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A Soldier's Life - 324 - I Am Your Father
🕑 Added 2025-01-08 02:32:52 +0000 UTCChapter 324: I Am Your Father
We dressed in our best available clothes. I had my clothes from Telha and the Manticore cloak, while Raelia had a shirt she had purchased during the shopping spree and comfortable blue linen pants. She added something like subtle rouge gloss to her lips, the only makeup she wore. She had pulled her silky dark hair back and braided it. She wore a gold necklace with a thumbnail-sized emerald, complementing her eyes. Her ears were showing prominently, and she had sapphire earrings shaped like hummingbirds from the chest I got from the werewolves.
I admitted to myself that the jewelry looked good on her. Even in her common clothes, she looked regal. “Why are you staring?” She asked demurely.
I inhaled sharply in appreciation. “If you looked like that when we first met, you might have frozen me in my tracks and been able to put your blade through my heart.”
She slowly turned red and, covering her face, to hide a smile. “I will remember that next time I am trying to kill you.”
“You say the most romantic things,” I cooed at her. “We should hurry. Even though he had brought back Zorana, Maveith was apprehensive about seeing his father again.”
We warned the innkeeper about entering the room with the griffin guarding it and made our way through the city. The city streets were immaculately clean, and all the structures were simple stone, with some ornate, realistic statues scattered throughout. The statues might be an educational tool with all the script at their base. It could be a way of telling the history of the people and what dangers lurked beyond the walls.
Konstantin appeared at my side, clean-shaven and not wearing armor or a sword. “What?” he asked, noticing my scrutiny at his clean appearance. I didn’t respond, just shook my head, and we continued to the Council Assembly Building.
Each goliath town and city was a separate government, usually run by a clan, but they functioned as a cooperative nation on the island. Goliaths had a different outlook on power and wealth, much of which I already learned from my time with Maveith. They didn’t crave either, as goliaths focused on family and achieving a quality of life.
This was one of the reasons they looked down on the Adventurers Guild and adventurers in general. By nature, an adventurer sought wealth and power by risking their life. Something goliaths generally frowned upon. Maveith had also told me the goliaths used to serve the Titans, the stone giants in particular. They assisted in building the wonders of the world back when the Titans ruled Desia. I assumed some of that subservience had carried down through the generations.
Nothing was ostentatious in Eternis, not even the Council Assembly Building. It was made of large blocks of stone, carefully laid, and had only a single story. Unlike most builders designed to symbolize authority, it didn’t try to dominate the buildings surrounding it. Pristine white stone statues surrounded the building. They all depicted goliaths larger than life, probably their heroes or leaders. Maybe Maveith’s statue would join them one day for bringing back the lost members of his people.
As we approached, Konstantin put his hand on my shoulder to get my attention. “Gilda says the families are reunited at the feast every night. I don’t know where Gilda is or when the members of the Stoneskin Clan arrived this morning, but I am guessing Maveith has not seen his father yet. You shouldn’t tell him he is here, or you may anger the Council.”
“Anger the Council?” I asked, confused.
“They want the emotional spectacle to play out publicly,” he said with distaste, as if emotional displays made no sense to him. It made some sense to me, and I thought it would benefit Maveith’s standing with his people if executed well.
“Thank you, Konstantin. Are you joining us?” I asked the veteran as we approached the structure.
“I heard the food was good,” Konstantin grunted noncommittally. “I’ve been talking to the goliath hunters about hunting manticores.” I looked at him to continue. “The other end of the island has the largest population— as many as a hundred if that’s to be believed. They hunt the shallow waters for fish, the jungle, and the slopes for goats. Not ordinary mountain goats, either—the ones here are massive and aggressive. What I don’t understand is how the island supports so many manticores.”
“How many do the goliath hunters kill annually?” Raelia asked, walking in step with us.
