'Why would I receive such useless memories? I don't need the wicked Spear Arts…' Michael grumbled.
'I won't use it, so why give me these memories in the first place?'
Michael figured that the white wisp had been Fenrir's extracted memories. While that was an interesting piece of information since it told Michael that he could expand his knowledge by killing other intelligent beings and extracting their memories, which would in turn allow him to expand his knowledge easily, he was more focused on the content of the memories.
'There is not much about Fenrir's life to gauge from the memories. Only certain encounters, his practice of the wicked Spear Arts, and his hunting experience as an Archer make up for most of them. His Divine Eyes Soultrait was perfect for becoming an archer, that's for sure,' Michael thought while digesting the first chunk of memories.
Even if he was to rush his mind, digesting all memories would require quite a while. However, they had no more time to waste.
"Dispose of Fenrir's body, please. If you want to, you can use his body to bait Monsters close to the protection barrier and attack them. You can use the silver spear and you're also a 1st Tier Battle Maid, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue," Michael instructed before he thought about something. He then carefully added, "I will follow you later after I finish summoning new subjects."
It was about time to get his territory rolling, increase the number of his people and start for real. They had more than enough time to get going with seven hours of sunlight left, and it would be wasteful not to use them.
Tiara didn't hesitate and responded instantaneously to his command. She bowed to her Master and grasped the silver spear with her right hand before dragging Fenrir's body through the clearing with her left.
Michael felt a little cruel throwing the first ancestor's body out of the protection barrier to turn him into Monster bait, but it was self-explanatory why Fenrir's body had to be disposed of. His first impression of the new subjects wouldn't necessarily be good if they were to see Fenrir's corpse. Michael took several more factors into consideration and chose to dispose of Fenrir's body right in the heart of the territory of ferocious Monsters.
He was not proud of his decision, but it was the best he could think of considering his current situation.
'I am pretty lucky with Tiara…her Link of Loyalty is strong, and she didn't question me even after I gave her the orders,' Michael thought as he retrieved all summoning scrolls and summoning scroll fragments from his War Rune.
He had 73 summoning scroll fragments, which transformed into two ordinary summoning scrolls, leaving him with 23 fragments. He lacked two summoning scroll fragments to create a third summoning scroll.
With the new addition of summoning scrolls, Michael now possessed a dozen ordinary summoning scrolls and a Tracker summoning scroll.
He ripped the scrolls' seals one after another and threw them in the air when he reached the Summoning Gate. The summoning scrolls unfolded before they shot inside the Summoning Gate.
The energy pool inside the Summoning Gate rippled while the outlines of 11 people formed. There was no brightly shining star which meant that the 11 individuals were all starless summons.
Only a few seconds passed but the starless summons emerged from the energy pool. They were wearing ordinary clothes and didn't look anything special. Amongst the 11 summons, seven were men and four were women. This ratio was fairly good for Michael's purpose. After all, he was in dire need of strong laborers right now.
After the starless summons emerged from the Summoning Gate, one of the stars etched on the Gate's metallic surface began to shine brightly. A 1-Star Summon stepped out of the energy pool, greeting his Lord with a light bow.
The 1-Star Summon's clothes were no different than the 11 starless Summons, but that was not something Michael paid any attention to.
'A young man with a skinny physique...he is definitely no warrior,' Michael figured, while giving him a slight nod. His attention had never completely drifted from the Summoning Gate, so he smiled when two additional stars began to shine brightly, indicating the birth of a 3-Star Summon.
That was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. He knew that Specific Summoning Scrolls couldn't be starless summons. Thus, Michael expected the Tracker to be a 1-Star, or 2-Star summon at most. Of course, he wouldn't reject a 3-Star Tracker. It was a great gift, which he welcomed with open arms.
The Tracker stepped out of the energy pool without hesitation. She took note of Michael and bowed deeply. Michael reciprocated the greeting and observed her from head to toe for a moment.
'She is very athletic, wears better clothes than the others, and her eyes are sharper as well. She is a good summon,' Michael summarized, nodding his head faintly.
He gathered the 13 new subjects, cleared his throat, and smiled lightly.
"My name is Michael Fang, and I am the Lord of this territory. I summoned you because I need your help in creating a place where everyone can feel at home. This will require lots of effort, and I hope that everyone can diligently work toward the same end goals- our survival, and to pave a way to live a prosperous life!" He gave a short introductory speech covering the key points and welcomed his new subjects.
Just when he closed his mouth, Michael recalled something so he added as an afterthought, "It would help if you could introduce yourselves and tell me what job you pursued in the past. That way, I can make sure that I won't assign you to work that doesn't suit you!"
Currently, the Links of Loyalty were forged between Michael and his Summons. He could clearly feel the 13 new links, which gave him a rough understanding of the Summons' strength and how they felt right now. Their emotions were a mess and they looked confused, but they didn't seem completely clueless.
The Tracker was the most composed, but that was what Michael had expected from her. It told him that the Will of the Origin Expanse provided her with more pieces of information before she was summoned than those of a lower star rating.
"My name is Blaire Tracer, but you can just call me Tracer. That was my title, either way. I am 20 years old and a Tracker, and I worked for the Logorian Empire before I was killed during a suicidal mission," The Tracker, Blaire Tracer, introduced herself. She sounded calm and didn't seem to be upset about her past, or the fact that she died and that she was resurrected.
This impressed Michael quite a bit.
"M-m-my name is Williams Heart, I am 18 years old, and an Architect Apprentice. I died…do I really have to say it…my Lord?" The young boy, the 1-Star Summon, introduced himself, or he was trying to before he began to tremble like a leaf caught in a storm.
"It is more than enough if you tell me your name and state your line of work in the past. I won't force you to tell me more, even if I am curious about everyone's past," Michael said in a gentle tone.
Williams sighed in relief and bowed deeply to his Lord. Michael continued to smile before he diverted his attention to the other new subjects. Their stiff expressions mirrored the turmoil in their minds. They had yet to fully comprehend what had happened, and Michael gave them the time they needed to put two and two together.
In the next ten minutes, the remaining starless summons introduced themselves one by one after overcoming their initial hesitation. It helped a lot that Michael didn't push anyone and that he remained patient with them. Everyone could clearly tell that the Link of Loyalty artificially enhanced their loyalty, but it was also apparent that their Lord was not a bad guy. He was giving his best.
Thus, they listened intently as Michael explained what their tasks were for the rest of the day.
He retrieved a blueprint from his War Rune and handed it to Williams Heart, "I am not sure if you have experience in overseeing a construction site, but I believe that you can do it. Just give your best!"
Williams' hand began to shake upon retrieving the treehouse complex blueprint. He trembled while inspecting the blueprint, feeling nervous and not confident enough to live up to the trust his Lord gave him unconditionally.
"I…I will try my best!" He stammered, which was enough for Michael. He gave him a thumbs up and took a deep breath.
'Step one completed. Now let's see how we can help Tiara,' Michael thought, feeling that it was about time for him to actively participate in the hunts.
He represented his territory and he had to become stronger to make sure that his subjects could look up to him and rely on him even in testing times.
Being a Lord was not easy, but Michael never expected it to be, in the first place. He knew that it would be hard to become a good Lord, however, he was ready to give his best.
That was the least he could do.
'Step two, here I go!'
