Chương 36: Subordinate
"Type Genesis? Damn," he thought, feeling another headache coming his way.
He was already dealing with his feelings about possessing an Astralum of the Deviant type, and now there was another type he had never heard of. Worse still, the voice that had explained how the Deviant type worked was no longer there to assist him.
This meant he had to figure out for himself what the Genesis type Astralum could do and couldn't do, its strengths and weaknesses, and so on. It promised to be a tough journey.
"Maybe I should just drop it. I don't nearly have enough information about this Genesis type Astralum, so I won't waste my time pondering on it," Tom said, diverting his attention from his Deconstruction Astralum's information.
With all the things he had learned today, he felt tired, so he closed his eyes to rest while the monkey stood guard.
***
At the first light of day, Tom woke up, but he couldn't find the monkey guarding the surroundings.
"Where is he? Don't tell me he decided to take off while I was sleeping. No, I don't think that's the case, well, this might be the perfect time to check his information," Tom thought while summoning the...
"How should I even call this thing, anyway?" Tom wondered, but he couldn't come up with a name and decided to simply point at the floating screen that displayed:
[Name: Thomas Black
{Astralums}: {Time}; {Deconstruction}
{Number of Subordinates}: 1
{???}: ???
{???}: ???]
He then pressed the button for {Number of Subordinates}, which showed a list of his subordinates—or rather, "his" subordinate.
By pressing the only information shown, a new window displaying the monkey's information appeared before him:
[Name: Mooglie
Level 1
Race: Wisemonkies
{Astralums}: Quick self-healing
Race Trait: Respect strength, will always serve those who defeat them]
"Wisemonkies? Funny name." Thought Tom before looking at the rest of informations.
Seeing the rest monkey's information, Tom finally understood some things.
Firstly, how the monkey, Mooglie, had survived their battle and had no injuries the next day. According to what he saw, it was the work of his Astralum.
Secondly, why the monkey had become his servant. Apparently, it was due to a race trait that made those of his race serve those who defeated them—in Mooglie's case, it was Tom.
"This race trait could be a boon for me. I can become stronger just by gaining subordinates, so such a race trait could be a good thing for me."
Tom wasn't surprised to see such a trait in the monkey. He knew that such traits existed in several races, so it didn't astonish him.
"However, the problem with those having this race trait is that they will serve those who defeat them. It could be a problem if someone else beats my subordinate, and they end up serving the other person, abandoning me."
While pondering this, he recalled another fact about this trait. "Ah, that's right, I forgot. They can't serve someone else while they have a master. For them to serve someone else when they already have a master, that person must defeat their current master, at which point they'll serve the victor. This means that Mooglie didn't have a master when I defeated him, which is why he became my subordinate."
A race possessing such a trait was the best thing that could have happened to him at the moment. He just needed to defeat them, and they would serve him, thus increasing his strength.
While thinking about the advantages of having subordinates, Tom was struck by a stroke of genius that made his eyes shine.
"If I can become stronger by having more subordinates, does that mean the downside of possessing a Deviant Astralum would disappear?" Tom thought, before continuing,
S"The downside of having a Deviant Astralum is that an individual can't go beyond level 1 and thus will always have a physical strength of level 1. But in my case, thanks to my bloodline, I become stronger by having subordinates, which means that having the Ruler's Bloodline makes me immune to this rule," Tom said with an excited expression.
While contemplating the implications of this discovery, Mooglie finally returned, holding three rabbits in his hands. He placed two of the rabbits in front of Tom and started devouring the third.
"Oh, he went hunting for food," Tom realized.
Since he wasn't as hungry as last time, Tom decided to make a fire and roast the rabbits before eating them.
As he ate the rabbits, he wondered, 'How does he manage to catch these incredibly fast rabbits that can sense even the slightest presence...wait, come to think of it, when we fought, he appeared out of nowhere without making a sound, and not only him, the other creature I fought, which was likely of the same race, also made no noise. Maybe it's a technique of their race,' Tom thought before asking Mooglie.
"Um... How do you catch these rabbits? Do you chase after them, or do you mute the sound of your steps?"
Mooglie began gesturing to explain how he had caught the rabbits. First, he pointed at his feet, then made a shushing motion by placing a finger in front of his mouth. Next, he mimicked very light steps on the ground to represent quiet walking. To further illustrate, he made a grasping motion with his hands to show how he caught the rabbits without them noticing.
"I see, so you've silenced the sound of your steps. Could you show me how you did that?"
Mooglie nodded in agreement, and suddenly he disappeared. Not physically, but he gave the impression of no longer being in the vicinity. He was right in front of Tom, yet Tom couldn't sense even a trace of his presence. It was as if Mooglie wasn't there.
'This... goes beyond just silencing your steps; it's like he made his entire presence disappear. How does he do that? Is he using Etherium? It must be, since his Astralum helps him heal faster.'
"Uh... would you be able to teach me how to make my presence disappear?"
Mooglie agreed, and so, after finishing his meal, Tom began training with Mooglie. Unfortunately, it was much more challenging than he had initially thought.
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