Ch 331: The Ghastly Grounds.
Considering what happened with his visit to Long Tian Yun, Noah delayed dealing with the Campiones and teleported back to the dormitory. It was about lunch time already, and he entered the kitchen, finding Karen and Arianna busy preparing food.
Erica and Liliana were supposed to do the cooking, but Noah had decided to exempt them indefinitely for this task, judging they were more useful spending the time grinding levels in Mystic Moon and contributing to helping Yun Meng Xin win her bet.
"Hey, Arianna, Karen." smiled Noah.
"Oh, Noah-sama." smiled Arianna. "Welcome back. We'll be ready to serve lunch in fifteen minutes."
"It smells great."
"Thank you Noah-sama." smiled Arianna. "We're doing Italian today."
"How did your errands go, Noah-sama?" asked Karen.
"Quite well, I'd say. The principal allowed me to gather a few Spirits and having them live in the dormitory, and Long Tian Yun is planning to hit me with three Campiones as well as a Legatus Legionis, and quite possibly a woman named Luo Hao. But he doesn't know that I know."
"And THAT is your definition of 'quite well', Noah-sama?" blurted out Arianna with wide eyes.
"Yes. I won't have to track them one by one to liberate their Spirits."
"Noah-sama, Her Eminence Luo Hao is famous for having defeated each of the Campiones in a spar. She might be more dangerous than any Legatus." said Karen with a slightly scared voice.
"I am confident." nodded Noah, and Karen sighed in defeat.
"Noah-sama, I wish you would be more careful. Bunny-sama would be sad if something happened to you. But, since you defeated that Dragon Servant, I will assume you know what you are doing."
"Thank you for this vote of confidence." smiled Noah, before deciding to tease them a little. "But what about you two, Karen, Arianna? Would you be sad if I got myself killed?"
"Of course!" exclaimed Arianna turning to him. "How could you think…" then she paused as he saw his smile. "…ah, that was mean of you, Noah-sama."
"Fine. Let me rephrase my probing question, then… Arianna, Karen, how would you react if I said that I do not intend to limit myself to your masters, and that I will eventually claim you both as mine?"
Arianna blushed and looked away.
"That is…"
"Oh my, am I one day going to be devoured as well?" chuckled Karen, not sounding surprised.
"You both will, yes."
"Noah-sama, are you going to make us play that game as well?"
"I do not think it is going to be necessary, Arianna. Am I wrong?" smiled Noah.
Arianna shook her head.
"That game is meant to gradually ease reluctant girls into the BDSM lifestyle, to make it easier for Kitten and Bunny to adopt the mindset that will let them gain my powers and immortality. But I do not think it would be needed in your cases. You both already are splendid maids, used to follow orders, and you like wearing that latex bodysuit, Arianna. Karen, you are also fascinated by this stuff."
"I can't help it, Bunny-sama is just so cute when she's blushing in shame." grinned Karen.
"I can't say I disagree, but I find her cute all the time… I am too busy right now, but when the time comes, I intend to court you both properly and take you on a few dates."
Arianna nodded, turning away to stir the content of a saucepan, but her real motive was to not let him see her face. She had somewhat expected it, as she wasn't stupid and had noticed how Noah looked at her sometimes, but there was a huge difference between suspecting, and him essentially saying to her that she was already his.
She felt a little ambivalent about it. She wasn't immune to Noah's charm and knew she was developing a crush on him. She was also open-minded regarding being part of a harem. But she was still wary about the slave/master power dynamics Noah seemed to favor and wanted more time to observe him, to make sure he wouldn't abuse any power she would cede to him.
"That being said, how about I help you finish with the cooking or washing dishes?" asked Noah.
Without waiting for an answer, he walked to the sink, a pile of cooking utensils already waiting to be washed.
Karen suddenly giggled as she saw him start.
"It really is a strange sight, Noah-sama. To see you help with the simple act of washing dishes, when you rule over entire worlds."
"It helps keep me grounded." nodded Noah. "I don't want to forget that there was a time when I was just a random accountant in a random company. I don't want to ever turn into another Gilgamesh."
"Gilgamesh?" asked Arianna.
Noah grinned for an instant, then turned to Arianna, adopting the tone and mannerisms he remembered from watching the Fate anime, and using Hard Light Arsenal to surround his body with a golden armor.
