492 Enguarde (1/2)

The man's name was Rhu and he was a common foot soldier who had been sent to the Bone Fortress right after he finished his initial training. His snow-white complexion was completely off-set by his black hair. ”With the addition of the fire users, we will definitely lose this precinct. Once that happens, we'll end up dead.”

Nix nodded in agreement. ”Rules of the war, this isn't a promise but at the very least, you'll outlive the rest of your faction that are currently in the Sandcrab Precinct.”

”Don't put me back with the Commander, and I'll tell you everything I know.”

Nix glanced at Pon and gave him a slight nod. ”Deal, making the prison larger is easy enough. Where do you get recruits from? And why has it suddenly stopped?”

”There are a few covens that send us those possessing Witch blood. Over the years those have slowly filtered off. Most of the recent recruits have come from Enguarde.”

/Skelly: Nix: Fuck... That explains why the reinforcements stopped.

/Skelly: Pon: Huh? How would you know about Enguarde?

/Skelly: Nix: We both know it, only by a slightly different name. I believe we called it Ice'Enguarde.

/Skelly: Pon: That place Sinfaya stuck into a snowglobe?

Nix nodded. While they were destroying the Ice Seeds that Khione had hidden under her Stronghold, the team of Pon, Shae, and Hyai had discovered an Underground City referred to as Ice'Enguarde. (Ref. Ch. 446) Sinfaya used spatial magic to place the entire city into a special container. This was done as an act of mercy because the destruction of the Ice Seed would have certainly wiped them out.

Nix studied Rhu for a moment while considering his words. There was always the chance that he was feeding them lies. ”Know where the other Covens were located?”

Rhu shook his head. ”No, I did hear of one that was located under the ice.”

”Ice? Like Enguarde?”

”Yes, but further away.”

/Skelly: Nix: If I got access to my Spirit companion after leveling up, then it stands to reason that you will also. Let's go up.”

Pon was following Nix up the ladder, so the Inferno Leader didn't see his scowl. ”Lorenzo? That worthless Imp bastard!”

Nix laughed loudly. Pon's first two companions were Fire users who he only knew by reputation. Apparently, they could be difficult. ”Let's get your kills to one hundred, so we can get some communication going with the outside.”

******************

/Skelly: Nix: The heck are you doing to my bear, Sasi?

Nix stopped suddenly when he stepped out of the cave, Nezbit and Alfie were laughing so hard that neither could stand up. ”Hmmm... How'd that little demon taste?”

”Yum!” Morti continued to laugh as Sasi tickled him from inside. She'd squeezed through the large gap in his ribcage and had propped herself up comfortably inside the bone cub.

”Nix! Help, Sasi has been eaten!”

Nix wagged his finger at Morti. ”I was saving her for a snack.”

”Sorry, Nix!”

”Hmm... Very humerus.” Nix didn't expect either of them to get the joke. He left them to continue their antics and brought out the inventory he spent most of the evening working on. He had nearly 60 of the chesty Freestyle golems. The queue took up most of the night and in the end, his crafting was raised to 74.

Edi returned from patrol while he was laying them out. ”Besides the impressive chests; What's the difference between these and the others?”

”The commands are a bit more detailed. I can have them attack a specific person or anyone in a given area. If no target is around, they will not follow the detonate order unless you override.” Nix sat Blinky down next to the Freestyle golems. ”I'm saving Blinky for something big.”

”Blinky?” Edi knelt beside him, Nix got the feeling she was smiling. ”Can I have him?”

”No... People always want my shit. I learned my lesson.” Nix clicked his teeth together loudly, an expression that Alphie told him signified amusement.

Pon chose that moment to run out of the cave, he was holding a round object that closely resembled a small dinner plate. ”Nix! Got a new design when I got to 75!”

Nix stared at the device for a moment. ”Landmine?”

Pon nodded. ”Anti-personnel mine (APMs).”

Nix whistled softly or would have if he possessed lips, the sound that came out was like a loud sigh. ”Tripwire?”

”Nope, pressure plate.” Pon's entire skeleton was nearly dancing. ”I need lots of material.”

/Skelly: Nix: Send us all a list of everything you need.

Nix waited for a few seconds and then opened his hud when it buzzed. ”Looks like you need to make casings. Sasi and I will handle that.”

Edi was looking over Nix's shoulder. ”We can use APMs at the choke point. Alfie and I will start disassembling bullets.”

Nezbit nudged Pon with a bony elbow. ”We'll have to draw wire for the springs, gonna need your flames!”