I gave Sett a kiss, the next round would have to wait, I got up and dressed quickly while Sett watched me dress for a moment before she went into the bathroom while moving her hips in a way that could bring men to damnation. I heard the shower turn on and I opened the door to see Owen in the hallway with Hextia guarding the room.
'Hextia, leave a splinter with Sett and guide her to me when she is done tidying up.'
"-Yes master-"
Owen led the way back to the manor, as we passed through the camp everything was calm and was full of life. They were not informed of the monster invasion that would strike the city while they had been for sale, informing them would place them under pressure but they needed to know that their safety was threatened. I put the thought aside for now and followed Owen into the parlor that had been converted into a conference room, a few maps were arranged around the room that had detailed information about the monster dens surrounding the city.
A map of my lands did not have a monster den, so they were beyond the borders, and finding them would be a difficult task that would take a few weeks. Even if we could find it we would be unable to clear it, which left defense as our only option.
"Young master, we had to increase the premium to the construction companies to expedite construction of the wall while the construction will start around the manor facing the intrusion point."
Looking at the map and the plans for the wall I noticed the camp was in between the intrusion point and the manor, normally any sane person would agree that their life took priority over the lives of slaves at least that was the norm in my small corner of the universe. I picked up a pen and marked a new construction site, the wall would be built on the outer perimeter first and slowly build around the whole of my territory which would effectively protect my people.
"Are you sure?" Owen asked not the least bit confused as to what I was thinking, I nodded in affirmation.
For an angel I hadn't been brought up to be some holier than thou silk pants rich boy nor a saint-like do-gooder, I loved my dad and the way he earned money but he hoarded his wealth for the most part. Mom said his ancestor copulated with a dragon a few generations ago, I could never tell if she was joking or not, but I wanted to be like my mom and I spent most of my time with her. Though I now know what my mom taught me as a child wasn't considered normal, I didn't mind because she was my hero. She told me about her many adventures when she first left her family to explore the outside world and inspired me to do the same.
So to me, it didn't matter if I needed to create a little chaos to get my point across, I was not to be trifled with and it was best that those old fellows stay out of my business otherwise I would cause a scene and hurt their business. They couldn't do much to me now that I had Warren and the others protecting our home, as long as no one stepped over each other's bottom line than the business could run, as usual, sides to them I was just a wealthy brat.
I signed a few documents for Owen while he still had my attention, one of the guards who died in the ambush had two children which I had brought into the manor to be raised until they came of age and would be given apprenticeships so they would have the means to take care of themselves.
After signing contracts and looking over construction plans, I went up to my lab and fabricated a few more armor sets for Hextias' splinters as well as researching a new design for exploding puppets. After excruciatingly painful hours of scouring through both my inherited puppet arts and the ones created after the merge, I found a few options that led me to my own breakthrough which I wrote down in my journal before clumsily walking back to my bed for a well-deserved nap.
When I woke up it was still dark out and I had two unexpected guests who apparently both loved the covers, I sat up and watched the two beautiful women for a moment. Well, they stole my covers so I guess it was ok to try my new spell on them, Sett had the majority of pillows while Rin had conquered the blankets and sheets.
I chose Rin as my first experimental subject and began casting my spell, it failed the first few times and I had to go back over the spells' description a few times before I realized I was only using half the spell which empowered my eyes for a quarter of an hour. The second half of the spell was essentially giving a small portion of mana the command to enter the target and analyze the target.
Trying again I empowered my eyes first and concentrated to form a small wisp of mana which floated towards Rin's nose where she breathed it in. The mana I had sent began to spread through her body though it was a small amount so it didn't get very far, it showed me every organ and major arteries and it highlighted a small cut on her hand. I guess it wasn't much of weakness but the spell had done as it said, while I examined her body that radiated from the inside with my mana a small model of DNA formed in front of me. It was fuzzy and I couldn't make out much but a certain portion had been highlighted with small writing next to it.
(Human bloodline 20% highly diluted. Enhancement: Limited.)
Only 20% of the human bloodline? A diluted one at that, then Rin isn't human with one of her parents only being half-human. Wonder what it means by enhancement, is there a spell I can obtain to enhance a bloodline or is it just the natural amount the bloodline can be strengthened perhaps purified might be the proper term? No that couldn't be it, though maybe that had more to do with the other bloodline?
I performed the spell on Sett with similar mana output.
(Woodelf bloodline 100% high purity. Enhancement: Optimal.)
