Chương 572: Chapter 540: Good Job Vorlok

The Echovore proved to be a far better teacher than Thalion had thought possible. They had now trained for almost two days, and if Thalion had to judge his own progress, things were going exceptionally well. Normally, he would have already left to gain levels and test the skills in real combat. Instead, he felt like he was advancing so quickly in the art of infusing himself and his abilities with soul power that staying a little longer seemed like the right decision.

The entire process suddenly felt so simple when a god could tell you exactly what you were doing wrong and how to improve. He could now charge both his body and his skills with soul energy, increasing their power by almost fifty percent. More importantly, he had finally learned how to deal with the issue of gravity no longer properly affecting him. It turned out that he could move himself through the air with little more than a thought. Compared to his old gravity skill, it was vastly superior.

After so much practice, it was finally time to test everything on the local wildlife. Inside the mansion, he had never actually released the skills. He only infused them with soul power before dismissing them again. Now he wanted real combat. Real testing. And most importantly, levels. There was no reason he couldn't continue training whenever he returned from a hunt. Everything was progressing perfectly.

He would need to replenish his darkness and blood reserves at some point, but there was still plenty of time for that. In a surprisingly good mood, Thalion walked down the stairs and opened the door. He was ready to fly off and slaughter everything that had managed to evolve to D grade. Instead, he found himself staring into the faces of Maike, Kaldrek, and one of the vampiresses carrying a nearly unconscious man over her shoulder. The three of them had been about to knock when he opened the door.

"Oh no. What is it this time? I really need to get going." Thalion sighed dramatically. Hopefully this could be solved quickly.

"Well, it looks like Ethan found us." Maike smiled helplessly.

"Wait, what?" Thalion's eyes widened. That was bad. Very bad. If Ethan had found them, then every human Chosen likely knew where he was. After what had happened during the show, many of them were probably eager to wrap their hands around his neck.

"We need to evacuate immediately. Is it only this base, or are all our bases compromised?" If their enemies had discovered every location, the days of their faction were numbered.

"No. Ethan doesn't know yet." Kaldrek shook his head.

"A group of scouts followed the refugees to this base. This is where they split up. This one—" He pointed toward the unconscious man.

"—stayed behind to gather more information. Unfortunately for him, he was discovered after only two days." The vampiress carrying the scout grinned.

"He was kind enough to tell us that it will likely take one or two days before Ethan's forces arrive."

"What's more interesting is how they plan to get here." Kaldrek's grin widened.

"They're bringing a group of craftsmen to construct a teleportation circle. Once it's finished, they'll transport the army directly to the forest outside our base." At least that was somewhat good news. If the craftsmen died before completing the circle, Ethan's forces would be delayed significantly. Perhaps they would even abandon the attempt entirely.

"Before you fly off." Maike interrupted him, clearly having guessed where his thoughts were heading.

"We already came up with a plan." She pointed toward the vampiress.

"She's very good at gathering information. We believe that if we capture the craftsmen, it might be possible to gain access to their teleportation network." Now Thalion understood where this was heading. And he liked it.

"At the moment it might not be that useful," Maike continued, "but once the real war begins, having access to enemy teleportation routes could become invaluable." Thalion slowly nodded. That was indeed worth pursuing.

"Still, we should relocate most people to one of the other bases just in case they're already closer than we think." He paused.

"How confident are we about extracting the information?"

"This is actually the easy part." Kaldrek laughed.

"We can let the vampires try first, but honestly I'd rather send them to the gods." A savage grin spread across his face.

"Gods are much better at extracting information than any of us."

"The evacuation is already underway. We mostly came to inform you. If there's anything you want moved to another base, now is the time." Thalion thought about it. Other than the armor, there was nothing particularly important left in the mansion.

"Right." He nodded.

"This might actually be a good opportunity for the vampires to prove themselves." The vampiress immediately straightened. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"Below the mansion is a blood pond containing my armor." Even saying those words made him feel slightly proud.

"Move everything through the portal and rebuild the blood pond at the other base." He paused.

"It's probably best if you don't touch the armor directly."

"Of course." The vampiress bowed immediately.

"We'll handle it personally." Then she glanced toward the unconscious scout hanging over her shoulder.

"What should we do with him?" That was something Thalion didn't particularly care about.

