The Tamer Monarch

Athar led Terius to his room. Terius still carried a stiff and awkward demeanour.

"Sit down, Terius," Athar said as he handed him a bottle of water.

Terius took the bottle with shaky hands and gulped some water down his throat. He spent the next few moments calming his nerves and soothing his emotions.

"Thank you, Athar," Terius said after a few moments.

Athar simply nodded. He did not really need to be thanked. He had not actually intervened to save Terius. If Trux had not forced him, he might have not really made a move.

"What is your story?" Athar asked. "Why was Trux targeting you?"

Terius' body trembled slightly at this question. He took a few deep breaths before beginning his narration.

"I am a resident of Zone 24, and I have a sister who is one year younger than me," Terius said.

"My parents were D Rank cultivators, and even though we were not rich, we did well enough to fend for ourselves."

"My parents died five years ago at the hands of beast in the Sticky Forest, leaving me and my sister alone," he continued.

"That is when hardship and poverty decided to strike us. Whatever little savings my parents had left for us were swallowed by a few of our relatives, and we were forced onto the streets."

"I had to take up part time jobs to earn a livelihood for me and my sister. It was then that the local thugs of the zone spotted me. Like every poor and weak person, I was targeted, and I had to pay them 30% of my income. Having no other option, I could do nothing but comply."

Athar nodded and Terius continued.

"I saved as much as I could in 6 months, and along with very last bit of my parents' money which I had been able to keep to myself, I was able to buy a common grade egg for myself," Terius sighed in defeat. "Maybe I was hoping for some miracle but no such thing happened. I got a common grade beast. A Bat."

"The arrangement continued," Terius said. "Even after I arrived at the academy, I kept giving 30% of my resources to those thugs. I saved another 30% to buy an egg for my sister next year when she turns eighteen."

"It went on smoothly for a month, then everything came crashing down," he added, his eyes had turned moist. "My sister suddenly fell ill last week. She was admitted to the hospital, where I had to spend every last bit of my savings and resources on her treatment."

"Because of that, I missed my quota. I had enjoyed a decent relationship with that thug and hoped to get some time since I had a genuine reason, but my misfortune continued."

"For various reasons, almost everyone was reassigned to new zones, and a new thug replaced the old one in my zone. Similarly, Trux became the one who would oversee Zone 24 in the academy."

"He did not listen to any of my pleas, and the result was what you saw…"

Athar nodded in understanding.

"Your sister, is she fine now?" Athar questioned.

"She is fine now," Terius replied bitterly. "But her treatment is not over. She needs further treatment and pills which I cannot afford."

"Even keeping her in hospital would take everything from my weekly quota."

Athar wanted to ask the exact illness of his sister but he felt that Terius was probably not willing to remove it. And it was not that he could provide any solution for Terius' problems. And Terius too understood this.

He stood up to take up his leave.

"Thank you, Athar," he mumbled before he departed from Athar's room.

Athar let out a deep sight and shook his head in lamentation.

Athar pushed all thoughts to the back of his mind as he sat cross legged. Mana circulated around him, and in the next moment, his consciousness appeared in his mindscape. It had been quite some time since Athar had last visited his own mindscape.

The Tree of Origin stood in the centre of the mindscape. Sarpinash, his beast companion, was lazily coiled around one of the tree's branches. The tree was Sarpinash's favourite place in the entire mindscape.

There was not much change in the appearance of the tree. Although its height and thickness had increased, it was almost negligible. The length of the three branches had also grown by only a minimal amount. The number of leaves on each branch had increased by just three or four.

The red fruit was still hanging from one of the branches without any change.

And on another branch, a small fruit was beginning to take shape. It was the purple coloured fruit that would allow him to form a bond with an extra beast.

As Athar's eyes settled on the fruits, another sigh escaped his lips. He did not know how much fruit this Tree of Origin could produce.

If only he could have an unlimited or even abundant supply of these fruits and if he had a method to ensure people's loyalty, he could have achieved so much more. He could have given these fruits to many others.

He would have been able to form a loyal group of subordinates to follow him. A powerful band of followers serving him.

Without the loyalty part, however, he would never be willing to take the risk. A fruit that could increase the grade of any beast was something many people would gladly betray him for. If word ever got out about such a thing, the entire world will come behind him.

He simply could not take such a risk. Athar understood that while he was destined to be powerful, having a band of loyal and strong people serving him would make everything far easier. He would be able to spread his web of power effortlessly. Not everything could be achieved by him alone.

And no matter how much he hated the extortion, he could not deny how powerful, effective and efficient the system was.

Although he did not need a proper army, he still required a force if he truly wished to reach the pinnacle of the world.

With all these thoughts in mind, the conscious projection of Athar moved towards the tree. Sarpinash quickly spotted him and leaped towards him in joy. The snake was really happy to see Athar.

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