It has been a couple of days. Lots of overhauling and reworking has been done in such a short amount of time yet to him barely any progress has been made to where it matters.

  He needs numbers, not hundreds or thousands but hundreds of thousands to a million and he needed them fast.

  “the problem then is that I lack the resources to turn them into proper Warriors. I have started growing the potential herbs but those take time. Time that I don't have to spare.” Valerio muttered as he traced the bullet board he had made for tracking his progress.”Perhaps I need to revise some of the other methods I put aside because I lack the knowledge.”

  Ah, of course there must be some magicians here who would love to Create some superhuman soldiers for him if he beat them to pulp and then…wait there are heroes here who can make it even easier for me!

  “how are the 3 noble ladies settling in Jeffrey?” He asked his camouflaged grandpa, previously he had sent the letters(cough ultimatum cough) to those three duchies and as a result he got three free noble ladies as his.

  “Lady Mariella, Ahrena and Isabella have stated that their rooms are enough and the Welcoming was up to par for the nobles.”

  Good good. I plan to expand my bloodline and I require willing concubines to bear me descendants of my own. I shouldn't limit myself with the laws of my old world.

  “I need you to send a letter to the Mage Tower, I require their expertise with a project…a very important project related to imbuing The Body of Human with Magic. Tell them I shall reward their involvement with information only I have.” The ArchDuke seemed to think for a second.”Also, If they Dare to send an incompetent Person I will make sure to ruin their standing with the Imperial household.”

  Jeffrey nodded, for a moment there he thought he would need to add the last part himself but it seems his grandchild hasn't forgotten his…rank and how he should be acting with the lower rung of the Empire, it wouldn't be proper for a the right Hand of the Monarch to be pleading with the psychopaths of the Mage tower.

  “Of course my Lord, I shall prepare the room ahead of time and make sure the Archmage herself comes to do your bidding.” He bowed his head and in one swift motion turned around and began walking towards the messenger bird room.

  He didn't miss the words that were whispered to him only.

  “She better come if she wants to earn her position.”

  [Pov: One Day later.]

  The next day he felt different, his body seemed to be full of energy and he felt like he could eat an entire bison by himself.

  “Symbiote, did you already begin the process of suffusing me with mana?” He asked the entity that had been installed?put? In his very soul and Dna.

  {Indeed, by spiking the production of your energy core I will slowly suffuse your enzymes with raw Mana which will cause what you would call Cancer cells to be produced with magic already in them, the first step is to get your body to get used to raw energy that would turn any other creatures into aetheric abomination but since I am one with your body, I will consume the magic-filled Cancer cells and imprint your body with a powerful immunity against the taint of Mana. As a side effect you will need to Eat at bare minimum a whole cow or whatever variation of that animal which exist in the Fantasia Sector…for three days until the procedure is completed.}

  “I was expecting a brief explanation but listening to more in-depth works too, can you tell me the benefits of your upgrades as well? I want to know how I can make use of it in a combat situation.” If he had been reborn in an anime verse his jaw would be comically Open right now from the info dump.

  {Your body will handle even more stress without breaking when you go beyond the normal Parameters of Mana usage. Imagine what you could already do but times two with less effort.}

  [Rank up! S+→SS! Congratulations on breaking your limits! (New goals have been added to the existing list tree)]

  “...Symbiote can you tell me what that random system is?” He tried to sound calm but his twitching eyebrow gave it away that his good mood had been ruined by the news.

  {A growth Gauger, it's a representation of your success and achievement as an important Actor in your world's history. It isn't my doing if you are wondering, it's entirely psychic-made and geared towards individual Persons. To be honest you don't even need it, with me present you are basically assured of growing to rival all the pantheons ruling the realms.}

  “...do not rely on outside sources for strength.” the voice of that Op monster echoed in his mind in warning.

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  His busy work was finally completed and put to rest with an entire cabal of mages and an archmage working on his project “Ubermensch” which allowed him to be able to see the progress of the important work being done to complete the Straight path to the sea and the riches beyond.

  “Wonderful. The center canal has been completed and put to work already.” He Muttered under his breath.

  Indeed the Canal was full of water and there was even a fish or sea creature swimming in it. Children were gazing from the railings with awe as their fathers put down a large water wheel at the end of the canal just as he ordered them to.

  “Galvur finally finished the first Prototype then.” He scanned the wooden wheel for any flaws.

  The wood was from the tree monsters he had previously killed, it has been dipped in liquid mana and reinforced with mithril brackets to keep it together. Forest wasp oil was then applied on everything to stop it from rotting in the salt water.

