BAMN: Chapter 31/35

Chapter 31: Destroyer

"Please guide me, Lady Ogerpon."

The first to enter the arena was Benimaru.

He held a samurai sword, his burly figure, nearly 2.5 meters tall, standing before Ogerpon like a small mountain.

However, despite such a huge size difference, it was Benimaru who was truly nervous, not Ogerpon.

Rin, along with the Red Ogre leader and others, stood at a high vantage point at the edge of the arena, where the view was excellent.

From here, they could more clearly observe the battle between Ogerpon and the Ogre Clan.

"I want to know how big the gap still is between me and a true A-rank!"

"A-rank?"

Hearing Benimaru's words, Ogerpon tilted her head.

But Ogerpon was not A-rank.

Her magicule level was indeed A, but her true combat power was definitely at the Special A level.

If Benimaru intended to use Ogerpon as a reference for an A-rank demon, then this time, he was probably going to be devastated.

"Please enlighten me!"

Still unaware that he had underestimated Ogerpon's strength, Benimaru had already raised his samurai sword and assumed a mid-stance.

"Alright."

"Then, as you wish…"

Ogerpon raised her head, the Ivy Cudgel spinning in her hand as if it weighed nothing.

A-rank or not, it didn't matter.

Ogerpon's only goal was to gain experience points from Benimaru.

"Are you ready?"

"Rea—"

Swish!

However, almost at the instant Benimaru's words fell, the Ogre Clan's young master's pupils sharply contracted.

The next moment, Ogerpon's figure vanished from Benimaru's sight without warning.

Fast!

So fast that among all the Ogre Clan members in the entire village, only Rin barely managed to catch a glimpse of Ogerpon's moving shadow.

"What?"

By the time Benimaru reacted, he only felt a monstrous force, like a mountain toppling, assailing him from the front.

The burly red-haired Ogre instinctively tried to block with his sword.

But Ogerpon's Ivy Cudgel was one step ahead, stopping right in front of his face.

Boom!!

Before Benimaru could recover from his shock, he was met with the fierce wind pressure generated by Ogerpon's single blow.

Thus, everyone only saw Benimaru being violently sent flying, smashing through several wooden houses, and disappearing at the end of the street.

"This…"

For a moment, all the Ogres stood dumbfounded.

The entire field was silent, as if they hadn't recovered from Ogerpon's seemingly ordinary blow just now.

What happened?

They only saw Ogerpon suddenly disappear and then suddenly reappear.

Then their young master flew backward like a meteor and then fell unconscious.

'High-speed movement?'

'No!'

The Ogre elder standing beside Rin was startled by his own guess.

'Is it spatial jump? She actually possessed such a skill?'

'But what about that monstrous force wrapped around the stick?'

Rin was rich in combat experience. In the original work, he had deduced the source of Rimuru's skills through a brief encounter with him.

But this time, Rin said he didn't understand.

"Young Master!!!"

Finally, some Ogres realized what had happened.

They anxiously rushed in the direction Benimaru had flown.

After some searching, everyone finally dug out the unconscious Benimaru from the ruins.

"Young Master?"

"Young Master, are you alright? Young Master!!!"

Fortunately, there was an experienced physician in the village.

The physician stepped forward to examine Benimaru's condition and found that he had simply fallen into a coma, with not many injuries on his body.

"He's just unconscious."

The physician said, "Most of the young master's injuries are superficial, and with our Ogre Clan's recovery ability, he will heal quickly."

"Phew~"

Hearing the physician's diagnosis, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

And after the initial panic, what emerged from the hearts of the Ogres was admiration for Ogerpon's power and astonishment at her effortless skill.

"So amazing!"

"Lady Ogerpon is not only powerful, but her control over her strength has reached such a level!"

"Unbelievable."

"This is the first time I've seen anyone other than the old man do something like this."

The old man the Ogres referred to was naturally Rin.

However, even Rin would find it difficult to achieve Ogerpon's delicate technique of injuring without killing.

