Chapter 75: Military Base

Zaos phased through the door labeled 205 and entered the room.

At the moment, Almur had already changed out of his armor and lay on his bed. He pressed his face against his pillow causing the tears he shed to soak its fabric.

Zaos paid him no heed and instead cast an elemental weave to isolate all the sound in the room.

He exited his invisible state and walked over to Almur. The latter remained oblivious to Zaos' intrusion until Zaos grabbed him by the neck and pressed his short sword against his throat.

"I will be asking you a few questions, I want you to answer truthfully. As long as you do that, you won't experience any pain," Zaos declared with a cold smile.

Almur's depression was quickly replaced by fear as he gazed into Zaos' eyes. He quickly nodded, expressing his willingness to comply.

"Good. What's your name?" Zaos began his questioning.

"A-almur Mandevon," The fear-stricken dark elf stuttered.

"Do you have any siblings?" Zaos asked.

"...I did," Almur's expression became pained.

"How many and what were their names?" Zaos questioned.

"I only had a brother. His name was Jonik," Almur lowered his gaze as his eyes watered.

[Based on his earlier conversation with his companions, he doesn't seem to be lying,] Zaos nodded to himself before continuing the interrogation.

He asked a few more questions like his job, the names of his close companions and their features, his superiors' names and physical features, his habits, his techniques, and a few more personal details.

After gaining all the information he needed, Zaos smiled at Almur and said in a benevolent tone, "You have been of much help, as thanks, I will reunite you and your brother." Before Almur could react, Zaos snapped his neck.

Zaos then proceeded to undress Almur's body and study his physique meticulously. Slowly, his figure started to morph until he was a replica of Almur.

Gazing at his new form through the small silver mirror he had on him, Zaos nodded in satisfaction.

[I am slowly getting more proficient at shape-shifting,] Zaos smirked.

He shifted his attention to the corpse on the floor and smiled. He pointed his right hand at the corpse and from his open palm came a purple-black liquid that engulfed the body in a matter of seconds. By the time the substance retracted back into Zaos' palm, Almur's corpse was no longer on the floor.

Zaos then changed into Almur's clothes and lay on his bed.

[Although Almur isn't from the main camp, his identity is still useful. I only need to come in contact with some light mystics after all,] Zaos pondered on the information he had received from the deceased warrior.

According to Almur, there were a few smaller camps that defended the less likely entrances to the Dark-elf Tribe. These areas included swamps, rivers, mountains, and other treacherous terrain that could serve as entry points within the border of the tribe.

These locations usually remained untouched; however, in the past few months, there have been multiple attempted invasions in all of these areas.

The constant attacks led to a large amount of casualties piling up on the dark elves' sides since the enemy attacked with more troops and firepower than they could handle.

To honor the deceased warriors, the captain of Almur's base allowed a small group of elves with close connections to the deceased warriors to exit the base for a short period to properly grieve their companions. However, his true aim was to prevent the group of individuals' mental state from affecting the rest of the army.

There were two days left till the break ended. But, as the journey back required a minimum of a day and a few hours to complete, tonight was technically the last day.

[It's best to avoid Almur's friends tomorrow. Even with the information I learned about them, limiting our interactions will be for the better.

[Besides, It will be understandable if a depressed individual suddenly becomes detached from others so I won't have to worry about exposing myself due to this inconsistency in Almur's character,] Zaos speculated before shutting his eyes and going to sleep.

The next day, Zaos awoke early. He took a bath in the barrel of water left in his room and donned the metal armor exclusive to the Mandevon clan's warriors.

He had no plans to wait for Almur's companions, he instead wrote them a departing letter before heading to the base alone.

Exiting the room, Zaos made his way out of the inn. Unlike when he arrived at the city, Zaos didn't employ any concealment techniques and instead walked to the large gates in the walls.

The city guards cast gazes of admiration, jealousy, and respect on him as he arrived at the gate.

"Good day, Sir," The city guards at the gate saluted. In the hierarchy, the warriors of the guardian clans held higher ranks than regular city guards, with only a select few members of the city guards being of equal ranks or higher.

Zaos tersely responded before walking through the gates.

Once beyond the city walls, he began his trek towards the small base situated amidst a steep mountain expanse at the border.

Although Zaos was much faster than the elf rank Almur, he chose to limit his speed so he arrived at the location in a day. Even then, he still didn't enter the camp and instead, stealthily explored the area around it.

The base was built inside the mountains with only a few observation towers sticking out to the surface. At the foot of the mountain expanse within the territory of the Dark-elf Tribe, a secret tunnel was constructed that led to the military base. This made gaining access to the base much easier for recognized personnel as they weren't required to scale the steep and dangerous mountains.

[The battlefield should be beyond the mountain range…] Zaos was unable to view the situation beyond the mountain range but according to the information Almur had shared with him, it was a barren land with barely any vegetation in sight.

After familiarizing himself with the surroundings, Zaos headed to the secret tunnel that led to the base.

The tunnel was hidden behind a false stone wall which was opened by inserting a metal key into the inconspicuous keyhole in the wall.

Zaos followed the procedure to open the door before proceeding into the spacious tunnel.

Similar to his experience in the Larek City's tunnels, Zaos felt danger coming from the walls of the tunnel. However, the feeling was much weaker and almost negligible.

[Are the traps in the tunnel weaker or is it something else?] Zaos became more cautious as he walked through the tunnel.

Yet, immediately after he exited the tunnel, the feeling disappeared.

[Weird…] Zaos thought as he slowly made his way to the main section of the base.