Rex calmy sat there at the campfire, enjoying the misty expression on Dianas face as she was immersed in the taste of the earth grade meat he had cooked up for them. Even with the growing number of people in his mansion, he was still grinding not only enough but way too much to make a dent in his meat reserves, even with all the amount he was providing Eredar with, so prepearing earth grade was only natural. Besides, Rex did not have meat of lower quality on him, since that would be beneath his station.Then a minute or so later, when Diana came back from her foodgasm, she looked at Rex with bevilderment.

"What is this godly meat that you have given us?"

"You like it?" Rex smirked with a playfull expression "My family and servants eat nothing less than this. As for where it comes from, I am sure such quality could be found in this dungeon as well."

"Where?!" Diana asked with urgent need for an answer.

"Further in the dungeon. Once the mana density drastickally changes, monsters should have this quality of meat." Rex answered.

"The deep floors?"

"Oh, you use the same terminology? Yes, the deep floors. I have made quite the fortune in my home town providing large quantities of this exact item to the local merchant there. So, back to my question, how does one go around courting a woman of your status, and possibly her daughter?"

Diana looked at Rex thoughtfully "You must have increadibly powerfull group if you can reliably hunt in such dangerous areas."

"He he he he." Rex laughed lightly at her comment, and to ensure she did not misunderstand, Rex explained "I believe I said, that I provide quite the quantities of it. And I meant exactly that- I, not 'we', or 'my group'. And as I said, my girls meals are cooked with meat of no lesser quality. So, regarding my question?"

"Aa, yes." Diana cleared her throat from the pleasant and soothing aftertaste by swalowing hard and drinking a few gulps from her water flask.

"First would be a gift, one that proves your ability to provide for her, along with words of your interest. depending on the woman and other admireres, maybee a few gifts, to ensure the intent is there, then would come a way to prove your strenght and wilingness to fight and protect the woman in question. Yet again, the number of duels with other men depends on how high standing the woman has in the tribe."

"So, the gift part we could asume is covered, seeing how you liked the meal, but dont worry, there is more to come." Rex then smiled "Say, would taking out the new chief count as proof of might?"

"Why?" Diana asked with a slightly choked voice. "You could easily claim me as you wish, hell, I would willingly lay with you to protect my daughter. Why would you even consider my thoughts or our traditions?"

"Because I am greedy. I want everything. So, I cant just be satisfied with your body alone. I want everything. Besides, it is no fun in breaking a woman not deserving of such ruthlessness and savagery. So, has my interest been conveyed clearly? Besides, you should understand that there is no safer place for your daughter than under my protection."

Diana sat there silently, contemplating her options. if the man was indeed as powerfull as he said, there was no problem in becoming his woman. Their culture apreciated personal strenght since that dirrectly corelated to ones ability to both provide and protect. In addition, the man was in controll of his impulses. The trully mighty men of svergi would just take what they want, since might makes right. Deciding to understand him further, she asked something that was on her mind.

"Is that all you wanted to ask me about?"

"Ow, right. No, I have a few other questions. The hunters there" Rex pointed his thumb to the guys standing back "are quite simple and not very capable of proper speech, thus their ability to explain is quite limited. So, if I were to desire to take controll of your tribe, how would I go about it? Besides obviously taking out the new chief? Also, why have your people not left this dungeon, it seems quite shitty place to live in, considering the permanent winter here."

"Lets start with the simpler things. Our residence here. It is the traditions that keep us here. Many of our rites are dirrectly tied to certain places withing the dungeon, so without a shift in our understanding and way of life there is no way that we could leave here. As for the other question, it depends on in what capacity do you want to controll the tribe. Do you want to be the new chief, or do you just want for them to fight your wars, and raid on your command?"

"What other things a chief can decide, since it seems the latter is much easier to achieve than the former?" Rex asked, now slightly interested in the intricacies of their leadership system.

"Chief is our leader, as such he decides on most of our actions that affect the tribe as a whole. Do we move, how many parties and how often we send them out to danger zones for greater hunts, our sacrifices for the grand tournament, and many other domestic decisions."

"Sacrifices for the grand tournament?" Rex asked, slight frown on his face.

"Participants who will fight in it. Since our tribe is relatively small and we dont have a warlord, our participants are almost guaranteed to die in the tournament, thus we have started to call our participants sacrifices. Since we have little hope of seeing them return alive from it."

"Well, technically, all I need is a large force to round up, controll and process hundreds, if not thousands or tens of thousands of slaves untill we find a buyer or decide on the best way to utilize them."