This involved too many technical aspects, unimaginable to ordinary people.

Rin didn't know that this was precisely a martial art from the Konosuba World, which, after being transformed by the Cardinal World's rules, formed a completely new professional system.

Before this, the Cardinal World had no similar skills.

It was no exaggeration to say that in terms of martial arts attainment alone, Ogerpon had already reached the pinnacle of the Cardinal World, with only a very few grandmaster-level humans being able to compare.

Hakurou's swordsmanship had almost reached the grandmaster realm.

However, he was too old, and his spirit was willing but his flesh was weak.

"Don't worry, Ogerpon held back."

Rin: "Bring him over."

With such destruction just now, Benimaru only sustained such minor injuries, which absolutely meant Ogerpon had held back.

Soon, the unconscious Benimaru was brought before Rin.

"Healing Spell!"

Rin raised his hand, and golden magicules sprinkled down. Benimaru's injuries immediately healed at a visible speed.

This miraculous scene once again drew gasps of astonishment from the Ogre Clan.

"The injuries have healed; he will wake up in a little while."

After treating Benimaru, Rin looked at Hakurou and asked, "With your experience, can you discern the profoundness of Ogerpon's blow just now?"

Hakurou shook his head and sighed, "I failed to grasp the profundity of her move. Please enlighten this old man, Rin-san."

Hakurou did not voice his guess.

He had originally thought that Ogerpon had used some kind of spatial jump skill, which allowed her to instantly cross dozens of meters and appear before Benimaru.

But soon, this conjecture was overturned by Rin.

It wasn't spatial teleportation.

Ogerpon's method of movement belonged to a realm Hakurou couldn't comprehend.

It was a bizarre method he had never imagined.

"It's destruction."

Rin didn't make it difficult for Hakurou, explaining the profoundness of Ogerpon's blow just now to the two of them: "Ogerpon possesses the power to completely destroy anything she touches."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 32: Sweeping Through

"Destruction?!"

Hakurou's pupils contracted. He instantly thought of something. "Could it be? In the path of that blow just now, she destroyed both the air and space?"

"So that's how it is…"

Seeing Rin smile without saying a word, Hakurou beside him was secretly alarmed, his hand stroking his beard trembling slightly.

Ogerpon's spatial movement, rather than being a spatial skill, was more like a variation of Destroyer.

By shattering space, she executed an incredibly violent instantaneous leap.

This process was even faster than ordinary spatial teleportation based on coordinates and was nearly impossible to interfere with or interrupt.

Of course, physically traversing shattered space would undoubtedly cause immense damage.

No one would dare to cross space in such a manner—except for Ogerpon, whose physical durability was absurd and whose recovery ability was basically a bug.

"How reckless…"

Hakurou's mouth twitched slightly as he thought to himself that Ogerpon's actions were way too outrageous.

"Then, what about the power that was wrapped around the Ivy Cudgel just now?"

"Oh, that."

Rin said, "Besides her pure super strength, which is already ridiculous, she probably used Destroyer to pulverize everything in her path."

After Ogerpon evolved, the depth of her Unique Skill, Destroyer, increased.

If the previous Destroyer could only destroy things Ogerpon could see or touch...

Then now, she could forcibly destroy phenomena like air resistance, gravity, light, and sound, depending on what she needed.

"A violence that shatters space, a strike that breaks the rules."

If Ogerpon hadn't held back and that Ivy Cudgel had landed square on Benimaru's head, Hakurou and the Red Ogre Leader couldn't even imagine the consequences.

A headshot would be the least of it.

Even the village behind Benimaru might've been leveled by the shockwave stirred up by the Ivy Cudgel.

Shuna and Souei, who had watched Benimaru's duel with Ogerpon, had expected Benimaru to lose,
but to fail to withstand even a single move was far beyond anything they had anticipated.

And Ogerpon had held back.

Cough! Cough, cough, cough, cough~

Rin's healing magic was outrageously effective. Benimaru quickly regained consciousness.

