Lucius rubbed the center of his chest as he walked back toward the property. A throbbing pain pulsed in the area where his newly awakened magic stemmed from, a side effect of practicing his ability to control it intensely for nearly five hours. He had continued with his training right up until the sun was about to rise over the eastern horizon.

To his satisfaction, the gains were well worth the discomfort he was currently experiencing. Lucius had managed to familiarize himself with the basics of shadow manipulation and had even gained three points of Magic Power through sheer effort over the course of the night’s training, bringing his base Magic Power attribute up to four—or nine if you included his equipment bonuses.

Now that he had a fundamental understanding of how to use Whisper's power, he could wield the shadows alongside Whisper during Mythification. He could also use them, though far less effectively, without the transformation, and if he continued to invest in Magic Power and practice diligently, he might one day become just as proficient as his companion. He would, however, always be stronger while using Mythification due to the bonuses it provided.

As sunlight spread across the sky from the distant horizon, and the constant hum of nighttime insects was replaced by the chirping of birds, Lucius sent Whisper back into his ring to stay safe before continuing his journey home. Despite having spent the entire night intensely focused on training, he still felt quite energetic.

When he stepped into the clearing where the farmhouse stood, he waved toward the ever-vigilant guards as he walked down the long dirt road. Glancing toward the steadily brightening outline of the farmhouse, he noticed that the soldiers Tiber had brought were already awake and hard at work on their assigned tasks.

The group of soldiers was currently following Tiber around the farm. As Lucius drew closer, he saw them jotting down notes as he discussed with his men the best way to erect the new defenses. An older soldier with gray hair and a heavily wrinkled face—someone Lucius had seen before but never spoken to—pointed at the plans in Tiber's hand as a low and scratchy voice came out of his throat.

"It's good they started on the wall, but it’s not in the right position. We gotta pivot thirty degrees south as we build in this area so we have enough space for the tower."

Tiber nodded at the man’s suggestion before glancing up to acknowledge Lucius' approach. He then turned back to his men and continued speaking.

"Everyone has their orders. When you inevitably run into issues during construction, do your best to overcome them. This isn’t Fort Knox—we just need workable defenses so we can get our people the hell out of that death trap of a city. Once the move is finished, we’ll have plenty of manpower to do things properly. Dismissed."

The group of soldiers snapped to attention and saluted Tiber in one swift motion before scattering in all directions to begin their work. Once they were alone, Tiber turned toward Lucius and smiled.

"Roland made it through the night. The big, lucky bastard is going to live. I am really impressed with that healer of yours—Mary. She stayed by his side all night, just like she promised. I don't think she even stepped away to piss."

Lucius couldn’t help but smile back at Tiber when he heard the good news.

"That’s good to hear. Has he regained consciousness?"

Tiber slowly shook his head as he kept one eye on his men, who were currently unloading the construction materials they had carried with them in storage rings from the city.

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"I see. Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I’m excited to see what you and your men are able to accomplish."

Lucius said goodbye to Tiber and walked toward the farmhouse, circling the building until he reached the room where he knew Mary was looking after Roland. He leaned against the outside wall, getting close enough to feel the effects of Mary's Blessing of the Healer aura even from outside.

Lucius made himself comfortable as he sat outside, watching the sunrise while Mary's aura soothed the soreness in his chest. He chewed on some cold beef jerky and sipped on warm bottled water as he enjoyed the quiet morning.

A half hour later, after the sun had fully risen above the horizon, he stood with a full stomach and a chest that felt noticeably better. After thinking it over during his breakfast, he decided to head back into the forest to do some hunting and scouting. After all, there wasn’t much he could do to help around the farm. Jack and Mina had the forging under control, Tiber and his men were handling the defenses, and Patrick would be busy putting Nicolai through an inscription boot camp.

Lucius’ role in the community was to be strong enough to protect them, so the best thing he could do now was to ensure that he was prepared when the time came. Besides, he had only closed a single anomaly near the farmhouse, and he was certain there were more close by that needed to be destroyed.

Since Tiber and his men were the only ones awake this early, Lucius spoke to him once more before leaving.

"How long will it take you and your men to finish the defenses?"

Tiber stood up from his task, casting his gaze across the property as he rubbed his chin.

"Mmm... I'm planning to push my engineers hard. We should have it ready within the one-week timeframe I mentioned before. Why do you ask?"

Lucius nodded at Tiber's words, taking one last glance across the property before responding.

"I don't have anything to do here. I'm going to head out into the forest for an extended period of time—do some training, hunting, close some anomalies. That sort of thing." Lucius took a deep breath before continuing. "The enemies we face are growing more powerful. The fact that Baba Yaga was able to create a C-class creature means others will be capable of reaching that level of strength soon as well. We can't put all our hopes in Magar. I need to grow stronger as fast as I can if I want to be capable of protecting this community moving forward."

Tiber raised an eyebrow, a grin creeping across his face as he looked toward Lucius.

"For such a young man, your sense of responsibility is admirable. Don’t let me hold you up—get out there and complete your mission. Just make sure you make it back within one week. We’re going to need that strength of yours when it’s time to move the civilians."

"I'll be here. Don't leave without me."

With that, Lucius headed back toward the treeline at a casual pace, focusing his attention on Sense Danger. He intended to let the talent guide him and engage in as many battles as possible over the next week. This would also be a great opportunity to put Whisper's feeding ability to the test and see how high he could raise his vitality from drinking blood alone.

Lucius moved north, heading directly away from Magar's territory. The large humanoid lizard that guarded the south was more than capable of keeping that area safe, and Lucius wouldn’t find enough creatures in that direction to meet his needs.

It didn’t take long before Sense Danger issued its first warning—multiple F-class threats had been detected at various distances throughout the forest.

Honing in on the nearest one, Lucius took off through the trees as swiftly as possible while maintaining the stealth granted by his aspect. When he finally caught sight of the creature, he was taken by surprise.

It looked like a common ant, except it was covered in thick brown armor-like carapace and stood as tall as a lion. With razer sharp mandibles spreading out in front of it's face, the ant snapped the mandibles menacingly as it moved through the underbrush.

Lucius stared at the creature thoughtfully as it scurried about the forest, most likely searching for food. It was impressively fast, and when it casually flipped a four-meter-long boulder with a swing of its head, Lucius furrowed his brows. This thing might look like a common ant, but it wasn’t going to be crushed under his foot so easily.

As he watched the creature go about it's business, a grin crept across his mouth as an idea came to him.

"This might be a good thing. We need lots of enemies for training, so why don’t we follow this fellow to his hive?"

Inside the ring, Whisper didn’t bother to speak. He simply poked one winged hand out from under his pile of blankets and gave a sleepy thumbs-up.