The two warriors recognized me first and their eyes widened when they saw the fury in my face. They stepped back, bumping into the people they were watching. An annoyed cry from one of them made everyone look at the warriors, then at me.

When those people saw me, they recoiled. They all pressed back against my village wall, terrified of me.

"Councilors!" I shouted, never looking away from the outsiders. "Come here at once!"

I stopped in front of the two warriors and crossed my arms to wait.

"This is not my fault," Eve said as she hurried my way. She was still about ten yards away when she started defending herself. "I told Mark you didn't want to let anyone in until the third day! You ordered us so!"

I turned to her. A rabbit pelt covered her breasts and another, her lower regions. Vines held both in place.

"Who the fuck is Mark?" I asked.

She looked surprised at the question. "I- The male councilor?"

"Oh, Adam." I had already forgotten his previous name. "Where is he?"

She pointed the other direction, and I turned to see an [Awakener] Adam followed by nothing less than ten [Awakeners] men. They all looked like elite weightlifters and held spears.

"Is he serious? Does he really think he can beat me with that bunch?"

Eve crossed her arms. "I asked him if he was rebelling, he said he was just making sure you would listen to him before attacking."

I even laughed a bit at that. "He's trying to intimidate me?!"

She didn't answer.

Adam finally arrived. Four warriors stationed between us, the other six around him.

I crossed my own arms. "So? Want to explain why you went against my orders?" I shouted to make sure everyone was listening. By now, the entire village had stopped to watch.

"I am not a cruel-"

Before he finished, I moved. I [Sprinted] forward, going in between two of the four men between us. They tried to intercept me, but I was too fast for them.

When I got to Adam, he was only starting to step back, his mouth still open from what he had been saying. I put my hand in his mouth and pulled his jaw. It came off easily, leaving his tongue hanging.

I let his jaw drop on the ground and poked his two eyes. My fingers went all the way through his skull, into his brain, killing him immediately.

To finish it, I kicked his chest with the sole of my feet. He flew like a doll for half a dozen yards before he touched the ground again. Then he rolled a couple yards more. He left a blood trail in his wake.

The warriors were too shocked to act after that.

"The only correct answer after going against a direct order of mine is kneeling and begging for your life," I shouted. "I said many times before. Rebellion shall be dealt with swiftly and lethally. It doesn't matter if you're a civilian or a councilor, this is my territory. I rule here. My decisions are above all."

I turned to the bonfire and pointed at the animals. "I fed you." I pointed at the walls. "I protected you." I pointed to Eve. "I clothed you. But don't you ever forget this is all mine. My food, not to be given away for free." I pointed at the outsiders. "My space, not to be occupied without my permission. My clothing, not to be wasted on the undeserving." I stepped at Eve and pulled the rabbit pelt on her breasts. She immediately covered herself with her hands. "As easily as I give it to you, I can take it back. As easily as I let you live..." I pointed at Adam. "...I can take your lives away."

I put the pelt on Eve's shoulder and whispered, "I'll make it up for you later." Taking women clothes away in public wasn't my style. Not against their wishes, anyway.

"This is the very last time I say this: I am the Black Reaper. I'm not your fucking mom. You're benefiting from my existence, from my work, but you must pay for it with obedience. You want to do your own thing?" I pointed at the exit. "Leave." I pointed at the outsiders again. "Ask them how great it is out there. Ask them why they are here if they could just have kept their freedom."

I turned to the outsiders. "You refused me before and you should pay for it out there in the wild. But one of mine let you enter and fed you. Out of my great heart, this time, you'll stay." I turned to my people again. "But make no mistake. I won't allow anyone to sacrifice themselves to get a spot for other people. Next time this happens, I'll kill every single one of the people involved. Outsiders can enter the village tomorrow after sunrise. Today, I want you all to listen to their screams, to their despair. So you understand what I did for you. So you never forget it."

I let them stay because they wouldn't just leave. Like I said, they knew what was out there. Many would rather die than leave, and I didn't want to start a massacre when people were just trying to survive.

That said, dealing with people was getting old quick. When would they understand this was a world where the strong ruled?

Then, as if answering to my prayers, I heard a voice.

"He's fucking right, ya know." I turned to see my Head Warrior entering the village. She had blood all over her body and was missing the pink finger in the left hand. Her spear was nowhere to be seen. "Fuckin' hell out there. A fucker ate my fuckin' finger off after I saved her! I fuckin' hope them fuckers all fuckin' die."

Finally, someone who could learn.

"Head Warrior, tell us your name," I said.

There was a reason I didn't bother asking people for their names unless it was necessary, like it had been when I first met ex-Adam and Eve. I only cared about those who proved themselves.

How many people disappointed me over the centuries? How many died before they could do anything noteworthy? How many were only remembered because they kept some position somewhere, like Head Warrior, instead for who they were?

Their names didn't matter, only what they did, did.

Sometimes though, one of them earned the right to have their names remembered by me. I mean, I remembered the name of important people I had to watch out for, or from whom I needed favors. But the small fries were too many for me to care.

