Sorry that i only release this now, i did not have the chapter finished by yesterday :(
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[You have used Taxation.]
[Calculating rewards.....]
[Subjects = 13,492,110]
[Reputation with Subjects = 3,051/6,000 (respect)]
[Luck = 133]
[Influence on subjects' lives..... normal]
[You have been awarded 7,777,777 EXP!]
"Hmmmm.... what is that, like 57% of the total possible reward?" I asked myself, looking at the transparent system panel in front of me.
"My luck is already absurdly high, and I think that while my reputation can still be increased, it clearly is not the problem here...."
"That leaves the 'influence' on my subjects' lives," I wondered.
"Seems that I did not catch my ability's 'spirit' just by managing, no matter how well I do that part. I'll leave my luck and reputation mostly the same for the next year and will just experiment with 'influence'," I quietly decided, before moving on to the more exciting part.
[Experience: 7,923,155]
This feels almost like getting paid once a year and watching my account balance shoot up into the stratosphere.
That's about as far as the analogy goes, for I am about to blow through it all in a few minutes.
[Spend 30,000 EXP to level up Public Speaking to level 10?]
[Spend 50,000 EXP to level up Hand-to-Hand Combat to level 10?]
[Spend 50,000 EXP to level up Shooting to level 10?]
[Spend 30,000 EXP to level up Cooking to level 10?]
[Spend 300,000 EXP to level up Truthsense to level 10?]
[You have gained 5 potential points.]
That last one was priced pretty steeply, but whatever. I did not spend more than a thought on it as I continued spending EXP like there was no tomorrow.
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 2]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 3]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 4]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 5]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 6]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 7]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 8]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 9]
[Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 10]
It took me just an ungodly amount of EXP—2,700,000 to be exact. And all that, to not even max out my class.
[New Advancement Quest!]
[Gain one follower with absolute loyalty and devotion.]
What is this bullshit? That's the kind of stuff that those Beyond Grade-A bosses trying to become actual gods are supposed to be worried about.
Well, maybe—just maybe—I was overreacting a little. I am kind of expecting a new ability hidden behind the level 40 wall, after all.
So.... absolute loyalty... hmmmm.
Kind of disappointing that Verdalis does not clear that quest for me.... but speaking of Verdalis, this does give me an idea.
I instantly pulled up the Eozarithian Internet, thought for a bit, and then navigated to the 'Eombrias Auction House'.
Art
Artifacts
Knowledge
Slaves
Technology
Weapons
Having a specific goal in mind, I selected Slaves.
Voluntary (309,110)
Involuntary (1,874,006)
The site barely loaded before I clicked on Involuntary, and it was nearly immediately replaced by a different site, one with lots of slave descriptions and filters flashing across my screen.
Non-Super
Brainwashed
High-Quality
These were the filters I decided on to best fulfill the conditions of my quest. I mean, the Germinal Organization on a backwards planet like Aquamarine could relatively reliably brainwash people, not to mention an advanced civilization like ours.
There is a downside to this, though, that I realized as I looked at my screen.....
These are all sex slaves.
Honestly, nobody would pay the price for a mage to brainwash a slave if they were just going to use them for mining or war like Germinal did. The threat of death through engraved mage formations was cheaper, possible to mass-produce, and way more efficient.
These filters still left me with about 50,000 options—anything from men to women, humans to what looked like animals. Although Eozarithians were very rare.
I just picked a bunch of women I was attracted to. And a few men too, although I was not attracted to those, obviously. Best to leave a little margin for error, in case the brainwashing does not do the trick.
"Going to have to come up with an excuse for buying 30 slaves in the future....."
Sigh
Let's see my stats for now.
[Name: Elrin van Vril'okai]
[Race: Eozarithian/Carbon-based]
[Model: NPC (Countdown to Version 1.0 launch: 8,509 years 26 days 5 hours 3 minutes)]
[Level: 40]
[Experience: 4,763,155]
[Main Class: Neophyte Esper Lv. 10 (Max) / Anima Esper Lv. 10 (Max) / Pupil Esper Lv. 10]
[Sub-class: Governor Lv. 10]
Attributes:
Strength: 35
Dexterity: 20
Endurance: 44
Intelligence: 128
Mystery: 61
Charm: 20
Luck: 133
Unassigned Stats: 30
Energy: 1,000 (Lv. 6)
Energy Rank: 205 Ona
Grade: Class D Superhuman
[Don't get over your head, your still weak....]
Health Points: 525/525
Stamina: 630/630
Class Abilities:
Taxation, Government Spending
Other Abilities:
Public Speaking Lv. 10, Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv. 10, Shooting Lv. 10, Cooking Lv. 10, Truthsense Lv. 10
Talent Points: 15
Class Talents:
Gene Chain
Basic Knowledge (4/5)
[16 Talents not learned!]
