The speed at which he was slaughtering through the Grimm horde was only increasing because Ardyn learned their attacking patterns pretty fast. With his experience in the art of combat gained through the assimilation of the Template, it wasn't challenging.
Most of the Grimm that were here were just something that was collectively called Minion-Grade Grimm. Apparently, the Creatures of Grimm were divided into several Grades based on their strength, attributes, and special abilities.
Beowolves were one of the weakest of the bunch, officially at the bottom of the hierarchy, and were comparable to the F-Rank Huntsman. Ursas and Sabyrs were comparable to the E-Rank Huntsman, something stronger, but nothing really serious or worrying for the current him.
Apparently, according to Maschenny, only the Grimms that were ranked at Commander-Grade and above possessed special abilities. Among the Grimms that were below that Grade, there were not many that were dangerous in terms of special abilities.
The others, below the Commander-Grade, were not that dangerous solo, aside from the Mutants or some exceptions. Mutants were another rare Class of Grimm, as they were the Grimm that mutated due to something and were much stronger than they should have been originally, according to their racial specialization.
Then again, it wasn't true that these weaker Grimms were not dangerous.
No...
The real danger of these ones comes from their numbers.
Even powerful Huntsmen, Mages included, could be swarmed to death by the endless hordes of the low-ranking Grimm if one didn't have some AOE ability to deal with large numbers of Grimm en masse.
Ardyn really didn't have, but the Armiger was working on a pretty similar principle, because through the conjured weapons, he could kill large numbers of Grimm at a staggering rate.
With the Armiger, he cut through the horde of the grimm with extreme ease, while at the same time, using the Device Rakshasa Blade to cut down any Grimm that was lucky to come close to him.
As he was killing the Grimm, Bastet was near him as she was sharing her own Magic with his own and helping him to control his Mana. At the same time, the female Gyrinx was also casting some rudimentary spells because she was a Pure-Blooded Elder Gyrinx, a species that preyed on all the Gyrinxes.
They could easily cast spells.
For the Pure-Blooded Elder Gyrinx, it was relatively easy to cast some Magic, as they inherently passed down bloodline memories with the Magic that was innate to their species.
Ardyn was using the Warp Magic like it was second nature to him, bolting across the battlefield, always targeting the Grimm that seemed to be strongest as he was killing those ones personally.
If there was some lucky creature that managed to land a hit on him, it was being blocked by his Aura, which was regenerating rather fast. He didn't really know what the standart regeneration rate for the Hutnsmen was, but he predicted that it must be pretty individual.
As the entire thing with the Aura was.
Furthermore, as much as Ardyn could see, there were no Alphas in the horde, only the average Grimm that posed no problem for him; thus, he decimated them all within the next twenty minutes as he killed more than 500 creatures of the darkness.
Maschenny's A-Ranked Pocket floated around Ardyn as it counted the Grimm he killed and recorded everything... he suppressed the urge to smash the thing apart, though he really doubted he could even achieve that.
The A-Rank Pockets were designed to withstand a lot... it wasn't something that he could destroy with his meager power... at least for the time being.
After he slayed the last of the Grimm, he immediately went to pick up those crystals that occasionally dropped after killing the Grimm. There were actually not a lot of them, as the overall number was no more than sixty; most of them came from the Beowolves, while the rest came from the Ursas and Sabyrs.
Ardyn looked at the crystals in his hands as he showed them to the Pocket, which, to his surprise, actually started scanning the items in his hands.
[42 Beowolf Nuclei Detected. Price per Unit according to the approximate market price: 50,000 Lien.]
[8 Ursa Nuclei Detected. Price per Unit according to the approximate market price: 200,000 Lien.]
[10 Sabyr Nuclei Detected. Price per Unit according to the approximate market price: 240,000 to 280,000 Lien.]
Ardyn didn't really know if that was a lot or not, nor did he know how much Lien was actually worth. He would need to learn that later, but overall, he was pretty satisfied with the number of zeroes at the end of those numbers.
He then dispersed the Device and stored the Grimm Nuclei in his Dimensional Storage before returning to the cavern.
"You returned faster than I thought... and your Aura is almost intact, and by the way, it was a good fight."
Maschenny commented as if she already anticipated this outcome, though he couldn't really tell if she knew that he would win or if she was just betting on it. Either way, slaughtering one's way through the horde of more than five hundred Grimm wasn't something that D-Rank Huntsmen could usually do.
"Now that we are safe... for some time, care to explain some things to me that I am too lazy to search through on that fancy shmancy device?"
He asked her much to her irritation, because he would ask mundane things, and she would answer, but that was his way of probing for information and analyzing her personality to learn more about her.
Ardyn Izunia was a notorious schemer who plunged the entire world into war and managed to rise to the position of Chancellor of the Niflheim Empire. After Maschenny explained to him the value of the Nuclei that he obtained and the value of the currency, he was pretty satisfied.
It seemed that his initial guess was right, and the buying strength of the Lien was high. Well, it was a global currency, because apparently all nations in the world used this currency for several centuries already for much easier commerce.
