Benimaru squinted his eyes and asked sternly. "Have you really thought this through? Do you know what you will get entangled with?"
Belal nodded his head as he looked at Benimaru with a confident gaze. "Yes, brother Benimaru. I know I will have to live in the shadows and start taking lives with my own hands. If it helps me repay your debt, then so be it. Also, I have no place to call home, I can only rely on you, brother."
Benimaru pondered for a bit before patting Belal's shoulder. He said it with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I won't kick you out of this place. The entire church of Goddess Ignia would have a killing order on you."
"I do want to take you in right now, but there is something that is keeping me busy. I will officially have you as my general when the time comes, however, you don't have to wait for that ceremony to get that title. You are already one of my generals." Benimaru said, grinning ear to ear.
Belal's eyes widened, not expecting to get the general position so easily. "Brother, are you sure you didn't make a mistake? How can you give that title to me that easily?"
"No, you deserve it." Benimaru shook his head, not wanting to explain. Instead, he headed in his original direction. "You continue with your training. Also, if your other two teammates want to join us, they can be commanders under you."
Belal was stumped and speechless by Benimaru's decision. However, happiness grew inside his heart, and he felt blessed to meet Benimaru.
Meanwhile, Benimaru, who was walking towards the back of the castle, contemplated silently. 'I didn't anticipate him making such a decision. It looks like he has firmed up his heart to take the lives of others from now on. Unfortunately, the slots for generals are full, so I couldn't take him in. But that doesn't matter; I have enough time to go to the next major realm and open up another spot."
The reason he wanted to take Belal as a general was after Benimaru judged how strong his bloodline was. He had seen Bianka's short burst of strength, and that shook him to the core. He then knew Belal's bloodline—Titanomia—was pure, raw strength-based. Because he could feel Belal's vital energy was much more dense and dense in volume than his, if just comparing Benimaru's vitality realm.
'But it isn't that much. I am more under staged than him.' Benimaru didn't get demotivated after thinking about that; instead, he looked at it from the other way around.
At the end of his thinking, he had already arrived in the backyard of the castle. It is surrounded by small trees, bushes, and tall grass, showcasing that they might have taken this place as their home but have not taken care of places that they didn't use a lot.
Benimaru brought out his katana—Black Sun—and walked forward. "Time to go back to my gardening days."
With that, the katana that would slay beings of unknown was now reduced to cutting the weeds in the garden.
After ten minutes or so, Benimaru was done clearing the entire backyard.
"Well, I wish I had you in my past life. It feels so nice to cut everything down with just one slash." Benimaru sighed while wiping away the fake sweat on his forehead.
Black Sun shook, expressing its distress. Benimaru could feel it clearly, so he patted its blunt edge and comforted it. "Here, here, don't be like that. You need to take a day off from your busy and intense life. If not, you won't be able to enjoy what the world has to offer."
Black Sun calmed down after its owner comforted him, but it was still a bit distressed from mowing weeds and trees.
Benimaru retracted the katana back to his arm and looked down at the ground. "Now, time to dig a hole."
He had thought of many ways to do it, but eventually it all boiled down to wasting time and labor. So, he came up with a short and easy solution.
Coating his right hand with purple thunder, he punched the ground, causing an explosion that caught everyone's attention.
"What happened!?" Ragnar jolted out of his room in panic and headed toward the source of the noise.
Ravenna, Fiain, and Belal, who were busy at their work, also rushed in the same direction.
When they arrived, they saw Benimaru throwing chunks of soil out of a pit hole.
"Benimaru, what are you doing?" Ravenna came to the edge of the pit and asked, bewildered.
Benimaru stopped picking up the soil and looked up. A big smile flashed before his face suddenly as he spoke to them. "Good, you all came here. Come down and help me throw these chunks of soil."
They were heavily confused about why he was doing it, but he was their lord, so they couldn't deny him. After they joined hands, it took a few seconds to clean it up.
They got up and waited for Benimaru to do anything.I think you should take a look at
Benimaru didn't answer anything immediately, as he was busy asking the system some questions.
'Is this enough?'
[ Yes, Host. ]
'Good. By the way, why didn't you make a pit yourself? I am sure, with your power, you can do it. Also, why do I have to work harder to get my reward?'
[....]
Benimaru grimaced after seeing the silence. 'Tsk, you once again play dead, you lazy bum.'
'Can you tell me if the blood will leak into the ground?'
[ No. The blood of divine beings is rejected by the world. Only the living beings could use them. ]
'I see.' Benimaru was a bit interested in hearing that. He always feels that whenever the system reveals something like this, it is connected to something big. 'Anyway, give me my reward.'
[ Host, I can do it immediately, but do you want to make it look like you are summoning this blood or make me do it on my own? ]
Benimaru's eyes widened as he didn't think of that. 'You truly are my friend. When I press my right hand, make a portal on top and drop it into the pit.'
[ Yes. Waiting for host. ]
Benimaru pressed his hand forward and said to others. "Watch carefully. This is our most sacred treasure now."
Everyone was surprised by Benimaru's sudden action, as he had been quiet for a considerable amount of time. They became further interested in the treasure Benimaru was talking about.
The next moment, before their eyes, a blue vortex appeared on top of the pit. From it, blood dropped out and filled the pit in a matter of seconds. By analyzing the time, it might seem short, but if you consider the pit, which was thirty meters wide and twelve meters deep, it would let one know how much blood had come out of the vortex.
Benimaru and others looked at this new blood and were surprised. Normal blood looked just red and had a murky scent to it. But from this pool of blood, a potent vitality aura emitted, which enriched everyone's bodies just by taking a sniff of it. The blood also glistened with brown and orange colors, while the red color flashed like a firefly.
"What is this, my lord?" Ragnar's eyes gleamed as he felt his body screaming to dive into it. Others were also as curious as Ragnar. Because they had never seen anything like it before.
Benimaru smirked, staring at the blood pool too. "This is the Pool of Body Mending. It has the blood of the God of War. It can help one cultivate their vitality realm easily without worrying about your foundation. Instead, it will continue enriching your body's potential and physique."
"How did you get your hands on this!?" Ravenna asked with shock, as she didn't expect Benimaru to bring out such an awesome treasure. She was sure this would increase everyone's overall strength.
"I just found it while taking a stroll in the forest." Benimaru shrugged his shoulders, giving his most useless excuse. He knew there was nothing that he could hide with it, so he might as well throw one. They would at least not ask anymore.
Ravenna squinted her eyes, giving Benimaru a sideways glance. However, she refrained from asking anything further.
Clap
"Okay." Benimaru clapped his hands, bringing everyone to him. "I will make some rules now. Anyone who has merit can use it to soak in this Pool of Body Mending. To get these merits, you need to find natural treasures or recruit someone who is at least above the 5th Stage Fleshcrafting Realm."
Everyone's eyes glowed as they couldn't wait to use it.
Then Benimaru began to undress himself. He waved his hands at them and said it with a smile. "Till then, I will use it on my own."
They knew what Benimaru meant. He was telling them to get these merits as fast as possible, or they might not even get a piece of pie properly.