Vitmori POV

Once all the zombies attuned to the spawner, I had them disperse into the surrounding buildings so they wouldn't be clustered together into an organized horde in the middle of the street.

As they did that, I brought my ball of light back around to Isaak and Joli as an idea came to mind. 'Do you two have any plans for today? Or are you going to be doing anything in particular?'

Isaak just glanced over at Joli, who looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging. "Not particularly, no. Is there something you need from us?"

'Well... I kind of have a theory I want to try out and it might be uncomfortable for you to be in here while I do so.' I explained while still trying to mentally consider how I was about to do what I was about to do.

"Uncomfortable how?" Joli asked, her curiosity piqued as she glanced over at the zombies as they shuffled about. The sound of metal boots and armor shifting and clanking about from all the zombie soldiers was rather distinct amongst all the activity.

'To put it simply, I'm going to have all my zombies fight amongst each other to see what happens.' As I said that, both Isaak and Joli looked a little confused by that statement so I just continued to explain. 'These zombies of mine, are modeled after monsters from my home world and so far they seem to mostly function the same way though admittedly they're more controlled and careful under my guidance rather than the feral instincts that drove them back in my world. While the zombies were already dangerous under normal circumstances, there were a high number of mutant variants that sprung up in areas with a dense population of zombies and I'm going to try and recreate that here.'

Joli nodded along as she listened to my voice in her mind before slowly tilting her head. "So you're gonna have a tournament or something? I don't see anything wrong with that." She considered with a shrug.

'I'm afraid it won't be anything as civil as that.' I mentioned as I looked towards the zombies as they filled the various buildings. 'The way the mutant zombies became mutated was through... Well... cannibalism. The more of their fellow zombies they consumed, the more they began to change and evolve. It's not like it was a fast process usually, but there were often large pockets of secluded zombies that went without being influenced or culled by the humans that lived through the apocalypse for long periods of time, and it was in those pockets where the mutants were formed.'

I could see the look of realization seemingly dawn on Joli's face as she came to an understanding of what was about to happen, Isaak soon followed as he anxiously looked at the buildings around us that were now filled with zombies. "Your intuition is frightening, Vitmori." Joli finally said as she also looked at the surrounding buildings. "I'm not sure if you knew this already, but the process you just described is often how mutant mana beasts surface, they battle and consume other beasts or those with manahearts and grow in power themselves."

'Really? I uh... Didn't know that.' I confessed. Did my world have some kind of magic after all? Or is it just some sick cosmic coincidence that the zombie virus just happened to behave in a similar way as mana for those infected by the virus in question? I... I will have to think about that later... For now, I've got to focus on the task at hand. 'Anyway, it's likely going to get messy, so if you don't want to see all that you should go spend some time elsewhere.' I say as I turn my attention back to Isaak and Joli.

Isaak took one step to leave before Joli grabbed his shoulder as some ideas crossed her mind. "If it's all the same to you, we're gonna stay and watch." She said simply enough.

"We are?" Isaak asked while looking frankly perturbed at the prospect.

Joli just flashed a smirk as she released his shoulder. "Think about this as a form of exposure training." She mused as she crossed her arms. "This will be something you'll have that the other apprentices won't. Just like them, you've likely never been in a real fight, especially against the undead. You haven't smelled rotten blood, heard the unholy groans and howls of the undead, the crunching of bones breaking, and the squelching, ripping sounds of tearing flesh." She explained as she stepped back and leaned up against the obelisk. "With your heightened senses, you're gonna hear all of this and more, especially if you're going to be meditating in the midst of it all."

Isaak still wasn't sure about this, but ultimately he steeled himself for the experience to come and sighed a bit. "Alright, how are we doing this?"

At that, Joli wasn't too sure as she looked back at my ball of light.

'Well, if you two intend on staying and watching or listening as it were... Then go ahead and enter the training ring. I'll make sure to instruct everyone that the ring, as well as the building with the drake, is off limits during this fight.' I offered while sending my ball of light over to the ring in question to emphasize what I was saying.

After a moment to consider things, Joli just bobbed her head in satisfaction. "Alright, that sounds good to me." She said simply as she led Isaak back to the training ring and smoothly hopped the stone fence before sitting in the middle of the ring with her legs crossed, Isaak followed and sat in the same way before closing his eyes.

