Thalion sat before the ashes of his friends, watching as the wind slowly carried them away. He had no idea how long he remained there in silence. Two of their fighters had been lost in the battle with the orcs, but almost every orc had been captured alive.

Later, he heard whispers how a few warriors had accidentally killed an orc and, in panic, hid the body inside their spatial rings so he wouldn't notice.

When all the orcs were finally shackled and dragged to the dungeons, Thalion rose to his feet and turned back toward the city. There was too much to do, he couldn't afford to waste more time. The black pillar would need to be placed somewhere it could be charged properly. His armor still needed repairs and fresh crystals for power. Then there was the Leviathan… and that massive crystal.

First: find a new place for the pillar and order the slow execution of the orcs after placed inside it with lightning, if possible. Oh and very slowly.

Next: visit Lucan and start crafting. And somewhere in between, maybe do a quick test of his skills now empowered by his bloodline, though right now, he wanted something far less action-heavy.

The guards at the gate stared silently as Thalion leapt onto the wall in a single, massive bound. He moved quickly over the rooftops, sending Evelyn a short message, though he didn't need to. She was already waiting at his tower, eager to continue with Cathrin.

The witch still lived, after all.

"What's next?" Evelyn asked simply. Thalion was grateful for that, he didn't want to speak of what had happened only hours earlier.

"I'll place the pillar in the entrance hall. Then I'll head to Lucan for some crafting. When you're done with Cathrin, arrange for a group of orcs to be placed inside the pillar and shocked to death. Lightning works best for torture in there," Thalion said flatly, his voice empty. At the moment, he felt dead inside.

"Well then, hurry up. I'm not planning on killing Cathrin too fast, we've only just begun." Evelyn's smile was all venom.

"On second thought, I'll bring it up later. Have fun down here and make sure the elf stays alive. I might need him later. And don't let anyone else in. Just send me a message when you're done," Thalion ordered before leaving. Evelyn only nodded.

Word of Thalion's foul mood had spread quickly, and people made sure to clear his path as he moved toward Lucan's forge. He kept his aura tightly restrained the whole way. His bloodline flames were strong enough to kill or serously wound the weaker survivors.

The city was overflowing with people, enough that it might become a problem soon. At present, 23,569 survivors lived here, the number rising daily as newcomers arrived, either seeking safety or being escorted in by hunting parties.

The street with the smithies was crammed with people waiting for weapons or armor. Only a handful of smiths had no crowd and those were the best. The elite. Kaldrek and Maike had ordered them to craft only for those who had truly earned their place in the city.

Lucan was one of them.

Thalion couldn't help but smile when he stepped into the man's forge. Lucan had massive underground chambers now for explosive testing, plus a few oversized labs Thalion still thought unnecessary, but there was enough space to place the massive blue crystal in the shrinking formation, and that was what mattered.

Descending into one of the largest chambers, Thalion found Lucan, just as the man placed what looked like a bomb in the center and hurried over.

"Hey, Thalion. I'm sorry about what happened. But if you want to blow the orcs up, you've come to the right guy. I've got the perfect bomb for it—the BMB-41. A truly magnificent masterpiece." Lucan's eyes were bright with excitement.

"Thanks for the offer, but I already have plans for the orcs. By the way, those slow-moving torpedoes? Genius. Ankhet didn't even realize they'd explode. Basically won me the fight in the end," Thalion said with a grin, his grief momentarily forgotten.

"Hahaha! Told you I'm a genius. So, what's the plan? We could do normal crafting too. I've been working on a metal armor and a broadsword lately, but bombs are way more fun."

"Actually, a bit of both," Thalion said. "I've got a few things to handle in a short time. First, I need to figure out exactly how these runes work, every single one on this bow." He handed the weapon to Lucan.

"Oh, and by the way, the bow makes blood arrows explode," Thalion added with a sheepish smile.

Lucan froze. "Wait… it makes blood explode?"

Thalion nodded.

Lucan's grin widened dangerously. "Alright. We're starting with this one."

