When I receive a telepathic message about new gears next time I come home I was intrigued, so I message my enchanter self for the details of the enchantments. Figures my lazy ass would think of using another avatar to get some work done. Anyway, I manage to trade for the extra gears from my brothers and sisters and some of the more friendlier looking members of Liam's warband. I manage to enchant everything before we reached the target zone and more than impressed by the results.

The quest that I was given is to assist in securing an area to make sure the target and his follower don't escape. So here I am, in a team of four watching this part of the perimeter as the fight in the center escalated to the point we can feel the echoes from the booms of the exchanges against our skin. We are guarding a stream that leads deeper into the mountains and considered a possible escape route.

When the fighting in the center ended we all tense up and prepare for battle as we wonder which path the target will flee. The four of us was engulf in fire blast that took forty percent of my health despite hiding behind my shield blocking some of in coming expanding sphere of flames as a fireball exploding between the four of us. We were still ambushed despite being on guard and brother Harvey died in those flames.

Lady luck granted Harvey infinitely horrendously bad luck to jinx us when he said 'the target won't flee this way' and was consumed by the flames and turned into soulmist. The joker telling Charly died next as the target cut him in half and I watch the two soulmist fly out and merge together on it's way home too. Brother Mick and I charge from the other side of the stream. The target kick Mick back to the other side to slam against a rock and splattering into soulmist and after sizing me up stepped forward with a swing to deprive me of my lower half.

By then I had regenerated back up to seventy percent health and the Shieldwall buff I cast earlier gives me a free block on his second attack of the first exchange. Despite the successful block I feel my health drop way down to forty percent remaining. For my part of the exchange I slam home my sword against his upper left forearm, leaving a thin black cut that barely bleds.

Then he yells 'I'm not done yet!" and slash once more to finish me off with a cut aimed my left shoulder to crotch to end this battle. But I used my sword's Deflect and use my shield to block it and watch my health plummet to ten percent left. I also watch my shield turn into the first fold of a fortune cookie from the impact that drove the shield down three inches towards my left forearm, while the rest of the force folded the shield in half. I watch the two enchantments faded away with a crackle following the destruction of the shield. Then I gleefully watch as the target's sneer turn into the shock and mutters "'huh? You have a second extra block?"

Liam laughs uproariously "nice exchange there little one!" and slashes through the target's torso who bellows in pain and turns around to face the far more dangerous foe. I watch the target's wound from right shoulder to hip reform into a red scar. Which I promptly stab with my next exchange, it was really nothing more than a scratch as only the tip of my sword dug into that resilient soulbody. Leaving a small black wound in the middle of the massive red scar.

The target didn't bother with me since I can't damage him with my level one might. After a second stab into the red zone he wises up and realizes what I am doing and gives me a glare followed by "damn punk" before forced to defend against Liam again. Which catches Liam curiosity and cranes his neck to see what I was doing to cause the target to acknowledge me at all was a surprise worth betting one of his nine lives on.

I nearly laughed out loud at his big cat posturing act and didn't forget to land another stab in the big red scar. I glance at the my first cut on his arm and notice it's double in size and I grin mischievously as I realize I made some contribution to the fight that I have no business fighting in to begin with.

Eventually Liam chops the target's head off causing the head to fly five feet before it turns into red soulmist and hangs there screaming in terror. Liam is currently a blessed by Lord Death as a Red Slayer to hunt down and kill someone Lord Death wants annihilated. This blessing last until the targeted soul is destroyed and any wound liam inflicts in battle will be marked by blood red scar. Any soul marked will his soul consumed rather than turning into soulmist and sent back to their personal shrine. I watch the normally white soulmist turn blood red and start corroding away until eventually nothing of the screaming soul remains.

One thing I learn from this, do not disrespect the gods, they have their ways to destroy your soul. I receive a rude but supposedly friendly awakening from my thoughts. As I receive a friendly wallop as Liam slam his palm to pat my back and I stagger a few feet forward as my crushed back reforms itself. But the pain still lingers and I suffer it through the next three breaths of time. I thank the spirits that the mystical red tatoos that used to mark him as a Red Slayer had already vanished with the death of the target.

"Senior brother, your too kind!" I announce respectfully as I grit my teeth in pain. I like to smack the the entire Lionmane family for forgetting to teach this maniac that using your full might for a friendly pat is just wrong.

He responds with his usually roaring laughter that summons his scattered warband that was watching the more expected escape routes. Then he looks at me with an intensity to view into my soul. Taking the hint, I lifted up my sword and supplied "I enchanted it with infected wounds."

He curiosity satisfied "here little one" and tosses me a void pouch "you did well today, I am most pleased!" Then I grit my teeth as the expected friendly shoulder pat crushing my left shoulder.

I manage to grit out "thank you senior brother" but he was already laughing as he leaps away and his merry warband scramble to catch up. After they are gone I take a peek in the void pouch and see a bar of Dark Matter, three healing potions with three gold stars to indicate with it can heal three critical wounds, and ten rank eight duo element magic missile battle scrolls that affect up to four targets within line of sight.

I made my way back to the camp that guarded by everyone's followers. On a red slayer hunt, followers are not permitted to join the battle. Rymon and Bully meets me at the edge of the camp and I state loudly "Liam killed the target" then waiting brothers and sisters give a resounding cheer of victory.

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Then we march back home while I play scout for the rest of my siblings. Not that I wanted the work, it's just collecting souls is more lucrative while on scout duty. My brothers and sisters happily massacre any soul that comes within sight with who ever lands the killing blow gets the soul copy. So the my lively brothers and sisters competition is quite fierce.

