To fulfill Darius' grand plan, the critterbots were constructing hundreds and thousands of towers that could boost the connection of his created HoloBraces.
The locations selected were not limited to his city but key areas around the entire continent. Darius intended to have the entire Fallon in his back pocket before he reached the point where he would have to face the dreaded Adept stage Quest.
However, first steps were crucial. After four days, Darius finally received what he was waiting for, his first batch of youngsters who were supposed to learn under him.
They numbered a total of five.
One was the son of Nicholas, a young lad of 13 by the name of Ash. He had reddish-brown hair in a similar style to his father as well as deep gray eyes.
He was a handsome young fellow with a bright outlook and a heroic bearing. He had angled cheekbones forming to a point, full pink lips despite being a boy, a lean frame that had a bit of firmness showing that he exercising regularly, and smile lines around his eyes probably due to his pleasant upbringing.
The second was the niece of Elijah, a lovely young lass called Reina. She was 15 years of age and had short, curly blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a small face.
She wore a frilly dress with white laces, two white gloves, and long socks that reached her knees. She was short for her age, coming around 5 foot 4 in height.
The last three kids were all chosen by Jeanne to learn from Darius in order to become pillars of Andrato later on.
The third one was Jonathan, a youth of 16 years, who was lean and tall, a lanky youth with a sharp visage. He wore a light frown most of the time, had a mop of curly brown hair, and dark brown eyes that showed fierceness.
The fourth was James, a boy with an average build and looks. The striking thing with him was that he usually wore a strange smile on his face as if he was amused by everything he saw. This made him look a bit silly, but Darius didn't question Jeanne's judgment.
The lad had black hair and dark eyes, with lightly tanned skin and a skinny frame.
The final one was the most special, someone Darius had yet to see. It was a half-beastman sent by Jeanne, another boy by the name of Anthony Sabins.
He was half-human, half-monkey, and he shockingly resembled the famous Great Sage of Earth's Eastern mythology.
He had golden fur that lined his cheeks, chest, and arms. He wore a noble's attire of purple and black, looking extremely suave. Darius also sensed great magic power waves from him, a clear sign that Anthony was likely the greatest talent present.
Ash came second, but the gap was quite big. Anthony wore an arrogant expression, one that was definitely directed at Darius as he gazed at the man with utter respect.
Darius guessed that this expression must be the default for Anthony, which made sense since he seemed to be quite aware of his talent and his superior background.
After sizing up his five students, they quickly bowed to him.
They were currently on the first floor of the mage tower, where Darius usually received outside guests.
He himself sat in a seat and gazed at the children with his legs crossed. After they greeted them, he nodded and gestured to five cushions placed before him.
"Sit." Darius commanded simply.
The five immediately obeyed Darius. They looked up to him with pure reverence in their eyes, for they had heard stories about him, his powers, and his capabilities.
Darius casually Analyzed the five.
[Detected target is of a Friendly affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Ash Spencley
Race: Human
Class: Open
Subclass: Open
HP: 63/63
MP: 15/15
STA: 7/7
Level: 1
Strength: 9
Agility: 8
Endurance: 7
Intellect: 20
Charisma: 13
Luck: 25
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Awed
Affection: Worship lvl 1]
[Name: Reina McKnickles
Race: Human
Class: Open
Subclass: Open
HP: 18/18
MP: 12/12
STA: 3/3
Level: 1
Strength: 6
Agility: 4
Endurance: 3
Intellect: 12
Charisma: 24
Luck: 30
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Awed
Affection: Worship lvl 1]
[Name: Jonathan Black
Race: Human
Class: Open
Subclass: Open
HP: 100/100
MP: 10/10
STA: 10/10
Level: 1
Strength: 10
Agility: 9
Endurance: 10
Intellect: 10
Charisma: 12
Luck: 15
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Awed
Affection: Worship lvl 1]
[Name: James Jones
Race: Human
Class: Open
Subclass: Open
HP: 42/42
MP: 13/13
STA: 6/6
Level: 1
Strength: 7
Agility: 6
Endurance: 6
Intellect: 13
Charisma: 8
Luck: 19
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Awed
Affection: Worship lvl 1]
[Name: Anthony Sabins
Race: Half-Human, Half-Beastman (Sage Monkey Clan)
Class: Open
Subclass: Open
HP: 72/72
MP: 30/30
STA: 9/9
Level: 1
Strength: 8
Agility: 8
Endurance: 9
Intellect: 30
Charisma: 20
Luck: 65
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Awed
Affection: Worship lvl 1]
Darius's eyes narrowed. It seemed Jeanne had really sent some good seedlings. This level of talent was not small at all, especially that Anthony.
Not even awakened, yet blessed with 30 points of Intellect. It was no wonder Darius could sense his mental power without even touching the boy. With Darius' teaching and resources, Anthony would have a smooth path on his way to become Grandmaster at the least.
As for the good-natured Ash, there was a 70% chance for him to reach the Grandmaster stage. The rest had varying chances to become Masters and less than 30% chance to become Grandmasters.
That was, of course, assuming that Darius remained at his current level and didn't acquire more CP to make more useful goods. Now, his 100 CP a day wasn't enough so he always transmuted some 99.9% diluted drop of Lunar Dew to CP, which gave him 200 a day.
There were just too many things for him to pump out. Since goods of Darius' quality could not be mass-produced, it meant he could only singularly pump them out on his own.