Konstantin appreciated the question, nodding at Raelia, “There are two goliath clans that focus on hunting them. One only hunts during the birthing season, in hopes of stemming the population by killing the pregnant females. The other focuses on hunting in areas where the manticores are encroaching on goliath farmlands and attacking livestock. From my conversations with the local hunters, the two clans combined kill less than twenty a year.”
“How many manticores on the entire island?” I asked. It seemed like they should have exterminated the manticores by now.
“It’s a big island, but the hunters I talked to think there are fewer than two hundred,” Konstantin said, which made me nod in relief. From what Zyna had told me, I estimated Castile needed between 9 and 25 apex channeling essences to heal her burnt aether channels. Not that it was guaranteed the manticores would give channeling essences—or even apex essences. It would take ten major essences to equal an apex essence, so 90 to 250 major essences would be needed. The two adults Maveith and I had killed had given major channeling essences, but the juvenile one had given a lesser air essence.
We reached the Council building, but there were no guards outside the large entrance. Walking inside, a pair of goliaths guarded an inner entrance in black leather armor studded with polished copper rivets. “State your business with the Eternis Council,” one of them bellowed at us as we approached. They did not look concerned or threatened by us.
I hesitated, trying to think of the right thing to say, so Konstantin spoke on our behalf. He spoke with surprising formality and pose, “We are invited guests of Maveith of the Stoneskin Clan. He summoned us to attend him.”
“Eryk of Marco?” the guard asked politely in a deep baritone.
“That would be me,” I interjected before they assumed Konstantin was me. The goliath nodded and blew a low-pitched whistle. A young goliath came scampering down the hall. His blue pastel robes were oversized, and he was practically tripping on them.
The guard issued an order, “Honored Maveith has requested his human and elf friends attend him. Escort them to his chamber.” The young goliath nodded enthusiastically.
We followed the impatient youth down a granite-tiled hallway, passing a few goliaths in robes interested in us on our journey. The youth stood erect and knocked twice on the door before announcing us. “Friends of the Honored Maveith have arrived to attend you!”
There was a slight commotion inside before the door flung open. Maveith stood in white robes with a silver sash, wearing a massive grin. He embraced me in a huge hug before I could react. “Eryk, I was worried about you when you didn’t come.”
I found myself being mashed into his chest, taken aback by such an emotional greeting from my friend. At least he had a clean floral scent to his robes. Eventually, I pushed him away. “Maveith, it was less than two days; surely you couldn’t have gotten into any trouble in that time?”
“Trouble?” he asked, confused. “No, not trouble, but they won’t let us leave.” He moved aside, and I found Zorana and Myra standing on the other side of the room in front of a buffet. They were also dressed in similar white robes, but the sashes around their waists were white.
Zorana smiled contentedly and looked good. She appeared well on her way to recovery. “My brother does not want to be the center of attention. He would prefer to spend the day rutting with Myra.” Myra slapped Zorana’s ass playfully.
Maveith blushed, “It is not that. I kept trying to say it was your efforts that freed my people. But the Council decided that if you were not here, you couldn’t be given any recognition.” He exhaled a relieved breath. “Now that you are here…”
“No, Maveith, I am not here to claim any of the honors. If there are any rewards, however…” I started to say. Raelia pushed me into the room so we could close the door. Konstantin followed us in and made his way to a large table laid out with fruit, smoked and salted meats and cheeses.
Myra greeted us with a formal wrist shake before speaking. “Much of what has been given is clothes, food, and promises of a large house if we settle in one of their villages. Many of us who were captured do not come from wealthy families or clans, but I am sure if we ask, we could collect a large bounty from the island.” Her tone was not such that she was trying to make me feel guilty and decline a reward, just stating the truth.
I lamented all the wealth I spent to sail the goliaths home. Maybe in the back of my mind, I was hoping my investment would return more than I put into it. “No, it is fine. I will just enjoy the food. And please, let us not complicate things at this point by trying to give me credit. You are already the symbolic figurehead, Maveith.” I smiled and tried some of the cheeses on the table.
