CHAPTER 403: CHAPTER 249: NO MAGIC TO CARRY ON

The history of the Meltsteel Fortress could be traced back several centuries. This Dwarven fortress, situated atop the cliffs of the Rift Valley, was once a symbol of Dwarven craftsmanship and strength, but now, it had long since fallen into a cold nest dominated by Spirit Suckers.

The fortress’s exterior still retained the typical characteristics of Dwarven architecture—sturdy stone walls, intricate carvings, and massive iron doors.

But now, under the corrosion of time, the walls were riddled with cracks. Some carvings, primarily depicting Dwarven ancestors, had become unrecognizable, distorted and defiled by the slime Spirit Suckers left behind from their constant passage. The iron doors had also been torn apart by formidable magical forces.

However, the Spirit Suckers’ main city had no need for doors as defenses.

Because hardly any mind-addled fool would choose to sneak into Spirit Sucker territory and stir up trouble—a clear case of an old Elf courting death.

Meanwhile, nearly every creature enslaved by the Spirit Suckers could be considered an eye monitoring the city, like a steel cage filled with cameras.

Regarding the level of security, few city-states of other races could likely surpass it.

And Abaidra, the Spirit Sucker Governor who ruled Meltsteel Fortress, was a standard of his kind: cunning, treacherous, learned, resilient, arrogant, cruel, and utterly ruthless... but reclusive.

Yes, this was an almost universal affliction among Spirit Sucker rulers.

Before carving out a lair sufficient for their kind to gain a foothold, they all proclaimed their commitment to rebuilding the Empire of Il’asreil. Yet, after successfully ’usurping a nest,’ they often chose to lie low for extended periods, focusing on their personal quest for knowledge and study.

It was as if all other creatures in the nest—even subordinate Spirit Suckers—were mere tools to perpetuate their way of life.

Such rigid and hopeless class stratification naturally bred dissatisfaction among other Spirit Suckers, resulting in relentless ’uprisings’ and schemes of rebellion emerging one after another.

However, unlike the Drow, who were also accustomed to ’overthrowing superiors,’ the Drows’ actions were primarily aimed at seizing more power, striving to become Matron Mothers or even spokespersons for Lolth.

For Spirit Suckers, it was more about breaking free from the Governors’ shackles, escaping the Overmind’s mental imprint, gaining more opportunities to reproduce, and acquiring the right to pursue knowledge.

For this reason, any Spirit Sucker Governor who had ruled for several years, though their principal city might appear ’chaotic,’ always managed to maintain a strange ’order within chaos.’ They also possessed meticulously crafted plans to perfectly handle any ’disturbances’ that erupted around the main city, confident in their ability to leave no lingering problems.

At least until today, Abaidra had remained this confident.

This day, he was inspecting the tadpoles in the city’s massive brain pool as usual, checking if they had fully developed and culling those that were obviously deformed or showed tendencies toward such abnormalities.

He was also helping Spirit Sucker tadpoles that had finally matured. These tadpoles had struggled for over a decade, evading the relentless hunt of the Overmind’s neural tentacles. He assisted them by selecting suitable bodies for possession, facilitating their smooth transition into adulthood. This was a sacred act, at least for Spirit Suckers.

Every tadpole that ’successfully parasitized and grew up’ with their help could be considered their child.

Even though the egg sacs nurturing these little tadpoles came from different members of the group, these were individuals who had all contributed to the clan.

But their ability to survive the Overmind’s brutal, decade-long selection process—a trial akin to choosing one in a thousand—was proof enough of their health and excellence.

As for choosing bodies for them to possess, this too was a task requiring intricate knowledge and experience.

They had to evaluate each tadpole’s vitality and appetite to match it with a being of corresponding brain capacity. Choosing a host that was too small or too large could doom the lineage.

For instance, a Heart Snatcher Elder, driven by personal ambition, once placed a tadpole of his own kind into the cranial cavity of a juvenile demi-air Giant, attempting to cultivate a genius.

Consequently, the tadpole merged with the brain stem before it could consume the entire host brain. The moment consciousness awakened, the nascent Spirit Sucker’s mind and the juvenile Giant’s residual consciousness became a turbulent maelstrom, nearly driving the poor creature to madness and death.

Although it survived by sheer luck, it had to endure relentless mental agony. The pain was so severe that all four of its tentacles constantly convulsed, earning it the early moniker: Convulsion Agony.

But undeniably, time proved that this Convulsion Agony was indeed a rare genius in many respects.

Thus, from then on, Spirit Suckers faced a new predicament, as many Spirit Sucker ’parents’ grew fond of this ’limit-pushing’ gamble:

After all, a thousand mediocre Spirit Suckers were just a thousand ordinary Spirit Suckers. Yet the birth of just one genius, or the legendary ’Soul Devourer’ with six tentacles from birth, could grant the entire clan the chance to rise to a new level.

The specific methodology was also ’traceable’: abandon the tradition of possessing ordinary Humanoid Creatures and instead seek out ’gifted’ beings. Examples included high-ranking professionals, extraordinary creatures like juvenile Frost Giants, or even Hatchlings, newly emerged from their shells and yet to consume their first meal.