CHAPTER 57 - Ahead of schedule I

Leo was in turmoil. He wanted to chase down the human opening the rifts across worlds, but he couldn’t. That man was his prime and only suspect in his parents death, which he had already, deep down, deemed as culprit and murdered after all he had seen.

He wanted vengeance more than anything, but he knew better. The small pond he has been conquering till now has just expanded too much for him to control. Not only was the new beast a threat, but the man itself was stronger than any of the other beasts and monsters he had encountered.

He wanted to kill him and the beast more than anything but at the moment he needed to state his priorities.

For him, it came first staying alert for any clue that popped out about his sister. He had told the people in charge of keeping an eye on the vampires to keep an eye out too for her. Having told them all her appearance, age and overall demeanor, he couldn’t do much without leaving for the streets without aim.

Second for him, it came securing his new accompliances, Sera and Maria. Despite being younger than him and not knowing them for too long, he could see both his and his sister’s reflection when looking at them. Getting their group under his wing too was just a plus.

Finally, vengeance. It was at the top of the list of his priorities, but even that couldn’t get rid of his wishes of prioritizing protecting over destroying. It was what he decided when he was little and he planned on keeping true to his words, even if his family is not here anymore.

Somewhere deep within he still hoped his sister was alive and hiding somewhere, even if the possibilities of that were scarce and dwindling as the days passed.

He was lost, with no clear goal in sight after losing most of what he cared about. He was trying to salvage the most he could by helping the ones he met in his way, but so far he had no luck. At this rate, he was scared of what he might become.

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Leo

“Well, here’s my plan to get this place running as it should as soon as possible.” I say to my audience.

Everyone is present apart from a couple of scouts and guards, gathered in front of me, to personally hear what I have to say.

Once my speech is over, they agree on following my script to build a fortress here. The plan is simple, they focus on things that would allow them to thrive on their own such as food sources, water and some more things that will be needed in the long run, while I take care of the defensive precautions with a small team.

I have a long talk with those assigned to me to help on the defenses, I asked for their help to get more opinions over anything else. I will be the one building the walls of the place with magic, but I will need guidance on their part to do it orderly and having future plans in mind.

Anything that comes to mind to one of us is discussed and voted if it doesn’t sound as beneficial to all of us. Hours later, and only once everything is planned and noted to the smallest detail, is when I start working on the construction.

I start by gathering up manna in big quantities. For the construction, I choose to change my short bursts of power into a slow and steady supply of manna that mold the earth.

I first make all the surrounding materials gather where I intend to build, taking an even mass from everywhere around so that the floor does not sink in or anything similar when I move it upwards.

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Then, I slowly mold it into a wall as thick as a person. The stone and dirt move around and rise slowly. I take my time to reinforce the wall in the process as much as I can, compacting the materials I have at hand with the help of manna.

Minutes go by, and after a quarter of an hour goes by, a tall section of a wall a couple of meters wide is created. The precautions we took to give it enough mass avoid its fall and the reinforcing and compacting of the mass makes the stone/dirt wall as hard as steel once finished.

“Is it straight and tall enough?” I ask my team members who are waiting around the wall to take measures and guide me on my next section.

They take all the data and tell me to move on, amazed at the durability I managed to get from the poor choice of materials we have available.

I raise the whole wall in one day, a few meters at a time. Only resting a bit in between section and sections and leaving three holes in it on vantage points where the doors will be.

I can’t really make functional doors right now, so I left that task for the rest of the guys to shoulder it. I did tell them that they could ask for help if they need to move the materials there or something, but they didn't tell me to do anything.

By the time dinner arrived the whole place was bustling with life inside the walls I have raised. They would need to be destroyed and expanded soon enough, but for me that would be as easy as raising them so no one was worried.

We ate and planned, but once I figured out that my help wouldn’t be needed on the following days in the construction process, I made myself scarce as I left to sit on top of a tree branch nearby by to oversee the whole place as I train my control over mana and qi.

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I open my eyes at dawn, just in time to see a deer I have been tracking with my mana scans run through the forest south about a 200m (650ft) away from me and the base.

I take out one of the knives I have at the ready and prepare to throw it at it, but I choose otherwise. I sheathe it again, not wanting to lose it amidst the sea of trees and grass. Instead, I move around my qi to create a knife.

A few seconds later, a newly crafted knife of transparent and yellowish hue lays on my hand. It first came to life from my imagination and was later contained in its desired shape to avoid dispersion by another qi barrier of my making.

I can feel the knife qi starting to lose its shape even before the barrier comes into place, dissipating at high speed. Thankfully, I am fast enough to make the barrier and contain it before it deforms too much and I can still use it to hopefully catch the deer.

My improved eyesight helps me track the deer now that it is closing in, and I wait for him to stop as I tense my arms and prepare to throw.

The deer makes small jumps as he runs before stopping in its tracks, not too far from where I first saw it enter my range. It is far away, but I believe I have a chance to hit it after hours of practicing the discipline of throwing knives.

I cycle qi around my body to boost the speed of the knife once I let go and then send it.

No noise is created as the projectile flies to its target. With nearly no air resistance, it flies in a straight line towards the deer that has half its body hiding behind a tree. The deer seems to catch on something and flees, or at least it tries.

The projectile arrives in front of it too fast for it to react. My aim does fail me though, as I see the knife flying off course a little to the left and hitting the tree in front of the animal. However, it does achieve the desired result.

The knife hits the tree, but instead of stopping there, it smashes into it.

‘The heck!’ Even I am surprised as the barrier that I used to contain the qi breaks and lets the energy inside explode outward. I mean, there is no explosion, just the qi that was contained being free with way too much force.

The kinetic energy from the throw and the compacted shape I made ends up creating a burst of bark and splinters that fly in all directions, killing the deer and chopping the tree in the process.

I have no time to calm those below me as they rush out of the makeshift tents after hearing the loud explosion of bark, followed by the loud thud of the tree crashing against the ground after losing a chunk of its trunk.

I descend from the branch I was staying and calm those in the group as I tell them to wait for a moment while I retrieve the corpse of the deer before some other beasts of monsters come to pick it for itself.

Jumping over the wall, I get to the dead deer soon enough, but I can’t help but show a face of disappointment and loss as I see the now mutilated corpse of the deer, but I bring it back to base anyways.

‘As much as it has more air than meat, it is still food… and wood…’ I inwardly say my condolences to those who will be in charge of picking apart the wood from the now far gone animal.

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For the next couple of days my work is pretty much the same. Helping in the construction with my strength for some tasks, procuring some supplies around the area, scouting and mapping the surrounding terrain or even defending the base from beasts attacks every now and then.

Each day rinse and repeat till finally, on the fourth day the base is finally secured and running and I can focus more on my own things again.

Having used these days to relax a little while I got better with my qi and the creation of weapons made of it, I feel like I can finally take my revenge on that guy. I don't know if those sigils in his body do something other than to allow him to perform those rituals, but I can ask everything I need once I get him on my hands.

For now, I am preparing a strategy to outsmart him and catch him by surprise the next time he performs a ritual or something.