  ‘I love bullshit magic substances when they work in my favor instead of being a nuisance.’ He chuckled to himself in amusement.

  It seems like He wasn't needed here, the craftsman and the serfs have everything running smoothly and nothing could possibly go wron–

  A chill ran down his spine as his sixth sense screamed in alarm.

  “Tempted fate, didn't I?” He sighed, disappointed at himself for falling for such a fantasy-like trope.

  He already found where the “Problem” was.

  “Sea-snake monster? How convenient for you to be the first beast I have to put down.” He began walking towards the slithering monster swimming at high speeds in the canal itself towards the construction site.

  “All workers back off from the dock!” Leandro commanded, it seems like he had been overseeing everything while I was busy putting the mages to work.

  As soon as the snake closed the distance two templars threw a net of iron at the sea monster and halted it in place by tugging the reinforced ropes with their warhorses. Not waiting a second, Leandro took three steps and jumped on top of the sea-snake with his sword unsheathed and nearly decapitated it before he interrupted the strike.

  “Hold on, Leandro. We may not have to kill it.” Valerio let go of the sword which his loyal knight sheathed the moment he saw him keeping the mouth of the monster closed with one hand.

  “My lord?” Leandro jumped on the side of the temporary wooden platform used for construction of the dockyard in the canal.

  “This beast can be used to pull our vessels if we are able to tame it.” He answered the unspoken question, staring at the eyes of the creature with a chilling intensity.

  He focused his mana to shroud the skull of the snake monster into a barrier-like shape and forced it to heed his will by instilling fear on the instinctually driven monster.

  Little by little he saw the pupils of the snake change color from bright red that symbolizes chaos into a more dark orange of self-awareness.

  Stop resisting. He communicated through the established link he had forced into the brain of the ship-sized reptile.

  Hiss…a noise echoed through the magical link he had made.

  Bow down to my will or I will Slaughter you.He reinforced his command by tightening his grip on the maw of the snake monster to the point one the scale cracked.

  hiss. This time his point was understood and the Snake slowly lowered his head until it was no longer trying to fling his templars around.

  “Well that was easy.” Symbiote tell me why it was that easy.

  {Does Mindfucking tell you anything?}

  Too little, give me the long version.

  {You suffused the beast's brain with pure mana and then crushed his will by proving that you were an apex predator being. Unless they have developed sapience to a degree then that is all it is required to tame them.}

  …

  He slapped himself mentally at not finding out that sooner, it would have helped with all the wild beasts they had found in the jungle.

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  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  [Pov: Gazul The Returned]

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  Once upon a time there had been a wise Priest-King who desired to find the source of eternal youth by trying to master the Power of Death itself.

  Yet He had failed and that most Primordial concept had taken his soul to the underworld where he had learned the truth of the world.

  “Power is everything.” He had declared as he tore the spine of a Death Ripper beast that had tried to eat his soul with the magic he had mastered while he had been alive.

  “I shall become Death itself.” He had continued strongly, beating a ghastly Skulltaker with the spine of a apex predator and taking its sickles to then merge with the spine.

  “Arise my Legions!” He had commanded with an ethereal Voice that had awoken the monsters and abominations that prowled the outer void of the Underworld.

  And so he began the conquest of the Under Realms where the souls of damned, the blasphemers and the Cursed were thrown.

  Centimeter by centimeter he took the Void's domain, its servants he repurposed into his lieutenants of his legions, the soil itself became his nourishment for he was hungry, so so hungry and thirsty to once more be able to walk amongst the living with his new body he had forged by consuming the Void Monarch that had guarded the gates of Hell from being breached.

  That had been centuries ago.

  Now he had control over the once fertile lands that he once ruled when he had been but a mere mortal, limited both in mind and lifespan.

  “The Mortals were able to decimate the Undead hordes…and so easy at that.” He Rewatched the memories of one of his slayed death knights that had been decapitated by the strike of A God.

  “They summoned a God and were able to undo my death blessings…how Interesting, here I thought they would be just another Kingdom beaten by mere undead.” the void that made up his entire Being flared with dark and purple light that made the flayed skin of the Purple manticore to seem like it was glowing with deathly light of the Soul.

  He raised one robed skeletal hand and snapped his bony fingers which echoed in the dimly lit throne room.

  If one were to be present they would see the shadows in the corners of the room twitch and move as if they were alive, shadowy tendrils rose up and took form in front of their ruler, The Void Arch-Lich.

