a blind eye to such injustice, so she was more than capable of maintaining her composure. Still, Zeke knew her well enough to recognize the anger simmering beneath the surface. Soon enough, it would erupt, and when it did, people would die.

Even so, they managed to keep their rage bottled up long enough to reach the first major city. It was at least as large as Darukar back in El’kireth, and it was absolutely stunning. With tall white spires, colorful flags, and knights in shining armor – it was like a fairy tale world come to life.

It was a shame, then, that Zeke fully intended on tearing it all down.

When they approached the gates, Zeke asked the guard on duty, “What’s the name of this city? Is it the largest in the Imperium?”

“Oh, no. This is Moreth, the jewel of the east. We are one of the wealthiest cities in the Imperium, but our population is fairly low compared to some of the other cities,” he said. “May I ask what your business is, then?”

“No.”

“No?” the man asked, swallowing hard. He’d clearly seen Zeke’s level, so he knew precisely how much danger he was in.

“I think I’m going to have a look around. Adara?” Zeke asked, ignoring the guard as he stuck his arm out. Adara took it, and the pair strode inside, leaving a stunned guard behind.