6 Chapter VI - Just a Hundred?

In a far, far away land covered in snow and tall trees with white leaves, Ultio stood with an amused expression while Hermes knelt beside him. This land was of course, the Plains of Nïx, where Ultio had ordered Hermes to patrol.

"Colour me impressed, Hermes," Ultio said with a small chuckle.

In a small clearing in the snowy plains, was a sky-high pile of bodies belonging to both humans, beasts and monsters.

"Just one question, though," Ultio said and glanced at Hermes. "Why are there so many humans?"

After a few seconds of silence, Hermes managed to speak his first words to his master. "My subordinate... Failed to be... Silent," He said in a young, smooth voice that was a little feminine. The voice previously belonged to the original Ultio, but it was now the voice of Hermes.

Name: Hermes

Level: 29

Rank: Shadow Commander

Class: Messenger of Death

Title 1: Death Runner

Title Bonus: +10 to speed attribute. 20% increase in damage while running. 50% critical chance while running.

Title 2: Speed of the gods

Title Bonus: +20 to speed. +35 to balance. +4 to luck.

Strength: 38

Speed: 50 (80)

Charisma: 20

Luck: 12 (16)

Sprint (SSS)

Fast Perception (SS)

Dash (SS)

Weapon Throw (S)

Air Walk (C)

Ultio was greatly pleased by Hermes' insane growth. And he was also certain that the shadow's speed increased so much because of he was constantly running or in motion, hence his speed attribute was being trained up the most. That also meant that strength would be quite easy to train, however, luck would be nearly impossible to train naturally.

Charisma on the other hand... Just stand in front of a crowd and look good. Or at least, that was Ultio's conclusion.

Focusing on Hermes' new skill, Ultio let out a chuckle as the information on that skill appeared in his head.

"Oh wow. You've been moving so fast that you've been granted a skill that seemingly slows down time for you, even when you're not running," Ultio said and patted Hermes' shoulder. "You did good, Hermes, you can rise to your feet now,"

The shadow nodded and rose to his feet, pride written all over his face from receiving praise from his master.

"Boss... There's something you need to see,"

Ultio followed Hermes, and his eyes widened when he stopped in front of large, winged corpse.

"After Boss told me to get... Crafting... Materials... I found this... Then I... Killed it," Hermes said with a small bow.

Indeed, after speaking with Eric, Ultio had told Hermes about his need for tough materials to make his outfit. He had done this through a telepathic link that connected Ultio to all his shadows.

"Wow. I am deeply impressed," Ultio said as the stared at the large, dark coloured Wyvern that lay dead in front of him with wide eyes.

"But damn, it's going to take a while to skin this,"

*****

Elsewhere in the Plains of Nïx, a figure stood in the camp of the Baal Shur army. This figure was the young woman who had spoken to the Golden Tyrant; Naara.

She stood in the captain's tent, carefully watching the old general who sat in front of a desk, with a large map spread out on the desk.

The middle aged man stroked his thin, long beard slowly as he pondered deeply on what he had just been told. "I wonder who this mysterious person is. If you are able to restrain them without killing them, I would also like to see this person after His Majesty,"

"Anyway, as you've said, I'll tell my men to pack up. Since there's no army for us to fight, I guess it's time for us to approach the Free Empire," The man said and got to his feet.

General Lu Cheng was a middle aged man of average height with a rotund shape. Despite his round stomach and bloated cheeks, he was still relatively good-looking in a mature way. But more importantly, his weight did not hinder his skill with a blade in any way.

Matter of fact, his class was Weapon master, which granted him extreme proficiency with any weapon he could lay his hands on– even if he had never held it before in his entire life.

"His Highness awaits good news," Naara said, before vanishing into thin air.

*****

It was already nighttime when Eric heard the bell above his door ringing, signalling Ultio's return.

He had spent the last few hours in silence with the shadow warrior, who had dragged Burek's corpse into the store after staring at everything curiously. However, he had no idea that the shadow only did that because Ultio had told him to do so through their telepathic link.

"Took you long enough," Eric said to Ultio, who was standing casually at the door.

The young man chuckled and smirked slightly. "Mister Midas... You're going to need a bigger workshop,"

Immediately, Eric understood the meaning behind Ultio's words. After all, he had worked with many powerful adventurers who would kill massive beasts in order to use their scales or skin to produce armour. Although he didn't know what animal Ultio had in store for him, he still knew that Ultio was right– he'll need a bigger workspace.

"I know a dwarven blacksmith that owns a forge outside the city. It's a little too close to the Lushwood Forest, so people hardly go there, but it should be large enough for this project," Eric said while getting up. As he draped a large woollen coat over his shoulders, Ultio asked a question.

"You would dare to use a dwarf forge without his permission?"

Eric chuckled and packed his instruments; his tape measure, his needles and threads, his scissors, and all his other sewing instruments, into a small bag. "He's a close friend, and he's given me the right to use his forge anytime I want. Plus, he should be there right now, and I want you to meet him,"

"Very well," Ultio said while eyeing Eric's instruments warily. He highly doubted a common pair of scissors would do much to the extremely tough hide of a Wyvern.

He was reconsidering placing this order with Eric Midas, but the blonde man's next words made him stop second-guessing his choice.

"Don't worry, I'm just packing these so the guards at the gate wouldn't get suspicious. Even though Nexus City is a part of the Free Empire, they still have the xenophobia of the Western Theocracy," Eric said laughingly and put a small, brown hat. "My real tools will be revealed at the forge, and even if I can't handle the material you bring in, Jourgen will,"

Ultio guessed that this 'Jourgen' individual was the owner of this forge. He didn't mind, really, as long as he got what he wanted. But there was one thing on his mind. "You mentioned something about guards at the gate, right? Can you... Elaborate on their duties?"

"What do you mean? Haven't you been passing the gate all this while?"

"Uh..." Ultio trailed off and scratched the back of his head. "Well... I've been going over the walls around the city,"

Eric facepalmed and sighed. While this was a shocking revelation, he still wasn't all that surprised. Ultio going over the walls instead of passing through the gate was actually weird and kind of funny compared to all the other things he had seen him do. "Let's just go. I'll explain their duties on the way,"

"Go on ahead, Mister Midas. I'll meet you there in a few minutes," Ultio said with a sigh. He had other things to do. The first of such, involved resurrecting certain bald thug.

"Suit yourself," Eric said with a shrug and left the store at a brisk pace. Unknown to him, the shadow soldier that had accompanied him for most of the day attached itself to his own shadow and disappeared into the umbra.

Ultio watched Eric go with his eyes, and when he was out of sight, he suddenly also took a step out of the store and spoke. "Come on out, gentlemen, we both know you can't hide from me,"

Seconds later, a few dozen thugs stepped out of the shadows. From their dressing and disposition towards Ultio, it was obvious that they were the thugs that served under Burek.

"Ah, finally, you've arrived," Ultio said with an odd smirk. "I thought you guys would sleep in the shadows,"

One of the thugs, who didn't know better stepped forward and began to insult Ultio. "Shut up, you ninny! We're here to avenge our boss, but if you quickly get on your knees and apologize to us, we'll just tie you up and sell you to a whore-house. With your pretty face, they'll take you in for at least a hundred gold,"

Ultio frowned as he felt thoroughly insulted. Just a hundred gold coins? He knew he was worth much more than that.

He eyed the thugs around with contempt and decided that they weren't worth fighting himself. So he turned to face Eric's store and said one word. At his command, the shadows nearby seemed to brighten as they lost their form for a moment to gather inside the store.

"Rise,"

A pair of light blue eyes pierced through the darkness of the store as Burek was resurrected.