Chapter 11: Induction.
' What's it doing back here? Could it have realized it was less likely to survive outside so it came back to see if it could reclaim the cave?'
To his surprise, the white fox demon returned, her sleek form moving with a cautious grace, a freshly killed demonic rabbit dangling from her maw, its fur matted with blood that dripped onto the cave floor, filling the air with a fresh, coppery scent.
She placed the rabbit down gently, her red irises meeting Su Ping's with an unreadable intensity, then retreated a few steps and sprawled her body on the ground, her posture submissive yet deliberate, her tail still as she watched him.
Su Ping's mind raced, his hunger stirring at the sight of the rabbit, but suspicion held him back.
'What is she trying to do?' he wondered inwardly, his thoughts a tangled mess of wariness and curiosity.
But then a black system panel flickered into existence before him, its text completely unexpected.
[Lvl 1 Fox Demon wishes to join you. Do you accept?]
[Y/N]
The words hung in the air, and Su Ping fell silent, his glowing eyes narrowing as he studied the white fox, her calm demeanor a was far different than the ferocity she'd shown earlier, her submission a puzzle he wasn't sure he trusted.
' Are demonic creatures just the type who easily flock towards strong individuals or could this be because of another reason?'
' But in the end, accepting seems like a sound choice since the systems vouching for it at least. Well technically.'
' I Accept.'
After a long moment, he nodded, his decision born of pragmatism rather than sentiment.
[Milestone Achieved]
[Congratulations on acquiring your first subordinate]
[Inducting Lvl 1 Fox Demon into your ranks.]
A dark purple-black glow enveloped the fox demon, its light pulsing briefly before fading, sealing some unseen bond.
The white fox, as if sensing the change, sat upright, her tail swaying from left to right with a quiet joy, her red irises softening with something akin to relief, though her posture retained a trace of the cunning that defined her.
[Inducting Territory into your ranks.]
[Requirements met]
[Unlocking Lvl1 Territorial Map]
Su Ping was stunned to see another panel emerge before him but this time it showed a small map consisting of territories belonging to Lvl 1 creatures within an area of 10,000 kilometers.
The number of territories were huge.
' Does this mean I can only grow my territory only when others willingly offer up there's to me?'
[Not so]
[Getting a defeated party to willingly offer up their territories is but one way to grow your's.]
[A more effective way is to kill them and take it forcefully or chase them out.]
' But didn't I do that earlier with the black fox demon? Why didn't I get a notification then?' Su Ping decided to quickly ask all his questions now the system was feeling chatty.
[You didn't use the commands "acquire territory"]
[Only after saying this will the King's Game database incorporate a territory into your's or if you accept to take in the losing party, like now.]
' Oh I see.' Su Ping finally understood what the system implied and he felt it made sense.
If he were just traveling and happened to kill a territory owner and the territory was added to his, He didn't understand how anyone would be able to protect it since it was so far from the main base.
' One more question. Why is the map only showing Lvl 1 territories.'
[Because your currently at Lvl 1, with each Lvl up, you'll be able to see the territories of other high Lvl rulers, factions and the likes. With the exception of the King Game players showing up on the map next month.]
Su Ping already predicted it would say that, at least he now understood that the map wasn't always reliable, infact, it could be seen as a trap. If he ran into a Lvl 1 territory under the protection of a Lvl 2 powerhouse, that would definitely spell trouble.
' And what about leveling up? How do I accomplish that?'
[That can be easily achieved by completing the Level up missions.]
' Lvl up missions? And what's my current level up mission?'
[Your current Lvl up missions require two tasks]
[1.) Increase your territory range to 1km]
[2.) Gather 100 subordinates]
' The fxck?! Are you kidding me?!'
' Don't you think that's a bit much? A territory of 1km? That's like taking over 1000 square meters!'
' Do you know how dangerous it is here in this Abyss? Not to mention recruiting 100 bloodthirsty demons...'
' Wait... I see what you did there.' Su Ping eye's twitched, turns out both Lvl up tasks were intertwined. He could actually recruit subordinates while increases his territory range. By taking in the former owners of those territory's.
As for running into strong foes along the way, the system didn't care, after all, only the strong could come out on top in the Kings Game.
' One last question. I'm supposed to be the Dark Dragon King but I'm stuck in an infant's body, not to mention I'm not even a dragon but a drake. How do I fix this.'
[There's nothing to be worried about]
[So long as you continue to consume, your body will evolve on its own]
[It's a mandatory feature that monster player's possess.]
' Monster players?'
[Players, who's race are known to develop rapidly in short amounts of time.]
' Then what about non monster player's? How are they supposed to develop.'
[Because they can't evolve rapidly like a monster player such as yourself, they'll have to join the game by inhabiting the bodies of beings from this world.]
Su Ping shivered at the thought. To think that some people were lucky enough to possess already strong beings. But on second thought, he realized that it would just take him more time to catch up to them.
Hopefully they wouldn't be able to grow strong unless they found some incredible objects or got rewards from the Kings Game for
conquering and developing.
' Then could you tell me about what you meant by Mandatory feature? What's that supposed to mean. '