“I do hope the Bishop was kind.” I said as I came up next to Camille and smiled. She flinched a bit as I was rather sure she was stuck in her own head for too long and hadn’t noticed me come up next to her.

“Huh? Oh… uhh yeah...” She said absent-mindedly before she looked at me again. “I think I felt her.” She then said which made me raise an eyebrow at her. I felt something like a bad premonition at her words. Then I felt it, laying itself onto the city like a blanket. Unnoticed unless you knew what to look for or were sensitive to it. Something had just manifested in some way in Veta.

Panic ran through my mind as I stiffened when the aura of a goddess I was rather familiar with blanketed the city. Then I felt another presence intrude on the area I could sense around me, a few actually. Quickly I sent Ashes soaring up into the sky with Dust moving into the manor to alert Abhorash and Morice. “Camille go into the manor, right now.” I said as I looked at her and then towards were the presences I’d felt approaching, paladins and holy warriors.

All of whom wore a rather suspiciously similar armour to the elite knights of wolfsgarde only it was also a style of its own but if you knew what to look for it’s origin was clear. I narrowed my eye at them and I wondered not for the first time what Aona’s overall goal was.

Camille followed my gaze and gasped a little before running into the manor while I stood with crossed arms at the gates to my temporary home. I noted that the leader, a paladin of level eighty with the others at a similar strength hesitated a bit at seeing me waiting for them. Before they came close enough to allow them to use the smite skill I was familiar with I spoke.

“And what pray tell? Am I to expect from this intrusion?” I asked with a raised hand showing I didn’t want them to take one more step forward.

The Paladin leader of the full team of six, now that they were closer I got a better look at them. Three paladins, two holy warriors which would act much like martial focused clerics with a priest in the back for backup. For a holy party I’d have gone with two of each class with one of the holy warriors focused on buffing the party with the priests on healing duty for the paladins while the last warrior would work within the buffer to protect the healers and back up the paladins if needed.

However if I was going by the class composition alone. What stood before me was a strike force very suited towards fighting undead of up to middle tier, the strongest I could achieve at the moment.

“Are you Baron Felix Aesir?” The leader asked, a man with his head exposed outside his armour unlike the rest. His appearance made me think of a man closing in on his forties with a well groomed beard with combed back dark blonde hair. At my nod his jaw tightened.

“You are here by ordered to the Cathedral of Light by order of the high priestess!” He spoke with authority and conviction as he stared me down.

I looked him in the eye and chewed a bit on my lip in thought. I still wanted to get back to my experiments with chi and if it might have any effect on undead and if it had detrimental effects, how to get past that restriction. Such as if I could create a chi stone like I could with mana and spiritual power now? If so then might it work like I had done with the Ushabti sorcerers and imbuing the marrow of their bones into mana crystals.

I breathed in and gave my answer. “No.” I said it simply and almost smiled at the look on the paladins face. He was taken aback by such a simple answer of refusal to his demands.

“No?” He asked a bit confused while one of the paladins next to him reached for his weapon only to be stopped by the leader. “And what gives you the right to deny our command?” He asked with a slight edge coming into his voice.

“If I meet the goddess that just manifested people might die. I’d rather not have that happen.” I replied bluntly.

This made the party stir as they looked at me and then talked amongst themselves in heated tones. The leader silenced them and walked closer, ignoring the furrowing of my brow the closer he got. Once he was within arms reach I towered over him, he was at the height of around 1.8 meters so his eye level was at my chin or neck level.

“How do you know our lady has manifested?” He asked with trepidation clear in his voice.

I leaned in and stared him in the eye with all the hate, malice and fury that I held for Aona. “Because I hate her more than you can even imagine. I’d know her stink anywhere.” I growled and I saw the man take a step back so I leaned in and spoke low. “So tell me, was it the high priestess that was arrogant enough to command me to appear in the cathedral of light? Or was it Aona?”

His silence was response enough and I sighed. “I take it you are here as the easy way and if I refuse there will be a hard way?” He nodded again and I grit my teeth. Of course, heavy handed as ever even when she’s acting with subtlety she wasn’t this straight forward usually though.

