BAMN: Chapter 59/60

Chapter 59: Clayman's Plan

"As expected of Snow Empress."

Rin marveled at Snow Empress's excellence. "What is Nature?"

"A skill that converts magicules into existing matter."

This skill was somewhat similar to Rimuru's Analyze and Create, yet it also had certain differences.

The biggest difference was that Snow Empress's creations were not mere transformations of form, but closer to creation from nothing.

For example, Rimuru would consume minerals and herbs, then directly create weapons and potions.

Snow Empress could do similar things.

Not only that, but she could also use magicules to create various minerals and plants.

As Snow Empress gained further control over Nature, she could even synthesize life, such as monsters and magical beasts.

"Isn't that like being a Creator?"

"There are differences."

Snow Empress shook her head slightly. "This skill cannot create souls."

When used to create life, plants were best, followed by ordinary animals with low intelligence such as pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep.

If creating monsters, the monster's soul must come from an external source, and the monster's potential would depend on the strength of the infused soul.

In the Cardinal World, potential and aptitude were primarily determined by soul strength.

The stronger the soul, the higher the upper limit of skills it could bear.

"I see."

Rin praised, "That's still very impressive. With you here, Snow Empress, we will never lack resources again."

Magicules equaled resources, and resources could be used for development.

No wonder it was called Nature.

Snow Empress alone could support Rin's entire family, and the future looked promising.

---

[Itoshi Rin]
[Race: Dragonoid (Pseudo)]
[Level: A-Rank High-Tier (87,000EP)]
[Class: Mage]

[General Skills: Life Magic, Healing Magic, Elemental Magic, Pokémon Magic, etc.]

[Intrinsic Skills: Adaptability, All-Profession Mastery]

[Extra Skills: Dragon Eye, Explosion Magic, Soul Summoning, Human-Soul Fusion]

[Unique Skills: Traveler [Broken], Leader, Capturer, Duplicator, Spirit Controller (Can transform dependents into Soul Spirits and gain a Soul Spirit Space)]

[Special Skills: Magicules Solidification (Inheritable), Star Particle Manipulation (Non-Inheritable), Ten Rings of God (Non-Inheritable)]

[Exclusive Skills: Twin Martial Souls (Possesses Snow Empress and Ice Empress Martial Souls, can possess or directly summon them)]

[Dependents: Ogerpon, Snow Empress, Ice Empress (3/6), Benimaru, Shuna, Shion, Souei (4/6)]

[Marked Worlds: Pokémon World (Cooling Down), Konosuba World (Cooling Down), Soul Land Universe (Sealed)]

---

"Spirit Controller, a new Unique Skill."

Rin was very happy to have gained another new Unique Skill.

Spirit Controller allowed dependents to accompany him in Soul Spirit (Martial Soul) form and live in the Soul Spirit Space.

Rin originally had a similar space.

But the Spirit Space and the Soul Spirit Space had fundamental differences.

The Soul Spirit Space was based on mental power. Here, Rin could directly materialize anything, making the dependents inside very comfortable.

The Spirit Space could store matter and physical bodies, but it was too narrow inside, with almost nothing.

"I wonder if these two skills can be fused together."

If so, the combination of matter and consciousness would truly create a portable mini-world.

However, this task was quite difficult, and Rin had no idea how to approach it.

As for the Soul Land Universe being sealed and inaccessible, Rin was not surprised.

Tang San was, after all, the Enforcer God of the Divine Realm in Soul Land. His power was immense, capable of triggering world rules to be wary, which Rin found very reasonable.

Rin expressed indifference to this.

Soul Land was currently in the Peerless Tang Sect era, and no matter how much Tang San trained, he would only reach a certain level.

Rin's speed of becoming stronger was beyond Tang San's imagination.

When he could forcibly break the seal of the Soul Land Universe, Rin would naturally seek out Tang San to have a good talk about today's events.

At the same time, east of the Great Jura Forest, an ancient castle sat atop a cliff.

"The plan failed."

"Failed, failed~"

Laplace, the Wonder Pierrot, reported the latest intelligence from the forest.

Beside him, a little girl named Tear raised her hands, spinning around and giggling as she repeated Laplace's words.

"Hmph."

Footman grumbled, "Those insects indeed couldn't amount to anything."

"They were just a batch of failed modifications, we didn't have much expectation, did we?"

At the head of the table sat a tall man.

He had silver-white hair, red pupils, two golden streaks on his forehead, and a sinister smile curling at the corners of his mouth, making him appear exceptionally demonic.

This person was Clayman, one of the Ten Demon Lord, known as the Marionette Master.

He was also the mastermind behind the Insect Magic Beast chaos in the forest.

"However, having the plan destroyed by someone is quite displeasing."

Clayman looked at Laplace and asked, "Did you find out who did it?"