"I don't care. Keep him alive for now or turn him into a blood slave. Either way, I think it's best if I get moving." With those words, Thalion jumped into the air and shifted into the Heavenrend Wyvern. Two powerful wingbeats launched him forward and sent him racing above the forest in the direction from which the refugees had arrived. The wind howled around his body as he accelerated faster and faster. If only Ethan came through the portal himself, this might actually become an opportunity to get rid of him.

Still, it was probably too dangerous. The Chosen would arrive alongside multiple D grades, and Ethan himself was one of Thalion's future projects when it came to acquiring a powerful bloodline. For that plan to work, Thalion would need to reach D grade first. There was a reason Aeta had chosen Ethan. At the same time, if Ethan managed to walk through a completed teleportation circle, their faction would be in serious trouble. Thalion would either have to kill him or retreat.

Capturing Ethan and keeping him imprisoned until he was ready to evolve felt highly unlikely. Slowly, Thalion climbed higher into the sky while observing the endless forest below. Thanks to his exceptional eyesight, it didn't take long before he spotted the first elves moving through the trees. He doubted the humans would construct the teleportation circle too far from his base. They still needed to transport all those refugees back, and moving thousands of people over large distances would take forever.

Only half an hour later, he noticed movement ahead. At first, it looked as if the treetops were simply shaking. Then he realized entire trees were falling. Something large was moving rapidly through the forest. Thalion was far faster than whatever was causing the destruction below, and it only took moments before he identified the culprit. A sky turtle. More specifically, Vorlok. The enormous beast was chasing a single human woman.

The woman sprinted through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her while screaming in absolute terror. Behind her, the gluttonous turtle smashed through trees without slowing down, only briefly losing momentum whenever a trunk collapsed directly in its path. Its massive beak snapped shut again and again. Each impact sounded like a steel gate slamming shut with tremendous force. The noise did little to calm the woman. She stumbled repeatedly, allowing the turtle to gain ground every time.

At that point, Thalion finally decided to intervene. The human needed to stay alive. Besides, he strongly suspected that this woman was one of the craftsmen sent to construct the teleportation circle. Dropping lower until he was only fifty meters above the forest canopy, Thalion released a powerful roar while letting a bit of his aura spread. He could have simply spoken to Vorlok, but this felt fmore natural. His roar made the woman shriek even louder. Vorlok immediately lifted his head and looked toward the sky.

"Catch. Don't eat." Everything spoken in his wyvern form carried surprisingly far. It took a moment before Vorlok seemed to understand. Then the turtle adjusted course and continued chasing the woman, who had gained a slight lead during the distraction. Not wanting to risk her escaping, Thalion decided to assist. The wyvern form was too large to maneuver through the dense forest, so he shifted into the Sirokkar moments before touching a branch.

Now significantly smaller, he activated every movement skill he possessed. The result was immediate. He shot forward like a bullet, leaving Vorlok completely behind. Only seconds later, he reached the fleeing woman. One quick swipe at her right leg was enough. She tumbled across the forest floor and slammed hard into a tree. Unfortunately, a certain turtle failed to stop in time. The next second, she disappeared beneath several tons of momentum.

"Ah." Thalion shifted into his human form.

"Well, there's probably nothing left to save." The turtle rolled through at least ten additional trees before finally coming to a halt. The chances of the woman surviving were quiete slim. Then Vorlok started coughing.

"Too many rotations, huh?" Thalion commented. The giant sky turtle coughed again. And then vomited. A completely horrified woman landed on the forest floor. Covered in slime and shaking from head to toe, she looked like she had just experienced the worst day of her life.

"Hey, good job, Vorlok." Thalion nodded approvingly.

"There I was, thinking she was a goner." The woman looked far too traumatized to appreciate the compliment.

"Now, I assume she's one of the people sent to build the teleportation circle?" Vorlok nodded enthusiastically. That was excellent news. No fighting Chosen. No dangerous battle. Just another problem solved.

"Excellent. Since Ethan's operation has been stopped, we can move on." Thalion pointed toward the terrified woman.

"Can you bring her wherever the others are being held?" He wasn't particularly hopeful that the turtle would understand such a complicated request. As usual, Vorlok the Worldshatterer immediately proved him wrong. With a single gulp, the woman vanished. The sky turtle then happily launched itself into the air, flapping its oversized fins and leaving Thalion standing alone in the clearing. For several moments, he simply stared after the departing turtle. He wasn't entirely sure what had just happened.

