"Wash first!" she snapped as I opened the door to follow her into our tent. I looked at the barrel of cold water next to me and grimaced. I stripped off and began scrubbing the soot off my skin. Once I was done and dressed, I entered and found the tent smelled far more herbal than was the norm. The tea Fay had brewed smelled bitter, and the dark liquid swirled in a bowl as she carefully passed it to me. We were comfortably out of sight, although I remained conscious that the felt walls were far from soundproof.

"Drink, Ray," she said softly as she went and sat on the edge of our bed. I settled cross-legged by the central fire, concealing my winces. Some of the chiefs now lined the inside of their tents with ivory carvings, metal statues and steel weapons. I had kept the furnishings in my tent as simple as they had been just after we broke with the Areskyn.

I did as I was bidden, and the taste was amply foreshadowed by the smell of the stuff.-

"What is it?" I asked, waving the cup.

"Hellas weed, ched and a few rarer herbs." She replied, and I glanced down. Hellas was something like marijuana, from what Kril had told me. "Not enough to do more than take the edge off your pain. Don't worry!" She sighed and hitched herself back on the bed; her bump had grown to the point that it was an annoyance for her. She wasn't due for a few more months. I racked my memory and concluded I should ask one of the Fangs to confirm the due date, rather than my wife.

"We need a strategy to deal with these monsters Urkash has made," I said, taking another long sip. The pain wasn't so bad I couldn't function but something to take the edge off was appreciated.

"A strategy that doesn't involve you almost dying? I agree!" she said with a wry smile. "What will you do differently next time? Maybe that's a good place to start," she said thoughtfully, rubbing a hand on her stomach. I moved over and settled behind her on the bed and began rubbing her shoulders. She flexed like a cat as she pulled her hair out of the way, and my fingers dug carefully into the muscles.

"Stand off and nuke it? It might work? The bloody thing knew how to deal with projectiles, flicking out tendrils to detonate them early. It was making decisions to lose small parts of its body to preserve the bulk. The thing was… smart."

"A bit to the left? That's it." She sighed as she guided my thumbs to the aches in her shoulders. "So they're intelligent. How would that fight have gone if the abomination had had support from soulbound or Urkash's cadre of wizards and their trinkets?"

"It would have been a nightmare," I conceded reluctantly. "That's one of the reasons I want a group of assassins. They can sneak in and hit groups of casters before the fight begins."

"That's a good idea, but you need more casters of your own. I noticed the Fangs have all become much stronger. You got a lot of Souls from the creature?" She rolled her head over to the left and leaned back against my hands with her right shoulder.

I spent twenty thousand to pass her ten thousand. Sixty-four thousand left… Her Body jumped to B, and her Mind stat went all the way to S-.

"Here," I said as I pulled three of the Pure Mana Potions from my storage space and passed them over her shoulder.

"Don't stop," she mumbled as she took the potions from me, wiggling her shoulders. "What are your plans for the rest?"

"I'll give the same to Kril, then share a few more thousand out among the warriors. So, twenty for Kril, maybe twenty for the tribes… That leaves me with twenty for myself. The next one of those things we stumble on is going to get nuked." My voice was flat and cold.

"That's better than you having to burn your way out of its stomach!" She chuckled in a throaty voice. "Twenty thousand should boost you a fair bit?"

"It wasn't its stomach. The thing didn't have a stomach. It was changing and mutating all the time," I muttered. "Twenty K won't go so far now. Did you hit level one hundred?" she nodded her head. "So you saw the jump in costs. It won't take me much further. On the plus side, the gods let slip that the others can't harvest Souls like I do, so Aresk-willing, I've closed most of the difference."

"If you can grow so quickly, why not them? It might not be from killing, but surely they can grow in a similar fashion?" she asked. She stood and moved to the fire to refill my bowl of "tea". She passed it over and sat down next to me while I got lost in my own head.

"You make a good point," I admitted reluctantly after a minute or so. "I can't assume I'm going to go into this with a level advantage. What would you recommend?" I had a feeling I knew what the answer would be, and I wasn't disappointed.

"Empower the coven! You've got a dozen casters who are already quite strong and, more importantly, experienced with their magic!" she added quickly, fixing my eyes with a fierce stare.

"I thought they were too busy churning out trinkets to practice?" I answered with a grin. She slapped my arm gently.

"A woman always finds a way to get what she wants. Something you should bear in mind!" Another slap on the god-mark that left me rubbing the handprint she left behind.

"Hey! I'm injured here!" I complained before realising my mistake.

"And whose fault is that?" she snapped. "Love, you are the glue that binds our bow. Without you, the Legion will head back north, the wild Huskar will become, well… wild again, and the tribes will disappear into the steppe. You cannot take unnecessary risks." She grabbed my ears and shook my head back and forth. I rubbed my ears as she let go and went back to her witch's brew over the fire.

The first step was obvious; I spent four thousand Souls and unlocked the new spells I'd received at level one hundred in the Life and Space affinities. Shape Vegetation seemed likely to have a good synergy with Rapid Growth, and Major Shapeshift promised to unlock all my childhood fantasies about transforming into a chimaera, for a whopping ten seconds at a time. But coupling that with Titanic Majesty that I had unlocked in Space could let me transform into a true monster… for a more than disappointing ten seconds.

I spent another twenty thousand Souls and smiled in satisfaction at my affinity screen.

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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

Combustion: Self. Duration: 14 seconds. Cast once per day.

Wildfire: Duration: 14 seconds. Cast once per day.

Affinity: Life

Heal (self): 20 HP 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 metre squared.

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

Shapeshift (Minor): Duration- 110 seconds

Shape Soulbound Servant: Permanent. Maximum 2 shaped servants.