Once they were settled, I went ahead and started going around the various buildings and guiding my mana reserves into each of the zombies. It was a quick and dirty process that felt more like funneling water down their throats instead of letting them properly absorb or process it. I'm hoping that the zombies who prove to be the better fighters will take and absorb the mana from those they killed and mutate in response.

When it was all said and done, I could feel that I used a notable chunk of mana from my reserves to charge everyone up, but I consider it to be a worthwhile expense if everything plays out the way I'm hoping for. 'Hear me, my horde of the undead... You shall do battle amongst yourselves until one is left standing, and you will do this four times. If you get taken down and respawn, I want you to stand off to the side until a winner emerges, and then you can take your places again before starting the next battle... The one who emerges as the most powerful among you all after these four battles will earn a name and will be designated as the leader of my horde.'

With the stakes now in place and boundaries set, I could feel their collective minds hum from the anticipation of gaining that prestige, as well as the rush of all the excess mana that was coursing through their bodies. The air seemed to shift as the horde collectively went still, waiting for the moment I gave the command to begin the battle.

Despite just how many bodies filled the false neighborhood, it was so quiet that you could probably hear a pin drop. After waiting for another three seconds, I finally spoke out to the horde with just a single word. 'Devour.'

As if a string suddenly snapped, all hell broke loose as the roars and cries of the various zombified races among my horde called out. The muscle mutant made a grand showing first as it smashed through the stone wall of one of the buildings diving out from the fifth floor and slamming a zombie it had in its grasp into the ground floor raising it above its head and ripping it straight down the middle as the weaker zombies's innards sprayed out like an overstuffed teddy bear.

The muscle mutant didn't get to revel in the kill for long as the black-skinned leaper, followed by other zombies who seemed to have stronger legs, leaped onto the muscle mutant and began ripping into its back and neck with its ferocious claws; though the muscle mutant didn't just let that happen without a fight as they began smashing its body against the stone walls of the nearest building or ripping off other zombies from it's body.

Many similarly savage brawls quickly broke out as the plain gray stone was soon painted with the darkened reddish-black blood of the zombies. I couldn't help but wince a little bit as the fights vaguely reminded me of the day we had to abandon the Bouquet settlement. The memories of my old life bubbled up as I turned my focus away and brought my perspective back down to Joli and Isaak. 'Enjoy your training, I'll come back to check the results of all this later.' With that, I left the training room and decided to return to my core chamber.

Mentally shaking off the glimpses of my own memories, I turned my attention over to my core and just looked it over as I considered all the mana I'd been expending. The rings within still swirled with obvious strength and vigor, though when I last looked at it, there had been numerous glimmering lights within that reminded me of a starry night with clear skies. Looking it over now, there were just a few faint twinkles here and there with some more little lights gradually starting to reform within my core.

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It sure would be convenient to have some kind of meter to tell me exactly how much mana I have left or how much I've been using when I do things, but at the end of the day, it would be just that, a convenience. As far as I can tell, I've nearly expended almost all of my stores of excess mana. I could probably still cast a number of powerful spells at the expense of drawing upon the mana that formed the rings in my core, but now I just have to wonder how long it'll take to build up my mana stores again... Or perhaps how much 'vital energy' it'll take.

Setting those thoughts aside for now, I reached out through my bonds and called on Jack, asking him to come to my core chamber.

Despite the clear surprise at suddenly being contacted, he diligently made his way over and within minutes was landing in my chamber as he carefully touched down on the stone walkway. "Boss! Welcome back, how goes your travels?" He asks cheerfully enough with a bit of a whistle while absently giving his wings a little flap.

'They're going well Jack, I'm only a couple of days away from the capital now and quite a lot has happened. Though I'm more interested in hearing what has been going on in my absence, anything interesting?'

Jack whistled thoughtfully before bobbing his head up and down. "A few things, Boss." He offered before sauntering closer to my pedestal. "The villagers of Haven have put the goods you brought to good use, making thicker clothes and jackets among other things. Some of them are still hunting and gathering as before, but now a few of the adults and most of the older kids are learning trades from those who are skilled enough to teach thanks to all the extra food you brought."

'That's good to hear, what else is going on?'

