Heimarian Odyssey

Chapter 303: Thorn City

“Our next target will be Thorn City, any objections?” Parlina asked everyone from atop her chair. She was dressed in a navy robe today.

What used to be the city lord’s manor was now the Magisters’ meeting space in Mist City.

“We’re going to attack the next city so soon? Isn’t this a little too fast?” asked Reiner. Since numbers were on the Sanctum’s side for the earlier battle, the Magister wasn’t injured badly. Even so, it didn’t mean that physical damages were avoidable. Reiner wished to shoulder as little risk as possible.

“Fret not, Reiner. We’re just trying to settle on a decision here, there’s no rush for the next conquest,” Parlina reassured with a small smile.

“Thorn City is governed by three level-one Botanians, right? I’m all for it!” Porscher had never been one to shy away from battles. He favoured war as much as the rolls on his stomach. He did have much to boast about, after all. Porscher and Reiner lived on the 69th floor of the Sanctum tower, which meant that they were both stronger than the average level-one Magisters.

The three city lords of Thorn City were a set of triplets that made for a formidable bunch. Another Sanctum contingent had attempted to invade the city earlier but the siblings had allowed the territory to remain unscathed all in the presence of four Magisters. The thorn Botanians had chased away the contingent and managed to severely injure one of their level-one Magister.

Truth be told, Parlina wished to stay away from Thorn City. It was unfortunate that the choice wasn’t theirs to make; Grandmeisterin Jella had given them explicit orders to execute. The best Magisters in Battlezone 17 were all in Parlina’s contingent. Ashar, Carla, Porscher, Reiner and her were among the best level-one Magisters at the Sanctum. Comparatively, their contingent received better treatment. They could ask for slave replenishments anytime they pleased and their request would always be delivered in the best quality possible.

Even so, Parlina still had to shoulder the burden of leading the contingent through their obstacles in the absence of a level-two Magisters’ support. It was safe to assume that the Sanctum would dispatch a level-two Magister to help with the conquest of Thorn City to lessen their losses but they’d clearly reached a point where their manpower was running low. There were more level-two and three Botanians appearing all around the minor plane without warning, which further dampened the overall inertia of this invasion.

At five hundred kilometres northwest from Mist City, three thorn Botanians huddled together for a discussion.

“Lord Aburi is getting chased after by two powerful aliens. He can’t support us any longer and the Holy City wants us to retreat to Fertilia. What do we do?” The thorn Botanian seated between its two thorn Botanian siblings had longer barbs and darker branches.

Aburi was a preceding level-three blueberry Botanian who had awakened from its slumber beneath the Holy City. It had been sent to Thorn City under the orders of the World Tree and the sunflower high priest. Yet, it was already targeted by one of the more powerful invaders as soon as it exited the Holy City. This particular invader had been an alien of half flames and ice; its blaze was deadly hot while its ice could freeze all life. Aburi could barely save itself, let alone help another Botanian city out.

“Isn’t Fertilia under the attack of the aliens too? How is it going to be any different than staying?” The thorn Botanian on the right let out a hollow chuckle. It couldn’t help but be nihilistic about their future now that one of their most promising predecessors was struggling to survive.josei

“Then we shall stay and face them head-on!” The final thorn Botanian clenched its fists. The triplets’ hearts were connected; they knew exactly what the others were thinking.

“Very well!” The thorn Botanian in the middle straightened itself. “We’ll show those invaders what we’re truly capable of!”

If Thorn City could escape the invaders once, a second time wasn't out of the question. The triplets had yet to admit defeat. Their combined attack was not something that regular lifeforms could withstand easily.

Locke stared at the yellow Botanian nucleus core blankly. It was covered in the komodo monster’s disgusting gut juice and it smelled horrible. He paced around with strong hesitance; he just couldn’t bear to put it inside his mouth.

He held his urge to barf and threw it to the scorpiondrake; Angie had been eyeing from the side for a while now. It let out a noise of delight before wolfing down the yellow Botanian nucleus core.

He quickly cleaned his hands and produced another red Botanian nucleus core from his spatial ring. The lemon Botanian’s nucleus core had been partially digested by the komodo monster. A good majority of its essence was gone so Locke wasn’t losing out by not ingesting it. It wasn’t worth the discomfort anyway.

The other red nucleus core was comparatively larger and of higher quality than the yellow one. It was the nucleus core of a Botanian that was as strong as a quasi-Ritter. The komodo dragon had yet to digest it so Locke considered it a steal. As soon as he absorbed the nucleus core, Locke would be one step closer to becoming a quasi-Ritter.