I hummed in thought. I’d have to bluff somehow to show her I wasn’t to be trifled with to buy myself time to actually grow strong enough to deal with her and Wolfsgard. Hmm perhaps a page from the cultivators play book? After all I’d thought they were nothing before they attacked.

I smiled a little as an idea of showing strength beyond what my level should suggest formulated in my head. “Fine I’ll come with you but know that any deaths that occur from this, is on your heads.” I said with a narrowed eye at the leader of the group.

He only nodded sternly this time and I was lead away towards the cathedral under armed escort.

When we arrived I saw the high priestess fidgeting at the doors to the cathedral with quite a few paladins and other members of the militant arm of the church of light surrounding it. She gave me a very annoyed look as I simply walked past her and began to whistle in the hall of the mountain king. The silent cathedral allowed my whistled tune to fill the large hall I walked into.

I saw nothing out of the ordinary except the three figures near the altar. A man and a woman stood to the side with another man in heavy armour kneeling before the altar in prayer. My whistled tune trailed off when I was halfway to the altar as my jaw clenched so hard I could swear my teeth would crack. I turned to the high priestess and the leader of the squad that had picked me up. They’d followed me into the cathedral and I saw they noticed my agitation.

“What is he doing here?” I asked as I tried to keep my anger in check. I wanted this place to run with blood just at the sight of that back, I’d know it from anywhere and it was hard to keep my calm.

“He is a guest of this church after delivering to us news from our sister cathedral in Wolfsgarde.” She said looking almost haughty though a bit nervous from my look of anger. I was certain she was still a bit off balance since the attendance at the palace given her nervous manner of looking around herself.

“I see you’ve arrived… middle man.” A clear voice rang out in the cathedral and she appeared. Aona with the body of a fitness and fertility goddess and beauty that would put Helena of troy to shame. Curling locks of spiralling caramel coloured hair that reached her midriff and white angelic wings at her back only seemed to accentuate her fair facial features and those gorgeous grey eyes.

I didn’t say anything as she appeared above the altar, like a parody of the time I’d last seen her. I simply continued to walk silently trying to hold in the vitriol I wanted to scream at her. There she was the woman that represented everything I hated in this world.

I stayed silent as I stared her down as she landed to sit on the altar and was curiously looking at me. I felt something like a pressure change around me and her eyes grew wide.

“You should at least introduce yourself.” Ragnar said as he was about to place his hand on my shoulder, having stood and walked a bit to the side with his two children as I approached Aona. At my actions of not bowing or scraping at Aona’s feet he approached me and was about to place his hand on my shoulder.

“Touch me and I’ll feed your heart to your children.” I growled at him before his hand could make contact. He looked very surprised at my reaction to him and took a few steps back from me.

“You’re… a voidborn. How can you speak so clearly?” Aona suddenly gasped herself which made the humans around me all take a ready stance and I just sighed.

“Yeah I am, I take it you can see through those guards then? So tell me.” I said with a conversational tone as I looked from Ragnar over to Aona. “If so then I’ll have you know if I die then the void itself will drown this world like they intended to do after you murdered Voidstrider a thousand years ago.” I said and I saw the slight inhale of breath that Aona tried to hide but the slight twinge in her neck gave her away for me at least.

I took a gentlemanly stance and bowed only a bit of my upper half, not showing respect in as courteous a manner as I could. “I am Vlad von Carstein, heir to the void sovereign.” I introduced myself and the people all stared with wide eyes. “I am here for one reason and one reason alone.” I said with a smile as I decided to try and go a different route than my instincts wanted to.

“I’m here to retrieve a few of our escaped animals.” I said which made Aona look a bit confused given my previous statement. “Oh don’t get me wrong I’d love to eat your still beating heart right in front of you but orders are orders after all. The current void sovereign isn’t interested in ripping you to shreds just yet.” I spoke conversationally and calmly which was clearly not what the people around me expected.

“What do you mean animals?” Aona asked with a raised eyebrow, apparently keeping what I’d said before for later or didn’t want to get into that?

I smiled in a slight jovial manner. “It’s what you all know of as voidborn. Simple animals from our realm that get out from time to time. Usually summoned by fools without a clue on what they are really doing.” I then looked at the High priestess and smiled as I ripped into the only tear I could see to open a small hole in reality.