"Well, the spitter wolves are pregnant." He mentioned with a bit of a cheerful whistle. "We can expect a fresh batch of pups in the near future, which is always nice. However, I can't help but wonder how different they'll be when compared to their folks. I mean... If I've changed this much from your influence alone, how much will they be affected growing up under your influence Boss?" Jack considered as he regarded himself, his thoughts going back to when he was a simple sparrow that was less than half as big as he was now as a small raptor.

That was a good point... I mean based on current examples, Basmori is already a beastkin with only a few months of my direct influence... Then again, based on that book about dungeons I read, Basmori and the other cubs are basically Scions, the same goes for Jack and all those I've named. Considering Basmori in particular, he has actually killed and got a direct share of several people's vital energies which no doubt accelerated his growth.

Jack has killed before too, but he's only killed other animals and bugs, the changes in his body are proof enough that he's been growing considerably, but not on the level of those who have taken the lives of people like Basti and Basmori. Hell, Oururu only developed as much as he did because he took down Frisby, who had been a scion in her own right, along with her entire brood.

'I'm not sure Jack, but I can't wait to see how things turn out.' I mused cheerfully enough. New life was always exciting after all, and I was eager to see how they turned out. 'By the way Jack, what would you say about me running a dungeon?'

That caught Jack's attention as he looked up at my core, tilting his head side to side in thought before simply shrugging his wings. "I'm not sure what to say, Boss, sounds neat I suppose."

'Do you know anything about running a dungeon, perhaps?' I asked Jack, perhaps he had some sort of insight I didn't.

Jack just fluttered his wings a bit before shaking his head. "Sorry Boss, but I don't know how this stuff works... Have you asked Frisby yet?" He asked before shaking his head again. "Wait, her memories are spotty as it is, so she likely wouldn't know anything either." He considered before perking up again. "I have been talking with Orwis, she told me stories about her life as a scion, but that was just the day-to-day stuff Boss, I don't think she knows anything about actually running a dungeon either." He said while deflating slightly.

So, the only ones who would know how to run a dungeon, would be the dungeons themselves, wouldn't they? 'Don't worry about it Jack, you've given me a good direction to look into.' I offered reassuringly.

He looked placated by that and nodded a little before looking back up at my core again. "If you say so, Boss." He said simply and gave his wings a little flap. "Oh, before I forget, Reyvyre left for home about three days ago, she took Reonim and Rita with her too. She said something about laying that ancient elf to rest and making a report to her elders, but not to worry since she'll come back soon enough."

'Ah good, I was wondering when she was going to make the trip, thanks for letting me know.'

With that, Jack bobs his head while casually hopping around the stone steps around my core pedestal, not bothering with actually walking around with one clawed foot after the other. "So what have you been up to anyway? How are the kiddos holding up?"

'They're holding up well, Legosi too. I think he just got his first bath this morning.' I mused, happy enough to talk about them as I started going over the broad strokes of everything that's happened since I left.

Jack was more than happy to listen and ask occasional questions, but before I knew it, an hour or so had passed when I felt something shift below my mountain. 'I think that's my cue to wrap things up here Jack.'

"Oh? Sure thing Boss, it was nice talking to ya again." Jack mused with a cheerful flutter of his wings. "When do you think you'll be back again Boss? Pratemis and Grimm have lots to talk about, though I'm sure the others would love to hear from you as well."

I couldn't help but smile to myself at Jack's words before coming up with an answer. 'I'm not sure, maybe a few days from now? I'm still on the road as we speak and I gotta find out what Basti has been up to while she's been on her own.'

"Very well then Boss, I look forward to hearing from you again soon." Jack said with a charming whistle before offering my core a flourishing bow and taking off.

Now on my own for the moment, I made my way back down my mountain and looked around the false neighborhood to find the scene of a fierce battlefield that had no casualties. I saw the usual signs of mutant combat, but then there were some unexpected types of damage here and there... There were scorch marks from fire and possibly lightning, patches of frost that seemed to persist and not thaw, and even pools of acid that seemed bigger than the usual bile pools I had seen in my old world.

Bringing my perspective down to Joli and Isaak who were in the middle of discussing what they had seen, I conjured a ball of light before speaking out to them. 'So, what do you make of my zombies?'

Joli turned to regard my ball of light, uncertain excitement on her mind as she offered me a bit of a smile. "I think they're terrifying Vitmori and I, for one, would love to train against them." She enthused as her smile turned to an amused smirk. "I think they're perfect to train our experienced Drake Wardens and our apprentices against stronger opponents as well as readying them to face the undead of psychotic and murderous dungeons."