My Head Warrior had just proven herself noteworthy. She had earned the right to be called by name.

She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped herself. I had seen it before. She was considering getting herself a new name.

"I am the White Aegis. I'll protect the Black Reaper and his people with my life."

I doubted that, but her name wasn't bad. I found it particularly funny that I was a white guy named Black Reaper, and she was a black girl named White Aegis.

Had she done it on purpose? I loved it. If nothing else, that made her interesting enough to be remembered by me.

"Then, besides being the Head Warrior of my nation, you shall also lead my elite warriors, whom I shall name Shields. The number of Shields should never be higher than one percent of the number of warriors. And the number of warriors should never exceed twenty-five percent of the population. The exact numbers and rules are now yours to decide and enforce. But my people are to be protected and kept safe. Warriors abusing their power are to be severely punished. Shields abusing their power are to be treated as rebels. And rebellion-"

"Shall be dealt with swiftly and lethally," she interrupted, finishing the sentence for me.

I nodded. "Protect them and keep the peace both inside and outside the village. Today will be particularly frantic, make sure to watch the entrances well. Strategic decisions like wetting the walls to make it harder to burn are also yours to make now."

"Yes... Leader?" She asked, unsure of what to call me.

"Emperor, no honorifics required." All that Your Majesty thing got annoying after a few dozen years.

"Yes, Emperor," she said.

"Also, make sure to punish these twelve people with volatile loyalties," I said, nodding to the ten who had come with Adam and the two who were watching over the outsiders.

"Wait," Eve interjected. I had snapped the vine when I pushed her covering and she had to hold the pelt in place with her hands. "Those two are with me. Mark- Adam wanted to let the outsiders mingle. I convinced him to keep them confined until you arrived at least. Those two were the only ones who agreed to watch over them when they knew Adam was against it."

I nodded. "Then, White Aegis, reward those two well. Or not. They are yours now. Eve, find me another Adam, one willing to obey me. Come to me when you do. We need to talk."

She nodded. "Yes." Then added with a hesitant voice. "Emperor."

Deciding on a fitting title was important. Too weak, like Village Head, and others wouldn't respect it. Too grand, like God Emperor, and people would look at it with contempt. Ideally, I would've gone for Lord or King, but there were enough self-proclaimed Emperors out there that it would've made me look weak.

And, well, I would conquest territory like a good old emperor. The title made sense.

"Let the outsiders mingle, then. They are our people now," I said, walking back to my bear. "I'll be around."

People were still silent when I started pulling the bear to the first cook. When I told him I wanted the pelt of the bear for my personal use, people were already whispering to each other. When I went to a corner and sat in silence, conversations boomed.

I glanced at the system window telling me my [Leadership] skill got to level 3, then focused on improving my [Essence Manipulation] skill.

 

---

 

Skill level up: Novice Essence Manipulation
Level: 5 / 10
» +2.4% (0.5 + 1.9) easier to manipulate essence

 

TP received
+6 TP — Leveled up a Novice Tier Skill Set (x6)
Total TP: 13

 

I finally got the [Essence Manipulation] skill to level 5. Still some way to go before level 10.

I wanted at least one skill from each type to tier up before I went to the Second Floor. I was prioritizing the spiritual skill though, as it was the most useful of them all.

If tiered up with [Essence Manipulation] today, I could focus on leveling up [Sprinting] or [Fist Fighting] tomorrow.

Then, only [Leadership] would remain. Since I would stay in the village focusing on [Essence Manipulation] today, I could also give out orders to level [Leadership] up to 6 or 7. Then, whether I could tier it up depended on sheer luck. Social skills were all about the Tower perception. Nothing I could do but try my best.

Well, I could try to unlock a new social skill, but most required me to interact with people of similar power. The ones that didn't weren't acceptable.

I didn't want to unlock [Teaching] because it would make people automatically learn things from me, which wasn't to my best interest. [Warmup Speech] required me to go to battle while leading other people and was a hassle to level up. [Flirting] would only make women bolder around me and I had enough trouble keeping it inside my metaphorical pants as it was.

I mean, [Awakener] women were gorgeous, and my body was a teenager's. I could only imagine how hot Eve would become when she was already like a top model before [Awakening].

Damn Sophie. Sometimes I hated her more for how she made me fall for her than for how she betrayed humankind.

"Black Reaper, Emperor?" A guy said. I looked up to see an Asian [Awakener] with black eyes and long black hair held in a samurai bun. Eve was right beside him, looking pleased at herself.

"This is-" she started talking, but I cut her.

"This is the new Adam," I said. "Approved. Now, leave us, I need to talk to Eve alone."

He looked surprised but obeyed, which was good for him.

I patted my side. "Sit."

She looked even more surprised than the guy had been, but also obeyed.

I sighed. "I don't appreciate being lied to. Yes, I understand why you did it, and it was better than telling the truth at the time. But never do it again. Not to me."