Master Of None

Chapter 2016  2016. An Ancient Threat

the injuries from the water flooding parts of the marshlands and the forests were not small. Many people had been left behind in the rush to escape. Even with mages and the royal dragons working their hardest, there had been some people who could not be seen or caught up to. This was a reality that the party slowly gained reports on. It hurt them immensely to know that this was the case. But they had lacked the mana to change that. Stopping the entire wall of water would have been impossible unless they had the mana. Some people were wondering why the royal dragons had been unable to use their manas, but Current was the only one with the ability. He was currently passed out after using all his remaining mana to stop some of the largest waves. If this was not the case and he had had more mana, he would have stopped them all. He had the ability but not the mana after giving almost all of it to Walker to create natural mana. But that also raised the question, if Current had held back, would Envy have been defeated? Or would corrupted manas be flowing everywhere and the entire area destroyed? Reality was hard to accept when it came to the limits everyone had. But it also highlighted the fact that the royal dragons were not yet at the levels of the ancient ancestors. Everyone already knew that a dominator dragon could create mountains, destroy entire expanses of land, and even do more with their mana and control of it. Yet, what everyone did not fully grasp just yet, was the time it took to reach that level of strength. They had grown stronger. Very much so. But they needed the time to adjust and gather the proper manas to be able to control their power. If they did not, then they would remain the royal dragon strength that they had. They were dominator dragons now, but they had just overcome a hurdle that was stopping them from growing even more than they had before. Walker could understand this and did his best to send that throughout the forces gathering. But he had also needed to remain focused on the fact that the water was receding and many more Genesis forces were arriving. The forces gathering had already sent prominent information for the group to sift through. Especially since they had specifically said that they ended evidence related to ruins that may be sealed and sunken. Ruins that might be part of ancient angel cultures. When a potential relationship with the immortal king came up, it was thought that the party needed information about him as well. This would have made sense if Walker wanted to find a way to break the massive corrupted undead skeletal wall that had been formed, but that would just sink the ruins that had been brought up from the depths again. They would not have answers as to what it was or why it was there. However, it still was information brought to them. Enough information that those with the ability were called to examine it all. The scholars that had joined them from the angel forces were working hard with the Genesis forces to have answers sooner than later. This was one thing that Walker actually felt blessed to have known. The scholars working together were much more suited to examine these pieces of information. They could discern more from them than he could in a shorter time. Thai was due to bother their skills and the high amount of experience examining important historical documents in general. "Walker, should we consider seeing if we can actually go over there? Scout things out?" Gil's long sigh after asking this was something that he really didn't want to do. The ruins were very large. A massive city almost, but the buildings were small like it was a village built around a castle instead. "I would like to tell you that we don't have to do that at all. But I have a feeling that we need to go over there no matter what. It's starting to get darker though. We should focus on this camp first. It will be much better to have a dedicated and protected base for the time being." There was a part of Walker that told him the night would be much worse. Not being able to see the dangers of a ruin he had no idea about was enough of a stressor to keep him from sleeping. The rest was the look for information and preparations as more Genesis forces arrived over time. He was already notified that many rune smiths were rebuilding the elemental rune teleportation formation. Using it so much at once had caused it to wear away and no longer be safe to use. But that was just enough reasons to make another one. They had the idea to do exactly that anyways. Improved runes could be used for it. The rest of the party ended up splitting up. Remey's mana issue had been helped by Ignus which led her to create a small outdoor alchemy lab. Her reason being simple. Healing potions. Mana potions. Affinity potions. The more she made, the better for everyone coming here to their base camp. Su was right beside Alice. Alice had lowered her mana too much and the two were dedicated to bandaging. Alice and Su truly proved the dedication that they had to the cause of healing and helping. Midnight and Onyx were the surprising pair. They had managed to find a few monsters that survived the water. They had begun to aid them in healing with a few tamers who were crushed to discover the injured and even young monsters without parents. It was a different kind of healing for a different kind of being. Still righteous in every way. All life mattered. Gil's focus with Walker had been brainstorming the things brought to them. But they were coming up without answers right now. Both of them felt that they could only say that they were missing something. "Freaking bats! There are a lot now that the night is here. I thought that the area would be clever due to the water coming here. But it must have stirred up the bigs that the bats eat." Gil's annoyance came from his heightened senses. He also could feel the changes in the wind mana as the bats flapped all around in the air. "It must be an entire colony displaced by the water. If I use the all around appraisal I can figure out how we can make them move tio a new home." Walker felt it was the least he could do. These were surely more of the displaced monsters harmed by the cruelness of the demon king and his followers. 'Blood kin bat

This bat and the remainder of its colony were forced in to a slumber when their masters were sealed away. Having the connection with their master's renewed, their species awakened. They consume mostly blood and mana from their master or the things they hunt. Due to this, they are considered just as evil as their masters. However, they are often only use as fodder to allow their masters to use tricks, scout the area, and spy on others. Due to this, it used to be a normal occurrence for the people of monsters of ancient times to hunt this species of bat at every chance. The worst aspect of these bats is their saliva. It causes numbing when biting and attacking with their small fangs. It may not kill, but it causes the attacked target to slowly lose control of their body…'

Walker's breath caught in his throat as he looked up and created a fire ball from a nearby torch. When he tossed it in the air he saw a few hundred of the blood kin bats. Enough to easily scout out the number of forces gathered here. Enough to grasp what the forces here might be capable of. "Kill every bat that we can. Tell everyone that these blood kin bats are spying on us. And we should know that it can't be a good thing." Walker's sudden words made Gil jolt up and prepare an arrow. A light arrow to use as a flare. Questioning Walker was foolish. But understanding that danger was here was easy. The hundreds of bats made that simple. While this began, Walker wracked his mind for every monster that might cause this. But where it landed, was one that he had only heard from a few people. From old books, stories, and an immortal undead that had once cursed another seemingly immortal species of monster race that had lived when he was truly alive. "Vampires should use these monsters as eyes and ears." …

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