Enhancement had to do with the purity of the targeted bloodline which might lead to purifying the bloodline though I wasn't sure of the effects, I cast the spell on Hextia who was standing by the door just out of curiosity. I used more mana on her to see if anything changed, and the results were interesting.
The DNA was not shaped like a double helix, this one was continuously changing shape from a cube to a sphere with tiny golden lights moving throughout the structure like it wasn't complete.
(Slime bloodline 70% diluted with living clay. Unknown bloodline 30%. Enhancement: unknown)
The clay made up a thin outer shell that contained a network of the two bloodlines one was blue and was the majority while the other was black and looked like it was taking over some of the portions of slime bloodline.
I tried increasing the mana output for all three of them, unfortunately, nothing came of it, I either needed more mana or a new spell to activate the enhancement. By the time I was finished experimenting the sun had begun to rise, I had worked up a sweat from exhausting my mana so I stripped and headed for the shower.
The cold shower helped to wake me up, I stepped out to find Sett and Rin staring at me, Sett had a small glare while Rin wore a more confused and hurt puppy look. They both had towels held in front of them, it would seem I was supposed to wake them up for an early morning surprise. I walked forward and gave them each a kiss before leading them back to the shower, I guess I could start my new morning routine a little late today.
After a very thorough cleaning the two beauties finally dragged me out of the shower telling me I had other responsibilities to fulfill, they were right while I would be patrolling the woods for wandering monster packs Sett and Rin both had things of their own to do. Sett still needed to head to the guild for work while Rin was still training with Owen to learn how to manage the businesses, Owen had made it clear that it was my weakest subject and that she could grow in strength slowly, that she could use her sharp mind to cover my weaknesses sooner.
Though that was when everyone believed she was human, I wasn't sure how to tell her but I would wait until I could figure out the origin of her other bloodline.
After breakfast Hextia and I went on patrol, there were a few large beasts that we hunted in the area which we gave to the camp to help supplement food, but no monsters could be found though there were signs of them that led deeper into the forest.
Over the next two weeks, Hextia and I went deep into the woods tracking the little green bastards, a few more raids had attacked the wall though there were only small groups of the tiny menaces. Defending our home and the beast hunts had gotten me enough experience to get back to level 3 and increasing my mana pool, Sett had even arranged a few appointments to heal a few foolish rich people, at inflated prices to help line the coffers and help me gain some much-needed experience.
It wasn't until the third week that the raids started getting larger, the outer wall had a good foundation but was far from being complete, it could be used for a watchtower but it was only 30% complete. We had the servants begin digging pitfalls and lining the bottoms with wooden spikes, it would have to do as the first layer of defense until the wall was completed.
Sett would bring home intel from the guildhall when something new happened, the adventurers guild had evacuated the villages and were now forming hunting parties to help mitigate the coming storm. Goblin and kobold bounties were at the top of the list for payouts, Sett would take any goblin kills we had gotten and submit them under my name though the pay was better than it used to be it mostly went to feeding the servants and their families.
My businesses, on the other hand, were doing quite well, with the impending invasion adventurers were flying in from all over the planet to get a bite of the action, they knew it was unlikely that the city would fall in the end, at most the powerhouses would be forced to clean up the mess but by the time that happened the inner city would have to be threatened. Much of the old lifestyle from the immortal era was still practiced which meant it was beneath the powerhouses to make a move for the weak.
The city guards would do their utmost to defend the city, even if there were a few annoying old-timers in their ranks. I was still angry that they hadn't taken my bounty down, then again I had wiped out a few of their guards, though the bounty prevented me from entering the city my retainers would be able to fulfill our needs.
Hextia had been practicing hard with her splinter bodies and she could now move five splinters and her own without much effort, the sixth body on the other hand was proving quite a task for her.
We were stalking a small party of goblins a few miles beyond the wall, I snuck up behind a straggler who had started to relieve himself on a tree, as he was finishing I placed my hand over its mouth and pushed my dagger through its heart. Dark green blood spilled out onto my hand while the small body struggled in my embrace, the fight slowly left the tiny body until it twitched and became still.
I pulled my dagger out and watched as the group of goblins 20 meters away were ambushed by Hextia, her armored bodies stepped out from behind the trees and slew the little green beasts with a well practiced execution. They hardly made a sound before their heads hit the ground. We cut off their ears and headed home, while we were walking I received a message from Sett.
The invasion had begun.