18 Yellow Lake Region

"Carelia, what are you doing?" Darkscale was furious and also a bit worried. He didn't know much about how artificial intelligence worked, but he was damn sure that they couldn't just start taking a decision on their own. Not against their owners' wishes!

It wasn't the first time that Carelia had some weird behavior, but this time it was a flagrant dismissal of his will. Was she even under his control?

"Master, I'm securing more energy… and helping your cultivation, that's my prime directive" answered innocently the MAID.

"What? Helping my cultivation?" asked dubiously the snake, not understanding how undercutting him in his decisions could help his cultivation.

"Master" exclaimed the artificial intelligence "How do you count on practicing cultivation? All alone? How will you get your hands on the resources that you need? How are you going to defend them from other cultivators?"

Darkscale felt as if a thunder had fallen from the sky, striking him senseless. Those were very good points. Not long ago he thought that he just needed to find a way to open the techniques left to him and he could immediately start cultivating, but the reality was way different. Even if he could read the techniques, the most useful needed herbs and other poisonous items that he had no access to.

"If you want to cultivate that poisonous method that you received from the Black Hand Market, you will need people to help you get the resources necessary to progress in it. You can't do it alone." Continued Carelia.

"That's when she comes into play… you don't have to like humans, you just need to use them. Killing them would be useful to solve a bit of our energy shortage, but it would be much better to use her and form your own power."

"My power? What do you mean, why would the human be important for me having power?" wondered the serpent, confused on that point.

"I'm not talking about personal power, that's something that you can only acquire with cultivation. I'm talking about absolute power, the sum of your internal and external power. If you have an organization behind you, that means that you will have fewer reasons to focus on menial tasks and you could spend more time on your cultivation… that's why most extraordinary people come from big clans and sects." Explained Carelia.

"An organization" repeated the snake, almost mesmerized.

"Yes, you love hearing about kings, right? Kings are nothing without their kingdom. You need to build your kingdom, young master Darkscale!" continued passionately the artificial intelligence.

"A kingdom…" considered the black snake, his eyes flashing with understanding. However he was still conflicted, why did he need humans? Couldn't he just use the slave seal on other more interesting animals? What about a group of red wolves, following him around, defending him from enemies and hunting for him. How cool would that be? Decisively better than a bunch of goofy humans following him around on their weird two legs.

"Why humans? I can have a group of wol" started the little reptile, wanting to explain the excellent idea that he just had.

"That's very dumb master Darkscale."

"Dumb? How dar" the serpent face darkened, ire burning in his eyes.

"Wolves are way too stupid to control with a simple technique like yours. You can cause them pain and even kill them, but what good it can do if they cannot comprehend the threat behind the existence of the seal ?" immediately interrupted him the MAID.

Darkscale had to concede to her point: most animals wouldn't even realize that they needed to obey or die. His rage dissipated, and he realized that she made complete sense in the end.

"Humans are a very smart species, but most importantly, most of them are born with incredibly weak souls and thus cannot break out of the seal" continued the calm and soothing female voice.

The reptile moved his eyes over the kneeling woman, not too far from the watery portal of access to the Blue Cave. Indeed, she was weak, but not stupid at all.

She had immediately understood her position and decided to serve him to survive. Would a red wolf be able to do the same? "That sucks, red wolves are so cool" thought Darkscale.

"No matter how much you hate them, you'll need to keep a bunch of them around you to help you gather resources and satisfy your basic needs" continued Carelia, still talking about the use of having humans around.

"I see…"

In the meantime, Winter Leaf was waiting in silence, not daring to look up at Darkscale. She had learned her lesson: the devil didn't like it when she looked directly at him.

The human was incredibly tense, not understanding if the silence was a good or a bad thing. Probably the snake was considering right now if it was worth it to keep her alive. She gulped, clutching her fist so tight that her finger began to hurt.

"Master Darkscale agrees. You are now his servant, and you will need to obey and respect him… or else death will be your last concern" a gentle voice echoed around the Blue Cave, transmitting a menace that made the kneeling huntress tremble.

"I obey" immediately said Winter Snow, touching her front with two fingers in her tribe's sign of eternal promise. Naturally, she didn't actually believe in most of her tribe's backward traditions, but she still performed them and asked others to do the same. Not doing so, felt wrong.

"Do you recognize these items?" said the calm female voice as a blue screen appeared in front of the Forest Will Tribe member, shocking her even more.

After a moment of hesitation, the human started to read the words present on that magical tablet that was flying next to her.

"Igura Venom Sack, Thousand Needle Rose, Umbra Tulip, Golden Dream Mushroom… these are all venomous species… I think they can be found in the Yellow Lake Region…" answered dubiously the woman.

Sensing the gaze of Darkscale on her, she immediately apologizes.

"I'm sorry, Great Devil, although my Leaf family is specialized in herbs and medicine, I'm of the secondary branch… plus I chose to be a hunter, so I didn't get the training that would allow me to be completely sure about where these herbs grow… however, it is known that poisonous herbs are grown in the Yellow Lake Region.."

Darkscale snickered annoyed, stopping operating the probe rune and darting toward another rune near the Ghost Pond. He tapped it lightly with his body, using it to communicate directly with the human.

"It seems that this King has highly overestimated your value. Why should I keep alive someone who can't even manage to get a few herbs?"

Winter Leaf hesitated for a moment, her mind trying to find a solution to her problem. She really didn't expect that the devil would ask her about herbs. When she proposed him beautiful women, she was sure that he would take the bait and keep her alive. Yet, she had been incredibly wrong.

"He doesn't seem to care about that…" thought the huntress, sensing the growing weight of the devil killer's intent on her body.

"I.. I… never said that I couldn't get them! I can! I can!" said the woman, gritting her teeth.

"Good" thundered the snake.

"However… that will require time… and I will need to leave for the most remote region under control of my Forest Will Tribe…" continued Winter Leaf, grimacing in pain at the sole idea.

"I will never have the opportunity to come back if I decide to go there… plus I will need a good explanation to give… I can't just pack and move… there are rules".

"Then find a good explanation" ordered the snake. Then, a cruel flesh passed through his eyes: "Don't worry, you're not going anywhere alone… this King will surely accompany you."

Although he could control the woman at a certain range, he couldn't do anything if she just escaped and never came back. She maybe didn't have anywhere to run, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Plus, he really needed those materials. Now that he could use manipulation, he had urgent need to find a way to form his cultivation base and start real cultivation. For now, his only shot was using the venom technique that required all those ingredients.

"Master, how do you plan to come with me?" asked doubtfully the human.

"I will follow you… people will believe that I'm your animal companion" Darkscale had seen in his dreams plenty of times that humans, especially cultivators, brought with them animals that they treated like companions.

Not like pets, companions. He would never disguise himself as a pet. That was too much humiliating.

"That won't be possible master! Sun Leaf has put his eyes on you, he holds great power in the village… "

"Sun Leaf?"

"Yes, he was the one that asked us to hunt you, weeks ago"

"Oh, the fat human… I remember him… he will be rewarded for that… yeah, I will gift him a new cavity in his ugly face" hissed the dark snake in anger.