"You curs will be executed for daring to stand before this King, who is both blessed by the Gods, and equal to them. You all are mongrels, and your place is to kneel at this King's feet, prostrating in homage while basking in his benevolence."
Karen and Arianna gawked at him in sheer disbelief.
"Well, something like that." shrugged Noah, dispelling the gold armor and returning to washing the dishes.
The girls started giggling and shaking their heads.
"Surely you exaggerate, Noah-sama." said Arianna. "Such a man couldn't possibly exist!"
"Maybe just a tiny bit, but the curs and mongrel parts are straight from him, and he truly considered himself as the King of Heroes, the existence closest to Gods, and someone who wouldn't kneel even in front of Deities. The golden armor was real, too."
"…He does sound like a very unpleasant fellow, this Gilgamesh." nodded Karen.
"Yes. Aren't you happy to instead just have to deal with a humble pervert?"
"Very happy, Noah-sama." smiled Arianna, and Karen nodded vigorously.
Noah was finishing with the dish-washing, and Karen and Arianna were giving the finishing touches to the cooking, when Rikka entered the kitchen, sniffed once, and smiled.
"It smells delicious. What is it?"
"Risotto alla Milanese, salmon and spinach lasagna, and gelato. We're doing Italian today." replied Arianna.
"Sounds great. And very loaded in calories. I'll have to be careful with portion sizes."
"Rikka, I'd like to borrow some of your time after lunch. We'll use the Sanctuary, so it won't take much of your time
"The Sanctuary?" blinked Rikka.
"Ah, sorry, I forgot I never told you about it. It's an artifact I made, creating a pocket dimension inside. It's barely two hundred meters large, but if I charge the Sanctuary with magic power, it will make the time inside flow much faster. We'll spend… a day at most inside the Sanctuary, and less than an hour will be spent in reality."
"Noah-sama, are you making a move on Rikka-sama?" teased Karen with a smile that reminded him of a mischievous cat.
Noah made a mock glare at her, his fists on his hips.
"Karen, do you think I am the kind of guy who only thinks about sex?"
Karen grinned as she went along and opened her mouth.
"Don't answer that!" cut in Noah, winking at her, and she snorted.
He turned to Rikka, who had started to blush.
"No, it's not for that, Rikka. I am soon going to face a Legatus Legionis in combat, and I need to perform a few tests with your help."
"Oh, uh… a Legatus?"
"Sun Tzu, to be accurate." shrugged Noah. "Long Tian Yun called him after I warned him not to mess with us in the real world. I spied on him for a few minutes after I left. He also intended to call John Pluto Smith, Salvatore Doni, Dejanstahl Voban, and Sun Tzu said Luo Hao would likely tag along."
"…Noah, you're screwed." declared Rikka, her face paling.
"Oh ye of little faith." snorted Noah. "Still, I need to make preparations, and that's where you come in. You and your Legions."
"…I don't follow. Or do you wish to train in how to take down Legions? There's not big secret, you just cut their heads off, damage their core, or bleed them until the loss of ectoplasmic fluid forces them to be unsummoned."
"Not quite. Let's have lunch first, and I'll show you." smiled Noah.
"Okkayyyy…" replied Rikka, dubious.
…
"And times goes thirty times faster here?" asked Rikka when Noah brought her inside the Sanctuary.
"Yes. Can you summon a single one of your Legions?"
"Sure." replied Rikka. Seconds later, a single eight-meter-tall robot, its blue armor making it look like a Samurai, bayonet rifle in hand, appeared behind her.
"What now?"
"I need a few minutes to ponder. Does it drain your energy to maintain it?"
"I can maintain all 157 of my Legions for hours. This much is nothing." shrugged Rikka.
Noah nodded, looking at the unmoving Legion up and down, and started using his Golem Creation Skill.
At first, he had wanted to take advantage of the fact his own golems weren't limited to a humanoid form and create optimized combat golems, like a delta-wing shape for high-speed flyers, six-legged panthers for ground cavalry, or heavily armed artillery platforms.
However, after some more thinking, he discarded those designs and decided to return to a humanoid shape in order for his golems to properly exploit the Martial Arts skill they would be imbued with.
Large amounts of mana burst from his hands, creating a shape the size of the Legion.
