Chapter 57: Collaboration proposal

Tom froze in place after hearing what this elder wisemonkey in front of him just said.

'The first ranker ?' That question kept replaying in his mind over and over again, he couldn't understand why the first ranked already descended, it was not supposed to happen until much later, at the same time he would have had more time to train himself.

Alas...

"You should calm down, right, come sit with me" said the elder wisemonkey seeing Tom's agitation.

"I would rather stay up," replied Tom, knowing that he wouldn't have time to react if he was in a sitting position - not like he could react even when standing.

"Suit yourself" said the wisemonkey seeing Tom's wariness.

"As for your other question about my motives, let's say that I'm here for a collaboration" said leisurely the elder.

However, his words had surprised Tom, as he couldn't understand what this old wisemonkey was saying.

"A collaboration with me ?" Asked Tom for confirmation.

"Yes"

"What kind of collaboration ?"

The old wisemonkey leaned toward him and replied with a straight face, "A collaboration to kill the current king of the wisemonkies"

"..."

A hushed silence fell in the room as neither Tom nor the wisemonkey spoke, they just stared at each other, before Tom asked with a bewildered expression, "what did you just say ?"

"You perfectly heard it, I want to make an alliance with you to kill our current king".

"Why would you want to kill your king?" Tom asked with increased wariness in his voice. It seemed that he was right; this elder wisemonkey wasn't someone to trust. If he could scheme to kill his current king, what would stop him from doing the same thing when he becomes Tom's underling?

The elder wisemonkey, seeing the wariness in Tom's gaze, heaved a heavy sigh and said, "It's not what you think. I'm not trying to kill him for power or anything like that. The reason I want to kill him is that if this worthless youngster remains as the king, the wisemonkeys will cease to exist."

Tom's interest was piqued, and he asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, the first reason is the continuous decline in our tribute power. Each generation is weaker than the last. If these youngsters outside were born in the time of our previous king, they would have surely become much stronger than they are now, and all of that is because of the current king."

Tom inquired, "Why?"

"For one, there is the fact that he hoards all the tribute's treasure for himself. For example there are treasures the like of monster cores that are initially supposed to be distributed among the tribute members so that everyone can become stronger. However, this useless king keeps every monster core for himself, enhancing his strength while weakening the strength of our tribute as a whole."

The elder wisemonkey took a deep breath to calm the anger that was rising within him and continued :

"The worse is that, even with all the cores he absorbs, he is still weaker than our mortal enemy-"

"The creatures made of crystal ?" asked Tom.

"Yes, those, the Cristallite," replied the old man with venom in his voice when he said their names.

He sighed again and continued, "Due to him never training, he might have the same level of strength as the chief of the Cristallite. However, in a direct confrontation, he would be killed in a few seconds. If the Cristallite found out about it, I believe we might not even survive, as they would storm the mountain and exterminate every one of us."

Tom, now seated and seemingly forgetting his initial wariness, asked, "So why didn't you try to stop him before? Why now?"

"Well, he might be weak compared to others of the same level, but he is still a level above me, so I can't deal with him alone"

'That means that the current king is at least a level 3' thought Tom with a frown.

Meanwhile, Midas continued "I was placing my hopes on the young Minvar, he is very talented - at least more talented than the others -, I counted on the fact that he would become even more powerful once he got to the next level, but seeing his fight against you made me understand that he might not have been enough, fortunately I found someone more talented than him" finished Midas while looking at Tom with hope in his eyes.

Tom didn't know how to feel seeing this hope in the old wisemonkey eyes, sure he decided to become the chief of the wisemonkies, but fighting a level 3 ? He wasn't sure that he might be able to win such a battle, hell, he wasn't even sure that he could survive such a battle.

Seeing the doubt in his eyes, Midas continued in the hope of convincing him "I know your current situation, you can't go down because of the cristallite being down there, but you can't also go up, you need to make a decision, if you accept to help me I can make it so that you become stronger"

Tom's interest was piqued, and he urged the old wisemonkey, Midas, to continue.

Midas chuckled but still responded, "You can become stronger every time you gain a subordinate, right?"

Tom reluctantly admitted.

"Well, if you accept to help me, all the remaining two members of the special unit, plus their own underlings will be your subordinates. Just that alone might boost your strength to a great deal. But I am willing to train you as well. You need to become much stronger than you are now if we want to beat the king," offered Midas.

'The rest of the special unit will become my subordinates?' Thought Tom, speechless, as he knew that the number 2 and 3 of the special unit were also formidable forces to reckon with.

'Imagine the kind of strength I would gain if those two were to become my subordinates, plus their subordinates. Even if they are not as powerful, I'm sure I would receive a significant power boost.'

As Tom was imagining the kind of strength he would gain, he remembered Midas's last words and asked in an excited voice, "when you say you will train me, what will you teach me?"

Instead of responding, Midas materialized a small shadow knife and cut his arm, causing it to bleed.

However, under Tom astonished gaze, the etherium around them coalesced toward Midas's arm and healed him completely in a few seconds. It was as if he had never been wounded in the first place!

"If you accept, I will teach you other techniques, like the one we use to hide our presence," Midas explained.