Rubbing his head, Admiral Kaelvar decided to stop thinking about it and eat dinner. They had a pleasant conversation over soup but everyone there was surprised when both Freydis and Chronos ate 5 bowls, nearly emptying an entire cauldron on their own, before they were full.
"Do you need that much food all the time?" One of the captains asked.
"No, only when we have been active without rest. Werewolves burn through energy at a ridiculous rate during intense activity, but very little energy is used when we aren't in combat or constantly on the move. Most of the time we only eat as much as a normal human does." Chronos said.
"And that's not something that outsiders need to know." Freydis glared at him for revealing a potential weakness.
"It's not that big of a deal. Even if they try to starve us, we can fight constantly for a day or two before we need to eat. Besides I think the systems library will provide a technique to make up for this weakness." Chronos explained.
"I thought you said that feature wasn't available yet?" Freydis asked.
"It's not but we were informed that it would take around two weeks to be added to the system. That was two weeks ago."
Everyone else was listening in while they talked, hoping to get some hints or ideas about how to use the system while Chronos was being talkative. However, they were bound to be disappointed as Chronos didn't know any more than they did about the system.
Admiral Kaelvar got everyone's attention as he continued the conversation from before dinner.
"Now Chronos, tomorrow I want you and your companions to spread the system to everyone gathered in this fort. After that, I believe that the dragon paladins and lizardfolk should make for the old fortress in the east. If we can get that up and running, we'll have a strong foot hold to fight the troll army from. While you are doing that, I'll have my subordinates that can still move effectively scout every waterway in the east. Hopefully we can track the troll's movements."
"Admiral, rather than having the lizardfolk make for the fort I'd like for them to scout the deeper sections of the swamp while my dragon paladins rebuild the fortress. And your troops need more than a day to rest. With permission from the naga elders I'd like to prepare for the Leighla kingdom's army to arrive.
With the Duke becoming a devil, I don't doubt that the Vhalic Empire will try to invade through the wasteland again. If they managed to build a teleportation platform on the edge of the wasteland they could lead an army through it within a few days.
So, I'd like to build a fortress on the eastern side of the swamp to handle any invasion that may be coming. Admiral Kaelvar you should also warn the merfolk empire about this change; devils won't stop at targeting the surface." Commander Stan said.
Admiral Kaelvar nodded as Matriarch Vaelith got a calculative look in her eyes.
"Commander the elder naga matriarchs are unlikely to accept that deal but I might be able to convince them if you are willing to agree to hand over the fortress within the swamp to the tribe's control once it has been rebuilt. With that fortress acting as a buffer, they will feel much more secure." Vaelith said.
"I accept."
"Do you have the authority to do that?" Admiral Kaelvar asked in surprise.
It was unusual for a church to have authority to make decisions regarding national matters, especially in the Leighla kingdom which tried to keep national authority and church authority separate.
"Dracon Fen has proven to be unmanageable under noble rule. As a result the king has left all management of Dracon Fen to the Dragon Church. As long as the annual shipments of potions continue to be delivered to the capital as previously agreed then the kingdom will not interfere with my decision.
If anything, the king will be happy to know that there is an additional fortress within the swamps to handle the creatures of the wasteland, though the nobles will find something to complain about." Commander Stan said.
"I see, you treat Dracon Fen as a ward state giving them their independence while still retaining the right to interfere if necessary. Well, it's very late now so let's adjourn for the evening and meet again tomorrow to finalize our plans before everyone leaves."
With the meetings end everyone retired to their assigned quarters for the night.
Early the next morning Chronos was suddenly awakened by Freydis.
"Up and at 'em, it's time to begin the morning training."
"Aunt Freydis we're in the middle of a war, I don't think it's a good idea to train right now."
"That's why we're just doing warm-ups. Besides everyone wants to see what our bloodline can do, come on I'm your first opponent." She said with an eager grin.
Chronos wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't slept all night due to being too excited for this. As he left the tent he saw all of the werewolves gathered around a small ring waiting for his arrival with eager looks. Some of them were practically bouncing.
The Beklaedning clan had long dreamed of gaining a bloodline power, but most had given up as the ancestors had tried everything they could think of to gain one and failed. For Chronos to unlock their inherent bloodline within a month of leaving the clan was practically a miracle.
"I'm your opponent and I want both of you to attack me at once." Freydis said.
Looking to his left Chronos saw Gregory standing there doing his best to vanish into thin air.
"You got dragged into this too, huh?"
"Yes, she wasn't very happy with us running off without even leaving a letter behind. I think we're in for a lot of pain."
That made sense, Aunt Freydis might act strict and angry all of the time, but she deeply cared for every youth within the clan. That's why the youths in the clan secretly called her "kennel mom".
Swish. Boom.
They both dodged as a large claymore came down on their previous position.
"Enough talking! Draw your weapons!" Freydis said with a massive grin on her face.
It was only now that the two of them realized that they really should have left a message for her cause that grin promised that both of them would have trouble moving after this spar.
"Forget a warm-up, this is a full-on battle." Chronos muttered.
An hour later both of them were panting on the ground while Freydis laughed.
"Hahahaha, that was great! Both of you have significantly improved in the past month, the last time we sparred both of you could barely last 45 minutes. Now you can fight for an hour albeit with difficulty." She had a proud smile on her face.
15 minutes might not seem like much, but when you reached the 30-minute mark Aunt Freydis drastically increased her combat strength. Being able to fight her well beyond their previous best proved that they had increased their abilities by 50% or more.
"Th-Thank you f-for the spar." They gasped in unison.
"Chronos, I noticed that you didn't use your bloodline power very much. Is there a reason for that?"
Panting Chronos stood up as he spoke, "Yes, my main attacking skill would destroy your precious claymore, and my defensive skill hasn't been mastered to the point that I can effectively use it in combat yet."
"Show them to me." She demanded.
Agreeing Chronos cast [Sever] while one of the werewolves brought out a shield to test it on. With a single swing the top portion of the shield fell away showing a clean cut.
Next, they put aura into the shield and Chronos swung again giving a similar result with only a moderate increase in difficulty. Finally, they used [Shield Wall] causing a 2-meter aura wall with a shield imprint to manifest through the shield.
Shiiink.
The wall was cut in two.
The gathered werewolves stared at the shield, he had cleanly cut through it, and it didn't look like he put much more strength into his attack.
"Just how much power did you put into that attack Chronos?" Freydis asked.
"[Sever] uses three times the energy of an [Aura Edge] enhancement but it can easily cut through physical defenses and deal heavy damage to aura or magic. However, aura and magic can block it if the defender doubles or possibly triples the defensive strength of their technique. The benefit of [Sever] is that it lasts a long time without needing to be recast."
"Can you cast it without a weapon?" Asked one of the werewolves.
"What about holding it in mid-air?" Another chimed in.
"Can it be placed on blunt objects or walls?" A club wielding werewolf spoke up.
"No, I can't cast it without a weapon but I'm only at the initiate mastery level. Once I'm more skilled, I might be able to. I can't hold it in the air either, but I can apply it to blunt objects. I've never tried putting it on a wall." Chronos answered.
They offered other ideas too like placing it on a string or compressing it until you struck the enemy as a surprise, but Chronos wasn't able to test many of them due to his low level of mastery.