“But Eryk…” Maveith started to complain, but I held up my hand to indicate I didn’t want to argue. It was clear that Maveith and Zorana were not aware that their father had entered the city. I hoped it would be a beautiful reunion. A good mix of cheeses was on the table, from soft and savory to sharp and hard. Based on the array of flavors, I guessed none of them came from cows’ milk. As I sampled them, I took the entire wooden serving tray into my space if I liked them.
I moved onto the meats, amused at my antics, Konstantin spoke, “There are fifty gold bounties for manticore wings.”
Maveith jumped in, “Yes, there is! You only need to present them as proof of a kill! You can still sell them and any other parts you can harvest. Besides the bounty, you can earn a small fortune for those parts. An intact, undrained venom sac will sell for a hundred gold alone. Eryk? Where is your belt pouch?” Maveith said accusingly.
I sighed, finding it superfluous since I had my artifact belt of many pouches. I pulled it from my space and attached it. Right now, it only contained a few dozen coppers. Maveith nodded contentedly. “Make sure you wear it at the feast tonight; it will prove to others that you are a formidable warrior. If someone asks to compare pouches, just agree, and if theirs is bigger, compliment them.” I paused, chewing something that tasted like salted pork. I eventually just nodded.
“Two hundred and fifty gold from a single manticore,” Konstantin said appreciatively, doing the math.
“It is challenging to get an intact venom sac. If they spray their quills, then they have usually drained their sacs to attack you. I don’t know how long it takes to replenish either, not that you would wait for another round,” Maveith said jokingly.
We stopped discussing hunting manticores, and Zorana was happy to tell us what had happened since they arrived. In Goliath culture, Maveith was given a position called Honored. This was both a title and an honorific, showing that he had performed a great service for his people. Every Goliath would extend their hospitality, offering him a safe refuge and sustenance. This was no different than how they would treat anyone of their race, so I was unsure if the title had any real benefits.
When the time arrived for the feast, the young attendant knocked on the door and told Maveith it was time for the evening celebration. Maveith appeared hesitant to go, and having lived as a hermit for years, I could tell he was less comfortable in crowds. I took two trays of meat into my dimensional space, along with a pitcher of something that reminded me of pulpy mango juice.
The hall spanned about a hundred feet across, featuring a softly domed ceiling adorned with skylights. As the sun set, bright glowstone sconces were uncovered along the walls, reflecting light off the glass skylights. Despite the room's plainness, the lighting imparted a shimmering, otherworldly ambiance. Along one wall, tables were lined with an array of steaming food. Konstantin made a beeline for the feast, and to my surprise, Gilda emerged from the crowd of goliaths to accompany him, likely bringing him a report.
Dozens of goliaths in robes and light armor mingled in the room, and Maveith was quickly swarmed by several of them. I recognized a few of the freed goliaths moving through the crowd as well, and some approached me to thank me again. Zorana stayed back while Maveith was swept away by his celebrity status.
“They will soon bring in family for the reunion. Then there will be dancing, singing, and plenty of eating and drinking,” Zorana said, lacing her arm through mine. “I’m claiming your first dance,” she declared, leaving little room for argument.
“It would be my pleasure,” I returned, smiling. I had danced with Zorana in the dreamscape, so I was actually a little familiar with the goliath dancing—as long as Maveith had properly recalled the dance in the dreamscape, I shouldn’t embarrass myself too much.
The evening dragged for me as Raelia flitted among the goliaths, engaging in conversation with the goliaths towering over her. Zorana stayed by my side, assisting me throughout the evening, and I could understand why Maveith dreaded the event. My grasp of the language was weak but I understood enough, and I was asked twice to compare manticore sacs; both times mine was bigger, and it felt good to be complimented on the size of my sac.
