Every last one of Erik’s men felt relieved when they returned to the hidden harbour without incident. They were all keen fighters and eager to face strong foes, but in the face of such an overwhelming opponent like Luthor Harkon, they could only feel dread.

The encounter also taught Erik a valuable lesson: Even though he had grown incredibly powerful and could very well be in the top 1% of the world’s strongest warriors, the gaps between the individuals in that 1% are vast.

Erik felt humbled, but more than that the event rekindled his motivation. He now sensed he had grown complacent, perhaps even arrogant, in his power.

“I still require more power. I need more stats, higher skill and more warriors.” – He said to Skadi, who had been spending most of her time accompanying Yeying rather than teleporting to and from home all the time.

This way Yeying was quickly learning some words of Norscan, learned more about the situation she will face later on and Skadi could keep an eye on Erik so he didn’t do anything stupid.

Right now, Erik and Skadi were having another one of their conversations when Erik burst out about his perceived powerlessness. When he complained about ‘needing’ more warriors however, Skadi frowned.

“What do you mean you need more warriors? Increasing your personal prowess I understand, might makes right and great power is desirable and useful. But what do you need more men for? What do you, darling, need an army for?”

This sent Erik deep into thought. For some reason, he had felt the need for an army but he couldn’t quite explain it.

Skadi, seeing her man struggle finding the obvious answer, smiled provocatively and gave him a hint:

“Who are pushing for you to grow your power in this way?”

And just like that, something seemed to click in Erik’s mind.

“Ingolf and Helles… to some extent Scaldar too, but those two are primarily pushing me. Not openly, but more sneakily.

Ingolf readily let me keep my own little Warband and even gave me command of a Dragonship while Helles seems to have been continuously testing me. Picking my brain, sending me on this errand that derailed into privateering…  What’s their goal in all this?”

“Isn’t it just grooming a Champion to lead the tribe to greater heights? The Jarl’s sons are quite numerous and a number of them are capable warriors, but none of them possess the right mind-set to rule and grow.

Not even your close friend Sven can fit the role, simply because he has grown into the role of being your subordinate. He is your second-in-command, I know, but that is still a subordinate position.

And we both know things are changing in the north. Many large tribes are flourishing. The Sarls and Aeslings are at war and battles will soon be fought, plunging half the peninsula into war.

There are even rumours of an aspiring Everchosen travelling the land and visiting tribes, emerging from the Chaos Wastes after obtaining the first Everchosen’s legacy, the Armour of Morkar.”

“So I need to become stronger in order to… take over the tribe?”

Thinking everything over carefully, Erik still felt hesitant whether this was the truth or not, but he couldn’t deny the small flame of ambition sparking in his heart.

“Then, how do I get more men?” – He asked resolutely.

Happy that her and Helles’s understanding of Erik was correct and that he indeed harboured ambition when properly prepared, Skadi smiled brilliantly as she slowly stroked her slightly bulging stomach.

‘Be happy, little one! If I have my way, you may yet grow up to be a prince of your father’s realm!’

“Isn’t it easy for you to get more men under your banner? Well, you still need to actually make your own banner, but let’s put that aside. Didn’t you use the Aesling twat’s Mark to get, what did you call it, a passive trickle of recruits? Just continue obtaining achievements, growing your reputation and the warriors will soon flock to you in droves.

Besides that, I can think of two more ways for you to grow you army. The first one is about absorbing small tribes and rogues from the heartland into your Warband. The Third Season and the autumn will be perfect for this because you will be home. Just send out scouts to find them and then beat their current leader.

The second option is what we’ve been exploring all this time: Summoning and Contracts! You just need to make a lot of Contracts with the Daemons you summon, binding them in such a way you can simply call them in as reinforcements whenever you need.

Of course this will be costly. Souls, blood, metal, sacrifices, living people… you will need to reward the Daemons appropriately. But with your current wealth, other assets and the amount of opportunities before you, there should be no difficulties maintaining let’s say… 500 Daemons on the level of Bloodletters, Pink Horrors, Flamers, Nurglings and Daemonettes? So in a nutshell, Lesser Daemons.

