Standing at the helm of the ship, Jack kept looking towards the distant horizon. All of the Troops had started doing their own things and the atmosphere on the ship wasn’t as stifling as before. However, disappointment was evident on the face of every single one of them.

In their memories, Dark Elves were people that were proud and valued a persons ability over their lineage. That was also the meaning behind the Rite of the Clan Lord. Every person with ability was allowed to take part in it and during the competition, your status and lineage didn’t matter. If you had the ability, you can stand victorious and take charge of the entire Clan.

As Jack kept looking forward, a woman appeared next to him. She didn’t say anything but rather looked towards the same direction as Jack was. Without even glancing back, Jack asked, “Are you disappointed that I gave up so easily Shadya?”

The woman didn’t even look fazed as she sighed answering, “No, I am disappointed that the AbyssFlame Clan has started valuing lineage over ones personal ability. That may be because of the state of the world….”

Jack turned back and looked at Shadya, “Times change. In the Immortal Worlds, changes happen at a very slow pace but in Mortal Worlds, changes happen fast.” Jack then looked forward again and finished his thought, “A Person that has broken through the fetters of the Mortal World may not recognize his home after a single secluded cultivation.”

Shadya nodded her head as he understood what Jack meant. It wasn’t weird for cultivators to stay in secluded meditation for centuries or millenniums. The Immortal World may not have much changes in that time frame but in the Mortal World, Empires rise and fall in centuries. Mortal Worlds change far too fast compared to Immortal Worlds and it isn’t weird for the situation to be like this after such a long period of time.

The other races have declined here and Humans have become supreme. However, it may as well have ended up with all the other races declining and Dark Elves becoming supreme. There currently three Human Empires that reign supreme on the main continent.

The Azure Dragon Empire known for their Dragon Riders, The Lehati Empire that is known for their Magic Corps and Red Haven Empire known for their brutal strength and savagery. Every other races except the Demon kind that held the same amount of territory as the three empires combined, had been banished to the various islands surrounding the main continent.

These islands were either big or small but were without a doubt safer than main continent. The location Jack had picked out was where Shadya had shown that the previous home of the Shadowbrand Clan had been.

However, the only problem was that it was at the coast of the main continent and it was actually a place that was at the border of all three Empires. If Jack didn’t make ample preparations before taking control of the city, Jack was going to have to abandon it soon. Jack didn’t feel afraid of the three Empires but rather he was very wary of the Demons.

The Demons reproduced like vermin and the main reason the three Empires are in a stalemate was because they had to constantly exhaust resources on dealing with the threat of the Demons. Just by seeing that the Demons held the same amount of territory as the three Empires combined showed that the Demons are by no means weaker that the three Empires combined. With them holding the pressure on the three Empires, Jack will have an easier time taking full control of the City and ready his defences before the three Empires can retaliate.

As for his “citizens” it was the easiest problem to solve. All he had to do was buy enough of the slaves and set them free. By doing so, he can earn the support of various races that have been enslaved for generations and at the same time, he will gain a population to work for him. However, the main problem with this was that you may never know who exactly you got.

Amongst the slaves, there are some that have become completely obedient to Humans and some that have fallen to slavery due to committing crimes. It was truly a lottery of what kind of people you get but currently Jack did not have time to slowly take over some place and raise the population over the years and then keep improving the living conditions and so on.

He only had two hundred years before the Planar War and in that time frame he needed to do everything he could to improve his army leading capabilities alongside his own personal strength. Suddenly a big figure covered in black flames appeared next to Jack. It was Veyer that now opened his mouth and asked, “Master Jack, since we are going to go with the original plan, am I also going to act according to that plan?”

After saying so, Veyer glanced over at Shadya. He could feel that Shadya was quite disappointed in how the Dark Elves had changed and he didn’t want to rub salt in open wounds. Shadya however didn’t say anything but rather looked at Jack with curiosity as well. Jack thought for a moment and then nodded his head, “Yes, we will go with the original plan.” Veyer nodded his head and an eager gleam passed his eyes.

The original plan was that they will occupy a place and build it up themselves. However, to not bring much heat onto themselves, Veyer will take the Demons and set up another base in the Demon Territory. Since Demons value strength above all, it won’t be hard for Veyer to set up base there and provide support to Jack from there. After securing a base, Veyer can have Demons gather resources and slaves to send to Jack to fortify his base.

Veyer then looked to the distance as well as he sighed, “So long has passed and so much has changed.” Shayda nodded her head as she sighed, “Everything has changed far too much.” Jack stayed quite and let the two natives mull in their nostalgia.

After flying for a few days, Jack appeared outside a mountain range. This was the entrance to an enormous valley that was surrounded by impassable mountains making this entire valley an enormous natural fortress. From the impasse, it would take about 7 days to travel to the City on horseback.

The reason this place wasn’t absorbed into any of the three Empires was because the Necromancers had decided to make this place their home. Necromancers dabbled in the unmoral type of Magic that focused on raising the dead to do the fighting for them. This was also why living beings did not like fighting with Necromancers, the more men you send to kill them, the more powerful they will become.

Jack however did not have this problem and if he can secure the fortress that stands over the impasse, he can take his time slowly purging the entire valley of the Necromancers and building his base here. Strategically, this was the perfect location to set up his base as he was surrounded by impassable mountains on all sides and at the other side of the valley, there were steep cliffs that prevent people from landing via the sea.

This place was a true natural fortress and Jack felt that it didn’t matter what his future plans were as long as he can build a strong base here, he can think about it after that. Staring at the enormous walls that were connected to the mountains on either side, Jack started feeling his blood boil. This was the first true battle Jack had after accepting Raelag’s Legacy and starting on the Path of Magic.

Jack decided to have his Dark Elven Troops disembark here and let Veyer take the ship alongside the Demons to go and set up a base there. Although Jack Could have used the flying ship to bypass the walls and mountains and directly enter the valley, if the Necromancers decided to hole up at the fortress, Jack would be trapped inside the valley.

So, the first thing Jack decided to do was take control of the Fortress and use it as a front line base to sweep froward from there. Jack looked at the fortress from the edge of a forest and couldn’t help but frown. Outside the fortress, there were legions of undead always standing guard there and on top of the walls, skeleton archers were always ready.

This was also why the living hated fighting the undead, those fuckers did not know the word “Exhaustion”. Undead could stand there for centuries and still fight like usual. Since they didn’t rotate shifts or need to patrol around, they could stand there like statues for years and Jack would not find an opening to sneak in there.

It was a known fact that when you kill the Necromancer, all of the undead under him will become nothing more than a pile of bones again. However, all of the Necromancers were in the fortress and to first get there, you need to get through the undead. Jack mulled on how to do this most effectively as the sun set, Jack suddenly had an idea.

Jack gathered his troops and explained how he was planning on attacking the fortress. All of the troops were quite surprised by the simpleness of the plan but at the same time, they could not find any problems with it. In the current situation it truly was the most effective plan so to speak.

After distributing all of the tasks and after everyone had taken their positions according to Jack’s orders, Jack looked towards the fortress one more time and then released a breath, “Charge!”