Curiosity eventually got the better of him. Following Vorlok from a distance, Thalion wanted to know whether the turtle would eventually spit the woman back out. And indeed, it did. In the middle of the plaza, where the others had already returned with the captured humans, Vorlok landed heavily before immediately vomiting the woman onto the stone floor. To everyone's surprise, she wasn't the only one. Four more humans followed shortly after.

One by one, they slid out onto the plaza covered in slime and looking thoroughly traumatized. It seemed Vorlok had been a very hardworking sky turtle. Thalion blinked in surprise. He had only been gone for roughly an hour. How had everyone else returned so quickly? They must have narrowly missed each other in the forest.

"Did we get all the bastards?" Thalion asked in an unusually good mood. Kargul, Evelyn, Josh, and Jack were already gathered nearby. Each of them had brought back their own captives.

"Yeah, we should be good." Josh nodded proudly.

"All the rangers are either dead or accounted for, and the craftsmen have been captured."

"The stupid rangers run so damn fast." Kargul folded his arms.

"I think it's because of their short feet." Nobody bothered questioning the logic. One of the craftsmen finally managed to catch his breath.

"Please..." He coughed up another mouthful of slime.

"We aren't loyal. We aren't even soldiers." The man stumbled forward on shaking legs.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just keep that thing away from me." He pointed toward Vorlok. The giant turtle looked almost disappointed. Thankfully, the craftsmen turned out to be remarkably cooperative. The information started flowing almost immediately.

"Ethan doesn't know this settlement is protected by so many powerful fighters." The craftsman swallowed nervously.

"He only wants the humans." That made several people frown.

"Why?" Thalion asked. The man hesitated.

"Because they discovered one of the great treasures of this world." That immediately got everyone's attention.

"It's somewhere in the forest. Ethan needs a huge workforce to transport everything." That was bad news. Very bad news. It meant Ethan wouldn't simply abandon the operation. If the treasure was valuable enough, he would keep searching. And if they were particularly unlucky, he might even come personally. For now, however, they had bought themselves additional time. The evacuation could continue. At least they now had a few more days before anything serious happened.

The bigger question was what to do with the base itself. Thankfully, their most qualified expert immediately stepped forward.

"Okay, friends." Lucan appeared seemingly out of nowhere. His grin looked slightly unhinged.

"I have a plan." That alone made several people nervous.

"I built a bomb." Nobody looked surprised.

"In fact, it's the best bomb I've ever built." That was somehow even more concerning.

"We hide, wait for Ethan's people to sneak into the base, and then..." Lucan spread his arms dramatically.

"Boom." Thalion wasn't particularly convinced. Ethan wasn't stupid. The chances of him walking directly into an obvious trap felt rather low.

"Nah." Jack shook his head.

"Something's wrong with that guy." Everyone turned toward him.

"Ethan always knows too much." Jack frowned.

"I've watched him fight other Chosen. Sometimes it feels like he already knows what's about to happen."

"He also kicked you through a wall." Josh couldn't help himself. Jack pointed at him.

"That's completely unrelated." The craftsmen looked increasingly confused with every sentence. At the same time, they continued inching away from Vorlok. The turtle was watching them far too closely for comfort. Thalion ignored the argument and considered the situation. Blowing Ethan up was unlikely. Destroying the base, however, had merit.

There was no telling what tracking abilities Ethan's rangers possessed, and the last thing Thalion wanted was a group of Chosen hunting him while he was still preparing for the third system event. For now, staying hidden remained the safer choice.

"Alright." The discussion immediately quieted down.

"We continue evacuating the settlement." Everyone nodded.

"Lucan, prepare the base for demolition." Lucan's grin widened.

"It would be best if no useful clues are left behind." The inventor looked far too happy about that order.

"Tell the hunting parties to return as well." Thalion continued.

"No more deep expeditions into the forest." His gaze swept across the group.

"We stay low for the foreseeable future." The others seemed more than happy with that decision. Nobody appeared eager to meet Ethan again. That part was admittedly annoying. Especially when it came to Thalion's leveling plans. Still, better safe than dead. A little hunting should still be possible. The depths of the ocean remained largely unexplored, and there were plenty of powerful creatures hidden beneath the waves.

More importantly, with their position potentially compromised, it was probably time to collect a few additional crystals. The future was becoming increasingly dangerous, which meant it was time to become even stronger.