novelraw Chapter 1059 - 1058 - Reclaiming the City
Chapter 1059 - 1058 - Reclaiming the City
Lind had finally found a silver lining with the bloodline array focusing on killing rather than actual conquest.
While many had died, a massive swath of resources had been left untapped beneath the destroyed buildings.
Funeral pyres were often built up when corpses were found but he could suppress any signs of smoke.
Oz had often been only able to report on the caches of alchemical warehouses or other production facilities. The one area, however, that had made Lind move like the wind, was the textile storage!
He could finally have proper robes!
It was almost comical the speed he went to collect them. He then had to painstakingly purify what he needed but it resulted in tremendous loss. Each barrel of thread or cloth lost 80 to 90% before he was done just making his own robes! A single set had wiped out an entire warehouse!
He dramatically beefed up their durability as well as added a few repair functions but he needed the rest to be Forged for defense and counter attacks. Creating proper robes for the rest was fairly easy.
Chu presented a unique problem as she did not want to obstruct her movements so battle armor made more sense. He had a far easier time with that.
Jur insisted on wearing his colors but that was easy to accommodate.
Ranger had been floored when Lind could Forge with demon elements but Oz was simply stunned at the quality of his new robes.
Nana and Katara both insisted they were fine yet he did not let that stop him. It was a bit wasteful once again with Katara but far easier than his own.
All said and done, that little venture burned the wealth of 3 companies at least!
That little adventure aside, Lind was grimly facing the rest of the discoveries. The city had been picked clean of people or they found signs of grisly massacres.
Ranger found no recent signs of people but he kept up a large circuit of the city. Lind also adapted a new Storm Art. Storm Art: Cloud Light. It was practically useless in combat but in scouting, it made the Shadow Dance Art look pathetic.
It had 2 severe limitations. He could only really get a sense from above and clouds were created by it. If he took a clear day and used the Art, it would stand out like a sore thumb. He could use pre-existing clouds but they were so random it was not as helpful as making his own.
Still, it gave a crystal clear picture that even his own aura senses could not compare to.
It sadly only confirmed that there was no one in the area of the city they were claiming.
War Maiden Katara had been able to get the other war towers up and running but their severe lack of personnel made it a massive endeavor to secure each one. All but one only had the first 2 floors intact. The final one had 5 floors intact. She found nasty traps were active throughout and took the better part of 3 months just deactivating them.
After only a year of their work, a tight knit area with the towers as the locus, became their haven. Wards and formations had been built with the resources scavenged from across the exposed bones of the city.
The next task for Chu, Nana, and Katara was to begin to rebuild one of the towers. They started with the southernmost one for various reasons. The chief one being that they could defend it the most easily and not be caught by surprise.
He was finding it suspicious that the Fionan Empire had yet to send a force through to secure the city but Katara had a dark thought about it.
"If the war has truly become that chaotic, they may have only secured their border and are waiting for the other forces to pull back." Lind felt a dark emotion cross his heart at those words. They were abandoning all trapped in the war!
"How long before they move back in?" She shrugged. War was not easy to gauge and with the bloodline array confusing matters, it could be put back into a stalemate all over again!
"Lord, assuming they will not come, we can surely expand our base?" Ranger seemed hopeful but even Chu shook her head at his words.
"There are not enough of us. Jur is coming along but that is only 1 person. We need far more substantial forces." Lind nodded firmly at her. She had dramatically improved over the last year.
"I think we need to go on recruiting runs if we plan to rebuild more than we have. The space between the war towers is vast enough to protect hundreds of thousands of people." Nana actually spoke up but Oz was the one to shoot her down.
"Senior, while we have space, our food supplies are not anywhere near that robust. We can easily cover ourselves as only I and Jur need food on a regular basis, but the vast majority of survivors will be in the World Realm." Lind could only agree with that.
World Realms were nothing in the 2nd layer. They could escape because of that but they also were little better than mortals when it came to food requirements. He knew they were far better than Soul Realms but that level too would be abundant.