Hmm, I am still thinking about the best way to go about this, but one option could also be to summon a slightly stronger Daemon and have him bring his own followers along… But I still need to think about it.”

The two continued talking in Erik’s cabin, excluding Yeying from their discussion. But she was a clever woman and had a clear understanding of when she shouldn’t interfere. Instead, she softly played music to help cover the sounds.

Her upbringing was still a mystery, but it was clear she wasn’t a random unlucky peasant girl because even though she couldn’t fully understand Erik & Skadi, she understood they were discussing important things.

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Bartholomeus arrived three days later and brought the last of the requested items with him. Most of it had already been kept safe at the hidden harbour, in one of the warehouses, and now the entire order was complete.

And as per Erik’s request, Bartholomeus had brought some trustworthy appraisers along. Harkon’s ‘gifts’ included numerous strange artefacts resonating with brimming with magic. The devices were made using incredibly dense gold, white ivory, deep green jade and other precious stones which made the items valuable from just their materials, let alone the value of their potential use.

Erik had safely stored these artefacts away and when he showed them to Bartholomeus and his appraisers, all of them gasped in shock. Wide-eyed, Bartholomeus disregarded his usual calm demeanour and shook Erik’s shoulders as he fired off questions.

“Where did you get these from? Do you know what these are?! Depending on what they do, this could become either a giant windfall or incredible danger! In more ways than one!”

This prompted Erik to calmly explain how he obtained them, making it very clear just how dangerous it had been when Luthor Harkon entered the picture.

Calming down after hearing the name of the ancient, infamous Undead Pirate King, Bartholomeus softly muttered something under his breath:

“I guess that makes sense? The tales say he plagued the eastern shores of Lustria, preying on both the native Lizardmen’s Temple Cities and human adventurers alike…”

“Aha, so they are Lizardmen artefacts!” – Erik happily exclaimed.

Erik had already recognised the Aztec aesthetic of the items but hearing the experts confirm it was still helpful. And even though he recognised their origin, Erik still had no clue what the artefacts could actually do. All he got when he scanned them using his ability was a nonsensical line of “strange artefact imbued with strong magic” which didn’t help at all.

‘Hopefully my understanding increases so I can do the appraising myself in the future… Actually, why don’t I just throw points at the skill so I can always do my own appraising? Would save me a headache…’

“Yes, they are Lizardmen in origin and undoubtedly valuable, but we first need to see if there are any tracking spells attached or if one of them is an explosive device! Gerrit, Pieter, Klaas! Get to work!” – Bartholomeus quickly ordered his appraisers, who were all capable wizards specialising in artefacts, to assess the potentially dangerous items.

Erik and Bartholomeus then left the wizards to it and walked outside so they wouldn’t be a distraction.

“So Bartholomeus, you managed to obtain the last things and brought enough money to conclude our transactions?”

“Yes, it took a while but my hunters finally tracked down a Troll-den and managed to obtain the placenta and the pieces of red-veined warpstone were discovered all over the place before we collected enough. Some were just mysteriously lying on the street one morning and picked up by beggars, others were found in burrows deep in the woods, but you care little for how I got it, right? You just want your items.

As for the profits from your ‘privateering’, the total sum comes to a considerable amount. Actually, I am glad you wanted three quarters of it in food, livestock, common fabrics and ores because all those luxury items you obtained would have jeopardised the liquid funds of my businesses.

I managed to sell some of the pricier items on the black market and used that money to obtain your rewards. Oh right, your special orders have also been completed. The skilled slaves, healing draughts, tonics and those clothes & apparel items you described in such detail have all been prepared.

By the way, do you mind if I use some of those designs? They’re too good to be left unused. I especially like those black & white dresses for the servants, maid-outfits you called them? It is exactly the thing to show off my wealth when I have guests over. To have my servants dressed so immaculately and uniquely… I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself!

