Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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Refreshed and feeling way better than they had since starting this mission, Team Elric is now gathered at the campfire that Cedric built around an hour ago.

"Gee, this is going to make me cry." Francis feigned sniffles as he clutched the warm bowl of soup passed down to him.

Others didn't even have anything to say about that since, truthfully, they too feel the same. The heavenly smell of the soup had been whetting their appetites even while they were cleaning themselves in the bathroom.

When they felt the warmth of the fire and held the bowl of soup, they felt unprecedented peace and comfort. It almost feels wrong to feel like this, especially considering where they are and what their current situation is, but that feeling of uncertainty disappeared once they drank the soup.

Sighs...

A collective sigh of relief and comfort was heard around the campfire; it was followed by a peaceful silence, only interrupted by the constant noise from Cedric's forge.

"Cedric, can you talk while doing that?" Elric asked as he looked at their newest member, who was already contributing so much to the team. reading here on NovelFire _l _e _mpy _r

"Yes, ask away; I'm paying attention," Cedric replied without tearing his gaze away from the forge.

"Can you give us a rundown on the base improvements you've made so far?" Elric asked, feeling much better now.

"Sure," Cedric replied before picking up his hammer and repairing the equipment of the team. "First of all, I improved the protective formation on the base. No offense to whoever made that, but it's barely functional; even a demon of a Tier 7 equivalent would see through it without so much of a fuss."

"I improved the obscurement function. Now, unless a Demon Lord is coming here, nobody except us would see, or even sense, this base. The old formation already scans our badge; I just added that effect to make it more secure."

"What about the mist? What's that for?" Darwin asked curiously.

He's talking about that almost invisible mist being released by the formation around the base. It's barely visible, and it's gone as soon as it's sighted.

"That's the obscurement I'm talking about," Cedric replied while hammering away. "That mist is the product of a runic array that converts corruption into neutral energy; then another array is creating that mist."

"That mist then melts away at the surrounding space. All it does is warp the enemy's perception of space—their sense of direction, to be exact. So long as that mist is around, they won't be able to arrive at the gates of the base. Of course, we're an exception to that."

"Even if they knew that the base is within this general area, so long as they don't have anything to counter that mist, they'd just pass through this place. It's a misdirection mist, if you will."

"..."

"Ah, additionally, the mist also functions as a scanner. Look at the tablet over there; it's connected to the formation. Everything the mist touches is reflected on it. You can use it to monitor the surrounding area, but it's limited to a 10-kilometer distance. It's the best I can do for now since I didn't bring much with me."

The team was flabbergasted. The boys have no idea if Cedric was boasting or being humble with his implications, but either way, what he did was undoubtedly very impressive; there's just no denying that.

"Did you also do something for underground security? I can sense a few runes beneath us," Floyd asked while casually scanning the underground.

"A few, he says..." Chrissy chuckled as she comfortably snuggled on the thick blanket that Cedric gave her.

"There's probably like...hundreds of runes beneath us," Erica stated. "We saw him throwing them around earlier when you boys were away."

"It's nothing special. I just extended the effects of the formation to the underground too," Cedric shrugged. "I made it so that the formation is like an actual sphere, not just a dome. The effects of the formation above ground apply underground as well."

"Ah, right. The tents should be ready now. I've installed the Lantern Runes within, and I also improved the durability of the tents, which should be more comfortable than before. Feel free to use it anytime you want. As for these..." Cedric gestured at the equipment piled right next to the forge, "Give me...three hours, at most. And they'll be ready for combat again."

"This is crazy," Darwin muttered next to Elric. "It hasn't even been a full day since he arrived here, yet he already improved our living conditions by...like, 200%; it's like he's been doing this since he was born. Where the hell did this kid come from?"

"And it doesn't look like he's done. I think he's planning on doing more." Floyd smiled wryly as he finished his bowl of soup.

The girls just smiled to themselves, thinking that Floyd wasn't exactly wrong. They don't know how much, but they're aware that Cedric is still holding back a lot.

"Should we change our rotation?" Francis suggested. "I feel like we should. I mean, the new formation and that monitoring tablet make it easier for us to keep watch. Truthfully, do we even need to do anything aside from waiting for additional orders from HQ? I think we could just relax like this for now."

"I'm tempted, actually," Elric admitted with a wry smile. "I've never felt so comfortable and secure out here in the Black Lands."

"Those are words I never thought I'd hear from you or anyone. I also would've never thought that they could be used in a single sentence, but yeah, same." Darwin shrugged.

"We're clean, fed, watered, safe, warm, and freaking alive. Gee, it's like we're back home; that's crazy," Floyd stated as he released a comfortable sigh.

"Uh, Floyd, Darwin, I have a question for you two." Cedric suddenly called out, causing the two to perk up.

"Shoot," Darwin replied.

"You two are halfway to a breakthrough, right?"

Darwin and Floyd blinked in surprise; the latter then said, "It's impressive that you're able to sense that, but yes, we are. Why?"

The two of them had been hiding the real fluctuations of their strength because they wanted to be underestimated by their foes. It's only fair since they're in a hostile environment. Cedric being able to see through it was indeed impressive since not even their peers are aware of it.

"Do you need to return to civilization to have your breakthrough, or are you able to do it here?" Cedric asked, still hammering away at the equipment.

Floyd and Darwin looked at each other before looking at Elric, who nodded at them, signaling that it was fine to tell him.

Darwin then said: "Technically, we don't have to; we just prefer to have it there. This is a hostile environment, and anything could happen here, especially given the current situation. Additionally, we would be using obscene amounts of Demon Souls to facilitate the process, and in a place like this where corruption is everywhere, anybody would think that this isn't a good idea.

And we haven't even talked about the commotion it will cause. We're in Demonic Territory, after all."

"Transitioning from the Mortal Realm to the Planar Traveler Realm is a huge jump. Aside from the steep requirements, our willpower will be tested as well." Floyd added, "The process can and will take time, and within that time frame, anything could happen.

Don't think that the Demons nearby would just allow humans to become stronger within their territory; that's like...the best provocation we can do towards them."

"So...what I'm getting is that you have everything ready, but you're in the wrong place to have your breakthrough, is that correct?" Cedric asked.

"...more or less, yes." Darwin shrugged, and so did Floyd.

"Hmm...say, if I built something that would essentially hide the fluctuations of your breakthrough so that you two won't have to think about implicating the team, and I offered something that makes the process smoother, are you confident of transitioning to the Planar Traveller here?"

This time, Cedric stopped his repairs to look at the two of them. When Floyd and Darwin saw that, they immediately realized that he was asking them a serious question. The rest of the team went quiet and waited for the two to answer Cedric's question, since they too felt the severity of this atmosphere.

"Yes. I've accumulated for so long already. I just need a place to do it," Floyd replied after a brief pause.

"Me too. That's why I've been dying to return home." Darwin responded as well.

"Awesome." Cedric grinned. "Then I'll help you with that. Girls, here."

Cedric then took out a rune tablet from his knapsack and passed it to his girlfriends. The boys were confused as to what it was, but the girls certainly weren't.

"Holy, you made it! Holy crap, this is awesome!" Erica squealed in excitement.

"Oh, this is great! Finally, no more mental demons!" Chrissy yelled in excitement too.

They grabbed the tablet and showed it to the confused boys.

"You two, your breakthroughs are pretty much guaranteed with this thing," Chrissy stated as she began arranging the tablet to be used.

"Well, what is it?" Elric curiously asked.

Erica smiled and said, "Cedric calls this the 'Demon Soul Purification Altar. Well, it's a tablet right now, but meh. Same thing."