"Just what are you planning that would result in sucha huge number of slaves?" Diana asked dumbfoundedly.

"Nothing much, just wiping out a state. So, which option would allow me to do that, and how would I go about it to achieve that quickly?"

"I am sorry to tell you this, but there is no way my tribe alone can achieve something of such proportions. You are talking about human slaves, yes?" Diana asked for clarification.

"Yes, your race is much stronger baseline than most humans, making the controll much easier to achieve. All I need is numbers and iron clad obedience in performing ones tasks, besides, cant I just subjugate other tribes untill I have the necesarry personell for my needs?"

"How strong are you really?" Diana then asked "The more tribes you want to controll, the more opressive and unreasonable your individual strenght has to be, since all tribes who are under your command can demand a duel for independance, and whoever demands it can do so at the same time, thus causing the leader to fight multiple opponents at the same time. No matter how powerfull, there are limits to everyone."

"Dont worry about that. So, what are my options?" Rex then asked.

"Do you care about every little decision making that would have to be decided by the chief, from what you understand about their position?" Diana asked, considering the options based on their las and traditions.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Nah, just the slave thing. They can self govern for all I care." Rex replied.

"Hmmm, that simplifies things. In such case we dont need to actually make you a chief. Its incredibly hard for a non svergi to become a chief, but there are a few examples of a male claiming a svergi woman, who then acts as the standing chief, and the male takes over all the combat and military maters in stead of his wife."

"Hmm, yes, that could indeed be a quick solution, but I cant leave you here to govern the tribe. You are too beautifull to not endulge in, so why would I ever consider leaving you in a place I cant access whenever I want?" His unapologetic and dirrect approach caused her to just stare at him, her jaw open in suprise. She had never heard of humans so unhinged and dirrect. All tribes have a few merchants that trade with humans outside the dungeon, as well as there are a few routes that no tribe raid, meant for human traders to use. While svergi happily enslave adventurers they come across, the trade that had been established was quite benefitial to everyone involved, so not even the most blockheaded of svergi could ignore such a possibility, thus creating a few safe passages.

"Hmm, then the best solution I can think of is the Warcaller." Diana spoke aftera moment of thought.

"Elaborate." Rex asked her to continie.

"Its a champion of sorts. A man with ties to the tribe, in your case it would be as my man." Diana spoke, having accepted him "Any matter of war, and expansion is Warcallers decision, while allowing a chief to perform the non militaristic decision making. We have to call for the right and then challenge the current chief, since he would undoubtedly stand againt you. Then once you have killed the current chief, a new one can be chosen, meanwhile anyone in the tribe can challenge you. You would have to take them out, and if we want to maintain tribes ability to sustain itself, you would have to knock them out without disabling too many of them. We still need the hunters after all. The acting chief then would have to be chosen from the women of the tribe, since no other tribe can challenge a woman to fight, thus relegating all duels as your responsibility when it concerns tribe."

Rex thought of the logistics involved, and another plan hatched in his head. "I can work with that. Can Warcaller take over other clans in the same manner as a chief?" he asked Diana.

"Yes. All military actions would be yours to decide. And as a Warcaller, you would instill caution and outright fear in many of the smaller tribes. The title carries a weight in our society."

"Do you have any women in mind who could act as the chief in your tribe?" Rex asked her, already planning ahead. Diana, gently carresed her daughters head, who was now laying, happily asleep with her head in Dianas lap answered.

"Our wise woman is experienced and smart. She would be a great candidate. She also has the tribe as a priority, always aiming to bring us forward. She has been heavily restricted by the chiefs though, too blind to see further than their small egos. My late husband was guilty of the same. Even I could do nothing to persuade him."

"Right, another question. How does one recognice a taken woman among the svergi? I dont see no rings or anything that would equate teh same in human societies." Rex asked, he had to mark her, in more ways than one after all.

"He he" Dian lightly chuckled "We wear chokers, and as soon as ones mate is lost, we have to remove them. No tribe can afford to have many members not contributing and siring the next generation."

"Anything special about the chokers?" Rex inquired. He would get her the best of the best. Let no one say he did not dote on his women.

"Yes. Males make them with the teeth of their greatest prey. The best ones would make said chokers with the tips of the largest and most powerfull predators they kill. It is a way for the wife to show off as well, since a trully powerfull man is the greatest treasure a woman can get her hands on."