It at least gave me something to pass the time as I talked about hunting manticores with the goliath hunters. Maybe two hours into the feast, some drums and a chime sounded. Zorana whispered in my ear, “The families are going to be presented. There is usually a lot of crying—I can usually not stop myself from joining them. I wonder if our father will be among…” She trailed off as thirty-plus goliaths entered the hall. They all appeared tidy in their fresh clothes. Zorana squeezed my hand so tightly I felt my joints pop.
Zorana strained her neck to see the family members entering. Someone broke away from our side and ran toward one of the goliaths. A collision of bodies and sobbing erupted, followed by cheers and clapping from our side of the room. I suddenly felt my hand go slack as Zorana rushed forward. I tried to guess who she was running toward, but I was wrong.
She targeted a thin goliath with a hunched back and weathered face. When he opened his arms to receive her, the embrace took them both to the ground hard. I looked for Maveith, who stood alone, his admirers having given him space.
Zorana and their father remained on the floor as he hugged her, and she sobbed uncontrollably. I might have shed a tear, but would never admit it openly. Maveith watched uncertainly, and I moved to him, encouraging him to join them. “Maveith, go to them.” He shook his head uncertainly. Myra approached and pushed him, tears streaming down her face. I didn’t know if Myra had any relatives coming today or if they had already come.
Maveith’s steps were uncertain as other goliaths recognized family members and reunited. Some cried, some cheered, and others looked less happy. I guessed that some families had lost members after they were taken. Raelia found a spot beside me to watch, and we shadowed Maveith as he moved closer.
Maveith fell to his knees, joining Zorana and his father. Tears streamed down his face as he reached out. We were just close enough to overhear. “I am sorry, father, I failed to protect Zorana. I fled in shame without telling you. I don’t deserve to be an Honored.”
Zorana helped their father up, who looked grandfatherly in age and frail, like he had given up on life, but there was a light in his eyes now. “You have both returned when I thought you were dead or lost all these years. You are my son, and I am your father. Nothing can change that, Maveith.” Maveith leaned in and embraced his family.
I watched the reunion briefly, and Raelia snaked her arm inside mine. She was crying silently as she watched. I had cleared my tears and held back more. “I don’t think Maveith needs our support. We can go back to the inn,” I said with my throat a little tight.
After hearing my words, even though I thought I had whispered them, Maveith helped his father to his feet. “Father, this is my friend, Eryk Marco, and he is largely responsible for Zorana and I being able to return to you. Eryk, this is my father, Lorodhan of the Stoneskin clan.” Maveith was shaking slightly from emotion but presented me proudly to his father.
The ancient giant reached out his hand, and when I went to shake it, he pulled me in for a hug. “I cannot express my gratitude for your deed, Eryk Marko. What is mine is yours, and you are always welcome in my home.” I returned the hug, and after introducing Raelia, I turned toward the exit. This emotional outpouring was enough to fuel me for a month—maybe a year.
Zorana caught me, “You promised me a dance!” After that, I tried to let the night take me where it would. The celebration extended well into early morning, and I think I danced with Raelia a half dozen times and more goliath women than I could count. Apparently, I was a good dancer compared to goliath men. Or perhaps they liked a partner smaller than them that they could take the lead in the dance with.
Once the dancing started, I didn’t see Konstantin, but I knew he would find me tomorrow. It was time to start hunting manticores.
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Comments
Brianna Stormcloud
Thanks for the emotional chapter, that scene has been a long time coming ... You did it proud :)
Bryan Schnebly
Edit: Unlike most builders designed to symbolize authority, it didn’t try to dominate the buildings surrounding it. Unlike most buildings designed to symbolize authority, it didn’t try to dominate the buildings surrounding it. If you don't want to use buildings twice, you can replace the second one with something like "those" or "the ones"
Erick Thiemke
thanks, i made a lot of the corrections
Erick Thiemke
edited
Erick Thiemke
edits made
Adam V
Very touching chapter :') Edits: He spoke with [surprisingly]->[surprising] formality and pose, Maveith stood in white robes with a silver sash, [he wore]->[wearing] a massive grin. Her tone was not such that she was trying to make me feel guilty and -[make] decline a reward, just stating the truth.
