Van walked outside to help organize things and help where he could. After seeing Sela and her followers off he got to the task of rebuilding his ruined fort. What originally was planned to house over a hundred goblins, now looked far too large for the less than a dozen they had left.

It was also finally beginning to sink in how much he lost. Except for the harpies, the hobgoblins he slept with were all dead. He made love to them, slept with them, woke up with them, and said goodbye to them as he left. And in a single day of that, they were dead.

It made him so angry. Made him want to lash out at something. Destroy something. Show the ones that did this what true terror and pain was. But he held himself back. The dark feeling being forcefully pushed back by sheer will. He knew that those who love him won’t like it if he were to give in to his darker emotions. But sometimes it was hard. At least he had hope that the future would get better. It had to.

He closed his eyes, concentrating to get a better idea of what changes had happened to his body. And what he found was surprising.

His body was hardly any different than what it was before. Or at least that was what he first thought.

What he actually found after looking a bit closer was that his body was far more compact than it was before. Yet he wasn’t smaller or shorter or anything like that. No, what happened was he got considerably stronger, but his body didn’t show it. More than that, he felt his body become highly efficient. And while it might sound narcissistic, he was definitely a bit more handsome than he was before, if the constant glances of his girls were anything to go by, what few of them remained... If they weren’t just worried about him...

Throwing a punch in the empty air, he was taken aback by how easily it flowed through it, how it hit it, and how he sent a small burst of air outward without even really trying to. The action was so quick and smooth he almost didn’t believe it was him.

He never felt this powerful before, it was almost addicting how taut his body felt like it was brimming with energy and was just waiting to be let out.

Further searching led him to gasp wide-eyed. His total mana reserves exceeded over six hundred units. Almost seven hundred, and the rate they replenished after casting a few spells were at least more than two times faster. By some standards, he was someone who was at the rank of a great mage in some countries.

This power was amazing, exhilarating, even a little scary… the things he could do with this much power…

But first things first. It was clear that he had to make some changes around here. If what Isa said was correct, the hobgoblins he personally upgraded were the only ones that made any real difference in the fight. Which meant he was going to need more of them. But more than that, Kella was able to kill dozens of them, so it was made clear to him numbers weren't just going to cut it. He was going to have to also shoot for quality.

“Isa.” Van said, getting Isa’s attention. She had not left him since they had left the tent where he woke up.

“How close are you to ranking up?” he asked, an idea forming in his mind.

Isa blinked, then furrowed her brows. “Well… I'm already a greater hobgoblin, it would take quite a bit for me to get to the next rank. If I had to say… it feels like I’m a decade away from ranking up, if I’m lucky. Which is amazing since not many greater hobgoblins can say they will rank up in their entire lives.”

“I see…” Van said. “Can you please get Gwen and gather all the mana cores we have? All of them, don’t leave a single one behind.”

Isa looked confused, then her eyes widened as if she caught on to what he was thinking. But it was too preposterous to believe, so she pushed her suspicions aside and got to work.

With that, Van made his way towards the magic circle and waited. Investigating it to see if anything changed about it, as he did so, but finding it completely normal, which was suspicious in its own way.

“You called for me?” Gwen asked as she made her way to him. Isa followed close behind with another two hobgoblins carrying all the mana cores they had left in the fort.

“Yes, I want your help in fusing all these mana cores to rank ten. Would that be fine with you?” he asked, knowing that she wouldn’t turn him down.

“I would be glad to help you master. I’m ready when you are.” Gwen said.

Van thanked her and the two took their places and began to throw mana cores within the magic circle. Over the course of one hour, they were able to get thirty-eight and a half level ten mana cores. A truly staggering number.

“That was amazing master!” Gwen exclaimed. “You were able to process so many mana cores so easily so quickly!” she said in awe.

“Well, I had some help from you,” Van said, but even he had to admit to himself that he was amazed by how easily his mana weaving came to him. How effortlessly he was able to use his mana, almost as if it was just an extension of him. Which he felt before because he was a sorcerer, but this took it to a whole new level. Because of it, he was able to speed up the process of fusing the cores very quickly.

Gwen then looked down at the pile of mana cores in admiration. “Each of these cores would normally represent year's worth of effort. And here are thirty-eight of them.” she shook her head in disbelief. Eyeing the pile of cores in admiration and a bit of saliva at the corner of her mouth.

Van noticed and was a bit amused, but returned to being a bit more serious. “How many would you have to eat if… let's say… you wanted to rank up again into a high harpy…” he asked.

Gwen blinked and looked up. “Huh?” she asked, feeling like she must have misheard him.

Van repeated himself.

Gwen’s eyes widened and immediately began to try and politely refuse but was cut off by Van who demanded to be answered.

“How many Gwen,” he said, piercing her with his gaze.

Hesitantly, she answered. “Well… it took me about fifty ranks worth to become a greater harpy, but that was because I was already halfway there and mostly used the core's mana to induce the rank up. Now that I'm a greater harpy, and only recently at that, I made no progress whatsoever to rank up again. Meaning… I’ll probably need two hundred or more ranks worth of mana cores. That is to say, twenty or more rank ten mana cores we just made…” she then went silent, as if she were afraid that Van would be angry at his assessment.

