28. The mistress

It took a few minutes later for the group of three to sit outside the others. The remaining soldiers were kind enough to carry all the dead mutants to them.

After the group sat silently on the ground to begin absorbing, Luke whispered: "Gab, are you retarded? Haven't you noticed that she is a member of the royal family? Haven't you been told how dangerous they can be?"

Gab flinched at his questions. In the end, he dared to ask: "We have a royal family in this country?" Evie and Luke just looked at each other speechless for a brief moment before they both sighed. It took a few moments for Evie to just ask: "Were you serious about that just now?"

Gab replied quietly: "Yes. I just knew we were paying taxes to the country. But I thought we were paying it to the mages."

"Well, that explains a lot. Well, remember. Whenever you see this emblem, you have to pay respect to the person. Actually, you don't have to, but it's always better if you do it. We never know how moody such a person can be," Luke stated and Gab swallowed. "Never look such a person directly in the eye. Stronger as well as more influential people can see it as: ["We are on equal footing."]," Evie interjected while making gestures.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it and thank you for stepping in," were the only words that left Gab's mouth. "It's okay. I was just afraid for a moment that she was going to execute you for saying that," Evie whispered to Gab while briefly squeezing his hand. "Don't worry, I'll survive," Gab responded with a smile.

Luke, who was watching the two, said, "Well, bon appétit." The two returned and began absorbing.

From a distance, a girl sitting on a raised chair was watching the group of three teenagers.

One of the soldiers at her side, wearing blue armor, remarked: "Such barbarians," while aiming with his loaded bow at Gab. "Mistress should I fire at him for disrespecting you," the soldier asked. "No. It looks like he has no idea who I am," she replied, shaking her head. "Okay, that's funny," he replied with a chuckle.

"Never mind. We should keep an eye on the three of them. Their actions scream that we should kill them, but they could be useful. We should wait before killing them," the girl commented, and the man pulled down his bow.

"As my mistress wishes," he replied and bowed.

All the blood flowed in Gab's direction and got absorbed by the tattoo on his chest. Meanwhile, Gab noticed how the rune tattoo was changing more and more. "I don't know if this is supposed to be a good sign or a bad sign," went through his mind. "Anyway, I should focus on absorbing. Let's see how much stronger it makes me this time," Gab muttered to himself.

It took Gab a few hours to finish absorbing everything. By now, he had absorbed the blood of about fifty mutants. "I definitely got faster, but I would estimate that I'm around 30% faster compared to before absorbing them," Gab told the others. Luke, who eagerly listened to Gab, was flexing his armor again.

Gab noticed that as the number of absorbed mutants increased, so did the complexity of his armor. The bones of the armor seemed to be more robust, not only in the way they encased his body but also in the bones themselves. It also seemed as if the gaps in Luke's armor also became smaller to nonexistent.

The color of the bones only became paler. Luke literally glowed slightly in the dark. Furthermore, Luke also created a bone lance with sharp hooks so that no one could escape from him.

"Luke, you are the last person I wish to fight," Gab commented, and Luke just laughed. "What good is my armor if I can't even touch our lightning boy anytime soon," he remarked back. Gab and Evie had to chuckle at his answer.

Evie, on the other hand, became more muscular, while also becoming more beautiful. But one thing is for sure. In arm wrestling, only Evie can win.

"It looks as if our bodies got better with absorbing biological masses," Evie said. "You're right. Compared to the last two times, we've gained less weight," Luke agreed.

From a distance, the girl only commented, " They really absorbed all the mutants. What do you think they are?" The soldier in blue armor only replied, "I only know that their characteristic makes them less human. I think the tower took pity on them and gave them this ability. Oh look they are coming towards us."

20 seconds later, the group of three came back and bowed slightly. The girl nodded only to show them to stand up. "What is your plan," she asked while sipping water from a goblet. "Mistress our plan is to clean the first floor of mutant scum. We also want to unite the remaining human groups under our lord," Luke said as nicely as possible. "A noble goal indeed. I admire your selflessness," she commented. "Thank you," the three replied in unison. "Who is this lord you just spoke of," she asked out of curiosity. "It is Odebus. The guardian of the lower floors," Luke told them without hiding anything.

"Well, well, well, the Guardians seem to be starting to take care of this huge problem. Well, I wish you good luck. My troops and I are also planning to clean the first floor. I wish you good luck and accept this emblem as my thanks. I doubt how many people in the tunnel will respect this emblem, but maybe it will help you later," she said. The soldier in blue armor handed each of the three an emblem with the sign of the royal family. "Do you actually need anything else," he asked before the group could say goodbye. "No thanks we don't..." Before Evie could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Gab. "Your Majesty, I'm sorry, but could you donate us some quivers of arrows if it is possible," Gab asked. Luke looked at Gab in horror for a moment.

"All right, then. Consider it a small investment," the girl stated with a sigh. "Thanks, you mistress," Gab said before dropping to his knees in gratitude.