I didn't make a mental note of it because it didn't seem relevant to me, plus I had his journals in my [Lexicon] anyways. On the hilt of an [Ivory Magiarm] is the same emblem. Wherever the gentlemancer got this enchanted gun is the same place that the blogger got his ammunition. It could be a coincidence, but the gentlemancer's journal has an excerpt I skipped over of him complaining about how tacky a specific emblem is and how he wanted to change it to a golden lion with a crown. The description of the mark? "A shield surrounded by a ring of flames. Inside the shield's center is a sword crossed with a staff, with a shining star at the hilt."

Garvey Strickland. The gentlemancer's real name, the Strickland family, is similar to Jerry's. "Nobility." The difference between his and Jerry's is that they aren't a declining house. "Nobles" are just families that have been "venerated" by the government. There is typically one noble house per city, but overlap has happened. The only benefit they have is the power they already had or gained from the "influence" of the title. It's an empty title to join the "cool kids club." The Greenbacks are also nobility, meaning I'm friends with two nobles.

If the Greenbacks are economic powerhouses, then the Stricklands are borderline terrorists. They got "venerated" because of their military exploits thanks to their cutting-edge technology/alchemy. It's concerning that they had a member of their family secretly making explosives by using indentured servants. That can also explain the weird bodies those two had. They only bled when they died. That would be a handy trick for prolonged warfare.

Exploding vest, ammunition with a stamp, it lines up. But why? If they knew I killed and dismantled an operation of theirs, I'd imagine they would send more than one half-bake. Either this is a probing attack or a massive coincidence. Could it be a coincidence? The only person I would call an antagonist was a part of their family, and I killed him. The scroll [Last Words] was on his body when he blew up, right next to [Swan Song]. My mansion is considered a fracture, and 99% of abilities and spells don't travel between fractures unless there's an opening since they would travel between them. [Last Words] would have triggered for half a second before being blown to smithereens. Right?

Am I being paranoid? Even if it was a coincidence, they now know of my existence since they crashed my party. Probing attack can be likely, but to what extent? Are more coming? Why did they take so long to attack? How would it be a coincidence? They handpicked someone who knew me? It could've been a job. I hope they were hired by another third party instead of it being personal. Shit, if that's the case, then who the fuck is doing this? The ammo could be just a brand. Right? And the vest was sourced somewhere else.

I looked it up, and the Stricklands don't sell to the public, meaning that the bullets came directly from them. It doesn't change if they are direct perpetrators or just hired guns. I need to be careful. Unenchanted weapons won't be able to take me out, but I don't know what weird modification they can come up with.

Shit.

~

There was bomb-making equipment and some explosives inside the duffle bag. The suitcase had clothing and a few worthless personal items. The laptop doesn't have a password, but everything else is encrypted. Files, emails, browser history, and practically everything else. Even fucking minesweeper is fucking locked behind a wall. I did an extra sweep of the bags and found three different tracking devices.

I went down to the dungeon and stripped my prisoner of his stuff. He doesn't complain. He has nothing on him but the clothes on his back and his unlocked phone. He stares at me as I go through his files and emails. I transfer everything to my phone as it autodetects and deletes any tracking software. I knew this was worth the insane price of 200,000 for a phone. The information here is vague and insinuating, but I want a direct answer for my peace of mind. I consume the phone with my [Lexicon]. I only backed up the files because I have no idea if I could link my [Lexicon] to the internet... wait that gives me an idea for later.

I pull out an anatomy book from my [Lexicon] and use it as a guide to healing only the parts of his body that could let him speak again.

"You weren't breathing there for a while. How is your body the way it is? Wait, don't answer that first. Who do you work for?"

"Why won't my abilities come out? I can feel my mana moving, but I can't do shit!"

"Answer me."

The man tries to spit at me but only manages to dribble on the ground. I don't think torturing this man any further would help.

"I can fix you if you spill the beans."

"Kill me."

I activate [Master's Hand] and ask him the same question.

"Who do you work for?"

