Wise and Guhron had done well to hide their tier markings, as most of their body was covered in shoddy leather clothing -which in reality wasn't much different from what hunter-gatherers wore.
"Y-You are correct," Lucius replied, realizing that he ought to get some clothing soon. Even if it wasn't necessary due to the protection his skin already gave him, it was still embarrassing for sub-par creatures to seem more civilized than he was.
~But still, the 8th tier doesn't sound right,~ Lucius thought to himself before asking out loud; "What tier are you lot?"
Wise looked hesitantly at Guhron, before shrugging its shoulders and turning back to Lucius.
"Guhron and I are 6th tier," Wise replied shortly after.
~6th tier, so even Shavak and Avankor will be average soldiers to them. Mystic mantle aside, they don't even have any magic at their disposal, so they might even be a little less than that,~ Lucius thought to himself.
~As it is now, all I have are promises and wishes, something I can't expect an 8th-tier king to buy into. So I suppose that'll be it for now. The connections themselves were worth the effort,~ he decided before standing up.
"Thank you for everything. It'll be enough if you tell your king about me, and my invitation for aid. If not in fighting power, then perhaps I could interest him in weaponry," he said after some thought.
If he couldn't form bonds through fighting power, then he'd do it the way countries on Earth used to do it, through the arms trade. Of course, this in itself was just a pipe dream at this point, however, weapons would be less complicated to produce as compared to raising the tier of the Chames.
"Weaponry? Ah- I will inform the king. However, I do not think Grenovarish will be fond of it. We Behemoths rarely find weapons strong enough to replace our fists," Wise replied hesitantly.
Of course, this was something that Lucius could sympathize with. He had grown so used to his claws that any weapons would just seem like a hindrance.
However, that was before he had gotten the Kumulipo.
"Tell the king I am capable of supplying magical weapons if need be, weapons specifically made to deal with these creatures," he replied.
It was just a theory at this point, but Lucius speculated that Kumulipo's Imbue spell might open the door to magically imbued weapons. And if the weapons could keep Kumulipo's energy-converting effects, then the necromancer's spell might be dispelled with each attack... meaning that they'd be very efficient against the undead.
However, he knew it was easier said than done, as much magical research as well as research into materials, would have to be done.
"Magic weapons? I am not familiar with those, but perhaps this might excite the king. I cannot make promises, however, if what you say about their effectiveness is true, then the king might not have a choice. Where will we be able to find you?" Wise asked as he stood up.
Lucius thought about this for a moment. After all, if they were interested, he would need to show them something.
"7 days from now, at this exact place. If your king is interested, he can send someone to meet me here," he replied.
And with that, the two groups parted ways.
~7 days to invent magic weapons, huh?~ he thought to himself as he made his way back to where Avankor and the chief were.
Lucis briefly explained the situation to both of them and of course, the obvious question came up.
"Where will you find these weapons?"
They had only seen spears up till this point, and even then, those had been traded for. However, Lucius was pretty confident in at least being able to create the weapons. All he needed were a few materials to run tests on.
The material would have to be easily manageable, strong, and be able to withstand holding magic. ~How hard could it be?~
*
Before they returned to the den, the three decided to hunt down a few beasts for food. They couldn't take back too much as that would no doubt draw attention to them, so they opted to hunt down a larger beast and take it back.
The creature in question was a 6-legged elephant-like mushroom creature that they found roaming close toward the dark forest. It was no surprise that there were a lot of undead remains in the area, as these creatures were no easy meal.
However, Lucius now had the means to hunt creatures without much effort.
He opted to use Kumulipo to disrupt the systems within the creature's body, which worked without much resistance as the creature was not intelligent enough to realize that his crux was dangerous.
It served as both practice and a means to kill the creature without drawing blood and creating a strong scent. He was unsure whether undead could smell blood, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful.
"How did you do that?" Avankor asked as he and Lucius struggled to pick the creature up. As strong as they were, it wasn't easy to pick up the 7-meter creature.
"Magic," Lucius replied as he scanned the area around them for something to use.
~These mushrooms should be enough,~ he thought to himself, before using Elmando to convert all the mushrooms into a paste, and turning it into a sort of cart with a closed top.
"Im-Impressive," Avankor stuttered, as Lucius jumped onto the rather massive cart.
"Climb on," Lucius called out, using Elmando to begin moving the cart's wheels.
Once the chief and Avankor were on, Lucius increased the speed, rotating the wheels as fast as his Elmando would allow. Of course, this required the utmost concentration, as maneuvering through the forest with something so massive was no easy chore.
*
It was already late afternoon by the time they reached the border that divided the decay-plagued land and the clan lands. The same border that divided the sunny sky from the dark-overcast one.
~I still can't call out my solar crux, huh,~ Lucius realized after a failed attempt. Pulling out his Kumulipo, he attempted to perform photosynthesis, though after a few moments, he came to understand that it simply wasn't possible for this version of the crux.
However, this didn't come as a surprise to him. After all, he had gained helios from consuming Gevrot's core, and it would've been wishful thinking on his part if he assumed that this crux had multiple methods of accumulating helios.
