Chapter 181 – Talents

“Not necessarily.” Countered Klent

“This man could just be doing this as a way to not draw attention to himself” 

“Remember he’s still in the territory of one of the largest bandit camps in the kingdom. Even though they’re bandits, I don’t think they won’t take too kindly to anyone acting crazily in their territory.

Remember, bandits still need people to rob! If all the people leave or die, they’re finished too.”

hearing the words of both men Dante broke into thought 

‘One of the largest Bandit camps in the Kingdom and a strange cultivator with the ability to control corpses..’ 

it just seemed like this mission was getting harder and harder for Dante.

Even though Dante found the culprit of the disappearing people, Dante wasn’t satisfied.

he still felt something was wrong, his instincts could just feel it.

the only problem was that Dante could quite pinpoint what exactly was the source of this feeling!

Pushing these thoughts to the side, Dante then turned to look at the boy that had brought him this recent knowledge.

A young boy,  barely even 10 years old. 

For a young kid to keep relatively rational thought process , even after such a tragic event 

Even Dante had to admit that it wasn’t easy.

Clay had made the journey from his destroyed village into Vainwatch City but he didn’t just stop there.

he also jumped at the highest  chance of getting  some help even though There  was still a high chance that someone as important as Dante could kill him on the spot!

Even now, Dante was able to see that Clay hadn’t fully recovered as there was still some fear left in his eyes as he recounted his experiences.

but besides fear, Dante saw something else.

an uncontrollable emotion that overwhelmed the fear, practically smothering it 

Rage.

A pure, unadulterated, burning rage that seemed to affect his every movement ms

‘Such a talent.. ‘ thought Dante

Dante could see a special talent in the kid.

It wasn’t the kind of supreme cultivation talent that would allow him to easily break through realms.

No, what Dante had seen was instead was an almost cruel level of determination.

The determination that allowed him to make such a ridiculous journey to Vainwatch, 

The determination that allowed for him to risk his life at the first opportunity that came his way.

But most importantly, it was a determination that meant that he wouldn’t rest until his enemy was dead!

such a dogged determination, such a self-cruelty, it was hard to come by especially in children so young

‘If he was just given a few more years to develop, I’m  sure he could turn into a terrifying cultivator!’

‘if I could just cultivate this talent, if I could just cultivate such a talent with loyalty to me…’

Collecting talents.

This was a bad habit that Dante had slowly been forming.

it was only after taking a step to look around him that Dante had realised this.

First with Klent, then Lennox and even with Rebecca to a certain extent.

Somewhere along the lines, Dante had slowly started surrounding himself with talents.

It was only after  earning the loyalty of Klent, a son of heaven, a protagonist in every sense of the word, that Dante realised a fact.

Strong underlings could actually be useful.

of course in the Martial spirit world, personal strength came first.

It was what the culture and life that this world was built on. 

But just because individual strength was important didn’t mean strength could be ignored.

As the Dragon Son of war, Dante had been bombarded with lectures in the art of war.

And one thing that had been grilled not his head was the strength of not only the individual but also the collective, more specifically the people he controlled.

In the department of war, they didn’t train the specific concentrations or formulas of substances like in the department of alchemy. Nor did they care about the precise angles of the department of Weapons.

No, what they cared about was the control of the people. From the arrangement of your men in the battle formation to encouraging loyalty and fearlessness in your warriors.

the role of a general wasn’t really as simple as it seemed. It was as much a game of tactics as it was emotional manipulation.

Dante knew that although it wouldn’t be easy, for the sake of his security and that of the people around him, he had to cultivate talents loyal to himself, He had to cultivate an army loyal to himself! 

He  could just imagine himself in the future being surrounded by hundreds of terrifying yet loyal warriors.

If one person annoyed him in the future, he could just wave his hand and send an army of talented warriors to annihilate them!

Just imagining this caused a silly smile to appear on Dante’s face, he would be like the upgraded version of playground bully!

it’s just that instead of mumbling group  little children he would have a group of  earth-shattering cultivators as his lackeys.

By then he could walk unhindered in the whole of the Rippling wave continent! No one would be able to stop him!

With these thoughts in mind Dante looked at Clay as he asked 

“Clay, you’ve not started cultivating yet have you?”

“No I haven’t 

“Then do you want to?”

Hearing this Clay’s body shook as he turned to look at Dante who had a mysterious smile on his face 

“R-really? You’re going to teach me cultivation!”

“Only if you are willing.”

Hearing this Clay’s eyes widened.

This was it, his chance!

His chances to get stronger. His chance to have revenge. 

It was all in front of his very eyes

Clay didn’t even hesitate  before he quickly responded,

“Of course I’m willing!”

“Haha! That’s good” laughed Dante 

First, we’ll have to start you off with the basic body refining techniques, you know how to read right?”

“Yes, my father made sure to teach me.”

As Clay recounted his past time with his family his eyes inadvertently saddened.