Kashi, Larsial and Shadow were guided by a centaur guard to a secluded area at the back of the village. There, they found Drixali, the chiefs and the shamans stood around an intricate mandala array made up of several animal bones, blood and leaves. Kashi spotted Drixlia stoically standing at the center of the array with a determined glint in its eyes.

Kashi let out a smile as he looked into the stallion's eyes. "Well, someone is definitely excited. Kept you waiting long, didn't I?"

Drixlia excitedly harrumphed and beat its front hooves against the ground.

Kashi didn't know why, but he could vaguely understand the stallion's intent. "Yeah, there's no way I'll abandon you." The daeben then turned to look at Drixali who stood outside the mandala with a stern expression. "How exactly does this work?"

Drixali nodded. "If I were not present, then the centaurs would have used a blood enhancement array spell, consisting of the blood and body parts of several high level beasts, and augment it with the aura left in my spear. This would have forcefully awakened the dormant bloodline in your stallion, or him with a new one. Both outcomes would increase the strength, speed and potential of this child to another level."

"I hear a lot of ifs and would haves," Kashi noted with a raised brow. "I take it you have something else planned?"

"Yes, master," Drixali stated with a solemn nod. "Although these methods will indeed improve this child's bloodline, the outcome would still be a slightly stronger stallion. No mount of my master can be such a common creature that can be easily found by throwing a stone onto a prairie."

Kashi chuckled and looked at Drixlia. "Are you going to take that? He just called you common." Drixlia coldly snorted and nodded in response. Kashi, in reply, shrugged and turned back to Drixali. "Alright then, since the one being insulted doesn't mind, it would be petty of me to dwell on the subject." He looked at Drixali and asked. "So, what do you have in mind?"

Drixali extended his left arm, revealing a deep gash from which blood unceasingly flowed out.

Kashi's eyes narrowed as he looked at the arm and then at the mandala. "You. Don't tell me..."

Drixali nodded. "Yes, I constructed the Blood Enhancement Array entirely out of my blood. It so happens that child has a trace of my bloodline in his veins. He must be a descendant of one of the stallions I blessed when I travelled the world. Even though it has been diluted over the centuries, it's still there. I will jumpstart that trace with my lifeforce and blood." The centaur demon leaked out a smile as he thought of the eventual outcome. "To be honest, even I do not know what this child will become after this. I will be lying if I say I am not the least beat curious."

Kashi's eyes were grave as he looked at the blood array and then at the gash on Drixali's arms. "I will let it pass this time, since you've already done it, but never do this again. I do not appreciate you endangering yourself just to help me."

"So you know about it." Drixali's eyes widened in shock and he let out a bitter smile. "As expected of my master." The truth was that using his lifeforce in such a manner to boost Drixlia's bloodline was not as simple as it sounded. It could severely injure him, leave him permanently damaged, or in an extreme case, even kill him. However, whether it was as a result of his loyalty, or his innate pride as a demon, Drixali could not abide Kashi riding on a regular stallion, hence his action. "Do not worry, master. In any other case, this might be considered a sacrifice, but any injuries I incur can easily be cured by Yggdrassil's aura."

Kashi thought about it and had to agree with the demon. Yggdrassil's healing aura was strong to the point of absurdity. It was a pity he could not access all of that aura at once or he would have become an impossible cockroach. Unless he was downed in one hit, he would always get back up at full health the very next second. Injuries that would be fatal otherwise were easily healed with its power.

No wonder, the wisbens and treants worshiped and treated it so reverently. Kashi began to feel a tinge of guilt as he recalled Razznik cutting down the famed world tree in a fit of rage. Damn, that might have been a bigger sin than he initially thought.

Kashi shook his head and turned his attention back to Drixali. "Go ahead when you're ready."

"As you wish." Drixali answered, and then looked at the shamans. The shamans quickly nodded and began chanting a spell. Drixali, meanwhile, raised his left arm and stretched it toward Drixlia.

Following the shamans' chants, the blood array brightened with a hollow red glow that grew brighter with each passing second. Soon, string-like rivulets of blood rivulets flowed out of Drixali's arms and linked themselves to the array. The array suddenly burst with a bright glow that forced everyone to look away or shut their eyes.

Well, almost everyone.

Even though the light burned his eyes, Kashi kept his gaze on Drixlia, who returned his gaze with a determined one. Drixlia nodded, and as if following its conformation, the blood array suddenly sprung to life. The blood separated into thousands of tiny silk-like threads that individually shot up around the stallion.

Drixlia did not have a moment to process what was going on, before a thread suddenly lashed down and wrapped itself around its abdomen. A harsh sizzling sound rang out as that thread burned its way into Drixlia's flesh, leaving behind a terrible burn mark. Drxilia had barely processed the pain when many more began to wrap themselves around him, each one burning their way through his skin.

Drixlia gritted its teeth and refused to budge through the sizzling burns, smoke and pain. It's bloodied, red eyes glared at Kashi with determination. It instinctively had a feeling that the moment it began to thrash about, the enhancements would end. Which meant that it could only get as strong as the amount of pain it was willing to bear.

Drixlia let out a stubborn snort as more threads attached themselves to it at a faster rate, until its entire body has riddled with burn scars. However, the threads never seemed to end. Drixali kept feeding his blood and lifeforce to the array, which in turn produced more threads that attached to the stallion.

Eventually, the threads proved to be too much as they completely swallowed the stallion within. The last thing Kashi saw before the threads encased the stallion was Drxilia's gaze promising to never give up.

A few minutes later, Drixali withdrew his arm and allowed his body to close up the wound. "That should be more than enough. Any more and I will actually die."

Kashi looked at the demon and sighed when he noticed the centaur's pale face. "You pushed yourself too far. But, thank you." The daeben then looked at the large cocoon comprised of thousands of threads. He did not dare imagine just how much pain the Drixlia was going through right now. "So, what now?"

