Edward summoned his daughter's body and gently held the girl's corpse in his arms. Just seeing her made him a bit emotional, but he had to do this to potentially save her, so he suppressed his emotions as he waited for Daz to do what he needed to do.

Daz activated his Soul Vision racial trait, resulting in four souls appearing in front of him. Both Jenna and Alison's souls were white, as were Ellie's and Edward's, which was a good initial sign.

Daz was quite happy to see that Jenna and Alison's souls were still in their bodies despite them being dead. He was a bit concerned that wouldn't be the case and that they'd linger where they had died, but thankfully, that was a needless worry on his end.

'Hmm... I can't tell if they're corrupted or not. Oh well, I guess I just have to use Master Identification,' he thought. Immediately after that, he used said skill on the two souls.

Jenna Loch's Soul [F-Rank (Lower Tier)] Description

The soul of a six-year-old girl who died to a slime during the first day of the first cycle of her planet's system initialisation test.

Her father, Edward Loch, has restored her damaged body, and his strong will has helped maintain the quality of her soul.

Corrosion level: 0.76%

Stats Willpower: 0 Endurance: 5

Alison Richie's Soul [F-Rank (Middle Tier)] Description

The soul of a thirty-seven-year-old woman who died in an unfortunate car accident ten years ago.

Her daughter, Ellie Richie, has restored her rotted body.

Corrosion level: 4.86%

Stats Willpower: 0 Endurance: 20

"Okay, I've got good news. Both of them aren't too corroded yet, so I can turn them into spirits, however, Edward, I can only use this skill once a week, and Ellie's mom is very close to being too corroded for it to work. I'm gonna have to turn her into a spirit first, then your daughter next week," Daz said impassively.

Edward looked between his daughter and the coffin that housed Ellie's mother. "How corroded is Jenna's soul?" he asked with worry lacing his every word.

Daz smiled reassuringly. "Less than even one percent. She'll be fine for a week. Your will is actually helping her stave off the corrosion faster than such a young soul should normally be able to. Like, Alison's soul is a bit stronger, but it's also older, hence why hers hasn't passed 5% yet despite having been dead for far longer."

Edward slowly nodded then returned his daughter's body to whatever skill he was using to store it. "Okay. Next week then."

"I promise," Daz said that approached Alison's coffin. He moved his hand to sit right over Alison's intangible soul then cast his new skill out loud. "Mudlow's Spirit Formation."

While neither Edward nor Ellie could see what was going on, Daz clearly could. He watched as the mote of light that was invisible to him without his Soul Vision took shape and morphed into a beautiful and elegant woman with a vacant expression on her face.

Now that she was a spirit, Daz cancelled Soul Vision as he could see her perfectly fine without using the racial trait.

She was slightly taller than Reika, but she was almost entirely transparent and her legs were missing below her knees, in the place of her feet and calves was a singular merged wispy cloud-like limb.

Alison's new spirit stared blankly at nothing in particular as it just floated there. "Spirit, contract with this person," Daz commanded as he pointed at Ellie. "She was your daughter in life, now allow her to be your master in death."

He used some of his Archreaper's Aura to see if that would help urge the spirit into doing what he wanted it to.

Edward and Ellie had to put their all into resisting the urge to drop to one knee and worship Daz, but the spirit had no such willpower.

She shivered in fear as she quickly bound herself to Ellie's left hand. As soon as she did that, Daz cancelled his Archreaper's Aura and smiled. "It looks like it worked. Look at your left hand, Ellie."

"My hand?" Glancing down, Ellie was a bit surprised to see a light yellow emblem that looked alien on the back on her hand. It looked almost like a faded tribal tattoo.

As she was staring at it, a tiny head popped out of it and looked around in fear. "M-Mom?"

"Oh? You can see her? That's good. I guess you can see spirits that are contracted to you. Try to talk to her," Daz prompted. He wanted to know the limits of the newly born spirit.

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"O-Okay. I-I can do that." Ellie was quite clearly a bit emotional and shaken as she looked at the tiny astral body that resembled her mother perfectly. "U-Um... Mom? It's me... Ellie..."

Alison's spirit stared up at her contractor in confusion. Her face seemed to indicate that she remembered Ellie, but she clearly didn't know how or from where.

"Um... What's your name?" Ellie asked timidly.

'Ah, good initiative there, Ellie,' Daz praised internally while they both intently watched the spirit.

Edward was blind to what was going on, which bothered him a bit, but he wasn't so insensitive that he'd whine about his feelings right now.

Both Alison's confusion and apparent recognition of Ellie faded as a blank expression filled her face. She simply returned into the girl's hand, disappearing from sight.

"W-What does that mean?!" Ellie asked anxiously as she looked at Daz.

The reaper held his chin and replied, "Either her existing corrosion is blocking her personality, or my skill isn't good enough for her personality to surface strongly like with Reika. Regardless, she seems healthy, and with time, I'll be able to make her who she was again hopefully."

Ellie was both upset and happy at the same time, but one thing that she definitely wasn't, was ungrateful. "Daz... I'm so sorry for how I've been acting lately... T-Thank you for being so patient and kind with me...," she thanked with a faint smile on her lips.

Daz chuckled softly. "It's fine. Just, don't fall in love with me. One occurrence of the suspension bridge effect was more than enough. I'm perfectly happy with Maddy."

Ellie blushed. "I know that..."

Edward heaved a sigh. "Well, I need to go train with Crusher. I should also help her, Dorian and that clone of yours keep an eye on those new guys. I'll talk to Harriot about setting up a more formal rotation of watch or something. Anyway, I'll see you 7-days from now?"

