Minutes before the battle started

Thousands of warriors were gathered in all three directions, all ready to unleash their fury upon the small fort. To a certain extent, Tristan realized that the situation he was thrust into was a dangerous one, but witnessing the gathered warriors served as a wake-up call for him.

Yesterday, two thousand was just a number, something that only existed as a statistic of possibility. Today, that possibility had materialized into real threats, all fully armed and chanting their respective battle cries.

The orcs were shouting and cheering, the prospect of fighting enemies overwhelmingly stronger than them made their blood boil in excitement. However, Tristan's group, though they looked composed, were trembling inside.

"Just follow the plan, and we will be fine" Tristan shouted confidently and called Astrid to come follow him.

"Tris, are you really going to walk outside? That's crazy?!" said Layla in concern

"No, don't worry about me sis, You should go inside waiting in the keep"

Before heading outside, Tristan thought he should add another one to accompany him.

"You! You join us." as he pick the biggest and most scary looking orc among them all

He thought The champion orc will give an added intimidation that would serve him for the plan he is trying to pull.

The three of them walked out with as much confidence as they could muster, and  moments later a few people from each of the tribes approached them. Three of them seemed to be their leaders while the other six were waiting in the back.

"What do you want, elf? Where is the orc warchief?" The tall tattooed man garbed in yellow asked.

"I am the chief." Tristan said calmly, surprising the three captains. They looked at each other, before the bald captain narrowed his eyes and looked at Astrid.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Tristan ignored him and proceeded to talk to Astrid.

"Astrid, are these the captains you mentioned before?"

Astrid did not say anything, she merely nodded.

The display of submission towards Tristan from Astrid only made the tall, bald guy even more annoyed. He gripped his weapon until his knuckles turned white.

"Astrid, are you betraying the tribe!? Why are you doing this?!"

Astrid did not even deign to give the captain a response, she merely gave him a quiet, unsettling stare. Yet again, the elf was the one to answer them.

"Well, well… Haven't you guys been in love?" Tristan's lips twisted into a cruel smile. "As the saying goes, love will come knocking when you least expect it. This is exactly what happened to her"

"Elf, what are you trying to say?" The tall guy and the two other captains' expressions twisted into one of extreme rage. They realized the elf was mocking them, but in their anger, their judgment was clouded.

They did not realize that the moment they met, the three had already fallen into the elf's trap and all this time, Tristan was only buying some time for his skill to work.

[Blood Seal]

[Human, Battle power 78]

[Blood seal would take 400 blood essence to take effect]

[Human, Battle power 61]

[Blood seal would take 250 blood essence to take effect]

[Human, Battle power 64]

[Blood seal would take 300 blood essence to take effect]

This has been Tristan's plan all along. If this works, he can win this battle easily. If it doesn't he would run back using the champion orc as a cover.

[Proceed?]

"Yes."

It's his first time to use the skill with multiple people at the same time, and Tristan finds it harder to form the connection.

The three captains saw the strange looking mist and realized something was going on.

"What the hell are you trying to do, your damned elf?!" The captain wearing red roared in anger. While the other captain also quickly unsheathed his sword in panic.

But they were too late. The fine red mist had already started to sneak inside their body and the string Tristan was hoping for already formed.

[You have a successful blood seal]

[You have a successful blood seal]

[550 blood essence used]

But unfortunately, the third one came with a fail

[Blood seal result: failed]

[40 blood essence used]

The failure came from the attempt to seal the strongest amongst the three, Scrall the Tall.

Scrall felt a moment of a weird sensation, but it appeared whatever it was, the only thing changed was his rage towards his opponent.

It was known for the rule of any battle to not attack during a negotiation, but he cannot stand idle anymore.

"Akon! Erik! We shall kill this bastard elf right here, right now!

To his shock, the two captains who had already drawn their weapons did not move instead they both decided to sheath their swords back to their waist and said.

"Scrall… i believe we should listen more to what the elf has to say"

Scrall's eyes widened, and he realized what happened by connecting the mist he saw before, the state of the two captains, and Astrid's odd behavior.

All color drained from his face, and he hurriedly pulled out his sword.

"You! This is dark magic!"

The tall man did not have the chance to attack before the same red mist once again covered his body.

"No! I-"

[You have a successful blood seal]

[400 blood essence used]

Tristan can't hold his laughter seeing the notification, and to ensure his plans work without a hitch, Tristan can't be too stingy with his blood essence. He decided to use the same skill to all 6 warriors who came along for the meeting

These warriors can only quietly accept the mist that came to them as their leader didn't do nothing about it.

[740 Blood Essence used]

All 9 warriors had turned loyal to him, waiting for his command.

Before proceeding with his plan, he checked the amount of blood essence he had left.

[Blood Essence: 220]

The number pained him. But he believes he will get so much more returned to him in this one battle.

Looking at the condition of the battle, he realized that the presence of an Jarl here would cause a problem, hence he needed to modify his plans a little.

He quickly devises a plan that would create the most chaos in the shortest amount of time, hence when it starts, it will be too late to stop it.

Before letting these 9 warriors to play their parts, Tristan said

"Remember I expect a bloody battle today, the more that die the better, understand!"

With his successful Blood Seal, now the 2000 warriors surrounding him have once again returned to a mere number, a certain number of blood essence he could feast on later.

Tristan's smile was more wicked than ever.