  “Bring me Kaleido here my Death knights!” The Ruler of the Void Commanded.

  Maybe his eternal existence won't be so boring after crushing all the living under the march of his Horde of Damned after all, there are still strong humans in the middle realms.

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  The necromancer general manipulated the flesh of mana-charged zombie and transmuted the undead into the shape of a pentagon prism and channeled the magic of the crystals he had brought from the mines of the exterminated dwarfs to once more establish a link(preferably contact) with the Corroded sword he had found by accident which had allowed to see a vision of place where humans got superhuman abilities by simply touching a Statue.

  Kekeke…You…want…my…Power. Whispered an amalgamation of voices that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time sounding intrigued and surprised at this turn of events.

  “I want the power to rule over this realm! Power to crush even the mightiest God and demon under my boot! Power to rule over life and death itself!” The necromancer declared with greed shining in his green eyes.

  If…you…want…my…blessing…open…the…gates…and…summon…my…chosens. The darkness replied back, the corroded sword reacting to the words as it shook in place when shadows merged with its edge.

  A bright dark blue light suddenly shone from where the sword was previously which caused the necromancer to shield his eyes from the light for a few seconds before it dimmed down to reveal…a blue crystal orb in the place where once the sword was.

  “I shall.” The necromancer declared to nobody as the flesh construct fell apart as soon as that oppressive presence had granted him a mere moment of its attention.

  He grabbed the orb with his telekinesis and brought it up to his hands before turning around as necrotic mushrooms bloomed all around the room he had conducted the experiment to erode all signs of the previous events.

  He had a clue now, the greater intelligences were real. The feeling of being watched as if you were a bug had not been pleasant, his ego and pride were warring against his logic and curiosity for what he must do now.

  ‘I shall make their powers mine and then crush the fools for daring to underestimate my intelligence!’ He smirked darkly as he began scheming a path to his dark ascension.

  As if to prove that he was nothing more than an insect the mushrooms who had ingested the magical properties of the Endless dark had countless eyes appear in their shrooms with strange pupils that appeared almost like those of the goats but with one key difference...

  The pupils were maws filled with monstrous teeth, and they were smiling widely as if they had heard everything the foolish insect had thought to himself.

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  [One month later northeast of the Great continent.]

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  The capital has grown beyond its borders, small cities and villages surrounded its outer walls with roads linking with the rest of the territories of this glorious kingdom.

  Avalon observed it all from the balcony of his royal room, his gaze staring beyond the second walls that had been constructed as the first defense against pillagers and ravagers that prowled the unclaimed lands that spread out there.

  The population had nearly doubled up now that the infrastructure has finally been repaired and was once more working as it should be. Thousands of Children had applied for schooling and were waiting for their petition to be answered in hopes of being accepted into the “New Guardians”.

  His influence had been strengthened and there was no longer in doubt as soon as the five heads of the previous lords of the five houses had been put to the guillotine and their new lords had retaken their oaths to the crown unlike their predecessors.

  Yes everything was going smoothly so why…

  “Why do I have this Foreboding feeling in the back of my mind??!” Avalon whispered, tensing up when he felt the wind caress his neck.

  He couldn't help himself but to draw the sword of Silverwing that his father once had wielded before he had been killed by a monstrous humanoid beast with four arms wielding four axes that dripped with boiling blood.

  He already knew that he wouldn't be able to outrun those monsters that nearly slaughtered his empire and almost broke him and the only link he had to his childhood.

  His brother in all but blood Valerio Lionheart had been in the thick of it when everything had gone to hell, he and his father The Lord Lionheart had been back to back massacring demons, monsters and worse…Cultists, mad witches and berserkers gone rouge at the explosion of whatever the hell that blast of magical power had been that caused it all.

  Lord Lionheart had died in front of his firstborn stopping a claymore from taking his son's life with a smile on his stern face while speaking his last words to one of his sons.

  “Do not die my Son, live and find your little brother…” and then [The First Lion of Heart] exploded in a shower of golden light that signified the Sun God taking one of his favored creations into the Heavens.

  After such a heartbreaking moment The inheritor of the Mantle Lionheart Had let out a Bone chilling roar that put even a genuine Lion's Roar to shame.

  Valerio Lionheart did not take his father's death with tears in his eyes but with a rage that burned with a terrifying golden fire that had replaced his usually blue eyes.

  That day The Young Lion slaughtered ten thousand demons until he could no longer swing his mighty Caliburn, not because he had grown tired of swinging it but because all the corpses of his slaughtered enemies were on top of him as they had tried to dog-pile him to death.

