At the end of the war council, Alex returned to his training, guided by Athena. Now he understood why he had been feeling so exhausted lately. The energy from the ashes had always been his foundation, but it was proving to be a massive burden on his body and soul. The necessary step was a process akin to sealing those powers and relying solely on the strength of the forest, at least until he found a way to repair his soul.
Currently, Alex was training with a short sword and a bow. If the Ashen Path represented the way of a knight, clad in heavy armor and wielding large weapons, the Forest's Sigh corresponded to the path of a hunter, focusing on agility and adaptability.
The complete shift in paradigm made it challenging for Alex to adapt to this new combat style. Fighting without his armor felt like going to war naked, and in some practice battles, he had been injured trying to deflect blows with his shoulder, as he used to when wearing his heavy armor.
"It's time to stop, young one. If you keep taking hits on your shoulder, you'll end up breaking or dislocating your bones. Rest for a moment and regain your health," said old Lark, who had the turn to train Alex.
Initially, Lark had doubts about what was happening, as he didn't know much about Alex's past and his abilities or cultivation. However, he soon discovered the true reason behind Alex's inconsistencies. The boy was even more incredible, possessing two fully functional cultivation techniques, and one of them was universally applicable, albeit of lower intrinsic quality compared to the energy from the ashes.
Alex called some servants and asked them to summon the matriarchs. Meanwhile, he engaged in a conversation with old Lark.
"Thank you, Chief Lark," said Alex, sitting down to catch his breath. "May I inquire about your relationship with the captain of the guard? Besides his name, for some reason, he refuses to tell me."
"The lad's name is Halan," replied old Lark.
"Halan isn't his father's name?" asked Alex, confused.
"The foolish boy took that name in pursuit of his father," responded Lark, taking a sip of the local alcoholic beverage. Lark had tried to share a bit with Alex, but he found it tasted like sucking on a log, so Alex refrained from drinking.
"And why is he here?" asked Alex, taking small sips of a local fruit juice.
"He was exiled by his father. The lad, being impulsive when he was young, challenged another boy, the son of Ner Lak, to a duel. When he lost, his father felt he had embarrassed him in front of their enemy and exiled him," summarized the old man. Alex knew there had to be more to this story, but for now, it was a reasonable explanation.
"I suppose the reason he wants us to ally with his father is to regain favor and return to him?" Alex asked.
"Something like that. Although, truth be told, I don't think the lad really wants to go back. Maybe he just wants to prove that he's better and that the exile was a mistake," replied Lark.
"When we first met, you said that diplomatic relations had temporarily failed, and you didn't know why. Now I can see that they were never a reality in the first place. Both sides are fighting for hegemony, and without clear superiority over the other, neither will lay down their arms," said Alex.
The old man sat with a somber and gaunt face when confronted. He knew he had twisted the truth.
"There are other small settlements you can recruit to face the Orcs, although they probably will only serve to increase your workforce. Most soldiers and warriors are in the camps of both clans," Lark replied, avoiding Alex's gaze.
"I understand," replied the young human, not pressing the matter further.
"One last thing. There are several hunting parties that were outside the settlement during the siege, and we couldn't communicate with them in time for them to return. Now I've received messages from them. They've successfully saved several Resh, but they need help bringing everyone back," reported the old Resh.
"I see," replied Alex.
At that moment, both matriarchs arrived, and Alex shifted the focus of the conversation from the training ground to a small indoor table.
"For the next month, these will be the orders," Alex began, immediately changing from his easygoing demeanor to a serious and slightly imposing one. At the same time, Athena appeared and positioned herself close to Alex.
"Atasha will be in charge of resource collection and patrols nearby. She will defend our position here. The minimum work quota will be handled by Zalika, and the tax will be 60%," Alex told Atasha, handing her a scroll with the details of the orders.
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"Lark's mission is to secure the small acevidrio forest to the southeast. You will be assigned the three carts with Fheres. As a secondary mission, you can search for the rest of the people. However, keep in mind that we need to protect those possessions from the goblins. With them, we can make powerful shields and bows, so they are our priority. The tax on the collected items will be 70%," Alex handed another scroll with orders to Lark.
"The main mission of this session will be for Atarra. We will advance south in a military campaign to liberate a Hobgoblin settlement where the merchants are. Whether we use trade routes or not for the general mobilization, contact with the cities is necessary to acquire certain essential reagents. I will be present on this front. In this case, 50% of what is collected will be redistributed," Alex concluded, delivering the third and final document.
"Any comments on your operations?" Alex genuinely asked, interested in what others thought about the direction he intended to move the group.
