As we walked to my room, I felt the little peaks he'd take at me. It didn't bother me much seeing as I knew he was curious about the bone that protruded out of my tail, and as he was deeply afraid of me. I didn't pay any attention to him, instead of wanting him to sit in confusion and anguish. When we reached my room, I told him to carry out the orders I gave him.
Though his face showed how confused and conflicted he was I felt that by not saying anything id solidifies his dedication to me, appearing as an all-knowing leader is far better when no one believes in you.
It's strange as I stopped right before entering my room and thought "If hed simply stopped and thought any of this through hed see that I had no cards to play if he didn't get any of the supplies I asked for I truly had no clue on how id acquire them other than leveling up and buying skills from the system but how would I level up if I had no weapons." But before he could leave I stopped him.
"You said something about the queen or king giving me a name?"
"Yes the queen names firstborn of every generation, but I believe in this case she will name you and the king."
"No enough of that I wish no to be named… ill choose my own name. From now on my name is Meruem."
He stood and stared at me in aww as though I was some kind of god, I could hear his heart beating faster and faster. He was conflicted about whether or not the king could be truly greater than me. At least that's what I assumed.
"Forgive me Meruem but could I ask you a question."
I said nothing and simply waited for him to build up the courage to speak, I wanted every action he took around me to feel dire and heart wrenching.
"Wh wh why are your eyes constantly closed?"
"Because I need not use my eyes to see. No I need not use such trivial things."
After saying that I walked into my room and quickly covered my mouth, I tried holding back my laughter. Every cell in my body yelled out in joy and happiness, it works perfectly everything worked as planned, with this when I finally managed to leave the cave and go hunting ill return with a large amount of food that I could then use to tempt my fellow Intecqus into joining me.
You see I've already told them all that I wasn't a kind benevolent ruler, who would feed everyone no I told them only those that work get the honor of eating. So, when I leave the cave and return with large amounts of food, that I will, of course, refuse to share with them, seeing as they didn't work. They will be forced to either starve while waiting for the king or join me and do as I say.
After that initial burst of laughter, I decided to continue practicing with a sword and do some shadow boxing. My body was swift and monstrously fast though thinking back on the scene at the dining room, I saw many Intecqus stronger than me. This isn't enough" I thought while intensifying my sword techniques including my tail in the combo attacks. This went on for days, as I stayed inside my room waiting for Viticus to return.
After some time I dropped down to a meditating pose, using my tail to keep me off the ground. The hunger for blood started to increase in me, as I could hear the blood coursing through the veins of many Intecqus nearby.
"system is this going to be the case for others of my generation?"
[No host many things changed when your soul entered this body. while the others of your generation use blood as a substitute for food. As in they drink it and gain nourishment but can also just eat to do the same. You seem to have become a vampire-like species in which you need to feast on blood to function. And what your experiencing now Is your body telling you that you are currently hungry.]
I nearly laughed out loud, I continued meditating deciding that I wouldn't be bested by such an animalistic desire like hunger. After some time, I managed to fend off hunger but I still felt hunger pains. As I got up I continued my sword practice, when that felt adequate enough I began brainstorming a way to train my soldiers when I acquired them. "maybe I should go the roman legion way our the horn technique from Shaka Zulu."
I knew I wanted to create different divisions, military, agriculture, finance, science, and exploration. Though creating each will require time and most likely besting the queen and her king soon to be born. Shit, I don't have time to be daydreaming about things ill do when I win, I must first win.
I went back to practicing sword fighting, but how silly of me it seems that by practicing sword fighting I've leveled up "hand mastery" to level 2. "is that why everything suddenly felt easier?" I wondered while moving on to bone manipulation. Trying hard to force a larger bone to come out of my palm.
...
Its been about a week but it seems Viticus is back and he's coming with lots of men each holding things that look to be what I asked for. Before he could knock, I opened the door, to see his look of shock.
"Hello, Meruem, I have succeeded in bringing you all that you asked for."
He said this while holding back a large smile on his face, it was as clear as day that acquiring these things required a lot of effort on his part. Though I knew better than to show him any emotions. This must appear to be nothing more than a small step in my plans and him nothing more than a small piece of it.
"Which one of these men will be my personal tutor?"
I asked not even paying attention to the men holding large futuristic machinery. Instead, I intensified my focus on the long bone protruding out of my hand. I could see the looks of aw on each of their faces, but I paid it no mind.
"He's here Meruem. This one they call him Za,coken. A master of the duel and single swords. also, blunt weapons."
Za,coken was quite the sight to behold. Seeing as he had four long arms with two completely black eyes that sat right in the middle of his face, with a serpent-like nose and a mouth that appeared to be similar to my generation seeing as it was filled with razor-sharp teeth. He was nearly completely bald excerpt for a few spike-like things running vertically down his head, they appeared to be something used for sensing his surroundings. But I couldn't be completely sure. Also, he had a body that looked to have an extremely thick skin covering it giving him a bulky hulk-like appearance, add his sheer monstrous size and you'd have to wonder just have strong the Intecqu species gets.
Za,coken looked to be a broken man seeing as he had scars all over his face, and I assumed body. but he was covered in armor. He had dead unfeeling eyes and arms with razer like fingernails that gave him a feeling of being bred for war.
"Za,coken you shall be my sparring partner from now on. To everyone else set up the equipment along the walls and place the wood in a pile in the right corner furthest back. As for you Viticus, you are to go out among our fellow Intecqus and see what condition they are in. Ask around for those that wish to join my hunt, oh and make sure to inform them that those who do not work don't eat. We need to spread that philosophy around.
I wasn't shy about wanting to spread my philosophy around though it was counter to cultural customs of the Intecqu species it was more than necessary for what I had planned. I could tell from the look on his face that he didn't want to do it, but also that he was happy to finally have something to do. A path to follow, not just sitting around waiting for the queen to give birth to her king or die trying.
After some time of watching everyone set things up, I noticed Za,coken starring at me. Not with eyes of amazement or confusion but instead, it was clear he was wondering if I was strong. "sizing up the new generation huh" I thought while turning towards him.
"Za,coken come here. I wish to speak with you."
The idea came to my mind suddenly, "if I could have a warrior like Za,coken join with me" then I feel as though taking this place over will be something quite simple. Though watching him struggle trying to decide what to do was quite interesting. As I starred at him unflinching, he walked over to me, clearly embarrassed that id call to him like that. But I didn't care as far as I was concerned Za,coken would be my first true recruit and it all lied in breaking apart his pride first verbally then physically.
"Tell my Za,coken are you like all the others desperately waiting for a king to come and swoop you off your feet? Saving you from the cold scary world. That mommy has deemed too harsh for you."