I found it strange how this ability only worked on these stretch marks in the fabric of reality that I could tear open and how their placement was completely random. Near the churches I hadn’t seen any others and so too in the palace with the only one I’d seen in the attendance hall yet around the magic quarter of the city there were a lot more with around three in my manor alone.

I pulled out another struggling and screaming lesser voidling as it was called. I held it like it was a bad cat I’d gripped at the back of its neck, the skinless creature wiggling but growing silent after a few moments. “This to me is what a rat or rabbit is to you.” I said as I gestured the voidling towards the high priestess who looked like she was trying to hold in a shriek or was she about to hurl?

To my surprise the voidling grew active and I began to get a vague sense of it. Like when I had first raised my skeletal wolves but lesser somehow. The mind was too alien to my own thought processes that all I got were these vague impressions from it. It wanted to eat her face for some reason, rather insistently actually.

I grimaced a little and let out a growl and was surprised at the sound that came out. It had changed, while still holding that tiger and crocodile mix into it was added an underlying tremble, like the sound a Shoebill stork makes. The feeling in my throat was a rather uncomfortable one as I felt like my throat was growing and dissipating a carapace in my throat to produce a sound like bill clattering from some storks.

The voidling went still and turned its eyeless face towards me and seemed to just stare at me. I didn’t want to realize an actual truth about the voidborn instead of the bullshit I was feeding these people so I tossed the voidling right back into the tear and closed it. The slime covering the skinless thing felt uncomfortably tingly on my skin and I removed a handkerchief to wipe my fingers with it.

I looked up at Aona who was looking curiously at me, much likely because while the voidborn were feared very, very little was actually known about them. “So can I go now? I mean I’m no threat after all, I have very little interest in helping or even associating myself with you or him.” I then said almost bored as I pointed at Aona then Ragnar.

“I called you here for you to give me answers little Voidborn.” Aona said almost tersely, most likely trying to keep the calm and proper face she showed to the world. “If the void isn’t going to descend upon this world in revenge for something I didn’t even do. Then do tell what did you all do instead?” She asked with a firming tone and I decided to tell a truth with a lie.

“Robert’s soul remnants were combined with the burgeoning soul of another. The Void sovereign resurrected him and let him loose into your world.” I said with a smile, telling her I was still alive but not telling her I was in front of her. Her look of utter shock was priceless, a delectable mix of worried horror and utter astonishment.

“He… Roberts alive?” Ragnar cut in and I almost lashed out at him, my simmering fury at the pair before me threatening to take over. I narrowed my eye at him and frowned. He looked hopeful almost like he heard news important to him.

“Why would the man who carried his coffin care?” I asked in return almost letting the bitterness and anger I felt to leak out through my voice. Ragnar looked like I’d just struck him.

“I-I” He began to say but I quickly cut him off.

“I’ll have you know that while I don’t know Robert all that well he is of my blood. My orders are not to tear her heart out right here and now but there was nothing in my orders that spare you from my wrath at your actions against my family.” I said in a hard tone pointing at Aona first before looking hard at Ragnar showing him how little I thought of him.

“I advise you keep your mouth shut in my presence before I do something you’ll regret.” I finished in a low growl allowing him to see my claws extend and retract from my hand.

I then looked at Aona with a look that clearly asked her to ask me any question she might have so I could leave. She was shaken I could see it in her eyes, news of my survival must greatly disturb her. I inwardly smiled as wide as I could manage. “How long has he been alive?” She asked then and I curled the corner of my lip at her.

“Around ten or so years I think.” I said as I rubbed my chin in thought. “Time is kind of subjective to us so I’m not so sure. I’ve only been on this plane for around two or three months now I think. It is rather hard to find a vessel here after all.” I then said in an almost snobbish tone as if the humans around me were trash in my eyes as I flicked my hand like I was dusting off my front pocket.

“This isn’t your body?” Aona asked curiously, I noted the look of interest and calculation in her eyes.

