Isaac POV
Sometime Earlier
Isaac walked through the corridor leading back toward the meeting hall while thinking about the conversation he had just finished with Lord Bella’s team.
The Mistborns had finally exited the dungeon and gone to report to their Lord. Since their species did not possess physical flesh bodies, reading their emotions was difficult. Professor Catherine had explained that experienced people could judge a Mistborn’s emotions through the flow and movement of the winds composing their bodies.
Unfortunately, this was Isaac’s first proper interaction with them.
To him, they all looked nearly identical.
Still, after talking with them for some time, Isaac believed he had noticed slight differences in their reactions. At the very least, they had appeared unusually eager to continue the conversation.
If his interpretation was correct—and he admitted there was a high chance it was not—they had intentionally prolonged the conversation with him because they did not want to go with the Lord of Mists and be scolded by her in private.
Isaac smiled slightly at the thought.
’Lord Bella must be terrifying in private if her own subordinates are this afraid of getting lectured.’
The conversation with her had given him a lot of useful information.
Lord Hass planned to use resources to win him over. From what Isaac understood, the man intended to slowly create dependence by offering aid, equipment, and support until refusing became impossible.
Lord Fafnir’s method was even harsher.
The Snake Lord apparently planned to use his merchant influence and trade connections to block Isaac’s City from important trade routes. If Isaac could not buy resources, sell products, or establish proper transportation lines, the development of his City would slow drastically.
It was a suffocating method.
Then there was Lord Bella.
Compared to the others, her plans were much more subtle, but Isaac honestly found them more dangerous.
His City already had several races living together. Humans, orcs, nagas, and members of the Crawling Serpent Tribe all lived under the same banner. At first glance, that sounded impressive. A diverse city naturally possessed more strengths and opportunities than ordinary territories.
The problem was that different races also came with different customs, traditions, values, and even biological differences.
Some races were born physically stronger. Some matured faster. Some possessed natural affinities for certain abilities.
Even simple things like education could become major problems.
Isaac slowly walked through the corridor while thinking deeply about it.
If children from different races studied together, bullying could easily happen. A physically stronger race might unintentionally intimidate weaker children. Even if nobody meant harm, resentment could slowly build over time.
But separating schools created a different issue.
If children grew up separately, they would naturally form barriers against other races. By the time they reached adulthood, discrimination would already be deeply rooted in their minds.
Isaac had always known such issues existed.
However, after hearing Lord Bella explain several possible scenarios in detail, he finally realized how dangerous those problems could become if left unchecked.
Small conflicts could evolve into riots. Riots could evolve into rebellions. Given enough time, entire civil wars could start.
She planned to use those things against Isaac.
Now that Lord Bella stood on his side, she had also shared methods to counter those problems.
Some solutions were surprisingly simple.
Novels, stories, and movies.
If entertainment constantly showed different races cooperating, living together, and trusting each other, children would naturally absorb those ideas while growing up. Instead of seeing other species as strangers, they would gradually begin viewing them as normal neighbors.
There were also political methods.
Certain laws and policies could encourage interaction between races while preventing discrimination from spreading too openly. Still, those systems would need constant observation. If implemented poorly, people would simply learn how to exploit loopholes for personal benefit.
Then there were the truly fundamental solutions.
Those were also the hardest to achieve.
If every person could awaken successfully without exception, differences between races would decrease.
If weaker races could access powerful [Arts] through advanced schools and training systems, they could compete more equally with naturally stronger races.
If technology and weapon development reached high enough levels, physical strength would matter less on the battlefield.
If all races could stand on relatively equal ground, discrimination itself would weaken naturally.
But those were not short-term goals.
Some of them might take decades. Some might not even be achievable at all.
Isaac let out a quiet breath.
’Creating a peaceful city sounds simple when people talk about it. Actually building one is another matter entirely,’ he thought wryly.
Even so, he did not feel discouraged.
If anything, hearing about those problems made his resolve stronger.
