#66 Limit Removal!

Babara just looked at Mera but didn't make any move to stop me. I have no idea if it was due to not being fully recovered or because she simply didn't want to make any move.

It looked as if Babara was telling Mera to choose her words carefully with just her look as Mera's advisor.

"...Tch, since you are so serious about this, I will let it slide in Taeko's case but don't think that you can go and steal females from my Oarburgh, I am looking other way in Taeko's case because you saved both her and Babara. But I can't let you just take her away, she is still part of Oarburgh, we raised her as our own child." Mera said with an upset expression while clicking her tongue before returning to her serious expression.

"I know, she is safer here than with me, I live in the Capital and all the stronger people will already be aware of her face and figure." I said with a calm tone and closed eyes, completely retracting my earlier aura.

"...At least you aren't completely controlled by your own emotions." Babara muttered with a small satisfied smile.

"I will be leaving in a few days however I still have something that I want from you, Mera" I ignored Babara's comment and informed Mera in front of me and since I had no idea how to call her, I just used Mera without "-sama".

"...Mera?...What is it?" She muttered her name with one brow raised before asking me with furrowed brows.

"I want to learn how to control Danger Beasts" I bluntly said without beating around the bush.

"What?!" Mera stood up from the couch in shock and exclaimed with a dumbfounded expression. Her maids had a similar reaction as for Babara, she already expected this.

"Are you aware of how precious it is to us, Oarburgh? These teachings are what our ancestors left to us and only the rightful leader can learn how to utilize them to the maximum. Other members can still learn how to control them but only with the leader's permission and even then their control won't be as good as the leader's. You aren't even Oarburgh, and it's also not like you can simply join us by saying you are one of us." Mera calmed down a bit and explained while standing, not bothering to sit down since she was a bit embarrassed that she reacted so strongly.

"...Come on, he already has a lot of resources from us. Not to mention his relationship with Taeko...He is practically part of Oarburgh in a different meaning." Babara said with her hands behind her back and closed eyes.

"Babara...I understand that he saved you and your pupil but this is not the time for feeling grateful. It's the truth that he already knows most of our secrets but that's one more reason why to not let him know our utmost secret." Mera explained while shaking her head with a slightly disappointed expression.

"And what if I want to buy Oarburgh loyalty for eternity? Wouldn't that make me eligible to learn it?" I suddenly asked while listening to those two arguing between each other.

When they heard my words, all of them looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Do you even realize what you are saying here? The Revolutionary Army had to empty their pockets just to afford us to kill a few assassins." Gilberda asked me with a dumbfounded expression.

"I know but don't worry, I am already starting big business inside the Capital, it's just a matter of time until I will be filthy rich and I am quite interested in you, Oarburgh. I like your code, Death will come for everyone, good and evil. It's just a matter of time. Just by this saying, I can tell that your ancestors and you are a capable group of people." I said with an amused smile.

"It's hard to imagine that you would actually pay monstrous sum of money for a few assassins. Why do you want to learn the Danger Beast control so much? And even if you will pay our loyalty for eternity, we can't just share our utmost secret." Mera replied with a thoughtful expression while warily observing me.

"It's a very convenient technique. You said that you can't just share your utmost secret but what if I will buy your loyalty and I will also have a great relationship with the leader?" I asked with a sly smile and my index finger facing the ceiling.

"...What do you mean?" Mera asked with a raised eyebrow and slightly confused expression.

"Taeko...She will be the next leader. I don't see anyone here more capable than her. So how about we make a deal, I will pay you a big sum of money later, I will train Taeko to be even stronger and teach her some good strategies. And you will let me know the method how to control the Danger Beasts" I said with a confident smile when I mentioned Taeko as the next leader which slightly surprised Mera's maids.

---

'He makes it sound like we can't get her any stronger than he can. But it is the truth that he is extremely strong even without his Teigu which is quite strange. I would have understood if he was born with superhuman strength like Gil, but he simply looks like a normal man. Also, I have heard that he developed a technique similar to Taeko's deadliest technique, with the exception of his technique being focused on defense. If he would be able to teach her that and make her blend those 2 techniques into one...Taeko would grow perhaps even twice as powerful.' Mera thought with a thoughtful expression.

'How ironic...Both of their techniques are similar yet his technique is focused on defense and Taeko's is focused on offense. It makes one feel like they were made for each other, heh. To think that one day I would have thought that a man and a woman were made to be together' Mera thought with a slightly amused yet defeated smile.

---

"...Since you want it that much...I can accept the offer and even let you learn it right now, that is if you will be capable enough and if not the offer still holds on." Mera after a minute of thinking answered with a small smile while pressing her finger to her lips.

"Mera-sama?!" Both maids were surprised to hear that Mera accepted the deal, even Babara was slightly surprised.

If I am capable of learning, huh? Well, we will see.

"Will you let me first see...How can one even learn it? Is there some kind of scroll left by your ancestors or what?" I asked with a slightly curious expression.

"Heh, come with me, I will show you." Mera chuckled and started going towards the wall full of the bookshelves while swaying her ass from right to left. Her maids immediately glanced there and blushed before looking away.