I smiled mysteriously. “And cause a panic wherever I go? I may not be of this world but do not take me for a fool. My race is among my titles, you think my size is this piddling creature I’m wearing?” I said as my smile turned slightly to a sneer.

“Don’t think just because I haven’t struck you down means I’ll allow you to insult me voidspawn.” Aona hissed at me and I almost kept the sneer on my face but I didn’t want to risk it. I also knew that I couldn’t appear to be a pushover to her either.

I didn’t cower nor move much besides allowing an amused smirk to come to my lips as I looked at her. I could see she was flustered but the unknown that I represented to her stopped her from outright striking me down right then and there. “Is that all then? As I’m sure you are, I am a rather busy man so unless there is anything else, we can get the soul contract over and done with so I can leave. After all my weak grasp of time as you experience it makes me rather unwilling to waste mine.” I asked simply as I pointed to the humans in the room.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Aona cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Soul contract? What do you mean?” She asked me and I noted that the humans around us didn’t look too willing to speak after I’d opened the fabric of reality just to show them the voidling and reprimanded Ragnar.

I made the same straight black dagger appear in my hand as I had with Camille and smiled. “Yes, a soul contract. I don’t bother you, you don’t bother me.” I said with my smile still on before I got an idea and my smile turned a little cunning. “Say Aona would you lend me a few of your healing capable clergy to help with an experiment of mine?” I asked with an almost sickly sweet tone.

Both Aona and the high priestess looked at me like I’d just asked for their first born child to sacrifice to the void. I frowned at them and scoffed. “I’m not going to do anything harmful to them. I require healers that are experienced in their craft. I’m trying to create healers after all, so experienced practitioners of healing would be rather good to give some advice wouldn’t you say?” I then finished with a sickly sweet smile.

“Create healers?” The leader of the squad that had brought me spoke up before anyone else.

I smiled at him. “Yes call it intellectual curiosity about this whole class system you have here. I want to see if the necromancers ability to manipulate spiritual energy can be turned to healing and the like. You humans are far to quick to discard classes without trying to see if they can’t be changed into something that might serve you better.” As I spoke my smile turned a little genuine in my desire to test my theory about the class system to be true or not.

The squad leader just stared at me with wide eyes. “Can that be done?” He asked and I noted that even Aona mirrored his curiosity and I had to wonder how the conversation had taken this turn. Then again it was easier to not focus on what I wanted to do to Aona and Ragnar when speaking about something that I was genuinely excited about.

“It can, though it isn’t as fast acting as the holy power fuelled healing of priests and the like but there is a certain utility in a healer that is also a very capable surgeon right? Not to mention that they might be capable of help souls move on by allowing them to speak to the living one last time, investigations might be easier if the victim can also speak up from the grave as well.” I said with a slight sneer sent Aona’s way.

I saw her bristle but again something held her back, it made me curious. Were gods really limited in how they could act in the mortal plane without a herald? Hmm if that was how it worked then once I was certain I could challenge Wolfsgarde I’d have to make sure she didn’t have a herald then. Even if she did I wasn’t against assassinating the very being allowing her to act like she could when I was her herald. I’d have to figure this out, any advantage I could gain would be worth it.

Allowing my words to stew a bit in their heads I flicked the knife and with a bit of materialized mana made it spin on the top of my finger. “Well anyway if you humans want to leave this cathedral alive I’m going to have to get the insurance of your soul oath to not speak of what you’ve heard here today to anyone. I also want your oath as a goddess Aona. I’ve already taken care of the Voidborn that managed to infiltrate this city through it’s sewers and while I stay here to gather information I’d rather be left alone.”

I saw the unwilling look from Aona and decided to give some ground to gain more later on. “My mission in this world shouldn’t take longer than half a century or so, how about I perform a soul contract of my own? I promise not to harm any of your clergy here or act against the interests of Wolfsgarde under two conditions.” I said with a smile as I looked at Aona and held up two fingers.

“First I have the right to self defence in regards to myself or those closest to me, I’m rather eager to experience many aspects of what this realm might offer me and as I am now in the guise of a father then I think it is right to ask this of you.” I said and I saw how Aona thought the condition over, weighing her options.

