Chimera Rising: Beast King Ascension [How a human-turned-lion went from Zero to Absolute Ruler]

'Well,' Alwen said finally with a rueful tone to her voice. 'At least we've already negotiated your protection during the next dungeon wave.'

'I agree,' Ilastir replied vehemently. Dominic growled slightly, annoyed at having to ask his question twice. Sekhmet and Nyx both picked up on his annoyance and began to rumble too. Alwen crossed her wrists and touched them to her forehead, her scent changing to apologetic.

'My apologies, Honoured Brother, ah, Lord Dominic. It was a…shock to realise that the System chose to award you for defending us with a reward even more impactful on us than we had estimated that it would be.' Perhaps she saw his impatience as she hurriedly continued. 'The Seat is an intrinsic part of the Great Mother. A safety measure put in when she was chosen to be the mother of a new settlement. Although plant mages are capable of communicating with her, only the one who holds the seat has the right to command her. And with her, all her connected descendants.'

'What Alwen means,' broke in Melia, her green-tinted skin still awfully pale, 'is that the one who holds the Seat, has control of the settlement itself.'

'Not the people,' Alwen corrected with a quick quelling glance at Melia. 'But if we were not happy with the one who held the Seat, the only alternative would be for us to depart carrying only what our backs and wagons could bear. We would have to become a nomadic people, not even carrying the seed of a new settlement unless the Seat-holder permitted us to take one of the Great Mother's seeds with us.'

'And the System granted me the right to take that?' Dominic asked rhetorically, his mind racing as he realised the implications. The System might as well have given him the control over the elves that he had refused the first time it had been offered to him.

'I would guess that since you defended our town, it decided that you had a right to govern it,' Ilastir offered heavily. Dominic had to agree with him. The System clearly seemed to value beings with higher levels over those with lower levels, and war-like creatures over peaceful ones.

He only had to think about how the dungeons, Places of Power, and Challenges worked to come to that conclusion. So far, he hadn't had a single moment where it had motivated him more to be peaceful than to fight. Even if he considered how his Place of Power would award him Prey Points just for living within its area of influence, the point was that he'd had to win the Place first, and then defend it against any challengers. He didn't doubt that the dungeon beasts would only be the first to come for it.

He'd chosen the more peaceful route a few times – seeking surrenders from some of his enemies rather than seeking to eliminate them, but arguably he'd lost out in the short term because of that. If he'd killed all of the amesheks, albuhas, kesh, and all of the beasts from the ex-matriarch's army, he'd probably be at least four levels higher. Maybe more. And he'd have gained more Abilities, and maybe new Aspects too.

But that's where his sense of strategy warred with the immediate reward of the System. Even if he could make himself hugely powerful, enough numbers could still take him down. Plus, unless he gained the Ability to multiply himself better than that spider boss had, he could only be in one place at a time. In the long term, it would be better to have a force on his side who could watch his back or guard his territory than for all the power to be concentrated in him.

Which begged the question of what to do here. Clearly the Seat was immensely important to the elves, and, based on their reaction, they were expecting him to take it. But was that the best thing to do? He'd turned down the leadership over the elves for a reason.

Taking the Seat made the elves even more reliant on his goodwill since he would essentially be in control of their living situation. He wasn't entirely clear on everything that a Seat-holder was capable of and responsible for, but he would guess that it could be anything from placement to the shapes of the trees, to possibly even allowing things to grow or not grow around the trees. In a way, that would be good for Dominic – it would be even more of a guarantee than just their word that they wouldn't run back to their king without securing appropriate compensation for the Pride.

On the other hand – paw – Dominic didn't like the thought of essentially blackmailing the elves with threats of homelessness. Especially when he knew how vulnerable they were with this soul-wound thing. A cynical part of him wondered how long it would be before other species started taking advantage of the elves and exploiting them. The thought made him feel temporarily bad about essentially bargaining with their lives for his services, but reminded himself that he had done a lot for the elves without expectation of more reward than they'd initially agreed to. It had been the elves who had approached him about extending their arrangement further.

'Is there a current holder?' he asked, wondering if the System was awarding him an empty throne or displacing someone else in favour of him. Alwen shifted a little uneasily. 'You're the current holder?' Dominic asked, his eyes narrowing.

'I was,' Alwen admitted. 'But it explains much if the System offered the Seat to you after the fight with the matriarch.'

'Explain?' Dominic asked, trying not to sound like he was demanding it.

'It has become more difficult for me to communicate with the Great Mother in the last few days,' she explained heavily. 'I had to call on one of Melia's plant mages to help. I had feared that it was another symptom of the weakening connection with the earth that we had suffered, except that it only seemed to be me affected. In a way it is almost reassuring that it was instead the System's hand at work instead of that. Perhaps the previous weakening was to warn me of what was at stake when we first bargained with you for protection.' She gave a wry smile. 'I did not take heed. And now you have been granted the Seat in its entirety. I can only imagine that full control was not taken from me because you have not yet accepted it.' She might be smiling, but her eyes were troubled.

Dominic could understand why she might be concerned. The question was whether it was worth more to him to take the Seat or to gain the elves' goodwill by refusing it.

'If I take the Seat, is it possible to give it to someone else later?' Dominic questioned. He had to assume that it was possible since the System was giving it to him, but for all he knew, the normal method of transferal was on someone's death.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Alwen seemed a little startled at the question.

'The Seat-holder can give up her or his control at any moment by willing it to be so and it will be released at the moment of the holder's death. He or she can release control with or without designating a new holder. If there is no designated heir, the Great Mother may choose whoever she wishes as the new holder.'