Ugh...I rolled my eyes and just followed after her until we arrived in front of the big bookshelf. She suddenly summoned her wrigglers and made them fill the empty spaces in the bookshelf.

Hm? Interesting, I thought it would be some kind of cliché with filling missing spaces in bookshelf with the books.

*Creek* Suddenly dull sound could be heard on the other side of the enormous room and the previous empty stone wall was slowly opening from the middle.

What kind of mechanism is that?

We entered the new room that appeared in front of us and I used my flames to produce some light to reveal the walls covered in paintings of all kinds of Danger Beasts. From insects to enormous and horrifying types that I have never seen.

It looked like some kind of method described in paintings but there was also some kind of text under each painting.

"...I guess you won't just tell me what that text means, right?" I asked Mera who finally stopped walking and turned at me with an amused smile.

"That would have been too easy plus no one else understands it except for me, the leader. How about it? You can still turn around if you aren't confident enough and if Taeko will take my position, she will be able to help you." Mera said with a sly smile.

---

'It's already generous of me to give you such a chance. If you will be able to understand it, I will gracefully accept my defeat. If you will fail, we will only profit from it.' Mera thought with a small smile, wanting to test Akashi. She was already aware that he is strong, however, she wanted to see if he also has an intellect and more than everything...talent.

---

Hearing her words, I frowned down and once again glanced at all paintings.

I turned around and started walking towards the exit.

"Hm? Are you giving up?" Even Mera was slightly surprised by how easily I refused.

However, when I was near the exit, I stopped and turned at them to have a good view of the entire room.

"Heh, don't tell me that you have forgotten my words after those 5 years? ...I am absolute" I said with half-open eyes and slightly arrogant smirk.

---

'?! This is the same aura from 5 years ago...*gulp*' Mera thought while warily watching Akashi.

---

[Absolute Dominance - activated +60% to stats]

Now my intelligence should be high enough to notice any small details on those paintings. I can't maintain it for a long time since I practically forced myself into this state without fighting anyone, this must also be possible due to leveling my special class to Lvl 10.

I quickly started observing all paintings while completely ignoring the slightly shocked faces of four people in front of me.

After 10 seconds...

I can remember all of the paintings and in which order they go but...it will be much harder than I thought. If I want to find something, I must stop getting my thoughts interrupted by the outside world. Even just flickering flame of the torches in the other room was interrupting me to use my brain at 100 percent.

I chose to select a different approach and I slowly closed my eyes while relaxing my arms, letting them just hang next to my body like a jelly. I started thinking about complete emptiness and soon enough I felt as if my whole body was slowly spinning in place. One place I felt like I was upside down yet I couldn't even feel the ground under my legs so there was no guarantee that I was even upside down, I only felt nothingness around me.

When I finally opened my eyes, I was standing nowhere and only numerous paintings were in front of me together with 4 people that were together with me inside the room. I looked around but found nothing else except for a images of those people and then paintings. I started observing them more carefully this time. I spent a long time in this...nothingness but the images of people inside the room with my outside body changed only a bit.

I continued inspecting paintings and their similarities until I finally found answer and felt a small connection to those insects inside the paintings as if they were alive.

---Outside of Akashi's consciousness---

"What is he doing?" Gilberda asked Cassandra with a weird expression while glancing at Akashi who was standing still for more than 5 seconds without moving a muscle already.

"No idea..." Cassandra replied while shaking her head.

Mera and Babara only kept staring at Akashi with cautious eyes.

Suddenly, Akashi's lips parted a little bit and he slowly opened his eyes with enlarged vertical pupils and also a small almost nonexistent red spark escaped from them. He wasn't blinking at all and his eyes were fully focused.

"?! Is that-?!" Mera was immediately shocked when she noticed his focused eyes, as everyone else was.

"Limit removal!" Babara confirmed Mera's suspicion.

"I-Impossible, he wasn't raised here...How is it possible for him to do that?!" Gilberda exclaimed with a shocked expression and Cassandra was also speechless from seeing this since not everyone could learn that as she herself didn't learn it yet.

---Akashi's POV---

When I opened my eyes, I felt like I could do anything as long as I focus on that thing. I also felt a faint connection with those insects but this time, it wasn't from paintings.

I slowly extended my arms towards Mera as a gesture of inviting which puzzled everyone.

However, soon enough a few insects left from inside of her clothes to fly and land on my inviting hand.

"What?!" Mera was once again shocked by this since I controlled her own insects.

However, after 10 more seconds of controlling those insects, the effect of [Absolute Dominance] and other things wore off and they finally started listening to Mera's orders to return to her.

I was slightly tired and felt a little headache so I wanted to go rest a bit.

"Thanks for everything, I will go rest for a bit and absorb the knowledge I learned here." I said with a smile towards Mera and then turned around, leaving the room.

---After Akashi left---

All 4 remained to stare at his slowly disappearing back with shocked expressions, Mera herself even had a slightly horrified expression while looking at Akashi.

"If he wouldn't have been born to the noble family, he would have definitely become part of Oarburgh. He was practically born to be one of us." Babara said her honest thoughts aloud with a slightly disappointed expression and then started slowly leaving the room with her hands behind her back.

Mera only had a thoughtful expression after hearing Babara's words.