"Now, we wait," Drixali replied. "How much he improves, depends on how much he can absorb." The demon leaked a weak smile as he said, "I am quite looking forward to the outcome. I wonder how much he can absorb."

"Same here," Kashi replied. "I wonder what will come out after Drix absorbs everything."

Drixali glanced askance at the daeben. The slight difference in their statements did not escape his notice, but he chose not to say anything. Indeed, having a master who believed in you must feel good. He turned to look at the cocoon. 'I wonder, are you worthy of the master's trust...'

Outlands, Serisis.

9:26 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

The outlands was a vast area to the west of Serisis that contained some of the most dangerous mana beasts in the country. Many ruins of small settlements, barracks or villages could be found in these lands, left behind by people who had tried and failed to live in these lands.

Due to the dangerous nature of this land, most patrols did not pass through this area, which was why there was no one to witness the weird sight of a dwarf and an orc emerging from a building in one of the ruins.

"Oh, merciful Aerith," Rudega exclaimed as he took in a deep breath and slowly let out it. "That clean, fresh air. How I missed you." Rudega looked at the bright sun with a profound grin. "I have never been so glad to see the sun in my life."

"Stop overreacting." Next to him, Ragnaf snorted as he adjusted Durst on his shoulder. "Where do we go now?"

Rudega shook his head. "I did not expect to have to run this way. I did not bring Serisis' map with me. ButI do know we have to head east if we want to see signs of civilization."

"That makes sense," Ragnaf replied with a grunt. He was about to take a step, butthen suddenly paused and turned to look at Rudega. "Which way is East?"

Rudega chuckled as he pointed towards the sun. "Over that way," he said as he walked in that direction. "The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west. Remember this, and you'll hardly get lost."

Ragnaf, who had almost headed in the opposite direction, turned around and followed the dwarf. He looked up at the sun. "So, this is East..." Because he never went on hunts with other orcs, he never needed to learn his coordinates. This was a good lesson. East was where the sun rose...

Rudega and Ragnaf trekked through the harsh lands for several minutes before coming across a small stream. They decided to take a short break to revitalize themselves. After all, they had been on the move since the previous day without rest.

Ragnaf gently the unconscious Durst on the ground and then knelt next to the stream. He cupped water into his palms and took a heavy drag. He repeated the action several times, until his quest was completely quenched.

The orc breathed a sigh of relief and then proceed to prop Durst with his arm and leg. He then scooped up water from the stream and poured it down Durst's throat. Luckily, Durst unconsciously swallowed the water without any major fuss. Ragnaf repeated the action a few more times, until he was sure Durst would not suffer from Dehydration, and then once more rested Durst on the ground.

Ragnaf crossed his legs and stretched, groaning as creaks echoed from his overworked shoulders and arms. The orc rested his hands on his legs and took in a deep breath, destressing from the past couple of hours.

Perhaps as a result of getting relaxed from all the stress, the orc's senses suddenly grew exponentially stronger. Ragnaf sniffed the air and frowned slightly. "This air... How is it like this?"

Rudega chuckled as he sat down beside the orc. "You finally noticed. The concentration of mana in Serisis is no joke. Any mage who trains here will have double the progress with half the effort." The dwarf shook his head. "If a mage tower had been built in this country, who knows how rich it would have been... It's too bad."

Ragnaf raised a brow. "What is?"

"The large concentration of mana is as much a poison as it is a boon," Rudega explained as he cupped a piece of the soil in his hands. "Plants find it very difficult to grow in these lands because of mana poisoning."

"Mana poisoning? What's that?"

Rudega looked at the soil and explained, "Too much of anything is bad. This is as true of the air we breathe as it is mana. If a living being takes in more mana than it can handle, it will perish. That's what we call mana poisoning."

Ragnaf's brow rose as he looked around him. "This mana might be thick, but I don't think it should cause mana poisoning."

Rudega chuckled. "You are looking at the mana contained in the air. The mana concentration is Serisis' solid is a thousand times greater." Seeing Ragnaf's confused gaze, Rudega elaborated. "Let me put it this way. The mana you see in Serisis is emitted from the ground. The mana in Serisis' soil is so great that most seeds perish immediately they are planted as they cannot handle the overflowing mana."

"Do you know what's causing it?"

"There are a few theories," Rudega stated. "One of the greatest is the existence of the amrita. Many speculate the mana concentration might come from those underground rivers."

"You think otherwise?"

Rudega shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps—"

"Perhaps it is time you both surrendered," a deep, gruff voice called from behind.

Rudega and Ragnaf's expression instantly hardened as they stood up and turned around.

Ragnaf's gaze turned cold as he glared at the mighty orc across from him. "Ragelock."

Renark Ragelock glared at Ragnaf, and then looked at the unconscious Durst. "Give up child. You cannot win this fight." As he said those words, Brilith Loneheart, Roro, Honne-Onna and GrizzlyDiamond, holding a shocked Uthman came out from behind the orc.

Despair colored Rudega's eyes as he felt the overwhelming power oozing out of the unfamiliar figures. However, that despair disappeared as soon as it came. He cracked his fists and glared at Renark. "If I'm going to die anyways, might as well take one of you with me."

Ragnaf grinned as he drew his axe. "Okay... let's die then."

A/N: Hey Guys! Sorry it's been a while. Last two weeks were packed with programming assignments... was crazy. barely had time to breathe. Anyway, I'm done now, and should return to regular upload speed. 

Anyway, second thing... I'll be streaming live tomorrow for those who are interested on my Youtube Channel Genaco Gaming at 12pm GMT for about an hour or two (London time). Come join us for a chilled chat period...

Thanks for Reading!