  He shivered at the memory of all those horned heads frozen in eternal pain that were lying around the mountain of bodies. His brother in arms had not spared his wrath at all.

  He was brought back to reality from a loud knocking on the doors, he turned away from the view beyond the walls that had brought back memories and spread his senses wide.

  "Sire The ArchDuke Lionheart has sent a message via the Askyrex.” The Head of the Royal Guards declared after bowing his head in front of him.

  The two guardians' stances changed as one went to take the letter while the other brought forward the mirror of the watcher.

  The Battle-King read the letter sent him by the only person he could call kin currently and raised an eyebrow in curiosity, there were only a couple words written in the letter.

  “I have a surprise for you.” - Valerio Lionheart

  Just as he read those words a terrifying roar shook the capital to its foundations.

  In the horizont a dark blur was flying at speeds that couldn't be perceived by the normal eye, he himself could barely make the shape of a Winged beast that was flying at blinding speeds at the royal capital without any warning before it had roared.

  “What are the chances that this is the surprise Valerio was Talking about?” He murmured softly with amusement as he summoned the Armor of the Battle-King with a wordless command which replaced his outfit.

  “Warn the guardian spears and feathershots to not fire anything until I say so.” Avalon commanded loudly, before signaling his two guardians to follow him as he sprinted towards the balcony and jumped without any fear of fall damage just as his two guardians did.

  He was no mere mortal after all, mere fall damage wouldn't do anything to his kingly constitution just as it wouldn't cause any harm to his two superhuman guardians who had been blessed by the Sun God himself.

  He landed down on his feet without causing any damage to the ground followed by two guardians whose feet glowed a deep gold before their speed seemed to slow down at the last moment before they landed.

  “My liege.” The guardian didn't react at the giant shadow that suddenly blocked the sun but Avalon could feel his retainer’s muscle coil like a great beast ready to spring into action.

  Avalon observed the beast and traced its origin and lineage by using one of his analytical abilities.

  Race: Dragon- subspecies Abyssal Dragon

  Origin- outer realms(suspected)

  Bloodline- wild sires - Tamed (Lionheart)

  Age - 10 years-adult ( 1 month old)

  ‘Hmm where did he find this one?’ Avalon knew of the titan-grade beasts the empire had under its command once but they never had one of this type before.

  The silence wasn't doing anything to placate his guardians though and he was wondering why his best friend wasn't–

  Suddenly he heard a whistling sound which had him signal his guardians to step back.

  “Gotcha.” He heard Valerio say before he landed with a loud clang of boots meeting hard stone.

  A dust cloud rose up to block the view but they could see two struggling shadows wrestle in front of the Dragon who stared in boredom at the surrounding humans who were just coming forward to see what was happening at the gates of the Royal household.

  “Stop struggling you little–” He heard Valerio order as the dust cloud began clearing to allow them to see what the great archduke was struggling with.

  It was a strange creature, a Tall Deer with four eagle wings the color of purest white. Valerio had mounted its back and grabbed his neck with his hands and wings with his feet in a choke hold

  “Are you having trouble with that thing?” He couldn't help but ask as he watched Valerio tremble slightly.

  His question got him two pairs of eyes staring at him as if he was an idiot.

  “I am not struggling with overpowering it.” The Lionheart’s biceps flexed and he had the beast between his legs now while he was sitting on its stomach which blocked the wings from flapping.”I am trying to not kill it by accident as I did with the first two ones.”

  Valerio hoped he hadn't caused any damage by killing those two guardian beasts he had been trying to tame by overpowering them without knowing their durability.

  The guardian beast finally noticed the Bored dragon staring down at it and stopped struggling, a panicked stare at his captor told it that the golden lion crest on the chest of the dragon was the same as the one found in the gauntlet that was currently pushing its head down on the pavement.

  “How do you think I was able to see you while you were flying up there, you mischievous rascal?” Valerio rolled his eyes at the surprised feelings that the divine beast transmitted as a form of communication.” Yes yes, big bad dragon is your natural predator but the divine champion that is currently manhandling your furry ass isn't as dangerous?”

  The Winged albino deer snorted contemptuously at his words.

  He felt his eyebrows twitch with annoyance at the disrespect he was being shown.

  “You know…now that I am thinking about it, how does roasted venison sound {Vospos}?”He called at the Giant lizard who snapped his attention in his direction when he heard his words.