“And two, as I am required to fulfil my orders if I find any of your people in possession or involved in a way that will hinder me taking care of the voidborn now free in your realm I will take what measures I feel are necessary to fulfil this mission. I’m sure you and I both know that having voidborn running around your realm is not in your best interests.” I finished with a smile.

Aona stared at me for a few long uncomfortable moments then she half snorted in amused derision. “And why should I give you my oath as a goddess?” She asked clearly looking down on me as something perhaps even lower than a human to her.

I growled and unleashed my aura, fuelling it with half of my mana while I spread out a shadow from my legs to cover most of the area around us all. I saw that my aura actually affected Aona and I inwardly smiled at that. “Because if I’m accosted by anyone from your church I will burn their soul out of their body. Don’t take my attitude as how I am, I am asking this out of curtsey. I am however not making a request any longer so agree to leave me and mine alone for the next fifty years and accept that if any of your clergy are slaughtered by my hand then there is a reason for it.

Either they got in my way or showed themselves as those rare little sentients that just need to die. Do I make myself clear?” I asked allowing my voice to grow as inhuman as I could while still being perfectly capable of speaking clearly and concisely.

Ragnars kids and the leader of the squad had collapsed down onto the floor while the high priestess was holding herself up with her staff. Ragnar just looked uncomfortable while Aona stared at me wide eyed. I was clearly not something she wanted to go at without knowing more about me, I was an anomaly and I’d keep it that way.

“Let me make this very, very clear.” I began in a low growl as I leaned just a bit forwards and smiled viciously at Aona. “I don’t like it here, it’s much too… three dimensional for my tastes so I’ll appreciate it if you stay out of my way and focus on the little problem of Robert’s reborn soul running around somewhere on your half of the continent.” I said with a wide predatory grin this time and I saw that now Aona was a little shaken. I loved it, that face, oh how I wanted to see the last face she’ll ever make right then and there.

Aona hesitated for a moment before she crossed at an area above her heart. “I give my oath as a goddess to leave you in peace for the next fifty years and if any of my clergy stand in the way of your mission it won’t be on my order.” She gave the oath and I almost salivated at the small glowing x she had just drawn on her skin.

I pulled out the black dagger again and cut my left index finger’s fingertip. “By my true name I accept the terms of peace applied between us.” I said with a smile before I drew in the shadows and my aura as well. Growing amused at the hacking coughs that the squad leader let out along with the lesser coughing of Rangar’s children. The high priestess was just a tad short of breath while Ragnar looked like he’d just had light exercise, it made me wonder about the effects of my aura.

“Your turn~♪” I let out in a sing song voice as I offered the dagger to Ragnar. By the end of all of the humans taking a soul oath to never speak of what happened in the cathedral I smiled.

“So Aona about some of your healers?” I asked in an almost coquettish manner at her which I could swear was making the vein in her neck visible in frustration.

“Forget it, I’ve agreed to not interfere with you so wouldn’t me sending some of my healers to help you count as interference?” She asked with a grim smirk at me which made me grimace a little, she had a point.

“I’ll try for some of the other gods servants then and maybe a druid or two if I can find some.” I simply wondered aloud as I turned and began to walk away. “It was a pleasure to meet you Aona, do treat Robert better than last time won’t you?” I then sent over my shoulder with a teasing smirk which only made her look like she was boiling with rage but thanks to her oath now she couldn’t do anything.

I had a light skip in my step as I left the cathedral which made the paladins and other guards around it look at me with confusion. However once I was out of sight I grew slightly more brooding and downcast. I hadn’t thought I’d been able to keep such control over myself when meeting Aona again. It did make me wonder if my latest rebirth had been what allowed for that?

However if there was one thing I could take from that meeting it was that I was far from capable of going against Aona and her stronghold just yet. I’d bought myself time with a bullshit story that I had somehow delivered like I had very little reason to lie to her. I needed more power, the likes of which this world hasn’t seen for a long time if at all.

I felt the light weight of Ashes landing on my right shoulder and I turned my head to look at her. “Nothing happened while you were gone.” She said and for some reason I saw worry in her polished blue eyes.

