Now, another sketchy decision that could bring valuable info or the downfall of my kingdom. The safe bet would be to just stay within the [Mountain of Twilight], but that means I can't expand this kingdom much more.
That also means I can't explore the rest of this plane since I'm going to need a force backing me if I get into serious trouble. I feel like I can take out an army or two, but if multiple armies collude, there's no possible way I'm winning.
So, I need to expand my influence and devour the potential kingdoms that lurk outside the [Mountain of Twilight]. If they're too strong, we take a few steps back and grow stronger to where we can overwhelm them.
Absolute victory is what I want. No losses within my army are what I want in the end… but that's a pipe dream if I don't have a plan. This is why I need information. It's for us to have an early advantage that could give us momentum for the rest of the war.
So… that's what I'm doing. I'm going to send Yin and the assassin corps to scout outside of the [Mountain of Twilight]. We've already filled in most of the map for this mountain. The adventurers guild helped greatly, so now we just need the assassin corps to fill the map outside of this mountain.
"Yin, I will not accept failure on this mission I'm about to give you," I say, my tone of voice suddenly changing.
Yin hears and sees my obvious change in aura and tone. Reacting to my change, she immediately gets serious as well. She crawls out of my lap and kneels in front of me, head lowered.
"Yin, I order you and the assassin corps to scout outside of the [Mountain of Twilight]. Find any kingdoms or empires that we could potentially devour. Scale their power and only come back once you've found their weaknesses and strengths.
No deaths are allowed and failure is not allowed. Failure of retrieving information on at least one empire or kingdom will result in a punishment… so I hope you know what to do,"
"Y-yes. Yin will not fail you,"
"Good. Now you will leave tomorrow. Inform the rest of the corps of what I have told you and make sure not a single detail is left out. Any questions will be only answered today.
Finally, bring a map with you so you can chart outside the [Mountain of Twilight]. Charting is not a requirement, but you will get a bonus prize if you manage to chart a large portion of land outside this mountain,"
"As you wish," Yin says before sinking into the shadows.
Once I felt Yin's presence was gone, I looked down at the massive venom jar, filled to the brim with water. The Water Corps wasn't struggling that badly even though the density of the water had doubled.
"Now it's time to put the full training regime into place," I say.
Using [Grand Mind Magic], I call Ava who was currently training the Air Corps. I ordered her to bring me the same vines that they used for their training.
In only a few minutes, Ava had flown in from the top of the Venom Jar, landing in front of me.
"Oh, congratulations, you have evolved,"
"I do not deserve such praise," Ava says, bowing deeply.
『Status』
[Name: Ava]
[Race: Gem Encrusted Siren]
[Status: Pet]
[Level: 3/100]
[HP: 700/700 MP: 542/600 SP: 396/400]
[Strength: 150 (+8) (+2) (+1) (+5) (+6)]
[Defense: 120]
[Magic: 190]
[Speed: 150 (+8) (+2) (+1) (+5) (+6)]
[Luck: 1]
[Charisma: 30]
[Skills: [Fire Magic] [Grand Steady Body] [Precision] [Body Enhancement] [Invisible Flying Sense] [Advanced Enchant] [Jewel Manipulation] [Gem Creation] [Gem Explosion] [Gem Encrusted Daggers] [Gem Encrusted Throwing Needles] [Nocturnal] [Lie Detection] [Boost] [Slash] [Wind Magic] [Concentration] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Enhanced Senses]
[Equipment: [Magic Ring (x8)] [Magic Necklace (x2)] [Magic Chain] [Magic Bracelet (x5)] [Magic Ankle Bracelet (x6)]
[Titles: [Enchantress] [Jewelry Designer] [Jewelry Maker] [Savage Assassin] [Pet] [One Who Lost Their Pride]
…
"Hoh…"
"I-Is there something wrong master? Are you not satisfied with my appearance?" Ava asks, a worried expression plastered across her face.
That wasn't the problem. In fact, she was much more beautiful than before.
