Nexiros sat splayed on his throne, bored half to death. At least he would be if death were at all possible for him anymore. He had spent the last day or two watching all incoming initiates as they were received by the system. Most of them were fodder in his eyes, half were still cowering on the floor crying their eyes out like children. And a lot of those who hadn't collapsed into a puddle of tears weren't much better. Only a handful had even thought to sit in the chairs that appeared and actually start the process. I mean come on, its what chairs are for. They're not going to spontaneously combust or anything, Nexiros shook his head admonishingly. These were the outcasts of their worlds, the lonely, the forgotten, the wanderers, vagrants, cutthroats, those with no place in society. My kind of people, he chuckled to himself. And yet, they are all so woefully boring. Not even one good potential recruit so far, out of hundreds of thousands, he thought bitterly.

System initiations were not a common occurrence, and each one brought more than just new territory to be explored. They brought new dungeons, new life forms, more sacred treasures to be pillaged, and perhaps most importantly; they brought new initiates to be recruited by the factions and empires of the multiverse.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Fresh meat, Nexiros smiled wickedly.

As with every new integration, the powerful forces of the multiverse had mobilized and placed all their focus on recruiting the incoming initiates. The biggest push was yet to come, the full integration of the new universe. For many though, the early integration of test initiates was the most crucial point. Recruit one of them, and the chances of those to come joining up with you skyrocketed. After all, who doesn't flock to those familiar when in a foreign environment. This pales to the affect it would have if your initiate had potential and could grow powerful. It was the true contest among the elite in the multiverse, those who had no lack in number, but wished for more potent specimens to cultivate into true assets.

Those with potential are never left alone long in the multiverse, no powerful force would allow it. War was rife in parts of the multiverse, and sometimes a single new powerful pawn could tip the scales. Conversely, those at peace were always seeking new powerful members to help project strength and deter attacks. This meant most factions made do with what they could train up of low class tiered mercenary. While the top fought over what little potential popped up every now and again. A system integration meant an influx of a whole universes worth of potential assets. And this was why Nexiros was paying so close attention.

He needed new powerful blood. His Empire had stagnated in power, and time would tell how long the peace would hold. The cracks had already started showing.