Zatiel and Rax were in front of nine big eggs that were the size of an adult man. Zatiel was using his consciousness to investigate the condition of the creatures inside and the chip's abilities for a more detailed inspection.
Shiyu's transformation went without a problem. After making sure the new Neo-Demon had acclimated to her form, Zatiel didn't waste time and came to inspect the drones that Tao has created during his time here. As he assessed them, he directed his attention to the small dog sleeping next to the area where the infants reside, with his belly up and his tongue out of his mouth.
Seeing the small dog in this position broke Zatiel's concentration, making him laugh, but shaking his head, he focused as he spoke to Rax.
"Did you obey my command and make sure to collect information about Tao's ability to create drones and his changes in this couple of years?"
One of the reasons why Zatiel let Tao here, was that he needed a safe place where he could practice his abilities freely. There was someone who could keep an eye on him at all times. Since the small dog enjoys spending all of his time playing with those newborn Neo-Demon, this was a scenario that benefits everyone.
"Yes, Ancestor, I and a select group were always taking turns so Tao could be watched at all times. By what we were able to collect, the small dog spends most of his time playing and eating normal food, his intelligence seems to be increasing at a slow but steady rate. As for his personality, let's just say he is curious," When Rax reached the last part, on his face a look of frustration and resignation could be seen.
When Tao plays with the children, there is no problem. Still, whenever the dog sees something that calls his attention like someone using a spell that generates light or fire, or they are practicing martial techniques, he always runs to them and starts to meddle and interfere with their training. Since everybody knows how special he is to Zatiel, they can't do anything else, but go with the flow and entertain the small dog.
Rax has tried to communicate with the Tao to see if he could change this behavior since he was already able to understand words. But unfortunately for the kobold, whenever they talk, the dog always keeps looking at him with a confused expression, leaving the 4 meters tall draconic warrior powerless against the thirty-centimeter dog.
Zatiel saw Rax's expression, but chose not to comment, since he also didn't have a way of handling the dog, at least not without harming him.
"How has his abilities to absorb matter and create drones have developed?"
"Tao can communicate when he wants to activate his swallowing ability. It seems to have control over what he wishes to affect. By your instructions, we have only given him corpses from rank 1 creatures, and he has been able to create a total of 9 drones. As you can see, they remain in their eggs. Although they are not moving, they are alive in some sort of hibernation state," Rax has been very diligent with this task taking into consideration the smallest detail.
Zatiel nodded. Since he had already checked every egg, he put his hand on one. He activated the necromancy spell that will generate a false consciousness in the drone.
"Animate dead!"
"Give me the specifics about his swallowing and the time it takes to create a drone," Zatiel split his mind, so he could work on the drones and hear Rax simultaneously.
"The amount it can swallow seems to be limited not by the mass of the object, but by the amount of energy inside them. The first time it was the body of an Early Rank 1 Magic Creature and one peak Rank 0, but the last one was created using two Early Rank 1. During the drone creation process, it seems like he is unable to activate his ability again, and those strange inscriptions appear on his stomach. The time it takes to create a drone diminishes with every time he creates, even though the energy used is higher. His defensive abilities seem to be increasing as well, but his strength remains the same."
Zatiel was satisfied with the report and had an idea of how the power of Tao worked and the path of development for him.
"The first egg contains a drone with the power of a Novice Rank 1 Magus and the last that was created of the Advanced level. But unfortunately, that is just the amount of energy in their bodies. Their actual fighting power in less as they are not able to act without command and the pseudo-consciousness I can develop for the moment are extremely basic. Since they have no soul, they can't improve their power by themself. Still, since they are meant to be meat shields from the beginning, it will suffice with their capability," Zatiel's disregard for these creatures may seem cold. Still, he was old enough to be able to see beyond their appearance and treat them by what they really are, weapons not different that the automaton he once fought.
Rax agreed with Zatiel, as he was more than willing to sacrifice every single one of these drones if it meant protecting the lives of Neo-Demons, but he was also doubtful about their strength.
"Ancestor, if I may ask, why the Werewolf was able to achieve the current level of power, but these drones are so weak," Rax looked at the only drone outside their egg that seems like a statue at the entrance of the cave.
"There were some special conditions in his creation as the material he was made of were all of a rare heritage. Hence his outstanding capabilities despite using the energy of corpses long dead. Trying to replicate that scenario is not practical, so we will use quantity over quality and develop Tao abilities systematically. Continue giving him only corpses, as I don't currently have the facilities to assess the creation of a drone that will form though individuals with souls."
