Chương 63: The Instigator

"Here you are, the slave you desire~" No, it's just a puppet; it's not even alive!

"You didn't say it had to be a live animal, did you?"

Uh... how can it obey my commands?

"You give the commands, and I'll control it. That works, since it's just a puppet, after all."

【…】

"And look, isn't it painted beautifully? It doesn't feel pain, and it doesn't need to breathe, so you can torture it however you want without worry. It perfectly meets your requirements, right?"

Yes, yes... no, no.

Hey, why don't you understand the ropes?

Seeing that the collar wouldn't budge, Richard clicked his tongue and put on a serious expression.

"What makes you assume that puppets can't be slaves? What makes you define slavery? Is that all you're passionate about—dominating and being dominated?!"

【…】 The three sentences in a row made the collar feel dizzy and disoriented, even though it was not in a good mental state.

Richard immediately pressed his advantage:

"If you ask me, training a puppet is a step forward compared to training a real person!"

"It's like in ancient times, when humans used living people to sacrifice to gods and bury with their ancestors. Nowadays, they make terracotta figurines and carve statues. Those terracotta figurines and statues are all fake people, and aren't the gods and ancestors still happy to see it?"

"They all approve, so what are you objecting to with just a collar?"

"Besides, if you can talk to me as a collar, then how can it not be trained as a puppet? On the contrary, if you can train it, that proves your superior skill!"

"Puppet slaves are the pinnacle of the discipline world!"

[That still doesn't feel right... Hmm, it seems like it does make some sense...] Ah, I get it!

【You're right. Training human slaves is outdated. Everyone knows how to do it; it's unoriginal and the competition is fierce. Training puppet slaves is the future! 】 The old animal tamer's collar has increased your favorability towards him.

You have received a gift pack containing the collar from the Old Beastmaster.

get it~ You don't even have a mouth, yet you want to talk to us bards? That's wishful thinking.

Richard smiled slightly and happily opened the gift bag.

You have gained 1 point of Constitution.

[You have learned a Tier 3 spell: Summon Horde - You can summon phantom-like beast spirits within a 20-meter radius around you for ten minutes. You can also choose the form of the horde based on the terrain, such as a pack of wolves, a pack of snakes, or a flock of birds.] Remarks:

"Using a living sheep and a sheep's spirit feels almost the same. What? You're asking how I know? I'll demonstrate it for you right now." —The Forgotten Sorrowful Wind This Mr. Beifeng is quite a character.

Richard pursed his lips and shifted his focus back to the spell itself.

Summoning spells?

In his past life, his favorite game was the summoning spell. Putting everything else aside, just having a bunch of friendly units around him made him feel very safe.

However, considering its tier 3 level, the description of the beast horde and duration, this move seems to consume a lot of mana and concentration...

Fortunately, he had the expertise to cast spells on the battlefield, and he also acquired the brooch. In addition, his charm reached 18 points, which greatly improved his total magic power and control precision. Otherwise, he might not have been able to afford to wait it out.

Richard analyzed the situation for a moment and decided to go outside to find a place to try it out, and while he was at it, he also wanted to bring Grace along to take a look at the skill book he had obtained from the Church of the Goddess of Wealth...

Two days passed quickly.

During this time, Richard did the following things.

This included daily practice of the Flowing Water Rock-Shattering Fist, continuous combat training with Grace, and a trip to the magic item shop where he spent nearly a hundred gold coins to buy a lot of stamina potions, mana potions, and health potions.

And most importantly, I studied skill books and eventually mastered the famous...

Light spell!

Although it's just a level 0 trick, its only effect is to release a faint ball of light for illumination. Considering Richard's dark vision, this is basically useless...

But Richard was still very happy.

Because he can now cosplay as Gandalf... no, it's because this proves that with a Charisma of 18 and Intelligence of 14, he too can learn magic in a relatively short time through his own efforts!

Back then, under his father's tutelage, it took him seven or eight years to learn a charm spell, but now, even though it's only a level 0 trick, he learned it in just two days!

This tremendous progress almost made him addicted to reading, and he wanted to bury himself in studying for another ten days and ten nights to learn the remaining Featherfall Technique and Discordant Whispers in the skill book...

Unfortunately, he no longer has that time.

After all, he still had the task of clearing out the purple leaves.

The next morning at 7: 30, Richard and Grace finished packing their gear, walked to the door, and prepared to meet up with the Forest Arrow Squad.

"Brother Richard, Sister Grace, just a moment!"

Just then, Elsa, who was in charge of looking after the house, came running downstairs, stuffed a small basket into Richard's arms, and then looked directly into Richard's eyes, blushing slightly, and said:

"These are honey-baked apples I made, for you to eat on your journey..."

Hey, the little girl's getting shy.

After spending several days together, Richard and Elsa had grown much closer. He reached out and patted Elsa's head, smiling as he said:

"Thank you. I'll bring you and your mother some snacks when I come back."

"Um!"

"We're leaving~"

"Okay, okay, have a safe trip!"

Elsa nuzzled Richard's hand like a cat, then lingered reluctantly at the doorway, watching Richard and Grace disappear at the end of the road.

She pursed her lips, thinking: I feel like Richard has become more and more handsome, and also incredibly strong, kind, and gentle...

Her throat tightened slightly, and that indescribable heat returned to her chest. Unable to contain herself any longer, she tiptoed back into the house, went straight upstairs, and entered Richard's bedroom.

Then she threw herself onto Richard's bedding.

Hehehe...

Three full minutes passed before she stood up again, her face as red as a boiling kettle, steam practically rising from her head.

Elsa, Elsa, what are you doing?!

How could you have fallen so low!

My saliva is all over it!

And wake up! Richard is a handsome adventurer with magical powers, while you're just a drab little girl. Don't have any unrealistic expectations!

After patting her cheeks, Elsa calmed down and just then heard her mother, Mary, returning home from shopping, so she hurried downstairs to help...

the other side.

Richard and Grace successfully met up with the Forest Arrow Squad at the city gate, only to discover that they had changed somewhat since two days ago…