Shape Vegetation: Range- Touch, Duration 10 seconds.

Major Shapeshift (self): duration 14 seconds. Cast once per day.

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

Phase: Duration- 14 seconds. Cast once per day.

Titanic Majesty: Duration- 14 seconds, Cast once per day.

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.

I needed to get outside and try some things out. I pulled a couple of mana potions out of my storage space and triggered my pauldrons' Rejuvenation power.

"I'm just going to find Kril and give him some Souls. I'll save twenty thousand for the coven!" I promised as I stood up stiffly and moved towards the tent flap.

"Take this, fool man!" Fay said as she rose to her feet, even more painfully than I had, and offered me another bowl of tea and THC. I took it and drained the contents, blowing out steam as the near-boiling liquid made its way into my stomach. A comfortable warmth spread out through my body this time, and I smiled as the pain faded away. She kissed me gently, cupping my cheek in her hand, then shoved me away. "Don't do anything stupid, Ray!" she called lightly as she turned back to the pot over the fire.

"I'm pretty sure pregnant women shouldn't drink that stuff. It's common knowledge in my homeworld!" I added hurriedly as she looked up to glare at me. She nodded slowly.

"I will bear it in mind, Ray. Go on. I'll summon the coven later. I'm guessing we don't need to worry about saving Souls for Haylin, by the time she's back with the new golems, there'll have been some more killing!" The bright and sunny way she said it forced me to appreciate how different the people of this world were from those back home. I wasn't sure I could even think of Earth as home anymore, if I was being honest with myself.

I found Kril bickering with the Fangs, the tribal leaders led by Jagapan and Calpakter. Nuk and my titans were representing the non-Legion Huskar, and it was degenerating into a shouting match.

"Hey! What's the fucking problem!" I snarled as I approached the wide circle of my allies.

"There are dozens of towns between here and Settal, Legate. If we are to face the kind of opposition you fought today at every one, we need a better strategy than 'just eat the stunties' or 'burn them with magic.'" Bon replied, pushing his helmet back above his eyes slightly.

"Agreed. We'll give them a chance for humans to withdraw, then we burn them. Any zombies or amalgams under the ground will get cooked," I replied.

"What if they won't leave?" asked Kril, but he was smiling broadly as though he already knew my answer.

"Urkash used the people they left in Gethanel as living bombs. They run away from us or they die, for now. When we reach the larger towns, we can see how things were at that time. Kril, with me, please. The rest of you, prepare to march tomorrow. We push south to Settal now, anything that gets in our way gets stomped." Mulius and Marbo both boomed out evil chuckles.

Kril fell in beside me as I headed out of the camp. The Fangs also joined me, and Bob had appeared as if from nowhere as well.

"I only asked for Kril," I said.

"We're not letting you out of our sight again, Mond. You're too stupid not to have someone keeping an eye on you," said Kos.

"So you're going to be in my tent when I'm with Fay?" I asked.

"No, Jandak gets that duty!" he smirked back at me. Well, that backfired.

"What's got you all excited?" Kril asked. I offered him a hand and he shook my wrist. I took the opportunity to pass him the same Souls I had for the Fangs. His eyes went blank for a minute, then he started cackling.

"We need to find some more of those things!" Kril crowed. I shook my head firmly.

"I'd rather not, but we probably will anyway. Between you, this bunch of reprobates and the coven, we should be able to deal with them a bit better next time. I'm just out here to try something new." We had passed outside the camp and were walking into the steppe. Cavalry patrols were moving around in the distance, and squads of Legionnaires were spreading out after them over the

"So what did you want to try out?" asked Jandak.

"This." I cast Titanic Majesty. Once per day, no Mana cost. Very nice. Then I cast Size and became nearly half as tall again. I now towered over twenty metres tall, even Mulius would have to crane his head back to look me in the face. Then I cast Major Shapeshift and turned into a multi-headed snake. Shape Earth was activated, and I disappeared into the ground as a true wyrm. The soil parted before me, and I erupted out of the dirt thirty feet away. I towered over everyone, three fang-filled maws spitting fury at the sky. I coiled my new body, then called the earth to lift me up above the surface, poised to strike out any puny mortal beneath me and–

I reverted back to my human form, my sword, pauldron and tunic reappearing over my skin. Unfortunately, my traditional body solidified into being in the approximate centre of the snake, and I lost contact with the soil. The column dissolved, fell to the earth, and I followed quickly after it.

"Ouch!" I muttered as I rubbed my hip, rising back to my feet.

"Well, if we're trying out stupid shit… might as well have some fun!" said Kos as he dissolved into a spider with too many legs and he scuttled around in a circle, blasting the ground with spikes of ice that left us surrounded by a miniature, doughnut-shaped glacier. The others started indulging their new powers as well. They flowed between monstrous forms and blasting magic around like they were kids with water pistols.

"You know you're a bad influence?" Kril muttered once the explosions and blasts had died away, and the Fangs stood looking slightly sheepish at the destruction they had carved out around us.

"Survivability against undead amalgams has risen by sixteen per cent," rumbled Bob. "This is a satisfactory upgrade to your team."

"A bit more than that, surely?" said Kos in a worried voice.

"With Golem support, you could increase that by a couple more percentiles. Why do you not keep your golems nearby?" Bob replied in his mechanical version of Aresk's voice.

"Uh, they're a bit… weird?" Jandak muttered.

"Weird and dangerous. You should embrace the blessing of the war god. Aresk's Source has been hidden for centuries," Bob intoned.

"Shit! I need to quiz Bon about the last games!" I barked, frustrated at having gotten distracted. I leapt over the five-metre walls of ice and took off, the others hurrying after me.

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