"A newly appeared fellow, seems to be called Itoshi Rin."

"Itoshi Rin?"

Clayman swirled the red wine glass in his hand, then indifferently took a sip. "Never heard of him, probably just some small fry who crawled out of a corner."

"Don't be careless, Clayman."

Laplace's expression was somewhat serious. "That guy is very strange. Not only did he defeat your modified insects, but he also subdued the Ogre Clan in the forest."

"He was actually able to subdue that Ogre Clan?"

Tia clapped her hands. "So amazing!"

"Ogre Clan?"

Clayman remained disdainful. "Just a bunch of muscle-brained simpletons."

A mere B-Rank Ogre Clan, and only a meager 300 of them, Clayman didn't even put them in his eyes.

"I will have Gelmud notify the Orc Clan to advance towards the Ogre Clan's village."

In Clayman's view, the Orc Lord, who had already reached Special A-Rank, was fully capable of sweeping through everything in the Great Jura Forest.

"The Orc Lord?"

"That guy gives off a terrifying feeling."

"With the Orc Lord, the new guy who just emerged will soon be eliminated, right?"

"How pitiful. Just gained control of the Ogre Clan's power, and now he's about to die."

In the clowns' eyes, a mere Ogre Clan village, what power did it have to stop the Orc Lord's advance?

"Then we will continue to monitor that forest, Clayman."

"Ah, I leave it to you."

Watching the clowns leave, Clayman drained the wine in his hand.

Clayman could not personally intervene in the matter of the Great Jura Forest.

That forest was the Storm Dragon's territory.

Other Demon Lords would not rashly enter unless necessary.

According to Clayman's plan, he would send the Majin Gelmud to name the monsters in the forest, thereby gradually encroaching upon the Storm Dragon's territory through this hierarchical relationship.

What Clayman did not expect was that among the Orc Clan, an Orc Lord, rarely seen for hundreds of years, had appeared.

The Orc Lord possessed the power to devour all things and could rapidly increase his magicules by continuously feeding.

If the Orc Lord could become a Demon Lord Seed...

Then, with him, the power of two Demon Lord Seeds would completely surpass the other existences.

Yes, at this time, Clayman had no idea how enormous the gap between a Demon Lord Seed and a True Demon Lord truly was.

In Clayman's view, even the ancient Demon Lord Guy and Milim...

Even if these two were stronger than him, they wouldn't be much stronger.

If one Demon Lord Seed couldn't win, what about two?

Two against one, could they still not secure a place among the Ten Demon Lords?

"A newcomer who appeared out of nowhere..."

Standing up, Clayman walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, then looked at his reflection, and smiled sinisterly. "Cherish this brief period of beauty. Soon, you will know the cruelty of this world..."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 60: Beat Him!

As the sun set, the afterglow sprinkled over the rural village, golden light intertwining with the fresh green of the rice paddies, forming a peaceful and harmonious picture.

Smoke from the wooden houses curled upward, blending into the gradually darkening sky, as if it were the most natural connection between heaven and earth.

"Poniii~ Pon-yo!"

The girl in the straw hat rolled up her pant legs, stepped into the wet rice paddies, and bent down to plant the rice seedlings into the mud.

Ogerpon hummed a tune no one understood while releasing a green Grassy Terrain from her body, using Grass-type magicules to nourish the fields and seedlings, helping them grow stronger.

Beside her, sturdy Ogre Clan members systematically planted rice seedlings.

The cultivated land was not only for rice seedlings but also for vegetables and fruits.

The Cardinal World also had various crops, including those unique to other worlds and plant seeds from Earth.

Due to the existence of skills, creating crops, altering genes, and cultivating varieties were far simpler than on Earth.

This made the biodiversity of the Cardinal World far more comprehensive than described in the original work.

"Whoosh la la~"

In front of the wooden house, a small river flowed gently, its clear water sound harmonizing with the sounds of farming in the distant fields, creating a tranquil pastoral life.

This stream, about four to five meters wide, was specially dug by Benimaru and his people.

The Ogre Clan had planted many cherry and peach trees along the riverbank. When the wind blew, pink and white petals fell like flying snow, truly transforming the village into a paradise within the Great Jura Forest.

"How does it feel?"

Rin sat by the river, holding a fishing rod, leisurely waiting for a fish to bite.

"Very good, I like this world."

Snow Empress stood behind Rin, glancing at Ice Empress, who was playing with the Ogre Clan children not far away. "It's been a long time since I've seen Ice Empress this happy."

Ice Empress seemed aloof, but in reality, she had a bit of a child's temperament, much like Ogerpon.

Ogerpon was a good child, and not long after meeting Ice Empress, the two became inseparable.

Oh, and Shion should be added too.

The three of them were like mischievous tomboys, often led by Shion to wreak havoc on the brainless magic beasts in the forest.

