Chapter 3973: Simple Math (Part 2) The convened Upyrs felt Fire Soul’s immense heat and power press against their skin, yet suffered no burn or blister. The mystical fire disappeared in a heartbeat, leaving the air fresh and breathable. "Discovering and mastering it has taken me a long time, but I’m confident you’ll understand it was well worth the wait." Then, he proceeded to explain how to trigger Fire Soul, how it worked, and how to use it. Orpal wasted no time in empty banter or belittling his audience. He provided everyone with a clear-cut explanation, allowing the Upyrs to grasp complex concepts with ease. Just a few minutes after the end of Orpal’s lesson, several Upyrs who had already developed their affinity to fire succeeded in conjuring Fire Soul. They had to limit themselves to small, controlled flames to avoid hurting the others, but their feat sent the room into an uproar. "The Dead King is right!" A female Nymph Upyr said. "Verhen had only one feathered wing at the deep violet and could only use one type of Cursed Flames. Is it so hard to believe that maybe we need time to develop as well?" "Kazan was an ungrateful fool!" A male Orthrus growled in anger. "He kept something that belonged to us all for himself, delaying our growth. The Dead King, instead, shared it with us without strings attached." "Look at his face." A man said. "Maybe the rumors are right and we Upyrs are more undead than Dragons. Yet not the flawed undead the Red Mother made. Even now, the Dead King doesn’t suffer the sun, and he is mastering the elements one by one. "He has succeeded where an ancient white core failed. He created the perfect undead race." Many more observations were raised, and the vast majority of them were positive, drowning the few skeptical questions with scoffs and contemptuous gazes. ’Son a bitch!’ Jorl inwardly cursed. ’Orpal mastered Fire Soul faster than I expected, and with just a few words, he has quelled the unrest among the troops that’s been growing since Ruugat’s defeat. ’Finding people willing to turn their back on him to join me is going to be much harder now.’ Orpal and Night let the Upyrs talk until the excitement reached its apex. Once the volume and the number of conversations became deafening, he brought them to a halt with a Hush spell. "There will be time for discussions and even more for training later. Now, we have to set the course for our future." Orpal gained the undivided attention of his audience. ’This must be a message to us.’ Akhton said via a mind link. ’Meln shared none of his plans with us and didn’t ask us to stand by his side. He’s telling us that we are nothing to him. Just two Upyrs no different from the others assembled here.’ ’Agreed.’ Jorl inwardly nodded. ’Yet you overlook something. Or rather, someone. We are just three Upyrs.’ The Storm Griffon telepathically pointed at Erion the Jormungandr, who didn’t seem to take the idea well. Outrage and spite were written all over his serpentine face, "Where is Leech now?" Orpal asked. "He has moved to the Blood Desert for some reason." The leader of the scout team replied. "Excellent news." Orpal nodded, a cruel smile forming on his face. "Start collecting information about his whereabouts. I want to know where Leech is and why at all times. I’ve let my dear brother get too comfortable with his life. "If he has become stupid enough to leave those whom he cares about alone, he has only himself to blame when I take them away." *** Griffon Kingdom, Feilun Region, underground Stonewall Fortress, a few hours earlier. "I still can’t believe this is really happening." Erslan Bhaz, Blood Warlock and King of the Dawn Court, said as he quivered like a young child on his first day of school. "I never thought I would ever meet you, Red Mother, let alone that you’d do me such an honor." "The feeling is mutual, child." Baba Yaga stood in front of Bhaz in her Mother form, studying him with the disgruntled expression of a teacher dealing with a problematic student. "I don’t like being here, and I don’t like you." Her emerald eyes carried little of their usual warmth, and somehow the red of her hair felt like a physical manifestation of a deep-seated anger. "Then why are you doing this?" Bhaz’s voice took the low pitch of a whining child, but no one in the room lost an ounce of respect for him because of that. Most of the undead could neither speak nor move in Baba Yaga’s presence. In a way, it reminded them of the curse of slumber that plagued them during the day, but the pressure didn’t come from the outside. The bodies of the undead reacted like puppies terrified at the idea of angering or disappointing their mother. Such was their uncertainty about what to do that they froze into place like statues. "Because I need someone to put my latest creation to the test." The Red Mother examined the Blood Warlock’s life force with her breathing technique and then fine-tuned the enchantments of the Harmonizer in her hands based on the readings. "You are powerful, not Awakened, have an army at your command, and have plenty of reasons to kill Meln and my wayward daughter. Also, Lith didn’t talk too badly about you, which makes you an excellent test subject." "A test subject for what?" Bhaz shuddered in fear at the term, but that was all his body allowed him to do. "That’s something you are going to tell me." Baba Yaga put the Harmonizer on the Warlock’s neck, barely above the collarbone. "How does it feel?" "Amazing!" Bhaz said as a sudden surge of power flooded his body and rearranged every fiber of his being. His skin turned blood-red, and a thin, dark mist shrouded the exposed skin of his head and hands. "What about the sun?" Baba Yaga asked, feeling the breaking dawn alter the balance of her powers as a Sun Weaver. "What about it?" As the sun rose in the sky, Bhaz recognized the effects of the slumber on his soldiers but felt none on himself. "I’m free! I don’t need to exert an iota of my focus to keep moving." "Good, not try a few spells." Baba Yaga nodded. She didn’t need to add anything for the Blood Warlock to understand the meaning of her words. All the elements, not just darkness and water, flowed freely inside his body. He could now cast all kinds of spells like a true mage, without the need to speak the runes or perform hand signs. His mana flowed vigorously from his blood core to his hands, increasing the destructive power of his spells without the need for his bloodline abilities. "This Harmonizer is much better than the one Glemos tried to sell us." Bahz said in excitement. "Which makes it a waste to leave me out of this, Red Mother." Cyrra Morghon, Banshee and current High General of the Night Court, sighed in envy. "Bahz isn’t the only one working to give our people a better future. "I’m a fair ruler and I oppose Meln’s tyranny as well. What did I do to deserve your contempt?"