Empire Builder 1: Breed, Populate, Conquer Dante King (i read books txt) 📖

that he most likely hadn’t had much faith in the homunculus all those eons ago. But he didn’t want to crush the little man’s stony heart by telling him that the reason he had the job wasn’t necessarily due to his skill, but because of his near immortality. After all, he imagined that there were very few creatures who were functionally immortal, and if any creature could live forever, it was likely to be one made of stone.

Ben knew he needed to check his mana. He closed his eyes and focused, able to easily picture his supply. He wasn’t sure if it was only his imagination, but he could imagine a small reservoir inside of him, faintly glowing blue liquid sloshing around. It was like a magical gas tank inside of him.

And one that was running dangerously close to empty.

Ben cast his eye over the scene of the battle again. Lexi was taking good care of her soldiers, and Ben winced in annoyance as the force and fire mages were now effectively working together. Whatever differences they’d had were put aside, the two of them now operating as a unit of deadly efficiency. He wasn’t making any progress.

Then his eye fell on a small form moving about among the corpses. It didn’t look like one of the monsters he could summon, and none of the mages had brought any creatures in with them. He peered closer.

Then he gasped. “That’s Pearl!”

His stomach sank. Damn that adorable kitten! His child would be squashed to jelly by stomping giants if she wasn’t roasted first by Uzax. He had to get her out of there.

“How did she get in there?” he wondered aloud.

“How did we not notice her before?” Sir Gallant added, continuing to summon monsters as he looked up at the screen.

“She must have been hiding under the table,” Ben said. “However she got in there doesn’t matter. What matters is making sure she doesn’t get crushed. You’ll have to monitor the controls and try to reach the screen on your own.”

Ben turned around and walked to the door. It wasn’t the best time to enter the battle, but he was left with no choice now.

Sir Gallant’s voice arrested him as he was walking through the door.

“Master, look, your child is evolving.”

Ben turned and looked at the screen. Sure enough, Pearl was growing before their eyes.

She stood up on her little hindlegs and opened a mouth in what looked like a cross between a yawn and a roar. She rubbed her little paws against her eyes, then arched her back.

Her fur split all the way down her spine, and flesh spilled out in large lumps, knitting together and growing. Bones jutted out, marrow spurting around in circles, to be encased by hard casing.

As they watched, her body contorted and grew, until she stood at the height of a man. The werecat growled. Her features were still the soft eyes and mouth of a kitten, but her curled claws were the length of razor blades, and her arms bulged with muscle.

She picked up one of Lexi’s soldiers, flinging it back and forth like, well, like a kitten playing with a toy.

Ben knew Lexi wasn’t going to like that one bit. “Out of the way a moment.” He pushed the homunculus aside, seizing the dashboard controls.

He poured all his mana into the totem cylinder for the blade fiend, until he couldn’t spare another drop. He selected a spot on the ceiling, and confirmed his choice.

He gasped as the cylinder sucked his mana dry. It felt like his intestines were being roasted in an oven, as every drop of magical energy was ripped out.

It was enough though. A giant blob began growing out of the ceiling with a wrenching, squelching noise. Before the monster was even full grown, it belched out primal noises, sounding like a cross between a trumpeting elephant and a squealing pig.

Long tentacles grew from the blob, slithering out across the room. The tentacles waved wildly about, searching. True to the monster’s name, the tentacles sucked up any blades they came in contact with. Knives, swords, even spoons, were all absorbed.

Ben watched the display eagerly, pleased to finally see the monster at work.

“Good gods,” Adremor said, his mouth agape as he stared up at the monster. “What foul fiend has this Benjamin of Davies summoned?”

“One that will kill us if we’re not careful,” Lexi replied.

“There’s nothing fire can’t kill,” Uzax said.

“Other than those rock monsters,” the hawkwoman muttered.

Then new tentacles grew out of the giant purple blob on the ceiling, each tipped with a blade. Some tentacles even ended in giant spoons, which waved back and forth, whacking soldiers’ heads with a clang.

Adremor fought fire with fire, so to speak, controlling blades with his telekinesis, severing tentacles, and spearing the blob itself with flying blades.

“I’ll handle the blades!” shouted Adremor. “Uzax, blast that thing with flame after flame. Lexi, sever the tentacles!”

“You’d be wise not to bark orders at me, Force Wizard!” shouted Uzax as he prepared to summon another ball of flame.

But he did as Adremor asked anyway, blasting the main section of the blade fiend with ball after ball of superheated magma.

The screeching monster met their attacks blindly but ferociously, slashing and hacking with its bladed tentacles. It eviscerated another of Lexi’s soldiers, while Pearl tore a third in two.

Lexi screamed in rage and threw herself at Pearl. The two began fighting with beastly savagery. She leaped back, holding her weapon in front of her as Pearl snarled for another attack. Pearl leaped forward with speed that surprised Ben, the beast cutting through the air and nearly landing on Lexi.

Come on, kiddo, thought Ben. You can do this.

But Lexi held her own, dabbing the end of her weapon in a small pool of nearby magma from Uzax’s spells, the blade catching fire. She waved the flames in toward Pearl, the animal shrinking back.

“We need a bigger flame to handle this creature!” shouted Uzax. “Watch this!”

Uzax poured pure fire straight into the