Lord of Annihilation

Over the last few hours, Lucius had methodically kited groups of Fjord Beasts and led them to the small mound a few hundred meters behind them. Once he and the beasts were out of sight of the larger group, Lucius proceeded to systemically kill this group containing 5-6 beasts.

The battle was very mechanical with the beasts activating their abilities and Lucius indifferently slashing them with his scythe.

The beasts which had the [Ice Shell] soul were the easiest to handle since it only provided the user with an armor of solid ice. This armor provided a great deal of protection but decreased the movement speed of the beast, due to the added weight. The beast then sought to use its innate strength and weight to crush its opponent while coming out unscathed.

At least this was how the battle was supposed to proceed.

Alas with Lucius being a Peak Level Stage 1 existence, not mentioning the high-quality soul power at his disposal, a little extra defense made no difference to him.

The ones which were annoying to deal with were the Fjord Beasts with the [Peircing Lance] soul type.

This soul type provided the beasts with the ability to form pure-ice lances and throw them towards the enemy. While this sounded easy to dodge, it, unfortunately, had the 'heat-seeking' property. 

That being the case, Lucius had to destroy the ice lance before proceeding to deal with the beast. Still, it was simply a minor issue, which only cost him a few minutes and extra effort.

This being the battle tactic, Lucius began his tasteless grinding. Slash after slash, kill after kill. It was a long and tedious process that virtually served no benefit. Thankfully, Lucius was long since used to such tedious grinds, having previously held the [Killer] soul. 

[Killer] soul's advancement conditions were usually- killing a Grade X being, 'Y' amount of times.

While interesting at first, it quickly becomes boring. But at least, in that case, he had his advancement to look forward to. Now, however, he had no idea about his advancement conditions. As such the process right now was a pure waste of time.

Unfortunately, with no better method at his disposal, he had to grit his teeth and continue.

A few hours in, Lucius felt the Void Energy within his body starting to become restless. It was a sign of his hunger. Killing the remanents of the latest herd, he then activated [Devour].

A pitch-black shadow, extended from underneath his feet and enveloped the bodies closest to him. Lucius also used his [Void Hands] and grabbed the larger pieces and tore them into smaller pieces, to increase the efficiency of his absorption. The souls of his most recent victim were also absorbed, converting into the purest form of Void Energy which was then absorbed back into his body.

Just as he was in the middle of this process, he felt Olivia's presence arriving at the scene. Looking at this pale-faced beauty, whose entire countenance screamed with exhaustion, Lucius felt nothing within his heart.

He did not care about her exhaustion and proceeded to give her the command to prepare for battle. With another person joining him to help with the killings, the efficiency of the process would increase. 

What about Ka'lor'ah you ask? Well, her abilities weren't offensive in kind and wouldn't kill the opponent. As such, Ka'lor'ah was pretty useless in combat.

Having heard his command, he saw Olivia bite her lips and fight the exhaustion with her willpower. Sitting on the ground cross-legged, he watched her recover her soul power. Minutes ticked by and her soul power was gradually restored.

Within 15 mins she recovered approximately 20% of her soul power, regaining the ability to move. Clenching her pretty, white fists, she stood up and looked towards Lucius for his next order.

'Decent willpower and no annoying complaints.' Lucius nodded his head towards her conduct. 

His order was definitely heartless and Lucius himself knew it. However, he also had his own intentions behind that order. Simply put, it was a test. A test that had begun the moment he had stepped foot on this planet. 

A test to determine her usefulness as a tool.

Good tools are meant to be used and shouldn't complain under any situation. Its purpose was to perfectly serve the intentions of its master. 

After having heard his question, if Olivia had spoken against it or had complained, Lucius would have unhesitantly killed her. If her will had been weak and if she had succumbed to exhaustion, he would have devoured her.

But now that she had proved her resolve and worth, Lucius could not find any fault with her.

Still, Lucius hadn't entirely convinced of her worth.

While the tool had shown its resolve and obedience, it was time to test its intelligence.

Lucius did not require mindless husks, which only knew how to follow commands. He had his ways to gather such forces. What he required was a Leader. A Leader that is capable of intelligent thought and precise decision-making. A tool that could truly help him with his plans.

"Recovered?" he questioned.

Olivia nodded her head. It wasn't that she didn't want to reply, but her face felt too stiff to move.

Lucius then grabbed a piece of Fjord Beast meat from the ground and threw it towards her.

"Eat up."

Olivia caught the meat from the air and held it in her hand. The meat radiated chillness and was hard as ice. Using her fingers to poke it, she felt the meat to be strangely elastic. Dark-blue blood dripped from within it, but no bloody smell was radiating off of it.

Hesitation flashed across her face, as she stared at the meat with uncertainty. It belonged to a strange creature, one which she had never seen before, and secondly, the meat hadn't been cooked either.

'But..I'm hungry.' she thought to herself. She had to eat this meat to recover her physical exhaustion. Fighting against your opponents while having an empty stomach was a stupid way to die.

Resolving herself, she brought the meat near her mouth and took a large bite.

It tasted horrible. 

Stopping herself from throwing up, she chewed the meat with all her strength. Continuing to eat the large chunk of meat, she finally consumed the entire thing.

Energy finally filled her body and she felt some of her exhaustion leaving. Stage 1 beings had a terrifying metabolism and recovery. Having done with her meal, she walked towards, Lucius who stood above the mound. 

Standing quietly behind him, she waited for his command. With her eyes, she surveyed the surroundings and was astonished by what she saw.

"The goal is to reach that white door on the mountain wall up there. Tell me, what is the most effective way to complete the task." Lucius asked her.

Olivia was stunned by the fact that he had talked to her. Quickly waking from her daze, she seriously started to ponder. Unfortunately, she did not understand the properties of the beasts or of their nature.

Hesitantly she asked. "Ca-can I have some information on the beasts?" 

Hearing her question, Lucius nodded his head. He then had Ka'lor'ah send the information on the Fjord Beasts, directly into Olivia's mind. 

Receiving the information, Olivia pondered in silence. Her mind rapidly drew up various methods to effectively conquer this stage. 

"...I have a method." a few minutes later, Olivia finally arrived at a method.

"Speak." he curtly replied.

"S-since the beasts operate within a fixed boundary and respond to any threat with full hostility, we can exploit this fact." arranging her words, Olivia spoke.

"Oh? Continue." intrigued by her answer, his brows faintly rose.

"With your speed, you can reach the mountain wall within a few seconds. The only issue currently, is the large number of Fjord Beasts blocking the path and those dozens of Peak Level Stage 1 beasts in the background. As such, what we need to do, is to buy you enough time to reach your destination."

"Therefore, the most effective method would be to draw the beasts and distract them for a few seconds, giving you enough time to reach the foot of the mountain wall," she pointed to the crux of the situation.

"For this....." she resolved herself and spoke the final lines. "...I can act as bait."

"Drawing all the beasts for a few seconds and buying you enough time. Once you make it to the foot of the mountain wall, I can retreat past the fixed boundary. If we position ourselves properly, this method will save time from killing."

Listening to her method, Lucius was stunned. Of all the answers which he had expected, the one where she offered to act as the bait never crossed his mind.

Reality wasn't a game where one can simply respawn after death. Such being the case, who in the right mind would choose to offer themselves as bait. It was a suicidal method.

But one which would perfectly solve their current scenario.

Lucius' indifferent face finally broke into a handsome smile.

"This method.....will perfectly do. Prepare yourself, we shall start immediately."