He first sat up in a daze. Then the memory of Ogerpon's strike flashed through his mind, making his heart seize up.

It wasn't until Souei called out to him from the side that Benimaru snapped out of it.

"Thank you for your guidance, Lady Ogerpon!"

Benimaru bowed deeply to Ogerpon.

He was completely convinced. Humbled by Ogerpon's overwhelming strength.

Moreover, Benimaru was certain that Ogerpon's strength wasn't simply A-Rank.

A-Rank was only her magicule level. The actual combat power she unleashed far surpassed that, very likely touching the realm of legendary Calamity-Class (Special A-Rank).

"Want to go again?"

"Anyone's fine, no matter how many."

Ogerpon rested the Ivy Cudgel on her shoulder and looked around, issuing a challenge to the entire Ogre Clan.

"Don't worry about getting hurt. Ogerpon won't kill anyone."

There was something else Rin didn't say aloud.

Even if someone really did have an accident, he could resurrect them.

Resurrection Magic was a high-tier spell from the Konosuba World's Arch Priest.

Of course, Rin's resurrection magic wasn't as absurd as Aqua's.

His resurrection spell had strict limitations.

First, the deceased's body had to be relatively intact. It couldn't be missing more than 30 percent.

Next, the time since death couldn't exceed 5 minutes.

However, that 5-minute rule wasn't absolute.

It mainly depended on the condition of the soul.

If the soul could be preserved, and Rin had a way to reconstruct the body, then resurrection would be incredibly easy.

"Mhm mhm, I'll hold back."

Ogerpon showed a brilliantly pure smile.

Pokémon naturally loved to battle, and even after becoming a monster, Ogerpon hadn't lost that instinct.

So, for the next three days, Ogerpon—under the pretext of checking everyone's strength, beat up all 250 Ogre Clan members in the village, children included.

Of course, she was measured.

When it came to the little Ogre kids, Ogerpon mostly just played with them. Even when she sent them flying, she dialed back her power.

Although Benimaru had been defeated, he wasn't one to give up on challenging her.

This time, he brought backup—Souei, Shuna, and about ten other Ogre Clan elites.

Naturally, the result was inevitable.

In the face of overwhelming power, numbers were meaningless.

Whether it was one person, ten, or even a hundred Ogres charging at her, they couldn't even touch Ogerpon.

It was only Hakurou and the Red Ogre Leader who managed to give her the slightest sense of engagement.

Hakurou's swordplay was eerily sharp, appearing and disappearing like a ghost.

But Ogerpon's senses were too monstrous. Once she activated Grassy Terrain, she could lock onto enemies using the natural elements themselves.

The Red Ogre Leader had tremendous strength and a durable body.

Unfortunately, he ran into Ogerpon, who possessed the Destroyer skill.

The Ivy Cudgel, empowered by Destroyer, just brushing it could maim, and taking a direct hit meant instant death.

Hakurou's sword merely grazed the Ivy Cudgel and shattered into a pile of iron dust.

The Red Ogre Leader had it worse.

His arm, after being touched by the Ivy Cudgel, exploded into a mist of blood, and half of his body was nearly turned to mush.

Fortunately, Rin's healing magic saved him and restored him completely.

This fight made the entire Ogre Clan realize how terrifying Ogerpon's power truly was.

A-Rank magicules, Special A-Rank combat power.

Ogerpon earned the complete respect and admiration of the Ogre Clan through her battle feats, even gaining the title of the strongest among them.

"Rin, Ogerpon feels like she got stronger again!"

"Yeah."

Inside the wooden house, Rin had erected a soundproof barrier. He gently patted Ogerpon's head, who had transformed into a young girl form, and praised her,
"250 Ogre Clan members, with the weakest being B-Rank, and the strongest being B+ Rank."

On average, each Ogre Clan member provided Ogerpon about 80 magicules.

Her total magicule count had risen from 12,000 to 33,000.

"All thanks to you, Ogerpon. I can finally break through to A-Rank."

