I headed straight to Lazar's place. Before I could enter the Upper Olrad, a few Lizards stopped me. They asked why I wanted to enter, therefore I explained the purpose of my entry. I thought they would again ask for some ridiculous passes or proofs, but fortunately a passing soldier recognised me. I was allowed in without any further problems, and headed straight to Lazar's office.
"Knock, knock, knock".
Lazar answered, "Come in". He wasn't surprised at all, that I visited him. He asked "What can I do for you?". I replied, "I will be off for a while. Fox is with Suly, so you shouldn't worry. Make sure she can meet with you though. We have a situation in Sedon, that requires… some ideas". He asked confused "What situation? Something even I don't know about?". I replied "If you did, it would be meaningless to hide it probably. All I will say is, try to find a way to collapse a tunnel deep underground. The hard part is, we need to do it from above. Fox might come up with something too, so make sure she can meet with you. You can rely your ideas to Crow, and Crow alone, alright?". He froze for a second, but then nodded while saying "I get it".
Lazar continued, "I will try to figure something out. Are you going to Apium now?". I nodded, then replied "Your network is not bad, but it wasn't a secret either. I need to make a trip there, and a few other places. I will try to be back as soon as I can". He nodded his head, then added "I will do my best on our end. I will notify Harlin about it too, he might have some ideas as well". It wasn't a bad idea at all, so I said "Good idea, but don't make this too widespread. In any case, I will see you in a month or so". With that we said our goodbyes. Shortly after, I left Olrad and headed towards Apium.
I would swing by Boltier on my way as well. I wasn't sure whether Vanauts established similar camp near Boltier, but I would find this out when I arrived there. I met some enemies on my way to Boltier. The enemy camps were rather small, and the number of soldiers was… minimal to put it mildly. They usually comprised of the lesser races such as Grondors, or Slethers. There were always a few stronger Furians managing the small army. I usually avoided them, but a few fights broke out nevertheless.
The fights ended badly for my enemies. Most of them were at Outer Limits, while only Furians were stronger and packed a stronger punch. Some of them reached Inner Limits, but no one under the Half Step was really my opponent. I was about three days of travel away from Boltier, when I noticed a small forest of dead trees. 'Most probably Mordars' I thought. I decided to test the strength of those Mordars. I had no idea how many I would fight, but I wanted to judge their strength as well. 'Know thy enemy better than thyself', is what the saying said.
I took out my Razor Swords, and walked towards the small forest of dead trees. Before I arrived, a few of the trees began to move. The dead trees began transforming. Some of them got taller, while their bark began twisting and changing. 'So those things are Mordars', I thought as I increased my speed.
Mordars were different. Their bark looked like twisted and wrinkled vines, dark grey in colour. Two yellow eyes were prominent in the middle, while their crowns moved about like whips. The Mordars could actually move using their roots, and they were not that slow. I stepped hard on the ground, and released all my strength.
"Booom!"
I launched at them, while combining my swords together and activating the Formation. 'Razor Swords: Vibrating Form'. The sword in my hand began vibrating while releasing a low "Voom" sound. The Mordars arrived, and extended their whip like branches to attack. "Swoosh!", "Swoosh!", "Swoosh!".
I evaded their branches, and swung my sword, "Vooom!". My sword cut through their branches, like a knife through butter. "SCREEECH!!!". The Mordar screamed so loudly, my ears rang. I had no time to worry about my hearing though, another three Mordars already lashed their branches at me. I quickly moved backwards, but then my instincts flared up. 'Not good' I thought, and jumped right. "BOOOM!". The place I stood in a second ago, was smashed with some sort of thick root that extended from the earth.
'I was already warned that they can do such things' I thought, and advanced again. This time, I released my Bloodlust Aura. Although my Aura had some effect, Mordars didn't seem to mind it that much. 'Huh? They are immune to Auras?' I asked myself, and added the Domineering Aura on top. This time, the effect was greater. The Mordars in the immediate area, slowed down. But my instincts were telling me to get out of that place. Before I figured out why, multiple roots extended from the earth and lashed at me.
"BOOOM!", "BOOOM!", "BOOOM!", "BOOOM!"
I evaded them with the use of my Natural Path skill, but it was a close call nevertheless. I finally realised why only a few Mordars engaged me in a fight. 'Apparently, there are two types of Mordars. Those who fight in closer range, and those who fight long distance. The ones at the back must be responsible for those roots' I thought, when I cleared the area of their concentrated attack. I was unscathed, but just barely.
The Mordars at the front didn't let me rest though. More whip like attacked flew my way. I was surprised by their strength, most of these Mordars were at a stage of Inner Limits. Or at least possessed abilities and strength comparable. I smiled, and disappeared. While utilising my Natural Path skill, I was in constant movement. That didn't mean I was simply running around.
"SCREECH!!", SCREECH!!", SCREECH!!!!"
A few Mordars had their branches trimmed by my Razor Sword. The Mordars at the back, tried smashing me into the ground with their roots, but they had a hard time locating me now. I appeared in front of the Mordar that had its branches trimmed, and slashed horizontally "VOOOM!". The Mordar was cut in half. The top half fell to the ground with a "Bang!", but the Mordar didn't screech anymore. I specifically aimed my slash at their eye area. 'My guess was correct. This is where their "brain" is. If I slice them in half, they will perish' I thought.
With that in mind, I increased my speed to whatever my body could allowed. If I were to describe what they saw next, would be a Human appearing and disappearing between Mordars. "Vooom!", "Vooom!", "Vooom!", "Vooom!", "Vooom!". I didn't simply weave through them, I killed them all in a matter of seconds. When I stopped behind their frontline, all Mordars were already split in half, and fell to the ground one after the other.
The Mordars at the back made some screeching noises, but didn't run away. What I saw next was like a nightmare. 'They… combined?' I asked myself in disbelief. I stared at a large Mordar, with many yellow eyes in the middle. It grew taller, much taller, and its reach? I found out shortly after. "BOOOM!!". I jumped backwards evading that, but another five roots extended from the ground and lashed at me. These roots were much thicker now. As if three or four of them were wrapped up together. I only managed to evade four of them, and had to use my arm to block the fifth root. "Boom!", I flew backwards at great speed. My left arm hurt, but wasn't broken. "Bam!...Ughhh...", I groaned when I hit the ground.
I had no time to lay around. More branches and roots flew my way. Their reach was ridiculous. The distance between us, was at least a few hundred metres. I picked myself up, and moved backwards continuously. Finally the whip like branches and roots stopped. 'It seems that is their limit. They can't reach any further' I thought. Although they couldn't reach me from their current location, they could simply move. And that is what they did exactly.