Everyone present took some time to look at their assignments and calculate how many people they had. They also calculated the resources they needed to share. Undoubtedly, Atasha remained the favorite in terms of resources since she had been assigned a resource-rich area and could retain 40% of these. This meant that at most, the rest would receive 30% each, although everyone assumed that wouldn't necessarily be the final result since Alex had already acknowledged the need to negotiate on a small or large scale.
"I'm fine with my assignments," nodded Atasha.
"I have doubts about the Fheres. Can we really use them? These beings are usually very difficult to tame, and even once tamed, they don't usually accept another person. Although it would be really convenient to have that ability to move people, it's useless if they don't listen to us," Lark questioned.
"The Fheres are great friends of mine. If you treat them well, they could be your friends too. Atasha has some Gnolls who learned to deal with them. They can teach you the ins and outs of having good behavior with them," Alex replied.
Lark nodded; it was quite reassuring to know that there was a method to use the Fheres. These beasts could carry a large number and maintain a good speed. With them, they could make several trips and rescue a large number of Resh and bring them back.
"I'm fine with my assignments," Lark concluded, though he felt bad having to pay "taxes." If that allowed him to get a share of Atasha's resources, it was more than enough.
"It will be quite challenging on our side, lad. Are you sure you want to be part of the vanguard?" Atarra asked.
"I can't be a good leader if I hide and let others die in my place. This is just beginning. If I die here, it was never meant to be in the first place," Alex replied indifferently.
When his determined eyes looked at Atarra, the old matriarch felt as if a powerful gaze was scrutinizing her soul. Although she was much stronger than the boy in every aspect in her current form, somehow she felt weak and small in front of him.
"Hahaha, well, lad, let's have some fun then. It will be a good ride. I'm fine with my assignments," Atarra concluded with a laugh.
With the three affirmations, Alex bid farewell and left the three leaders to make their preparations.
Unfortunately for Alex, he didn't have the luxury of sitting and waiting. With the confirmation that the orc's great city had received high-level external assistance in repairing and installing magical defenses, the longer they waited, the more difficult the final siege would become. The current situation was a race against time and casualties.
In an ideal situation, Alex could take the city as quickly as possible with the fewest casualties. However, he knew that if he took all the options to minimize the time, the number of casualties would be so great that he would end up incapacitated for any future action. Conversely, if he was too slow, he would completely lose the initiative in other sectors. Many forces were at play, and once they settled in completely, there would be no way for Alex and his group to enter.
Being calm again, Alex focused on studying and meditating on his energy channels. The ones formed in his body were specific for transmitting ash energy, making it inefficient to use Forest's Sigh on them.
In his last introspection, Alex had noticed that it was possible to balance both energies and use the best of both. However, for this, both needed to be in strict balance of development, meaning that if he really wanted to take that path, it would take twice as long as anyone else to traverse the same path.
"Who Dares Wins," Alex said, recalling the old adage his father used to live by.
He immediately began creating a sub-compartment within his ash heart, a kind of added structure to generate pure nature energy.
"Incredible," said a mesmerized Athena.
The ancient owl couldn't comprehend how such a thing was possible. In his long life, he had never seen anyone attempt such a thing successfully. It was common consensus to dedicate oneself to a single path, and instead of abandoning it and starting a new one when damaged, most chose to risk their lives repairing the damage rather than attempting another cultivation. This had a much higher success rate.
The owl's eyes lit up as he transmitted what he saw to the lightning protector. "The lad is crazy," he said.
The protector took a long look at the live scene and concluded, "The lad will succeed, however, he'll need certain special resources if he wants to continue."
"It will be difficult for him to acquire those resources in this sector. Besides, he's about to embark on an expedition," Athena summarized for the protector the orders Alex had given.
"I see. If they are heading in that direction, we could also give him a mission in exchange for resources. Near that sector, there is an old temple, and we protectors have sensed twisted forces trying to desecrate it. If he gets rid of them, we can provide him with the resources," concluded the protector, severing the connection.
Meanwhile, a completely sweaty Alex continued to struggle hard to successfully complete the operation on his second heart. Manipulating his energy was still difficult when used within the body. Also, the prospect of causing some damage that could be permanent was terrifying, but none of that served as a deterrent, and Alex was determined to finish his task.
Finally, after hours, a sweaty and tired Alex collapsed in place. He had successfully modified his energy heart, and now he could generate a pure amount of both energies simultaneously. While the ash energy was used entirely to barely maintain his own soul stable, he now had an extra production of forest energy to keep going. Another reason to hurry—his own body was falling apart, and he needed a way to fix it soon.