Noah had decided to make his own fake-legion into oversized Valkyries, to keep up with the theme of his faction, and to make them more distinctive from the other Legions.
Once completed, the Golem looked like an eight-meter-tall Valkyrie with red eyes and long black hair, dressed from the neck down in mate black undersuit and silver plate armor, a blue cape hanging from the pauldrons. It was armed with a spear and gun hybrid weapon, whose sharp head made up a full third of the weapon's length, and a shield. Some of the shield's edges were sharpened so the Golem would be able to attack its opponents with surprise thrusts or slashes.
"Whoa. A Valkyrie?" asked Rikka as she started walking around the golem.
"Well, since our faction is named Valhalla, I thought it would be fitting." smiled Noah.
"What are your orders, Creator?" asked the golem with a synthetic, but distinctly feminine voice, looking down at Noah.
"It talks!" exclaimed Rikka, utterly shocked.
"…That is a surprise even for me." slowly nodded Noah.
[System, did I just create a sapient being?] asked Noah.
[Negative. User cannot create Sapient Golems. This one is similar to this System, able to interpret orders and take initiatives for User's benefit, but it is unable to feel emotions or have goals of its own, and indifferent to the perspective of death.]
[I'm glad to hear it.]
"I will designate your model as Hildr, and you as 001, so you are Hildr 001 from now on."
"Understood, Creator." nodded the golem with an even tone.
"How did you make her, Noah? Can she fly?"
"It, Rikka. The golem may speak, but I just received confirmation is it isn't a person and cannot evolve into one. Think of this golem as a computer with arms. And firepower."
"I see."
"You first task is to let us evaluate your combat performances against this guy." said Noah as he pointed toward the Legion. "When Rikka gives the signal, you are to start a fight to the death with it. The fight will stop when one of you is incapacitated or destroyed."
Hildr 001 nodded and adopted a ready stance, facing the Legion, and protecting most of its body behind the shield. As Noah and Rikka moved away, he heard a faint hum as the Realizer unit inside the golem went from standby mode to full power.
Once Rikka and Noah were both thirty meters away, they exchanged an eager smile, and Rikka gave the signal.
"Go!" yelled Rikka, and the Legion lifted its rifle, aiming at the Valkyrie, while Hildr charged forward with the running gait of an experienced martial artist.
The Legion opened fire, delivering three shots per second, each of its energy blasts powerful enough to pierce through a thick layer of steel.
The Valkyries moved its shield according to the opponent's rifle orientation, effectively starting to block before the shots were even fired. With its other hand, it aimed the spear at the Legion, and the fast-firing particle beam spat blue energy bolts four times through a groove running along the blade.
Noah and Rikka both saw the Valkyrie's energy shield become visible when the shots impacted against it, and the first was completely stopped. The second went through, although in a weakened state, and the thirst shot was unimpaired by the energy shield.
However, the physical shield held firm, with only two small craters pockmarking its surface as a result.
Noah wasn't worried, as the golem could self-repair. Within ten seconds, the craters would be completely erased.
The Legion's shield, on the other hand, weakened all four of the Valkyrie's bolts, but they still impacted the Legion's body and caused damage, spilling a bright blue, slightly glowing fluid.
Before the Legion could fire a third time, Hildr 001 reached it, and the already damaged Legion used its bayonet rifle as a make-up spear. The two weapons clashed against each other in quick succession twice, then Hildr 001's spear slipped under the Legion's guard and penetrated deep in its torso, then fired twice for good measure. The Legion froze as its core was destroyed, and it collapsed as Hildr 001 pulled the spear back.
"Mission accomplished, Creator." declared the golem as it turned toward them.
"I see that, good job." nodded Noah.
"I do not know if I should feel impressed by your golem, or disappointed that my Legion died so fast." sighed Rikka.
"I heard Legions can't really be killed. Will it be okay? Maybe I can repair some of the damage." suggested Noah.
"No, it's fine." shrugged Rikka. "For lethal damage like this, my Legion will take about two weeks to fully recover, but it will."
"I see. Hildr, How do you compare to the legion regarding strength and speed?" asked Noah.
"I am slightly faster, and about equal in strength. This opponent mostly lacked skill."
"Do you see any improvement I could give the next Hildr?"
Hildr 001 seemed to ponder for a few seconds before replying, pointing to its boob plate.
