Mana Link.

A few days passed and the situation only got worse and worse every time.

This damn maid wouldn't leave me alone, she's surprisingly loyal and refuses to leave my side.

When I need to use the bathroom, she is right outside waiting for me.

During my usual stroll in the forest, she's right behind me.

Even when I'm asleep, she's sitting right there, and only ever leaves and she sees I'm waking up.

Although her recent tricks seem to be walking out of the room once the sun was out and waiting a few moments before she knocks on my door to wake me up.

It's frustrating and needs to end, so… I decided to let her in on my plans.

"And once I've built the biggest Cult the world has ever seen, I'll make you my second in command, if you play along, what do you say?"

As those words left my mouth, I kept my eyes closed, nervously waiting to hear her answer, I could have sworn the box I was sitting on started feeling colder.

Well, nervous or not, if she chooses not to follow me and wants to rat me out, I'd have no other choice then to….

"If I can be of great service to you, I'll gladly follow you, even if it's to the pit of hell." She responded, her head slightly bowed.

That caught me a bit off guard, are elves always this loyal here? I'd like to think not but it's like she just completely ignored everything I said.

"I'm saying I'll destroy humanity to build my base… be the ultimate Anti hero, hated by heroes and feared by villains." I repeated, my eyes widened in surprise.

She slowly looked up at me, and tilted her head a bit to the side before she spoke,

"Are you perhaps worried I would be a liability to your cause? I would rather end my own life than cause you problems."

Hey hey hey, I didn't expect this twist but I'll take it.

Remainds me of that one porno I watched, where the man was about to stick his small junk inside the girl's inner gates, and suddenly started crying when he heard her moan.

Who would have thought it would be this easy to get her on my side.

"Say, are you still interested in a name?" I asked, a grin on my face as I looked at her.

"I wouldn't burden you with such things, I'm willing to wait until you deem me worthy of gift." She responded.

"Nonesense… come let me give you a name."

In this world there's something called the naming ritual, it's when people of higher status grant monsters (Demons) names.

It could be a fellow demon, or a human, as long as you are far superior to them, you can bestow upon them a name, but there's a catch to this.

After you have given them a name, they go through something called evolution, meaning they evolve into a higher species, which takes a great deal of mana to accomplish, so much so, past reports have stated most people die during this stage.

And if that wasn't enough, your magic circuits are linked to whatever demon/monster you have gifted the name, this is similar to a slave crest, where they are loyal to you etc, I don't stress on the minor details.

But in my case, it's a bit different…

Unlike the rest, my magic type is a total mystery, blank, it's shapeless and meaningless, and has no form or title. I'd like to believe I'm the only one with this glitch.

Since I can distort/manipulate my magic circuits in such a way that almost everything is possible for me, I should be able to expand my mana to whatever quantity is needed to complete the name ritual.

A name …. I wonder…

"Jeanne."

Instantly, I felt a huge drain of mana that left my body, simultaneously, Jeenne was already evolving.

A bright light shone around her body, as she levitated on the ground. Honestly, at that moment I felt a bit jealous.

How come she gets to glow that beautifully from my own magic.

Sigh, setting that aside, the evolution was completed and Jeenne seemed like she was a completely different person.

More prettier, stronger as far as I could tell, and taller, even though we were the same age I had to look up to even get a good look at her face.

"Thank you for gifting me a name, master Aether, I'll forever treasure it".

"As you should, if you choose to betray me, I won't think twice to erase you from this world".

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"You live for my goals and ideals, so you are going to have to learn a thing or two about combat in case I get jumped while in my normie identity."

The thought suddenly crossed my mind.

How would I even go along building my cult?

Well, obviously I know I have to find members, but a functioning organization needs the members to have a common goal, or I risk adding betrayals and such, even if it isn't towards me.

And surely I have to make sure I know exactly what kind of people I want in my secret organization. It can someday turn into a whole kingdom at some point.

Humans? Demons(every other species) or gods.

Obviously humanity will be my enemy.

So it falls under demons or gods…. Then there's the gender issue.

Men are generally stronger than women, they tend to have stronger magic circuits and even stronger magic capabilities.

But they are violent and easily swayed by worldly things, revenge, money, etc. The probability of them staying by my side even when I choose a bad option weighs down to how I got them to join.

Women in this world on the other hand, tend to be more loyal to their masters, given that they are either stronger or an idol figure to them, and regardless of how stupid my ideals are, they'll follow along, that in itself builds a strong foundation.

But a foundation with no strong pillars risks the chances of crumbling to the ground.

This is going to be a tough decision, how did I never think of this….

I just assumed I'd gather allies along the way, and although I did think of certain things my cult will be about, I never really gave much thought about the members.

Women will make more loyal companions, no argument there, but an organization filled with just women is basically harem, and that might cause a bit of a problem…. Especially if they are all weak.

Solution… I'll mix and infuse my knowledge where each one is lacking.

If the males are stronger but are drawn to worldly things, then I'll bless them with such, one that would determine their dedication.

And If women are more loyal but weaker, I'll fix them and give them a boost in strength,

Solution…?

MANA LINK!!!

Smirk!

Something I've been working on for a while now, and this is just the best time to set it into play, talk about perfect timing.

.....

A/N

I hope you are enjoying the story so far, there's still a lot of world building going on.