Zytherin was walking through the snow plain, the cold wind sweeping past his cloak as a couple of blood elves and goblins followed behind him, their boots crunching against the frost-bitten ground. After the brutal conquest, Leah had given him a new task, which was to find the heart of the plain, the ideal spot where her rising empire would begin.

  He moved with purpose, eyes scanning the area around him, and eventually stopped. "This is it," Zytherin muttered, his breath curling in the icy air. "Approximately the centre of the snow plain."

  He planted his staff into the ground and looked around slowly.

  "This position will give us maximum visibility in all directions, and natural defense if we build out properly."

  Zytherin turned to the others, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the open stretch of snow-covered land once more.

  "We’ll need to decide what materials we’re building with,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “Wood from the southern forest is plentiful… but we could also try shaping structures from hardened blood, or even stone if we can quarry it from the mountains."

  He crossed his arms, the wind brushing snow across his boots. "Let’s get Leah’s feedback on this once she comes back."

  ***

  Leah stood within the quiet, pulsing chamber of the blood fairy dungeon, the deep red glow of the crystal painting her face in soft crimson hues. Elise stood nearby, her translucent wings twitching slightly as she studied the crystal alongside her master.

  Both of them were silent for a while, deep in thought.

  Leah’s arms were crossed as her eyes narrowed at the crystal. "We need to figure out how to bring it with us. Leaving it here is a waste."

  Elise tilted her head, thoughtful. "What if you just told it to become smaller?"

  Leah blinked and looked over at her general, a faintly amused smirk tugging at her lips. "You really think it’s that easy?"

  Still, after a short pause, Leah extended a hand towards the crystal and, with a commanding tone, said, "Shrink. Come to me."

  To her surprise, the blood-red crystal responded. It pulsed once, then began to compress itself, glowing brighter as it condensed until it transformed into a brilliant gem the size of a coin. It floated into Leah’s waiting palm and hovered there, softly humming.

  Leah stared at it, stunned for a second, before closing her fingers around it. "Huh, guess sometimes it really is that easy."

  She held it up to her face and turned it slightly, admiring its intricate facets. "I wonder who created these crystals… and why."

  She held the crystal close, thinking. Ever since her arrival in Terran, all her energy had been poured into surviving, and then conquering. But now, for the first time, she wondered about the larger picture. Why had she been pulled from Earth to this world? And with Gabriel's appearance, it was clear she wasn't the only one.

  Her eyes narrowed. She knew too little. Once her power was great enough, once she no longer needed to fear anything, she would uncover the truth. She would explore Terran and learn its secrets.

  She turned to Elise. "Let’s head back."

  ***

  Leah soared through the skies above the snow plain, with Elise gliding just behind her. The wind rushed past, sweeping through her long hair and flapping her dark cloak. As the cold air brushed her face, she opened her system overview to check her progress.

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  Her level now sat at thirty-two, and all of her attributes had climbed past one hundred. She flicked over to her Active Skills. The proficiency bars had steadily climbed and now most of them now sat beyond twenty percent, some even nearing thirty.

  Next, she opened the Legion Tab, scanning through the numbers:

  Blood Beastmen: 1

  Blood Fairies: 67

  Blood Elves: 320

  Blood Goblins: 6,453

  That last number brought a sharp smile to her lips.

  Down below, she saw the snow plain dotted with movement. Blood goblins were working in groups, dismantling the leftover goblin camps and hauling the materials north. The lines of red-skinned figures looked almost like ants.

  Ahead, she noticed a small gathering forming around something. With a glance at Elise, she adjusted her flight path and began descending. As they neared, the crowd parted, revealing Zytherin emerging from the centre.

  He bowed slightly. "My lady. Have you found a way to move the crystal?"

  Leah nodded as her boots sank into the snow. "I have."

  She then looked around. "Did you find a place to start building?"

  He nodded once and motioned for her to follow. "Come. I want you to see something first."

  They went through the crowd until they came upon two goblins standing in a cleared space. One held a simple stick of wood, the other, a metal sword.

  "What is this?" Leah asked.

  Zytherin gestured toward a nearby blood fairy. "Please watch."

  The blood fairy stepped forward and extended their hand. A single thin blood tendril emerged and pierced into the wooden stick. The stick’s surface began to darken, turning a glossy obsidian black, with red cracks coursing along its grain like veins of magma.

  The fairy stepped back. The goblin with the sword took position, raised the weapon high, and then swung it down with all its might towards the blood-infused wood.

  The sword shattered on impact. A jagged piece of metal flew backward and clattered across the snowy ground.

  Leah’s eyes narrowed slightly with interest.

  Zytherin turned to Leah. "As you can see, even something as mundane as a wooden stick becomes incredibly strong when infused with your kind’s blood."

  He gestured to the wood in the goblin’s hands.

  "I suggest we use this technique on all the wood we’ll use to build the camp." Zytherin added.

  Leah nodded. "We will."

  She stepped forward and motioned for the goblin to hand her the stick. The goblin obeyed without hesitation, and as the solid wood pressed into her palm, she tried to bend it. It didn’t budge an inch.

  Her brow raised slightly. She turned to Zytherin. "Have you tried this with metal?"

  Zytherin nodded. "We did. We tried it with a sword... but the metal burst apart. Instantly."

  "I see." Leah said quietly.

  She passed the stick to Zytherin and turned toward the gathered crowd. "Someone, hand me a sword."

  A moment passed in silence before a goblin stepped forward, handing her a short sword.

  Leah took the weapon in one hand and held it flat, then pushed her blood into it. The transformation started at the hilt. It crept along the blade as the metal turned black, the red cracks snaking across its surface. But as the transformation reached the midpoint, the fractures grew erratic and jagged, until the blade exploded.

  Shards of metal sprayed out in every direction. One sharp fragment embedded itself into Leah’s cheek.

  The crowd gasped. Zytherin stepped forward instinctively, but Leah raised a hand to stop him.

  "I’m fine," she said calmly, pulling the shard out. Blood trickled down, but she didn’t flinch. "I was impatient."

  She tossed the broken handle and the shard aside. "Another sword."

  No one moved for a moment, until a tall elf stepped forward. He drew his longsword from its scabbard, the blade dwarfing Leah in height.

  Zytherin’s brow creased. "Do you really want to try with that? I can fetch you another short sword—"

  Leah waved him off and took the longsword with both hands. "I know what I did wrong. I was channeling blood too slowly into one area. It expanded unevenly and cracked."

  She held the sword sideways. Thin blood tendrils slipped out from her body and began coiling around the sword, wrapping it like a cocoon in a delicate weave.

  Moments later, the tendrils retracted. The blade was obsidian black, etched with deep red cracks that pulsed faintly. Leah lifted the sword, examining it. It didn’t break.

  "Zytherin." she called.

  He stepped forward and extended the infused wooden stick. Leah pulled back the sword, planted her feet, and swung in a downward arc.

  The sword passed through the wood like it was butter, splitting it cleanly in half.

  Leah straightened, a grin forming across her face. She turned to the elf and said, "I’ve taken a liking to this sword. I’m keeping it."

  She extended her free hand, and with a quick burst of blood, formed a new crystallised blood longsword and stabbed it into the ground in front of him.

  "Take that instead."

  Then, with the obsidian sword slung over her shoulder, she turned and began walking away.

  Zytherin caught up to her. "So… are you going to start using a sword now?"

  Leah nodded. "I am. There might come a day when I run out of mana in a fight. I want to make sure I can still cut something down if it comes to that."