It was nervous. The little hooded creature next to the desk was shaking while presenting a report to its master. Morpheal was reviewing his final calculations about his biggest project ever, and those little lowlifes knew they should not have bothered him while he was studying. This report had better be something important.
The little creature kept its eyes on the ground and backed away as soon as he took the report from its hands.
"Stay." He commanded.
His cold but strong voice filled the room, and a squeak from the little creature followed it. It stood where it was, shaking in fear.
The report was about the sudden increase in deaths in his army. Deaths were normal; they needed to fight in order to pick out the weak and form a hierarchy. An average of thirty percent of his products were dying as wastage in this process.
But some disappearances occurred, according to the report. A few had deserted before, but this was nothing like that. Some strong products were disappearing in the middle of their ranks, and their kin were sensing their deaths after a short time.
He burned the report in his hands. Was someone messing with his army? This was not a serious matter; his army size was too massive for it to do any harm. But he was so close to concluding his plans, and Morpheal was not someone who allowed unexpected variables into his calculations.
"Send word to the captains. Tell them to gather their squads and search the land around our mining grounds. They may kill if they encounter anyone. Don't come back until there are results. You may go now."
The little lowlife left his presence. He could have informed them through their connection of Energy, but even the thought of it disgusted him. He was way above them; they were not worthy of his direct attention.
He turned back to his research notes and calculations. Everything was close to an end now; his life's work was going to bear fruit soon. Then none of these little things were going to matter. Even the Gods themselves were going to think twice before messing with him.
***
Exercise, drink, slash, eat, change location, sleep. Exercise, drink, slash, eat, change location, sleep. And repeat, again, and again. It was a harsh training, but Elise had no complaints. Being able to use her sword once again made her feel alive more than anything else. She did her best to utilize everything she learned in her fights, but the Traveler was always raising the bar.
First, he picked the agile ones. Every creature he brought was faster than the previous ones and used their speed differently. Some kept dodging and evading her attacks, and some were charging right at her with their muscular lower body, forcing her to dodge. Elise had to focus and distribute her Energy in different muscles with different strategies.
Once she got the hang of it, the Traveler started to increase their numbers. Elise knew he was intentionally picking the worst combinations for her to keep her using not only her muscles but also her brain. He was not teaching her how to use her sword or Energy; he was teaching her how to stay alive. By getting beaten up. She was figuring out the rest by herself through experiments. She couldn't remember having this much fun ever.
Next were the heavily armored ones. Everything she learned and developed was of no use against them. They were not fast, so dodging was pointless, but they were powerful and sturdy with their thick skins and shells. The strength of her attacks was not enough to damage them, and if she tried to gather enough power for a strong attack, she was going to be exposed to their attacks, which could lead to an early end to her traveling life.
So, she learned how to add force to her quick attacks. The Traveler was keeping his word and was not getting involved except for some tips he was giving when she got stuck. His tips were always accurate and no more than what was needed. He was insisting that she needed to figure things out herself without depending on him.
Somewhere in the middle, her exercises reached their final state. A hundred repeats for each. Then she kept doing the same till they were no longer wearing her out. But the next step was doing them without using Energy, and it was surprisingly easier than she thought. It took a while, but in the end, it was worth it. Her raw power significantly increased, and that made her attacks even more effective.
"How? They were just basic exercises. How could they be this effective?" She was holding her sword in her right hand and looking at the callous other. A hard-shelled purple creature was lying in front of her with a broken skull, oozing its smoking blood.
"They are making you use most of your major muscles, but that's not the reason." He was sitting on a big rock as usual. Elise was getting suspicious that he was specifically picking the spots with the most comfortable rocks to sit on. "The real reason is that we force your muscles to their limits with continuous use of Energy. In short, we break them to forge them again with Energy to make them stronger. Working with them without Energy after a long time was to get them out of their comfort zone for the same purpose."
She distanced herself from the dead creature before it exploded. Its shell scattered around like tiny blades, but she was used to it and dodged them without any effort. She could see and feel herself improving with every fight. Her body was stronger than ever, and her grasp of Energy was also at another level. She knew following the Traveler was the right move.
Her opponents' numbers kept increasing, and their combinations kept getting harder to deal with. But they always had an opening for her to notice and use to her advantage. The Traveler kept bringing them, and she kept killing them, until they decided to come by themselves.
They appeared on a hill close to where they were training and charged right at them. There were five of them, and Elise sliced them all with ease. One of them was quite challenging, but it was nothing she couldn't handle after all that training.
The Traveler dropped down from his rock after she was done with them. "It is time then."
"Time for what?" Elise asked while cleaning the blood from her sword.
"They finally noticed us and decided to look for us. These were probably one of the search teams that were supposed to find and kill us."
"What are we going to do now?"
"If I'm not mistaken, some of them should be able to sense each other through their Energy connection. So, they can feel where their kin died. That's how they found us, and I'm sure their numbers will increase every time." He walked towards the hill that had an open view of the volcano as he spoke.
"Let me guess. Are we going to act before them?" Elise had no idea what they could do against such an army, but she was also curious about it. Maybe this was a chance to see how strong the Traveler really was.
He answered her with a mischievous smile and turned his head back to the volcano. From the point they were standing, they could clearly see the dark castle in the distance. Elise had seen and been inside castles before, but this one was smaller than most castles and had a different layout. It had three different sections, stacked on top of each other like a wedding cake. Well, half a cake, actually. The other half seemed buried inside the volcano. Her face grimaced at the simile she'd just made. Unwanted memories rushed through her head, but she quickly disposed of them.
While she was inspecting the castle, the Traveler had walked next to a large house-sized rock. He kicked the rock sideways while still looking at the castle like he was trying to figure something out. The rock cracked horizontally from the bottom and slid away a little.
"Do you know what happens if you poke a beehive with a stick?" He buried his right hand inside the crack he made and lifted the giant stone with ease. After a quick weighing, he spun around with the rock in his one hand. "A rock in this case."
Elise could only watch with eyes wide open while the giant rock flew towards the castle. No siege weapon she knew could launch a stone that far, especially one at that size. What's more, she didn't even notice any Energy from him. Had he really pulled that stunt just with his raw strength?
They watched the rock hit the middle section of the castle with a devastating impact. The hit part collapsed slowly on itself, and some of the upper sections followed it after a while. That dark and ominous-looking castle had a hole in the middle now.
Inside that hole, a purple light started to shine from within as a reaction. Something glowing with the same color came out of it and flew right towards them like a comet.
"You anger every resident inside of it and make them come right to you." The Traveler answered his own question as the comet flew and landed in front of them with an impact.