"It took you quite a time, Zaar; I have been waiting for a quite while," said the middle-aged woman who appeared in front of me.
"There was a little hiccup on the way, Grandmistress," I replied, and from her expressions, I could tell she knows what hiccup I have come across.
It had been little more than eight hours since my battle with the Ratman and Foxman, and I had finally reached the Argan fortress. I am now standing in front of its huge gates, with my army behind me.
We would have arrived early if not for being extra cautious. I had slowed down the speed to maintain the stamina in case we have got attacked, which I hope, but to my disappointment, nothing of that sort happened.
I really wanted to taste my new strength which I had gotten from consuming the bloodline of Ratman, but no Grimm had come.
"Now, show me the order, so I could open the gates of a fortress for you and your army," She said. "Of course," I replied and took out my pyramid badge and showed her the order I had got from the Pyramid.
"Its all good," She said and turned toward the huge gates of the fortress, which begin to open silently.
"Welcome to Fort Argan Grandmaster Zaar," She said, and we flew toward the Fort while my army followed behind us.
The middle lady with soft features is Grandmaster Rana; she is quite powerful that we fought, then I would just have to summon my shields.
The other two forts also have the Grandmaster that is the same level as her, which is why I was so surprised when they have asked me to take the command of this fortress, given I don't have enough strength to contend against the Grimm Grandmasters in five forts.
Now after killing two Grandmasters in little more than a day, I am sure Grimms would be very pissed at me, and the one they will send at me would not be easy to deal with. The thought of it alone couldn't help but scare me but also make me excited.
Grandmistress Rana took me around the Fort, explaining every little detail; by the time we had reached the control room, two hours had already passed since I came the Fort.
In the control room, she again explained every intricacy of the fortress in even greater detail.
I feel very grateful for her going to great lengths to explain every part of the Fort. If Grimm Monsters dared to attack it and I had to defend from inside, her details would be very helpful to me.
"The Fortress is yours now, young man; treat her well," Grandmistres Rana said as she clapped on my shoulder before she walked out of the control room, taking all the Masters with her, leaving only three behind.
Three Masters from my ground will follow go with Grandmistress, including Neha. I am sad to see her go; she is one of the most powerful Master I have and a great fighter.
"Lord Zaar!"
All the masters saluted together as the Grandmistres Rana left. I acknowledged their salute and looked outside; through the window, I could see the faint outside of the Grimm Fortress, which is standing tall on the tall glacier.
"I hope you will give your all in fighting the Grimms. We will not be pushed back by them anymore," I said and asked the masters to take the seat.
Grandmistress had been thorough in her explanation, but I still asked the three Masters about the Fort and the battles they had with the Grimms.
They have been here for months, fighting against the Grimms a few times a week. They have got a very clear picture of the abilities of our enemy.
While I asked the question and took their opinions, Nero and Ashlyn asked about the area around the Fort before flying toward the adjacent two human forts and five Grimm forts ahead of us.
They are doing much better jobs than any scouts would. They have already found more tens of enemy scouts and many traps they have set around.
I had asked them to not touch anything, just watch.
After what I have done, I am being very careful and asking Ashlyn and Nero to be careful.
"Edvin, Ronda. You two will be in charge while I rest," I said to two of the Masters before I walked out of the command center and walked into my quarters.
I picked one room and went inside before doing anything else; I went to shower and let the warm water wash away all the tiredness I was feeling.
Despite getting the advancement, I am feeling quite tired. I had not slept even for an hour and fought battle against the three Grandmasters and killed two of them; such thing takes quite a toll on body and soul.
After I walked out of the shower, twenty minutes later, I walked into the kitchen and began to make myself something.
Tens of finger-thick strings came out of me and began cooking. I did not make anything elaborate or time-wasting; I just wanted to make something quick that could fill my growling stomach.
Thankfully, I have tens of recipes and cooked three dishes within fifteen minutes before I begin to eat their gusto.
It had been quite a while since I ate alone usually; there is Ashlyn and Nero with me. They are out, scouting for the danger and not hungry.
I have cooked for them in my core, so they are fine till they return, and by that time, I would also wake up from my sleep.
There are tons of things for me to do, but I chose to sleep first. I don't know when I will have to fight against the Grimms next, and when the time comes, I wanted to be as rested as possible, so I could fight against them at my 100%.
I walked into the room and laid down on the bed, and a couple of seconds later, I was asleep and had a dream in quite a while.