"Of all the Dhampirs?" Alex asked, his eyes going wide. "You're the Queen?"
"No," Claire said with a small laugh. Her somber mood broke and she shook her head. "Rin is only a single Dhampir, and I did not win at Court. Nobody other than her Brood would acknowledge this. I am not the true Queen… but I have undergone the ritual that a Queen would have."
"That… sounds like a good thing," Alex said slowly. "So you're more powerful now?"
"I will grow more powerful as my bloodline adapts to evolve with Rin's," Claire said. "But it is more than just power. We broke an ancient law. Merging bloodlines is a privilege only allowed to the monarch of all Dhampirs. If any of the other Dhampirs were to discover this, they would name me abomination."
"It's fortunate I don't see any more of them around."
Claire let out a snort and rolled her eyes. "That's true. I guess there isn't enough of my civilization left to really pick bones about breaking tradition."
"She gave you that power to avenge her," Alex pointed out. He could tell that Claire was a lot more shaken up about this than she was trying to let on. "I think the world ending and Rin wanting to pass on her bloodline is reason enough to ignore some rules."
"Maybe," Claire said. She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a sharp huff. "It's done. Doesn't matter now. I can't turn my nose up at the extra power. We'll need it."
"Do you know exactly what that power will be?"
"I don't know what bloodline Rin had, so it's hard to say specifics. This isn't part of the System, so there's no message popping up to tell me exactly what to expect. I'd expect general increases to my physical strength and speed. My true form will change as well."
"Wings," Claire said. "You didn't think that was the extent of it, did you? That's just all I can handle right now. The more powerful a Dhampir is, the more of their bloodline they can connect with. You saw how Rin's appearance changed when she attacked the Field Boss, right?"
Alex nodded. "She looked like she de-aged like forty years."
"That was her tapping into her bloodline. Honestly, she was definitely old enough to have a much more significant transformation than that. Rin held herself back for some reason."
"Do you think she was planning on passing her powers to you from the start? If she used a stronger transformation, would she have also died way quicker because of using too much power?"
"That's… possible," Claire allowed. A stick crunched beneath her heel as she shifted her weight. "But that's some impressive foresight. Who decides they're literally going to destroy their soul just a short while after meeting somebody?"
He didn't have an answer to that one. "You need to sit down for a bit? It's probably a good idea to gather yourself before we head off to the Mirrorlands. Don't want to be off balance."
"That's probably a good idea, yeah." Claire flopped down and leaned back against a tree, letting her head thunk against the trunk as she peered up through the leaves on the branches swaying overhead.
Alex quietly sat down beside Claire. He had some energy to spend, but they weren't planning on fighting any ridiculously powerful monsters in the Mirrorlands. The energy he had stored wouldn't make a significant difference in his strength right now. It wouldn't hurt to wait a bit longer to use it — and even he liked a breather every once and a while.
Alex and Claire headed back toward the campgrounds just around four hours later. They'd spent most of it relaxing, though Alex did feed all the Soul Flames he'd gotten — aside from the one that had come from the Field Boss — to Princess.
He'd considered combining some of them with his monsters, but none felt like they'd be a huge boost to any of them. The last thing he wanted to do was force a sub-par combination that ended up crippling Glint, Spark, or Princess.
The Field Boss' Soul Flame wasn't something he wanted to combine with anyone either right now, but there was a chance it would come in useful later. Maybe one of his future monsters would click well with it. If not, he'd just feed it to a monster later on.
His efforts resulted in pushing Princess to Initiate 4. That was a level above even himself. And yet, Alex was willing to bet that if his monsters had ever fought each other, Glint would have defeated Princess with ease despite being three levels below her.
Just another reminder that I can't rely on the System's levels for everything. They're a very good estimator of ability, but there's a whole lot more to how strong somebody is than what meets the eye.