Erick Thiemke
i thnk he gave the wine to Castille....but I dont recall how much if not all
Aspiring Sage
ARAO, in the previous chapter about provisioning, you should consider mentioning he got casks of water and juice, and that he used the elven ambrosia chalice daily on the ship, etc that way you can explain away how he has food, drinks, apples, grain etc in future chapters and books without a problem. Also, I just realized, did he lose the last 50+ bottles of Caledorian wine too? Ouch. That's like 5,000 to 10,000 gold right there...
caeven
its just one type of essence that he already has a fairly high score for. it should take him a couple weeks at most. would you NOT hustle for less than a month to save a friend from a life lived in agony? this is completey reasonable.
Jordan A
She slowly turned red and touched her face, hiding a smile. “I will remember that next time I am trying to kill you.” her -> my I’m not sure why she would touch her own face so changing her to my makes her action teasing/sultry with Eryk.
R. Maxwell Steele
"What I don’t understand is how the island supports so many manticores" Manticore dungeon nearby for sure. Very likely that it's not had a surface opening, so they have to come up from deeps nearby. Each new one probably fights the established ones for their spot. So no matter how many the goliaths kills, they always come back. If they put out the word that they created channeling essence, could probably attract many hunters like our MC. Alternatively, they could gather enough money to buy the island a collector and then export the the channeling essence and bring tons of money to the island. Ideally they could trap them and then put one in a each dungeon to really make the channeling essence more available, but that would also be less lucrative.
Ben
Eryk the doormat planning to farm 45-90 essence but not for himself…. Classic Will he ever try and improve his own magic seriously? It’s becoming annoying
Andrew Crews
We dressed in our best available clothes. I had my clothes from Telha and the manticore cloak, while Raelia had a shirt she had purchased during the shopping spree and comfortable blue linen pants. She added [a subtle] rouge gloss to her lips, the only makeup she wore. She had pulled her silky dark hair back and braided it. She wore a gold necklace with a thumbnail-sized emerald [that complemented] her eyes. Her ears were [prominently visible], and she had sapphire earrings shaped like a hummingbird [taken from] the chest I got from the werewolves. I admitted [to myself that] the jewelry looked good on her. Even in her common clothes, she looked regal. “Why are you staring?” she asked demurely. I inhaled sharply in appreciation. “If you looked like that when we first met, you might have frozen me in my tracks and been able to put your blade through my heart.” She slowly turned red and touched her face, hiding a smile. “I will remember that next time I am trying to kill you.” “You say the most romantic things,” I [teased]. “We should hurry. [Even though he had brought back Zorana, Maveith was apprehensive about seeing his father again.]” [Clarified] We warned the innkeeper about entering the room with the [griffin] guarding it and made our way through the city. The city streets were immaculately clean, and all the structures were simple stone, with some ornate, realistic statues scattered throughout. [Each statue had inscriptions at its base, possibly serving as an educational tool or a way to document the city’s history and the dangers lurking beyond the walls.] [Clarified] Konstantin appeared at my side, clean-shaven and not wearing armor or a sword. “What?” he asked, [noticing my scrutiny]. I didn’t respond, just shook my head, and we continued to the [Council Assembly Building.] Each goliath town and city was a separate government, usually run by a clan, but they functioned as a cooperative nation on the island. Goliaths had a different outlook on power and wealth, much of which I [had already learned] from my time with Maveith. They didn’t crave either, as goliaths focused on family and achieving a quality of life. This was one of the reasons they looked down on the [Adventurers’ Guild] and adventurers in general. By nature, an adventurer sought wealth and power by risking their life—something goliaths generally frowned upon. Maveith had also told me the goliaths used to serve the [Titans, particularly the stone giants.] They [had assisted in constructing] the wonders of the world back when the Titans ruled Desia. I assumed some of that subservience had carried down through the generations. Nothing was ostentatious in Eternis, not even the [Council Assembly Building.] It