The party finally wound down as the sun came up, and the Wave Riders headed back for their ships to sleep it off in the relative cool of the wooden ships near the water line. The water off the shore was warm here, but they were towards the northern edge of the Central Continent, and the current here wasn’t quite as bathtub comfortable to swim in as the one that passed by Skyview. It was a lot more comfortable to sleep near though, lowering the temperature in the ships just enough to be comfortable.
Like Cain, the Demon King didn’t need a lot of sleep, only a few hours would do, so he was up and about before lunch, while Cain was lounging on the deck of Queen Rose, enjoying the sun.
The King and his father had both complained about the lack of some of the old bloodlines that their Royal Family’s power was inherited from, and King Aggramor was a huge fan of children, as evidenced by all the times he ditched work to go play with Neffie, so Cain had an idea to keep him occupied, as well as helping the Demon Kingdom in the near future.
Leaving the ship and flying to shore in his Demon Progenitor form, Cain quickly caught the King’s attention and gestured to the meeting hall, where they went to talk privately yesterday.
Aggramor met him there in only a few seconds, unsure what the Ancient was up to, but worried that they had received more news of attacks on the Central or Northern coastlines and had to leave immediately. If possible, he was hoping to at least keep this small fleet of Wave Riders nearby for a day or two until he could be sure that his own kingdom was fairly safe.
Attacking him didn’t make any sense, his was one of the strongest Kingdoms along the coast, so King Aggramor suspected that whoever this Drakon was he didn’t know a single thing about Central Continent politics, only that they weren’t supposed to have any awakened fighters here.
The overconfidence was mostly justified, but King Aggramor did have allies on the Eastern Continent who could send him platoons of awakened soldiers in a real emergency, which only proved the enemy’s incompetence in his mind.
“I know I gifted the army some fighting strength last night, but I had a special gift for you as well. I was going to do it earlier, but everything got chaotic. So I will do it now and hopefully, it works out for you.” Cain said as soon as he entered the room, leaving the Demon King wondering what he was talking about.
Cain didn’t wait for him to understand, he simply started creating puppets. Ten identical little Demons, each of them very closely resembling Vala, with smooth white skin too bright to be a human flesh tone, and long black hair. They all had small black wings on their backs, short black horns, and cute red sundresses.
Then Cain added the essentials, increased stats, and modifiers, ending with the [Leeching Aura] That all Blood Dancers should have to mark them as Mythic members of their species.
These were not from a small species, instead, Cain had created them in bodies about five years of age, so that the effects of the world’s Mana on their Mythic bodies would level them up as they matured. When Cain released Puppets to their own devices, they would always start at level 1, but with any special skills that Cain had imbued into them.
“Ladies, meet Demon King Aggramor, or Uncle Aggie, as most of the young ladies call him. He is going to take care of you and teach you everything you need to know to be a proper Demon Princess.” Cain explained to the little girls while Aggramor stared at him in shock.
“He’s kind of cute without his transformation, are you sure he’s old enough to be called uncle?” One of the girls asked, her Mythic magical resistance allowing her to see through the spell Aggramor used to disguise himself since he wasn’t using a physical transformation.
“I have been King for hundreds of years already, so I suppose I’m old enough to be called Uncle.” King Aggramor agreed.
“At hundreds shouldn’t you be a grandpa?” Another girl asked.
“No, his father is still alive, so he is Grandpa. I’m sure he will be very excited to meet you all. He knew your ancestors when they were still around, so make sure to ask him to tell you all about it.” Cain instructed his petite charges.
“Got it, boss.” They answered in unison.
“Now, is there anything else I should be teaching you before you go? You should naturally get classes of your own, but maybe we should vary them up a little. Who wants to be a mage?” Cain’s question just got him a bunch of dismissive looks.
p、and a-n、o、vel “Fine, who wants to be a Magical Warrior, and who wants to be a War Cleric? Clerics to my right, Warriors to my left.” Cain sighed, wondering if the species ever actually had mages, given the love for combat that earned their species its name.
Eight of the ten went to the warrior side and Cain looked to the remaining two. “You’re first since it’s a smaller group. Each of you will get two skills, healing, and combat.”
