As the man responsible for my transmigration suggested, I took advantage of the frozen time to carefully read through the guidelines that came with my [System].
And for the [System], I just tore the scroll apart like instructed after reading it twice to get a clear understanding of it. Just as promised, there was a soft *Ding* sound that echoed in my head, and at the same time, a small transparent text box appeared in front of me. It was light blue in color and followed my line of sight no matter where I looked.
In the middle of an important situation; this could be a noticeable distraction, but it was fine for the moment.
The name of the [System] was called [Beast Lord System]. And from the name alone, I could more or less guess the function of what I gained. With a simple thought, the text box in front of me changed from showing its name to what I wanted to see; the guidelines of how to use this product.
From reading them slowly, it appeared that what I thought initially about this [System] seemed to be correct. The [Beast Lord System] was all about allowing its users to tame beasts and getting stronger doing so.
Its basic functions and the main theme were simple and easy to utilize. However, it also had the insane potential to be overpowered as heck if used correctly.
The system allowed me to tame defeated or submitted creatures, preferably magical, and both the creatures and I would be getting special skills, traits, and techniques as they got stronger under my guidance.
Now, what did I mean by the fact that this [Beast Lord System] had the potential to be broken and overpowered?
Allow me to explain.
When I tamed a creature from a particular species for the first time, that beast was designated as the [Leader] class beast. They were put into a place where they would lead their brethren if I were to tame any more creatures of the same species at a later time. And the breasts of the same species tamed after the [Leader] class were designated as [Minion] class.
Now, my system had nine levels and each level increased the number of [Leader] classes I could have at any time. Yes, I had a limit on the number of [Leader] beasts I could have and it also meant that I had a limit on the number of species I could tame.
But, here came the broken part. I had a hard cap on the number of [Leader] class beasts, but not on the number of [Minion] class beasts. This essentially meant that once I tamed the first member of a specific species and gained a [Leader] class beast, I could have an unlimited number of [Minion] class beasts from the same species. And this was what I meant by the potential to be insanely overpowered.
Now, of course, there were also several drawbacks to being a [Minion] class and not the [Leader] class. Remember how mentioned that I could gain techniques, traits, and skills as the beasts under my command got stronger? Well, that only applied to the [Leader] beasts. When the [Leader] beast evolved and got stronger, both I and the [Leader] beast would receive the mentioned unique benefits from the system. And the [Minion] beasts did not have this advantage. This, of course, did not mean that the [Minion] classes could not evolve. They could… but just without the benefits of the system.
Also, there was the fact that whenever a [Leader] beast died, they would be resurrected after a duration as long as I lived. The [Minion] beasts, however, would permanently die once they were killed.
Now, how would my tamed beasts evolve? It was designed and aided by the [Beast Lord System] to make it so that they would get stronger and advance to higher levels by fighting and killing. It was the same for both the [Leader] and [Minion] beasts. Different universes and worlds had different rules for their inhabitants to get stronger. The [Beast Lord System] could overwrite those worldly laws and make it so that fighting and killing the adversary was the only way for them to evolve.
So, this was the overall framework of my [Beast Lord System] and I must say, I was impressed. Of course, there were delicate details and mechanics of the [System] I was assigned to beta-test, but the general function of this [System] was really strong.
Needless to say, I would have to be careful with how I use this [System] as there was a limit on the number of species I could have at a single time. When I picked beasts to tame, I would have to balance between the quantity and quality of the species I aimed to tame. I had to pick beasts with a strong potential in their evolutions, and at the same time, I would have to make sure that there was a decent number of their species I could tame. After all, if I tamed beasts that had low numbers of their species, I would be wasting 'the unlimited [Minion] beasts feature' of the [Beast Lord System].
By the time I was done with reading the guidelines once, twice, and thrice - just to be sure - the frozen time gifted to me by the shady car salesman guy was nearly over. The world around me started flickering slightly as if to signal that the time was going to be unfrozen.
I swiftly dismissed the text screen in front of me as time resumed. The jolts from the carriage I was riding returned and the curtains were moving once again. I could also see my mother and sleeping little sister in the corner, both of them moving again.
Now that I understood the situation better and gained the [Beast Lord System], I could better plan my future.
