The next day the city was a buzz."Did you see all the soldiers leave this morning?"
"Yeah! Must had been at least 1000 of them!"
"It looked like soldiers from 4 of the divisions. I saw Colton leading a group himself!"
Early in the morning, four of the generals lead their troops out of the city. Colton and Lilith went south while Lane and Shenelle went east. James and his soldiers were nowhere to be seen but the public didn"t seem to notice.
Ben met them coming out of the city as he was heading in. Colton and Lilith looked at him in shock.
Ben clothes were torn and b.l.o.o.d.y, looking more like rags than actual clothes. He had cuts all over his body, included a nasty bite mark on his shoulder.
Ben smiled at their expressions, "Just thought I would train a little last night. Time seemed to have got away from me." scratching the back of his head in embarra.s.sment. What he said was true, time had got away from him and before he knew it the sun was rising. He rushed as quick as he can so he wouldn"t worry anyone.
Lilith quickly walked towards him and raised her hands, "Here let me heal you."
Putting his hand up stopping her, Ben said, "Don"t worry about it. Save your energy for the soldiers not me. I can heal myself."
Ben closed his eyes and started to absorb Natural Energy from the surroundings. Lilith watched in amazement as his wounds started to knit back together right before her very eyes.
Ben opened his eyes, checking his body out he smiled and gave a nod of satisfaction.
"Good luck today. Take this and use it if you need help." Ben handed her a communication jade he bought recently. He then walked into the city covered in b.l.o.o.d.y rags.
Colton walked up beside Lilith, "He continues to amaze me. A fighter and a healer? Incredible."
"His healing is as strong as mine." Lilith said in disbelief.
Smiling, Colton patted her shoulder waking her from her stupor, "Let"s go. We have zombies to kill."
Ben made it back to the mansion and collapsed into his bed. Before he fell asleep he checked his stats.
Bennett- Lvl 62
Cla.s.s: Beast Warrior
Bloodline: Mekata Eyes
Elements: Lightning Seed & Dark Seed
Vitality (VIT): 124
Strength (STR): 188
Dexterity (DEX): 189
Agility (AGI): 237
Intelligence (INT): 25
Wisdom (WIS): 25
Una.s.signed Attribute Points: 120
Skills-
Inherited Skill- Nature"s Child
Advanced Sword Mastery- Dual (5/10)
Beginner Hand to Hand Combat (7/10)
Soul Beast
Beast Telepathy
Beast Imitation
[Darkness Seed- 99%]
[Lightning Seed- 99%]
Ben smiled at his progress. Even though he got injured and almost was killed, it was worth it for the boost in his strength.
With a smile on his face, Ben fell asleep.
…
Cloey sent an ice spear straight through an ogres heart, killing it instantly. She then summoned an ice wall, blocking an club thrown by a troll that was heading for her head.
Lily sent an icicle at the troll, piercing it"s neck and killing it.
Cloey let out a breath of air and looked at her surroundings. Frost covered most of the ground and the dead bodies as well. Her and Lily headed out early this morning to train and bring their levels up to par. Lily was especially in need of this as her level was fairly low compared to Cloey.
"Okay let"s keep going." Cloey said as she and Lily headed into the forest to hunt more prey.
…
"Don"t move, I"ll heal your arm first." Cathy told the young man as she started to heal him.
Shenelle and Lane were exploring the cave that Eve had reported to James. The two had brought lots of their own soldiers for this mission but there were also soldiers from the other two divisions here, like Cathy.
Healers were an extremely important personnel to have. So Lilith sent 10 healers with Shenelle and Lane to explore the cave.
The cave was surrounded by goblins and trolls that the soldiers and mages took down quickly. There were some injuries, for the soldiers were still fairly inexperienced.
Cathy quickly finished healing the young man"s arm and made her way to the next injured.
…
"Mages attack now!" Colton yelled, as 10 zombies charged at them.
Grayson and 2 other mages started firing their spells at the incoming zombies. Fire and ice rained down on the zombies, killing majority of the in the first wave of attacks.
Grayson saw one break to the right, avoiding the spells. Grayson quickly sent 2 fire spears towards it, piercing it and turning it to ashes.
"Good job boy! Now I see why Shenelle sent you with us." Colton gave out a loud laugh.
Grayson and the other two mages were the strongest mages in Shenelle"s division so far. She sent them with Colton because she knew this mission was more dangerous than exploring the cave and Colton might need some extra firepower.
Before Grayson could respond, a large roar shook the air.
Three giant tank looking zombies were standing on the outskirts of an abandoned town, roaring at Colton.
"Looks like it is my turn to have some fun." Colton said with an excited grin. His steel gauntlets suddenly were covered with fire.
…
While all of Ben"s family were out fighting and gaining strength, he was drooling onto a pillow.
"AHEM!"
Ben jerked awake, looking around the room he saw James standing in the doorway.
"What." Ben grumbled as he laid back down, diving under the blankets.
"It"s already the afternoon Ben, time to get up." James said with a flat tone.
"When the h.e.l.l did you become my mother?" Ben spat back.
"Well mighty City Lord, you are needed. Shenelle and Lane came back and wanted to see you." James started sarcastic but his voice turned serious.
"Already?" Ben had a bad feeling, "What happened?"
