Suffering an instant defeat, Hano Berkley lifelessly stepped out of the battle. All of the color on his face had been drained, making him look as if he was a paper doll.
Aectaeon, in the meantime, decided to have a talk with his Demons.
"Yvettrimeqh, Ixshellivarre, Acxsyortlnmir, you three have done a great job." He said as he gave each of them a pat on the head.
He wanted to give himself a pat on the head as well, feeling proud that he had pronounced their names right.
Since they were all similar in appearances to Thyr, Aectaeon saw view them as little children. The main difference they had with Thyr was only their skin colors. Yvettrimeqh had a porcelain white skin, similar to the surface of a pearl. Ixshellivarre's was dark blue, like the ocean during the night. And lastly, Acxsyortlnmir's skin was almost that of a human's.
"I'll be returning the three of you to the portal, so please have a good rest. I might summon you again later. I'm planning to battle as many players as I can while I'm here."
{-{ "Meister Igor, it won't be a problem for us Demons to be called over and over again." }-}
Yvettrimeqh titled its head to the side as the panel did the work of showing its message.
Aectaeon crouched down and gestured for them to approach him. The three Demons did so in a heartbeat, lending their full attention to their Meister.
"But the longer you're outside the portal, the more that your HPs are reduced. Am I correct? You all share the same lifelines with me. As long as I know that you're all doing well, I can battle with anyone."
The man gave the Demons a smile. It didn't take the Demons long before their mouths curved up, mimicking their Meister's show of delight.
However, the moment that Aectaeon stood up, the three Demons erased the expression on their faces. There were some Meisters who tried to meet their gazes, but they paid them no heed.
They were not worth their attention.
{-{ "Meister Igor, we'll see you later." }-}
The three Demons showed their farewell in unison. Aectaeon wasted no second in activating the command to open their portals.
Once he was done, Aectaeon raised his head and saw that there was already another Meister for him to battle.
'Now that's what I call fast.'
Aectaeon stretched his limbs, his back, and his neck. He then cracked his knuckles and jumped a few times to pump himself up. The instant he was finished, faced the enemy Meister, giving them a nod thereafter.
"Shall we start?"
~~~
The man monotonously went through every battle with the other Meisters.
He didn't care enough to memorize the names of the Meisters he had battled. Rather than the Meisters, he wanted to memorize the names of all the Demons in his portal.
Aectaeon made sure that he didn't call the same Demon in a row. He desired to meet every single Demon under his care to be better acquainted with them. Not to mention, he believed that they would feel suffocated if he didn't summon them once in a while.
As of the moment, Aectaeon had just finished a battle. Before proceeding with the next battle, he let out a shallow grunt.
'Just how many times should I do this again? 100? And how many have I finished? 33? 34? Or perhaps, 35?'
{{ Time Limit: 00 D: 10 H ; 01 M ; 00 S }}
{{ Number of Battles Won: 37 }}
'I've wasted more time than expected. Why is it that these Meisters insist on talking to me? Can't they see that I don't want to talk?'
Aectaeon should have known that there weren't many opportunities for the Meisters to get acquainted with a Mentor. The benefit that most of them sought was the recommendation that a Meister could give them to fast-track their promotion.
Unfortunately for them, Aectaeon had no plans of doing that.
"Can you please give me a moment? I would just like to take a rest." Aectaeon told the other Meister.
"Sure, take your time!"
This time, it was a woman that Aectaeon was facing. However, compared to the men he had just battled, she gave the impression that she was an excellent Meister.
'What 'take your time'? That's going to be trouble for me.' Aectaeon then sighed, taking a stand shortly afterward.
The man put his hands inside his pockets, uttering, "Please initiate the battle."
"Yes!" The woman answered giddily.
Her voice that was almost a squeal was not something that Aectaeon wanted to continue hearing.
'It's not like I can tell her to simply shut up. That will be ruder than forcing someone to talk.'
Right then, the rule panel presented itself in Aectaeon's sight. As promised, he set the very same rules that he had announced earlier.
"The time limit is three minutes as I've said earlier. Please set it that w--"
"Oh no! I forgot! There's no time limit!"
Aectaeon closed his eyes and chewed on his bottom lip upon hearing what the woman had done. He shook his head to an excessive degree, massaging his temples to keep his composure.
Directly after he opened his eyes, his glare fell on the woman. It was clear from her demeanor that she had intended to set no time limit.
The woman immediately bowed her head in repeat, saying, "I apologize! I sincerely apologize! It won't happen again!"
"Of course, it won't happen again." Aectaeon gave his rejoinder, his words sharp as if he wanted to stab something, "There's no limit to the number of Demons, right? Summon all of your Demons this instant."
"Yes? What do you mean by that?"
"Did you not hear me? I said summon all of your Demons."
"But th-- but there's not enough space! I have more than 100 Demons in my portal!" The woman shouted, disconcerted at how Aectaeon was acting.
"Are you deaf or what?! Don't make me say this again! Summon all of your Demons now!"