Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

Not much later, Aelia left the room with new orders, leaving a thoughtful Kane behind.

"Are you sure Luna will be able to do this when she reaches the second stage?" he asked a doll-sized Ella sitting on his shoulder.

"As sure as I can be without seeing the future, Master," she shrugged a little sadly, before her face suddenly showed some disgust. "I've seen the technique work often enough on Alfheim. Her elements are a good fit, and as soon as her power can overwhelm them it should be easy for her."

"Good," Kane nodded with a small smile. "I'm sure that technique will come in handy in the future…"

Previously, Kane had been wondering what to do about the male prisoners currently locked up in this base. After all, they knew about this base's existence, and he couldn't keep them quiet with his Mark of Loyalty.

Killing them was always an option, of course, but killing unarmed prisoners was a step he preferred not to take, even though he would if given no other option.

Fortunately, Ella had provided him with an alternative. She didn't like this technique much, even hating the fact she possessed it, but since she also couldn't think of another way to solve the issue that didn't involve their deaths, she'd willingly volunteered it.

Unfortunately, the technique wasn't well suited to Kane's elements, but Luna's were perfect. Yet, she'd still have to wait for the second stage, meaning the male prisoners would have to stay locked up for a while longer.

But the female ones he could deal with now.

Soon, his thoughts were disrupted by a large group of women entering the room. Eight of them looked ragged and wore softly glowing collars around their necks.

One of these Kane recognized as being the short woman or girl who'd said she wanted to hire him. She was still wrapped in a cloak and covering her face while she looked at him with a strange expression. Most of the others, however, looked at him with fear and anxiety, unsure why they'd been brough here.

They were escorted by some of his own people, and he quickly noticed how they all looked at him with gazes of respect and deference. 'Not bad for my first day leading them,' he chuckled inwardly, happy with the results of his attempts at raising loyalty.

Aelia was there as well, of course, and she quickly moved to stand beside her new boss in a show of support. Kane, of course, remained comfortably and casually seated in his throne-like chair. His right elbow was firmly planted on the armrest, and his head leaned against his right fist.

Tension was high due to the eight women fidgeting nervously, even though the guards were calm and indifferent, only doing their best to impress Kane, surprisingly.

Fortunately, Kane was quick to assuage their fears. He stood up and looked indifferently at them. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I brought you here, so let me reveal the mystery…"

Wanting to be done with this quickly, he told them of his plan to let them go, so long as they willingly accepted his mark. Naturally, there was a lot of scepticism and surprise, but faced with no valid alternative, it didn't take much convincing.

Of course, there were questions, as some still had male companions or family among the prisoners, while others simply wondered how they were supposed to get to a town or city from here.

Kane answered those questions by giving them two options. Either they wait in the outside camp that was currently being established, and as soon as the men were released as well, they'd receive an escort back to the nearest road; or, alternatively, they could leave behind their old life and become one of them.

Naturally, he tossed in the alure of a second stage technique to entice them, and in the end, more than half decided to join. One of them even fell to her knees and promised she'd be his most loyal servant if he not only allowed her to join, but also killed her abusive husband, who was one of the male prisoners.

Kane looked into this woman's tear-filled eyes, and thought wryly to himself, 'These are the times where I'd love to have a lie detector of some kind…'

Yet, in the end, he didn't actually care that much. The woman appeared sincere enough, so, one dead husband and a few Marks of Loyalty later, his bandit crew had grown by five members, while the other three had decided to wait for the male prisoners and an escort.

Surprisingly, however, the one who wanted to hire him earlier was among the latter, and she'd not brought this up again, so Kane became curious. He indicated for the guards to leave her behind, and soon, it was just her, Aelia, and Kane left.

Leaning back in his chair and once again leaning on his fist, he inspected the woman in front of him. She was fidgeting a little nervously, but her eyes were no less determined than they were back when she so impressively resisted her own fear in the face of his dreadwolf abilities.

"Can I… ask what this is about?" she asked, her voice steady and beautiful. "Am I not allowed to leave like the others?"

"You are," Kane nodded thoughtfully, before cocking his head curiously. "But first, don't you think we should discuss that request you made, last time we spoke?"

The truth was, that there were a few reasons why he was interested in this woman, and part of him wondered if he shouldn't make her stay by force. Still, he wasn't sure about the best course of action yet, so he wanted to see how far he could get with talking.

But the short woman frowned and shook her shrouded head. "No… I— I wanted to hire you because I thought you were escaping and might escort me to Castrum… But I guess you decided to make yourself at home instead."

She didn't look at him with blame, nor even surprise, just with an almost frightening amount of determination, that truly made Kane wonder about her goals and reasons for traveling to Castrum, the capital of the Imperium Aeterna. Especially due to her race.

"Regardless, since I doubt you'll have the chance to escort me now, please just let me go… I have no time to waste, and won't be waiting for your escort, either," she continued softly. She didn't sound likes he was pleading but was clearly afraid he'd change his mind.

For a moment, Kane looked at her calmly, but then waved his hand and nodded, "Alright, go. I won't keep you."

The woman breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at him with shining eyes full of gratitude. He could practically see the bright smile beneath her mask. "Thank you… truly," she said with a slight bow. "I don't know why you're letting us go, but I owe you a debt I can only hope to repay someday."

Once again, Kane's curiosity rose, but it wasn't like he didn't have plenty of other things to do, so he still decided to let this one go. 'Although, maybe it couldn't hurt to forge a slightly stronger bond?' he then thought to himself.

Thus, when the woman turned around and was about to leave, Kane held up his hand and spoke up with a slight smile, "Before you go, how about I have someone escort you to the road right now, in exchange for your name?"