It took less than thirty seconds to harvest the whole Snakeman, much faster than what it would have taken the runes to do it outside; everything is fast in the core.

  Buzz!

  A second after the bloodline essence had been harvested, the strengthening energy had been released and began to spread into the whole body, increasing my strength rapidly.

  The strengthening energy is thick, far thicker than what I had gotten from the Tigerman; even if half of my share of bloodline essence had been taken from me, the strengthening I will get from this bloodline essence would be a little greater than what I have gotten from the Tigerman.

  It took more than two minutes for all the strengthening energy to spread inside me, and I felt the strength burning through me.

  I did not give in to my compulsion and flexed my aura, which on the outside had no change but inside, there was a huge change. I hope I will not have to fight any battle for at least a day; I will seriously need to train to get complete control over my abilities.

  I had handled myself well against the Bearman and Snakeman, but I would always not be this lucky. Sooner or later, I will come across a marginally stronger enemy that defends against it; I would have to use all my strength and weakness, such as having loose control over the strength would cost me heavily.

  It will happen soon, if we survived today's battles, the Grimm Monsters would surely bring even more powerful masters, and I would have to be ready to deal with them.

  BANG BANG BANG

  The two Grandmasters are still fighting outside, and it seems like their battle will not end soon. They both are equal in power and very skillful in using it; unless one is hiding quite a power, it will be quite hard for the other to win the others.

  "Does the General have a chance to kill the Grimm Grandmaster?" Martha asked beside me; she is one of the two Master class Tyrants that fort has.

  "Yes, he has," I said. It is not a lie, the General is powerful, and he could kill the Grimm Grandmaster; he will just have to try very hard, including using the trump cards that he has.

  An hour passed by, and General was still fighting; there was no change in their battle, aside from them using more powerful moves than before; they are quite an eye-opener. The power of Grandmasters has shocked me, and now, I want to achieve it as soon as possible.

  A few more minutes had passed by when suddenly their battle had stopped, and both Grimm Monsters began to fly back their forts, leaving huge destruction in their wake. Their fight has destroyed a large chunk of the forest; it will take decades for such a big part of the forest to grow back.

  A few seconds later, General appeared back into the command center, and aside from looking slightly haggard, there was no change in him.

  "Victor, move the fort twenty miles forward!" General ordered. Yes, the fort could move; not only this but nearly half of them could move. Abodes are not viable options to house the forces; no matter how big they could get, it needs to have the protection that only forts could provide.

  I have heard about the fortress-type artifact, but they are rare and placed at extremely strategic locations. The Pyramid is also a fortress-type artifact, the most powerful we have, and after more than ten thousand years of gaining, we were not able to gain another one of the same levels as it.

  "All of you have fought mightily today, especially you Dexter, able to kill such powerful Master class Grimm Monster is no easy feat, especially under the nose of the Grandmaster," He said.

  "I did nothing impressive General, it is because of your protection I was able to kill that Grimm Monster," I replied humbly.

  To that, the old man shook his head, "Don't sell yourself, short young man, you did amazing, but you should get rid of that fatal weakness of yours; it might get you killed in the next battle," General cautioned without going into detail.

  Others could not see my lack of control, but the old man could; he is a freaking Grandmaster. I could not hide such obvious weakness from him.

  "It is my greatest priority, general," I said, and the old man nodded before he looked forward as the fort began to move slowly forward.

  "The battle of todays was dangerous, but the ones that came after would be even more dangerous; at nearly every battle you Masters will have to fight, and even I will have to enter the battles," General said.

  "In one month, two at most, both forts will align opposite to each, and there will be life and death fight for this territory, and we have won this fight at any cost, so I hope all you will fight hard and continue to improve so will be able to kill every single of the Grimm bastard in the final battle and take control of Ardon territory," General said.

  "That is what will happen, General," All four of us masters said in unison. The final battle would be bloody, and I will have to increase my strength by them.

  I am sure the Grimm Grandmaster had taken notice of me and would try to kill me in the battles that would come next. I will have to continuously improve if I want to survive this war.

  It took fifteen minutes for the fort to cross the twenty miles, and after that, I had spent little more than an hour in the command center with Grandmaster and other masters discussing the further strategy.

  I mostly listened and only offered my input when I was asked or knew something concrete…… These people have a lot more experience in strategy than me; I had always been a lone fighter, never the one to lead, but it might change as the war, and my strength progresses.