Leader allowed Rin to receive 50% of his subordinate's existence value. With the 1,500 magicules he originally had, his total reached 18,000, far exceeding the standard for A-Rank monsters.

[Detected individual 'Itoshi Rin' has met evolution conditions. Evolve?]

The Voice of the World had already sounded in Rin's mind when Ogerpon was only halfway through her battles.

But Rin didn't choose to evolve immediately.

He waited until now, when Ogerpon had reached her strongest state, to evolve.

"Ogerpon won't let anyone disturb Rin!"

Ogerpon said as she cast another magic barrier outside Rin's silence barrier, one that blocked magicule fluctuations to make sure no one would notice the disturbance caused by his evolution.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Ogerpon."

Looking at Ogerpon standing guard with her Ivy Cudgel in hand, Rin silently chanted in his heart.

"Evolve!"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 33: New Race

"Ah!!"

As soon as the evolution began, the vast magicules within Rin's body became restless.

The next moment, an unimaginable, excruciating pain instantly spread throughout his body, causing him to cry out involuntarily.

"Rin!!"

Ogerpon was startled.

She wanted to rush forward to check, but a voice in her heart told her not to disturb Rin.

These were all normal phenomena, a unique transformation belonging solely to him.

Rin was neither fully human nor fully demon. He was a hybrid.

The intense reaction was a sign of his monster bloodline awakening!

[Bloodline Appraisal beginning...]

Before this, Rin had always been unclear about his demon bloodline.

It wasn't until this moment, with the echo of the Voice of the World, that his demon bloodline was truly activated.

[Appraisal complete. Pseudo-Dragon Kind bloodline activated.]

[Obtained exclusive skill: Stardust Manipulation.]

[Evolution successful. Individual "Itoshi Rin" has obtained the race "Dragonoid (Pseudo)".]

[Skill "Appraisal" has been sublimated, advancing to Extra Skill "Dragon Eye".]

[...]

As the physical pain faded, a series of prompts from the Voice of the World echoed in Rin's mind, causing him, who had just recovered, to suffer the torment of information overload all over again.

Only this time, Rin wasn't uncomfortable, he was ecstatic.

Stardust Manipulation!

It's Stardust Manipulation!!

And Dragonoid. Rin never expected that the demon bloodline hidden within his body would actually be Dragon Kind.

And not just any dragon, but from the Star King Dragon, the apex of the Cardinal World!

One had to understand—"Dragonoid" in Tensura wasn't a race, but referred to a specific individual: Milim, one of the three oldest Demon Lords.

Milim was the daughter of the Star King Dragon the human Lucia. She inherited her father's infinite magicules and Dragon Kind bloodline, thus becoming the unique Dragonoid.

But now, Rin had also been granted the Dragonoid race by the Voice of the World.

Pseudo-Dragonoid was still Dragonoid!

But...

After the shock, Rin couldn't help but wonder, Where did the Dragon Kind bloodline in this body come from?

First, Milim could be ruled out.

She was just a little girl. It was impossible for her to combine with any human and have offspring.

And after ruling out natural reproduction, the only explanation Rin could think of was magicule infection.

In the original story, monsters mutated and evolved after being exposed to the magicules dispersed by Veldora.

From this, it could be seen that powerful magicules themselves could give birth to life, so it was understandable that they could infect an existing being and grant them partial power.

"In other words, one of my ancestors was once eroded by the magicules of the Star King Dragon, or Milim."

"And then, they managed to survive and passed on this magicule factor through their bloodline."

But considering how unique Milim's Dragonoid status was...

Rin felt none of his ancestors had ever actually awakened that power.

This perfectly aligned with the memories of the original body, whose ancestors were all just ordinary people.

"Because the Star King Dragon's bloodline was too high-ranking, those infected ancestors couldn't awaken this power at all."

"Then why did I awaken the power of the Star King Dragon?"

Recalling his own uniqueness, Rin thought of a possibility: his broken-level talent, Traveler.

The power to traverse worlds was the key to awakening the Dragon Kind bloodline.

