"Sorry, boy, you scare the aurox," I said. Wilson looked at me and whined faintly. "It's probably the smell?" He sniffed his right foot and looked up before cocking his head to the side and giving me a look that made our link unnecessary.

"I know what my feet smell like," I muttered, pointedly not looking at my bare soles. "Go on. I'll get this done, then come join you back at the edge of the advance." Glimpse was keeping an eye on things twenty miles to our southwest, so I was confident I had time for what I suspected would either be a nightmarish conversation or a remarkably easy one. Fay was a bit temperamental, and with her ability to snap spear shafts with two fingers, I was trying very hard to stay on the good side of her baby-brain.

As the wolf raced out to the slowly moving town's flanks to go hunt deer, I threaded my way through the rumbling wagons. The fighting portion of the army could travel fast. The wagons were going to slow us down, but there wasn't much that could be done about it. Most armies had supply chains from friendly territory; I had a mobile-friendly territory instead. But it was slow and needed plenty of fodder for the animals. The Legion could outmarch their own herds, and my nomad cavalry could easily run far ahead, but then getting the meat and materials they would need would be far more challenging.

As it was, I had feral Huskar spread out along the southern edges of the herds, keeping our aurox and mammoths safe. For various definitions of safe. They were all Soulbound and instructed not to touch any animals that belonged to the tribes, but how were they really going to know if a stray cow was already claimed?

The wagons trundled steadily onwards, and I slipped through them until I found the one marked with my red banners close to the centre of the formation. I jumped up at the rear and immediately leapt back down to avoid a spear thrust into the space where I'd appeared.

"Permission to come aboard?" I called as I walked behind the wagon.

"Granted!" called Haylin.

I climbed up more carefully this time and wasn't greeted by a whir of steel.

"Ladies," I said respectfully. Half the coven was in this wagon, enough firepower to obliterate a major town, all of them eying me suspiciously, except for Fay, who shot me a grin then eyed me suspiciously.

"We're working on the spatial tear rings, love," Fay said. Iron rings were being methodically pulled from a bag in the centre of the tent and enchanted, then put into a variety of smaller bags depending on what spell was enchanted into the item.

"I was actually wondering who in the coven has the most mana? I want a trusted woman who can head back to Hellath, take the golem cores up north, then come back with a squad of automatons. They need lots of mana for the crafting part, plus the materials," I said as I settled my backside on the raised wall of the wagon's rear.

Looking down at the coven, I felt a strange sense of pride in what we'd accomplished with the tribes. The changes had been subtle at first, but now the respect shown to the women of the tribes was rather more than the formality it had been before. These women still scared the shit out of me; they took the balls of outsiders and cut off heads to make footballs. Haylin was scowling at me, and despite my close relationship with her husband, I got the feeling she'd happily beat me black and blue at the slightest perceived insult.

"I do," Haylin said. Maybe that was why she'd been scowling at me? "I do not wish to head back to the barrow." Her voice was final. Asking Jandak to lean on her would no doubt be a bad idea.

"Are there two women whom you all trust that I could give Souls to? If they're willing to put most of them just into levels and boosting their mana reserves, that is?" This question put a snake into the stable. Names were called out, dismissed, insulted, and supported in a barrage I could barely keep track of. Within two minutes, multiple separate arguments were ongoing, and the babble of voices was washing over me like I was in a busy bar back on Earth.

"I don't need an answer now!" I shouted, and the hubbub died down a little, but Haylin was still fiercely arguing with a lady whose name I'd forgotten. The other lady was convinced Haylin should just do it, and Haylin was adamant she was spending her time running back and forth delivering bronze toys to the army. "Haylin! Whoever makes the golems controls them. If you did do it, you'd have to be at the front from then on. Barring going back to expand your little army." Bad move, Ray. Her eyes had locked on me, and she moved like a striking viper. In a fraction of a second, she'd clamped a hand on my arm, crouched in front of me.

"Give me more Souls, I'll make you an army!" she hissed fiercely.

"Ahem," Fay loudly simulated a cough, and Haylin snatched her hand off my skin.

