Chapter 27: Preperation

After Annie and Jakob awoke, Thalion transformed into a shadowstalker and began to move to another cross on the map. He discovered one lucky thing: his map was updated every day, as if it were connected with a cloud or some similar technology. After an hour of travel through the undergrowth of the jungle, he came to a small field teeming with Midnight Sunroses.

"This is just perfect," he thought. There were even four people, all from Veridara, with no slaves in sight. He was currently hiding behind flowers of an ivy glowing in pink bioluminescence. Thalion watched patiently for three hours as the workers harvested Midnight Sunroses, sometimes complaining about why no slave could do this task.

After they finished and had all the flowers with a level over 19 in their spatial rings, they turned to leave but didn’t get far as a giant beast attacked them. After killing the workers, which was not that hard, those ambush attacks were just so efficient that only one could wound him, and it was already healing. He transformed into his human form and fed them to the sanguine thorn, which was pretty upset since he hadn't fed it yesterday with all the beasts he had killed on the grassland near the river.

Next, he checked out their spatial rings. First, he built a small hill out of flowers. Besides the flowers and their weapons, the spatial storage was empty. Ah, but they did have another map that was identical to the one he had. It took him way longer to eat those flowers than the last one; it probably had to do with them being of a higher level. With that, he put the drained corpses in his spatial ring and made his way back to the grassland.

Annie and Jakob had been fighting for hours against everything, but it had paid off; they both had reached level 23. They started with bonespike boars; next were some cursed wolves. Those were wild, and you had to watch out not to breathe in the mist, but a water wave reliably cleared the air of any poison. She had gained a movement ability that allowed her to surf on a tidal wave, which was so cool. The only downside was that it didn't last long, and the mana cost was high. Jakob had something similar, where the earth under his feet moved in the direction he wanted.

Jakob also got another skill that hardened his fists, and another where he shot out a rock spike from the ground, which gave him the ability to strike at the soft underbelly of most beasts. They both watched peacefully as the beasts fed on grass. The only peculiar thing they noticed was that mudwallers were afraid of the water, only entering the shallow shores and never going deeper despite their strength. Annie suspected that a strong creature was hiding in the depths of the river, but it didn’t matter for them anyway; they would never risk their lives like that.

Then they saw it: a massive ship moving up the river. The whole ship was made of some kind of blue metal and had no sails. How was it moving so fast against the river? On deck, she saw her owner. The young woman with the blond hair and blue eyes. They had probably found the cuffs and were now traveling upstream to search for some clues. She motioned for Jakob to lie down, and she spotted how someone pointed at the dead animals. Her heart sank as the ship stopped. Multiple people were now observing the grassland. Jakob used a spell to bury them a bit so there was no way they could be spotted. After a while, the ship continued its journey upstream.

Jakob and Annie both breathed out, relieved. This could have ended badly.

"Let’s not go for another round of hunting; they may come back," Jakob said worriedly.
"I agree. Let’s move back to the tree," Annie responded.

Nerissa's fury was a palpable force, a storm of anger that threatened to consume everything in its path. The day had been a series of humiliations and setbacks, each one stoking the fire of her wrath. First, the delay meant they had to wait an entire day to travel upstream because more slaves had gone missing. The mere thought of those wretched creatures escaping her grasp was enough to make her blood boil.

She had taken every precaution, yet somehow, these pathetic humans had managed to slip away. Their audacity infuriated her. Even more infuriating was the fact that they had thrown their slave cuffs into the river, severing the only means she had to track them. The river’s current had carried the cuffs far downstream, out of her reach, and with them, any hope of recapturing the slaves.

Nerissa stood at the edge of the riverbank, her eyes narrowing as she watched the water flow lazily past. The sunlight glinted off the surface, mocking her with its serene beauty. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as she imagined the slaves’ terrified faces. They would pay for this, every last one of them. They were weak, insignificant creatures, and yet they had dared to defy her. It was unforgivable.