Carnage had his own fighting style as a skill, but that wasn’t well suited to Clerics. Then Cain thought about it a bit more. For Wrath Demons, maybe two-handed Axes could replace staves? It might be just the thing for a Blood Dancer Cleric.
Cain granted each of them the [Carnage War Dance], as the system called the style, and then [Balance] The healing and damage ability that originally belonged to Record Keeper. That should hopefully make them all clerics when they were freed and gained a System interface of their own.
“Next up is the group of warriors. Do you want to be agile warriors or tanky warriors?” Cain asked, getting the same dismissive look as if he had asked a pointless question. The answer was clearly both, he could sense it in their minds.
“Alright, let’s see what I can do for you then.” Cain agreed. If he gave them [Bulwark] to create a magical shield in front of themselves and their nearby allies, and then added the [Dark Elven Offensive Techniques] and the [Carnage War Dance] that should make them both agile and tanky in combat.
Hopefully. Cain hadn’t actually seen the extent of Carnage’s fighting style, but he knew it was effective both barehanded and with a two-handed ax.
“Now, I think I’ve given you ladies all you will need to get you started. The Demon Kingdom will help you level up. There is a Tower in the Capital where you can go and fight to improve your skills, and you will naturally grow very quickly, so do your best so you can attract a good mate and live a happy life together, killing enemies and whatever else it is that Blood Dancers like to do for fun.” Cain told them with a smile and the girls smirked back at him.
“Understood. We will be looking forward to getting to try out the tower. But is it actually tough enough to be a challenge?” They asked in unison.
“It’s made to my specifications, and it should be good to level 400, so you won’t get tired of it until you’re almost fully grown.” That was enough to assure them that their childhood with someone who wasn’t their Master would be a pleasant experience. Even as children, the Wrath Demons like the Blood Dancers tended to be very bloodthirsty.
Cain freed them all, and the girls looked around in confusion, trying to adapt to the sudden change in their knowledge and power levels.
“This is where your bodies are at without me empowering them. You are currently level one, but you will grow quickly. Within a few years you should be almost adults, so make the best of your childhood. And one more thing, don’t forget to have King Aggramor take you for Ice Cream, I have it on the good word of your Cousin Neffie that he knows the very best spot.”
The man in question was still in shock. Cain had just brought back the basis of the Royal Family right in front of him, but as children, for him to raise and spoil, and he didn’t know exactly what to say in this situation.
“So, Uncle Aggie, about that Ice Cream. Is it here, or will we have to wait and go somewhere else? Where is here anyways, Boss Cain never covered that. Do you live in a Castle, like a real castle with a dungeon? Is it huge and imposing and dripping with the blood of your enemies? Do you think I would look cute in a white dress instead of a red one? Can we have armor now, and maybe a sword too?” The girls asked all at once, snapping the Demon King from his stupor.
“Yes, I live in a castle, the ice cream is there, it rained yesterday, so likely no dripping blood, white cleric dresses are always cute and the armory is back at the Castle but will have to wait until you finish your Class setup.” King Aggramor answered, used to Neffie grilling him in this manner.
“The System did it automatically, we didn’t get options. The two of us are Priestesses of the War God, while the others are all Blood Dancer Vanguards.” One of the Clerics explained.
“You will have to name them or ask your wife to do it. I didn’t think of any in advance. Or they can pick one on their own if they like, but if he lets you pick, you need to make it short and easy to pronounce ladies, no getting dramatic and trying to put titles in your name.” Cain instructed.
More than a few looked dispirited at that news, and Aggramor decided that he would have to pick names for them if he didn’t want them to be ridiculous and embarrassing for the girls later in life.
“I have no idea how to thank you, but I will take good care of the girls and make sure they grow up into model citizens of the Demon Kingdom and do their species and the War Goddess proud,” Aggramor told Cain while looking over his diminutive charges.
“Now, how about we go to the Castle to get you all a change of clothes and some ice cream? When you’re all dressed the same I can’t tell who is who.” Aggramor suggested.
“And some weapons, you can’t forget the weapons. Preferably a nice Ax, with a serrated edge.” One of the clerics suggested.
Giving them Carnage’s battle style was the right call, Cain decided. He would have to inform the big demon before he left because he wouldn’t want to miss out on a chance to train his tiny proteges.