"Nothing serious, they are waiting with their findings in your private study." James told him.
"Okay I"m up. Let"s go." Ben then looked at James, "You know you could make an excellent secretary. Ever think about changing jobs?"
James looked at Ben with contempt before leaving the room.
Ben laughed as he got dressed and followed him.
Entering the study, Ben saw Shenelle and Lane sitting down. Shenelle"s mage robe was torn in a few places with a couple of scorch marks. Lane"s shiny heavy armour had a couple scratches on it with some burn marks.
"What happened?" Ben said solemnly.
"Dragon." Lane simply said.
"A dragon?" Ben said astonished.
"When we got the the end of the cave, a dragon was there sleeping. Let"s just say it wasn"t happy being woke up." Shenelle huffed as she looked at her robe in anger.
"Casualties?" Ben asked Lane.
"Four. It was from the initial attack from the dragon. Afterwards we were able to defend ourselves and retreat." Lane slowly, "It was… strong. Stronger than anything I have faced."
Shenelle nodded in agreement.
"Four dead…" Ben mulled over that. Death was a common thing since the system was put in place, in fact majority of the world had died. But this was the first time Ben had lost anybody since he became City Lord.
"Lots were severely injured but thanks to the healers, their wounds were stabilised and brought to the infirmary. Your mom was extremely helpful." Lane added.
Ben"s face darkened knowing his mom was put in such a dangerous place.
Shenelle saw the look on Ben"s face and quickly changed the subject. "Were found these ores but were unable to find out what they are. Our appraisal skill only shows question marks." she brought out a glowing blue chunk of rock from her storage and gave it to Ben.
Ben took it and tried using his Mekata eyes but it surprisingly didn"t work.
"Deke." Ben called out. From the shadow in the corner of the room, Deke materialized. Lane and Shenelle both were started and summoned their weapons. James simply scowled at how he wasn"t able to sense Deke.
"Ask the Chief of the Iron Mountain Clan to come here please." Ben"s eyes never left the glowing blue ore.
Deke disappeared as quickly as he appeared, Lane and Shenelle both looked at Ben with questions but seeing he wasn"t going to elaborate, they put their weapons back into their storage s.p.a.ce.
A half hour later, the clan chief walked into the room followed by Deke.
"Thank you Deke. Chief have you seen this kind of ore before?" Ben handed Hal the ore.
Hal murky eyes seemed to suddenly clear up as he grabbed the ore. "This is called Blue Meteor Iron. Very strong and rare. Good for making weapons and shields. Where did you find it?" he asked, looking at Ben.
Ben gestured at Lane or Shenelle. Lane stepped forward, "In a cave close to the city. The walls were covered in this ore that the we didn"t need torches, the walls glowed."
Hal"s eyes seemed to shine, "This is a huge find. With that much material, we would be able to arm almost every soldier with a Blue Meteor Iron shield and weapon."
"But the problem is there is a dragon living inside the cave." Shenelle said depressingly.
"I will handle the dragon." Ben said indifferently. He then took out a communication jade. He sent his thoughts into the jade, trying to contact Lilith.
After a few minutes of silence, he finally put the jade away.
"Shenelle you and your division will go south and a.s.sist Colton and Lilith. They seem to be having problems. Leave tomorrow morning. Lane, I want you to take control over the city"s defenses. 24 hour guards on all gates, James you will supply a couple archers to stand watch as well. If you have any problems contact me with these." Ben handed out 3 communication jades, one for each.
"Ben what"s wrong?" James asked worryingly.
"According to Lilith the zombies seem to be acting weird." Ben answered.
Ben looked at 3 of his generals, "We all need to get stronger."
Ben left the room, leaving them in a daze. James was the first to steel his resolve and leave the room, Lane and Shenelle soon followed.
Hal, stood there oblivious to the world as he handled the ore fondly.
…
Ben took off towards the cave on the back of Ava.
"Do you think it"s actually a dragon Ava?" Ben asked curiously.
"No. Probably a Drake or a Wyrm. Dragons are powerful magical creatures. They shouldn"t be on this planet yet." Ava concluded.
Ben nodded his head in agreement as they landed outside the cave. A blue glow came from the inside.
Ben entered the cave, not meeting any monsters or beasts. After an hour of walking, Ben finally met the dragon.
Its scales were a beautiful iridescent cobalt blue. It was around 2m tall with a long body that stretched over 10m included it"s tail. It had rear legs, with its front legs part of its wings. It looked at Ben with his bright yellow eye.
"Another human?" a deep voice rumbled out.
"Yes just another human." Ben smiled.
"You understand me?" he asked surprised.
"Yes of course. I am Ben and you are?" said Ben calmly.
The dragon looked at Ben with newfound interest.
"Takon."
Ben activated his eyes, showing Ben information.
Takon- Frost Wyvern
Lvl 70
"No wonder Lane and Shenelle lost to you." Ben thought as he saw Takon"s level.
"Well Takon, how about a battle? Winner takes all?" Ben offered, trying to provoke him in accepting.
"If I win you will die. If you win I will die. What more is there to offer." Takon sneered at Ben.
"Okay fine. You win I die, but if I win I want you to become my soul beast. Deal?" Ben revealed his intentions.
"I would rather die." Takon growled, attacking Ben.
"We will see about that." Ben smirked, dodging it.