He also spent a little while locating the nearest portal to the Mirrorlands, which fortunately turned out to be a few minutes into the woods. It seemed that the Mirrorlands had entrances to it everywhere. Alex wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
When he and Claire arrived at the camp, the others were all waiting for them… though all may have been a bit of an exaggeration.
Orchid stood alongside Abby, Aaron, and May. Three more Outworlders and two Nativeworlders stood along with them. Eight people. That was it.
Then again, I guess it wasn't like there were that many people in the camp in the first place. After that fight, there are even less. How many of them decided to make a run for it? How many of them died to the monsters?
"This is everyone," Abby said quietly.
"Where are the others going to go?" Alex asked. He wasn't about to force anyone to stay in the forest, but if they went to Valley Ford and told the Outworlders where they were, it could cause some serious trouble.
The corner of Abby's mouth twitched in what almost might have been a smile. "There are no others. This is everyone that survived the attack and who has the potential to be a combatant. There are some Nativeworlders that plan to remain in town, but they're too old or ill-suited for combat to fight. A few of the other Outworlders will remain behind to defend them from minor threats while we are training. I trust that is fine?"
Okay. Not as brutal of a fight as I thought, then. So these are just the people that are the most willing to take a risk and push themselves. Probably a good idea to leave a few behind to defend the camp incase even more monsters pop out.
"The ones staying back realize that there's a very good chance the Region Boss kills them?"
"I've ensured they all know. They would not be able to defeat most of the monsters that existed in this forest before the Region Boss started to wake up. I suspect their chances of survival in your training are zero."
"Most likely," Alex said. "If they know the risks, that's fine. So nobody wants to leave?"
"Where would they go?" Abby asked. "There is nothing to return to. All paths lead to death. At least there is a chance they will survive if they remain."
"Then that's fine with me. If anything, this is the best case scenario that we could have gotten."
Abby blinked. "It is? You were hoping that some people would sit it out?"
"Well, not that specifically. More that we don't have people leaving. That would have been a bit bothersome."
"Because Valley Ford is not that far. Have you already forgotten what you are?" Orchid asked, tilting her head to the side and tapping her staff on the ground. "Should the other Outworlders discover where you are hiding, they will come for you. Hiding is the only way you can survive — at least, until the damage from breaking your bindings fades from your souls."
Abby grimaced. "That's a good point. I don't think anyone would betray us—"
"It doesn't have to be a betrayal. All it takes is one mistaken word," Claire said. "But it's a moot point. If everyone is staying, then the only thing we have to worry about is getting strong enough to take on the Region Boss."
"Right," Aaron said with a dry laugh. "That's all we've got to do. Nice and straight forward."
"I'm glad you feel that way. In that case, shall we get to it?" Alex asked, turning on his heel and activating Riftsense to relocate the portal to the Mirrorlands. "It's this way."
"What is?" May asked as the group followed after Alex. "Are we gonna fight mosnters in the forest?"
He led them away from the camp and into the forest. They all fell silent, not wanting to accidentally draw attention to themselves.
Alex followed his senses until he stood near the base of a large tree. The portal to the Mirrorlands was so faint that he couldn't even see the rift with his eyes, but it didn't matter. He didn't need to see it.
He just had to feel it.
Power crackled across Alex's hands as he dug his fingers into the invisible crack between planes. Arcs of Riftwarped energy danced up and wormed through the air as he gritted his teeth and pulled, dragging a portal open.
"What is that?" Abby asked, taking a step back as her eyes widened. "It feels… wrong."
"It's training. Link up and don't let go. I've never brought this many people through at once before," Alex said, forcing the portal into a stable state and releasing it. He extended a hand to Claire, who took it and held her other one out to Abby. Everyone grabbed each other's hands.
"Is this safe?" Aaron asked.
Then, without wasting another second, Alex stepped into the portal. There was a sharp tug and the rest of them were yanked in after him, ripped away from 274-50 and sent hurtling through the planes of existence toward the Mirrorlands.