He wanted to create a proper city. Not just a powerful one, but a place where people could genuinely live without fear of each other, or Apocalypse. It would not happen quickly, and mistakes would definitely occur along the way, but he was still going to move toward that goal.
Eventually, Isaac reached the large doors leading into the meeting hall.
The moment he stepped inside, the heated discussion within the room abruptly stopped.
Every Lord turned toward him.
Isaac calmly walked toward his seat while glancing around the room.
"It seems Emily managed to shock all of you quite thoroughly," he joked.
Several Lords exchanged looks.
Lord Qizhal was the first to speak.
"Lady Emily is indeed exceptional," he admitted. "However, her abilities should still possess limitations. Since she can contract so many Beasts, I suspect she has already developed a [Soul Space]."
Isaac remained quiet and listened.
"A Soul Space is a special ability commonly inherited by bloodlines focused on Beast Taming. Though it can also be obtained through Talents or Skills. It allows contracted Beasts to recover and evolve more efficiently while resting inside the Soul Space. More importantly, it enlarges the user’s soul capacity, allowing them to contract far more summons than normal awakeners," Lord Qizhal said.
Several Lords nodded in agreement.
"Even then," Lord Qizhal said thoughtfully, "Soul Spaces still have limits. The fact that Lady Emily can already maintain so many Overlord-class summons at her current rank is honestly difficult to believe. Still, I suspect she must already be nearing her maximum capacity. Until she ranks up again, she can likely only contract two or three more powerful Beasts."
Isaac nodded slowly. Outwardly, he appeared thoughtful.
Internally, however, he did not fully agree. Emily was probably nowhere near her limit.
In the old world, before the System descended, Emily’s mother had already reached monstrous levels despite being trapped within the limits of the Mortal Realm. Even as an Overlord, she had controlled an absurd number of contracted Beasts.
Emily inherited that same bloodline.
Combined with the advantages created by the System, her future potential was likely terrifying.
’They probably still can’t guess how terrifying her potential actually is,’ Isaac thought.
Still, he did not correct Lord Qizhal.
There was no reason to reveal more information than necessary.
"If you are not discussing Emily," Isaac asked while sitting down, "then what exactly were all of you arguing about?"
"You." Lord Sisyphus answered immediately.
Isaac raised an eyebrow slightly.
"We already knew your Lord Talent was exceptional. But none of us expected it to affect Boss Monster rewards. Doubling such rewards is honestly absurd," Lord Sisyphus said.
Several Lords quietly agreed.
"Lord Talents influence entire territories. Thus, your Talent will increase all forms of territorial growth exponentially. Your forces receive twice the rewards from hunts. That means faster troop training, faster equipment production, faster resource accumulation, and faster development overall," Lord Sisyphus said.
He leaned back slightly before explaining, "Think of it like this. Your soldiers can hunt the monsters and bring back twice the rewards. Those rewards can then be reinvested into strengthening two times the troops than what normally should be possible, allowing them to hunt even more efficiently. At your current stage, your territory is already developing several times faster than normal Cities. As the cycle continues feeding itself, the gap will only increase."
Isaac silently listened.
He was not surprised by their reactions.
Even he understood how frightening his Lord Talent truly was.
More importantly, he could still see greed within some of the Lords’ eyes.
Not as much as before, though.
Earlier, many of them had viewed him almost like prey already trapped inside a cage. Now their confidence had weakened considerably.
Emily’s performance had shaken them.
Avery’s presence had shaken them.
And Isaac himself had continued revealing advantages they had not anticipated.
Winning the competition was no longer something they could confidently assume.
Of course, that did not mean they would give up.
If anything, it simply meant their methods would become more subtle.
Manipulation. Pressure. Political interference. Trade restrictions. Social destabilization.
Isaac already knew those things would come eventually.
’I need stronger allies. And my City needs to become powerful enough that these Lords can’t casually interfere anymore,’ he thought calmly.
He finally leaned back into his chair and looked toward the large screen displaying the dungeon footage once again.