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[New Perk Unlocked: Power Holder]

Info: The caster may borrow 10% of all Base Stat Points and Mana Control efficiency from Party Members under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor. In addition, 10% of the caster's Base Stat Points and Mana Control may be temporarily distributed to any Party Members under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor.

The caster may only borrow or share exclusively; both actions cannot be performed simultaneously.

Members affected by this perk must be within range of the Rising Emperor's Domain.

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My eyes widen, and I'm left in awe reading this new ability.

Up until now, it really only helped my teammates to gain new strength and temporarily use my skills when close to me.

Finally, I'll be able to reap the benefits of this perk myself, and in an incredible way.

Even though most of the people that swore allegiance to me are fairly low leveled, some below level 50, and a majority below level 150, their average is still around level 100 considering the outliers.

With an average base stat increase per level of roughly 2 points, a level 100 would have the base stats on Strength, Defense, Speed, Agility, and Mental Strength at roughly 200 each. Temporarily borrowing 10% of each of these may only raise my own stats by 20 points each... but the fact that I now have 100 people loyal to me means I can activate this perk and use all of their power whenever I wish.

That would be a 2000 point base stat increase. Adding the hundreds of % increases from my gear that stack upon my base rating, I just unlocked a new temporary buff that raises all of my stats to a tremendous degree with unlimited potential as long as I continue bringing more people into my settlement.

The only downsides I can think of are that it can only be activated when people are within my Domain's range, which is just over 100 meters in diameter at the moment. As my mana control and level grow, this will as well.

On top of that, I'm able to borrow mana control efficiency from my party members too. The only ones I'd really be benefiting any noticeable change from would be my core teammates, still 10% from each of them may mean the difference between life and death in a future battle.

I nod to myself, reading over the perk's description a few more times and confirm it's really all exactly how I see it, then mutter to myself. "Very good, now let's continue."

A new pair of middle-aged working men walk through the front door and I finish the sorting process for the final 50 people that come in from the square.

The final numbers end up at roughly 130 wanting to stay and live in this town. The majority of them took their care packages and thankfully made their way back to the housing I provided for them until further notice.

Just under 200 are lined up around the square with all their belongings in hand, ready to leave, while a small group of 30-40 still wait inside the guild hall as undecided.

While some have interesting circumstances and propositions, I let them step aside to talk to them later. Others are quite literally undecided, their indecisiveness wouldn't allow them to choose. They would neither declare loyalty to me, nor tell me straight to my face that they want to leave and go back to Solara.

I understand their situation may be tough, shock and trauma may be halting their abilities to react to my offering. However, I have no room in my heart and mind for people's feelings right now.

We're on the verge of war, and I'm giving them an opportunity with a simple choice. Stay or leave. If they haven't come up with an answer by the time I'm done with the line, they're packing up and leaving with everyone else.

I let out a sigh and turn to Abby while pointing toward the small crowd of undecided.

"Alright, bring over more supplies, it's time to wrap this up."

We walk over to the people that are split evenly into 3 groups. Two of the groups are the cases of interesting individuals I wanted to have another chat with, while the larger group are the undecideds I need to deal with now. I turn to them and speak up.

"Alright, I gave you more time to think. All you have to do is give me a simple response. Yes, you want to stay and follow me as your leader. Or, No, you'd like to leave and have a free trip back to Solara with some money and food as a parting gift."

As I stop talking, none of them want to speak up. Most shuffle around, looking at the floor or waiting for another to step forward first.

So, I speak up again while stepping forward and pointing to the closest young man I see.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"You, you're first."

He looks up at me, and I speak to him like I'm speaking to all of them.

"Just yes or no. Even if you leave now, I'll always accept you back here if you'd like to swear loyalty to me in the future. This isn't a permanent deal, just one I need to make now for efficiency."

He nods to himself, then looks up at me with a scared look in his eyes, and responds after a loud gulp.

"Okay, I'll stay... I swear my l-loyalty to you as a-"

While he speaks, red mist oozes from him, only in my vision as my lie detector skill senses untruthfulness in his words.

Before he even finishes his sentence, something twists and changes in his face, and he reaches into his back pocket to pull out a dagger and thrusts it toward me.

In my advanced perception, I saw this coming and could have dealt with him before the blade came out of his pocket, but I want to make an example out of his actions for everyone to see.

So, I allow him to foolishly thrust his hand into the side of my maximum density Qi Barrier gripping a silver blade tightly.

He lets out a yell as the metal melts along with half of his arm as it's met with no resistance from my barrier, but instantly disintegrates his arm down to the elbow.

His eyes open wide and his yells grow louder as he falls backward in pain and my expression doesn't change at all.