The faint Dragon Kind bloodline, combined with Traveler's world-hopping nature and the Cardinal World's magicules...

The fusion of those three factors created this miracle.

Hmm. Even if there was still a "Pseudo" tag after Dragonoid...

Rin estimated that he might need to become a Demon Lord Seed, or even a fully awakened True Demon Lord, to remove that "Pseudo" label.

"But that doesn't matter. It'll happen sooner or later anyway."

"Obtaining the Dragonoid bloodline is equivalent to opening an evolution path with an extremely high ceiling."

"Most importantly, I also gained Stardust Manipulation ahead of time."

Even after reading the original novel, Rin's understanding of stardust remained vague.

First, the concept of star particles.

To put it simply, star particles were highly condensed magicules that had been compressed to their limit.

Just as matter is made of atoms and molecules, magicules also had a basic unit: spiritons.

Previously, Rin had been puzzled about the meaning behind magicule values.

For example, 9999 magicules and 10000 magicules. Even though it was just a 1-point difference, why was the former considered B-Rank while the latter was A-Rank?

It's known that an A-Rank monster with 10000 magicules could easily crush a B-Rank with 9999.

So, was that 1-point really that significant?

Shouldn't the jump from B-Rank to A-Rank be a huge surge in power?

But now, Rin finally understood.

That seemingly small 1-point gap was a full-blown qualitative leap.

If magicules below 10000 used spiritons as their base unit, then 9999 magicules could actually be broken down into 99.99 million spiritons.

In contrast, once a monster broke through to A-Rank, their magicules became a unified whole.

The basic unit of A-Rank was no longer spiritons, but simply magicules.

10000 magicules was exactly that—10000 indivisible units.

Unless the A-Rank monster willed it, outsiders couldn't deconstruct them into spiritons.

This transformation massively increased the weight and quality of A-Rank monster in the Cardinal World.

It's not an exaggeration to say that in a clash between A-Rank and anything below, the latter would be instantly crushed.

Of course, A-Rank individuals also had control abilities far beyond what B-Ranks could imagine.

They could break 1 magicule into millions of spiritons and manipulate them with precision to perform effects that B-Rank users could only dream of.

This was the active deconstruction available to A-Rank monster.

In that sense, no one else could touch you, and you could fully control yourself.

Through this give-and-take, the A-Rank threshold was formed.

"Maybe this is the difference between common skills, intrinsic skills, and unique skills."

"Only Special A-Rank monster possess Unique Skills..."

"Conversely, a Reincarnator who possesses a Unique Skill from the start, as long as they grow properly, will naturally reach Special A-Rank."

And Unique Skills were most likely the result of refined magicules.

They were only called Unique Skills after recognition from the Voice of the World.

"In other words, the leap from A-Rank to Special A-Rank is the process of finding one's own path."

"Once that path is found, one can be promoted to Special A-Rank and earn the title of Demon Lord Seed."

Rin had more or less figured out the whole evolution path from monster to Demon Lord Seed.

"I currently have four Unique Skills: Traveler, Leader, Capturer, and Duplicator."

Among them, Capturer and Leader—neither of them, when taken individually, could be considered powerful.

At least, they couldn't compare to Rimuru's practically omnipotent Predator.

Capturer allowed the user to form contracts with individuals possessing potential. Once they became stronger, the Voice of the World could perform a reverse evaluation, allowing the Capturer to ascend.

This sounded nice on paper, but in practice, it was incredibly hard.

Because Capturer didn't offer much in terms of direct combat power.

It was very easy to be eliminated in the early stages.

Unless the Capturer had a high-status identity like a noble or lord, someone that people would naturally follow.

Otherwise, the skill had little future.

Compared to that, Leader was even simpler.

Theoretically, anyone willing to follow the Leader could donate a portion of their magicules.

But the amount given would never reach Ogerpon's terrifying 50%.

At most, each person could give about 3%.

How many subordinates would Rin need to gather enough magicules to reach the Demon Lord Seed threshold?

