Wolf

“So, in summary,” I say as I lean my head on my fist whilst sitting on a throne of ice, “the Grand Werewolf Empire probably won’t bother you and will likely try to help you, The Ascendency is a mystery, but tends to keep to themselves, the Dread Empire isn’t likely to bother you either, and the Arcadian Association of Magic’s leader seems to like me thanks to my support of his viewing room, so at best they might help you, and at worst, do nothing to you. The Abyss – on the other hand – is very likely to bother you, as you already know. As for the rest? I doubt they will do anything to you, considering our connection to the two major Empires.”

It’s been almost ten minutes since I started describing the factions, and at this point, I think I have told them everything I know about the factions, along with some stuff I’m not sure about, but decided to mention anyways.

Mom and dad both nod their head as they consider everything that I have said before dad asks, “What about the Volcanic Dominion?”

I tilt my head slightly in confusion.

The Volcanic Dominion?

Who were they again…?

The answer comes to me after a few seconds of thinking.

Oh yeah. That’s the faction led by the Administrator who Initiated the Milky Way Galaxy into the System.

“I have no idea what that guy is going to do,” I answer them with a shrug, “from what I have heard, Astaroth is a bit of a loose cannon. He does whatever he feels would be entertaining at the moment.”

Dad frowns at my answer before leaning over and seemingly writing something down.

That’s to be expected though, to be honest. He has always disliked uncertainty. And if Astaroth is anything, it’s uncertainty given form.

He continues writing for a few minutes as mom stands to the side looking down at the floor in thought.

As they do this, I open up my skills list to kill time.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Skills:

Identify – Standard Tier - Competitor

Initiator – Standard Tier - Competitor

Predator – Standard Tier – Level 2

Superior Recovery – Tier 8 – Level 2

Aegis – Tier 8 – Level 1

Fire Immunity – Tier 7 – Level 1

Physical Boost – Tier 7 – Level 1

Life Sense – Tier 6 – Level 3

Razor Claws – Tier 5 – Level 7

Contracting – Tier 5 – Level 2

Ice Flow – Tier 5 – Level 2

Unarmed Combat – Tier 5 – Level 1

…

Return

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I love how I was able to reorganize the list to make it go in descending order based off of the Tier. It makes it a lot easier to find what I’m looking for. Well, that and how my skills list has been looking a lot cleaner ever since I started selling most of the skills I don’t need or just can’t use.

As for the ones I get from chests that aren’t completely useless? Most of those tend to be Tier 4 or Tier 5, so I still don’t really use them very often. Especially since I can just go in and kill the enemies with my physical strength or my ice.

The only skills that I have gotten over the past few weeks that are rather useful are the two that I bought from the auction.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Aegis

This skill creates a barrier covering the user’s body that lasts for 2 seconds.

The barrier is indestructible to anything below level 10000, and it absorbs the damage of all attacks dealt by anything below that level.

Note: This skill can only be used once a month.

Close

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Physical Boost

This skill allows the user to triple their physical capabilities for a period of one minute.

Note: This skill can only be used once per week.

Note: This skill comes with System guided assistance to allow the user to automatically adjust to the shifts in physical prowess.

Close

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Both of the skills were damn expensive, with Aegis being over 10000 SP alone, but they are absolutely worth it.

Even if I haven’t had the chance to really use them in combat yet…

My thoughts are interrupted as dad suddenly says, “Thank you for your help with this, we really appreciate it.”

I close out of all of the menus in front of me – except for the call, of course – before focusing on him and saying, “No problem.”

“On to a different subject,” he says while pushing something away, out of the screen’s view.

Before he can begin, mom begins speaking in his place, “You already told us some of what happened with the Empress, but we would like to hear it from the beginning.”

I raise an eyebrow for a second before shrugging and going into detail about what happened in the Executive Stream.

Several minutes later.

“-and that should be it,” I finish with a wave of my hand as I glance at Aidan and Katie – both of whom had entered what I am assuming is dad’s office during my retelling of events.

None of them say anything for several seconds before Aidan mutters, “That lady is strange…”

I can’t help but nod my head in agreement.

“Strange or not, it doesn’t look like she is going to give up on getting him to become her heir,” dad says with a frown at the word ‘heir,’ before continuing, “that said, she doesn’t seem like she is going to continue doing it the same way that she has been up till now.”

“Either way, you should be careful when you’re around her,” mom comments from the side before adding, “although it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you did end up becoming her heir, so keep that in mind for the future.”

I turn to her in surprise with both of my brows raised.

She would actually be fine with that?

My brows furrow at the thought before I shake my head.

Never mind. Of course she would be fine with it. Especially considering how beneficial it could possibly be for us.

Katie frowns at mom but doesn’t say anything as dad adds, “While that’s true, you still need to make sure that you aren’t dragged into her messes.”

I nod my head in agreement.

“Anyways,” dad says whilst getting up from the wooden chair he was sitting in, “we’ve held you long enough.”

“Alright,” I say with another nod, “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

Seconds later, the call drops out as dad hangs up.

I stand back up from the throne before dissipating it into mist and opening the bathroom door.

Sapphire – who had been sleeping near the bathroom door – looks up at me the moment I walk through before getting up and shrinking down to her smaller form. She then sprints over to me and climbs up my shoulder as usual.

I glance at her with a smile as she settles herself on my shoulder before saying, “Let’s go find the closest mini boss, shall we?”

She just lets out a short little screech before looking forwards as I begin making my way towards the front door.

Executive Stream

“So,” Diane says with a cold look on her face, and her arms crossed in front of her chest as she stares at the man in front of her, “why are you here?”

Standing at the entrance to Diane’s room within the Executive Stream is a large man – reaching almost three meters in height – with raging black flames leaking from his eyes, a crown of small horns on the top of his head, and reddish-black skin. The man has a frown as he stares unblinkingly into Diane’s cold eyes, ignoring the dark mist beginning to leak from them.

“To warn you,” Wilhelm rumbles before looking towards Leo and then back at Diane, “to stop helping that anomaly.”

A look of shock flashes across both Diane and Leo’s faces at the word that the Ruler used to call Wolf before they clear it immediately.

Despite their attempts at hiding their reactions, Wilhelm sees them and smiles as he continues, “So you do know about it.”

Before either of the two can respond, Wilhelm continues speaking again, “Then I will keep this simple. I will not allow anyone with one of his abilities to live. Even if I have to kill the brat as soon as he steps out of the dungeon to do it.”

Without even waiting for their response, Wilhelm turns around and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Both Leo and Diane stare at the door as the few Moderators located within the room begin looking at each other in confusion, confused as to what the Ruler meant.

After a few minutes of silence, Leo turns to Diane and says, “That confirms it.”

“Yeah…” Diane nods without taking her eyes off of the door. “He knows.”