was made of large blocks of stone, carefully laid, and had only a single story. Unlike [most government buildings designed to symbolize authority, this one blended modestly into the cityscape.] [Clarified] Pristine white stone statues surrounded the building. They all depicted [larger-than-life] goliaths, probably their heroes or leaders. [Perhaps one day, Maveith’s statue would join them for bringing back the lost members of his people.] [Clarified] As we approached, Konstantin put his hand on my shoulder. “Gilda says the families are reunited at the feast every night. I don’t know where [she is now, nor where the Stoneskin Clan members are, but I am guessing Maveith has not seen his father yet.] You shouldn’t tell him he is here, or you may anger the Council.” “Anger the Council?” I asked, confused. “They want the emotional spectacle to play out publicly,” he said [with a hint of disdain.] [Clarified] It made some sense to me, and I thought it would benefit Maveith’s standing. “Thank you, Konstantin. Are you joining us?” I asked as we approached the structure. “I heard the food was good,” Konstantin grunted noncommittally. “I’ve been talking to the goliath hunters about hunting manticores.” I looked at him to continue. “The other end of the island has the largest population— as many as a hundred, if that’s to be believed. They hunt the shallow waters for fish, the jungle for other predators, and the slopes for goats. [Not ordinary mountain goats, either—the ones here are massive and aggressive.] What I don’t understand is how the island supports so many manticores.” [Clarified] “How many do the goliath hunters kill annually?” Raelia asked. Konstantin appreciated the question, nodding at Raelia. “There are two goliath clans that focus on hunting. One only hunts during the birthing season, [hoping to curb] the population. The other focuses on hunting in areas where the manticores are encroaching on goliath farmlands and attacking livestock. From my conversations with the local hunters, the two clans combined kill less than three dozen a year.” I followed up with a question. “How many manticores [are] on the entire island?” “It’s a big island, but the hunters I talked to think there are fewer than two hundred,” Konstantin said, which made me nod in relief. I estimated Castile needed between 45 and 90 [apex] channeling essences to heal her burnt aether channels. Not that it was guaranteed the manticores would give [channeling essences—or even apex essences.] The two adults we had killed had given major channeling essences, but the juvenile one had given an [air] essence.
Jamie Idle
I was wondering the same rarity vs efficiency of essences doesn't quite make since. Without Eryk's two advantages with essences they seem almost pointless. Also I am surprised rituals or spell forms to make essences more efficient aren't more common.
Karnnie
Are we sure it will take 45-90? That is quite the difference between high and low and APEX essences are supposed to be able to bring a normal persons stat up by +1 right? she only lost 3 points. Is there really that much of a difference in the potency of APEX essences?
Invalid Entry
I never said he wasted it. His choices are eminently practical especially for innate abilities considering he’ll eventually find enough shaping essence to become a real hairy wizard (if nothing kills him first). They’re just not the most exciting picks. However I think intrinsic flight, especially without cast times so he could work it into his fighting style in short bursts, is even more practical than cool. He wouldn’t just be able to make impossible leaps to escape strikes or boost himself into insanely fast strafes or charges, but even couple little bursts of flight with his footwork to move almost like a character in a gpa video game, changing direction of movement near immediately in a way that defies the concept of momentum. Once he worked it out he’d be near impossible to fight and considering girly (I forget her name lol, updates come too slowly to remember such details. The elemental isn’t girl who sat on his face) could fly for minutes at a time using short bursts for combat shouldn’t even be a significant mana drain except in long battles maybe.
Shandlar
He's no longer under continuous threat of instant death. Given how much of a hardcore pragmatist the character has been, there's no reason to assume he won't realize his near immortality gives him time to get high common affinities before inscribing a spell. His night vision was accidental and his void choice was due to knowing he had literally no chance of obtaining void essences in the empire. He hasn't really wasted anything else imho.