Daz nodded. "Yeah, 7-days. Oh, and by the way, do you two mind if I use Identification on you? I have in the past without your consent, but I'm trying to be more considerate of my friends."

Edward shrugged. "I don't give a fuck. Look at my status, items and skills, all you want." After saying that, he walked away.

"Um, no, I don't really mind. It makes sense since you're our leader and everything," Ellie answered.

"Thanks." Daz felt relieved to have their permission now. "Anyway, do you wanna bury your mom, Ellie, or would you rather keep her in your Telekinetic Rift?"

"I think I'll keep her... I was going to bury her with Big Sis and Dad if there wasn't really anything that you could do, but now... I don't want to dig up my mom twice, y'know? I'll keep her with me until you can bring her back," Ellie responded in a quiet voice.

Daz nodded. "Sure. Well, I need to go do some king work. You know, personally answer complex or serious complaints and suggestions, that kinda thing, so I'll catch you later."

"Oh, um, okay. I, uh, I plan on spending a lot of my free time helping Sandy build and then working on the airship at night, so you know where I'll be if you ever need me," Ellie said.

"Can I count on your participation in the next cycle's attack if it is, in fact, an attack again?" Daz questioned seriously.

Ellie bobbed her head up and down. "I... I don't want any more people experiencing my pain, so it'd be cowardly of me not to help."

Daz grinned. "And you're anything but a coward."

----------------------------------------

Daz had sought out and acquired Madison first before he returned to the keep's throne room. If he was going to make important decisions, he needed to have the extremely teasable and incredibly cute Madison by his side.

Kissing her cheek softly as she squirmed about on his lap, Daz asked Madison, "Maddy, can you hold me back if a situation like the one with Steven from a few days ago happens again?"

With a completely crimson face, she pouted as she nodded. "Will."

Crosius coughed awkwardly and said, "Your Majesty, today, you have six complaints and two suggestions to deal with and decide on."

Daz frowned and stopped teasing Madison, but kept an arm coiled around her waist. "That's a lot of complaints."

Walking into the room from a side door, Lyle chuckled softly. "My King, we had close to three dozen complaints, but most of them were petty and easily solved... These six, however, are a bit serious or the complaint-owners were far too unreasonable for me or for Crosius and his advisors to talk them down."

Daz tapped his throne's armrest in thought before he said, "Okay, well, no time like the present. Let's get this over with."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Crosius said with a short bow. He then looked at the keep servants by the main entrance of the hall and ordered, "Bring in the first guest."

Doing as they were told, they left the room and returned a few seconds later with a slightly overweight middle-aged man donning a pair of glasses. He was sweating a bit and quite clearly didn't seem to be accustomed to the heat of California.

Crosius cleared his throat and then presented a scroll to Daz. "Announcing today's first guest, Mr Paul Evans. He is a new citizen of Your Majesty and has some concerns in regards to your chosen government type."

Daz gave the scroll a cursory glance then returned it to Crosius and asked, "What issues do you have specifically, Paul?"

Replying in a very British accent, the middle-aged man said, "I joined you because of the merit point incentive, but I don't appreciate that you lied to all of us during the auction."

Daz frowned. "How, exactly, did I lie to you?"

Feeling a bit more confident in himself, Paul answered, "You said Waterford and Fort Skip were places where we'd all be equals regardless of our classes, but you're a king. How can there be equality if there's a monarch? I demand you change the government type to a constitutional monarchy. I don't mind you being the king since you're very powerful, but you're just a young man! It's unfair and unwise to let all of our lives hang in the balance of your, and only your, decisions."

Daz sighed. "Rejected. No one could make choices better than myself."

Paul's face reddened. "Don't be arrogant! You're only 20-something, and we could all die at the snap of your fingers! We'd all feel a bit safer with a government where we all had a say in what happened. I-I'd be willing to concede a federal bureaucracy if you'd prefer..."

"Again, rejected." Daz looked at Paul coldly. "Do you know what the best type of government in the world is? The type that has shown its many merits throughout all of history?"

Paul had a blank look on his face as he tried to come up with an answer. To spare him the embarrassment of making a fool out of himself, Daz spoke in his place.

"The answer is any government type where a single person makes all of the decisions." Daz could see Paul immediately trying to refute that, so he held up his hand to stop the middle-aged man from talking. "Both the worst and the best countries and empires in history were ruled by a single person."

"... So?" Paul asked sceptically.

"So, I intend to be the latter. I care for my home and its people. Even were I not the strongest person here, I would still strive to unite everyone under my banner." Daz wore a soft expression on his face. "Paul, I understand your concerns, but can you please put your trust in me? I fully intend to make life as good as possible for all citizens of Earth. I can only unite everyone with your help. I need everyone's help. Don't you want to contribute to the most powerful and happiest age Earth has ever seen before?"

Madison made a sound of admiration as she got swept up in Daz's speech while Mr Barrier just lazily sat on her head. "Daz, cool..."

Paul's eyes glazed over a bit as his mind went through everything that Daz just said. "I... I can contribute? Even if my weapon is just a stupid letter opener?"

"Paul, you are just as important as I am," Daz answered with his sincere thoughts. "A machine cannot run at maximum efficiency when even one part is broken or uncooperative."

"I... I see... I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't consider that before. Um, I'll see myself out," Paul said with a bit of an embarrassed smile on his lips.

'I didn't even have to use a thought seed on him... I'm getting good at persuading people, huh? I do have to wonder how much of that was down to my skills and stats though,' Daz thought as he began teasing Madison again.

Off to the side, Lyle was struggling to hide his pure elation. 'His run-in with his father has clearly opened his mind and helped him grow! What an incredible person, what an incredible king...'