And while true that he was unhappy to hear it, he didn’t blame her. More than anything, he was frustrated at himself for not being more proactive about gathering mana cores for himself. Not to mention, he still needed mana cores to help make Lyn her army. He needed mana cores for everything!

He was beginning to realize why people spend so much money on mana cores. And why despite seemingly flooding the market, their price never dropped.

He sighed, calming his mind and running the calculations. In the end, it still was worth it if he was able to increase the power of his commanders. Especially Gwen, who could later cut down the costs of future fusions and other magical needs.

Van levitated twenty-five of the mana cores towards Gwen. “eat them.”

Gwen’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. One could live a middle-income life for several years if not more with the amount he was giving her right now. If they were frugal of course, but still, this was worth a lot. And Van was just giving it to her.

She wanted to refuse, but the look in Van’s eyes scared her, just as much as it turned her on for some reason. He was still the same person he was before, or at least looked like it, only with a few cosmetic changes. But perhaps he changed more on the inside. Or perhaps this was who he always was and was finally letting it out. She couldn't tell, they didn’t know each other that well. In the end, she accepted the cores and slowly began to eat them one by one.

Van watched in some fascination, it was always amazing to see that monster-kin could just eat cores with practically no repercussions. Soon, Gwen had finished all the cores, looking sickly full.

The two waited for any changes to take effect, but after an hour of nothing happening, Gwen said she was just shy of one or two more. Van then gave her an extra one, which seemed to do the trick and the process of rank up began.

Gwen grew another few inches. She became more slender, curvier, more regal. Her wings grew and looked softer, breasts bigger, and hair silky. It was basically what happened to her before but more in every way.

Again Van watched with some fascination at the changes people could go through. Using his mana sight, he saw her mana pool double right before his eyes. Which was exactly what he needed for his future plans.

After she was done, Van asked her how she felt.

She did the same thing everyone else seemed to do, open and close their hands like it was the first time they ever saw them. “I feel… amazing… so much stronger…”

“Is arch harpy the only evolution you have left? I have heard that you can also become a bird-kin, do you know how?” Van asked.

“It’s not just bird-kin I can become, but also a fury if I had some demon blood. Some say bird-kin can also become angel-kin if they could get some angel blood, but I prefer to remain a harpy for now. Maybe a bird-kin later. If I ever get to that.” she replied absentmindedly, not really paying attention to Van.

“Hmm…” Van said thoughtfully. “Go take a break for an hour, get used to your body, then help around where you can. I also might need you later.” dismissed her while he prepared other things.

Gwen blinked as if realizing how flippant she was towards her master, apologized, and left him to his own devices, staggering off as she played with her newfound power.

“Alright.” Van said, turning around to look at Isa. “your turn.”

Isa blinked, she was already amazed that Van would be willing to dump so many cores onto one person, but now he wanted to dump the rest of it on her!? She was right to be suspicious, there was definitely something wrong with her master, no sane person would use so many mana cores on a monster-kin.

“Master… I think you should think through this a bit more-” she began to say but was cut off by Van.

“I know you are worried, but I am in sound of mind. I lost so much, I don’t want to lose you too, which means you need to be stronger. More than that, if you, or Gwen, or anyone was just a bit stronger, we could have saved so much more of our people. I’m making an investment Isa and if you are not going to do it willingly, I’m will have to order you.” he said menacingly. “Now… are you going to eat the mana cores?”

Isa gulped. And looked at the leftover pile of cores. She wanted to say that it wouldn’t be enough. But had a feeling that Van wouldn’t listen and still order her to eat it. And thinking about it, he was right. If she was a bit stronger… then maybe she could have done more. If she was a bit stronger… she could protect her master better. And in the end, that was what mattered.

Isa then made her way towards the pile and began to eat them one after the other until there was nothing left. Then she spent a few minutes to properly dissolve and spread the trapped mana out through her body. Feeling her body absorb the pure essence of the core and add itself to her, making her stronger.

But it wasn’t enough, and she told this to Van.

“How close are you now?” he asked.

Isa thought hard about it. “About sixty or seventy percent?”

“I see…” Van said his mind in deep thought. He slowly looked down at his changed body, not liking where his thoughts were going. “I can do so much more now. Why not take advantage of it? It would be a bit slower, and perhaps if I was going to do this I should have saved the cores for later but…” he shook his head.

“I’m not going to pussy around anymore. Almost seven hundred units of mana. With an absurd rate of recovery. I could do so much with that… I have to do it…” he was breathing in and out quickly as the idea played out in his mind, he did not like the thought of it, but it was literally game-changing.

He turned to Isa and ordered her in front of him, to which she complied. He then ordered her to get on her knees, to which she complied without question.

“Isa… do you trust me…” Van asked.

“...with my life,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing to say in the world.

---sex scene---

--- end of sex scene---

Van felt… exhilarated… like he understood things a bit better like he had gotten more control over his life, as odd as that sounds.

But as happy as he was feeling, there were things to do. So he made his way back to his tent where Luna was to check up on her. And maybe rest a little before he set out again to help where he could.

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