Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

The following morning, a message was sent out through the facility's internal system and received by all the active armbands.

To their dismay, Kane's newest subordinates were being pulled away from studying their second stage techniques, and ordered to assemble in the training room.

Yet, no one was interested in testing the new leadership so shortly after Kane and Luna murdered all the men, so they followed orders and quickly began to leave their rooms. Fortunately, they'd followed his earlier orders as well, as the halls and rooms were now free of corpses and blood.

Inside the training room, Kane was waiting in front of the small fighting arena, together with Luna, Aelia, and Mira. The ramling was practically glowing, and her lips were curled into a satisfied grin. Occasionally, her gaze flickered towards Kane with naked desire.

She and Aelia had spent the night in Kane's room while he trained and mediated together with Luna. Then, a little earlier, Kane had brought them all here, without saying why.

"Isn't it about time you tell us why we're here?" Aelia grumbled and looked sideways at her new boss.

"Simple," he smiled softly. "It's time for Luna to prove her worth, and for us to bet on the results."

Aelia frowned, and turned back to the fighting arena behind them with a sceptical gaze. "You—" she began, but was interrupted when Kane stepped forward, raised his hands, and greeted the bandits. The last few had just entered the room.

"Welcome!" he smiled calmly. "I hope you're all happy with the techniques you got, and I'm glad to see how thoroughly you all cleaned the place."

Some murmurs of agreement and gratitude echoed, while Kane's eyes swept across the crowd. He quickly identified both Lyra and Anna among them.

The hareling kept a deliberate distance been him and her, as Kane's adjustment to her natural lust was still in effect. Yet, he smiled slightly when he noticed that she was actively engaging with the people around her, and looked genuinely happy doing it.

The more she enjoyed this current state, the more she'd want to keep it this way. And the only way to do that without having to constantly avoid her boss, was by having sex with him and relieving her lust that way.

After the murmuring died down, Kane continued. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here. Last night, I negotiated some things with your leaders, and I'd like to share with you all the things we decided on."

He opened his mouth to explain, but was interrupted by Aelia. "There's no need, Boss," she said while shaking her head. "I was experimenting with the messaging system earlier and have already explained everything."

She coughed and blushed a little against her will. "Including the last thing we discussed, and it's efficacy…"

"Oh, really?" Kane muttered, while raising both eyebrows, and turning back to the crowd.

The reactions were varied as some blushed, nodded, and avoided his gaze, while others grinned with greed and desire as they stared at him. Everyone was wondering how he'd choose his five candidates, while only a few were sceptical, or unsure if they'd accept. Yet, Aelia's word carried a lot of weight, and the fact she vouched for his ability meant a lot.

Kane smiled slightly. He'd excepted a lot more pushback about this, yet Aelia's initiative had made things a lot easier. He turned to Aelia with a grin.

"You know, Aelia," he muttered, just soft enough that the fifty or so subordinates didn't hear him. "You give me a lot of crap, but you really want this to work out, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Aelia sighed quietly. "You think I don't see the potential of what you're doing here?" Then she narrowed her eyes, "But you'd best remember I'll definitely keep a close eye on you. Don't expect me to just go along with everything!"

Kane chuckled and nodded, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

He realized it couldn't hurt to have someone around to challenge him a little, so long as they remained loyal. Neither Ella nor Luna was particularly suited for that job, so it might as well be Aelia.

He knew Ella would always advocate for fairness, but he doubted she'd actually argue with him over anything. At least not while she was still in her current, somewhat depressed and meek mood.

As for Luna, she'd happily argue with him, but she'd do it mostly for selfish reasons, not about plans or actions. Even the argument that led her to coming with him on this world-hopping tour was equal parts loyalty, and a selfish desire not to be left behind.

Not that he minded. He loved Luna just the way she was, including her various sins. Her love for him was genuine, after all, so what did the rest matter?

"At least, I want you to continue challenging me," he continued softly. "But I do hope you'll eventually trust me enough to let your eyes wander a little."

Aelia scoffed, "I guess that will depend on you…"

With that, they both refocussed on the crowd in front of them, which had calmed down a little, and now looked at Kane with anticipation.

Unfortunately, it wasn't time to choose his five officers yet. A soft murmur of disappointment travelled through the bandits when Kane started talking about something else.

"Since Aelia told you everything, then I suppose you also know about my 20% cut of all profits, our bet regarding my Valkyrie's cut, and our deal for Luna to show her worth today?" he asked them with a curious smile.

Surprisingly, the pushback he expected didn't come, when everyone nodded semi-calmly. Truly, Aelia had done a great job and would clearly make a good leader. Only the beastlings looked a little uncomfortable, but he suspected that might be more related to the act of testing a Valkyrie's worthiness.

"Good!" he nodded appreciatively. "Then let me explain what's going to happen."

He gestured behind him towards the small combat arena. "In a few moments, Luna is going to climb onto that stage and fight all challengers one by one to proof her ability."

Before anyone could respond, he turned to Aelia with a playful glint, "Our bet is this: if Luna goes undefeated, she gets her ten percent, if not she gets nothing. This is your last chance to simply accept the 5% instead."

Next him, Luna appeared surprised, but not overly so. Yet, she did have one burning question. In fact, it was the same question as Aelia had for him.

"Master, what about Mira, Lyra, Anna, and especially Aelia?!" the catling exclaimed through their telepathy. "I've got only a single core at the fifth rank, and it's not the blood core!"

In the first three Mythic stages, techniques were somewhat limited, which meant the blood core was the most important core, because it improved the body, while the soul and spirit core mainly affected the power of techniques. Currently, Luna had a fifth rank spirit core, while her blood and soul cores were both at the third rank.

At some point after Kane spoke with Mána the day before, he'd had sex with Luna just enough to boost her soul core from the second to the third rank. Yet, he didn't go further than that, to Luna's dismay.

At the same time, Aelia sceptically wondered the same thing, "Okay… but what about me? Can I challenge her?"

Kane smiled mysteriously and shocked everyone with his next words. "Of course… Anyone can."