Chapter 114

"It is a gamble, but I do not see any of the experts giving us trouble once the soul beast is slain that is most likely controlling the artifact as well. Uncle, we will proceed with caution until we see the range of the artifact's effects. Once we are able to pinpoint the maximum area capacity of the artifact, Timothy and I will try our best to grab the attention of the other experts while you just focus on slaying that damnable soul beast."

Tyler was now determined more than ever now to recruit more experts under his banner. From what his uncle determined, it seemed that many of the groups were actually formed by independent experts who had no official backing. Whether it was warfare or simply growing one's influence, many would undermine the strength that could emerge from less influential and strong organizations. However, Tyler was much different, if he could continue recruiting these individuals who had small followings but were ignored by everyone else, he could enmasse possibly tens of thousands of experts.

He was not very well liked by his siblings, which was a big reason for him to remain independent and not involved in the war between them for their clan's Patriarch seat. After many years of seeing the internal warfare between his siblings, he was the first to realize that his clan's foundation was shaken by quite a bit since none of his siblings cared about killing off another's supporters at any chance they had. If he were to guess, after such a war for the Patriarch seat of their clan, it would be much easier for their true enemies to emerge and kill them.

Originally, he wanted to just lay low and survive the ordeal, but after meeting Timothy, something changed inside of Tyler. He had always been a very laid back figure who did not ask others for anything, but he was now steadily changing. Timothy had mentioned to him, that if he were in his position, that Timothy would slowly build a large following from the commoners, so that when the true war began which would be when there were hardly any remaining siblings of his alive, at least he could play the role of a hero to save his clan from ruin.

Thanks to the Blood Ridge clan's martial prowess, it was almost laughable to think that it could fall into ruin. This was similar to how others felt towards very strong and dominant ancient clans who would fall one after another due to similar sets of circumstances. Power corrupted the minds of all humans, and sometimes the worst humans would be given such power which would cause the suffering of many.

"Timothy, what is your decision, will you follow us into the fray, or will you remain here for our return?" Tyler asked Timothy who remained silent during his short and precise speech. Timothy began feeling many different things in his mind, but now was a good opportunity to remain in Tyler's debt if he played his cards right. Therefore, he could only nod and withdraw his pole from the storage ring to signify that he was ready to enter into battle.

Seeing Timothy's determination on his face, caused both Tyler and his uncle to let out a deep breath of acceptance. Tyler's uncle also felt a little more welcoming towards Timothy since he knew there may have been very little benefits of him joining hands with Tyler. Tyler's uncle was handpicked by his father in order to serve and protect him as he continued growing and until he reached adulthood.

As for his siblings, they were also given special bodyguards that were also raised within the Blood Ridge clan since they were born. However, the Patriarch of the Blood Ridge clan was only able to bestow two direct descendants to a child in this way. The first to receive his eldest aunt, was the first male that was born. As for the second, it was of course Tyler who was given his uncle.

In a way, one could look at this that Tyler's father felt that his eldest son and Tyler were to be given special attention. However, Tyler did not see it in this way, he saw it as his father pitied him due to having no real ambitions and only gave his uncle over to him so that Tyler would not die so early in his life. Still, this was the only gift that his father had given to him after so many years, so Tyler treated his uncle closer than anyone else in his family.

The group began to set off, with the metal on their armor shining from one of the three suns that were above them within this small world. None of them knew if this was a good idea, but they did not hesitate to continue moving forward. No matter what, if they could rescue the other human experts who were killing one another, it would be equivalent of gaining an army at the risk of only three. Who would not take such a gamble that offered such a good reward?

After traveling forward for roughly ten minutes, the group finally saw in view the human experts who were still fighting among themselves. There were roughly twenty eight experts in the area who were still fighting each other, while there were roughly an additional twelve who were either dead or too injured to continue. Blood littered the ground, as screaming and shouting continued sounding out. Seeing such a sight, made Timothy's stomach turn since they were not doing this for themselves, rather, they were all being controlled by the soul beast.

As they moved closer, Tyler was the first to be taken over by the artifact that the soul beast was using to control all of the humans, as he launched an attack towards Timothy, who seemed to still be moving forward while not being controlled himself. Tyler however, was unable to land his sword's attack into Timothy, because his uncle had already acted and pushed him several feet backwards as if he was throwing a rock.