“Aleks….” His new creation was looking at him like a child with a hint of confusion on her beautiful face.

No, her perfect face. She will undoubtedly draw the attention of many eyes, but I have made her strong,

“What is it Lenia? If you have something to ask of me, then do so. You need not hesitate.”

Lenia still felt a degree of fear for her master, although it wasn’t the kind of fear that made her worry for her life but a fear out of respect for a being she owed her existence to.

“Why… why do you live in this horrid place?”

She went right to the heart of the matter I see.

“A very pertinent question. It is indeed unfortunate that I must reside in this squalor but do not fear. It is only temporary” Alek’s voice bore a hint of majesty, something not very befitting of a man living in such conditions.

The ‘Soul Eater’ had only recently arrived in this city and had come with no wealth to speak of. He had left his servant Brock somewhere outside the city in a humble place to wait for him. He didn’t want Brock to know what he intended to do in this decadent place. Brock was his only connection to his past in this lifetime. A part of him didn’t want to taint that part of his life.

Aleks had come to terms with his fate, but he wasn’t about to allow those petty foreign gods who had invaded his world to have their way.

Whatever it takes, however long, I will have my revenge against them… somehow.

His determination was not one to scoff at and he was unwilling to accept that there wasn’t a path for him.

I will make this world my own and dye it in my colors! You will not have the last laugh you cursed beings!

This desire had become his new ambition.

“Ah! So it is just temporary…..”

Lenia was still naive, there was much she needed to experience and learn. Since she was Aleks’s first subordinate, she needed to become a capable leader.

Aleks had spent the majority of the ‘‘Soul Potential’ he had obtained in the past when creating her. Despite the fact that he was able to consume some SP from the humans that Lenia had killed in the brothel, most of their souls were of low quality and mostly worthless. Hence he wasn’t even able to recuperate even a small percentage of the SP that was used.

Normal people who hadn’t obtained even a basic class were powerless. Their souls were weak and the SP that Aleksandros could obtain from devouring their souls was hardly anything at all. A mere 10 SP for a single normal soul. There were some variation between the different species that lived in their world, but these variations were mostly minor. Either way, not even a tiny drop in the bucket.

High-quality souls were what he needed, the souls of those who had obtained classes. The higher the rank, the more value their soul contained. Even basic classes would only provide a meager 100 SP per soul consumed. This was still not enough to achieve his ambitions. However, the amount of SP that could be obtained rose exponentially when reaching higher classes.

The soul of an Intermediate class being of high level was worth around 500 SP and an advanced class being of high level was worth thousands depending on the quality and power within their soul. It wasn’t as easy to quantify beings which rose to an advance rank because of how powerful they could be.

If I could devour a being which has reached a Master class… How great that would be! I shudder to consider how much SP I could obtain then…

Aleks had only begun his rise to power and there was still so much to do.

This is as lowly a place as could be for a start point. I’m living in a sewer, wearing rags. But.. When I see the wonder I created before me it fills me with rapt expectation.

Lenia was already quite the powerful being. She had cost almost 9000 SP which was certainly a greater amount than he could obtain from an Intermediate class being but there would of course be some loss of efficiency between what could be obtained by inferior beings and the cost to create superior ones. Or at least, that was how Aleks saw things.

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Regardless, Lenia was expensive to create but well worth the cost. He could only admire his creation as she looked up at him with childlike eyes filled with awe and perhaps even some type of love.

“Lenia..”

“Yes mast… Aleks?”

While he was absorbed in thought, he realized Lenia was still staring up at him from her kneeling position. He must have looked the fool to her being so absent minded and so he called out to her.

“You must understand that you are an exceptional being. You are a level 60 Knight and among the people of this world quite powerful but you still must be careful. Even though you are strong, there are still those stronger than you.”

“But master, surely you are the strongest.”

Aleks smiled at her naive expression.

“It may seem that way to you but even I am not the strongest.. At least not yet.”