I sighed and shook my head. “I’m just on edge.” I said as the muscles I hadn’t realized had been tensed the entire time I’d been inside the cathedral began to relax one by one. “Can you go find Nafir, I think I’m going to need to speak to him as soon as possible.” I said aloud instead of the mind to mind communication I was capable of now when they were close enough to me.

Ashes nodded her head and right before she took flight she looked over at me and spoke again. “You should spend more time with Akasha. She’s a little lonely you know.” She said and I gave a soft smile in return before she jumped off and took flight into the afternoon air.

I did realize I had been neglecting her a little of late. I sighed as I wanted to go back down into my new secondary base that the emperor wasn’t aware of as I’d reported the cave collapsed. I wanted to use the open space there to turn into my travel form and get used to it, I felt that my body was on edge before meeting Aona and now I just felt like I needed to run. To hunt something. It made it a bit hard to focus on trying to be a good dad to Akasha. There was also the matter of my suspicions over the body I’d received on my second rebirth in this world.

Then inevitably my mind went back to the meeting with Aona. My aura had usually had a detrimental or distracting effect on those under it’s influence but I hadn’t thought it could until today when I’d used it now on three different occasions. Mario’s aura had an influence as well but it had been like an aura buff effect. Sharpening his allies senses and energizing them very lightly.

Did that mean that individual mages had differing auras or was it an interplay between my classes and how they made up or affected parts of my very being now? Perhaps I could do unharmful experiments with differing elements of mages while teaching at the school?

I smiled to myself, I already had a few ideas for experiments that I could excuse with a few lessons. Perhaps this could lead to a classification of aura’s that differing types of mages have and could it show talent or affinity towards some sphere of magic?

Perhaps overly focused fire mages might have an aura that burns while an ice mage might slow down his enemies due to frost? Would that mean that mine reduced my enemies in some way or was it just a singular barrier that had to be overcome before it’s effects diminished? Similar to how intimidating growl had been perhaps since now it was a continual fear effect as long as my howl was echoing in it’s environment otherwise it was a fear effect blast.

I shook my head and rolled my shoulders to get the stiffness from overly tensing them while in the cathedral. As I exhaled once more it was a shaky breath as my entire body shivered with adrenaline and I had to move into an alley to get control over my body once more. The sheer terror I had of a repeat of the last time I’d met Aona came flooding into me and I almost broke down sobbing right then and there. I shook with equal parts shock, terror, fury and relief as I gripped at my chest and hyperventilated for a good while.

When the attack was over I was bent over with my hands on my knees as I vomited up my lunch as the adrenaline left my system and I got my breathing under control. I coughed a bit as some of the vomit tried to go down the wrong pipe as well.

Once I had finally calmed down again I still felt my breath come in a bit raggedly but soon I had it under control as I walked back out to the streets and made my way towards the royal quarter. Even after the attack I felt good, like I had actually a chance to get my revenge but I wasn’t stupid enough to think she wouldn’t put me under surveillance at the very least. I also realized I could keep up the pretence of the bogus mission I’d told her I was doing by using the voidmancer classes ability to summon voidlings. I just needed to learn more about it and what it meant for myself to actually have this class. There was still much I needed to learn about myself and the world around me, especially when it came to voidborn and magic despite my rather high level of education when it came to magic from the council.

My thoughts were interrupted when Dust came to land on my shoulder and we spoke mind to mind as I walked through the busy streets of the city. “The manor is still on alert, the shades are angled on each corner on watch while the living are now training in the backyard under Abhorash’s supervision. Morice was a bit on edge through the beginning but after you left the cathedral he calmed down.” Dust reported to me and I nodded.

“What about the secondary location? Any news from Vashanesh?” I asked mentally and Dust pecked a little at my shoulder, acting like a living bird now better than ever.

“I can’t fly properly in those tight corridors and passages so I can’t really visit him like you do.” Dust grumbled back at me and I chuckled at him. “However so far I’ve found a place I can land and connect to him and he reports he’s begun creating the base templates for the different types of Ushabti but his level prevents him from raising them. Instead he’s using the materials he has access to, to make minions ready to be raised as well as helpers for him to complete his task down there.