Invalid Entry
Flight would be amazing and not just for flying. The potential in adding the power of short bursts of flight to your ground based combat movements would be game changing. However first he needs to see one of those specialists to deal with his core issues and then he’ll probably choose something boring but really practical from the lowest tier as soon as he gets enough air affinity like he usually does.
Shandlar
Tolerance was multiples of your pool per 24 hours, yeah. But I think channeling was flat gain over time that grew exponentially. I did do the wrong math though, going 10 20 30 40 50 instead of 10 20 40 80 160. So he'd be at 22.75 aether an hour or 2 hours to fill his whole pool now. 37 minutes maximum time to use the space kill given we know it's possible with 14 aether points. 5.25 minutes per air shield. Half that per earth pulse. However we weren't given an exact amount the drain from the ageless time imprint is so some unknown amount slower than that.
InfernalDrake
It’s exponential though if I recall? I think it scales off of both his channeling and his aether pool size, which has also increased since then. At the very least, I remember that Burning was linked to Aether pool size.
1536539
Yeah but my point is, he doesn’t need to use it back to back, just once per manticore, if he somehow missed, he still has other ways of defending himself
Shandlar
I just looked it up from book 1. When channeling was 14 it took roughly 4 hours to recover 9 effective points of pool. So each effective channeling power is 1 effective aether pool point per 8 hours. So Eryks uper high channeling now gets him 14.5 points an hour. So yeah, I guess still not even close to using it back to back. He still needs essentially an hour recovery to use the space on a living thing between each time.
Shandlar
It used to take a long time to regen, but his core and channeling are way bigger now. 24 is not double of 12 core it's 3.3x bigger. He was able to kill the land shark thing with only 12 core, so we know he only needs to recover a third of his aether at most now to kill something with his space.
Shandlar
No way. He's 0 on air, so he'd have to unlock it. I can't imagine he'd risk destroying his core for that. With his core already way overstressed he'd probably need 20+ aether core ess before he can unlock another affinity from 0.
Chachi
and now eryk is on to farm essences i wonder if he can unlock the air affinity to make make him faster or fly would be kino
1536539
Yeah but he doesn’t need to use it multiple times, Manticores are solitary creatures, plus he has trusted comrades to watch over his back if anything happens, he can set a bait in a manticore’s hunting territory, wait in ambush, take a chunk out of the manticores frontal lobe when it lands to eat the bait, use the collector then manually butcher the carcus, repeat, even if he hunted a single manticore a day he would still reach his target in less than 4 months, there is no rush for him, he is the hunter not the prey.
Zurko
each time he uses his space on a living thing it bottoms out his aether, and takes a long time to regen. he can't do it multiple times in a fight. I don't think he could get every limb + tail + wings in a single use of space on a moving target. plus, didn't the also have some magic or something last time he fought them? or a poison or something.
Eriach
Loot everything!
Eriach
Yeah..
Ivan Kanewske
=) :) Good one
Salvo
She would need to channel essence, which she might not be able to do.
Salvo
I love the shameless taking of the meat and cheese trays, freakin loot goblin!
Erick Thiemke
Thanks I will change it.
Robert Briscoe
Erik best hope real Zorana never meets Dream amulet Zorana. I bet those two would get up to mischief
Justin Barnett
Also, Eryk got a minor air essence from the baby manticore.
1536539
Thank you for the chapter, if living creatures yield better essences, he can use his space to effectively lobotomize the manticores then use the collector on a technically still living body.
Justin Barnett
Yes ignis told Eryk they were platinum.
Erick Thiemke
damn, really? they were platinum though, right? i have them in red in my notes but didnt note who got them
Justin Barnett
Eryk gave the leaf earrings to ignis in chapter 267.
Andrew
Thank you!
Erick Thiemke
3rd of 4, this is yesterday's chapter. If it doesnt get the reader to choke up a bit, I will try to edit it to do so
