So that is what happened

I looked at the current beaming smile of Apple, as if wishing to be praised, which I have no intention of doing so. This one is part of the sly ones among the blood humanoids.

Apparently, she managed to sense a relatively large change in energy activity and came upon this child. She used her inspection-type skills and got the information necessary for her to think it is worth it to bring her to me.

So far, I have divided the blood servants into 2 kinds. The blood humanoids which are composed of the revived corpses, and the blood beasts which are composed of the beasts that I have converted from successful corpse retrieval or capture.

When they get turned into a blood servant, their personalities will be blank but not for long. The evil mana that flows within them will slowly build it up till they can no longer be differentiated from normal humans, at least for 3 out of the 4 personality types.

The personality types are branches of my personality, which is then infused into the blood servants. This influence has been observed to be fought against by most blood beasts, as if it is a natural instinct in their bodies but most relent.

So far, the personality types are divided into 4, the kind, the cautious, the indifferent, and the ruthless.

Each type does not contain a definite ratio of personalities, except for their high loyalty to me, to which the only way they can describe is something along the lines of being a mother or a father. Meaning, a kind one might exhibit cautious, indifferent, or even ruthless actions.

While they may develop other kinds of personality traits not within the 4, one of the 4 will always be present to be a dominant trait.

And Apple here is one of the ruthless ones, something that makes her beaming smiles and cheerful demeanor nothing but a mere facade. She tends to have a bright persona while enforcing ruthlessly practical solutions.

So her bringing this child here is purely out of interest in her gain, which is indirectly also mine. A major part as to why she is one of my most trusted despite moral disagreements, a delicate combination of loyalty and competence.

“So, what is the importance that lies within the child as to warrant even an action from you?” I said to her in a questioning tone, wanting to hear the plans that she has formulated from the information she has on the child.

And there it is.

A devious smile props itself up on her face, as her eyes narrow into crescents, forming a look that can only be found in sly snakes.

“I suggest making this boy the first attempt at the creation of a powerful soldier from non-blood servants, the [Blood Servant] has its limits after all and we do have plans to reestablish society. You can take a look at this” Said in a sickeningly sweet voice, as she summons a screen from the system and made it visible to me.

Name: June Feared

Race: Human(Cursed)

Profession: None(Healer-Locked)

Level: 0(7-locked)

Skills: None(Healer Skills-Locked)

Talent: Weak Body, Dark Spirit, Disease Master, Ominous Deer Lord

This is an interesting profile panel. To think that a curse could lock someone’s power out, I shouldn’t have expected any else from such an art. What’s most interesting though is that new part of the panel is the rather numerous amount of talents.

“So what did your inspection of his situation tell about him, Apple?”

She eagerly replies about his first talent, Weak Body, about it being a product of his failure to properly harmonize with his Ominous Deer Lord talent. Upon which it should have been the Ominous Deer Body, instead of this weakness posing as a talent.

But she also says that it can be a conflict of forces or lack of proper nourishment, causing the Ominous Deer Lord talent to prey upon his body to fulfill one of its duties over the other, and that is the formation of a powerful soul or spirit.

Dark Spirit she claims is also another talent born from the Ominous Deer Lord talent, which apparently came at the cost of having a weakened body.

I don’t remember talents being rocks that we can pick up from the side of the road.

“What is so special with the Ominous Deer Lord talent? Why does it sound so overpowered?” I said with a subtle raise in my transmission, a bit shocked at this talent’s use.

She giggles a little bit, and comments on the change of my tone, noting its rarity. I did not reply to that, waiting for her to start explaining something again.

“Well, according to the system, it is a powerful talent. This kind of talent usually gives birth to 1 or more talents to properly suit itself. As for information I got from my inspection on him, well, I didn’t get much. Besides the fact that the nature of the Ominous Deer Lord energy is far denser and corruptive than your blood magic, but it focuses more in the destruction of spirits or souls but take no less caution of its physical capabilities, it did not make the Disease Master talent for no reason.”

Wait. Did she just say that the Disease Master talent is also from the Ominous Deer Lord talent?

“Disease Master comes from the Ominous Deer Lord talent too? Do you know any other information about this?” My transmissions continue to rise in alarm, at the possibility of the power of this child.

“Unfortunately, there are limits to my talents and skills too. In fact, it cost me 5 levels to just get this much information on the child as my mind almost died under the influence of the Ominous Deer Lord talent.” She casually says, unusual considering that she just mentioned losing 5 levels on something as small as this, with a similarly weak subject.

“Mmmm, I see your point in this child’s potential. And the plan that you are proposing”

Apple has always disliked, if not hate, my sense of morality and the kind ones of the blood servants. This was first observed in her obvious change of demeanor when dealing with the kind ones, though it was most clear to see from her actions that involved making me confront my ideals.