He managed to close the cavern off and has quite a lot of space to work with now but the materials are running short and he’s provided a long list of items he’ll require to set up the secondary base to his specifications.”

I was rather surprised at hearing that Vashanesh was so dedicated and hard working. Then again I hadn’t spent much time with him either unlike Abhorash and his training. A part of me inwardly joked about me being not only an absentee father to Akasha but my other minions as well. I shook my head and looked over at Dust once more. “Did he give you a list at all?” I asked and at Dust’s nod I continued. “Get Morice to write it down for you and deliver it to appropriate sellers, we have enough storage devices to make any large scale purchase of materials disappear so there shouldn’t be a problem with delivering the materials to the manor. For the short term at least.”

I thought on it a bit more and then added. “Also make sure that you have the full list of materials that Vashanesh requires, I’ll be making another intelligent undead when I get the chance to go down to the secondary base. While Vashanesh is great at what he does we still require someone dedicated to actually building forts, keeps, lairs, walls and other such structures that we might require in the future so I think it’s a good idea to begin making at least one that can supervise the others to come.” I finished and watched as Dust took flight and circled around me before heading straight for the manor once again.

I made my way to a tailors and ordered a tailor to come to the manor tomorrow to take my own and everyone’s measurements at the manor for something similar to a western fantasy version of the cultivator robes I’d seen in media back on earth. I also provided a mana mannequin for measurement taking of lesser versions of the same robes as black robes with red thick outlines along the edges in a quantity of fifty to be delivered to my manor when finished. They also decided to take my measurements so they might make a secondary measurement and fit taking tomorrow. I smiled and paid them an extra two gold coins for their professionalism and I wasn’t the only one smiling by the time I left the tailors.

Next I headed to a blacksmith who had a shop front here on the main street leading towards the royal quarter. There I ordered a set of fifty custom half-half plate armours with that vampire count’s mixed with dark elf flair I’d noticed Abhorash’s rather Shadow of war Sauron like armour had. It had this sort of distinct design flair in it I liked. I made sure that the armours had a breastplate, gauntlets, forearm guards, grieves, helmets, neckguards and a plated armoured open kilt reaching down to the thighs.

These were made to be fitted over the chainmail reinforced cultivation robes I’d ordered as I intended for it to be used for animated armours as a lesser knight core for Abhorash to command. He needed to get used to giving orders as much as I needed to get used to many other things. I also ordered a fitting for a set for myself, the reincarnators and Morice. I also provided them with quite a few shadow infused mana crystals in the form of little ingots the size of my little finger.

They’d use them to mix into the metal before they began to work it, I made sure that the fifty sets would be high quality steel while the one for myself and the others would be out of a obsidian steel and mythril blend granting the best protection while allowing for a light armour to move around in. I knew my own void scales would be the best armour I could get but appearances must also be held. I hadn’t gotten enough control over it to allow for anything than its natural appearance when used, which made me look like some dragon bat humanoid thing which wasn’t anything like armour so I couldn’t use it unless I really needed it to. Of course I could still armour my chest, upper arms, thighs and neck with the stuff even when in the armour.

I finished the order with a set of long sword, short sword, dagger and heater shieds for all of us with the materials mirroring each armour set. For these I also provided shadow infused mana crystals as I hoped that it might make it easier to enchant them with that element or it might have some effect on the armour. I also added in an order for a selection of other weapons. However I was almost out of mana and so I bid the eager blacksmiths' store goodbye as I felt the man had been looking for a challenge for a change with both quality and quantity being demanded of him.

I saw Ashes coming towards me from the palace and began heading there when I bumped into an Anubian who tensed much like myself. I knew this one but he didn’t know me so why was he tense? Smell perhaps? I smiled and decided to try something out with him before I got the report from Ashes.

“So you’re Anubis?” I asked with a sly smile as not only the Anubian but the Catfolk woman next to him both tensed up frightfully quickly. I moved as fast as I could and before the Anubian had drawn his sword my finger had pressed the sword back down into its sheath. “Now, now I’m not what you faced back in Bedelev, I’m far more dangerous than that.” I said as my sly smile turned predatory. “We need to talk.” I then finished and I saw neither was especially willing to do just that.