I looked at the wooden floor of the carriage in front of me as I considered the current state of my life.
As things were, all I had currently were a decent amount of wealth hastily taken from the Hartmann's treasury, an elite group of knights apparently devoted to the ducal house of Hartmann, my claim to my father's former dukedom due to me being the heir of the house of Hartmann, and finally… the [Beast Lord System]. It was not a lot but it was enough for me to get started.
The first issue I faced here was that my family was currently on the run and my father was dead. Although I had a claim on my father's dukedom, there was nothing I could do about it yet. My first priority would be to use everything I had at my disposal to escape from those who sought the complete destruction of my family and build up a power base after settling down somewhere outside of the influence of the emperor of Storgaard.
After that, I would see about getting some revenge on the emperor. Because let's face it, my family would never be able to rest easy and without worries; as long as the emperor, who was jealous of my father, lived. So, I either destroyed the Storgaard Empire completely or assassinated the emperor and ruined the authority of the imperial family within the empire. After that, I could just become untouchable from those who seek my family's destruction, by being an absolute powerhouse with an army of magical beasts at my beck and call.
After thinking for a while, I had mostly worked out what my immediate and overarching goals were, and I supposed I could work with that. Both the elite group of knights we brought with us and the [Beast Lord System] would be doing most of the hard work for the time being, as I had no plan to get down and dirty with my weak-as-fuck body.
But first, I needed to figure out where we were heading. I knew we were out of the borders of the Storgaard Empire, but I did not know the exact location we were at the moment, nor did I know where we were headed.
I looked at my mother at the opposite corner of the carriage. I knew just the person I could direct my questions to.
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It took a moment to get the conversation going, partly because my mother seemed to be out of it - mostly remnants of shock and elation due to my unbelievable recovery - and also due to the fact that I had trouble forming long sentences with my weak throat. We also had to talk in hushed tones to make sure that my sleeping little sister would not wake up due to our voices.
But after a while, I was presented with the gist of where we were at the moment and where we were headed. We were way past the official borders of the Storgaard Empire. The emphasis was on the word 'official,' because we were headed directly into the heart of the disputed land between the boundaries of the empire and its historical rival in the east, the Grand Zhardom of Uvarov.
According to my mother, this was the safest place we could flee to. Since this was a disputed land between the two strong empires with massive armies on both sides, the Storgaard Empire would dare not recklessly invade the land to follow us. Because, if they did so, it would be provoking the Zhardom of Uvarov into responding with a military action.
I asked for maps, and Sarah - which was the name of my mother as I had come to learn amidst the conversation - relayed that to those who were following our carriage from the outside. I had yet to look at what it was like outdoors since I could feel the chilling cold every time my mother opened the door of the wooden ride, we were in. It seemed like Sarah made the correct decision when she closed all the windows and doors of the carriage.
My sister, whose name was Vivian, stayed asleep through the entire discussion I had with my mother. She must be tired, both mentally and physically.
After I had learned what I wanted to know, the conversation inside the carriage died down again. My mother returned to her corner, putting Vivian's head on her lap again so that the little girl could comfortably sleep.
And it was then that I was hit with a sudden realization.
I had been freaking stupid this entire time.
The way I acted right after I woke up, and all of my actions up to this moment were not those of a person who had been in a coma for his entire life. Sure, I had moments of short awareness in between, but according to both my mother and the letter left behind by the shady man, I was mostly out of it during those moments.
I should not have the mental and physical capacity to behave the way I was currently doing. I should not be able to swiftly adapt to a situation with those who were complete strangers, as far as my condition was concerned, and I most definitely should not be asking about our location, destination, and for a map.
Heck, I should not even be able to speak the language. This body had never spoken a word before, and not held a conversation with anyone. I was not taught anything.
Yet, I suddenly woke up and acted the way I did… it would look mighty suspicious to all those people who had watched over me during my lifelong coma, especially my mother in this new life.
And when this surprise and happiness at my sudden recovery wore off, and trust me it would, there was nothing stopping my mother from noticing my highly distrustful behavior since the moment I woke up.
And before that happened… before she realized that detail, I needed to do some damage control.
Time to brainstorm a plan.
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