Oh right, some of the seamstresses in your slave lot were involved in the production process so I guess they can do repairs or even make new ones when you need them.”

Over the last couple of weeks Erik had ordered additional things from Bartholomeus, some were practical, others a luxury and as his studies on Daemonology advanced, he also asked for materials that would be useful later on. Things like slaves of certain description & circumstance and certain body parts of certain beasts.

As the two men continued their walk, they were suddenly interrupted when loud screams and the neighing of horses could be heard in front.

“Aah! Separate them! Sedate it! Put it down!”

“Help! Its hooves are..!” “Aaaaagh! The teeth!”

“Neighihihihi!”

Then, after a wet squelching sounds like a ripe melon bursting was followed by another thump and the breaking of wood, Erik and Bartholomeus were suddenly faced by a raging horse charging at them.

It was a beautiful horse, its glossy black coat shining brilliantly as the red & black coloured mane and tail whipped in the wind. It was huge too, reaching roughly 20 hands, 80 inches or 2 meters at the withers, where the head connects to the body.

But this hulking mass of beast was now maliciously running at them so the two men had little time to admire the animal. Erik acted swiftly and pushed Bartholomeus to the side but could not prevent himself from being knocked over by the rampaging horse.

Jumping straight back up, having suffered nothing but an instantly recovered bruise, Erik managed to dodge the horse as it came by for a second charge. It was clearly not going mad but knowingly attacking the people around it.

Narrowing his eyes, Erik waited for the horse to make another attempt. It did not disappoint for after it trampled another attendant nearby into meat-paste, it turned back for another pass at Erik.

Fully prepared, Erik waited for it to come close before swinging his arms around its neck and holding on tight, evading the snapping teeth still stained red with blood.

“Shit! I didn’t think this through enough! I’m trying to knock it out by strangling it, but I’m just dangling from the neck and losing my grip! I need to get on top somehow!”

Precariously hanging on, Erik tried to bend his head to see where they were heading but the heavy shaking made it near impossible as he hung with his feet almost off the ground.

The horse tried to get rid of the burden around its neck by ramming into different buildings, tables and pretty much everything it could ram Erik against in an attempt to dislodge him. Splinters, cuts and bruises were piling up on Erik’s body faster than he could heal them but still he held on.

‘I WANT this horse! It’s huge, strong and intelligent! I won’t let it be killed, I WILL be the one to ride it!’

Finally Erik saw a glimpse of the way ahead, a low stone fencepost at a perfect angle. He then pushed one foot backwards and slightly angled it so he could feel it when the horse thundered past and, just in time, managed to kick against the post with his other foot to launch him onto the horse’s back.

Now on top, Erik still clung to its neck but by clamping down with his legs he now sat somewhat safe.

Now secure, Erik began strangling the horse in earnest as he found the veins running along the horse’s thick neck and put pressure on them, slowly depriving the brain of oxygen.

Now panicking, the horse came to an abrupt stop and almost threw Erik off but he held on. The horse then tried to roll on its back, but it was stuck in an area it didn’t dare to roll over for fear of injuring itself.

And as the horse hesitated on what to do, it finally blanked out and fainted, collapsing to the ground.

Shortly afterwards, as Erik dazedly sat next to the collapsed horse, a crowd of people cautiously approached the wreckage.

During the madness, a lot of people were injured with some even killed from either being run over by the horse or hit by collapsing walls and falling debris.

Bartholomeus came too, having gotten up from Erik’s push and still covered in dust and strands of hay. Even the appraisers joined, having been disturbed in their research by the rampage.

All in all, from the moment the horse broke loose until it collapsed to the ground, Erik had spent close to twenty minutes battling the beast. He wasn’t tired, but the feeling of his muscles slowly ripping apart from the force was not a pleasant experience even if the injury repaired itself automatically.

Seeing the crowd forming, Erik stood up, resolutely walked over to Bartholomeus, grabbed the man y the shoulders and intensely said:

“I want this horse!”