Michael had never been good at naming others. The only good name he came up with was for Icarus. However, now Michael had to name the female Greater Eagle, and the Elemental Empress.
The Elemental Empress had already bothered him a few times to give her a name, and it was about time that Michael fulfilled his promise.
“Mary, Tatjana, Zeroa, Hannah, Yvelta, Asura…No. None of these names sound nice with Icarus. The Greater Eagles are a set. A couple. It would be great if their names fit somewhat. Icarus and…and…I don’t know,” Michael cursed under his breath and approached the Greater Eagles’ nest.
The nest of the Greater Eagle was close to the farmland. Icarus built it in the intertwined tree tops of five humongous trees that were close to each other. The nest was more than 20 meters in diameter, which provided more than enough space for Icarus’ offspring to grow up until they could leave to create their own nest.
Michael, of course, hoped that the Greater Eagles would stay inside his territory, but they had to search for a mate as well. As long as Michael didn’t summon more Greater Eagles it was unlikely that Icarus’ offspring would stay in his territory. But then again, they might think of the Untamed Jungle as a great place to give birth to their next offspring. The Untamed Jungle had high energy density, the energy was filtered and purified and the monsters of the Untamed Jungle could be hunted to provide a large energy influx. It was a good region to grow up and grow stronger.
‘I hope they will return once they find their mate,’ Michael mumbled to himself after jumping from one branch to another until he reached the Greater Eagle nest. Icarus greeted him with excitement. He flapped his healed wings and rubbed his head against his Lord’s chest. Michael caressed the Greater Eagle and smiled lightly. After Icarus stepped back, Michael’s eyes fell on the two oval-shaped eggs. They were emerald-colored and looked quite exquisite. However, the most intriguing thing was that they were even bigger than a newborn human baby.
Staring at the eggs, Michael suddenly felt the urge to create an Aerial Combat Unit. Eagle Riders would be a great addition to his territory, allowing Michael to create far more tactics to overwhelm his enemies. Greater Eagles were fast, intelligent and not to be underestimated in close combat as well. They were perfect for an Aerial Cavalry. Unfortunately, he had to put that thought aside for quite a while.
He cleared his throat and looked at the female Greater Eagle with an apologetic smile, “I thought of many names for you but I am not sure which one you would like the most. I wanted to find something that suits you as an individual and as Icarus’ partner. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. That was why I decided to let you choose from the options. After all, the name is all about your identity, so you ought to make the final decision!”
The female Greater Eagle’s interest was piqued. She moved closer to Michael by pushing Icarus away. A squeal was all Michael had to hear to understand that the female Greater Eagle was ready.
“So…I got a few names. Listen carefully,” Michael said calmly before starting to list down the names he thought of, “Mary, Tatjana, Zeroa, Hannah, Yvelta, Asura, Lilith, Mira, Orevia, Ariadna,?A—”
The female Greater Eagle shrieked loudly, and Michael stopped listing more names.
“You liked Orevia? No? Then you liked the name Ariadna?” Michael didn’t expect the female Greater Eagle to like this name, but she flapped her wings excitedly when he repeated the name ‘Ariadna’.
“Ariadna it is then. From now on you are not just a nameless Greater Eagle. You are Ariadna. Congratulations!” Michael said, smiling brightly. He was happy to see that the female Greater Eagle – no, Ariadna – was overjoyed and excited. She finally received her own name!
Michael ‘celebrated’ with the Greater Eagles a little bit longer after he gave Ariadna her official name. However, since there was not much else to do in the Greater Eagle nest, Michael could leave soon after.
[“What do you think about Zeroa, Yvelta, Asura, or Lilith as your official name? You said you didn’t want to be called Elemental Empress all day since that is more of a title that identifies your kind and status. So what do you say?”] Michael used telepathy to talk to the Elemental Empress.
She was busy dealing with the second sublevel of the large lizard cave and Michael met her not too long ago. He didn’t want to bother her by rushing over to her again. Furthermore, there was still quite a lot he had to accomplish. Running around mindlessly wouldn’t be helpful.