"I think it might be best if I-" Fay began.

"Not you! You stay with the army until our child is born," I said firmly. Her eyes flashed, but a slight smile lifted one corner of her mouth.

"Then I suggest we rotate the coven through. Haylin, you can go first. Please wait until we reach the camp tonight so you can say your farewells to Jandak. She'll be given an escort?" Fay switched her gaze back to me.

"Of course. A squad of Huskars and some cavalry. Haylin, how far along are you?" I asked, noting her cradling a hand over her stomach.

"A few weeks only. I can still run and ride!" she replied defiantly.

"Fine. Send Haylin first. Forging the golems will take a few days, so you'll be away for several weeks. Grabel will go next, then we can cycle through the rest. By that time, we'll probably be outside Settal if it hasn't fallen already," Fay issued orders like she'd been born to do so.

"Once the coven is all controlling squads of golems, we can look at raising more of you witches!" I smiled, intending it as a joke, but only got scowls in response until Fay laughed and moved over to me.

"Husband, never call a woman a witch. Even if she is one!" The last part was called over her shoulder, and the coven laughed. "I'm looking forward to stopping this evening. How far until the camp?"

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"Another few hours, the outriders and the Huskar skirmishers are already on site." I checked with Glimpse, and sure enough, the advanced elements were already building a large enclosed space with a ditch and solid palisade while cavalry circled around to ensure nothing could approach them.

"Thank Aresk for cushions!" She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Run along, Warlord, I'm sure you've got better things to be doing than scheming with witches!" She shoved me backwards, and I landed flat on my back as howls of laughter exploded from the wagon. I'd have to owe her for that…

I picked myself up, dusting off the muck from my tunic as much as I could, then jogged through the lines of wagons until I was far enough ahead to call over Wilson so we could hurry and catch up with the main force.

As we bounded along, devouring the ground between the support elements and the fighting forces, I felt an itch at the back of my mind growing even stronger. What were we going to face when we met Mortimer's real forces? As it was, assuming I didn't fight fair, I could steamroll his entire army. And I certainly wouldn't play fair if it came down to it.

Mortimer didn't strike me as the kind of person to let any of his followers get anything close to his own level of power. He'd have some very strong followers, but they'd all be an order of magnitude weaker than he was. I was very confident on this point. But the gods had made it clear he didn't need to kill to get Souls; he used some other method for harvesting. He could be at about my current level, or he could be so far past me, even if we fought our way through everything he could throw at us, the bastard would still be able to slaughter however many of us survived.

I pulled up my status screen and sighed, just under forty thousand Souls. I had no idea what I'd be capable of if I spent them all on myself. Would it be enough to counter whatever was waiting for us?

I still had other demands on my Souls. The weekly purchasing of mana and health potions cost a few thousand every seven days, so I needed to keep enough in reserve to cover that expenditure until I could get another windfall in a battle. It was a safe bet it would take a lot longer to get the coven golems than it would for us to stumble into our next major battle, so I wrote that cost off for now. With a gulp, I started levelling up and praying I was making the right choice.

Level 130

Primary Stats: Body: S Mind: B- Soul: B

Available Souls: 32008

Secondary Stats

Physical strength: 60 Reflexes: 60 Health: 600

Magic strength: 30 Focus: 30 Mana: 620

Affinity: Fire

Summon fire: Range- 104 metres, Intensity- +156%, lasts 15 seconds

Fire Resistance- +100%

Projectile: Speed- +60%, Detonation- 11.5 metres cubed.

Fire Wall: Area- 20 metres squared. lasts 15 seconds

Barrier: 220 HP, Area: 5 metres squared

Fire Spirit: duration 110 seconds

Burning Skies: Area- 50x50m, duration 15 seconds

Affinity: Life

Heal (self): 20HP and 156% increased recovery rate for one hour. Seals moderate wounds.

Enhancement (self): 98%,

Resistance (all): 60%

Projectile: Speed- +156%, (heal other)

Rapid Growth: Area- 20 metres squared.

Projectile: Speed- +156% (Enhance Other).

