Thalion arrived at Kael's base after an hour of traveling. He had used tempest shroud and feather glide to increase his movement speed. The synergy between both spells was almost perfect. He hoped that he would find a way to merge both spells into one strong one. What also helped was his passive skill electric glide, which made him even faster and lessened his stamina cost. He didn't even need to beat his wings to move with this ridiculous speed. Thalion watched the moss and flowers, which were glowing in the typical blue bioluminescent color at night. He could already spot Kael's base, and shortly after, he landed on one of the great towers in the wall. The guards were surprised, but he just showed them the crystal Kael had given him, and everything was good afterward. Next, he dashed for the big residence in the middle of the small city and opened the big door. Soon after, Kael, Sylas, Annie, Jakob, and Kai were sitting around a table discussing the current situation. It seemed that this Michael hadcreated a lot of trouble for Kael in the meantime.

"This is getting more dangerous by the hour," Kael muttered. "A lot of people want my position. Maybe we can set them up against each other."

"Just kill them! The last time we were almost killed by Thorwald," Sylas interjected. "Why are you so naive when it comes to those people? They would kill you the moment an opportunity presented itself."

"I agree with Sylas. You are way too soft with those fools," Thalion commented. "You might not even have a chance tomorrow. You definitely need to put them among the first attackers and not let them attack something important. I have a feeling that they would rather hide and come for you after the fighting is over when you are weakened instead of defeating the orcs."

"Okay, you are right. Sylas, can you give me the names of his closest followers?" Kael said with determination in his eyes. "I kind of thought that being blessed and set up against the big threat of the undead and Ankhet Sekhmara would let us all work together, but it seems that it was the exact opposite of what happened.

We need to keep a watch on that guy through the fight," Jakob added. "I don't trust him a bit."

"Kael should stay behind. He is also an archer and can back us up. This way, he should be at almost full strength if someone is coming for him," Kai said, agreeing with Jakob.

"Then they will just spin the story even more that I am using everyone and not caring for their lives," Kael muttered.

"Why are you talking like they are even allowed to say something? This is your base, and this is not a democracy! You should throw them out or just straight-up kill them," Thalion said. "This new world is different. If you don't show strength, you will end up with a dagger in your back.

On another topic, I encountered a red orc that was easily stronger than me as an umbral predator. We need to watch out for that one."

"Why can it never be simple?" Annie exclaimed, disappointed. "We can't even fight the orcs without worrying that someone from our people might kill us for power."

"So we will build a team, just like in the old days," Sylas said with a hopeful smile.

"I think it's best if you stay with Kael. Thalion, Annie, Jakob, and I will join another team," Kai argued.

"So, everyone gets a bit of sleep. Tomorrow will be a hard one," Kael said tiredly, everyone nodding in agreement. Thalion thankfully didn't need to sleep and used the time to utilize one of the scrolls he bought from the system shop: The Scroll of Sanguine Mastery.

Completing the first layer is identical to the skill sanguine perception. It was all about feeling the strength not only of his own blood but also from the blood of other people. This layer would make him some kind of bloodhound, but it was necessary before he could try the second layer, which would teach him how to form constructs with his blood. The scroll also informed him that he didn't need to create a special place in his body for a blood reservoir, almost like a spatial pocket, but this job was already covered by the sanguine thorn. With that, he combined his blood purification with the task of feeling the blood more and more. He hoped that it would work. Another interesting thing was that he was able to cast his blood spells through the sanguine thorn. With that, the skill vine of the sanguine thorn was meant. This sounded very strong; if he managed to pierce the skin of the enemy with the thorn or the vine, he could deal some insane damage if his target didn't get it out fast enough. He worried that the orc might also have some kind of blood sense and would immediately notice him with his purified blood. Maybe it would turn out for the better if those red slashes were made out of blood; he was maybe able to absorb the skill before it would reach him.

He kept pushing the impurities out of his blood, now faster than the first time, while the sanguine thorn was infusing it slowly with power. The last time he barely felt any difference, but now, after only five hours of practice, his mind already felt clearer, or maybe sharper. It was hard to describe the feeling while his body felt warm. Purifying his blood felt like a blockade in his veins had been destroyed and now his true capabilities were unleashed. It was already close to the first light and he wanted to test another thing the scroll taught him: to change the shape of the vines of the sanguine thorn. At the moment, there were crimson red vines with small black thorns on them. Using the skill, he tried to communicate to the sanguine thorn how he needed the vines to be. Slowly, the vines transformed, and on the top of the vine, two long almost black thorns began to grow. Thalion happily looked at the progress. Now he could use the vines for piercing attacks. The vines had also strengthened with his blood, and with the sanguine thorn, he could feel the power stacked in the one vine, enough to break orc bones.

Next, he experimented with the blood thorn. He tried to not only build one thorn with the spell but multiple to hit multiple orcs or to do more damage to one single orc. He managed to conjure seven at once, but they looked a bit weaker. Overall, the skill was stronger now. Next, he tried to only summon a single one and modify it to make it longer and thicker, forming sinister spikes on the sides. The finished product was almost two meters long, broader than his leg at the thickest part, and with up to fifteen-centimeter-long spikes on the sides that would make pulling out the thing a real pain. He hoped that the orc didn't have a skill to absorb blood spells. That would be bad for him since most of his skills were blood-related.

