The reason why Replicus had known that Baddan had come into contact with Skullius, was because he had felt the traces of the original's mana in the 'gears' of Baddan's core. He was sensitive to such things; residuals.
He had asked a few questions for confirmation, just in case, but ultimately, he was already sure Skullius had met the Sky Watcher.
Now, Baddan's account had interested Replicus in more than one way. He was surprised by how reasonable Baddan was. Of course, that could have been a lie, but he imagined it must be true. His narration also accounted for the loss of his abilities since the Cluster was destroyed, but to Replicus, it didn't diminish Baddan's worth.
Not in the least.
The skeleton under the dark cloud waited for Baddan to make a choice. Given what he could tell of the Sky Watcher's personality, he saw equal opportunity for either response; positive or negative.
Baddan spent a few seconds thinking, or at least looking to be doing so.
All throughout, everyone kept silent. The experts maintained tight lips because there was no need to interrupt, and Baddan's kinsmen did not interfere because... well, they were simply lost to the whole situation. They continued to docilely settle on the floor while their leader pondered over whether they should live or not.
Soon, Baddan spoke.
"What do you gain from adding us to your ranks?" he asked, suspiciously. "You have no doubt already noticed that even with my ability to use mana, I am worthless."
Grim paid close attention to Baddan.
He had been caught off guard when Baddan had started to speaking to him hours ago, but that surprise had paled in comparison to how much of an underwhelming battle he had got, when compared to what he had expected from the high tier Cluster beast.
After Baddan's account, he understood why.
Replicus chuckled hoarsely.
"What do I gain? I lack among my ranks combatants who can use high level abilities. For instance, a Majestic Territory," he answered.
Baddan wasn't sure how, but he knew this was an honest answer.
The faces he saw now, and those he had seen before...
Even the frightful young one who had killed nearly 90% of all living, sentient beings in his Cluster...
None of them portrayed a significant grasp on the concept of Territories. Even the white-haired man who had defeated him did not seem to be capable of it.
Baddan wondered if it was that rare among the kind outside his world, to manage a Territory. Even Beckoned Retrievers could manifest one as long as they had enough tails and a ripe tier.
"You seem to understand my circumstances already," Replicus added. "Finding Incandescent Stage experts – those capable of expelling Territories – to join me is far from easy. There are a limited number of them already. I am not above turning to beasts as recruits."
"What about my kin?" Baddan asked.
"How many assurances do you need? If I wanted to kill them, I would have. However, I have found good uses for them instead. Uses they can manage while living."
Baddan still showed a great deal of hesitation. In a perfect world, he would have loved to escape and run far with his kinsmen, away from all these treacherous races, but alas...
As long as he at least got confirmation that they would not die. They was certainly a better way to kill them, for this being, than having all this chatter.
The Sky Watcher grasped the glowing string before him.
In a breath, a strand of light that peeked from between his clenched fingers, hurried its way to Baddan's heart while another raced towards the mess of clouds over the throne.
Baddan felt something within him constrict slightly, and then a painful jolt rocked his body for a moment.
The gleaming sockets of Replicus pulsed with light at that same moment.
"Good," he said. "We are now bound to our word."
Baddan felt his chest. He didn't know it, but because Replicus had developed a habit of making magical contracts whenever unfamiliar faces were involved, he had ended up perfecting the art of trade and negotiation, forging the ultimate skill for it.
It was simply called [Tried Bond]. It had a simple function too, when it came to mediating, making sure that he and the target – should he desire – both benefitted according to their promises.
However, devastating consequences were set to follow, should the conditions he proposed, or imposed on the target were not met. This was all to replace his inability to abuse a Tie of Exchange.
Replicus extended his finger from the clouds, and pointed at Baddan. The Sky Watcher felt sharp pain, and then great, cool relief as mana gushed from mana core freely.
Wait!
It flowed even faster than before, and saturated his mana channels speedily!
The Sky Watcher was shocked, and he gawked at Replicus.
"As I promised," the Null Lifeform said, before turning to Grim. "Assign our guests rooms and organise them food according to their preference."
Grim nodded.
"Yes, boss," he said. He had been expecting to be assigned responsibility for these beasts since he was the one who had gone out of his way to bring them here.
With meaningful gestures, and help from the other experts – one of which was Yuyui who scrambled to leave Replicus' presence – Grim lead the group of creatures from the throne.
Baddan took one last look at the cloud form of the terrifying being.
Never had he imagined that his fate would be to meet this monster and be conscripted into his organisation. What kind of creatures were these morally? What would he be assigned to do?
Baddan didn't know.
"I wouldn't think about it too much if I were you," Grim who walked beside Baddan said, prompting the Cluster beast to turn his head to him. "You made the right choice, and you get to live comfortably from now on. There was a time when I doubted the boss' words. He said something eerily similar to us back then, and like you, we only had two extreme choices."
Baddan remained silent, but listened keenly.
The group reached what seemed to be a large, circular marking on the floor with grove marks similar to those that were on the archway which teleported people to this place. Grim gestured for everyone to stand on it.
"You're probably the luckiest you've ever been. If you had met anyone other than us on this side of the world, you would have been dead in a heartbeat," Grim said with a grin.
With a bright glow from the marking on the marble floor, the group was transported to a higher floor.
*
Allora had remained before the throne, and the breeze washing from behind it due to the absence of a wall.
She kept gazing at Replicus with a proud, and confident pair of eyes.
"Of course," Replicus said with what looked like a sigh. He rose from his throne.
"Come. Let us see what the legacy you acquired is capable of."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l