"The chest section could be optimized further by removing those redundant parts, or spreading the excess material more evenly for better ablative armor coverage."
"We're not changing those, they're perfect as they are." cut in Noah, secretly impressed by his golem's response.
Rikka burst into laughter.
…
After many tests and a few minor tweaks, Noah was satisfied enough with his Valkyries' performance to start on the long task of making hundreds of them. Even with his large magic power, he still needed close to fifteen minutes to recover from the mana expenditure of making one.
His Valkyries were significantly superior to Legions in close combat, and about comparable in mobility and ranged combat. They also had several significant perks over normal Legions.
They could heal even severe damage within two minutes, where a Legion would need days of recovery, giving them a crucial advantage in battles of attrition. They could operate independently, where a Legatus Legionis would be required for any order more complex than 'Guard' or 'Kill'.
They had, however, a crucial weakness. They could not assemble in tight formations to share their energy shield.
While Legions could.
Rikka had assembled fifteen of her Legions in a tight formation to compound their shield together. Noah, who had created fifteen Valkyries at that point, ordered them all to fire at a single legion.
After one minute of continuous fire, the Legions' massive shield was still shrugging off their attack and barely showed any sign of weakening.
Still, there was a way to compensate for that weakness, provided Noah did the work for it. Knights and Legatus Legionis were ultimately limited in the number of Legions they would summon.
But he, was not.
…
Noah was already mentally tired when he logged back to Mystic Moon.
As expected, he was still in the middle of a dirt road, with no human in sight, and monsters too distant to be a threat. "I'm back, Qi Yue."
After a few seconds during which he released Little Grey and scratched the happy little ball of fluff behind its ears, Qi Yue appeared.
"Welcome back, my little master. This big sister was sad that you were away for so long. I felt like I was forgotten." pouted Qi Yue.
"I do not think there is any human alive who could forget you." replied Noah with a deadpan expression, and Qi Yue grinned, before frowning.
"You look tired."
"I am. spending a week toiling away at a boring task tends to do that to you." shrugged Noah.
"A week? You have been absent for a day." frowned Qi Yue.
"Time is more flexible than most people think." shrugged Noah as he summoned his horse. "And speaking of time, it is time to hit the road again."
Qi Yue nodded and returned to the Lunar Scourge.
Noah mounted the horse and got on his way, checking his map once again. He was getting close to Lonely Spirit Ridge.
…
On the way, Noah checked the player rankings once again.
Rank 1 Eve Fame: 3455
Rank 2 Noah Fame: 1905
Rank 3 Luo Hao Fame: 1425
Rank 4 _____ Fame: 920
Rank 5 Ice Heart Demon Fame: 760
Rank 6 Ruo Ruo Fame: 735
Rank 7 Sword Emperor Fame: 720
Rank 8 Sword God Doni Fame: 680
Rank 9 Caesar Fame: 670
Rank 10 CuteZero Fame: 665
He sighed at the growing lead Eve had on him. Taking into account the time he would have to spend making his way back to Azure Dragon City, there was a real possibility that Luo Hao would take the second spot. Maybe even _____. Chu Zihang had also lost his spot in the ranking, and he wondered for a second who this CuteZero was. Likely a woman.
After two hours of riding, Noah finally reached what he assumed to be the border to Lonely Spirit Ridge. the road disappeared inside a thick wall of white fog.
The fog extended all the way to the horizon in both Noah's left and right, suggesting the area inside was huge.
Noah could see a few shapes inside the fog and used Scan on one of them.
"Zombie": Category: Undead, level: 20, HP: 965. The bodies of the dead, which are under the influence of Death’s Breath have turned into the undead. They now hate all living things. It will use its two hands to tear up any form of life. Talents: High attack and defense. Move speed extremely low. 70% dark attack resistance.
Before entering the fog, Noah dismounted and approached a stall by the side of the road. The merchant waved at him as he walked closer.
"Hello, traveler! It's not often I see other people around there. In fact, you are the first 'player' I have seen."
"Greetings." nodded Noah. "I am surprised to see you there, actually. You must not have many customers in this desolated area."
"That's true enough!" laughed the merchant. "But that is only because I am smarter that the others! I am actually going to make quite a lot of money by being there. You see, I can provide something that you players will need. A blind spot that the other merchants missed."
"Oh? What do you have to offer?"
