"… Got it," Vex sighed, looking at me apologetically. She clearly wished to stay with me longer, but duty called. Not only was she a high-ranking member, but also the third most important member of the drug department. At times, she simply had to be present.
"I understand. Don't worry about it. We can resume our honeymoon at any time," I said, stroking her hair in my palm before landing a loving kiss on the top of her head.
A gentle smile was the response my actions received before she excused herself and went to the back room, preparing herself to head out. Despite her eccentric persona, she very clearly cared about her image as a youthful and sexy woman. As such, she had to fix her ruined makeup and cleanse her body of our bodily fluids, among other things…
"Haaah… Women, am I right?"
Neither of my soul elites responded. How boring.
While waiting for Vex, I decided to use my time smartly, because if there was one thing I knew about women was that they needed a lot more time to get prepared to head out than I did.
As such, I looked at Veyrin's soul in particular. Eve was already rank 3, and while I might be able to have her reach rank 4, it would cost me dearly. She needed 4000 fusion progress now.
Furthermore, to become a higher-tiered necromancer, I had to collect 10 elite souls and ascend them to rank 3. It seemed smarter to focus on Veyrin and then collect more souls instead of maxing these two out.
I went through the same process as I did with Eve, selecting archers in their stead. The lionkin had a much smaller selection of this archetype, so I had to utilize some of my higher-level Lesser Souls.
Though interestingly, a lot of their lower-level combatants were archers. Perhaps they were the cowards, or the lionkin knew weaklings had a higher chance of being useful if they shot projectiles from range instead of running into the meat grinder that was the enemy armies made up of only veteran soldiers.
These were what remained in my inventory.
(Picture)
Just like Eve, Veyrin had also regained his equipment from the moment of his death and in pristine condition at that. And, just like Eve, he was also still ghostly blue colored. I didn't know if that would remain their permanent appearance or if they would regain their original colors soon enough…
As Vex was taking her time dressing herself or whatever it was that she found more important than rushing to the aid of the consortium, I did some basic tests with these two.
My findings indicated that they didn't regain their classes, and they couldn't speak or non-verbally communicate with me. However, they obeyed my commands perfectly, now seeming a lot more perceptive to detailed instructions as opposed to their rank 1 selves. Furthermore, they were very aware of their surroundings.
When I told them to dodge my punches, they did it masterfully. Their senses were top-notch.
As such, currently, they were high-level soldiers lacking a class and spells. Their immense stats alone made them into respectable combatants, but a similarly statted enemy would likely hold the upper hand. But still. Between level 45 and 50… That was amazing. Most of my girls were in the upper 20s and lower 30s. Even I only hit level 40 thanks to the 10X experience multiplier from Rosie's gift.
These two will be awesome additions, and by the time I collect the other eight elite souls and become a tier 2 necromancer, I will have the juice to upgrade them further, hopefully giving them their spells back, and perhaps even making them better.
There was another cool discovery I'd made. I could tell them to leave, which would see them dematerialize, their essence traveling back to the [Necrotic Codex]. Casting [Awaken] would let me summon them once again.
Unlike [March of the Damned], where I summoned my Lesser Souls in perfect fighting condition, those that were [Awakened] didn't have a duration. Lesser souls could only remain summoned for 24 hours, after which they would leave. So it was nice to see that elites could be dismissed as well. I'd been worried they'd be a bit of a nuisance if they were around all the time. This discovery had made them even more convenient than they already were.
Moving on, it was about time I focused on myself for a moment.
With a twitch of my fingers, the water in the air condensed, swirling around me. They twisted through my hair, slicked down my skin, scrubbed gently at the grime, and finally spiraled away, clean. Another motion, and a breeze brushed past my body, drying me in seconds. My clothes materialized from my inventory and fit into place with great comfort. This time, I elected to go for a black tunic, belt, coat, and gloves.
Still, Vex wasn't done.
Naturally.
I crossed my legs and sat at the edge of the room, letting my fingers drum idly against the armrest of a nearby chair, passing time by inspecting the soul count again and wondering just how fucked the Consortium was. ℟äŊo͍฿ʧ
The 30,000 soldiers they dispatched wasn't all their power, but the Consortium suffered a heavy blow while the Greenvale family and their many vassals had years to prepare as due to the infighting of the beastkin, they hadn't had a skirmish in years.
But after what felt like an entire military campaign passing by…
*Click.*
The door opened.
Vex stepped out, a very different woman than the one who'd entered. Gone were the smeared makeup and disheveled hair. In their place stood a confident warrior.
She wore her kendo uniform while her ponytail was gathered high. Over her face, however, sat the Face Shifter—the artifact she used on our way here. I'd since learned its details from her. It was a silvery-white ceramic mask that projected a slightly transformed face. It was how their top agents walked in broad daylight without drawing attention, an expensive Epic-rarity item.
"Next time we're doing it in your battle attire," I decreed matter of factly, earning myself a raised eyebrow. She'd clearly entered her Vex the Hexblade persona while changing, so I threw her off with my comment.
Instead of shooting back a flirty response, she just rolled her eyes while smiling.
We began heading up.
At the top of the basement steps, we reached the ground floor of the manor. It was quiet until the shuffle of feet and the clink of a tray reached us.
A young maid rounded the corner, pausing abruptly when she spotted us.
"Lady Verdia?" Her voice held surprise and a note of concern. "You're leaving already?"
Vex glanced over her shoulder, then sighed. "Yes. We're going on a business trip. I won't be back for a while. Keep the mansion tidy in my absence, will you?"
The maid's shoulders slumped, but she nodded with a small, polite smile. "Understood, my lady."
She was clearly sad her lady was leaving already. This girl seemed like a maid who was eager to serve Vex.
Vex paused for a moment, sensing the same, but then gave her a small nod and pressed forward.
Outside, we walked for a few minutes until reaching the crowded center, where we slid into a narrow alleyway.