Evolution: A Warlock's Rise To Power

After Lucan quickly closed the portal, he used ethereal sight to peer into the ethereal realm. Even though, only a moment passed, he couldn't find any trace of the shadow elemental boss. The assassin class boss was nowhere to be seen.

Lucan sighed, he hoped that he would be able to turn the tables in this fight, but unfortunately his only path to success was to throw away the boss. He felt regretful that he wouldn't be able to get his hands on any of that precious loot, but their was nothing else he could do.

After the boss was cast into a different realm, the elementals remaining inside the fortress descended into chaos. Some ran away, while others continued to fight, but none of the elementals were working together.

Lucan, sturdy and the few Willow players remaining began to clear out the command room. Working together they were able to fend off the elemental assault until the first few players that died in the previous fight were able to return to the fortress.

With the number of players in the fortress on the rise and the number of elementals dropping, conquering the fortress was a foregone conclusion. They only needed time.

Two hours later, the fortress was completely under the control of Lucan and the people from the Windy Willow organization. Not only that, but Lucan was able to gain three level during the conflict.

He surveyed the command room and the rest of the fortress. A few walls and doorways were destroyed by advanced elementals that self-destructed but for the most part, the fortress was in good condition.

Lucan had just sent Sturdy away when Raze appeared in front of him.

"Not bad, not bad." His patron said.

"The boss managed to escape, but I don't think we would have been able to take this place if we fought him to the end." Lucan said.

"You can't win every fight, sometimes it is better to stay alive and finish things later. What am I saying." Raze caught himself. "You travelers don't care about dying. Nevertheless, you conquered another fortress."

Raze clapped his hands and a portal appeared behind him. Thousands of shadow elves exited the portal and spread through the fortress to take up their posts.

"You now have two fortresses and you territories population is swiftly rising. Keep up the good work and raise your level, in no time you will be able to be promoted again."

Lucan sighed. "I want to raise my level, but it seems like I am always busy with one thing or another."

"That is one of the challenges of being a leader. There is no way that you will be able to rise to power on your own. You need to find yourself good subordinates that you can rely on. That is what I do at least, he, he, he."

Raze walked out of the command room and Lucan followed him. Raze walked to the fortress wall that overlooked the dark territory.

"You have to be careful." Raze said before giving Lucan a serious look. "There are al sorts of dangerous creatures in the dark territory. You can continue to advance your territory deeper in, but you will not have an easy time. There are reasons that no one has been able to conquer the dark territory and make it their own."

Lucan understood. He didn't think that Raze didn't conquer the dark territory just because he was lazy. He knew that their must be a good reason.

"I know it is dangerous. Right now I don't have any plans to push in, but we will see what happens."

Raze nodded, satisfied with his response. When Lucan blinked, his patron disappeared without a trace. Lucan didn't bother looking for him, he knew that raze was gone.

It wasn't long before a shadow tunnel was built to connect Lucan's two Fortresses. Commander Gear was the first person through. The new shadow elves were already aware that they would be taking orders from him and immediately got to work once they received their tasks from him.

The shadow elves quickly took control of the fortress. Since his people no longer needed to guard the area, Sturdy called his subordinates to come and drop off all the loot with Lucan.

The elementals didn't drop any money when they died, but that didn't bother Lucan in the slightest. The most common drop were elemental crystals. One out of every two grunts dropped elementals crystals when they died. Lucan now had a dozen chests filled and sorted with individual elemental crystals. They most common were fire, water, earth, and wind, but their were also a few of the rarer elementals, just not a lot of them.

The rare elemental crystals were all stored together. There were elements like, ice, lightning, poison, and metal.

There was also a good number of advance elemental crystals that were all stored together. He was happy to see all the valuable resources he claimed from taking the fortress. Just the elemental crystals alone made up for the cost of hiring the Windy Willow organization.

But elementals crystals weren't the only thing he gained. Lucan received almost no armor, but the advance elementals dropped a few weapons. Although there was nothing epic or legendary, the rare weapons they dropped were not bad, and most were able to be enhanced when used by someone who could control the corresponding element.

The most valuable loot came in the form of books. Spell books and skill books were collected, all of the elemental variety of course. The grunts only hand a one in one hundred chance to drop a book, but the advance elemental warriors dropped them more often.

The large number of elementals they defeated allowed for a sizable collection of books to be gained. After collecting them all, Lucan had Commander Gear personally take all the books he gained to his library vault. They need to be stored quickly and properly before something could happen to the fortune he just received.

The shadow elves swept through the rest of the fortress, anything of value they found was brought to Lucan. Their wasn't much to be found, but Lucan didn't turn away any of the jeweled decorative pieces they brought him. He didn't see himself ever using them, but fancy candlestick holders and jeweled silverware was the perfect thing to sit on a shelf in his vault.

It was two hours before Commander Gear returned through the shadow tunnel and appeared before Lucan. He didn't come alone either.

"You did pretty well punk." Uncle Bo said to Lucan. "Is there anything you want to ask me after I have come all this way?" Uncle Bo said while hinting to Lucan.

"Sorry Uncle, but I don't plan to open a market in this fortress. The dark territory is to volatile, I don't have to confidence to keep this place safe, that is why this fortress will be purely a military strong hold."

Uncle Bo thought that may be the case, so he wasn't disappointed. It was what he expected, if Lucan had agreed, it would have been a nice bonus, but it wasn't necessary.

Uncle Bo followed Lucan to the top of on of the towers. They looked out over the horizon and could see the fast-growing New Avalon in the distance.

"I conquered this fortress not only to keep the dark territory in check, but also the people from Baramore. I don't want to lose my land to people I have invited in."

Uncle Bo stood beside his nephew and looked at the new city in the distance.

"Regardless of what happens, you should know that both your aunt and I are proud of you. This may only be a game made up of ones and zeros, but you have really made a name for yourself. Marie has been pestering me to find out when you will hold your wedding in the game, she has already started to make her character and should enter Evolution some time today."

"I am eager for it too." Lucan said with a bright smile on his face. "It will be soon. If I can't find time for it, I will make time for it."

"Good, good, good." Uncle Bo then turned to look at Lucan. You may be holding a wedding in game, but your aunt an I know you are already married. The most important thing now is to make sure your wife doesn't suffer and that you can make her happy. If you can't do that, what is the point of everything else. Who cares if you have endless territory and piles of money, none of that matters compared to making your loved ones happy. Don't forget, a lot of things can be bought, but real love and happiness can't be attained with wealth."

Lucan nodded to his uncle seriously. "I won't forget Uncle."

"Good boy." Bo said while ruffling Lucan's hair. "I know your heart is good so I am not worried about you, but that doesn't mean I don't want the best for you."