"You see, the fog that covers the Ghastly Grounds is dangerous. It will quickly drain the life of any player that enters it until they die. But I can sell you a potion that will temporary stave off its effects. Players are going to buy so many of them, I am going to be very wealthy!"
"Noah nodded, examining the merchant's wares. Most were things he had already seen before, like health potions and crystals, but there were also two whole shelves holding thousands of vials, each filled with a white fluid. He used Scan on one of them.
[Fog-resisting potion]: Gives immunity to the Ghastly Grounds's undead gas for fifteen minutes. Cooldown Time: 5 sec. Price: 3 silvers.
"I can indeed see you doing a lot of business in the near future."
"Right?" grinned the merchant. "My rivals are too used to thinking only about the people from this world. They know how to produce this potion, too, but why would they? The Moon Goddesses ordered us to avoid the Lonely Spirit Ridge, and that is the only thing beyond the Ghastly Grounds. No one would willingly enter this fog. But you players are different."
"Indeed." nodded Noah. "I think it will take some time for most players to find this area, but once they do, they will line up to buy those from you. I will buy a hundred of your Fog-resisting potions."
"Thank you for your patronage!" beamed the merchant, receiving 30 gold coins.
Noah nodded and walked in front of the fog. Before entering it, however, he logged off. It was late at night, in the real world, and he needed sleep.
…
-646, -1292, -646.
The elite monster fell under Eve's sword, netting her more Fame and Skill Points, and Eve looked for the next one. As she walked to it, she idly thought about the players ranking and opened it. She could identify a few, like Luo Hao and, of course, one of her closest friends, Ice Heart Demon. Seeing that Noah's fame points hadn't moved at all since she had crossed paths with him, she snorted in derision.
It seemed that Noah had just fled Mystic Moon after she told him she intended to fight him, reneging on his agreement with Yun Meng Xin. Eve didn't know her, but she could sympathize with her situation a little, and she has her own uses for Noah. She had planned to make him accept a bet before the duel, then have him work for her after his loss, but that plan was wasted.
Which meant she would have to get her hands on the coward using more direct means. After killing a few more monsters, she logged off.
…
"Eve! It's been so long since you last contacted me! Are you doing well?" grinned Su Enxi as she stared at her computer's screen.
"I'm fine, thank." smiled Eve. "Your anti-surveillance measures are all active, right?"
"Don't teach your grandma how to suck eggs!" snorted Su Enxi. She was only a year older than Eve, but when it came to cyber-security, Enxi was the one who had taught Eve everything she knew. Eve's considerable talents had been almost entirely aimed at a very different field.
"Yes, grandma." meekly replied Eve, and Enxi snorted again.
"That meek expression doesn't suit you, Goddess of War. But to answer your question, I'm doing great, earning billions after billions. Do you need some financial support?"
Su Enxi would not hesitate to give Eve half of her fortune if she only asked. She owed Eve her life, and Eve's girls had played a significant role in getting a few enemies out of the way, permanently.
"No, I need something else. I need an anti-spirit collar, and for your help getting Noah out of Cassel College."
Su Enxi immediately lost her levity and sat straighter.
"That is a problem. Not the collar, I can get that easily enough, and luring him out should be doable, but you wanting to get your hands on him in the first place. Yesterday, he saved Mai's little sister Aki. And I don't want Mai to resent me for bringing harm to her sister's savior. What do you intend to do with him?"
"He did?" asked Eve, surprised. She considered for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Fine. Help me get my hands on him, and after I get him to upgrade myself and my girls, I'll let him go free without harming him."
"What if he refuses to make you stronger? Will you torture him?"
"I'll offer him sex with me if he agrees." shrugged Eve with a confident smile. "Do you think he will refuse?"
"What male would decline a chance to have a night with The Eve? Hell would sooner freeze over… Fine, I'll see what I can do and keep you updated. Where do I send the collar?"
"My apartment in New York. Thank you, Enxi." smiled Eve. "And come visit us after we get our hands on him. Maybe you could benefit from an upgrade as well."
"…I don't need it." shrugged Su Enxi. "I'm the mastermind type, not a front-line fighter. I have hired muscle for this stuff. Or friends like you. Do you even know exactly what kind of upgrade Noah can give? What if there are secondary effects?"