"Without at least ten or twenty years, it'd be impossible to build that kind of force."

Fortunately, Rin's Leader and Capturer complemented each other.

Combined, he felt they weren't inferior to Rimuru's Predator at all.

Traveler, because of its broken-level nature, had an incalculable ceiling, so it didn't need to be evaluated right now.

And finally, Rin felt that Duplicator wasn't much weaker than Predator either.

Continuously copying abilities and using them to grow stronger.

That kind of power was a cheat in any isekai light novel.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 34: Skill Potential

"If Unique Skills were categorized, Duplicator should be considered a high-level Unique Skill, just like Predator."

"And Leader and Capturer, which have developmental potential, would be considered mid-level Unique Skills."

Don't let the flaws of Leader and Capturer fool you. They are far more powerful than the Reincarnators summoned in the original work.

I remember that in the original work, there were three people summoned from other worlds.

Shougo's Berserker, Kirara's Bewilder, and Kyoya's Severer.

In Rin's opinion, the Unique Skills of those three couldn't compare to Leader and Capturer.

Those types of Unique Skills are more like power-type abilities. They offer considerable combat power the moment they're acquired.

However, the drawbacks of Berserker, Bewilder, and Severer are also obvious: they lack staying power.

In Rin's view, the true potential of Unique Skills should manifest after reaching Special A-Rank.

Just like his Leader and Capturer.

Even after becoming a Demon Lord Seed, Rin could continue strengthening himself through these two Unique Skills.

"According to this classification, Ogerpon's Destroyer is actually a low-level Unique Skill."

Rin pondered, then opened his current status panel.


---

[Itoshi Rin]

[Race: Dragonoid (Pseudo)]
[Existence Value: A-Rank (18060 EP)]
[Class: Mage]

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

[Intrinsic Skills: Adaptability, All-Profession Mastery]

[Extra Skills: Dragon Eye, Explosion Magic]

[Unique Skills: Traveler [Broken-level], Leader, Capturer, Duplicator]

[Special Skills: Magicules Solidification, Star Particle Manipulation]

[Dependents: Ogerpon (1 / 12)]

[Marked Worlds: Pokémon World, Konosuba World]

---

The types of skills, arranged from low to high in terms of strength and rarity, are Common Skills, Extra Skills, and Unique Skills.

Special Skills are an exception. They can't be measured by strength alone and can't be replicated by others.

Furthermore, Extra Skills are also called Supplemental or EX Skills.

Intrinsic Skills are mostly passive abilities or racial traits.

"Over 18,000 magicules, and the number of subordinate slots has increased from the original 6 to 12."

"Three at C-rank, six at B-rank, and now that I've broken through to A-rank, the total subordinate slots have reached 12."

Rin's original plan had been to visit other worlds to find subordinates, like Ogerpon.

"The increase in slots is faster than I expected."

Rin thought to himself, "In that case, maybe there's no need to cling to other worlds."

"The Cardinal World also has plenty of individuals worth cultivating."

For example, Shuna, Shion, Benimaru, and Souei from the Ogre Clan—in the original, they all had the aptitude to awaken Ultimate Skills.

Among them, Souei's future magicules exceeded 1.2 million. And Shion and Benimaru, once equipped with their exclusive weapons, could even break through 5 million.

Leaving Shuna aside, the combined magicules of just Shion, Benimaru, and Souei already reached 11.2 million.

With a 50% feedback rate, if Rin made all four his subordinates, he would eventually receive at least 6 million magicules in return.

So allocating four subordinate slots to them wasn't a loss at all—it was a massive gain.

"I'll use half of the subordinate slots to cultivate talented followers within the Cardinal World."

Rin didn't forget the remaining 250+ Ogre Clan members either. "Even if I can't develop them into subordinates, as long as they're followers, Leader can still draw power from them."

Subordinates: 50%
Naming: 15%

Followers: Depending on loyalty, they provide 1% to 3% of their magicules.

Excluding the B-Rank children among the Ogre Clan, the remaining 200+ individuals had an average of around 6500 magicules.

