Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Three days after Mark infiltrated the Savage City.

"Today, I shall teach you why a savage is different from a human!" the Golden Savage P'oof said calmly.

They were in a vast field, surrounded by bamboo trees waving in the wind. Mark's puppet was amidst them, looking at P'oof intently. The man walked a small circle around himself, gauging the fresh-blooded savages of this city.

"A savage is not like a human. Humans are each different, each with a face of their own. We are different. We are one as many, many as one. We all are equal!"

Mark squinted. Indeed, all savages had the same indifferent, masked face. He, like all the other new-blooded savages, felt his hand unconsciously touching his own face.

A ceramic mask.

"Do you see this?" P'oof said. "We are united. We are the Savage. We do not need beliefs like 'me,' and 'you.' We just have to be like ants, work for our community and die for our community. We need to be honorable."

The kids felt the blood within them boil. Mark squinted again. The sense of fierce loyalty he was feeling towards this species made him sneer inwardly.

This savage Heart Blood within me is what makes savages what they are. It also gives the higher level savages a weird sense of control over weaker savages.

Or was P'oof inciting weird emotions inside him in virtue of the fact that the man himself was the one who gave Yanchan—Mark's Puppet—the Heart Blood. Curiously, Mark watched as P'oof continued the same, boring speech meant to instil loyalty for an hour more.

Only after that did the man stop walking in circles and smile. Mark noticed something incredibly weird.

All the human-transformed savage children now had a sense of dullness to them. Truly, they felt more like mindless slaves to Mark. He had controlled his own mind quite easily against the weird influence but that wasn't the case for them.

They are completely slave to their influence.

Mark felt his heart thump.

All the humans outside the savage city thought that these savages brought human children here and transformed them into savages. It was a good thing, they thought. They believed that the abducted always got to live a life of freedom and happiness but little did they know that was not the case.

The abducted became mindless slaves upon entering this place and whatever happiness they got from beyond this point, they were not themselves.

What was such life worth?

He had seen and spent some time with savages already, and honestly speaking, they were fun people to be around. But now, his entire understanding of them had changed.

P'oof walked in between them and said calmly, "Follow me."

They walked behind him with dull spirits. Mark was the same, hiding his own vibrant spirit behind a dull facade. They walked into a md-thatched mansion and aalked through its halls silently.

Candles flickered on the walls.

"You people are all useless to our race as you are. Yes, your bodies are stronger than humans. But hmph, humans are nothing!

"Our enemies are demons and against them, you are nothing!"

They stopped in front of a wooden door.

"To serve our race well, you need to be strong. And to grow stronger, the only way is for you to absorb more Heart Blood. But we Gold Lords do not have too much Heart Blood to give it to every other members of our race and creating Silver Savages takes quite a lot more effort than creating Bronze Savages."

P'oof opened the wooden door.

"If you want to become stronger, you have to prove to us Gold Lords that you are worth the effort. Only once yoj prove yourself will we provide you with more Heart Blood. Usually, I wouldn't have come to teach you the ropes myself but recently, things have been growing somewhat hectic."

How are we to prove ourselves?

Mark squinted even more. So, indeed, if he could get more Savage Heart Blood, he could elevate his own Tier as a savage. Can he do that by killing a Golden Savage or two?

Can he become a Golden Savage if he gains as much Heart Blood as them?

"To prove yourself, you have to train a Savage Magic and show us that you truly can do that. Okay, that's it. Once you learn a Savage Magic, we will talk again. Inside this room are the said Savage Magic, go in and choose the one you want to learn."

One by one, the dull savages entered the room and came out with somewhat of a more vibrant aura to them. Mark was in the middle, so it took some time for his chance to enter to arrive.

Mark slowly entered the room.

How do these Savage Magic work? What is its source?

The room was wide and empty. Candle light flickered around the area and everywhere he looked, Mark noticed small points of congealed light floating around.

Fireflies?

No.

The congealed lights slowly dazed around his body and he walked around silently until he saw five symbols on the wall.

Reaching the first of the five symbols, he looked at it and information streamed into his mind. Not having the Violet Screen in his Puppet, it barbarically entered his mind as unclear information.

Mark forced the information to become clear. He manually thought like the Violet Screen.

This was the symbol of nullification. Many of the fireflies surrounding him scattered away and only a few still lingered around him. He frowned.

If he chose this symbol, the fireflies surrounding him would enter his body and he would gain the Nullification guy's Savage Magic. He would be able to explode himself and nullify all of his enemies abilities.

He lingered on the thought and looked at the next symbol. Indeed, this was the teleportation symbol. If he chose this symbol, the new set of fireflies that came to him now would enter him instead.

This firefly, is it the source of Savage Magic?

He had five options.

He could choose one now and become a Savage of that type.

He could be the Nullification guy with the Nullification savage magic, Defender with the Glass Dome savage magic, teleporter with the Aura Teleportation savage magic, attacker with the ability to create a strong weapon out of nowhere. Or he could be the Healer.

Nullification Man, Defender, Teleporter, Attacker, or Healer.

What Savage Magic did he prefer?

When he wins his Dream Gamble, this would be the ability that his main body gets. Mostly, his main body had three weaknesses. Defense, Movement, and Healing. What weakness did he prefer to get rid of first?

Mark pondered deeply as he walked from one symbol to the other. And as he did, he saw two more symbols. But those symbols had a golden tint and didn't react to his suspicious glance in the slightest.

Are these only for the Golden Savages?

Then did that mean there were more kinds of savages out there?

Mark walked around for a long time. He wanted Defense, to be fair with himself. Then, he wanted that aura teleportation stuff, too. But Healing also made him want it.

I can heal myself pretty well with Alchemic Shapeshifting. So, healing is not so important. If it is an air battle, my speed isn't half bad.

If he used Clown's Circus, he could totally overpower anyone of his level in speed. But that was not sustainable.

And if the battle was on ground, he would suffer!

He would be slower than people with an actual movement type ability. Mark frowned even more.

In his Defense department, once his Defensive Magic Aura was broken, he was completely naked to all attacks. He couldn't defend.

Even without speed, I can survive. But without defense, I'd be helpless against weird attacks after my Defensive Magic Aura breaks.

But if he could use Teleportation to avoid getting hit by abilities at all, that would be much better. So what should he choose?

After ten minutes, Mark sighed.

I wish I could have both of them. But only golden savages can use two Savage Magic at the same time.

Mark decided.

He didn't completely lack a way of movement. He could fly and all, but he lacked a clear way of defense. If he had a good Defense, he could use it without worrying about energy consumption with his inexhaustible Mindpower.

Then, nobody could break his defense in the first place, not to mention his Defensive Magic Aura. He could be totally invincible against people of the same level.

I choose defense.

He walked back to the symbol of the Defense and looked at it for a long time. Then, he chose it in his mind.

The fireflies surrounding him entered his body and entered into his heart. He felt cool, warm, energetic.

Mark sighed.

Tier 1 Low-level Savage Magic—Glass Dome!

A dome of glass surrounded his body in a protective bubble. It was the first time Mark used such a defensive ability and it made him incredibly calm.

This was a good choice, and even if it wasn't, he wouldn't regret it!