"That's good! However, the demons already have spies in the Free Union, so don't let your guard down!"

Isabella says "Alright, we will keep an eye out for them."

"Nived, how are things going with the beastmen?"

Nived says "The process is going well. We have converted about half of the army already. However, there is a problem."

"What problem?"

Nived says "It is the empire. They have been sending troops across the border to attack us."

"Actual army troops or mercenaries?"

Nived says "Both! The soldiers are all from the western duke's forces."

"My guess would be that Pine has gotten to the new duke. How are the fights going?"

Nived says "The beastmen have won every engagement so far with minimal losses."

"That's good! Tell Leonarr to keep fighting defensively and prioritize keeping the casualties as low as possible."

Nived says "Is that all?"

"For now, yes. We can't do anything to the empire just yet, any reactions from the other nations?"

Nived says "Yes, the kingdom and Illium have filed protests and even the Free Union has made some noise. Unfortunately, the Empire has ignored everything and only stated that they have not invaded a kingdom."

"Well, honestly they haven't, we are not a kingdom yet. It is too soon to start a war though. Until I get back and can establish us as a recognized kingdom all we can do is defend ourselves."

Nived says "Understood, I will pass it on to Leonarr. Any other orders?"

"No, for now just continue working on the existing projects."

Nived says "Alright."

"Myria, anything happening on your end of things?"

Myria says "Kitara is still in the Knight Captain's challenge. The new training facility is ready, we will start the first batch as soon as she comes out."

"That's good. How is your training going?"

Myria says "I plan to take the challenge as soon as Kitara comes out."

"Sounds good! If I can't get a hold of you for a while I will assume that's why. Core, how are the beasts doing?"

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Core says "Really good. The city feels alive again thanks to them. They are flourishing now that they have more space and the trade with the outside is going well."

"Alright, that's good. I want you to talk to the elders for me, see if they are willing to spare some mages."

Core says "Sure, but what for?"

"To reinforce the beastmen. Magic is their biggest weakness. This is not an order, they have to be volunteers."

Core says "Alright, I will talk to the elders about it."

"If they don't want to, that is fine as well. However, if they are okay with it, then ask Zheka to lead the mages."

Core says "Will do."

"Alright, any other issues I should know about? Or does anyone have any questions for me?"

After a couple of minutes of silence, I tell the others that they can leave. Myria and Isabella leave, but they are the only ones, Core, Nived, Kechara, and Asuna stay. I asked Core and Nived to stay, Kechara is also interested in talking magic, and Asuna just wants to spend more time with me.

Asuna and Kechara are lying on either side of me, so I pet them while chatting with Core and Nived. We talk about magic and how the natural elements work compared to spells. The point I am trying to teach them is that mimicking natural elements is stronger than normal magic.

Like how I gathered natural static electricity in the ground to create real lightning bolts. A real lightning bolt does way more damage than the normal mage's lightning spell. Basically I am just trying to broaden their horizons and improve their understanding of magic.

This leads to questions and discussions that last for the next couple of hours. Even Kechara and Asuna join in from time to time, they understand magic on a more instinctual level. It is a good thing this is happening in the soulscape where time works differently.

By the time we are done talking and everyone has left, I would guess about eight hours have passed. Except when I end the soulscape and return to reality only about an hour has passed. It isn't even dinner time yet, Brightfire is busy practicing, so I play with Nala for a while.

For dinner Brightfire grills some steaks from the allosaurus and adds side dishes from the pouch. In the end it turns into a great dinner and I end up eating far too much, until I can't move at all. I can't even get up to move to a comfortable position to sleep, so I just go to sleep right where I am.

When I wake up I am surprised to find that over ten hours have passed. Nala is still asleep but Brightfire is not in the cave with us, so I head outside. As expected, Brightfire is practicing again, she is showing a high level of dedication.

After watching for a minute I notice a mistake, but when I try to correct her all that comes out is a meow. This whole not being able to talk is getting really annoying, but there isn't much I can do about it. So, instead I shapeshift just long enough to correct her and show her how to do it correctly.

Then I tell her I am going exploring before I return to normal and head into the jungle. Again, I head up into the trees and move along the river that way, it is just safer. It takes more time and effort, but it is much better than getting eaten.

After several hours of exploring and not finding anything interesting I finally spot a velociraptor. At almost the exact same time it turns and tilts its head to look up at me. However, since I am high enough that it can't reach me it quickly decides to ignore me.

For my part I stay still and look around trying to see if there are any more raptors nearby. It takes a minute but I am able to spot another six raptors and also their prey. It looks to be a juvenile t-rex, just a little smaller than the allosaurus.

Normally, not much would challenge a t-rex, at least not an adult one, but a young one is different. Against the seven raptors that I can see, it will be lucky if it escapes alive. Just as I am thinking that the raptors make their move and rush the t-rex from all directions.

Before they attack the t-rex has no idea they are even nearby and by the time it spots them it is already too late. The seven raptors use near perfect coordination to attack the t-rex all at once. Before the t-rex can even decide whether to fight or flee it has already taken several wounds.