Even calculating at the minimum of 1%, that's 65 x 200 = nearly 13,000 magicules.

If luck was good and the Ogre Clan genuinely submitted, it could be up to 40,000.

"However, meeting the conditions for subjugation definitely isn't that simple."

While Leader's ability to gather the power of all beings is a bug-level ability, it's not without limitations.

At the very least, someone simply saying, 'I pledge allegiance to you,' wouldn't be enough to be registered as a follower.

To establish a magicule link, there must be genuine and sincere submission.

The Ogre Clan worships strength, but worship isn't the same as allegiance.

"Is there a way to quickly gain the loyalty of the Ogres?"

"That's right!"

Soon, Rin thought of a solution. "Naming!"

Yes, Naming!

That was Rin's chosen method—the most direct and simplest way to earn the loyalty of the Ogre Clan.

Rin currently had 18,000 magicules.

Excluding the untouchable 10,000 threshold, he had 8,000 left for Naming.

Currently, the strongest among the Ogre Clan were Rin and the Red Ogre Leader.

Their magicules were higher than the others, reaching 9000 and 8500 respectively.

This meant Rin only needed to use 2500 magicules to name them both.

"Once their magicules reach 10,000, Benimaru and the Red Ogre Leader can evolve into Kijin."

"And since the one bestowing the name receives 15% magicule feedback, I can get at least 3000 magicules back from them."

"So this isn't just not a loss, it's actually a net gain of 500."

In other words, for Ogre Clan members whose magicules exceeded 8500, Rin wouldn't lose anything by Naming them.

"Rin, your aura suddenly got a lot stronger!"

"Mm."

Rin smiled. "Thanks to you, Ogerpon, I was able to evolve."

"Now I'm an evolved monster, just like you, Ogerpon."

Ogerpon was even happier about Rin's evolution than her own strength increase. That alone made her beam with joy.

"Ogerpon, go bring me uh..."

Rin had originally wanted to say Benimaru's name, but then remembered—they didn't have names yet.

Helpless, he could only describe the appearances of Shuna, Shion, Benimaru, and Souei, then asked Ogerpon to bring them over.

"Ogerpon will go now!"

As soon as the little girl received the task, she bounced out.

"Slow down. Don't trip!"

"I won't! Ogerpon's not a fool!"

Ogerpon turned her head and stuck out her tongue. "Only a fool would trip on flat ground!"

After saying that, she didn't slow down at all, she ran even faster.

"This girl..."

Watching Ogerpon's playful attitude, Rin couldn't help but smile.

She was always so cheerful and full of energy. Even Rin felt lighter just being near her.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 35: Recruiting New Retainers

"Rin-san?"

Soon after, Benimaru and the other three followed Ogerpon into Rin's wooden house, kneeling respectfully on the floor.

The four of them had originally wanted to ask why Rin had called them.

However, the moment they looked up, they noticed something different.

This…!

What an overwhelming aura!

How did Rin suddenly become so much stronger?!

Rin's evolution left Benimaru and the others deeply shaken.

They knew that once a monster broke through its bottleneck, it would undergo a transformation called evolution.

But Rin's evolution was far too quiet.

They had seen Rin not long ago.

Yet now, only an hour or two later, his aura had risen from its earlier B-Rank to its current state.

10,000 magicules versus 9,999—only a difference of 1 point.

But that single point brought an oppressive pressure that even the Ogre Clan could tangibly feel.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I almost forgot."

Rin restrained his magicules, which he still couldn't control well due to the recent evolution, and brought his presence down to the level of a B-Rank monster.

This made the members of the Ogre Clan feel much more at ease.

At the same time, it also gave them a new perspective on Rin's sudden increase in strength.

Was Rin hiding his true power all along?

That explains it!

Benimaru thought silently, How could such catastrophic-level magic be released by a mere B-Rank monster?

If he was concealing his aura, then it all makes sense.

The more Benimaru thought about it, the more convinced he became. He began to speculate about Rin's real strength.