Shapeshift (Minor): Duration- 110 seconds

Shape Soulbound Servant: Permanent. Maximum 1 shaped servant.

Affinity: Space

Size: range- 54 metres, Intensity- 58%

Mass: range- 54 metres, Intensity- 58%

Area: 10.5m cubed (optional) lasts 15 seconds

Resistance: 100%

Pocket Dimension: 5.5m cubed

Spatial Tear: Range- 11 metres

Affinity: Earth

Shape Earth: Range - Touch, Duration 15 seconds

Summon Earth: Volume: 0.5 metres squared, Range Touch

Refresh Earth: Area 0.5 Metres squared.

Hybrid Spell (Earth/Fire): Volcanic Vent: Area: 50x50m, Duration 15 seconds

Imbue

Enchant

Soul Transfer

Aresk's Boon: Carrion Feeders Gaze.

Aresk's Boon: Divine Steed

Synthesised Spell: Shape Soulbound Servant.

My flesh tightened as all my Body statistics made it into the S rank. I slid off Wilson very carefully as I had no wish to hurt him accidentally. The spells were a letdown. The bloody system seemed to be filling in the weaker early-tier spells for the Earth Affinity rather than giving me something new and interesting. I could now summon a lump of dirt at any point on my body and… act as a walking fertilizer factory. Fuck you, system, I did that naturally every time I took a dump.

"I'll race you, boy!" I called as I tested my new capabilities and tore ahead of the wolf, who barked and started sprinting to catch me. He caught up about ten minutes later after I stopped to run through some of the fighting forms I'd imported from old Earth and a few I'd learned in my new world.

I blurred when I moved now. The air snapped into the vacuum created by my limbs kicking and punching with audible cracks. This was enough. I'd use most of the rest of my Souls to give as many of my cavalry as possible a single level. I should be able to do fourteen hundred of them and have enough Souls left in the bank to cover a couple of weeks of potion buying. Although maybe just thirteen hundred and ninety-nine enhanced cavalry would be better...

I'd leapt onto Wilson's shoulders as he raced by me with ease. My new reflexes made the timing a doddle. I sent him an offer and he accepted it.

"I'd recommend Life as your first affinity, Wilson!" I called out as we tore across the steppe in the wake of my army.

The sun was still high in the sky when we caught up with the main body of my troops. The Legion loped along with booming strides, and the cavalry trotted along to keep pace. The column of over ten thousand Huskar stretched back over several miles, and a long sinuous mass of giants with clumps of cavalry and a few thousand strong scattered to either side of it. The chariots, originally my terror weapons, had been consigned to vanity vehicles for the chiefs and kings of the nomads. They rode in a tight formation at the head of the Legion as a mark of honour.

Glimpse had circled back to fly above us, and I called him down to my shoulder. I followed in the wake of my troops riding a giant bronze wolf, with an overgrown eyeball-aficionado of a crow perched on the midnight black pauldron on my right shoulder, all while wearing a broad, foolish smile on my face.

We trailed along behind the army, darting off from side to side as Wilson spotted a deer or a wild aurox that the feral Huskar leading the way had missed. He didn't hunt like a regular creature anymore; he simply charged after whatever he saw until he brought it down with a snap of his jaws. I inevitably went flying as his momentum shifted at the moment of the kill, but at this point, with six hundred health points and an S-class body, I did more damage to the ground than it could do to me.

As the army wound into the camp awaiting it, I found Kril arguing with a gaggle of chiefs. Calpakter and Jagapan both backed him up, but the others were all complaining about the long marches.

"Ah, let's ask the boss, shall we! Aresk's sacred trousers, Mond, S-ranked body?" he finished in a squawk.

"Yep, and I'm going to do something about getting more cavalry with at least a single level before we meet the real opposition. You lot-" I glared at the chiefs and kings while fighting down the urge to flick the bonds tying them to me and forcing them to quit complaining, "- are about to get a low-level but broad upgrade. I need fourteen hundred or so of your best to boost. It won't be much, but when we meet Urkash's real forces, every little bit is going to help."

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