Only some really distant settlements that were not located on the four major continents did not use Lien; instead, they used raw materials as currency and operated on the principles of exchange and barter.
"Also, with the number of the Grimm you killed, you are guaranteed to obtain the citizenship of the Dominion and also apply for the 3rd degree of Knighthood, the Grand Knight Title... if you were stronger, then you could apply for the Castellan Title, if we consider the fact that you technically speaking saved my life."
Ardyn and Maschenny were talking about various things, though it was mostly her trying to recruit him for the Atlesian Dominion. The Dominion's lowest noble title was Knighthood, divided into the three degrees.
1st-degree Knighthood = Esquire
2nd-degree Knighthood = Knight
3rd-degree Knighthood =Grand Knight
Obtaining even one of them was apparently extremely arduous, as Maschenny admitted that, when it came to the nobiltiy titles, the Atlas was strictest among the existing kingdoms. Even when compared to the nations that were destroyed, they would still rank in the top in this aspect.
At the same time, though, the privileges that they got were also pretty enticing.
Above the Knighthood, there were the Lesser Houses, which were two Ranks.
Castellan = Basically a person who could construct a Castle on the Solitas and lord over it, and then above the Castellan were the Lords. It was basically an upgraded Castellan, as the Lords could open an entire territory around their Castle and lord over villages and towns as long as they had the capability to protect said territory.
Ardyn didn't really think about the place where he would settle, as it was already a rather complicated topic. At first, he wanted to gather enough information about the various kingdoms to help him decide which one was best suited for a quick rise in power and social hierarchy.
"How would the other nations compare? And please give me a version without the recruitment ads and try to be objective."
He was rather curious, because he learned a great deal about the Atlesian Dominion over the course of an hour or so that they spent together. Obviously, he preferred a version of the story that wouldn't include her nationalism or her efforts to stay in the Dominion.
It was rather entertaining to see the kind of face she was making right now, because she wasn't really most pleased about it.
"Every kingdom has or sometimes in its past had its own speciality. The Dominion is stronger in the aspects of Military, Magic, and Aura research and advancements, and we are also the source of the world's technological prowess. Empire of Mistral, on the other hand, has a very extensive culture of the Martial Arts and Aura Cultivation that is the highest in the world, yet the Empire is notoriously unstable. Right now, the Imperial Clan, while in name, rules the continent of Anima; in reality, it rules only its Capital. Rest is under the control of Grand Clans, Sects, and occasionally independent factions that declared semi-idependence from the wider Empire."
Ardyn listened with eagerness because the more he learned about the current state of the world, the better it was for him. Hearing about the state of the Empire of Mistral, he knew that this country could be a good place to rise to a real position of power.
Albeit one needed to consider the potential dangers of such a thing.
This was something where the risks were very high, and he wasn't really willing to take them, considering his strength, which he found inadequate.
"Well, I think that I will pass on this one... it seems to be pretty problematic either way, though it speaks a lot about the incompetence of the Imperial Clan to allow something like this to happen."
Ardyn stated as she just nodded in agreement.
"Then there is the Sultanate of Vacuo... more problematic country because the consecutive generations of weak Sultans have resulted in a state similar to that in the Mistral, with the only exception... in Mistral, the Grand Clans and Sects are rather contemptuous in maintaining the status quo. In the Sultanate, they are openly fighting for the throne of the Sultan, with the Asturiases leading the biggest faction. On the side note, the entire country is disgustingly hot and covered in dunes and deserts..."
He also heard from her that the Vacuo was a notoriously reclusive nation, and that it was pretty hard to get in and out, given all the other factors. He noticed the particular situation between the kingdoms, as neither of the four really liked each other, while some were already on the verge of falling apart.
"And the Vale?"
Even according to the booklet that he received as a free gift from Murasaki, he knew that Vale was the second strongest of the Kingdoms. Vale and Vacuo were both located on the same continent, Sanus.
Yet the Kingdom of Vale occupied much larger territory than the Vacuo, as well as the best territory in the entire continent. Contrary to the dunes and sands of Vacuo, most of the Vale was covered by green, lush forests, landscapes, and high mountains full of ores...
One could say that it was the best continent for building civilization here.
"Inbred, stuck-up cowards. Officially, the second strongest kingdom with very long traditions of Aristocracy, for what they are the most famous, but at the same time, it has become their greatest weakness, because it led them to enormous corruption and internal problems. Most of their nobiltiy in the past centuries gained too much power, and the Royal House of Ozymandias cannot really suppress them like they could have done more than three centuries ago. Atlas and Vale don't really get along, especially in the past hundred years, the relationship between the two nations has reached rock bottom, and if not for the threat of Grimm, we would already be waging war on each other."
Maschenny summarized the situation in the four kingdoms as Ardyn pondered that remaining within the Dominion was probably the best course of action for the time being.
Considering everything that she said, it was still the most stable nation, and most importantly, even though it was socially the strictest and was extremely militaristic, there were a lot of opportunities to climb through the social ladder thanks to this.
"Well then..."
