"Okay, you go deal with other things. I am fine here." Liam sent Alex away and then sat at the graveyard, slaughtering the incoming players. However, he wasn't just doing that.
Every time he killed a person, he started siphoning some soul energy bit by bit. This was different than soul forging. Now he was trying to manipulate soul energy like mana.
Except that it was nothing like mana. Handling mana was a hundred times easier than this.
Liam tried to remember what he had done back inside the PVP tower. He gathered the soul energy fragments bit by bit as he slaughtered the players.
He held it all together using his mental strength as an adhesive, and when the time was right, he fused them together in one step and started forging them before they burst out.
The mana hammers thrummed alive, and they chiseled away at the amalgamation of souls.
After dealing with the soul of that monstrous old guy, this was child's play. Liam himself did not expect it, but he was able to handle it with ease as if he had been doing this all his life.
The collecting part was the hard part. This one fell into place without much effort. The soul energy condensed perfectly. He had to hold it all together constantly, but they became stable soon.
Within a couple of minutes, the bead was forged to perfection. The system notification also promptly chimed in.
[Ding. Do you wish to name this follower?]
"Yes, name him 'One,'" Liam muttered. He then continued repeating the same process.
He wanted to carve everything he grasped deep down into his mind. He didn't want to forget a simple thing. He wanted to memorize all of it.
He felt as if he let these threads go away now, he would lose a lot, and his learning would stagnate. So he steadily and patiently trained, mowing down one player after another.
Gorak gawked at this sight in fear. The new soul beings were all human-figured guys. Was his life going to become hard now?
As if sensing his sentiments, Liam turned to look at him and gave him a nice big smile. Gorak felt shivers running down his spine. This psychopath was smiling at him!
And the next moment… what he dreaded happened.
Liam turned to look at Crawford and clearly said, "You are the leader of this group. Make sure they work hard and improve their level. I want them to be doing this all the time. Monitor them constantly."
Crawford nodded, and Gorak trembled. This was not what he signed up for. Wait, he did not sign up for anything in the first place.
While Liam continued busily forging, Crawford led the newly forged One, Gorak, and the other smaller lackeys to start hunting some nearby beasts.
Crawford's level was 50, the highest among the group. So they were able to grind decently.
After a couple of hours, Liam finally stopped to take a break. He had harvested about 20 players and created two other new soul followers named two and three.
Though he was feeling better now, constantly forging and handling the soul energy fragments was very draining. In just these two hours, a lot of mental fatigue had accumulated.
So he decided to stop for now. He wanted to rest a little before continuing. However, there were also other pressing matters he needed to attend to.
Liam walked over to the spot where his soul followers were busy grinding. Everyone, including Gorak, were working hard. Crawford was indeed a good leader.
Liam watched them take down a grizzly for a couple more minutes before he dismissed the entire lot.
The loot was also properly collected and heaped, so he tossed everything into his inventory and started walking back to the guild residence.
Now that he had done what urgently needed to be done, he wanted to go and take care of the little thing that had repeatedly thrown herself at death, all for his sake.
He entered the main gate and walked over to the guild hall. Shen Yue and Mei Mei were still sitting there next to the little fox.
"How is she?" Liam asked.
"She is physically fine, but…" Shen Yue shook her head. "She is not waking up. Mia has already tried healing her a lot. Nothing is helping."
Liam sat down and picked up the small creature, resting her on his lap. He patted her while hurriedly going through all of his notifications to see if he had missed something.
Where was this damned tournament's loot? If only he had that spirit essence, he might be able to help her recover? But spirit essence was something that helps in evolving, would that help?
He needed more professional help for this little fox. He needed to take her to the beast hall to get her looked at by a trained beast trainer.
"Ok, it's time for us to return to Yleka city." There were several things that he needed to do there. Both for Luna's sake and Derek's sake, he needed to make this trip.
He lifted the little fox and then headed over to the stables. A huge metallic-winged bird was waiting for him there. "Let's go, Talon," Liam called the bird.
As an afterthought, he also called for Asura in case there was any danger lurking in the shadows. He made other adequate preparations and refilled his supplies before heading out.
Talon had grown bigger and stronger since last time. The bird was almost at Level 40, something that even players would be envious of.
He was able to support Liam and Asura easily. He opened his metallic feathers wide, brilliantly reflecting the sunlight, and blasted through the sky at top speed.
The bird reached the city very fast. The journey was uneventful, with Liam mediating the whole way, thinking about various things.
The small fox was nestled tightly in his lap. Her breathing seemed better now, but she was still not awake yet.
***
Bonus chapter 3~~
Please thank God_of_Sandstorms for this bonus chapter!