Dominic nodded slowly. Interesting. He wondered how much critical thinking an overgrown plant had, but decided that he should wait to judge until he had more information – stranger things had happened recently than a plant being able to pick who she liked most for a position of authority. OK, perhaps there hadn't been stranger things than that, but he decided the point stood.

'And does the holder have to be in the forest at all times?' he checked. If so, that would mean he couldn't be the holder permanently – he had no intention of being stuck within the elven forest.

'No. In the absence of the holder, the plant mages have ultimate decision-making power over the forest, as long as it does not go against orders the holder had given before leaving,' Alwen answered.

Good to know.

It didn't seem to be a very secure system. What about coerced agreements? Did that count as being 'willing' or not? And killing the Seat-holder to free it up seemed like a bit of a loophole, as long as you knew that the Great Mother liked you the most out of all the other candidates.

But perhaps this soul-wound thing meant that slipping into a dead man's shoes wasn't usually preceded by a murder. Unless someone was a hunter or warrior, and then maybe they weren't likely to be favoured by the Great Mother. Of course, just because someone might earn a soul-wound from killing someone else didn't necessarily mean they wouldn't do it or get someone else to do it – 'the ends justify the means' was a known phrase for a reason.

It would also put another target on his back. The elves surely wouldn't like the idea that a lion was suddenly the Seat-holder. And yes, he could ask the elders to keep the transition quiet – and they probably would, if only to keep the peace – but chances were good that the secret would get out sooner or later. Most secrets did eventually, especially when known by this number of people.

Perhaps if those against the idea knew it was only for a limited amount of time, it would be more palatable? Something to endure rather than rage against. Dominic nudged Leo but the lion seemed fairly indifferent to the ideas.

'This is humanoid stuff,' he explained when Dominic's mental prodding became too much for the lion to ignore. 'As long as it will not endanger my Pride, I don't care.'

'Even if it potentially endangers us?' Dominic asked. The lion's yawn spoke of his lack of concern.

'From what we have seen, I doubt the elves are anything to be concerned about. And if they attack us, we will kill them and earn more Prey Points. Win-win.'

'That's rather arrogant,' Dominic warned. 'Humans aren't as physically powerful as lions and don't have sharp claws or teeth, yet we created weapons and armour which made us the apex species.' Of course, things could be different since the System's arrival – Dominic hadn't even managed to have a proper conversation with the elves about how things had changed for them. For all he knew, humans could be as strong and fast as a lion now.

'Exactly which of us would have died if the System hadn't arrived?' Leo asked pointedly. Dominic growled at him, then cut it off when he realised that he'd accidentally done it out loud and made Melia jump and several of the elves look anxious. He quickly calmed down and even turned his head away to reassure them.

'So not the point,' he argued. 'All I'm saying is don't underestimate elves because they don't have sharp claws and teeth and because few of them are capable of becoming hunters or warriors. It's not necessary to kill to make our life a living hell.'

Sensing Leo about to retort with something that most likely wouldn't help the conversation in any way, Dominic turned his focus back to the elves.

'How about this,' Dominic suggested. 'I take the Seat for now, but when our agreement of protection in return for your service lapses, if not before, I'll either give it to someone the five of you put forward, or I can release it to let the tree choose.'

'You would be willing to release control of the Seat?' Alwen repeated, her scent revealing more surprise than she allowed into her expression.

Dominic shrugged his shoulders, the movement making Melia step back a little.

'If I'm no longer your liege lord, that makes sense, doesn't it?'

'It does,' Alwen agreed after a momentary pause. 'It's just-' She cut herself off, but Dominic could guess what she was about to say. Something along the lines of 'we hadn't expected you to be willing to do so'.

'We would be happy to build this into the agreement,' Ilastir leapt in, darting a look at the lead elder.

'And at least if you hold the Seat, it will be easier to move the forest,' Lystar allowed, her expression indicating that she might be coming around to the idea. 'The sympathetic bond between you and the forest will be much stronger if you are the Seat-holder.'

'Alright, so that's decided. Good. Now, I hate to ask, but what's this Respected Friend of Selanthis business?' Dominic asked tentatively, fearing that it might be something just as tiresome. Fortunately, no looks of horror were exchanged this time. Alwen gestured sharply with one hand.

'Oh, that. I will not say that it is nothing because indeed it is not, however in comparison to being offered the Seat, it is small. We decided to bestow on you the title of Respected Friend if you succeeded in defeating the matriarch. It essentially means that you will be permitted entry to Selanthis at any time, will be allowed to buy and sell in the market as if you were a resident, and would be permitted an audience with any elder, or even all of us if the matter were grave enough. If you met any of our people outside our town, they would treat you with courtesy and a certain amount of trust, and you would be given the benefit of the doubt in any settlement which is positively connected to us. In return, you would be expected to behave with appropriate respect while within an elven settlement, and we would ask you to be open to requests to help us in the future, though you would be by no means obliged to fulfil them. If you encountered a member of our town in difficulty, you would be expected to render what aid you could. And though you would not gain any enemies we might have, you might be viewed with unearned suspicion from them. As I said, in comparison to you being offered the settlement itself and your decision to be our liege lord, it's relatively small.'

'Being a citizen without being a citizen,' Dominic mumbled contemplatively.

Dominic felt mixed emotions, though the prevailing one was relief. He had been concerned that there might be implications of this new title of his that he wouldn't like, but it seemed more like an official recognition that he had helped them. And though Alwen was right that the intra-Selanthis benefits weren't anything special in comparison to holding the Seat, if he ever visited other elven settlements, he might find the other benefits coming in useful.

But that was for later. Right now, he had a Seat to claim and a journey to undertake.

'How do I claim this seat, then?'