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Her pale white skin was now flushed slightly with a bright red. She was about the same height as Yin now, 5'7. Grey eyes were matched with her new grey hair that had gemstones, fused with her hair follicles. Her assets seemed to have shrunk slightly, they were more average than ever, not that I minded though.
Beautiful, sparkling gems were scattered across her body. Her face had a few gems on it, but they were mainly towards the chin and jawline.
Finally, the most fascinating part of Ava's evolution, her wings. The feathers on her arms were gone and now massive wings, about 2/3 the size of mine, sprouted from her back. They weren't just made from feathers but they had thick bones creating the outline of the wings.
It looked similar to Aika's wings but much bigger. Much, much bigger.
Her new grey feathers came out from the bones and were layered, creating a dense but weirdly fluffy look to them. Finally, just like her species says, the bones that helped outline her wings were encrusted with various gemstones that sparkled in the shining sun.
"You look great… but I see you haven't partially mastered daggers yet,"
"P-please forgive me. I have no excuses, I deserve to be punished," Ava says, kowtowing on the ground in front of me while placing the vines to her side.
"Your punishment will be… massage my feet for the rest of the day. You stop when I tell you to stop," I say.
"I thank Master greatly for giving me such a lenient punishment," Ava says, getting up onto her knees.
[Evolution Switch]
I switch to my siren form, causing my wings to sprout from my back. I couldn't retract them despite having the body modification. Though this was only an assumption, I assumed it was because, during my Siren evolution, my wings were part of my body.
"Wait, let me clean them a bit," I say.
First, I walk over to the water and dip my foot in, cleaning them a bit before sitting back onto my stone throne. I reach out my soft, long leg towards her as she gently massages it.
"Okay, each member of the Water Corps, please line up beside my throne," I shout.
The slightly tired Water Corps quickly swim out of the jar and line up in a single file line beside my left armrest.
"Ava, hand those vines to me… thanks. Now tie these tightly around your ankles for now. We will work our way up, eventually reaching the point where your ankles, wrists, and elbows will be tied together so don't get scared of this.
If you succeed at all of these quickly, we will ramp it up to where we will slightly tighten a vine around your neck, making it hard to breathe," I say, handing the first vine to an elf.
"Thank you,"
"Thank you,"
"Thank you,"
…
After all 10 had received their vines. They slowly began tying the greenish-blue vines around their ankles. I checked them to make sure they were tight enough, before ordering them to jump into the water of their own accord.
They quickly dove in headfirst. Some immediately adapted, but the majority of them were struggling greatly. In just the first few minutes, 2 elves and 1 amazonian had already sunk below the surface.
I used [Grand Water Magic] to toss them out of the water, extract the water from their throat and lungs, then tossed them back in.
I gave them rough instructions on what they had to do, so eventually, they got the hang of it… which was when the sun started to fall.
All they had to do was kick both legs together, pushing them up. If they couldn't do that, they would sink and have to retry. This experience is to help them get over the fear of drowning while adapting to any situation possible.
"Okay! That's enough for today! Get out of the water, change, get some dinner, and go to sleep. We'll be doing this for a while so don't get burnt out yet!" I shout.
As soon as I see all of my water-born assassins leave the venom jar, I look down at Ava who was still massaging my feet.
"I'm going to dinner now," I say, standing up from my stone throne and walking off.
Ava follows behind me. Following exactly what I had said earlier in the day. "You will not stop until I have ordered you to do so."
Walking into the throne room surprised my wives… besides Homura who was still slightly angry from earlier. I had to explain to them the concept of the skill I used and their reaction was,
"That's pretty good,"
"Cool,"
"..." Homura was silent.
Aika asked Ava for a foot massage which she quickly complied.
Once we had finished our dinner and Homura and I talked things over, we dismissed Ava. We then took a bath before heading to bed… in which I took the lead this time. It was a different experience and I must say… it was much less exhausting than being on the bottom.