10 Rest And Reorganisation

"Damn, that grey bastard managed to escape, if he doesn't die of his injuries I swear I will find him." Declared Azazel with determination.

Looking around he assesses the damage that they've taken, luckily Ventura, Bell and himself aren't injured. Although Ventura seems like he is suffering from a lack of Mana and his form is unstable, he looks relatively fine, also it seems like he will evolve soon, makes sense considering he's the only one who got a kill, that spell was amazing, disturbing, but amazing nonetheless.

Victor and Mori however are in bad shape, they're both losing health steadily and I have no idea if they'll make it... No, I'm not just waiting around! They're my followers and I'll save them, "Bell grab Mori and take her to the Mana pool." I say while moving towards Victor, since with his increased size only I can carry him.

Upon reaching the pool we place both of them inside, we wait but nothing is happening, "Dammit why is nothing happening!" I shout in frustration, trying to think, what can I do, is there anything I can do?

"Drain the pool, transfer Mana" Suddenly Ventura floats over to me and suggests, wait, he can talk normally? Nevermind that, I have to try what he suggested, placing one of my tendrils into the Mana pool I activate 'Drain', suddenly I'm overwhelmed with mana, placing my other tendril on Mori I try and push that Mana into her, nothing happens at first but using my 'Mana Manipulation' I keep trying.

The Mana in my body is filling past its limits, it stings like hell but I keep going, I need to save them. Using every ounce of willpower I have I force the Mana to the tip of my tendril, "Go in!" I shout, almost reaching my breaking point when suddenly it feels as if the floodgates have opened, the Mana starts pouring into Mori, her form rapidly stabilising, "I did it..." I sigh in relief.

Once Mori is stabilised I move over to Victor and repeat the process, it's a lot smoother this time except he requires more Mana, probably due to his bigger tank as an evolved Ghost.

Once done I just collapse against the edge of the pool, propping my tendrils on the edge as if I were in a hot tub. Raising my head to the sky I sigh and swear to myself that I will get stronger, strong enough to protect those close to me. "The sky is grey too huh... That's pretty bland."

——————————

After flying for as long as he could, Durke slowly lowered Eleanora to the ground before collapsing against a jagged rock shooting out from the sand.

"D..Durke, Aren h..he" stuttered Eleanora unable to hold the tears back as she collapsed to the ground.

"I know Mistress, he died a true man, protecting the one he loved and fulfilling his duty, he was a good man and an even better soldier." sighed Durke, taking out a small wooden sword he always secretly carried in his jacket, a toy he used to train his only son, Aren, when he was younger.

After sitting in silence for who knows how long, Durke turns his head to Eleanora slowly, finding it increasingly harder to move his body, "The mission... Mistress, we found the target... Report back... You hav..."

"Durke?... Answer me Durke, please" cried Eleanora, but all that greeted her was silence, a heart wrenching silence which threatened to tear the last of her sanity away from her. A few weeks ago she was just a simple chieftains daughter of the Plaga tribe, setting out to perform her first mission, this was supposed to be a simple scouting mission which should have taken no longer than a few weeks.

Crying until there were no tears left, Eleanora stood and made her way to Durkes body, grabbing a small blade from her boot she removed his horns before grabbing the small wooden sword. "I will get these back to your family Durke, as well as finish the mission, I swear it." she swore with determination before walking in the direction of her tribe to the east, not once looking back.

——————————

A couple weeks later and a few things have changed, for starters the rest of the guys have evolved.

Bell has become a Ghost like Victor, except she has taken on a reddish tint to her body, Ventura has become a Minor Spectre, his form elongating into a more humanoid shape with mist trailing behind him, his colour is still a pale grey except he has formed two bright white glowing eyes without pupils, and finally Mori has become a Minor Wraith, similar to Ventura she has become more humanoid except her colour is a sickly shade of green and it seems as if her body is covered in a gown.

I don't know why they have different forms without having a system like I have to give them choices, maybe it's based on their personailites or they somehow chose it themselves. Also I've noticed with Ventura and Mori both being minor varients like me, that they don't have appendages, luckily I learned 'Body Manipulation' because having these tendrils makes fighting so much easier.

After their evolutions I decided to have everyone get to know each others abilities to make combat easier, I'm worried that we haven't seen the end of those winged demons.

It turns out that Victor has the ability to shoot 'Acid Arrows' which corrode and poison enemies, he gained the spell when he evolved and managed to use them in the last fight to great effect. When I asked how many he could fire he answered that with his Mana reserves he could shoot dozens given enough time, a natural archer in the making.

Ventura used a spell called 'Blood Worms Den' which summons ethereal worms to drain the blood of anyone caught in their den, the mist that surrounds them, before finally exploding. Turns out he's the most intelligent of the group, able to use spells as a Minor Ghost, and after becoming a Minor Spectre he has learned a couple of curses such as 'Blindness' which will come in handy. He's more of a mage than the rest, which is a welcome addition.

Bell hasn't gained any spells apparently, however after a few tests it seems that she is insanely strong, able to throw both I and Victor with ease, for now I've given her the large hammer that the grey demon left behind, she seems to enjoy randomly swinging it around so we're lucky that the ground is as hard as steel here. I guess she's best suited to be the tank of the group, with that hammer and her strength even I would get crushed.

And lastly Mori, she is able to shift short distances using 'Phase', it's sort of like teleportation, however it takes a lot out of her apparently, also she has learned a spell called 'Deaths Decay' whereby anything she touches rapidly ages, quite a nasty little skill set she has. Combining the two skills she makes the perfect assassin, she also seems to have developed quite the sadistic personality, while hunting Minor Ghosts in the area she likes to play with her victims before death, R.I.P ghosties, you are in a better place.

Knowing all this I think we are better prepared for any other attacks, however it never hurts to be cautious, so while I train in the Mana pool I'm planning to send my followers out to recruit some new blood, I believe that in the same way I attracted them, they could attract others, it's time to increase our forces and start expanding outwards using this plateau as the center.

"Gather up! I want you all to head out and recruit some worthy soldiers to join us, I feel that we haven't seen the last of those winged demons.

Victor, I name thee Commander of the North.

Ventura, I name thee Commander of the South.

Bell, I name thee Commander of the East.

Mori, I name thee Commander of the West.

Go forth, and spread my influence across all directions!" I declare while releasing all the aura of death I could muster, causing the Mana mist floating in the air to distort and turn a shade darker.

"We shall comply!" shouted the four, practically quivering in excitement over their masters newfound ambition. Turning around they head towards their given direction to complete their master's wishes.