"Still, scouting missions are not a bad idea. We now have our own defenses up and running so taking a risk to see beyond our patrol areas is essential. I will do it." Lind shocked them all but he was the only one that made sense.
Ranger could not move as fast as him nor deal with Immortals if he came across them. Chu shared some of his skills but her skill set leaned more towards hunting rather than scouting.
The rest were just plain weak.
"Husband–" He held up his hand to forestall Chu's arguments.
"We are reclaiming the city but we need people for that. We also need to start planning out our attacks on the bloodline array. For both goals, we need people." All nodded and he left them to improving themselves and doing patrols.
Lind tore through space as it was the safest option. He actually appeared in midair before summoning a simple disc artifact. It was similar to the platform Delenn had used before but now it afforded him a view of the ruined city.
There was another reason he had wanted to leave them behind. Now that he had time, he wanted to try something. He assumed a lotus position in the blue sky and closed his eyes.
He let his mind expand beyond his physical body slowly until his aura finally stretched out firmly in all directions.
Far to the east, he felt a cluster of familiar presences. He smiled to know all his students in Amber Scale City were safe. Delenn was also that way.
He frowned at that. Why was she still to the east?
He pushed it aside as he gently let feelers flow outward. He was not using his usual aura ability, but simply feeling for life.
He felt a massive wave of life all around him. Plants, some severely injured, were resonating in all directions below him. He noticed some disappearing to the north and west. Nothing seemed to happen to the east but the south was too far from his current position.
As he filtered out the plants, he finally found what he was looking for. Humans and demons.
"Not bad, my harmony really is useful in odd ways." He spoke aloud as his eyes opened. He had marked several places roughly. The only safe thing he could use was his harmony but it had only been a theory.
The bloodline array would have reacted if he was still on the ground. In the air, however, he was far beyond its reach. It was still a risk and thus he only did it now while he could easily escape.
He stowed away the artifact and let the fall take him lower until he tore through space once more. His advantage here showed how terrifying the powers of the 2nd layer had to be.
Immortals could normally use the same skill but the vast cities did not seem worried about it at all!
Crescent City had not stopped him but he had felt resistance. If the defenses could be fully activated, he suspected no Immortal could move without authorization.
When the world finished shifting, he found himself next to a massive tree trunk. No beasts or other animals were nearby but he found fresh blood.
He had moved the current direction looking for what he had not found on his journey south.
It had been 14 years since he had left the 2 white tiger boys behind. He truly worried about them in the chaos but their cavern had been as safe as he could make it. Only an Immortal could truly breach and only if they could find it.
He had not felt their presence where he thought he would but that did not mean the worst had come to pass.
When he did his resonance check, he had finally felt them!
Lan and Bori were alive!
He quietly moved through the forest and found more signs of recent battle. There were no corpses but that did not mean they did not die. It only meant someone took the bodies.
He finally heard the sounds of battle. Metal on metal and fluctuations of Qi covered his approach as he glanced into a small clearing. There, he saw 2 young men with partial features of white tigers covered in wounds but battling against men and women with green and azure robes.
He quickly recalled they were from the Hallowed Earth Sect. A righteous power but one that focused on taming. The 2 brothers would be a treasure trove for them!
"Bori! I am going to make a hole that way. Run when you get the chance!" Lan used the beast language but it was useless. There was a Sliver Tier Immoral there. The intent would be known!
"I am not leaving you Lan! I can fight still!" Bori was no longer the helpless younger brother Lind remembered. He smiled but did not hold back. Emerald flames gathered in his throat and the 2 groups froze as his aura was unleashed over them.
The humans were frozen stiff but the 2 brothers were first shocked and then thrilled.
They knelt immediately and the action was not lost on the humans.
"Esteemed senior–" The Immortal tried to act but Lind just appeared next to him with his emerald eyes coldly looking at him.
"Leave now or die." His aura was on full blast but all of them could move. The humans did not need a second invitation! They scattered as the 2 brothers openly wept as Lind looked them over.
"Come. We have much to discuss." He touched both on the shoulders as he tore through space back to the base. It was a small beginning but Lind knew it was a massive step forward.