Lina was living the life that she was always dreaming of. A life where she no longer needed to worry about feeding herself, one that she could enjoy with little to no care for the world around her. She was safe and the Lumont family has sworn to protect her, adding an additional barrier of protection. She has become a person that was no longer within Hektor's reach.
"All it means is that she no longer needs me." The spearman talked to his birds once more. Petting one of them with his fingers.
His business was done after just a night's stay, knowing that Lina was happy is enough for him. From here on out Hektor had a few things that he wanted to achieve. First was to do right by his master, fighting the orcs and avenging the fallen. Not just for his master but also the brothers and sisters he made in the orphanage. Second was to save up enough money for the Mana Circle engraving procedure, one that can boost his mana pool to the point of doubling the capacity.
Both can be achieved through battling the Orcs, and the Green Horde.
"The mana circle or the elixir, either way it's going to take a while for me to even get it." He rubbed his chin. "But it is killing two birds with one stone if I fight to defend the kingdom again."
He also had another idea, one that has been sitting in the backburner since the first appearance of his newest low-class preset. "Creating my own fighting force, with a sole purpose of providing me with souls."
Souls: 102
"I can summon at least 20 more imps, a large fighting force that can likely survive hunting in the eastern forests." Considering the 15 other bulky imps that he currently commanded, he would have a sizable group of them if he decided to spend the souls on it.
"I can do half, around ten and I'll spend the rest on new presets."
He bid farewell to Lina the next morning, he handed a raven to her and left as quickly as he came. The three day journey back to the town of Belugrass would be spent on summoning ten more imps to round their numbers up to 25.
Souls: 102 -> 52
It was a relatively peaceful journey compared to most of his travels thus far. The threats were common animals that had souls that his ability could not consume. The 25-man group of low class demons were all sent to the northern region with only a few words from Hektor.
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"Hunt whatever you can but never cross the river." Hektor ordered. " Your goal is to gather as many souls as you can. I'll call upon whatever is left of you should you survive this ordeal."
"I heard somewhere that those of you who live long enough can get stronger."
"To whoever survives this ordeal, I'll grant you a name."
Hektor often referred to his summons as numbers, but he never got to a point where he has given any of them a name. "Best of luck soldiers, if this works out as planned then most of you will be alive when I return."
He returned to the town of Belugrass with a new plan in mind, sure he could use the remaining 50 souls on another flame sprite. But the prospect of a new preset was just far too appealing to him.
"I can replenish my birds at any time, let's gamble on two more low-class presets before heading back to Teblez."
[A random Low-Class Minion preset has been unlocked.]
[A random Low-Class Minion preset has been unlocked.]
Souls: 52 -> 2
It was time to see if his gamble has paid off.
[Xiphias Gladius Cost: 1,000 Mana, 5 Souls]
[Miniature Earth Sprite Cost: 1,000 Mana, 5 Souls]
The earth sprite was a good find. Hektor now had an appreciation for the miniature versions because investing in them is worth it. A full sprite had enough mana to cast a handful of elemental spells, which boosts his options in combat. The Xiphias Gladius on the other hand was an unfamiliar name to Hektor, one that he needed to read up on or simply ask certain people about.
"Xiphias Gladius?" Just like the Corvids, it was something that he was initially unfamiliar with. Which he eventually learned to be a name for some sort of animal. "So it should be some kind of animal then, I'll test it at a later time."
"For now the Miniature Earth Sprite should be my priority, we'll see how they differ from the flame sprites."
That night a few familiar notifications arrived.
[A soul has been added to your collection.]
[A soul has been added to your collection.]
"It seems that my friends have finally started to hunt."
---
Souls: 2 -> 12
"The imps have done well." Hektor commented, currently having breakfast at the inn.
Hektor doesn't really care for what he eats most of the time, but after eating dried meat and hard bread as rations during his travels he learned to appreciate the hot meals that the inns and taverns could provide. "I miss Paul." He muttered, Paul's personal skill made their meals something to look forward to.
"Garnesh and the others should be back at Teblez by now, They haven't sent a messenger bird back so they could still be half way there." He deliberated with himself. "It all depends on whether they used a mount or not."
With all of the coins he had, he could buy a horse to travel, cutting the almost 2 week-long travel time to just a few days. "I don't have to lug around the imps either, so a mount would really help me here."
He bought a horse from one of the stables and decided to head directly to Teblez. Hektor was looking forward to joining the fight once more, the souls he could collect along with a bit of revenge against the invaders motivated him.