- Beast KING

I silently make my way back to the world tree, ignoring everything around me. While walking, I talked to Ellie some,

"Hey, Ellie?"

[Yes?]

"I overreacted, didn't I?"

[Perhaps.]

"How many people did I kill again?"

[Only 39.]

"Only?!"

[Yes, considering you knocked the top twenty floors off of a skyscraper I'd say 39 is a relatively low number. Besides, you were in a berserk state at that time and weren't in control. Not to mention that hero caused the dryad to need to reform.]

"T-that's true. I don't imagine knocking the top off of a building only killing 39 people."

[That just shows how unprepared humanity was for what happened.]

"True."

…

"Wait… Wasn't I the one that caused the whole magic thing to happen?"

[N-... W-... M-maybe? Technically Gaia is the one who caused it.]

"Technically everything is Gaia's fault."

[True.]

As I walk by a tree I swear I see a crying face on one of them.

I make my way back to the world tree, seeing the golden bed of leaves. It's empty. Immediately it hits me again that she's gone. I feel my eyes start to get wet as I lay down on the bed. I immediately start drifting off to sleep.

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Inside Adam's soul:

A bright red orb is floating in a void with pink mist flowing around it. Next to it is a small white ball with a naked woman inside of it. This woman has an expressionless face, short hair, and no reproductive organs. She's quite beautiful. This woman looks at Adam's soul, and her face gets a slightly sad expression.

[Adam, you poor soul.]

She floats over and puts her hand on the edge of her orb towards Adam's soul. Her face gets cold and expressionless again.

[Humans don't deserve your sympathy, yet you still graciously give them it. It makes no sense to me. You'd sooner kill your own kind than a human. I suppose the title hasn't fully affected your mind yet. Maybe one day you'll realize their lives aren't worth the pain you put yourself through.

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*Mnnn*

I start to groggily wake up, feeling like I need a bit more sleep. As I open my eyes I start to notice a small area of warmth near my stomach. I wipe the sleep from my eyes with my hand and look down.

"W-What the fuck?!"

I see Willow laying on my stomach with a peaceful smile on her face.

'Ellie, what the fuck is going on?!'

[A dryad cannot die by normal means. Similarly to a phoenix, if their physical body dies they just turn into dust while their soul will go back to their place of birth. In her case, this would be her world tree. So long as their soul lives, they will not die. The reason I did not tell you this is that I had no idea whether her soul survived or not.]

I turn into my human form and grab onto Willow, giving her the tightest hug I've ever given her. Tear start to flow from my eyes as Willow wakes up, giving me a warm smile and saying,

"Don't worry, brother. I'm fine now."

Her own eyes start to tear up and she wraps her arms around me and buries her face into my neck.

We stay like this for a good hour or so before I finally look at my status.

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[Status:]

[Name: Adam Lowell]

[Race: Dragon]

[Title: Beast King, King of the Starter Forest, King of the Hunting Mountains]

[Level: 48 / 250]

[Class: S-rank World Boss]

[Domains: 2]

[Subjects: 1]

[Mana Heart: Dragonheart]

[Inherent Magic: Transformation, Spatial, Subordination]

[Modifications: Body Transformation +8, Clairvoyance, Elemental Bile Glands, Elemental Claws]

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"Subjects? Subordination? Those are new. So is the dragonheart but I can guess what that is. It's an upgraded version of a manaheart right?"

[Indeed it is. However, only dragons or dragon-kin are able to create a dragonheart. Also, as a regular dragon your body can only take the power of one singular dragon heart. As far as subjects goes, that is creatures that either willingly or unwillingly become your subordinates. A subject is a creature that lives to serve you and your kingdom. A subject comes with many pluses. When a subject levels up or evolves, you gain a small amount of energy. Also, a subject will find themselves slightly strengthened, with the added effect of increasing the energy they gain per kill.]

"Ok, why does it say that I have a subject?"

[Willow counts as a subject as she has willingly put herself into that position. The second you evolved, a mark appeared on her soul, linking her to you. As such, you have gained your first subject.]

"What does subordination magic entail?"

[When a creature is either swearing fealty, or extremely weakened, you will gain a prompt from the system asking you whether you wish to subordinate them or not. Saying yes will, in the case of willingly swearing fealty, create a mark on their soul giving them a slight amount of access to your power as well as sharing a certain amount of energy gained per kill to you. Willingly becoming a subordinate is much better than being forced to be. A subordinate who is forced to become a subject, AKA a slave, will be physically marked on their forehead with a "Mark of Servitude." The mark of servitude will only siphon off energy from their kills and will not strengthen them in any way, shape, or form. It also will not let them attack you or any of your subjects. Subjects may still attack other subjects, but will not be able to attack you without risking being enslaved by their own soul.]

"I see… So this is where the whole KING part of Beast KING comes from huh?"

[Indeed.]

"I'm going to try to find a creature to try this magic out on."

I walk through the forest before coming across a C-rank lizard-like creature known as a Naanbakle. It has greenish scales with spines coming up from its… Well… Spine. Leaves, moss, flowers, and even some small creatures such as frogs gather near these spines. I get its health extremely low by hitting it in the head with a lump of steel multiple times. I speak out in my dragon form,

"SUBMIT!"

…

[Use the Mark of Servitude on C-rank Naanbakle?]

"Yes!"

I see a slight amount of mana leave my chest, creating a sort of opaque green chain around the forehead of the Naanbakle before disappearing into its skin, leaving a crown of chains around its head.

[Slave gained. Would you like the system to differentiate between subjects and slaves?]

"Yeah, that'd be better."

[Confirmed.]

[F-rank Poison Toad x11 wish to become subjects, do you accept?]

Oh! That's interesting. It seems like even these small regular sized frogs would be able to kill a regular human. Pretty funny honestly.

"Yes!"

[Subject x11 gained.]

[Slave Naanbakle asks for a task. Subjects Poison Toad x11 wish to be given a task.]

"Hmm. What are they good at?"

[Naanbakles are creatures proficient in both life and water magic, where poison toads focus mainly on physical attacks, killing creatures with their touch. The toxins they excrete also make the water they reside in poisonous to F-rank and non-magical creatures.]

Hmm. I think the Naanbakle and toads should split up, the toads should try and find more of their kind so I can actually use them and the Naanbakle should start looking for fights. Hell, if it does well I may even upgrade its status.

"Toads, split off from the Naanbakle and find more of your kind. Bring them back to the world tree for me to grant them subject status. Naanbakle, go look for fights you can win and find more of your kind if possible. If you do, bring them back to the world tree also. I may grant you subject status and a name if you do well in your task."

As they start splitting off, I get another idea in my head.

"The 3 toads that bring the most of their kind back will be given names!"

This seemingly awakens the competitive spirit of the toads as they all croak loudly before hopping away as fast as possible in all different directions. I notice three other toads stayed behind and seemed to be speaking to each other. I get the feeling that they're trying to strategize. Seems like this'll be more interesting than I thought.