Ryan exited the Frost General's residence with a smile on his face.
Although he didn't meet with Mara, he had gained something far greater.
'Support of the most powerful human general? I'd say today was okay,' Ryan thought, smirking.
The Frost General was Ryan's most powerful harem member by far, and although she was not as strong as the cat servants, she was a native of Ravier, which was more important right now.
'I still have to have the cat servants swear the oath,' Ryan thought.
After his fun with Ester, he had made her swear the oaths and officially become his 5th harem member. Luckily she needed him to remove her frosty constitution. Now that he had ranked up to D-Rank, he had 9 total slots which he could fill with any beauty he desired.
'Things are starting to look up for once,' Ryan thought. 'Hopefully, I didn't just jinx it...'
Walking toward his dorm room, Ryan frowned, feeling another vibration coming from his wrist. 'This thing's been blazing up since the girls returned from the village.'
Ryan hadn't bothered to check it, since he didn't care about the academy at this point, but this was getting annoying.
<Ryan, this is Duchess Vanroth. I'm sorry for missing our previous meeting. Please come and retrieve your egg.>
<Ryan, I am formally inviting you to dinner. This is Duchess Vanroth, Emily's mother.>
<I'm sorry for ignoring you, okay? I didn't mean to miss our previous meeting.>
<You good for nothing man! How dare you ignore my messages!>
<I'm sorry for my previous message. Please ignore it.>
<I apologize, okay? Please come and see me.>
<Ryan...>
Ryan continued to scroll through the holographic messages, his eye twitching as he kept reading the woman's ridiculous words.
'This woman can't decide whether she wants me or hates me...'
Shaking his head, Ryan replied to the latest message, saying, "Give me a time and place."
<Dinner will be held in three hours at the same location as our previous appointment>
A message popped up almost immediately, making Ryan chuckle. 'Oh, she wants me.'
===
Arriving back in his dorm room, Ryan swiftly activated his portal into his palace, this time entering the area with other people present.
"Shade, Hannah, bring my people here," Ryan called, startling the duo.
"Who do you mean, my Lord?" Shade asked.
"All of them."
A few minutes later, Ryan's servants, knights, and harem members lined up before him. 'Excluding my newly acquired frosty member,' Ryan thought.
Looking at his 4 harem members who stood in front, 15 knights who stood behind them, and 49 servants who were located in the very back, nodding his head.
'I am missing one more, but she's doing something else,' Ryan thought, remembering his first knight Velmuuth.
"I have gathered you all here today because I have acquired some new abilities. Ones that will both benefit you and weed out those of you who wish me harm," Ryan said, in a loud and commanding tone.
The people all stared blankly as he explained what he had acquired. "I have acquired an ability that allows us to train, gain levels, and build our strength. But to receive its benefits, you must all swear a new oath."
"This new oath is mandatory and doesn't place any more restrictions on you, so I expect you all to comply," Ryan said, looking over each person in the room.
"Lizzy, Izzy, as my first harem members I welcome you two with open arms," Ryan continued with a grin. "As your leader, friend, and lover, I would like for you to be the first to swear this oath. By swearing this oath, you agree not to betray me or cause harm to those I claim as my own."
"Do you swear?" Ryan asked, his voice booming inside his realm.
Ryan activated his [Harem Oath] ability, and a prompt popped up in the sister's visions.
"We swear," they said in unison, not even hesitating.
Ryan held his breath as he checked on their loyalty numbers.
[Lizzy Argallod]
[Loyalty: 87]
--
[Izzy Argallod]
[Loyalty: 88]
--
'Wow, those numbers are insane!' Ryan exclaimed in his mind. 'Ester's was only 72!'
'The heavens said that 0 was neutral, anything above 40 was liked, 60 was adored, 80 was loved, 90 was worshiped, and each rank above worshiped came with unique names and special bonuses for anyone who gained that level of loyalty.'
'Does that mean Lizzy and Izzy are almost to the point that they worship me?' Ryan thought, looking at the pair of sisters with newfound love.
'I do love those who love me...'
Genuinely smiling, Ryan said, "Thank you, girls."
As Lizzy and Izzy took their seats, Ryan called up Emily.
Before Ryan could speak, Emily said, "I swear it, Ryan. I won't let you regret the choice you made."
Nodding in response, Ryan sent the prompt.
Seeing the score pop up, Ryan rubbed his eyes, his jaw dropping, as he muttered, "Holy fuck."
[Emily Vanroth]
[Loyalty: 92]
Emily blushed, hearing Ryan's exclamation, and scurried away to the back to Lizzy and Izzy.
"Zoey," Ryan said, regaining his composure.
[Zoey Emerald]
[Loyalty: 102]
[Rank: Devoted Love]
[Bonus: A Mother's Adoration]
Ryan almost curled over on the spot, but thankfully he had been prepared for the psycho bunny girl to have high loyalty. 'Someone who forces their partner to become pregnant both loves their partner and hates them in my book,' Ryan thought, shaking his head. 'Still, this is a little over the top.'
Advancing, Ryan cupped Zoey's face in his own, whispering into her ear, "You've done well."
[Loyalty: 103]
Walking back to his original position, Ryan said, "Now for my knights."
Fifteen cat warriors stood at attention in front of Ryan, 10 of which were women and 5 of which were men, including Shade.
'Maybe Grace's mother was right, and the Grand Empress is doing something to the men on Ravier.'
Ryan had found out from Shade and the rest of the men in the cat servant village that while male cultivators were slightly scarcer than female cultivators in the multiverse, they still existed.
"Do you wish to swear the oath?" Ryan asked.
All of the knights bowed their heads, saying in unison. "We swear."
"The oath," Ryan began again. "You swear to protect me above all else, even your life," he paused as he saw one of his soldiers grimace.
Looking at him, Ryan smiled as he continued. "I will train with each of you, and we will fight together to improve myself as an individual and a commander."
Allowing a few moments for his words to sink in before continuing, "Your skills and abilities are superior in combat to mine at the moment. You might even feel superior to me in some ways," Ryan said, narrowing his eyes.
"But I don't care if you feel superior as long as you fight on my side and become my blade. I don't care if you hate me as long as you're loyal. I will grant you power and riches. I will grant you these things and more, only if you follow me."
"Now do you swear?!" Ryan asked, roaring.
The knights stood frozen before Ryan, before Shade fell to his knee and shouted, "I swear!"
One by one the knights did the same, Ryan receiving prompt after prompt.
[Shade Xygar]
[Loyalty: 76]
--
[Priya Xygar]
[Loyalty 89]
--
[Jackson Xygar]
[Loyalty -144]
Ryan looked over the numbers and blinked, frowning. 'What's this?' He thought, seeing this Jackson's loyalty so low.
'To have a number that low...'
"What?" Jackson demanded, seeing Ryan looking at him. He started to back away, asking, "Why are you smiling like that?"
"Because you have betrayed me," Ryan said, grinning maliciously.
Visit freewe𝑏nove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience