Asserting My Dominance

(A/N): Please show your support to the series and vote now.

2 Extra Chapters >> 20 PS

4 Extra Chapters >> 50 PS

6 Extra Chapters >> 75 PS

------------

'So you're the telepath that everyone's been talking so much about, ahhh, as a matter of fact, you are most likely reading my mind right now... aren't you Mr. Ophis?'

The man asked politely with a tint of curiousness in his yellow eyes while maintaining his friendly smile.

And looking at him directly; you could tell this person was of high-class society, just by his cybernetics, attire, demeanor, and choice of words when talking to Ophis.

He wore a full black and white business suit, his hair was brown and was cut neatly, he had light skin, and looked to be in his late thirties or early forties, he had yellow eyes, with slight scar marks present on his face.

The man was taller than Ophis although not by much, he was 5"10 in height and weighed at least 180 lbs if you were to take a random guess like Ophis did base on appearance alone, of course.

Although Ophis himself would not be surprised if he weighed way more than what he looked like, no scrap that he knew the man weighed far more than what he was thinking. Why you might be asking?

Well, it was simple. You see; it was because the mysterious man in question possessed a great number of cybernetic parts that were heavier than your typical flesh, blood, and bones for obvious reasons of course.

You see with his "Technomancy" he could sense technology as long as it was within his mental field which stretch a total of two meters in a perfect sphere around him, as that is his domain of control, and so far; his mental connection, perception, and analysis told him that the man before him was more machine than man, to be honest, 68% of him was machinery while remaining 32% was flesh, blood, and bones.

But the modification was done so well to the point, if you look at him at first glance you wouldn't see, or notice that he is more machine than man, especially because it seems most of the modification was done on the inside.

But despite this fact. Ophis eyed down the mysterious man from head to toe, he might be taller, but to overcome this minor problem, Ophis floated higher than him to look down on him as a way to assert his dominance, both of his arms were crossed, and his expression was unchanging.

He didn't know why he does this, it just seems so stupid to him, but for some reason, it felt natural as a Nagasaur to appear more prominent than the enemy.

As a result of this, Ophis has concluded that this might be a primal trait of his race since it was common for some animals in the wild to appear larger to scare off their enemy.

Meanwhile, however, the mysterious man was observing him with a keen eye, analyzing him carefully, and his sudden behavior to out height him didn't go unnoticed as well, if anything he found it amusing, this wasn't the first time he had seen such animalistic behavior from a beyonder as well.

Even now, he didn't know just how strong the Beyonder before him was, he was just tasked to retrieve him the moment he comes to the Association Center as a means to not cause panic among the other Mercenaries.

Then and again, there were instances in the past where other Mercenaries tried to get close to the Beyonders as a means to garner their interest for their selfish desires and gain, only to be disposed of most ironically and mercilessly possible for assuming they were HIM/HER.

So you can say, this job was more of a public safety kind of thing, that's why when dealing with their kind, it was a delicate procedure. You would think that they have ulterior motives, but it was quite the opposite. Beyonders are benevolent beings, just as they can be chaotic, and looking at the black halo on Ophis head, this instantly told him, he was on the team of Chaos.

Although not all chaos bearers are fully evil, it just means his personality is warped on the alignment spectrum as opposed to lawful behaviors, and to be honest, finding lawful bearers is rare these days as it is hard to find a truly good person without ulterior motives.

And to be honest, chaos bearers are common as the majority have some levels of chaos in them, this also makes it easier to communicate seeing Chaos bearers are upfront and brutally honest. which means his alignment could be Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, or worst case scenario Chaotic Evil which was rare to see these days, why? Well, chaotic evil characters are naturally cruel people. To these types of people, everyone around them is nothing more than toys and obstacles.

Then and again, just as it is hard to find a truly good person, it is also hard to find a truly evil person, so the chances of this chaos bearer being chaotic evil were slim to the point it might be non-existent.

However, this man was a fool, why? Well, it was simple, evil comes in many different forms and colors, and even the lawful spectrum has its fair share of evil individuals that could be a terrifying force to mess with, but they show it in a more benevolent way.

Although in Ophis case, he doesn't see himself as evil, opportunistic yes, selfish hell yes, merciful unlikely, or loving... well only when it matters. The point is that Ophis love and care can be defined as venal at best.

For example, his love for Minerva is akin to how a collector possesses a one-of-a-kind item, and once gone it would never return, what he loves about Minerva isn't the fact that she is his blood, but the fact that he is her older brother, and she is his little sister, the last existing evidence that he isn't alone in this world, that he has a family, that his ten years wasn't in vain, and that with this hope in the form of Pandora, he now has a family to go back to, a shoulder to lean on, despite all odds.

But some people just have to learn that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Ophis on the other hand, didn't have emotions on his face, which makes him hard to read, but inwardly he was suspicious of the mysterious character, if it was one thing his father thought him when he was younger was to never trust a man in a suit.

So he inwardly began to communicate to the person before him, via telepathy of course.

'And who are you supposed to be?'

The man maintains his smile, and communicates with Ophis with thoughts alone, as he had a grasp on how this mental ability works.

'Ah. My apologies where are my manners, my name is Triston Marenzy, head of the public safety department of the Association Center, it's an honor to meet you, Mr. Beyonder.'

Triston replied; extending his hand forward for a friendly handshake, Ophis on the other hand didn't want to touch his hand. The reason was simply, his cells were screaming at him that this was a sign of submission to a lesser life form, as a way to establish that they are on equal footing which inwardly disgusted him.

So to reply to his actions, he simply extended his tail as a substitute for his hand, which ends up in the weirdest handshake in Triston's life.

But unknown to either him or Ophis, this action in Nagasaur society can be considered a mutual understanding between master and servant, because to touch a Nagasaur tail when they offer it to you is akin to submitting one's right as an individual to them, in short, if Triston was on planet Nagara, he would be known as "Triston, Slave of Elder Ophis" that was just how things work on Planet Nagara.

But after the weird handshake was finished, Ophis asked Triston.

'The one called Triston, how exactly did you figure out my name in such a short time frame, it hardly being fifteen minutes since I arrived in T-City, its only natural I'm a little silent here, my information is being passed around without my permission... and I don't appreciate that, but let me guess, the female Homosapien by the name of Misty transferred that information to you did she?'

Triston despite being overwhelmed with a slight killing intent didn't change his expression, he maintained his smile as he approach the situation calmly, and answered honestly.

'Quite perspective, although it should be obvious, seeing that Misty is the only one in T-City that should know your identity, however, there is more to it than just that, you see in this place; you are what is known as a Beyonder, being from a higher world, naturally we are little skeptical to your kind due to your destructive nature of treating everything in lower worlds like these as nothing more than a mere game.'

'So whenever a new Beyonder is located we try to approach them as quickly as possible, not to apprehend but to negotiate in hopes to not anger them and become a victim to their so call game, you can say we try to appease and impress your kind in fear, so since you actively enter this city legally which most Beyonders don't bother doing we found out about you immediately, and you don't have to worry, I'm not here to garners favors, nor am I here to apprehend you, I just want the opportunity to do business that will benefit you and this city.'

'If my guess is correct Mr. Ophis you should be able to read minds right? So go ahead and read my mind, and see for yourself, I nor the upper echelon of the Association don't want any trouble.'

Triston boldly said, however to his surprised Ophis used this to his advantage and said.

'How do you know I could minds? I never did mention that I could.'

Triston replied with a question.

'So you can't read the minds of others?'

Ophis inwardly laugh in an unsettling manner, of course, Tristan heard this in his head and it made him feel a little uneasy.

'Typical office worker, trying to sound sincere and nice while also trying to disclose information from me, honestly a naive and immature Beyonder would definitely fall for such a trick but you are talking to someone who knows all the dirty tricks in the book, Mr, businessman. Now listen carefully boy, for all you know, I can read minds, or maybe I can't, I won't tell you either way, maybe I can do more than read minds, maybe I can control them, hell you might be under my control even now and you haven't even noticed.'

Triston's face for the first time drop a smile and went from happy to worried, but Ophis didn't care he had to take the lead in this conversation by all means.

'Look the point is, don't test me, don't assume you know me, don't think you and I are friends, and don't use me, and in return, I won't do to you, what I don't want you to do to me. I am a man of business, Mr. Triston. I can be reason with for the right price, so let's be civilized about this and talk business, with that said take me to your boss.'