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Therefore, he experimented with the fireball spell next. Instead of summoning a fireball, he tried to change it to summon a kind of flamethrower by sinking in the spell and trying, instead of collecting the fire in his hand and compressing it into a ball, he pushed it away from him. Slowly, the fire that assembled in his hand began moving away from him. It wasn't a great success, but at least it was something. The problem was that after a short distance, the fire began to fizzle out, and a fireball still formed in his hand. There was still much to improve. Sadly, he didn't have enough time to work more on the spell. The sun was already rising, and soon the slaughter would begin. He had already received a message from Kael to gather on the tower next to the gate.

<--

Evelyn stood above the gate with Kargul and watched the masses assemble. They all didn't look like experienced fighters. She worried that this would end in a bloodbath. In front of the army stood Garrick, his party, and Lisa, hyping up the people.

"Today we will move out to kill some ugly orcs who are attacking Kael's base," the man screamed at the crowd. Everyone had lost their loved ones or party members to an orc attack, but not anymore! Today we will fight back. Today we teach them to fear humans!"

The crowd responded with a loud Garrick chant that grew louder and louder until Garrick raised his arms.

"Now go to your parties, and all focus on your task. I don't want to lose anyone today."

After a short time of people getting in order and a final scream, "Time to kill some orcs!" all moved out, leaving only a few people for protection behind.

Evelyn spotted the shapeshifter who moved within the group like entitled brats. Some looked up at her with an evil smile on their faces. She definitely needed to watch those people. She jumped down from the gate and followed the army at some distance since Kargul didn't want to fight in a war when almost no one could distinguish his face from the enemies. So they stayed back and would help to defend the pentagrams from orcs that managed to break through the layers of defense. The situation was already tense; Kargul had pulled out his big mace while he walked beside her. Both knew that this would be a very long day.

<--

Grommash came back early in the morning after a long night of hunting, raising his level to 45. His muscles had grown since he fought that black beast—the first one that had managed to injure him like that. It took a healer to heal the flesh wound it left. He also managed to gather a lot of blood, which raised his strength in addition to the level-ups. Currently, he was submerged in his blood pool for faster regeneration and further strength as his adviser, Tharkul, was entering his tent.

"What is it, Tharkul?" Grommash said in his deep, almost angry voice.

"We have completely finished the ring walls. The humans have nowhere to go, and we have placed the towers so that we can easily set up the siege equipment to harvest the humans," Tharkul said after bowing deeply.

"Good, well done," Grommash acknowledged. "How are the warriors doing?"

"They hunger for blood; it's been too long since they had a good fight, and the beasts here are not strong," Tharkul answered.

"Perfect. Where is the weakest point of the fortress?" Grommash asked, looking forward to defeat the humans.

"There is no real weak spot; every wall is fortified to the maximum, and the towers are placed at regular intervals," Tharkul answered, looking at the ground. "Best would be to break open one part of the wall and quickly get into a melee fight; then we will slay those humans without mercy."

"Great! Make sure no warrior is slacking off with leveling. I don't want any complications," Grommash growled.

"As you wish," Tharkul said and left after a final deep bow.

Grommash sank back into his blood bath, fully focused on absorbing as much blood as possible. He couldn't wait to break down this fortress.

<--

Thalion met the others on the top of the tower. "Did things change?" he asked.

"No, we are just waiting for Garrick to make the first move," Kael said, looking at the wall in the distance. The wall the orcs had built was completely empty of any runes, standing over 10 meters tall, a bit over one kilometer away from their position. They saw the archers and mages patrolling on it; behind it must be the orc camp, where there could easily be close to a thousand orcs.

Thalion looked inside their own base. All the warriors were ready, hiding behind the wall so the orcs wouldn't get a chance that something was coming.

"Where do you think we should attack first?" Kai asked.

"Just straight at the wall and kill the archers and mages first," Thalion answered. "When they lose the high ground, many of their ranged fighters will be in big trouble.

"We also need to take control of those towers so no one can bombard us from above."

"Could you just fly over and conquer the tower?" Sylas asked, hopeful.

"Sure, but there would be the danger that I wouldn't find you after the battle has begun. It only works when they are distracted by the fighting. If they see me coming, I’m in trouble," Thalion explained. "By the way, are you trying to throw me out of the party?"

"I also think it is best if you stay back with us at the beginning and then clear the towers. You are the only one who can fly high enough," Kael agreed with Kai.

"Fine, I will go for the towers," Thalion nodded reluctantly. It probably was the most efficient plan, but he would have preferred to stay with his buddies. On the other hand, he could kill a lot more orcs this way.

"Can you fly up and check where this Garrick is at the moment?" Annie asked.

"I don't want to risk it in daylight. They could notice me. At least if I come back, there are basically no flying beasts in this area. It would be obvious," Thalion said after a bit of thinking.

"Yeah, true. I just can't wait any longer," Annie said nervously.