I feel a pushback. A suffocating force appears in my throat, It feels like a pressure in my body is trying to overwhelm something, but it's failing. I squat next to the paralyzed prisoner and double down on whatever this feeling is. His teeth are clenched as he tries vehemently to resist. Blood streams from his nose as his eyes go red from the pressure. His teeth start to shatter as his body involuntarily convulses, even though he's paralyzed. I can feel a single drop of blood running down my lip, but I don't let it distract me.

A higher spirit stat? Let's see for how long. I can feel damage forming on something intangible inside me, so the same must be for him. The only difference is that I have a broken skill called [Heal Anything], and he's left to brunt it on his own. I wonder if I could train a resistance this way.

The paralyzed guy passes out from the strain, leaving a pool of crimson on the ground from his nose. I heal him just enough for him to wake up.

"Who do you work for?"

"Kill me. I will never betray who I work for. Even if it kills me. Even if it damns my soul. My mind won't dare think of betrayal, and my lips won't move. Kill me, so your time isn't wasted."

"Mind, eh? Rob, go get Duchess."

~

I left the guy to Duchess. Maybe she can dig around his skull and get something concrete. Maybe not. It might be good practice for gaining a mindreading skill that doesn't only work on me. I'm sure the Strickland family is behind this, but I'm still unsure of their motive.

I decide to continue training and living my life. My beasts should strengthen themselves as well. I guess it's finally time to designate my next "piece."

Rob, Duchess, and Khan are all targets that could benefit well from my skill [Promote Piece]. It gave Flash Gordon three powerful unique ranked skills. Prometheus isn't a consideration yet since he hasn't had time to grow and show me what he can do.

Rob was a consideration for a while since he lacked in damage and skills compared to the others, but what he lacked in damage, he made up with utility and practical immortality. Having him be my "knight" would probably change the damage issue, but he doesn't need it right now. Duchess would've been my choice if Khan's advancement wasn't what it was. Having her be my "bishop" would enhance her capabilities. In the skill, it's described as an advisor, which is something she already is to me. All my beasts can match a role pretty well. Advisors are supposed to be intelligent and wise. Duchess is a magic caster, which is perfect. Plus, there is the religious implication, and if I were to pick someone to become a holy figure, I'd choose her.

Due to the circumstances, I'd have to pick Khan. He's already a powerhouse. Adding three unique rank skills will show why he was exiled in the first place. He's perfect to be designated as a "pawn" since he's an army. If my chess opponent placed down one hundred pawns instead of the typical eight, I'd flip the table. The only requirement he needs to level up is to solo an entity that doubled his level. Solo implies I cannot heal or buff him. He can probably do it without the buff, but deep down, I'm interested in what's going to pop up.

I designate Khan as my army.

[Promote Piece U (1/2) > Promote Piece U (2/2)]

[Khan is now a Pawn]

[Khan gains the trait Pawn]

[Khan gains three skills.]

[Trait: Pawn U

The user is designated as a pawn, the arms of the king. Current King: Ellis Vincere.]

[Skill: Weapon Proficiency U] [Failed to gain.] [Finding a new skill.]

What?

[Skill: One Mind U] [Failed to gain.] [Finding a new skill.]

[Skill: Promotion U

The user gains one skill that a different designated piece has. The skill may be exchanged once a day.]

[Skill: Replication U] [Failed to gain.] [Finding a new skill.]

[Skill: Create Arms U] [Failed to gain.] [Finding a new skill.]

[Skill: In Passing U

The user gains strength with death. Sacrifices can be paid.

When an ally falls, gain a 100% increase in damage for the next attack within five seconds. When an enemy is slain, gain resolve. You can sacrifice your life and give a 200% stat increase for five minutes.]

Huh, I'll have to test that one with his weird multi-body. That last part of that skill would be terrible if Khan (or Rob) didn't get that skill.

[Skill: Formation U] [Failed to gain.] [Finding a new skill.]

[Skill: Battlefield Aura U has been influenced by the trait [Wrath of the Skies] and the skill [Rage]. Creating a new skill.]