A-Rank?

That much was clear. The oppressive pressure from earlier had already reached that level.

But Benimaru didn't think that was Rin's full strength.

Could it be… Special A-Rank?

The moment this thought emerged, he couldn't suppress it.

Yes, even Ogerpon is A-Rank. So her master, Rin, must be even stronger.

Special A-Rank.

That was the highest level Benimaru could imagine.

Beyond that were the legendary Demon Lord Seeds.

"Don't be nervous. I called you here to talk."

Rin calmed them with a warm tone, then said gently, "I want to invite you to become my retainers. Are you willing?"

"Retainers?"

"Ah, like Ogerpon."

Rin thought for a moment, then explained in a way they could understand. "You can think of it as followers or vassals."

With the Unique Skill Capturer, and his current strength already surpassing the four, Rin could have forcibly captured them.

But first, Rin didn't like using force.

Second, he wanted to earn true loyalty.

"Retainers are different from regular followers. They're more like my companions."

Rin didn't mention any benefits or enticements. He simply conveyed the relationship he hoped for.

In his view, a retainer should not be bound by benefits.

Saying something like "become my retainer and you'll get stronger" would cheapen the bond and stain the oath.

"I am willing!"

The first to speak was not Benimaru or Souei, but Shuna.

"It would be my honor to become companions with Ogerpon."

Shuna continued, "At that time, if Rin-sama hadn't acted, I would've already died in that Insect Monster's jaws."

"I can never repay the grace of having my life saved."

"I am willing to serve by your side."

After speaking, Shuna bowed gracefully before Rin.

"Uh…"

Rin hesitated for a moment but didn't refuse.

Regardless of the reason, Shuna's intent was genuine, and that was enough.

"Ahem. Well, no need to be so formal."

"Become my retainer, and we'll be family from now on."

He smiled. "Then, welcome to the family."

"That's too sly, isn't it?"

When Shion saw that Rin had truly accepted Shuna, she turned to Benimaru and said, "Sorry, Young Master. I also want to become Rin-sama's retainer."

"I understand."

Although Benimaru was known as the young master of the Ogre Clan and the future heir of the village, that was in name only.

At least, Shion and Souei had never formally sworn loyalty to him.

To be more precise, the four of them had grown up as childhood friends, not as lord and vassals.

Shion's reason for choosing to follow was the same as Shuna's.

At that time, the two girls had been in despair, and it was Rin and Ogerpon who saved them.

The grace of having one's life saved outweighed anything.

Now that Rin wanted to recruit them, what reason did Shion have to refuse?

And Rin had said.

He wanted companions, not servants.

That sincerity alone was enough to move anyone in the Ogre Clan, let alone Shuna and Shion.

"May I ask what your plans are?"

It was the normally silent Souei who spoke. He wasn't opposed to following Rin.

The Ogre Clan had originally lived as mercenaries in the Great Jura Forest.

Becoming Rin's vassal wasn't much different, it just meant turning a temporary job into a permanent one that required complete loyalty.

Rin's strength. Ogerpon's power.

That aligned perfectly with a monster's instinct to follow the strong.

Of course, if it were only that, then Gelmud in the original story wouldn't have failed to subdue the Ogre Clan.

What truly moved Souei was Rin's explanation of what it meant to be a retainer.

Not a servant. Not a subordinate. But family.

If Rin was really that kind of lord, then Souei was willing to follow him to the end.

"As for future plans…"

Rin said, "I plan to accumulate strength… and eventually become a Demon Lord Seed."

Demon Lord Seed!!

At those words, the four all revealed stunned expressions.

"You… do you really have that kind of ambition?"

Souei's face was serious, but his voice was full of sincerity.

"I'm willing to become your shadow. I will help you achieve the feat of becoming a Demon Lord Seed!"

To find a master like this… and to devote his life to him…

This was the future Souei had always dreamed of!

Seeing Souei's serious face, Rin could only nod and say, "Alright, then I'll count on you."

(To be continued.)