This endless marsh is actually a training grounds of the devoted since not many enemies would dare enter this poison infested marshes. Fortunately, these disgusting cure poison potions help to increase your natural resistance to the local poisons. Suffix it to say, after drinking so many potions on the first day, my taste buds are dead but I am well on my way to becoming immune to the most common local poisonous demonic pests.

I am shamed to say I took deliberate poisonous attacks just to increase my poison immunity. This marsh is a training grounds for the devoted after all, and my thus my future training grounds. I check the small void pouch I was given, it's still has seventy six cure poison potions left. So I decided to use up the potions to max out my immunity to the local poisons. This should help improve my overall poison resistance in the future. As I search for more rank two souls, I look forward in bumping into more poisonous soulbeasts.

The second day manage to be the same as the first, three more rank two souls and another thirty two potions used. At the end of the third day near the border to the next zone, I see a group of seniors escorting a group of Lord Ravage's devoted. I see a few border guards step up to question the guests, I overhear that there are pursuers and asked the border guards to slow them down.

I glance into the next zone and see about three scores of intruders heading right for us. I watch the the few border guards stare blanking at the incoming enemies. So I announce "I'll use hit and run tactics until more of our brothers and sisters show up," and head into the marsh looking for a ambush spot. With an after thought I yell "try to lead them into poisonous dens!"

I know of one about an hour away walking, so I do my best to coax a few my way with a deliberate dose of arrows. It quickly becomes a running fight and eats up time and space really fast as three that I manage to hit with arrows give chase. I see the sprinkling of arrows from my brothers and sisters who laugh and kite a few enemies away as well.

As I dash through the marsh, I get hit by a few poisonous critters with barely any effect. But I can hear the three chasing me curse from the constant attacks. I laugh to give them my location, before dashing around another moderate size open area with a large rocky stones near it's center. I keep an eye out for my pursuers and that rock pile, as soon as I see them enter this area I continue to dash along the edge of the open area for them to see me.

So naturally they cut into the open area to try to cut me off. As they pass central rocks I immediately brought up my bow and stop to aim. They stop and fan out making them difficult targets. We done this a many times already, if they charge I stick the closest one with an arrow before fleeing. So now they learn to stop and protect themselves until I give up and flee again.

"Who wants to die?" I roared as I point my bow to patch eye, broken tooth, and grumpy face causing three to flinch. Then I watch the Purpletail Thundersnake rear out of it's rocky lair and in a flash sink it's fangs into broken tooth's left shoulder and lift him into the air screaming. I immediately aim at grumpy and let fly at the distracted man staring aghast at his comrade's sudden demise. I watch my arrow sink into the man's thigh and then I turn around and ran the hell out of there.

An instructor once brought out an illusion of a Purpletail Thundersnake, it's classified as a large creature, but is dangerous due to it's poison being extremely toxic. As I high tail it out of there, knowing full well that it would instinctively hunt the wounded men first. They also don't like leaving their nest for long periods of time.

By the time I found the main body of intruders again, they are surrounded by a warband led by a champion of my master. He was a big Lionman covered in crystal red armor that transparent enough to see the intricate tooled with magical sigils covered carbon colored leather battle gear. From his right forearm floats two jagged curve three foot blades that vibrates at high frequency. On his left forearm quietly spins a floating shield with three jagged blades with sharp glimmering spines imbedded along the blade to help shred the victim's soulbody.

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He wrecks havoc with every swing of his arm, blows so powerful that it lifts the dismember pieces into the air to follow the arc of his swings before dissolving into soulmist. Or he would launch his spinning shield on any annoying range pest he wanted to cut in half. I kill a few of those with my bow before the fight came to a close.

I pay my respects to the champion with the rest border guards and his reply was "it's good to see little ones up for a good fight!" then laughs and takes off at a loping gait. His warband laughs and pursue their blood thirsty leader.

I questioned the border guards about who was that champion, the replies I received accounts to this much 'today is champion Lyam Lionmane overseeing this border's defense of this stretch of the endless marsh. He is a well known battle fiend and loves fighting at the borders. Everyone knows if they are in trouble they just need to hold out until he gets there. He affectionately calls the devoted 'little ones' and is known to give rewards to those who truly show their mettle in battle.'

I was amazed by the equipment the champion was wearing. That beautifully magically etched leather battle gear emitted that red crystal armor formed from a magical force barrier that protects the entire body. Damage to this force barrier will quickly regenerate after a single exchange and will help stop bleeding wounds by applied pressure. The more I learned from the border guards the more I wanted to become an enchanter.

I quickly found the captain of the border patrol and presented my quest token, which he taps it with his emblem ring hand before thanking me for joining the fight. I ask for some basic supplies and was directed to a hidden bunker. When I arrived at a rocky cliff a presented my quest token to the cliff wall and someone pass through an illusionary wall to wave me over but stayed vigilant with the surroundings.

When I told the guard about my quest and then helping the border guards he happily let me pass and told me it's the second door on the left, as I pass the first left door I can hear people laughing. As I arrived on the second door, I see a sign 'Basic Supplies' so I entered the small room. The room is a smaller version of the basic supplies room I was allowed to equip myself in the training hall.

First thing I see is basic enchanted arrows in bins in front of me. To the right is a huge aquarium like container lining the entire wall is filled with cure poison potions, on the left are bins for lesser used basic enchanted missile weapons. I fill my quiver with arrows and toss a few bundles into my void pouch. Then refilled the cure poison pouch, after that filled my empty knife sheaves and toss a couple handfuls into my void pouch as well. I intend to swing a day further out to test the waters.

It was the same intoxicating blend of marshlands, with a healthy dose of new variety of poisonous pests and slightly more rank two souls to encounter. Occasionally I bump into roving war parties of my senior brothers and sisters who have teamed up to delve further out into the wilds. I notice a few seniors have creature pets and other humanoid followers. I am told some veteran warbands can get rather large when everyone brings out their pets and followers into battle.

I can turn any soul I possess into a follower or pet with the proper magical field of study. I'm not really interested in demonology, elementalists, necromancy and spiritualist is iffy at best. Which leaves summoning and constructs, an added benefit these two does not require a contract with another spiritual being.

Summoning is a magical study to transform a soul copy back into a soul body that can never act against your wishes and serve as a follower or a pet. Beastial pets of this caliber would be taking the corpse of a powerful demonbeast and use a soul copy of powerful mage to animate it. The best of both worlds martial and mystical, no flaws for having such a follower. This catches my interest, and wonder how this works in the underworld.

Construct is the magical study to imbue a soul copy into a artificial body to act as it's controller to serve as a follower or pet. Those who follow the way of the Construct can be said to be a whimsical lot, using their imagination, they create followers out of advance materials and treated with their most powerful enchanted armor techniques they know and then place a soul copy it to serve as faithful bodyguards. Nice, this was something I saw while I was in training and thought how I could enter these tournaments with creations of my own.

There is a huge construct district back next to where my shrine is located. I could buy any construct in the market place and offer the service of imbedding and removing soul copies from any construct control gem. There are all sorts of tournaments using various constructs all around the district with a huge fan base. I spent quite a bit of time enjoying those tournaments. I strongest impression was seeing all kinds of imaginary creations from nearly a hundred races doing battle in those tournaments.