[Skill: Wrathful Aura U

The user gains an aura of immense intensity. While active, the user exudes an air of terror and rage, causing those weaker than the user to submit or perish and those stronger to tremble. Those influenced by the aura lose inhibitions and get consumed by emotion.]

"..."

So Khan gets so angry that people are scared of him unnaturally, or does the wrath have a tie to the fear? It implies that those afflicted by the aura get angry so they wouldn't be scared. I test a few things with Khan, directing him with [Master's Hand].

The aura can be picky with the target, meaning that Khan could only affect one person out of a group, everyone in a radius around him, or only himself. It's a unique rank skill, but it doesn't do as much, even though it has all this flavor text. Storms sometimes are described as angry. Right? I make Khan use his skill, targeting the air around us, and it gets whipped into a frenzy. I have him afflict the ground, and the earth starts to shake. The clouds drifting off him are no longer white and fluffy but dark thunderclouds crackling with lightning.

I start messing with his [In Passing] skill. Rob doesn't trigger the ability, and death from one of his clones doesn't bring the full effect. But, it weirdly combos with itself. Khan can sacrifice all his body except his main one to gain a massive increase in stats and damage for the next attack. There is one downside that keeps this ability from being incredibly strong. Khan's stats drop when his bodies die. His main body has the most stats out of any of them, but it's still a net loss in strength. It doesn't make any sense. Khan is only sacrificing 1% of his life per body, giving him only 1% of the skill. He can't use 99 bodies and gain 19800% more stats. But each body counts as a death, so he does stack 9900% more damage on his next attack if 99 Khans perished at once.

Khan currently has a might of 240 before any buffs. Around 42ish is from his main body, while the rest is from the other ninety-nine. Khan can drop his might stat to 42 and gain a 198% increase in stats, adding on the passive 12.5% I give him, and come out with around 130 might.

Not including any of his other skills, not [Rage], [Bite], or [Stormy Weather], Khan can still deal over thirteen thousand damage with a single attack solely thanks to the damage buff. What the fuck. The only downside would be that the rest of his stats would be lowered significantly, and he wouldn't be able to survive much, but I could buff his defenses by letting him copy one of Flash Gordon's rook skills.

Master Giles has the preparations for Flash Gordon's de-evolvement, but it would take around a day for Flash Gordon to complete the ritual. It gives me enough time to oversee Khan's advancement and the end of the deadvancement.

After getting Flash Gordon's consent, I chip off chunks of different energy stones so Duchess can continue her... whatever she's doing and bring all my beasts to Master Giles. The ritual is pretty hands-off, so he's going to babysit Prometheus. I wanted to take the rest of my beasts to Master Wang's fracture to hunt down a level 200, but master Giles had a different opportunity for me.

"Disciple. I can help."

"Wouldn't that disqualify me with our little wager? I need to do this without you and no 'backdoor' connections."

"This can be an exception because It also benefits me. I'm taking care of a beast that is too old to be happy and too bitter for someone else to care for them. It wishes to die but not be euthanized."

"So the answer is that my Khan will kill them?"

"They want to die in battle or peacefully in their homeland. I can't bring them to their resting spot. They are from the elvish lands and committed many crimes against the elves. Bringing them back would cause an international incident."

"I see."

"I am willing to do such an act if it meant comfortability for the creature, but that old timer knew the repercussions of his wish. He also thinks of himself as too weak to survive the journey. Either you will grant his wish of a battle to the death, or I will take him home after his confidence is restored from killing your beast. Make your choice."

"Can I see the creature? You've been vague, master Giles."

"Sure, right this way. His level is more than double your beast, but his age has caused him to regress. He's about how strong he was at that level you seek."

He leads me to a house on the estate after starting the ritual for Flash Gordon. It's fancier than the one I used to have in Bluefield. The massive doors open as a lumbering creature walks out. His white skin is tough and appears like natural armor-plating, and he has a single white horn on his head. The quadruped is twice as big as a bus. It spoke in the human language, ignoring all existences except master Giles.

"What do you want, Giles?"

It's a massive white rhino. I use [Scientific Insight+]

[Faux Unicorn A (Decrepit) Lv.???]

"..."