There was a rush of excitement when Laz got up to leave as Tamesis’ maids saw what happened to hear and while many gave him dirty looks and threw threatening words at him, no one was foolish enough to attack him as Laz walked away, still savoring the taste on his lips.

"That was rather... cold.. of you," Pooja said as Laz passed by her.

"I’m not even sure I want to know what you saw..." Laz responded.

"Everything..." Pooja purred as she walked at his side.

"I’m curious though... your temperament and attitude has a tendency to shift and change in strong ways sometimes. At times, you’re like a timid little boy whose still seeing the world for the first time. At other times, your like a beast waiting to devour any prey that comes close. It’s quite an interesting shift..."

"Hmm..." Laz said without responding. He’d noticed it too. While antics in the bedroom always brought out a playful and forceful side of him, he’d also noticed something else awakened within him as of late, something that gave him a certain powerful aura and a cold demeanor. It wasn’t like he was trying to be cold, it just came off that way.

"Would you like to know why?" Pooja then said, dropping a bomb for Laz to consider.

And he did, stopping in his tracks before turning to look at the drop dead, beautiful woman who was old enough to be the ancestor of his home world.

"I see that you do. So what can I get for such valuable information?" Pooja asked, a little teasingly.

Laz didn’t hesitate and turned quickly. Before she could respond, she was pinned to the wall with her arms over her head, being held firmly by his one hand while the other was at her neck, applying just the slightest pressure.

This wasn’t what he had intended to do, but his body reacted without thought.

"Heh... so... firm.... It’s starting to take you.... ahh.... by the ancestors I’m getting wet right now... would you like a feel? Maybe a taste? Some spice to go with all that sweetness from before? Hmm?" Pooja said, not intimidated in the least.

"You were going to tell me without me getting anything anyway, so I figured I would make it worth your wild," Laz said, a smile coming to his face as he released his grip on both her hands and her neck, freeing her but causing her to pout.

"Now you’re teasing me..."

"I know."

They stared at each other for a moment without saying anything until Laz shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

Pooja quickly stopped him.

"Fine. Listen up. Your bloods are waging war inside of you. The stronger you grow, the more your Asura blood will come to life, replacing out the ’human’ blood of your system. I’m not sure how great your science is, but this blood was buried deep within your bones and sleeping, sleeping since there was no need for it to awaken and no power source to drive it. But as your internal world get’s larger and more energy is produced, it will feast and feed and take over every bit of your being, turning you into a true Asura. Now while they weren’t bad people, nor were they stupid, they were a very war like culture. And the leaders, the ones with power, were usually the ones who were the least warlike. You see, even they knew their own flaws and knew that a leader who only wished to fight would never be able to handle an empire. So the leader wasn’t always the one who proved himself on the battlefield, but the one who proved himself in all other areas of statecraft. Needless to say, unless your bloodline is from one of those types of people, at some point when the Asura blood takes over, you will forever be that cold, aggressive and violent person. That doesn’t mean you will be some sort of crazed killer, but you won’t be the man you were before either, if you can understand my meaning."

"So be it. What you’re saying is that I will lose myself eventually, right?"

"Perhaps. What I’m also saying is you will need someone who can truly handle you too. Both in and out of the bedroom. Just keep that in mind, for the future..." Pooja said, smiling before she took off down a different hallway.

Laz stood there, thinking about her words and what that would mean for him and his wives... his stars...

But he couldn’t think for too long before some guards came running towards him, asking him to report to the war room for a meeting with the Empress.

Laz quickly followed along.

The room that looked the size of a ballroom, was covered in tables and chairs with people running all about. In the center stood Hera and her generals along with several of her daughters, looking at at what looked like 3d projections in the air of the mountain fortress and the various ways leading into it. There were so many red dots approaching from both sides that it looked as though a way of red was flowing into the passes without end.

Seeing Laz return, Hera looked up and smiled at him.

"Have you gotten any answers?" She asked making Laz want to slap himself. He had done what he did without actually accomplishing anything.

"Actually... I..."

Before Laz could finish explaining himself, the door to the hall opened up as Tamesis and several of her retainers came forward before stopping, allowing Tamesis to walk up alone.

"It was a better idea to let me come explain things myself than to have this fool try to remember everything that could be done. Since I am also a part of this, I thought it would be best if I helped with the planning of the defense as well," Tamesis said, not sparring a glance at Laz.

Seeing this, Laz thought she was mad, but as for the others, they could see the blush on the fine skin of her cheeks and just figured Laz worked his ’Magic.’

"Our civilization excelled at seal based technology, incorporating it with the more modern, well, modern at the time, paths that people walked. While we had a lot of success, in the end, those that focused on one path or the other were way stronger than us and we eventually fell to a race of technologically advance lizard like people who were able to destroy our world with star ships so far away from us, most people never even got to see the ones killing them. Still, in terms of what it seems like we are fighting today, our defenses should prove to be an excellent help. There are lines of energy that were built all throughout this mountain that can provide a strength, speed and even healing boost to your warriors while sapping the strength speed and spirit of their attackers. There are also other seals places that act like gates, here, here, here, here and here. These gates are like a restriction that can prevent enemies from passing them. If they try to force their way through, it will kill them. If they try going over the gate, it will kill them as well. On top of that, there is a layer of sealed wall both below and above the fortress that prevents anyone from coming in below or attacking from above. As long as those hold, those beasts will just be throwing themselves to their deaths over and over again," Tamesis explained.

"And how long can they hold?" Hera asked. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"I’m not too sure about that. The things that attacked us, those lizard people, they were the only ones to ever penetrate this fortress and they did it by completely shutting down the seals from far above us. Basically, the defenses... have never really been tested before.... not like this at least," Tamesis said, a bit of guilt on her face after her long explanation of how great the defenses are.

There was some silence as it seemed as though the news was good, but no one wanted to bet everything on it.

"So they can’t get in... can we get out?" Laz asked finally, looking at the woman.

"Why would you want to get out?" Tamesis asked, a bit startled by Laz’s question.

"Back where I come from, there are a couple sayings that might be something right about now. We would be a turtle in a jar or us stuck in here is like shooting fish in a barrel. No matter how good the defenses are, if we stay here, we risk being over run eventually. And if one gate fails, who knows how long we will have until the next gate fails, or the next... or the net that’s suppose to protect us from above and below. No. Waiting inside here will do us no good. I plan on taking people out to meet them, to beat them, to kill them. We will engage with them every step of the way, every inch of space we lose will be one inch covered in their blood. Every gate that falls will only do so once it’s been drowned in the bodies of our enemies. We will meet them, we will fight them and they will fear us for it. Once they start climbing, we will bring down the mountain on top of them. If there is no end in sight, then we will ensure our end is etched in their blood. This... is my path!"