I let out a sigh and point a finger, using telekinesis to lift him off the ground to hover in front of me.

"I gave you one rule to follow, and you managed to break it. Do not attempt to deceive me, it is impossible."

I put up a dome of mana shielding around only us two for a split second and release a wave of unprotected intimidation straight into his psyche.

The man foams at the mouth and passes out on the spot, then I drop him to the floor.

I turn to Abby, and use telepathy to talk to her.

"Could you please bring him out to the huts near the canyon for me? Restore that arm and feed him a vial of elixir, have him wait for me to return before he does anything else."

She picks up the passed-out man and walks out the door, and I turn back to the undecideds again.

"It is a simple yes or no, do not lie or attempt to deceive me. If you don't know what to say, just say you don't know, I will decide for you."

After my display, they all begin to answer and be much more cooperative.

13 of them decide to leave, and 8 of them swear loyalty to me and want to stay.

I sort their gear out myself and have them leave the guild hall so I can finally get to the interesting folks I wanted to talk to initially.

I would say that coincidentally worked out in my favor, but I felt his animosity for me from the start, and his hand kept tapping his back pocket every time he looked at me from afar. I was guessing something like that would happen and was happy to make an example out of that man.

"Thank you all for waiting. I hope the little incident there didn't frighten you. I do not have a high tolerance for crazy people. Please make logical decisions and speak your opinions outloud. As long as you tell the truth, there will never be an issue."

I turn to the remaining two groups of men and women left in the guild hall.

One has 7 people in it, their spokesperson is short but looks very strong with a thick dark beard and mustache. All of them wear manual labor uniforms and carry enchanted tools like hammers and fine-tuned drills.

He's the first that steps forward with both hands on his waist and a smile across his face.

"Not at all, Sir Flame Emperor. You made the rules, and he broke them to the highest degree, I see nothing wrong with your actions."

I nod and turn to him directly, and he continues.

"The name is Maurice. Maurice Ablemen. This is what's left of my team, I used to run an architecture firm, building small-scale projects and traveling town to town in Sector 4 right outside Solara. The only reason neither me nor my team have decided to swear our loyalty to you is that we do not know what that entails. As you must envision this town as a city that will grow, I know you need an advanced team of builders to work on the woodwork, sewer systems, and mana-based power lines. I'm sure my team could handle this if you give us the chance, but we're skeptical of another incident after being deceived by the leader of the Green Mist."

He lets out a sigh and steps back to hear my response.

I take a moment to ponder his claim, doing a full appraisal of him and his men and women workers.

Most of them have extreme strength and body hardening skills to help with the heavy lifting and burdens of the job, but the young man to his right side has an earth summoning skill and their leader has a very interesting status.

[Lv. 114] [Structural Perception][Special Grade]

I dig deeper into his status using my all-seeing eye, and it shows that this skill works similarly to my swordsmanship skills' legendary perk. It seems he's able to see and manifest images of advanced systems and structures to see and test how they would work best with moving parts added to them over time by letting his subconscious take over and show him the way.

My guess is it is a skill usually used for craftsmen making small items, or even may be useful for a combat magic user to use to bend mana and matter to their will to create more efficient spells.

However, it is a truly unique use of this skill to use it for advanced architecture.

Based on his backstory, it seems he's never worked on any major projects, and only built what small villages needed to get by and survive.

I nod and reply with a smile only visible beneath my flaming mask.

"So, you'd like to use my growing city as a sandbox to create your dream architectural creations? But wish to not be held back by the potential constraints of what submitting to me as a leader may entail."

The corner of the man's lip turns up as well, and he nods.

"You can see my vision, can't you?"

I reply just as Abby walks through the back door of the guild hall again.

"I believe I do, and I believe you see mine. I wish to create an Empire greater than anything the Dark continent has ever seen. One that in time, can rival the Association. I will grow the funds, and I will grow in power. However, this will only work if every member that lives in this city serves me, and only me as their leader. Treat me with honesty and respect, and that will be what is given back to every member of this community. Nothing more, nothing less."

His eyes sparkle, and another string of silent notifications ring in my inner ear.

All 7 of them get down on one knee after Maurice, their leader, and pledge loyalty to me.

As soon as they get back up, I ask Abby to get them their coins and basic supplies.

Then, the voice of the second group leader hits my ear and I turn to see a tall man in a rogue hunter's uniform with 5 beautiful women behind him in tight colorful clothing.

He takes a step forward with a white smile, chiseled jaw, blond hair, and piercing green eyes.

"Nice to meet you. The name's Dan Striker. I plan on being your number 1 competition."