"Ma-Master!"
"Hahaha."
I could see Arthur enjoyed this.
I didn't have any problem calling him whatever, as long as my work was being done.
I wasn't immature enough to miss my training because of such petty things.
And even if I had refused his orde—request, Arthur would still have had to train me.
He didn't have a choice in the matter.
But if calling him Master would make him happy, then I would gladly do so.
Not because of his happiness, but because a more friendly relationship would be beneficial for me.
A slave without a will isn't worth more than a dog.
I didn't need slaves.
What I wanted were people capable enough to think for themselves, and brave enough to question my decisions if the need arose.
Blind followers are useful only up to a certain extent.
And when you have ambitions of conquering the world, you need men like Arthur to have your back in the worst situations.
"Jokes aside."
Arthur wore a serious expression as he looked into my eyes.
"Mind telling me how you trained your mana control to such an insane level?"
"..."
"You don't have to lie about it. It's just that with this level of control, it's a shame you didn't train since childhood. Otherwise, you would already be at Diamond Core, on your way to breaking into the Immortal rank."
Haa…
I let my shoulders drop and relaxed my body.
There was no need for me to answer.
I could refuse to do so—after all, I was the boss here.
But…
One thing I knew about Arthur was that he was a very upright man.
Once he swore loyalty to someone, he would follow them through hell's doors.
And I couldn't possibly gain anything from keeping things hidden from my right hand.
"I performed an ancient ritual, which granted me this level of mana control," I told him.
"It also increased my potential to reach higher core ranks," I explained with indifference.
"And don't ask where I got the ritual from. I won't tell!"
Arthur just looked at me.
"And what did you exchange in return?"
"..."
I couldn't reply.
"You seriously want me to believe there were no conditions?!"
Sigh.
"I had to trade off the powers for something."
"Care to tell?"
"..."
"Uh… Okay, you don't have to tell me. Just stop giving me that look!"
What look?
I was just looking into his eyes.
This lunatic…
Does he have hallucinations?
Maybe…
"With this level of mana control, your training will become relatively faster. Aside from that, there's something else I wanted to ask."
Arthur took a deep breath, probably sorting his thoughts.
I knew where this was going.
"Did you feel any changes after killing the monsters?"
"My body feels a little stronger. I also feel like my mana reserves have increased."
"You do know that this isn't normal."
"Yes. Normally, I would have to cultivate to see any noticeable gains in my power. I wanted to ask you about the same thing."
Before I could speak further, Arthur raised his hand, and a faint pulse of mana was released through his fingertips.
Normally, I wouldn't have been able to notice such a thing.
But my inhumane mana control had drastically increased my sensitivity to the mana in my vicinity.
The mana turned into a thin barrier that surrounded us from all sides.
I gave Arthur a questioning look.
"It's a precaution. It won't be in our best interest if someone hears this conversation."
I sheathed the sword in my hand and closed my eyes to sort my thoughts.
"When I killed that wolf, I felt something entering my body. It directly reached my mana core and… fused with it."
Looking up at the sky, I inhaled sharply.
"The thing that entered my body felt more like the soul of the monster. It was like I was absorbing the monster itself. The feeling was both refreshing and… revolting."
Arthur raised a brow.
"Revolting in what sense?"
I took my time to find the right words.
"It was like I was doing something against the very fundamentals of life. Like I was being punished for going against the norms of nature."
Haa…
It really felt disgusting.
But I also couldn't ignore the euphoria derived from the increase in power.
Arthur held his chin in deep thought.
I didn't disturb him.
The air bristled around us.
After thinking for a while, Arthur cleared his throat.
"From what you said, I think the thing you absorbed was mana essence."
"..."
I knew what mana essence was.
And I couldn't believe I was able to absorb it from a monster, no less.
Mana essence is supposed to be original to each living creature's body.
It can't be utilized or harnessed by anyone aside from the host himself.
And if what Arthur said was right…
"From your expression, you seem to understand the complications of this ability of yours."
Ugh.
I didn't just understand it.
If the world found out about this ability, I could very well predict the consequences.
Every powerhouse would be out there to hunt me.
Either for morality—
Or simply for research.
Those crazy lunatics would dissect my body to try to replicate my ability to absorb mana essence from the creatures I killed.
This…
With my ability, cultivation would become far too easy for everyone.
Just by killing monsters, everyone would be able to level up.
And if I thought carefully—
Nothing could stop people from killing each other to gain more power.
Greed.
It was the most dangerous factor capable of stripping people of their rationality.
Even if not for research, all the major powers would see me as a monster who went against the very fundamentals of nature, thereby disturbing the balance.
They would call it a moral duty to execute me in order to maintain the balance of power in the world.
But I don't think death would be the end of me.
I would definitely end up as a lab rat, deprived of my status as a human.
Those hypocrites!!