Right now, she wants me to kill or order for the child’s death. Its strength is troublesome, as any options would be like walking blind due to our lack of knowledge about this child’s power.

[Blood Servant] and letting it go is out of the picture, as either could be fought against by the higher quality of the Ominous Deer Lord talent, particularly in the soul department which could be possibly be a future loophole.

With the mystical nature of mana, I wouldn’t dare make too much bets without deeper knowledge about its workings, the possibilities are nigh endless.

Nurturing the child to become attached to me is also a possibility, but despite the infant-like appearance, I would surmise that it is not truly an infant. No infant would normally be level 7, especially in this world where any increase in levels needs to be properly done for maximum efficiency.

“Do you know what kind of curse is currently afflicting this child?” I quickly say to Apple.

“I believe it is an age reversal, Red one. Though it is far from being permanent, I believe that it only manipulates it temporarily to make sure that the profession and level is hidden, reversing the body’s appearance to where the caster desires. It is a bit confusing as to the exact intention though, but most likely for safety.

I estimate that the original body and age is around 13-15 years old” She says while her already crooked smile just continues to widen, as she seems to see the rising distress in my mind within the tree.

So the only cautious approach to this is killing the child, something that I have indeed considered as I have far bigger plans for the greater good and the fulfillment of my own promises.

…

……

But how am I supposed to do this? This isn’t possible at all. While I do exhibit ruthless thinking, and haven’t been from implementing them in the past, they were within the borders of my morality.

Killing an innocent child is simply not something that I can normally do.

Sigh

“Apple, I want you to make sure that the curse is released as soon as possible, and make the necessary preparations for the development of the child. It is best to give a good impression if we wish to make him part of our group.”

A hint of a disappointment flashes on Apple’s eyes, only to quickly disappear as if it is just an imagination but quite impossible to be mistaken when I can sense emotions and such.

She nods and carries the child towards their quarters. I call out to her saying that she can order the others to help with things if they need manpower. She pauses and glances at my stalk and nods as reply.

Silence returns to my surroundings, only the lively chirps of birds and the swaying leaves of rich trees can be heard around me, painting a peaceful a picture around me.

I stay in this nature appreciation state, feeling calmer and stable. [Mind Stability] is quite excellent in its results, definitely wouldn’t have felt this calm in such a short time when making these kinds of decisions.

Makes me wonder how effective it can be in the future and the challengers to its effects in the future.

Okay, back to work now.

I change the focus of my [Mana Detection] to where Drudsto is. He is currently sitting on a patch of grass near the blood servant quarters, just right in the border of the clearing and the forest.

He is trying to get used to his new power, stabilizing the slightly unstable state of the larger mana pool within him. I probably should have told him to not stabilize it, wanted to see the results before and after stabilizing the high strength increase.

I watch him for a bit, waiting until he himself gets out of this state.

Finally, after almost half an hour, he opens his eyes and aura spiking for an instant, violently blowing the surroundings leaves and grass. His aura stabilizes, leaving behind only a calm pool of destructive energy.

“Good. Do you mind starting our demonstration now?”

He reacts with a small nod, and starts to walk deeper into the jungle.

=====

A day or 2 from the execution of the infiltrator within the blood servant ranks, a piece of information came in from the surveillance that they have been doing to the humans. It shows the human camp moving and preparing.

They are starting to move.

The timer for both of the quests that has been entrusted to Guava just continues to lower, so he too is also getting jittery and eager to move to complete the mission. So he decides to only enter in the conflict when the humans and the orcs are already in direct combat.

They have also gathered enough information about the orcs and humans to fuel an attack.

Currently, the orcs have 7 individuals that could match tier 2 individuals that are around level 25-28 in strength, with a few hundred elite orc warriors, and several hundred orc juveniles. The humans pale in comparison to the orcs.

They have 6 tier 2 individuals, more than a hundred elite combatants, 250-300 combatants that rival most of the juveniles, and several hundred more people that have minimal combat power. But while they have lower numbers, they did not plan to fight in a disadvantage.

They are bringing with them some kind of funnel-shaped objects, as big as a human, with 3 of them being especially large, easily towering over the average human height within the human force.

The scout have not obtained much besides knowing that the surfaces of these objects are marked with words that seems to resonate with the magical laws and the environment, similar to the rune apprentices within their group.

But due to their late inception within the group, they weren’t able to improve the overall quality of the weaponry they use, but they have created runes that can synchronize with the effects of the scouts’ hiding capabilities.

The first group of scouts sent was only unfortunate to have been automatically spotted by a mind-type tier 2 human elite, or else we wouldn’t have to have experienced this humiliation and the loss that came with it.

Is that right? Humiliation, Guava is sure that this is what master meant by humiliation, a rising fire that attempts to burn one’s reason and self.

But everything is well, as the scouts have finally done their part of the expedition.

