Eliza finally felt free for the first time in months. Breathing in the smell of burnt houses and fresh corpses could not deter a smile from escaping her lips. Behind her were those that she saw potential in, those that were abandoned by the royals. People that owed their life to her.
She had a certain criteria for choosing companions. First was their level of skill, they needed to be at a decent enough level to match a captain. Second was their mindset, she chose people who are clearly not under the influence of a noble or a royal to make sure that they can be trusted enough not to report her to the prince. Finally her third criteria, they needed to be at an age near her own meaning that they needed to be exceptional talents to reach such a level.
Eliza has a total of five companions at the moment, one of them is a spellcaster while the rest are disciples of dojos or simply veteran soldiers with varying backgrounds.
"You know, I get that you want to escape the clutches of that Prince but I have to ask." Tarik began, catching the attention of everyone else in their small party.
"Where do we go from here?"
This same question was echoed by the rest of Eliza's new companions, curious of what she had in store for them.
"We will leave for the eastern isles, does traveling to another kingdom not sound like a dream?"
Eliza was writing a letter for Hektor to report on what has happened since the fall of Teblez, she informed him of Tarik's decision to join her party and of her plans to head to the eastern isles. With her shackles no longer present she felt that it was only right to travel the world.
'Hello there birdbrain, I have your little friend with me. The long-haired swordsman, he's pretty good. Obviously not as good as me with the blade, but you already knew that. I'm sending this letter to let you know that I finally got what I wanted, I'm free now. Just like I always talked about and now my party is headed to the eastern isles. I hope that these birds of yours can travel that far.
I know I don't say it much but thank you, I would have gone mad if I didn't have someone to confide in during that rough time. Keep me informed and stay alive, Eliza the Party leader'
---
Garnesh along with the remaining disciples joined a band of refugees. Defending them from the monsters that plagued the path towards the capital of the kingdom. Retreating for the second time felt worse for Garnesh, he lost both parental figures and disciples that he considered as siblings to the war.
Anger and frustration overshadowed his other emotions, letting the monster extermination act as a stress reliever. Three days since the fall of Teblez, when Garnesh finally calmed down was when he remembered the crow.
The bird has been following him for a while now and it was the same bird that he used to exchange letters with Hektor.
"That's right, He could still be alive!" Garnesh smiled, he ran to the nearest supply box and wrote a message for his old companion.
'To Direct Disciple Hektor, It is I Garnesh. I would like to sincerely apologize for not joining you or Tarik in the fight, Master Samont forced me to take the route of self-preservation. I wish for your safe travels and I hope that you are still alive. As the strongest among the four of us, I know that you are likely still alive and well. I should not cast my doubts, I have seen what you can do. Best of luck on your journey and I hope for your safe return. Garnesh of the Blue Tiger Dojo'
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'To our dear friend Hektor, Teksar came shouting at me when he heard the news of what happened in Teblez. You should have seen the look on his face, I haven't seen him that disturbed in a while. I assured him that you likely survived which is why I'm sending this letter, I know that you lived through that fiasco. You're stronger than the average mercenary and we've seen what your birds can do.
Teksar wishes to see you again and hopefully when they fortify the walls again, we'll get the chance to leave this mess of a capital. Godspeed on your journey Hektor, Godspeed from Lufan the Archer.'
---
When the lift on Hektor's mana restrictions took place, he immediately got to work in summoning some new minions.
Souls 33 -> 23
Two new crows were summoned to act as his messengers to report his current situation. "Any messenger crow that my old companions have will come back to me when they die, so surely the others must still be alive."
He meditated again, recuperating most of his mana. Two bulky imps now served his cause once again.
Souls: 23 -> 13
"This should be enough, tomorrow we'll summon the new preset." Hektor was in no rush, his group would move to a different region that evening.
"We're headed back to Belugrass, I need to pick up whatever's left of those imps."
Hektor wanted to recover as much as he could before journeying away from the current war. "I still have the book that Master Bungcao gave me, I'll need a safe area somewhere far from all of this to train."
Hektor knows that for his mana reserves to grow, he needed to get a lot of capital or to find a master for the mana circle operation. "Heading back to Lumont territory doesn't seem like a bad idea either."
The spearman could only send two messages that night, one for Lufan and Teksar and another for Lina.
'This is Hektor, I managed to survive the fall of Teblez and I'm currently in the process of traveling the kingdom again. I will be journeying back to Lumont Territory after I finish some business in the town of Belugrass. The walls of Teblez have fallen, along with it is the dojo that I considered my home. I have no idea as to how long it'll take but my goal right now is to achieve greater heights.
I'm still far too weak and this battle proves it. I wish to see you all again soon, Crow Caller.'
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A/N: This is the end of Volume 1, thank you so much for reading Manifest Minion. Edits on past chapters will arrive soon and comments are always appreciated. I hope that the introductory arc was enjoyable for everyone.