Lenia looked at Aleks with doubt clearly written all over her face. She couldn’t bring herself to believe him but she didn’t voice her doubts so as not to anger him. Her immaturity and inexperience was laughable to Aleks who could clearly understand her just by watching her expressions.

“You doubt me eh?”

“Never master! I would never doubt you!”

Aleks chuckled.

“Well, that’s not important right now. You must understand that being careful and mindful at all times is what we need do until we grow stronger. For the most part though, you should be fine. Only the most powerful of adventurers and the strongest beings among certain organizations would be able to overpower you. That is only temporary though, once I devour enough souls I will be able to bestow upon you a higher rank and greater power. You have a great advantage over all the people living on this world. Others need to acquire power through painstaking efforts. They can only grow in strength through experience and hard work, but you are different. You do not need to fight and kill endless amounts of enemies be they monsters or people, or spend numerous hours in training and meditation. You do not need divine faith, extensive study and research or any of the other methods that those who live in those world require in order to advance. For you, it is enough that I grow stronger because as I grow stronger, so shall you. With the 'Soul Potential' that I acquire through consuming the souls of our enemies, I will continuously improve your strength and raise your level. At that time, very few will be a match for you.”

Lenia looked very pleased and considered her master’s words.

“Good! Then I will be able to protect you always, right master?”

“I told you to call me Aleks.”

“Sorry ma.. Aleks.”

“When the time comes, you will be my greatest commander. You will lead my armies and crush my enemies!”

Lenia jumped up with joy unexpectedly and pumped her fist, “I will definitely not let you down master!”

Aleks sighed and shook his head but couldn’t bring himself to reprimand her. She reminded him so much of his sister in this lifetime who he lost at such a young age.

If only I could see her again. It is true that you never know what you have until it’s gone. You would think a being of my experience with all that I know, would have truly understood that a long time ago. With all that I have lost… but life is strange and fickle. Even when we know something, it doesn’t mean we truly understand until it hits us like a hammer and crushes our still beating heart.

“Master, you are being quiet again… It’s strange when you do that.”

Tch.

Aleks felt his face twitch beneath the cloth covering it at her words.

“Nevermind that! There are many things I must consider. It’s time to give you a small test.”

“A test.. ?” Lenia looked at Aleks questioningly.

“We are lacking in basic supplies. As you can see, we don’t have anything here. No food or water and our clothes are ragged. I do not wish to draw attention to myself so I will send you to purchase some of the basic things we need. For now, I will give you a list of supplies to buy or acquire by trade in the city above. You are to sell what we looted from the brothel and obtain the items on the list. This is a test for you to overcome, see it as such.”

Lenia seemed pleased to have been given an important mission.

Wait, is this really that important of a mission?

She couldn’t help herself from suddenly thinking. She was beginning to question things on a deeper level which was a good sign of her development.

When she thought about it more deeply, she began to consider her master’s words.

‘Maybe he wants to see how well I can do among other people!’

This wasn’t far from the truth but not entirely what Aleks had in mind. One of his goals was to allow her to gain experience by interacting with others without him but there was much more to it than that.

“Oh, and one more thing. Do not draw attention to yourself, is that clear?”

“Of course mas… Aleks.. I will be very careful. You can rely on me to carry out this mission!”

Excellent determination, she is maturing quickly.

“Then go, I will rest until you return.” Lenia left him there in the silence.

Aleks watched her go and he sat back in the squalor of the strange storage room located somewhere below the city of Andor’s Edge within the sewers. It may seem as if it were a strange sight, but in fact it wasn’t that strange. There were many of the poor and destitute of the city who lived among the sewers. Aleks had kicked out the previous occupant of this particular room who was just a poor beggar.

However, Aleks wasn’t just wasting his time. An inordinate amount of data was fluttering across his retina as he perused the information available to him. He had many plans and much was at stake.

It shouldn’t be long now.