It was almost done. All the calculations were flawless, and every part of his masterpiece was working without any error. Not that he was expecting any less. Morpheal himself had personally taken care of every little detail. 

Morpheal was standing in front of the Energy Transfer Unit and testing the final stage of the process. The transmission paths were durable enough, and their strengthening runes were perfectly aligned. He gathered his notes and stood in front of the giant purple orb. Its light was filling the room brighter than ever. There was only one thing left...  

Waiting.   

He had spent too much of his precious time on this project, and he was going to use it to gain the maximum outcome. For that, he needed to wait for it just a little bit more.  

The Energy storage was not at its full capacity yet, and it would be a waste if he activated it now. A second use of the device did not look possible within the calculations. He needed to get what he wanted on the first try. 

He tidied up his workspace and put away his greasy gloves and apron. He couldn't let those lowly creatures come anywhere near to his masterpiece, and he did not want to use any Energy in this sterile room at this stage of the project. It could end up disturbing the overall Energy flow and cause unwanted variables. So, he did everything by hand, slowly but surely.  

When everything was set, he left the study to check on the growth reports about his army. But before even reaching the end of the hall, he sensed something approaching and took a quick step back. 

A giant rock barged right into the middle section he was in. Thankfully, his project was in a room carved inside the volcano, so there was no way such an attack to reach that deep. The outer parts of the middle section collapsed in front of him, and some of the upper section followed it a little after. Some rubble fell right on him, but crumbled as soon as it contacted his enchanted skin. 

Morpheal stood where he was for a moment and tried to remain calm. His whole body was twitching from the irritation, but this was not the time to lose control. Not when he was this close. He enhanced his vision and quickly checked around to assess the situation. 

Two figures on a distant hill were standing in the direction of the attack. 

A wave of Energy spread through the patterns on his skin from his core within. With a quick pulse, he jumped at his target. While in the air, the patterns on his skin were burning with Energy because of the constant pulses from his core. He quickly analyzed his opponents. 

Two humans, a male and a female. The female had some primitive Energy, a beginner, he assumed. She was nothing to worry about. The male had a messy look and was not emitting any Energy. His body was not a fighter's either, so he must have been a master of Energy manipulation to hide his Energy from him to this extent. Otherwise, there was no way these two could survive in such an environment. He needed to be wary of him. 

Morpheal landed right in front of them. The female immediately took a defensive stance, which meant she knew he was stronger than her. But the male was unfazed. His body was relaxed and full of openings, but his eyes were filled with excitement. That arrogant lowlife was probably thinking he had found his match and was excited for a contentious battle. He probably did not even know what kind of advanced species he was up against... 

"Wow, I wasn't expecting to see a Marw Demon here." The human male was speaking a variation of common human languages. Humans were a common species in most of the Realms, so Morpheal knew most of their languages. "I thought you guys were extinct." 

Extinct? How dare he? His kin were caught in sly schemes and were exiled due to their dangerous powers. To think this lowly human was not only arrogant but also ignorant to this extent. Every muscle in Morpheal's body was twitching with anger, but he calmed himself down. This was no time to act rashly. He was going to interrogate them first to learn their intentions. He opened his mouth to talk... 

"What is a Marw Demon?" The female asked. 

"They are a Demon kind that specializes in using runes and patterns to strengthen their Energy. Look, can you see the patterns on his skin? They are enchanting and enhancing their bodies and Energy Arts with those. After generations of genetic tuning and selection with that technique, they forcefully evolved and became a different kind that they were even born with those patterns now. The more complex the patterns, meaning the more advanced their technique, and the greater their control over it.” How dare they talk over him? 

"Oh, that is interesting. This one must be quite strong, then. Even looking at him gives me chills. Do you think he is behind all of this?" The audacity of this female to analyze him. 

Were they having a casual conversation right in front of him? They should have been trembling in fear, yet the male was giving a lecture about his kind in this situation. His anger rose, and his core started pulsing fiercely. His patterned skin glowed brighter with each passing moment. 

"Yeah, it all makes more sense now. I did sense the attributes of the Demonic Energy from those creatures before. Marw Demons are masters of organic manipulation, so it's not a surprise the culprit is one of them." 

"ENOUGH!" Morpheal commended. 

He unleashed a pulse out of anger. It clashed with the two and caused the female to slide backward. She had raised her guard just in time to minimize the impact, but it was not enough. She fell on her knee, the place where she belonged.  

The male, on the other hand, was still unfazed; only the strips of his strange clothing had flown around a little from the impact. 

"State your business here. Now!" His cold and demanding voice filled the area around them. 

"I am just a simple traveler, and this is my apprentice. We were just passing by and noticed your... hive." His eyes turned towards the field filled with his various creations. "Your... products were such good training dummies for my apprentice. So, we thought, why don’t we just meet the one who created them?" 

"Enough with your lies. I don't care who you are. You attacked my products and attempted to destroy my castle. Did one of the Helians send you to mess with me? Did those sly and traitorous bastards finally find me?” 

"It's not a lie, though. No one sent us. We couldn't just stand by and watch while those foul beasts were roaming freely and attacking everything they saw. They are quite dangerous, you know. If some of them strayed, they could cause a small civilization to ruin." 

Morpheal knew he was still not telling the whole truth, but that was not important. His playful eyes contrasted with his relaxed state. He was trying to taunt him with his arrogant behavior for sure. He was a human, but there was still a possibility of him being one of the High Families’ assassins if not Helian's.  

"You messed with my work and almost caused my workplace to fall into ruin. I will not let you disturb my plans any longer." 

Morpheal attacked without any notice. The female had gotten herself together and was standing next to the male, ready to fight. She was definitely the weaker one of them, so Morpheal attacked her first to get rid of one of the variables. He sent a wave of pressure with a swing of his hand, filled with the intent of breaking every bone in her body, potentially killing her. 

But it never connected. The male dissolved it with his own swing of the hand. As Morpheal predicted, he was a master of Energy manipulation. No normal Energy user could disperse someone else's Energy with such ease. He also knew his kind, so he was probably familiar with Marw Demons' Energy Arts.  

On the other hand, he was a human. Humans had so many different manifestations of Energy, so Morpheal had no idea what kind of power he was up against. Damn low lives. He needed to keep his distance and analyze the opponent's strengths first.  

This was going to be harder than he anticipated.