"What is the apex predator of the early deep floors here?" Rex asked "You and Mary will get the best chokers in existance, even if you are will not be spending much of your time along your tribe members." His statement caused her eyes to widen once more and an unexpected smile blomed on her face.

"You would hunt something so dangerous for us? Are you sure you could handle something like that? It is a beast of legends here. Some even consider it a local deity."

"He, I gotta start somewhere, so a local one seems a perfect start." A manical grin was on Rex face. A monster of such proportions should help him grow quite a bit.

"We leave once Mary wakes up. I will bring you outside and have you stay with my Vivi while I am hunting for the choker parts. Then once I have collared teh both of you, we can proceed with what we disceuused here. Is that okey with you?"

"Are you not worried about the safety of ours once we leave here? You said many would want to get their hands on mary on me once we are outside."

"Sure they would, but not when you are mine. Vivian is mine, everyone out there knows it, and they are not stupid enough to risk their lives and their organizations for such small desires. Besides I have my ways to protect you. Dont worry about that." Then Rex looked at the hunters "You heard me? the duo are mine now, so return to the tribe. Say what you will. Truth or that you did not find her, it does not matter. Prepare for when I come next time though. Your tribe is going to rise."

"Yes boss!!" The youngster exclaimed "We wait for you." While the svergi males were simple and quite brutish, they were not stupid and understood just how great a benefit such overwhelming might could be for their tribe, so the quickly departed. Deciding on their way back to pretend they never encountered Diana and mary and only report they came across a monstrously powerfull human adventurer who killed the other party, courtesy of Rex informing them of the fact, and sent them back with a warning to not come the early flooors again, if they value their life. Since the leader of this party was a no nonsesnce guy, with him speaking of it, there would be no one questioning their group.

With the hunters away, Rex spent a few hours un the cave talking with Diana. He had provided her a few blankets, making sure the mother and daughter duo were not cold anymore. He takes care of his people. That left a question, how should he deal with the svergi and the future numbers of slaves he will have for a while. he also learned quite a few interesting facts about svergi as a whole as well as quitea few bits and pieces about their culture and way of life.

Then when mary woke up, they cleaned up their camp, and moved out, to return to the city where Vivian was waiting for her aquintances to appear. Rex also did not waste time and placed the blank brand on the duo. He was paranoid enough about being backstabbed and worried enough about the integrity of their minds. Said action covered both, and with the blank brand in place, he could feel their curiosity and openness towards him. With how he has been treating them for now, besides his tasteless prank at the very beggining, he was a good man, and they hoped he would show more of such qualities the longer they stayed with him.

"Vivian is gonna be suprised. Its not even been a day and so much progress in the plan." Rex spoke as they exited the dungeon and moved towards Vivian. She was in the manor of the governor. They soon reached the place and were left in without any interuptions, the guards well aware who the true archon was. Then they quickly found Vivian, all thanks to his brand, and after a short explanation from Rex, Diana and Mary were left in Vivians care, with Rex delegating the duty to fully explain the events that lead to current situation to Diana. Then with his current mission completed Rex left the mansion and with great haste returned to the dungeon and started his mad descent into its depths, which in this case was a climb up the mountain.

Meanwhile in the mansion of the governor, Diana had just finished her recount of her encounter with Rex, or as he was pretending right now- Neo. Diana could not understand why would Rex use multiple personas, but aftera proper and thorough explanation from Vivian she could see the benefit and utility of such a thing. Moreover, when Vivian mentioned that it could be another way Rex was having fun, she immediatly accepted it. She and Mary had after all seen how bad his ideas of having fun could be, so this was still quite tame by their understanding of the man.

With the full picture and the plans in action Vivian hummed as she thought, and then nodded in agreement.

"I like how the plan is developing. Its proceeding nicely indeed." Then Vivian asked a few other miscelaneous question to the pair, and once Diana was quite comfortable with her situation, the mother asked the cultivator a question.

"How is he treating you and his other girls? While I have a rather good feeling about him for the moment, I have yet to meet most of the girls, and that is still keeping me a bit cautious."

"How should I put it?" Vivian rethorically asked herself, considering the most precise way to answer Dianas question. "If you are his, I doubt you could find a more doting and overprotective harem husband. If you are his friend, he is a reliable and firm support, if needed. If you are a random passerby, he looks just like your everyday, run of the mill person. And if you are his enemy, he is the poison that will kill you in the most excrutiating pain while destroying everything you care about. And there is no antidote, and you cant run away. Thats about it."