[Island of Bones, Dwarven Mountains Underground Entrance, Crimson Clan Castle (building site)]
"Look, they came back with one, two, three, four silver wolf fur", a dwarf said upon seeing Raon come back carrying the refined iron alloys and raw materials found on their way up from the City of Steel.
"Don't you find that Orianna has become more dangrous? Just a glare from her and I feel scared", a beastman walking the path of body refinement muttered innocently, speaking what his instincts screamed to him
Four weeks passed since the last big skirmish, in which Elite Acolyte Snake died alongside Gale.
Having two parties annihilated in a week had caused Darius to become much more cautious, focusing instead in fortifying the blue wolf mercenary group settlement and raiding occasional shipments of iron alloys. He would order his subordinates not to give chase, to avoid further casualties, and successfully hindered the progress of the Crimson Castle construction.
As the blue wolf mercenary group was getting accustomed to the lands, the occasional casualties were becoming rarer from their end too, causing headaches to the strategic mind of Janna.
The number of survivors had dwindled significantly, with the crimson clan reduced to only 28 members and 6 elite beginner rank acolytes. As for the estimated remaining members of the Blue Wolf Mercenary Group, only four parties remained, amounting to only 26 members based on the corpses found and the crimson clan members' report.
However, it did not really matter to Lewis and his party. Every day, they would earn on average 3 magic crystals each, one from the mission of escorting Raon, and two from the spoils of war. Occasionally, it would be a blue wolf mercenary that had lost himself, but more often, it would be beasts or pack of beasts attacking them.
Having passed the two months mark in the underground, Lewis could already feel the changes in himself and his party.
[Name - Lewis Steelguard | Age - 15 years old
Attributes:
Strength - 3.8 → 4.4 | Agility - 2.8 → 3.2 | Vitality - 4.6 → 5.0 | Spirit - 6.1 → 7.2
Perk: Crimson Pact [Sealed], Blood Human II (Increased perception, dexterity and physical growth rate)
Spells: Blood drain (156), Analysis (132 → 140), Blood Enchant (95 → 98) , Blood Shield (80 → 85), Sanguine Tracking (75), Blood Arrow (53 → 70), Blood Essence Gathering (36 → 40), Blood wolf Summon (50)
Sealed spells (not enough spirit): Blood Golem Summon (60), Tides of blood (40), Blood Curse (10)
Artefact: Wolf Fire Circlet Ring (+1 Mana)]
Making offerings with Noctis on a daily basis, even if it was just magical creatures' souls, allowed him to raise his spirit stat beyond fast. Even grade 4 talents might not sustain such a fast growth rate. This was the fruit of a collaboration between a demon and a human, and the reason why there were so many humans resorting to forbidden rituals.
The more potential the demon sensed in his contractor, the more generous and demanding he would become. However alluring the offers were, Lewis never accepted any long-term collaboration. He knew the limits of dealing with demons, and especially the likes of Noctis who were cunning.
Thankfully, Noctis was just an intermediate-rank demon at this point, and could not even communicate properly, not to mention descending in Burion.
Lewis had grown very much stronger, but he was not the only one who had stepped up.
[Name - Orianna Longlost | Age - 23 years old
Attributes:
Strength - 1.4 → 1.6 | Agility - 1.3 → 1.4 | Vitality - 1.5 → 1.6 | Spirit - 3.9 → 4.5
Spell: Acidic Breath, Longlost Scales
Artefact: Tyria Ring [Regeneration, Bloodline Strengthening]]
Despite only having grade 1 talent, Orianna had gained 0.6 point of spirit in weeks. This was especially impressive considering that she was injured for some time and could not medidate properly during this time. Her eyes were fiercer, and her temper more hot-blooded. Though she was drifting from the original path of magi, these attributes were useful in battle as it was very wild and effective against opponents.
The fact that she single-handedly managed to push back the Ice Countess Sheila was proof of her skills, having already surpassed whatever level she had reached in Lewis' memories of her in his previous life.
Awakening her second innate spell at such a young age was proof of her potential, regardless of her talent grade.
[Name - Jorg Bullwater | Age - 43 years old
Attributes:
Strength - 8.4 → 8.5 | Agility - 3.2 | Vitality - 7.0 → 7.3 | Spirit - 7.8
Spells: [Arcane Flow]
Artefact: Frozen Enchanted Shield (Rank 0)]
Jorg was getting stronger as well, the seemingly unlimited supply of dragon beer helping a lot to raise his vitality. Unfortunately, he was quite limited in his arcane studies, for Lewis believed he could become much stronger if he learned the fairly basic [Electric Enchant], which would both match his elemental affinity of thunder and his hammer and shield fighting style, duplicating his damage input. Still, with his raw physical attributes and [Arcane Flow], a spell that allowed to boost his endurance and increase the regeneration of wounds, he was a terrifying monster to deal with.
Analysing the situation as the night befell the Crimson Clan Castle, Lewis remained seated in his personal tent with some satisfaction. Most of his expectations from the battlefield had been fulfilled. He had even managed to get his hands on a magical artefact, the Wolf Fire Circlet Ring, increasing his mana pool by one whole point.
His contributions to the war had already shifted the battlefield in the Crimson Clan's favour, limiting losses and pushing the Blue Wolf Mercenary in reclusion, hoping to survive.