The Duke smiled and added before leaving, "Since you were an orphan, you can call me Father. From today onwards, we are a family," he said with an affectionate tone, yet his gaze betrayed the warmth in his voice.
"Father, what are you saying!?" his son yelled, standing up at the sudden revelation, though his questions went unanswered. His wife looked at Asselin with disbelief.
As for Rex… well, his eyes twitched as he looked at the Duke's tall figure leaving. He cringed but didn't utter a word, thinking,
This might've worked if I were really a 10-year-old orphan with some intelligence. I mean, who wouldn't want a Duke as their father?
Darius looked at him with a stunned expression, and Arcane chimed in:
{Father, I don't want that human as Father's father.}
Rex lightly shook his head and exhaled slowly. {Don't worry, Arcane. He's not my father.}
The Duke's wife ordered in an emotionless tone, "You can go and rest now. Scias, please help them," and left in a graceful manner.
Soon, the butler arrived and took Rex and his companions, but before leaving, he slightly bowed to his young master, who was sitting alone at the dinner table with an enraged and helpless expression.
The Duke himself announcing that he had adopted a second son was national news, yet when everyone would hear about Rex's abilities, they could only look at the Duke with envious eyes.
After walking through a few corridors, Scias guided them to their rooms and left them be. Darius was asked to stay in a separate room, while Rex and Arcane were given a single room.
After entering, Rex's eyes landed on a king-size bed for him to sleep on, as for Arcane she went into the Tamer's Sanctuary, where she had found her home.
Rex calmly sat on the bed, releasing a soft sigh. Too many things were happening. Worst of all, from the looks of it, he'd been thrown into a full-fledged war because of his abilities. He had to be careful from now on—there were too many strong people around him.
The stronger they are, the faster we grow, he mused with determination. He knew he was being used here without having any say in the matter, but he wouldn't be pushed around for long.
If this is a war, and I'm starting at the bottom, I'll rise to the top!, he mused with a resolute face and a determined tone.
The feeling of being used and pushed around reminded him of his past life—a feeling he didn't like much. A fleeting thought crossed his mind: running away. But he quickly dismissed it. If he were caught—which he was sure he would be—he'd be treated very badly.
At least the Duke was pretending to care about him for now, but he might resort to force once caught.
Rex had inquired of the butler about the Duke and his wife's ranks while coming to the room, and the answer wasn't pleasant to his ears.
"Duke Asselin is three full ranks above you—at Overlord Rank 3 Stars—and his wife stands just two stars below him," Rex recalled the butler's words.
They weren't just stronger, but far stronger—three full ranks above him, which meant all three stars had to be crossed just to reach the next rank, and that had to be done… over three times.
Rex shuddered at how strong the people surrounding him were. He had just defeated Seskel from the Bloodline Traders, who was barely a single star above him.
That victory had taken everything he had—plus a little cheat by absorbing all his mana crystals when his mana was depleted.
"Hah," he sighed, pushing those heavy thoughts to the corner of his mind, and lay down on the bed. "Status," he muttered to measure how strong and far he had come.
--
[Rex Tameroth]
[Rank: Ascender – 3 Star]
[Tamed Living: 3/6]
[Tamed Consciousness: 0/5]
[Taming Points: 2,445]
[Subordinate Ranking:]
1 → Subjugated → {Flame Roc: 1%}
2 → Packtkeeper → {Arcane: 11%}, {Darius: 11%}
[Unique Skills: (Upgrade: 0/10,000)]
• Eye of the Tamer
• Tamer's Sanctuary (6)
[Acquired Skills: (Upgrade: 0.00% (0/1,000))]
Zap, Earth Pulse, Basic Mana Sense, Clean, Paralyze, Zone of Null Sound, Phantom Blades, Calm Mind
[Commandment(s): 0.00% (Locked / 100,000)]
❮Tamer's Authority – Lvl. 1❯
--
After carefully examining his status and accumulating enough taming points, he quickly decided it was time to either tame or upgrade a skill.
But which one? Most of the skills look equally important, he wondered.
"Let's try by putting 100 TP into [Paralyze] first."
[100 Taming Points → Paralyze: (0.00%) (0/1,000) - Y/N]
Rex agreed without hesitation and checked his status again for changes.
[Taming Points: 2,345]
[Paralyze: (10.00%) (0/1,000) : Releases a 30-meter wave that paralyzes weaker or equal foes. Costs 30% mana to activate, 10% every 10 minutes to maintain. Costs 20% extra mana for slightly stronger targets. Ineffective on those far stronger.]
A clear 10% increase in the taming percentage! It seems quite easy to tame the skills.
And compared to upgrading, taming seems more cost-effective since taming is a permanent process, where once tamed, there's no other cost, while upgrading appears to be a repeated task, Rex thought while laying on the bed.
And before he could ask the system, why the cost of taming points were same for both, when taming was permanent and upgrading was not…
[Host, The System excels at Taming—upgrading skills? Not so much. And by the way, those are Taming Points. Not Upgrading Points.]
"Hmmm… So I can tame or upgrade two acquired skills?" Rex mused, looking at his taming points. "Or should I save them and use them according to the given situations?" he deliberated.
After thinking it over for a few moments, he finally decided to test how the 'Skill Taming' worked by using half the taming points, and the remaining half would be saved up for what he termed as 'Situational Use.'
System, use 900 Taming Points and tame the skill Paralyze, he commanded in a calm tone, curiosity evident in his eyes.
One would question, why only Paralyze, there were many other useful skills too?
Well, it was sort of an early overpowered skill that made the opponent pretty defenseless, while also giving him time for the taming of his enemies to progress.
It was a good skill, but with a huge mana cost, so Rex decided to cut on those, and after careful deliberation, he instructed the system.
[Using 900 Taming Points → Paralyze: (10.00%) (0/1,000)]