Of course, this was a good thing.

Magic beasts are inexhaustible.

As long as there are magicules in this world, if one batch of magic beasts is killed, new ones will quickly be born.

Unlike Soul Beasts, magic beasts in the Cardinal World are no different from resources.

Monsters hunt magic beasts, and human adventurers also hunt magic beasts.

Magic beasts: When can we stand up?!

Unfortunately, magic beasts cannot stand up.

Because magic beasts lack the essential thing for evolution: a soul.

The reason Rin doesn't subdue magic beasts is precisely because they lack souls. They cannot provide magicules to Rin.

"I've been learning management from Miss Shuna recently."

Snow Empress positioned herself as Rin's assistant.

And to be a good assistant, both wisdom and strength are indispensable.

She disliked being subservient but was unwilling to leave Rin, which is why she chose the position of assistant.

Moreover, having seen a new world, if she couldn't continue to grow stronger, wouldn't it be a waste of Rin's good intentions?

Snow Empress would never easily let go of this hard-won opportunity.

"Also, Hakurou is very powerful. His swordsmanship has greatly benefited me."

After returning to the Cardinal World, Snow Empress began to establish her prestige.

The first thing she did, just like Ogerpon, was to subdue the entire Ogre Clan, including Benimaru, Shion, and other subordinates of Rin.

Under Rin's command, no one was Snow Empress's opponent except for Ogerpon and Ice Empress.

Even Ogerpon, when facing Snow Empress's fully unleashed Snow Empress form, had to avoid her sharp edge and rely on delaying tactics to wear her down.

However, Snow Empress would not give Ogerpon such an opportunity at all.

Perhaps at first, Snow Empress didn't understand Ogerpon's abilities and suffered quite a bit.

But after that, in the battles between Snow Empress and Ogerpon, the latter never gained an advantage again.

Rin could only say that the Unique Skill of Sword Saint truly brought too much help to Snow Empress.

"And Ogerpon, she's been making rapid progress recently."

Half a month had passed since returning to the Cardinal World.

During this half-month, the Ogre Clan village had been thriving, and the clan members who were out on mercenary quests had also returned.

And the return of new members naturally brought more magicules to Rin.

Ogerpon's Growth was still Rin's most important means of acquiring magicules, without a doubt.

However, now that Ogerpon had reached A-Rank, to gain experience points, her opponents had to be B-Rank or higher.

In the entire Great Jura Forest, B-Rank magic beasts were already scarce, and most of them were still in the labyrinth sealing the Storm Dragon.

Rin temporarily did not plan to deal with the Storm Dragon.

The Dragonoid race made Rin prepare for low-key development, trying his best not to be discovered by those Dragon Kind.

This decision significantly slowed down Ogerpon's experience harvesting efficiency.

In half a month, Ogerpon's magicules barely reached 48,000.

Rin's magicules, however, due to Ogerpon's recent advancement, officially broke through the 90,000 mark, entering the realm of A-Rank pinnacle.

"Let's go, Snow Empress."

Rin put his things into his spatial storage and then called out to Snow Empress. "Let's start today's training."

"Mm."

Snow Empress quickly followed. She would train Rin's combat abilities every day, helping him familiarize himself with various powers.

Rin's magicules were vast, and their value was also very high.

However, Rin was truly not excellent in the combination of various skills and on-the-spot improvisation.

Despite possessing such immense power, Rin only displayed less than 5% of it.

Of course, Snow Empress could see that Rin was not bad at fighting.

Rin definitely had combat talent.

The only thing Rin lacked was experience.

Soon after, Rin and Snow Empress returned to their wooden house.

The two did not go to the arena specially built by the village.

Because it wasn't necessary.

With a spiritual world like the Soul Spirit Space, they could completely conduct consciousness simulations.

"Huh?"

Ice Empress, who was about to go play with Ogerpon not far away, suddenly stopped. "It's starting again?"

"Perfect, let me see master's progress."

Ice Empress split a wisp of her mind, letting it control her body to walk towards the field area, while more of her energy was focused on the battle within the Soul Spirit Space.

Shion and others took the same action as her.

Except for Ice Empress and Snow Empress, who were permanently stationed outside, other subordinates, as long as they received Rin's permission, could enter the consciousness space in their soul spirit form.

Such a good combat stage was not only for Rin. Other subordinates also liked to request duels for practical sparring.

Over time, a combat power ranking was even created among the subordinates.

Among the seven subordinates, Snow Empress undoubtedly had the best record.

Next was Ogerpon.

Shion and Ice Empress had similar records.

Basically, if they lost one day, they could win it back the next.

Benimaru, due to his Unique Skill being more military-oriented, was a step behind the two women.

Souei and Shuna, one specialized in assassination and the other was a priest, simply could not defeat those combat fanatics head-on.

(To be continued.)