Chapter 14 A Discussion

"So you said something about you suborning yourself to me… Why, if I may ask?" I start.

"It really is quite simple, I have no intention of competing in this silly competition, to be blunt I would rather just stare at your potential but to do that I would need to be useful to you or strong enough to take you for myself." Aoif explains a hint of a blush appearing on her fair skin.

"What about…" I begin to ask only to realize I do not know the name of Aoifs subordinate.

As if sensing my thoughts Aoif introduces the orange haired woman to her right

"This is Delta" Aoif introduces waving a hand towards her general direction.

"Yes, Delta, my intuition is telling me that your Delta is quite dangerous maybe even more than my own Tama,"

"Tama?"

"Ah, I forgot to introduce her," Gesturing for Tama to appear, I wait.

Almost instantaneously understanding the signal Tama dispels her illusion startling Delta.

Immediately a gun is pointed at Tama Delta's finger squeezed tightly on the trigger ready to fire at any second.

The tense atmosphere seems to go unnoticed as instead of clearing the tension Aoif instead nods like she had known Tama was there the whole time.

"So that was what that dirty color obstructing my view was" Aoif says with visible disgust in her voice

"Would you like me to kill her Aoif" Delta offers Aoif

​ "No" Despite her clear distaste for Tama, Aoif instead orders Delta to back off.

"I have no intention of killing my soon to be lords pet no matter how dirty she may be"

Tama despite clearly taking offense to the backhanded comment restrained herself, looking at me as if to ask whether she could act or not

"Tama stand down, please leave too,"

"But…" Tama mutters before I interrupt her "No complaints, Aoif I hope that you can have Delta leave too, so that we can have this conversation without interruptions."

Nodding Aoif waves Delta to head outside to give us privately.

…

"My lord, how was the negotiations?"

"They went well, Aoif and Delta will be joining us back to our territory however before we go we will exterminate the nearby Gaul encampments."

"No scouting will be necessary it seems that the Gaul are extremely aggressive to the Crowns so if we broadcast that we are Crowns then they will naturally come running"

"How, though?"

"Aoif has agreed to lend us Delta, she will be sending out flares constantly while you exterminate them so that we can gain the points."

Appearing from the other side of the house Delta comes towards us before gesturing for us to follow.

"My lord?"

"Don't worry Delta is extremely loyal to Aoif and she told her to help us so Delta will" I assure Tama

"If you say so…" Tama mutters, still seeming slightly skeptical.

…

Delta takes us back to where we first found her, bodies still littered the ground

"Would you like me to pick out the cores Darwin, Aoif didn't care for them but you seem to be eying them"

"Yes I would, Thank you Delta"

Delta was correct, I was eying them all of those cores could be evolved and be used for so many different things, Things I don't know yet but it couldn't hurt to stockpile.

"Wait here" Grabbing a chair Delta plops me down before going over to gather the aether cores of the deceased Gauls making sure to fire a flare every once in a while.

After a couple minutes of grabbing the cores she hands them to me to which I put them in the warehouse for now.

Picking me up, Delta sits in the chair before putting me on her lap.

Delta pets my hair.

"Comfortable" I mutter feeling slightly sleepy.

…

"They are here" Delta says, succinctly as always

However I didn't need the warning as I could sense him the moment he came here. A brilliant kaleidoscope of colors lit up the otherwise monotone world.

It was an emerald flame with white around the borders that the soul finally decided upon.

An involuntary whisper left my mouth

"Beautiful… so, so pretty"

"Ahem" Darwin coughs into his fist. I could see his color do a little twirl of embarrassment; it was too cute. Tilting my head to get a better look, a smile breaks onto my face at how cute the color is being at the moment.

"I am Aoif, it is a pleasure to meet you"

"The pleasure is mine however I'm sure you already know but let me formally introduce myself, I am Darwin."

A small giggle escapes my lips.

"Is there something funny…" Darwin asks in confusion.

"No nothing funny, it's just your color, it did a small bow, it was delightfully pleasant" I say in explanation giving a small clap of my hands at the same time.

…

"Up… w..k.. Up"

"Darwin wake up," Tama says, shaking my shoulder slightly.

That… That was so weird, the dream I think, was so vivid at the moment I felt like I was Aoif. I knew her thoughts, I knew her motivations, I felt her act, I saw her world. It was just so vivid like I was Aoif up till the very moment I woke.

As if answering my thoughts a system notification popped up

[Congratulations for unlocking a skill, please check your status.]

[Name: Darwin]

[Territory tier/level: 9/9]

[Skills: Dream*]

[Dream: Allows the user to view the lives of his subordinates through dreams. Only subordinates with absolute loyalty can be viewed]

[Talent: Evolution*]

[Evolution: a tier 1 talent allowing the holder of this talent to simulate evolution in a smaller time frame.]

[Warehouse: …]

…

"Aoif is here we are ready to leave at your will"

Looking at the sky it was already dark.

Countless bodies littered the nearby landscape.

After looking at the bodies I look towards Aoif, 'the skill said that only those of absolute loyalty can be viewed, does that mean that Aoif is absolutely loyal to me.'