The ability to create drones through great amounts of energy and corpses of different species is something a great number of creatures in the universe can do, and actually, Zatiel has plans for one of those life forms in the future. But if Tao is able to fuse different souls into a single entity, it could create greed even in Law Beings.
Not everything was good, as there were several dangers. If the creature was able to develop a consciousness, it could act hostile, so for the time being, he will only create soulless drones.
"I will follow your command Ancestor."
Zatiel finished creating the last pseudo-consciousness and started to do a more thorough assessment of the Neo-Demons present.
"What is the current military might of the race?"
Since he had Rax, Zatiel would not waste his time sending his consciousness from one individual to the other.
"Including the newborns, the number of Neo-Demons is 145, from them nineteen are at rank 1, but only Kylo and I were able to assimilate Rank 4 bloodlines, the rest has a Rank 3 and their power is around 20% less than my son and me. Sixty-four have reached the peak of rank 0, and from them, 29 have already mastered their Rank Spell but are waiting to enhance their blood more through atavism, or else they run the risk of assimilating a Rank 2 bloodline. The rest of the adults are not very far behind as we consume a great number of powerful creatures we hunt, and as you commanded, we only target those that are very far away from the cave," Rax spoke in a calm voice, but pride was evident on his face. Before, just having someone at the peak of Rank 0 was something everybody in the tribe would celebrate, but now reaching Rank 1 was a given, and they were improving every day.
"How are things going with reproduction, and what information you have been able to collect?"
Zatiel looked in the direction where a group of draconic babies was playing and at which, five adults at the peak of rank 0 were keeping an eye.
Despite the fact they were so young and barely 50 centimeters tall, every one of them has the physical prowess to smash a Warrior of the mortal world into pulp, as inside their small hearts was a chaotic core improving them.
"As you requested, having children has been supported, and 34 babies have been born. The gestation is of 10 months, and it seems like the infant stage of the kobold branch of our race ends at three years old, and around five, they should be able to start rigorous training. The strength with which they are born varies depending on the power of the parents, for those who are at Rank 1, their sons are born at the Middle Rank 0 Neo-Demon, as for the rest, their children are at the Early Rank 0 Neo-Demon. Also, all those newborns have an enhanced bloodline from the beginning so even if they don't train in atavism, they should obtain a Rank 2 bloodline in their assimilation."
Rax was thrilled with this task. Previously, since they were so weak, having children only was allowed if you were strong enough, and the number of infants at the same time could not be high as they were a burden for the resources of the tribe. But now having babies was something that was rewarded and promoted, and every time he saw those small smiling faces, he laughed from happiness and was sure that they must follow the Ancestor no matter what, a feeling that was shared by all the kobolds.
"They have the heritage of metallic dragons from their parent running through their bodies, and this can be used to create the bloodline heart, so unless they are able to get the blood of a Rank 5 or above life form, they should stick with their own or else they lose the capacity of using atavism techniques," Zatiel spoke as he sends his consciousness to the babies that were looking it his direction with sparkling eyes and happy faces, making him smile and show warmth in his eyes.
Rax nodded and made an annotation in his mind to speak to those children and their parents later when he saw Zatiel throw a spatial ring to him.
"Inside the ring, there is an immense amount of high energy food that should last for a couple of years. Since you and Kylo have a Rank 4 bloodline, each of you is rewarded with twenty percent. For the rest, your job is to organize a competition that will be divided into two categories, one for those at Rank 1 and the other for Rank 0.
"It will be a one on one battle between the participants, where the top five of Rank 1 will get nine percent of the food each, and the top ten of Rank 0 will get 1.5 percent each. Since it is a battle, injuries cannot be avoided, but intentionally harming or continuing attacking a defeated opponent is considered going against my will."
When Zatiel says the last part, he gives Rax a meaningful glare.
"I understand Ancestor, your will is the will of the race, and going against it means death!"
To Rax, Zatiel was the deity that fulfilled his dreams and protects the one he loves, so if anyone dared to go against him, even if it was the members of his race, he would not hesitate to tear them apart.
"The strength of our race will come from their ability to act as a single entity under my command, anyone that refuses that will be extinguished," Zatiel was extremely satisfied with the reaction of Rax, as he felt the loyalty of the kobold that ran as deep in his soul.
When everything was resolved, and after playing a couple of hours with Tao, Zatiel returned to the tower.
'I have handled all of my concerns, now I must use every minute I have to enhance my power and runemaster skills.'