Blake stared into the big round eyes in front of him that were filled with hope and reached out, placing his hand on top of the young girl's head. "You will be reborn as a new kind of human being. While you may not regain what was once lost, you will gain the strength and courage to stand up in this new world. So when the time comes, stay strong and work hard. Push through the unbearable pain and hope for a new future."
Blake's words caused the young girl to wipe her tears and nod her head firmly. She had a firm resolve in her eyes. Blake's words were what she needed to take a step forward. She clenched her fists as she stepped forward and hugged Blake, causing him to open his eyes wide, but those eyes slowly softened as he patted the girl on the top of her head. He could see that there was hope for this girl to rebound. He hoped she could pass the trials ahead.
"What is about to come is not going to be easy. I can not promise all of you will survive. But I swear. I will make sure you all will at least die human if you begin to turn into a monster. I will make sure you have a proper grave as well. So tonight, for those of you who have loved ones next to you, spend this time together, even if it is only for a little while, and prepare for what is to come." Blake was not trying to scare everyone. He was trying to prepare them. He looked over at Tina and Lillia and motioned with his head for them to take the girl to the side. They had to start moving once more.
Nightfall set in as Blake, and his group finally arrived at the base. Blake was glad things went smoothly as he walked into the base camp that had changed much over the course of a few days. Mike's men, who were good with earth magic, had built rock walls around entrances with a stone gate to hide the entrances a bit better. When Blake and his group walked up, Bret, who was on duty, quickly spotted him and had the stone gate lifted to let him in.
"Haha! Welcome back! I see you have been busy." Bret let out a loud laugh as he watched mack and his crew walk in.
"You could say that. You heard the roar, right?" Blake asked.
"Yeah. What the hell was that? It gave me shivers." Just thinking about it made Bret shiver once more.
"It was an Elder Dragonic. The Age of Magic has begun. As we had talked about before, we will be putting people in separate cells to not only protect themselves but to protect others as well in case the turn." Blake said before turning to Mack and the group that followed him. "We will be heading into the base. Each one of you will be secured into a room for the first part of the magic age as mana floods into the world. But do not worry. You will have a place to go to the bathroom and a place where you can shower. It might seem like a prison, but it is just until the evolution phase is over.
"Only those who have evolved already will be allowed to wander around. I am splitting up families except for mothers and their children. Although I do not think your child will make it through. But I could be wrong. But I must warn you. Only those with children under five will be allowed to stick with their mothers. Adults will need to be separated. Mothers will also be given a knife to protect themselves in case their child turns. Please protect yourselves." Blake turned back around, leaving the people who came with him stunned once more.
Bret shook his head and rolled his eyes as he stepped forward. "Blake is not one to really explain things clearly, so I will give you a rundown on what is about to come since I have already been through it. But we will move while I explain."
With that, Bret took the group with him. Blake took a look at the new setup of the base and was quite satisfied with how things turned out. He could tell Mike, and his men had really worked hard.
"Blake, how long do you think before people start to evolve?" Tina asked. She was still holding the young girl's hand.
"Mmm… two days at most, so enough time to get everyone to stuff themselves with wyvern meat and drake meat. We need to build up their bodies as much as possible in hopes they will survive what is to come." Blake replied as he let out a sigh and turned to see three girls standing behind him. "Lillia, help this girl evolve tonight. Tina and I will help Rob's girls, and then I will oversee Rob's evolution after. They all should have no issue evolving, but I do worry about this one." Blake said. He felt responsible for the young girl now and had decided to treat her as a little sister. He just hoped she would evolve without issue.
"Alright. I will have her eat some wyvern meat first and inject her with a bit of mana to start so her body will grow a bit stronger before I start the real process." Lillia had also come to like the young girl's resolve. So she also hoped she would make it through.
"Ummm… My name is Anna…." The young girl suddenly said. She did not want Blake and the others to refer to her as girl.
Blake chuckled and ruffled her hair as he said: "Then, Anna, from this point on, you will need to stay strong and work hard to evolve. It may take a few hours but just bear with it. Lillia will guide you as best as she can."
"I will do my best." Anna had a bit of fear in her eyes when she thought about it, but this was normal after hearing everything Blake had said. Blake nodded and looked at Lillia, who nodded back knowingly. She would have to deal with Anna if she turned into a monster.