A few times I led back something I couldn't handle alone, but nothing twenty seven devotee and their sixty one followers and pets can't handle. They even encourage me to bring back more next time after dealing with a rather large pack of Lurgus I had led back. Think giant ant with the thorax growing upwards like a torso would with a pair of arms that end in three foot long blades. Then add a horned ant head for the final picture where the tips of the horn give their their two meter height.

It's a nasty predator that hunt in packs that retains the hive personality of the insect world. A brutal and efficient killing machines that every sentient race have learned to hunt down and destroy any new nest in their lands. Fortunately I manage to snag three of these souls for my construct dreams.

Not sure I want to have such a creepy creature as a pet, but using their souls to animate constructs, I have no problem with. The only problem is that they are only rank one souls, too bad there were no queens. I heard the queens start at rank two as new queens don't venture out until the rank up from forced fed kills of captured prey. A queen would make a very nice controller soul as they make good war leaders due to their level five leadership, but also have the racial elementalist magical field of study to support their brood.

Anyways it didn't take too long to reach back home and made my way to my personal shrine. I sacrifice five rank two souls to my master and merged back into my true self. After fusing the quest memories to make it my own, I summon the upgrade screen to my corneas.

I received ten points for the completing the quest, ten points for damaging the target, five for surviving the battle, and five for the sacrifice for a total of thirty upgrade points. Glancing at my soul bank I see four hundred and sixteen rank one souls and now four rank two souls registered there. So I promptly examine the two new rank twos and see a Doppleganger and Min-Arc races. Interesting, didn't expect myself to get the last hits for these two souls.

A Doppleganger would be a interesting follower to have, the natural ability absorb a soul copy and thus permanently able to change into that race at will. He would make a interesting bodyguard slash spy master as I see level three burglary is his highest virtue. Other than the required changeling magical field of study I see level two necromancy. So basically a scoundrel that plays with the undead.

Let's see what is a Min-Arc, a magical race born with magic talent fills my mind. I see, looks like a spell casting race which is perfect for my first tournament construct. So I push that soul to an area in my soul bank which I now designate reserve area.

Thinking upgrade screen again it pops back in my eyes. I promptly raise my jewelry to level two for five points. I was too weak to hurt the target so I boost my might to level two for five points. Then thinking how to resist Liam friendly pats I automatically raise resilient to level two as well. So fifteen upgrade points spent without much thought.

Looking at my magical fields, I decided to raise evocation to level two to increase the damage output of my spells in battle. My eyes keep returning to the jewelry stat of two, so I go with it and level up Jewelry to level three for my last ten points. I verified the upgrades and refine thirty rank one souls to empower my own. It feels good becoming a little bit stronger, one can even say it can be addicting.

One last check on my experience bar and with that I see the experience bar fill the top of my forward view and see a list of how I earned my experience points. Fifteen points I earned completing my training missions, I see that I have accrued forty points for the first quest and thirty for the second quest. When my eye wonder on the second quest it promptly expanded to show the breakdown how the quest experience was earned. At the end of the bar it shows two hundred and thirty five points earned out of three hundred points needed to rank up. So hopefully two more quests and I can rank up and start working the tournaments.

With that in mind I check the Doppleganger once more and see it's name is Canis Steelheart who was raise as a warlock. Checking her stats I don't see anything that need switching around so I upgrade her toughness to five, will power to five, spellcraft to four and finally leadership to four to allow her so summon another undead.

With the tweaking completed I summon my new follower and order her to gear up from my enchanted stocks. I watch her pick up an oversize heavy suit of armor and put it on her tiny but robust frame and watch the chest armor shrink down to mold itself into a sexy suit of armor. Then I see her turn into a Crystal Cyborg and watch the armor stretch to it her new form. After that she changes into a Hawkwoman, a Rakshasha, and finally settles into a Min-Arc figure.

Then I take the weakest rank two soul and summon a new adventuring avatar who promptly picks up the fallen gears his former self drops when he merged with me. My followers and pet created their own avatars. I realize a problem now, my level three leadership allow me a maximum of three avatars and three followers or pets. Which means I am currently maxed out on followers and pets, so set my next priority to raise it to level four the next time I have enough upgrade points.

I have just one spare rank two soul left, besides the Min-Arc that I am saving. Thinking a bit I decide to summon a new avatar to max my farming capabilities. I watch my two new selves and their guards equip themselves and take spares as well, so I have to remind my enchanter self to stock up again. I had order my soul slaves to increase their spellcasting to level three, so I check through the follower link to see Rymon and Bully have done so. But they are free to upgrade after that, but I see they are both holding on to five upgrade points. Which makes sense, since I don't see any stat worth raising to level two at the moment. Best to save for a combat upgrade instead.

Seeing the three Lurgus souls I decided to summon all three to serve as pets for Canis to try to level up to rank two since I feel Canis is a follower I will keep for awhile. They can even equip the armor that morphs to fit it's centaur like ant body. But that's it, they can't equip anything else including jewelry. I watch the triplets settle next to Canis and create avatars for both of my adventurous selves.

Then I glance at my inventory and see the bar of Dark Matter and open up a new inventory tab and named it reserved materials and put in there for future use. Then I forked over to my new selves two battle scrolls and one healing potions with three gold stars which I see them put in their left boot void gem. Realizing that the perfect place for it, I did likewise as well. Plus it's best not to form bad habits by doing things differently.

I watch my other selves pray to our master before giving each other a high five, then giving me mocking salute before heading out to farm. I sent a telepathic message to my enchanter self 'got a new follower for you, come pick her up whenever you stop by. By the way, you have a new brother self in the farming business.' I receive 'ok' back, such a simple reply probably means he is busy fighting. Then I toss in 'make sure to do some jewelcrafting quotas so we can trade for level three magic gems, I'm heading there now.' Then I hear 'sounds good.'