DNA
[20 Talents not learned!]
Application
[20 Talents not learned!]
Reputation:
Vril'okai - (3,051/6,000) (respect)
Eozarithian Race - (3,000/6,000) (respect)
Equipment: None
Legend: 0
I am well into the superhuman realm right now—best to save up the stat and talent points in case I get a bad advancement mission. EXP, on the other hand, is a different story. From level 30 to 40, it took me 2,700,000 EXP.
That means that the 4 million-something I had left would be nowhere near enough to level up to the next major advancement mission, which would also mean racial evolution. It could probably take me to my next class advancement, though—after all, it's only 5 levels away....
How much will it be???
...
...
...
[Government Spending: 1,000,000 EXP]
[You have gained the following: Information]
The lines on the screen in front of me were appearing slower and slower, almost as if teasing me. I swear to god, if this piece of [redacted] says that the sky is blue....
[There are 5 yellow-green Maryntz Crystals buried beneath the second-highest tree in Waplin Forest, Planet Urandiwa.]
I was not disappointed. Well, I wasn't really glad either, because I had never heard of Maryntz Crystals or Urandiwa. But at least it was better than the sky is blue or the grass is green.
A quick Space Google search did not yield me any results, so I put that in the back of my mind for now. I am weirdly optimistic about this piece of info, as anything you couldn't find on Space Google was bound to be rare at least.
[Government Spending: 1,000,000 EXP]
[You have gained the following skill: Thief's Hands Lv. 1.]
[Thief's Hands: You are born with nimble but steady hands, perfect for a thief. +2 Dex per level.]
"Hmmm, nice. Definitely not worth a million EXP, though."
[Thief's Hands has leveled up to 2.]
[Thief's Hands has leveled up to 3.]
[Thief's Hands has leveled up to 4.]
[Thief's Hands has leveled up to 5.]
[Thief's Hands has leveled up to 6.]
...
...
...
[Thief's Hands has leveled up to 10.]
"Let's stop for now. I hope those crystals are worth it...."
Two Weeks Later
"Just sign here if you don't find a problem with the shipment," the deliveryman said.
He was a weird one—about 3 meters tall, humanoid, but definitely neither a human nor an Eozarithian.
I nodded at him and checked the inside of the container. The left and right sides were filled with one row of boxes, leaving room to walk in the middle.
Each of the boxes had a little glass window in them, through which I could make out sleeping faces. Or so I assumed—for all I knew, they might be dead or in a coma.
Exactly 32 coffins were stacked into the container, and sure enough, I remembered some of the faces from the websites I bought the slaves from.
I quickly picked one at random to open. I had spent a lot of money here, after all, and was also quite impatient to see if it would count toward my advancement quest.
"As soon as you open it, we can only offer you up to a 10% refund," the tall deliveryman said.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"The magic used to brainwash them will bind to whoever opens that coffin. So, in other words, if you want to switch masters, then you will have to find another mage to repeat the process.
"There are other methods, like using an external item to control them, but in general, this one is the safest—much harder for them to get stolen or betray you."
"Good to know," I answered, still in the process of opening the first coffin.
Thud
"Master!"
The door broke on impact with the ground, releasing some yellow specks of light that were promptly absorbed into my body.
My focus, though, was not on that. Neither was it on the woman kneeling in front of me, although it would look like that from a third-person perspective.
[Advancement Mission Completed]
[Congratulations, your class Pupil Esper has leveled up to Lvl. 11]
[You have become a Class D Super.]
[You have gained the class skill: Absolute Servitude]
[Absolute Servitude:
You gain a limited number of slots that can be allocated to willing followers. The following rules and abilities will apply to them:
a) They cannot defy you, even concerning their own lives.
b) They cannot die of natural causes as long as you are alive.
c) Both parties can communicate with each other at any distance. This ability is impossible to block.
d) You can kill them and control their body at will and at any distance.]
[Restriction 1: Each 'slot' can only be replaced upon the death of the assigned entity.]
[Restriction 2: 'Willing Followers' constitute any entity that agrees to this arrangement knowing the consequences while also not being under the influence of any other manipulation or control-type ability.]
[Restriction 3:
At Rank F, you will gain: 1 slot, for a total of 1 slot.
At Rank E, you will gain 2 slots, for a total of 3 slots.
At Rank D, you will gain 4 slots, for a total of 7 slots.
At Rank C, you will gain 8 slots, for a total of 15 slots.
At Rank B, you will gain 16 slots, for a total of 31 slots.
At Rank A, you will gain 32 slots, for a total of 63 slots.
At Rank S, you will gain 64 slots, for a total of 127 slots.
At Rank SS, you will gain 128 slots, for a total of 255 slots.]