World of Alvarra: Rise of the Vampire Lord

Chapter 106 upgrades (nsfw)

Van walked outside to help organize things and help where he could. After seeing Sela and her followers off he got to the task of rebuilding his ruined fort. What originally was planned to house over a hundred goblins, now looked far too large for the less than a dozen they had left.

It was also finally beginning to sink in how much he lost. Except for the harpies, the hobgoblins he slept with were all dead. He made love to them, slept with them, woke up with them, and said goodbye to them as he left. And in a single day of that, they were dead.

It made him so angry. Made him want to lash out at something. Destroy something. Show the ones that did this what true terror and pain was. But he held himself back. The dark feeling being forcefully pushed back by sheer will. He knew that those who love him won't like it if he were to give in to his darker emotions. But sometimes it was hard. At least he had hope that the future would get better. It had to.

He closed his eyes, concentrating to get a better idea of what changes had happened to his body. And what he found was surprising.

His body was hardly any different than what it was before. Or at least that was what he first thought.

What he actually found after looking a bit closer was that his body was far more compact than it was before. Yet he wasn't smaller or shorter or anything like that. No, what happened was he got considerably stronger, but his body didn't show it. More than that, he felt his body become highly efficient. And while it might sound narcissistic, he was definitely a bit more handsome than he was before, if the constant glances of his girls were anything to go by, what few of them remained... If they weren't just worried about him...

Throwing a punch in the empty air, he was taken aback by how easily it flowed through it, how it hit it, and how he sent a small burst of air outward without even really trying to. The action was so quick and smooth he almost didn't believe it was him.

He never felt this powerful before, it was almost addicting how taut his body felt like it was brimming with energy and was just waiting to be let out.

Further searching led him to gasp wide-eyed. His total mana reserves exceeded over six hundred units. Almost seven hundred, and the rate they replenished after casting a few spells were at least more than two times faster. By some standards, he was someone who was at the rank of a great mage in some countries.

This power was amazing, exhilarating, even a little scary... the things he could do with this much power...

But first things first. It was clear that he had to make some changes around here. If what Isa said was correct, the hobgoblins he personally upgraded were the only ones that made any real difference in the fight. Which meant he was going to need more of them. But more than that, Kella was able to kill dozens of them, so it was made clear to him numbers weren't just going to cut it. He was going to have to also shoot for quality.

"Isa." Van said, getting Isa's attention. She had not left him since they had left the tent where he woke up.

"How close are you to ranking up?" he asked, an idea forming in his mind.

Isa blinked, then furrowed her brows. "Well... I'm already a greater hobgoblin, it would take quite a bit for me to get to the next rank. If I had to say... it feels like I'm a decade away from ranking up, if I'm lucky. Which is amazing since not many greater hobgoblins can say they will rank up in their entire lives."

"I see..." Van said. "Can you please get Gwen and gather all the mana cores we have? All of them, don't leave a single one behind."

Isa looked confused, then her eyes widened as if she caught on to what he was thinking. But it was too preposterous to believe, so she pushed her suspicions aside and got to work.