Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

After Earthshaker's scarlet chain burrowed into Onyx's body, Onyx's eyes went wide.

"What in the—"

"Blood Sharing," Earthshaker replied.

"Earthshaker, what exactly does this Blood Sharing do?" Onyx asked, sounding both startled and curious.

"Prophet," Earthshaker said, "to put it simply, you and I are now in a kind of shared-life state. Unless either of us loses every last drop of blood, we can't really die."

Standing off to the side, Orion cast a glance at Earthshaker—who was visibly bursting with excitement—and decided to offer a piece of advice.

"Earthshaker, in some situations, Blood Sharing can indeed share life force. But remember, if you or your partner takes an immediately fatal blow, the skill won't do a thing."

Blood Sharing was basically a group-combat ability—a talent that let you share blood (and in some ways, life energy) with an ally.

But it had its shortcomings. A snapped neck, being cleaved in half, blown to bits, or pulverized…in those lethal scenarios, Blood Sharing wouldn't save anyone. Even so, if used against enemies unaware of the skill, it could be a literal lifesaver on the battlefield.

Orion gave a quick look at the four who were now busy comparing their newly inherited skills. Then he headed off alone in the direction of the Military Fortress.

The Military Fortress was actually a bloodline awakening pool. When any of the Horde's bloodline warriors underwent a three-day baptism in the Military Fortress, there was a certain chance their bloodline powers would awaken. Its interior wasn't a training field so much as a place similar to a Bloodline Awakening Pool.

At the same time, activating the Military Fortress required a steady flow of sacrificial offerings—though unlike the Heroic Altar, there was no restriction on the level or rank of said offerings. Crystal cores, magic stones, blood…even corpses would do. However, the quality of the tribute would directly affect how well the Military Fortress functioned.

Upon arriving at the Military Fortress, Orion personally infused it with power. Soon the place was bathed in a new sheen of deep color.

"Lord Orion," asked Onyx, who had come up behind him along with Rendall, Delilah, and Earthshaker, "what does this Military Fortress do?"

"It offers a shot at unlocking bloodline powers," Orion replied. "And it can also help our Horde's bloodline warriors learn to harness something we call 'blood fury.'"

The four stared at him in awe.

"None of these special buildings can just pop out abilities for free," Orion continued. "They all require sacrifices—endless sacrifices. From now on, to keep this Military Fortress running, we'll need to pull from our war spoils. Each of your four armies will have to be prepared for that."

Truthfully, Orion had been thinking about this the moment the Military Fortress was planned. Over the past few years, the Stoneheart Horde had fought dozens of battles, big and small, amassing huge stores of materials.

Since the only truly rare commodity was dark source crystals, Orion typically only took a symbolic cut of everything else. After all, the Horde always had a steady food supply thanks to the Survivor's Platform, so they'd never been short on rations. As a result, he hadn't needed to strict‑tax people on materials that weren't in short supply.

"But since our territory is new, we need to shore up a few policies," Orion said. "Now that I'm delegating power to you, managing your armies is up to you. If nothing crazy happens, I won't intervene. Starting next year, though, every army has to turn over thirty percent of its annual haul to the Horde."

With his hands clasped behind his back, Orion continued on toward the Beast Pens, and the four trailing behind him exchanged worried looks.

Onyx, Rendall, and Delilah each headed up their respective forces—the Hunting Party, the Cannon Fodder Troops, and the Sentinel Corps. In the past, none of them could deny they'd each snagged considerable benefits from the wars.

For example, after their recent southern raid, both Thunderhawk City and Stormrage City were picked clean, and the spoils that ended up in Orion's or the Horde's central stockpile were only a fraction of the total.

True, the rest of the goods had gone to the warriors, which still kept them within the Horde overall. But now that the territory was established, Orion's ambitions were growing as well.

He was eyeing a future invasion of the south—or maybe another world beneath the bottomless abyss. Orion needed to start stockpiling weapons, armor, food, crystal cores…anything an army might need.
Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

Piling up those resources wasn't just idle talk; they had to come from each victory's spoils. Clawing that back from the people could stir up some pushback.

Fortunately, the Stoneheart Horde was still in a "survival of the fittest" phase, without many strict rules in place. Most of the tribe could accept the fact that the strongest fist decided who got the biggest slice of the pie.

"Lord," Onyx ventured in his gravelly voice, "are you thinking of pushing south next year?"

Orion sensed the excitement and hope in Onyx's tone. "Not sure yet. It'll depend on how the Horde fares during the upcoming dark beast tides. If we grow enough in that chaos, sure, I'll consider it."

He lowered his hand. As he spoke, he'd already finished imbuing the Beast Pens with power.

"What's their function?" Delilah asked.

"They exist for mount training," Orion said. "In here, it's easier to break mounts in and get them tamed."

At those words, Delilah's eyes gleamed. "Dear Lord, that mean we can handle newly hatched broadskull ravens or icefield snow wolves in here, so the taming rate skyrockets?"

"Exactly," Orion said, then added thoughtfully, "the first batch of icefield snow wolves should be whelping soon, right? Let's keep a small bunch aside for the most promising younglings so they can grow up together."

Onyx, Rendall, Delilah, and Earthshaker all smiled at that. Thundar was in charge of the cavalry, but he wasn't here. That probably meant the young wolves under his care were about to get divvied up.

"From this day on," Orion announced, his voice turning cold with authority, "no outsiders are allowed in Moonshadow Valley. If they're not part of one of the Horde's armies, no entry. Period."

"Understood, Lord," Delilah said. "The ID tokens have been floated around already, so going forward, we'll check both a person and their token before letting them in."

Orion nodded and left Moonshadow Valley with the group in tow.

When Orion got back to his tent, Lilith was nowhere in sight. After taming the broadskull ravens, she'd gotten busy at the western ridge with the magical plants. She was carefully nursing a new crop of Blood Mushrooms that were almost ready for harvest, needing daily attention.

Orion wolfed down a large chunk of roasted meat, then stretched out on a fur pelt and let his consciousness dive into the Survivor's Platform. Arthas, his friend there, had left him a message earlier, asking Orion to contact him as soon as he was free.