"I don't have an accurate idea, actually." admitted Eve. "What I do know for sure is that one girl he upgraded went from untrained civilian to S-rank in Cassell College's ranking, and she gained the ability to fly. That's already good enough for me to make a move."
"Flying? Now even I am interested." smiled Su Enxi as she leaned forward. "I'll start cooking. See you later, Eve."
"Later." smiled Eve as she cut the communication.
The screen returned to its default setting, displaying various stocks and market trends, and Sun Enxi leaned back on her chair. She couldn't rush this. Spirits were dangerous, and making a move on one of the College's students would be sure to irritate a few powerful individuals. She would have to send Mai, as she was the only one Su Enxi could trust not to rat her out if she was captured.
As she pondered, a plan started to take shape. First, she would ask Mai to visit her sister and get additional information about Noah. Then, she would have her steal one of his belongings that would make Noah chase after her, then fall into Eve's ambush.
But all of her thinking was about pulling it off without the heat reaching her. Not one second did she think that Eve might fail to capture Noah. Her faith in her capabilities was absolute.
…
Noah, starting to become irritated by the growing gap between Eve and himself, decided to cheat by sleeping inside the Sanctuary, being away from Mystic Moon for only 15 minutes. As he logged in, Noah smiled to himself, wondering if he wasn't starting to become vain and prideful, disliking so much the idea of not being first.
He returned to the edge of the wide fog and entered it.
-10, -10, -10.
Like the merchant had warned him, this fog was really dangerous, and Noah drank a Fog-Resisting potion, putting an immediate stop to the HP drain.
He released Little Grey, who wasn't affected by the gas, and started farming zombies.
Noah approached the closest and initiated the battle with Mirage Blade, slashing with his left arm.
-202, -40.
The Zombie attempted to grab him, but the monster was really slow. Despite Noah being eight levels below it, at only level 12, the fight was even easier than anything Noah had met since he left the Novice Village.
Noah chained Mirage Blades with both swords.
-202, -81, -202, -40; -404, -40.
The Zombie died, and Noah mentally did the math, his experience as an accountant helping. If he was correct, his 245 Physical Attack Power turned into 404 PAP, once the passive skills were taken into account. And his normal hits doing only 202 damage meant that the Zombie had a 50% damage reduction due to its armor.
Little Grey approached the corpse, looting 5 copper coins, but didn't swallow it and returned. It seemed that Zombies weren't to his taste.
Seeing this, Noah chuckled, and Noah abandoned his contemplation to hunt the next zombie.
As he hunted one zombie after another, he headed East, hoping to reach the end of the Ghastly Grounds and find monsters that Little Gray would be able to turn into items.
After killing about 30 zombies, he gained a level, reaching Lvl 13. Noah kept moving, entering area where the density of monsters increased. The fog blocked all visibility at about thirty meters, and the zombies had a twenty meters aggro range.
Noah was now in a spot where he couldn't engage a zombie without getting the aggro of three or four more, but he was fine with it. To gain time, he even started running around, gathering them in groups of twenty or so, before killing them using Little Crescent Slashes, damaging five of them with each attack.
As he was doing that again, he met a new type of Zombie, with greenish skin instead of the grayish tone of normal zombies.
"Poison Zombie": Type: Undead, Level: LV20 , Grade: One-star Elite, HP: 1950. Zombies that wonder for a long time in the Ghastly Ground will eventually evolve into Poison Zombies, gaining increased speed and strength. Their attacks are highly poisonous.
Noah grinned et the perspective of gaining some Fame and SP after so long. The monster was definitely faster than his lesser siblings and would be fairly dangerous to a normal player.
But he wasn't a normal player, and the Poison Zombie quickly fell under his blades.
“ding… you have successfully killed a one-star elite ‘Poison Zombie’, prestige +20, Skill points +20.”
Noah kept going, and slowly found more Poison Zombies. They started to appear in packs of two to five.
When Noah drank his sixth Fog-Resisting Potion, he had killed 19 Poison Zombies, netting him a comfortable 380 Fame and SP points. The Poison Zombies had also dropped a few pieces of equipment, but since they were only One-star Elites, their quality was limited to Pale-White, the lowest there was, and none were upgrades to Noah.
Noah checked the clock displayed in the upper right corner, and decided to log off for half a day. It was about breakfast time, and the girls would be up. And after that, he needed to create more Valkyries.