  The Dragon stared down at the frozen deer with an expression that could only be described as overjoyed, his smiling maw showing enough teeth to cause even the mightiest heroes to shiver with fear and terror.

  The deer shook in abject terror at the focused attention of the greatest predator in existence, it turned its gaze at the Being who seemed to have full control over the best and began to transmit his feelings.

  “Interesting. So what is your answer, loyalty or venison?” He asked once more the previous mirth gone and replaced by the commanding presence of a beast tamer who did not plan on allowing him to walk away.

  The deer trembled at the tail-wagging dragon who seemed to jump at the word of venison being spoken in his presence.

  The Guardian beast took its only choice and bowed her head in submission.

  “Good, from now on your name is Reina.” Valerio produced a golden rune with his emblem from one of his hidden pouches and broke it into golden powder on the face of the beast.

  [Main quest- procuring a Guardian beast (divine) completed.]

  He ignored the voice in favor of helping the deer to her feet or hooves in her case.

  Canceling his transformation he returned back to his less eye-catching form and finally focused on the miffed King that didn't like to be ignored.

  “Apologies my liege…as you can see while I was making my way here My eyes caught sight of three peculiar creatures flying very high and I couldn't help my curiosity which had me thrown by my new battle mount Vospos tail to catch them by surprise before they could flee.” He explained the details that lead to him finding one of the latest updates he remembers in the game.

  “And the Dragon?” Avalon asked curiously.

  “Found his egg in a cave full of bones and took him back for research since I had the Mages of the Tower in my duchy for the stuff I told you. Since I now have that vein I informed you about it. It was suggested to me to help the egg to hatch I needed large amount of mana and as you know that place is full of it.” He explained while omitting the details by bringing up the letter he had sent for only his eyes to see since he had felt the Senate would bring it up as a point when his new projects bore fruit.

  “I see.” Avalon nodded his head in understanding.

  The dragon though had brought something as well, when it had landed a box with one of its legs.

  “You won't believe what I found while I was searching around the shoreline Avalon.” Valerio stated with a bit of excitement in his voice.

  The box was big, there were golden and steel corners that kept the dark wood in place, Valerio did not take a second more to inspect the box and broke the temporary lock he had put on it and opened the lid to show…

  “Is that…” He started saying before trailing off, his eyes were glued on the treasure.

  “A piece of the Divine Armor worn by the Founder of the empire, Balmun the silver-winged. The chest piece armor was floating in the water and waiting for someone to find it.”His friend revealed with as much excitement as he could show after all the suffering and despair he had undergone.

  Avalon's mind raced, if one of the lost relics of the empire was found so far away from their homeland…does that mean that his…

  Valerio noticed his faraway look and nodded his head as if he had had that thought as well, they both were cursed with said problem.

  A lost sibling, a younger sister and a younger brother, both were missing when the hell gate tore reality apart after the magical explosion that still to this day remains a mystery on how it came to be.

  “Princess Elena may be somewhere in this new land my friend.” Valerio Lionheart said solemnly.

  “Viscount Virion too, if the Gods will it perhaps they too may still be together.” Avalon replied with an air of finality that wouldn't break no agreement.

  Valerio Lionheart did not respond to that, something else seems to have his attention…

  Avalon narrowed his eyes at the dragon and the stuff it was carrying, a lot of them were basic utensils and food packs meant for camping in the wild.

  “My King, I will be unavailable for a while. I came to inform you personally of this reason instead of sending our own private bird. I have found clues on the reason why that happened and I wish to investigate something and now I have all that I need to do so.” His friend revealed with a serious tone, there was a dangerous glint in his eyes.

  Avalon did not know what to say or add to that, he too had wracked his brain as to why everything went as it did and they ended up here like homeless barbarians on new lands until they found the remnants of an abandoned ruin of a castle and built from there.

  He made his mind up and signaled on of his guardians to come forward.

  “Go and bring the Crystal container that holds the holy water and the royal silver-Owl here.” He ordered.

  The guardian dipped his head and to the normal-humans eyes blurred, to them though he was just running faster than most royal knights and crusaders could.

  “I will not stop you since you have made your mind up but I want you to keep me informed and if possible share any details you may find my friend.” Avalon stated, the brief moment he had said those words his guardian had returned with a blue container and an abnormally large silver owl with blue eyes trailing behind.”take these and be safe, we still don't know what lies out there in the borderlands and thick jungles but I know you can match and surpass them you are The Lionheart, champion, Hero and above all else my trusted right hand and my best friend. Be safe my friend and return home intact.”