"I don't understand." Malia muttered with a puzzled look. "Is it some kind of contract magic between you and the spirit living in that weird weapon? If it dies or gets too far away, you both die?"
It was the only way the Kitsune woman could fathom this concept. But Kellam shook his head.
"There is no spirit residing in this gun. This is a Spirit." He insisted somewhat uncomfortably. "It's separate from my soul or my body, but its importance is just as essential as my heart or my brain. Every time I use it my physical and mental energy are drained, but it grows with me with proper care."
Ikaris was tempted to ask more questions but figured it wasn't necessary. Kellam was the only Dwilde he knew and he had no intention of stealing his gun anyway.
All that mattered was that at least he had gained two excellent villagers from the first day. Three, including Danchun, whose talent assessment did not do her any justice.
"Sleep or train. The night will be long." Ikaris said, closing his eyes to let them know he wanted some peace.
Instead, he opened them again almost immediately afterwards when he heard Marvin waking up, followed by chewing noises. Well, at least while running away from those lycans they had brought back some chestnuts.
"Thank you for saving me." The Jamaican firefighter thanked them from the bottom of his heart. He was acutely aware that without their help he would not be alive.
Horny had carried him, but the others had protected him from the lycans. They could have left him behind. If they had abandoned him, they might have reached Last Saint Village in time.
For that reason he was even more grateful to his new Lord. His loyalty rose from 85 to 95 after his rescue. He was the most loyal of his villagers.
"You're welcome. I couldn't abandon you." Ikaris answered honestly as he met Malia's gaze. It was the truth, every one of these villagers were important, but deep inside it was mostly for the young woman that he had taken such a risk.
The Kitsune Vampire blushed slightly as she felt his calm gaze, but in her heart she felt a tinge of happiness without exactly knowing why. Since Grallu's death she had been thinking she had no one to rely on.
SHRRRIII!
The shrill wail startled them all, raising goosebumps. Noticing that everyone except Ezrog had the word anxiety written on their faces, Ikaris decided to eat with them. The effect of the Rank 4 boar meat he had consumed had long since worn off.
He unwrapped the meat, which no longer looked like anything after being wrung out of its blood to feed Marvin, and cut small pieces with Anaphiel's knife. The pieces had uneven sizes as instructed by Magnus and after he finished cutting them he distributed them to everyone, except Horny of course.
"Ahem, why is my portion so small?" Marvin twitched as he received his share. There wasn't even enough for a satisfying bite.
"Ezrog got a big slice, but why girl bigger slice than me? Ezrog bigger!" The Oni huffed loudly, garnering outspoken insults from Marvin and Kellam.
"Different needs, different portions." Ikaris explained steadily. "This meat is potent. Too much is dangerous. Eat it and you'll understand."
Listening to his answer, the ogre stopped complaining and devoured his boar slab. His faded blue skin turned even pinker than Malia's face a moment earlier and he growled,
"Ezrog feels hot."
Kellam and Marvin were experiencing similar symptoms. Only Malia remained unaffected, but her face was red as if she were a little tipsy.
"Take the opportunity to practice magic." Ikaris ordered. He repeated everything he had mentioned to Danchun during the day, leaving them to make their own choices.
"My Lord, what was your first spell?" Kellam asked out of curiosity.
The teen smiled. "Black Veil."
While nothing changed in the tent, the vision of everyone inside turned pitch black. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to scare them. Malia had also grown pale.
"My vision has dimmed slightly this time." She swallowed solemnly. The boy's progress scared her a little, but on the other hand she wanted him to progress even faster.
"Awesome." Kellam gave him a thumb up. "I think I'll learn this spell first. Not only is it simple, it's also really useful."
"Scary." Ezrog snarled as he shivered involuntarily. He wasn't a fan of the dark.
"I have no issue with your first choice, but consider your talent." Ikaris was mostly addressing Marvin. He had already given them a rough evaluation of their Primary Sparks and they knew what that entailed.
The firefighter nodded earnestly. His Life Spark was 1.9 and his Soul Spark about 2.7 which was alright but nothing impressive either.
For these types of individuals with no outstanding bloodlines or talent, Magnus recommended not spreading yourself too thin and starting with Enhanced Stamina or Vitality Spells. Ikaris planned to write a guide for new villagers that would provide a clear path to follow regardless of their initial talent.
"How do you know all this?" Malia frowned as she heard him repeat the Vampire's exact words to the others.
Even Grallu had always been stubbornly vague and approximate when it came to magic. If someone wasn't at least an innate Novice Sorcerer she would deem them worthless and not waste time on them.
Ikaris gave the young woman a smile that wasn't really a smile and said,
"Maybe I'll tell you someday."
That promise was enough for Malia. At least she knew she wasn't crazy and that the boy did have a genuine reason to explain his rocket science.
As everyone looked forward to casting their first spells, they all began to practice their magic in silence. Ikaris also closed his eyes and returned to casting his I Am Me Spell over and over. He let his body exhaust itself until he was barely conscious, then after short breaks he would do it all over again.
The night went by smoothly and in the morning, when the strident wailing stopped and the mass of black smoke receded, Ikaris opened his eyes and stood up with a big smile.
[I Am Me lvl2: 1.09. Passive Effect: You are anchored, and your personality is less vulnerable to external or internal mental alterations whether magical or physiological.]
He had finally succeeded. His stomach suddenly rumbled, but this time he felt the hunger was tolerable. It was hardly more uncomfortable than the hunger he usually felt after 14 or 16 hours of fasting. It was nothing to cry about, but compared to before he felt like he was alive again.
When he reported his progress to Magnus, the Vampire commented excitedly,
"Tonight we can officially get started on our little Blood Legacy project."
"I'm glad to hear that." Ikaris quipped, but deep down, he was dreading this moment. Overcoming the side effects of his Crawling-Thrall mutation had been tough enough and he wasn't ready to go through a second one.
He woke up Malia and the others, and they returned to the village happy to be alive. Kellam and Marvin's delighted expressions showed that they had made some progress last night, but the dark circles under their eyes betrayed that they had overestimated their endurance. As for Ezrog, he had slept like a baby.
"Moooo!"
As soon as he could get away to graze, the bison dumped them with no remorse. Currently he was grazing on the bloodstained grass at the site where the Magical Beast had been slain.
When they reached the village, they discovered Danchun practicing a kind of slow Qi gong facing the rising sun. From her peaceful and determined face, she too had successfully taken her first steps as a sorcerer.
The other villagers soon got up except for the otaku who stayed in his tent for breakfast. As decided the day before, Kellam having a sprained ankle he would stay in the village. Marvin having almost died decided to stay too to recover.
The time for the summoning of a new batch of refugees soon came and Ikaris went to the designated point with the gray crystal bead meant to impart the Forsaken Lands language to them. A moment later, 5 men and 6 women stood naked before him.
Their talents were rather poor, between D and E, except for one dwarf with a B-Talent who stood out from the rest.
The dwarf in question was small, barely over a meter tall, but incredibly stocky. As ludicrous as it sounds, his shoulder width was even larger than Ezrog's, although the latter was nearly three times his height. His muscles were rock hard and his beard and braided white hair were so bushy that one could barely make out his small blue eyes and huge potato nose.
Using his Appraisal Spell on him, Ikaris' face brightened up as if he had just found the gem. They finally had a skilled worker.