Currently, Guava’s plans involve moving the camp site of their forces to the nearest piece of forest to the orc settlement, and prepare their assault there.

Guava is also gripped with apprehension at this plan, as his cautious nature dictates but he continues as he wishes not to go back to the base without any results.

He also decides to dedicate minimal resources to the procurement of knowledge about the surrounding human factions and magical developments, as master have ordered, preferably in a medium as convenient as possible or just books if there is nothing available.

If he only is stronger, he would not dare present this paltry performance to master.

Paltry. I like this word. Master used it when that snake did not meet up to his expectations.

He gets up from his seat, actively observing the activities that are being done. He also checks up on the people assigned to design a battle plan for the invasion of the settlement, a fight with the humans inside, an escape plan if necessary.

He laments that they are still far from complete, and urges them to be faster if they can. The planners can only nod in reply, as they return to their work in designing the plan with every factor being considered.

Eventually, we managed to prepare the change in sites before afternoon with minimal noise. After the change of locations, he orders for most of the group to start hunting beasts for nourishment, it is best for everyone to have as much energy stores as possible.

We roast them as we usually do, with all of the members happily eating the food. But some complain about the blandness of the food, saying they lack flavor or something.

This already happened before. Master explained that it is some kind of body memory, this body memory is composed of vague flesh memories that the body once experienced, but we have only encountered the ones pertaining to taste.

Master surmised that the reason for the lack of other kinds of body memory have something to do with the ravenous nature of our magic. He sees the logic behind that reasoning, as he himself has felt that dreadful feeling of being eaten when a mana flare appears.

Though master did question this assumption, which is just unfair to him. He is the master that brought life to him, to us. He thinks it is only right that he is not to be questioned.

He is currently sitting on tree’s large roots, with him being alone as Doggo left to eat. He is currently overthinking about the orc matter and the words that his master spoke, his sword in his side.

He currently calm, relaxed even as he stares into empty space but suddenly stiffens when his [Battle Sense] suddenly spiked like a wave, causing him to quickly grab towards the sword in his side.

And right as he gripped the sword’s handle, he lost his vision and his hearing significantly weakened as everything around him turned dark as the night sky. But he can still vaguely hear and with the help of his [Battle Sense], felt a being on his right.

A red liquid flew out of his palm and wrapped the sword’s blade, painting it red. His arm and abdomen’s muscles flexed as much as possible as evil mana flowed through them, occasionally showing small streaks of light on his red skin.

Combined with his rapid turn, he swings his sword with all of his force behind it. But he still felt a blade pierce his throat and go through his neck, also chipping away more than half of his neck bone, splashing on the wood

But it is all good for Guava, as the attacker has already lost since it did not try to avoid the deadly attack, and with his miraculous healing capabilities that can even reattach his head to his body in just several seconds, his win is guaranteed.

A small smirk climbs up his face as his strike came into contact with the figure, relishing in the feeling of flesh and bones being ripped apart as his sword went right through, the force releasing an invisible explosion as it splits the air apart.

His sword continued on till it hit the ground, producing a narrow wave of red energy that cut almost 2 rows of trees in the distance, and opened an 8-meter long scar on the ground. The force of the wind alone momentarily rustling the nearby trees like a wrathful storm just passed through for a moment.

The darkness receded, revealing a body in two, with the ground between the 2 parts being splattered with guts and blood. Guava suppresses his smirk and proceeds to end the tenacious female human, who is somehow still alive as it crawled with its upper body.

He swings his sword once again, causing the woman to cry out as a burst of black smoke came out of her and formed into a spherical wall around the living half of her body, but only to crack open like an egg as the attack went through and cut the upper body in half.

Another scar formed on the ground, 5-meters long, accompanied with another smaller shockwave that ruffled the surrounding greeneries once again.

Guava smiles as he thinks about what his master said that he must always be careful. He thinks that master probably overestimated the humans, as they seem to be stupid enough to attack him here while weak enough to fail.

In the real world, the same woman that was supposed to be dead is now holding the decapitated head of the blood servants’ commander, with a blade stuck in its forehead, piercing out of the back of its head.

If the head wasn’t eerie enough, then the gentle and satisfied expression on the face will most definitely creep some people out.

Suddenly, several blood servants came running at the woman wrapped in darkness, holding their leader’s head, including the woman with silvery pupils besides her.

One of the blood servants summoned 2 orbs of a blood-like substance and sent it flying towards the 2 woman, only for the red spell to be cut dispersed by liquid darkness from the woman wrapped in darkness.

But the attacks did not stop as the blood servants came close enough for them to start attacking in close combat, but before they could even land a single hit, a wave of darkness devoured the figures of the 2 woman and disappeared into the ground below.

The blood humanoids yelled in anger at their failure, while the blood beasts growled as they fail to sense where the enemies have gone to.