'Really? You think so?' I wasn't expecting that train of thought, that's for sure, but Joli was clearly excited by the prospect.

"Oh for sure Vitmori, especially since I have a feeling you wouldn't let them kill us if we fought them. We could get all the real hands-on training and experience with minimal risk of death and the threat of injury likely still on the table. I'm sure you would also benefit from our training in your territory if you allowed us." She explained, showing off what little she knew of the relationship between dungeons and their delvers.

A training dungeon? I... I think that's something I could get behind. I've spent my whole life being trained, training myself and others after all, it's something I know how to do for sure. 'You've given me something to think about Joli, I'll consider your suggestion just... Give me some time.'

Joli nodded intently as she looked up at my ball of light again. "Sounds good to me Vitmori, thank you for hearing me out." She enthused before looking to Isaak and beckoning him to follow her as she hopped the stone fencing for the training ring and led him away.

With the conversation settled for the moment, I turned my perspective back to my horde and started looking them over. The changes were quite evident despite how little time had passed since I began my experiment. While a vast majority of the zombies still looked relatively normal, if not a little bulkier with signs of mutations starting to develop; it was the latter minority that had the more obvious changes.

Around forty-one of the one hundred and fifty had developed clear mutations; the original muscle mutant had grown even larger and was surrounded by a band of nine other muscle mutants who varied in size but were all around smaller than the original. The black-skinned leaper looked even more impressive than before, with refined musculature and fiercer-looking claws; they were followed by another eleven leapers of varying races. The original spitter had been surpassed by another one that had both its arms and an even more swollen belly than the original; they were followed by nine who followed its path of mutations.

All those other mutant zombies paled in comparison to the remaining group of mutants that had developed throughout the battles I had set before the horde. They showed minimal physical changes overall, their veins and eyes actually glowed a faint green with all the excessive mana that they managed to absorb from the rest of the horde. Their bodies were not used to the capacity they managed to take in, but their undead nature seemingly made it easy to ignore the pain and damage they likely would suffer if they were normal people. Perhaps these were the signs of that mana-doping practice I had heard about?

Whatever it was, the group of twenty-one mana-mutants had properly ignited manahearts and a single ring around their hearts, instead of just the manahearts of varying strengths the rest of the horde had. Among these new mutants, one stood out from the rest; they had a second ring already formed around their heart, albeit a thin and weak one, but it was a second ring for sure.

The individual looked like they used to be a human woman, an unremarkable soldier from the foreign army who somehow managed to come out on top when put to the test. Even though they probably didn't need me to make myself visible to them, I decided to bring my ball of light before the mutant zombie and spoke out to her. 'You who fought in battle against your fellow peers have proven that you have the ability and power to stand out above the rest. For your achievement, I shall grant you a name as promised.'

The zombie woman looks up at me, her glowing green eyes studying my ball of light with an intense fervor.

'I name you Z, and grant you the title of...' I'm about to say leader, but then that comment the younger-sounding goddess had made came to mind; something about being more creative and not just sharing my titles with my subordinates. 'Horde Commander. From now on you shall be Horde Commander Z.' I declare to them as another measure of mana begins flowing from my core and into them.

Z's body begins to tremble from the dose of mana coursing through them and I of course helped guide it through as their second ring became more dense and stable, their veins no longer glowing from the strain of the mana in their body. Now that she had a name, she seemed more aware of herself as she blinked and focused on me, a raspy growl of a voice croaking out as she saluted with a fist clanking against her armored chest. "Thank you, Creator Vitmori, I shall fulfill this role you have bestowed upon me to the best of my ability. I will make you proud to have granted me the name of Zee." She declared with reverent fervor.

Interesting... Her name comes through phonetically rather than the single letter that I had intended. I had half a mind to tell her to just refer to me as Boss like everyone else, but considering how well that had worked for Dread, I decided to let the matter rest for now. 'I look forward to seeing you in action Zee, for now, gather your horde and train.'

With that, Zee smacked her fist against her armored chest again as the rest of the unique mutants did the same before starting to disperse and go among the rest of the horde.

I wonder what I should call Zee's variant of zombie... If the healer zombies are Plague Doctors, maybe I'll call Zee and her mana warrior zombies Plague Knights.

Names aside, I think it's about time I return to the caravan and see what's been going on while I was away.