They spoke for another one and a half hours about various things in the Remnant, as he was rather surprised that she was pretty patient and actually explained everything that he was asking about.
He also learned that the situation of the faunus was worse than he thought, because most of their species had only two fates. Either try their luck and escape to the Menagerie, or live as a slave or pseudo-slave within one of the four kingdoms.
Empire of Mistral, Atlesian Dominion, and Sultanate of Vacuo openly practised slavery on faunus, with the Dominion allowing them to leave the Dominion if they killed a ridiculous amount of Grimm and paid thousands of Grimm Nuclei to redeem themselves.
Only Vale was treating them as 3rd-rate citizens, but even that wasn't really any better than the other ones.
Going to Mengaries wasn't any win either, because that place was even more inhospitable than Vacuo, had a lot of Grimm and pretty powerful and dangerous local Beasts.
The majority of the faunus population still lived in the territory of the four kingdoms, as their ranks and numbers were culled after their attempt at the revolution.
Ardyn personally didn't really care about it... Someone who had two thousand years worth of memories and who almost destroyed the entire civilization certainly didn't care about some slaves.
And his memories as Sirius Grey weren't that much better, actually.
In the end, like most of the humans, faunus could be just a useful tool, if he found any that had potential. But overall, he was certainly pretty much indifferent to their race as a whole.
"And what about faunus? How do they fare against the kingdoms?"
Maschenny mentioned them only a little bit, and Ardyn suspected that it was because they were practically of no interest to them.
"The animals? I don't really pay attention to them, as they are weak... It's somewhat loss because before the Culling, they had a pretty solid power base and even had one Holy Saint, though the Culling destroyed their entire society and culture. What remains now is on Menagerie... but going there as a human is nothing short of suicide."
Maschenny wore a genuinely confused expression when she spoke about the faunus, but contrary to his expectation, Ardyn didn't detect any disgust or outright hatred...
There were only two or three certain emotions when she spoke about them, ones that he was pretty familiar with.
Amusement and indifference.
Though it was surprising that Fanus had Holy Saint among their ranks. According to Maschenny, the Holy Saints were Limit Saints, but in both Aura and Magic, and they were extremely powerful beings.
"You don't seem to hate them..."
It wasn't really a question but more like a statement, to which she actually nodded.
"They are not important enough to warrant any emotions in my opinion... well, what the general public isn't really aware of, is that during the Culling, the Great Families saw it to personally crippling their future. All fanunus Magic Lineages were killed till the last newborn, and their Legacies were taken by us. Even if some super genius appeared among their ranks... it would be nigh impossible to even reach the level where they once were, not to mention the level where they could threaten humanity."
He wasn't really surprised hearing that, though he was surprised by another thing entirely.
"Won't you get into trouble for spreading information like this? Should it be... like suppose secret?"
She actually chuckled in amusement, hearing the question.
"No... this is also something that everyone among the Great Families is aware of, and in some circles it's very well-known information. And even if it got out, what could happen? You think those animals would be able to do something or their sympathizers?"
The Great Families were the ones that led the events of the Culling. Maschenny knew that, partially, it was because of the mess that faunus created with their attempted revolution, and partially because they wanted to obtain their heritage.
The knowledge, artifacts, resources, and everything that belonged to the strongest and oldest faunus Tribes. Everything that belonged to them was then divided between the ones who orchestrated the Culling.
The Great Families.
A term that Ardyn grew increasingly familiar with.
Mostly thanks to Maschenny here, who told him a lot of things.
Things that he really thought she shouldn't be talking about, but if there was one thing that he noticed, it was that she was extremely heavy and liked to create chaos.
"Sympathizers?"
He parroted the world, as it seemed that not everyone was united on the "Faunus Final Solution" as he called it.
"Not a lot... but among humanity, many were and still are sympathizing with the Faunus and think that they were right in their struggle. Most don't even know the full truth behind the Culling... not like I know it too..."
Hearing that made Ardyn frown heavily at the sheer stupidity.
"Ideals don't determine who's right... Power determines who's right."
Maschenny's eyes narrowed, hearing that, because she actually very much approved of the sentence and its meaning.
"Khun Family, Aire Family, Po Bidau Family, Schnee Family from Atlas. Nikos Family, Imperial Qin Clan, Ha Family and Ari Family from Mistral. Roselia Family, Eurasia Family, Royal House of Ozymandias, and Tu Perie Family from Vale. Hendo Lok Family, Yeon Family, and Asturias Family of Vacuo. They were the main perpetrators of the Culling, as it was a tacit understanding that the powerful fanus species could never be allowed to grow once again."
He could sense the tone of finality from her voice, which was rather interesting... in fact, Ardyn found the entire concept of Culling rather intriguing. However, he could clearly see that even if nothing like the Faunus Revolution happened, the Great Families would have found another reason for the Culling.
Greed was a great motivator.
Power even greater.
Yet even Maschenny didn't know the reason behind the Culling aside from the official ones written in history books, but even he knows that those are just nonsense.
"Strong live, weak perish... the eternal cycle of the civilizations. How poetic..."
Ardyn actually understood the principle...