At least the hunt had provided her with some small satisfaction. The river had been teeming with beasts, and she had taken out her frustrations on them, slaughtering several of the largest creatures that dared to cross her path. Their blood had stained the water a deep crimson, and their lifeless bodies had drifted downstream, feeding the cycle of life in the jungle. The kills had been satisfying, and the experience gained from them brought her closer to her next evolution. But even that victory was tainted by the knowledge that it wasn’t the slaves she had killed, but mere beasts.

Earlier, when she had reached the grassland, she had found the carcasses of several large creatures scattered about, their bodies broken and torn apart. It had puzzled her at first, but she quickly dismissed the notion that the slaves could have been responsible. They were far too weak to have taken down such formidable beasts. Someone or something else was hunting in these lands. But who? Or what?

Nerissa’s thoughts churned as she barked orders to her subordinates. "We’re turning back. Head to the city," she commanded, her voice cold and authoritative. The soldiers and lesser mages around her snapped to attention, quickly relaying her orders. They knew better than to cross her when she was in this mood.

The journey back to the city would take the better part of the day, and in three days, they would teleport to the next stage. The prospect of moving on to the next stage should have filled Nerissa with anticipation, but instead, it was laced with irritation. They couldn’t take the slaves with them, which meant they would have to dispose of them before teleportation.

Killing them all would be a logistical nightmare. There were too many slaves, and if they realized their fate, they might resist or flee, making the job even more difficult. The thought of those useless humans causing her any more trouble was intolerable. She needed to ensure that the process was efficient, quick, and left no loose ends.

Nerissa's mind was already calculating the steps she would need to take. They would need to gather the slaves in one place, under the guise of preparing them for transport. She would have her most trusted lieutenants oversee the operation, ensuring that the slaves were disarmed, isolated, and utterly hopeless before the killing began. No mercy would be shown. Mercy was for the weak, and Nerissa was anything but weak.

As they made their way back through the dense jungle, Nerissa's mood grew darker with each passing hour. The jungle was alive with the sounds of distant roars, the rustling of leaves, and the occasional cry of some unfortunate creature meeting its end. But beneath it all, there was a tension, a sense that something was watching, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Nerissa dismissed it as paranoia. She had more pressing concerns. She needed to focus on the task at hand, eliminating the slaves and preparing her forces for the next stage. But no matter how much she tried to push it aside, the feeling lingered, like a shadow at the edge of her consciousness.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of one of her lieutenants, a tall, imposing man named Varik. He approached her with a respectful bow, his face a mask of professionalism, but there was an undercurrent of unease in his eyes.

"My lady," Varik began, his voice low and cautious, "the preparations for the slave disposal are underway, but there’s been... a development."

Nerissa’s eyes narrowed, her patience already worn thin. "What kind of development?"

"Reports from our scouts indicate that the group of slaves who escaped may have had outside help. We found traces of powerful magic near the area where they were last seen. Magic that doesn’t match anything they could have produced themselves."

Nerissa’s anger flared anew, but this time it was tempered by curiosity. "Magic, you say. What kind?"

"Unknown," Varik admitted, "but strong. It’s possible that another force is at play here, something or someone we haven’t encountered before."

Nerissa’s mind raced. Could this be the same force that had slaughtered the beasts on the grassland? Whoever or whatever it was, it had power, and it was interfering with her plans. That was unacceptable.

"Find out who or what is responsible," Nerissa ordered, her voice as cold as ice. "And when you do, bring them to me. I want to know who dares to meddle in my affairs."

Varik bowed again, his expression grim. "As you command, my lady."

As he departed to carry out her orders, Nerissa turned her gaze back to the jungle, her eyes narrowing with determination. Whoever was behind this would soon learn the price of crossing her. She would crush them, just as she would crush anyone who stood in her way.

The days ahead would be filled with blood and death, and Nerissa was more than ready to unleash her wrath upon those who had dared to defy her.