<--

Thalion was not the only one who wanted to finish his final preparations and crafting before the end of the tutorial.

Stolen novel; please report.

In another tutorial, a vampire sat on a black throne, studying the design of his sacrificial ritual. His name was Zargaz, the former king of a planet full of vampires that was now merging with Earth. His skin was the color of white marble, as if it had never seen daylight. He looked like a man in his early forties. He stood two meters tall, with a broad frame and muscles bulging under his black shirt.

Zargaz had completely dominated his tutorial, enslaving every other race besides the vampires of course. There were still a few survivors roaming the fifth stage, but with the sheer size of the area, catching them all was impossible. Beside his throne rested a black spear with crimson veins on its tip, his favorite weapon.

In Zargaz's tutorial, the last special quest released a powerful beast into the area, one that had to be hunted down. Zargaz intended to do that alone, but first, he wanted to upgrade his blood once more by sacrificing hundreds of slaves. It was difficult to keep slaves alive while also ensuring their blood was strong enough to be worth consuming. At present, they forced the slaves to undergo blood tempering, and if they succeeded, they were told they wouldn't be killed. That, of course, was a lie and Zargaz would slaughter a large portion in a single ritual.

Before, constant blood consumption had been necessary for survival, much like food for humans. Now, he no longer needed blood to live, but to empower himself further and further. So far, his blood rituals had used beasts, which usually didn't have blood worth consuming. His patron had promised that the beasts on the new planet would be much stronger, which was a relief for him.

On New Earth, the vampires would expand and dominate all other races. The only competition he foresaw were other gods' chosen, but Zargaz trusted in his own power. He had already evolved the Sanguine Thorn twice. This parasitic plant, created by his patron, was a stroke of genius. Sending overly powerful objects into the tutorial could cause heavy backlash, but his patron had found a workaround: a bloodlock. It crippled the plant initially, but consuming others of its kind would unlock its true potential. His patron had sent multiple thorns into the tutorial for him to devour.

Now, the plant beneath his heart was called the Crimson Sovereign, and its power was terrifying. Not a single other vampire could stand against the plant, even if Zargaz himself stood still.

The loud creak of the stone gate snapped him out of his thoughts as one of his generals hurried into the throne room. The man knelt deeply, forehead touching the steps before the throne. "My king, everything is ready for the ritual to begin."

"Good. Go down and prepare for my arrival," Zargaz said, his voice echoing through the hall.

The vampire, one of his personal servants, quickly departed. Zargaz rose and began circulating his power, readying himself for the ritual. He needed to become as strong as possible before the tutorial ended. When it did, he would evolve to E-grade and begin leveling in the new world. Time was short and it wouldn't be long before the first system event, and he intended to win it. There were few candidates who could even hope to rank that high, and he was certain none could match him. With the advantages of his divine blessing, it wouldn't even be close.

Zargaz descended to the wide plaza in front of his palace. Outside, it was pitch-black. The result of a massive formation that blocked out the sun above and around his domain. Hundreds of slaves, mostly humans with a few elves among them, knelt in the center of a huge pentagram. All wore shackles that drained their mana and stamina, standard items that could be bought in the System Shop for a few thousand credits.

When the vampires around the plaza saw him, they knelt as well. Zargaz released his aura, a red beacon in the darkness, and no one dared to lift their head. Many here bore a lesser blessing from his patron, but none came close to his power or prestige.

He stepped into the ritual circle and, without a word, activated it. Other leaders might have given a speech, but Zargaz was not a man of many words. Power surged through the formation, ripping blood from the victims' veins. They bent and screamed in agony as the ritual strengthened their blood, turning it into glowing red streams that rose into the air toward him.

Every meter they traveled, the streams glowed brighter, denser with power. Zargaz drank it all greedily, feeling the immense surge as his essence blood reached another level.

Yes… yes.

Three more of these rituals, and I'll be ready for the new world, Zargaz thought, watching the rivers of blood flow into him.

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