Chapter 906 Chapter 905: Advice, Advice (1)
"So is that the end of our impromptu leadership training, or is there more wisdom waiting to be imparted unto us thanks to your silver tongue and elderly head?"
Leone held in a snort beside me as she turned away, the Vampire trying to hide her expression of amusement from the Demon who was now half glaring at me whilst still smirking, his eyes twitching in both 'anger' and amusement too as he answered "No, no it isn't. Next is practical experience, and that will come with the next grotto that we head into. For now though... it would seem that we are done here - in just a few moments, anyways.
The number of monsters has stopped increasing, which means we can begin harvesting this area for anything of importance. Remember, anything we harvest could make a difference in many ways; we can waste time getting something that might not be of use, or we could create something pivotal in the upcoming fights. Keep that in mind, but don't worry. We're really not on tight time constraints."
I nodded, and before he could say anything else I shot forwards and joined in the cleanup, wanting to whet my blade a little before I had to sheathe it for the time being; joining Anput, I worked alongside my mate as we cut down a small contingent of Undead Goblins that were covered in bark, their armored forms shuffling around slowly whilst their gnarled, rooted gauntlets 'whooshed' through the air threateningly as they tried to claw at us.
Again, it would appear that the pros and cons of being an Undead was an increase in strength and resilience, but a decrease in control and speed, making it an easy and fun task to lop off the Goblin's arms before carving away their chests, revealing the Core inside.
A normal Core was a spherical organ made from a thicker, smoother tissue than the heart, giving it an odd appearance that felt like it was between organic and inorganic, especially when it was filled with mana of any kind; that made the tissues appear to be more of a solid than anything else, and that was why they 'shattered' the way they did.
When I peeled away the bark chest plate that the Goblin was 'wearing', I revealed that intriguing organ to the world and got to study it up close once more, only to then take some enjoyment from plucking it from the Goblin's chest and squeezing my fist around it, shattering it and pulverizing the pieces, taking some satisfaction from the execution method I employed.
Meanwhile, to my side, the other Goblin grunted and growled as it reached for me, only to stumble forwards a step before dropping to its knees, its body losing its ability to function in a coordinated manner when Anput's heavy spear caused the monster's head to explode, the Jackalkin utilizing one of her own preferred execution methods that was also rather messy...
It was one of the few times she and I felt similar in terms of 'desires' when it came to fighting, since I found the sight of the monster's head exploding to be a rather pretty and interesting thing to observe, whilst she enjoyed making it go 'pop' so suddenly.
Though, when I side stepped the remaining Goblin's swing and grabbed its arm, she just rolled her eyes as I proceeded to shatter its bones and cause the limb to fall limply to its side, blood oozing from the dozens of small lacerations that I had created with that move.
Then, when it tried to take another step towards me again, I slammed my boot into its kneecap and bent its leg in the wrong direction, stopping it from moving and allowing me to unsheathe a dagger, which I used to peel back the bark like I had with the Khopesh, but this time I began to just cut and cut as I swung the dagger as quickly as I could, covering its body in blood.
Not wanting to take too long, I left its chest in tatters before plunging the dagger into its throat, piercing its spinal cord before snapping it with a sharp twist, causing the Goblin to fall limply to the ground with a wet thud as it bled profusely.
"Feeling better after Belian refused to let you fight?"
Looking towards my mate, I cleaned myself and my weapon before nodding and doing the same to her, which gave her the time to ask "What was he talking to you two about anyways? You both weren't able to join in at all, which was kinda annoying..."
"Imparting his oh so vaunted wisdom upon us without asking if we wanted it... though honestly, it wasn't terrible, especially since it helped avoid the potential danger that would have come with finding out we needed to learn this lesson, so... yeah. He just told Leone and I to pay more attention to the grander scheme, to better 'use' you and Jahi via orders, and for Leone and I specifically to stop fighting like we are still in just a group of four."
"Oh? So he wants you and Leone to begin 'commanding' everything? Not Satanya?"
Hanging the metal rod on her belt, Anput looked around before walking over towards a large boulder, listening to me as I replied "He didn't say she wouldn't be working alongside me, but he also made it clear that he is testing her as well, and if I had to guess..."
"One of the things he wants to see is how she reacts to be ordered around by someone outside of the Clan? Will she be prideful or will she put that aside if it makes sense? Ah, knew it! Here we go..."
Tapping on the rock, Anput nodded to herself before taking one of the smaller rods on her belt and shifting it into a small chisel, which she used to chip away at the surface of the boulder to reveal a large vein of crude gemstones, which pulsed with mana.
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