Michael didn’t expect to receive a response less than half a minute after he informed her about his decision to name her officially. The Elemental Empress, however, was even more excited than Ariadna. She dropped all of her things and was about to rush to Michael only to recall that she had a lot of pending tasks to complete, and that Michael was even busier.
Therefore, she bombarded him with comments via telepathy.
.[“A name…for me?!?!? Yes, yes, yes!!!! I want…I want…They all sound so nice! Hmmmmmm, maybe not Lilith or Asura…Zeroa and Yvelta sound cool and majestic. What do you think? I think Zeroa sounds more mysterious. Imagine someone asking who is ‘Zerooaaaa~’, just for me to appear. The Elemental Empress, a powerhouse amid powerhouses. Tehehehe~ I love it. Yeah. Let me have Zeroaaaaa, pleaseeeeee~”]
Michael raised an eyebrow. He figured that the Elemental Empress would be excited, but he didn’t expect her excitement to be that intense.
But that was a good thing. The Elemental Empress made a quick decision, which made things a lot easier for Michael.
[“Zeroa it is then. You picked a very good name. I think it suits you very well. Welcome to the team, Zeroa!”] Michael welcomed Zeroa into his team and territory. Zeroa squealed loudly via telepathy. Her voice was loud enough to cause a headache. However, Michael didn’t say anything. Instead, he let Zeroa be happy. She deserved some joy in her life after everything she had to overcome after being confined and tortured for a whole decade.
Now that he had named both the Greater Eagle and the Elemental Empress, Michael wanted to name the other monsters in his territory as well. The Golden Stinger Wasp’s name was also shortened to Stinger, which was a name that received the Golden Stinger Wasp’s approval. Meanwhile, the Heavy Armored Elephant didn’t want to be called any names. It was not intelligent enough to understand what Michael was saying, in the first place. All the Heavy Armored Elephant could do was to follow commands.
But that was fine. Naming someone should hold a special meaning – to some extent. Thus, Michael chose to name the Bilrox Queen as well. The Bilrox Queen was special and she deserved to receive a name.
‘Fluff would be the easiest, but that is not really a good name. How about Raphelia? Shortened to Raph? Let’s try that later.’ Michael was slowly getting better at naming his monsters, or so he thought. Proud of his achievements, he decided to meet the Immortal Knight once again.
It was about time for him to start practicing combat without using his Soultraits! But Michael didn’t even have the luxury to reach the training grounds. Many Summons found out that Michael had begun to visit all establishments spread across his territory to watch them doing their job and observe what they did every day. Therefore, the Tailors, Craftsmen, and dozens of other people were looking forward to receiving heaps of praises from their Lord, expecting him to generously brag about their talents and extraordinary work.
Michael was all-in for observing their work and analyzing their techniques, but he wanted to grow stronger as well. Unfortunately, he was too much of a softie to deny being an audience to their display of craft or strength and cheer for them.
Before Michael realized three days had already passed. In those three days, he never reached the proximity of the training ground. Instead, Michael felt like he was pulled farther and farther from the training ground.
It was only fortunate that he learned a lot from his subjects. They taught him thoroughly and answered his doubts with great detail. Spending three days being dragged through his territory felt a little bit weird, but it was also a great experience. It was something Michael wanted to repeat in the future. The Links of Loyalty of thousands of Summons grew firmer. In response to that, Michael could sense that his Soultraits grew stronger. They were nourished by the additional Soul Power that entered his body, granting him more power than he used to possess.
That was also a great feeling and even more reason to repeat this exercise of interacting with his subjects in the future.
But now Michael finally reached the training ground where the Immortal Knight was already waiting for him.
“Welcome back, my Lord. I heard lots of rumors about you, and I’m glad that you finally found your way to the training ground,” The old man teased lightly. He turned more serious and added, “You did a really good thing in the last few days. I am glad that the Origin Expanse allowed me to serve you.”
The Immortal Knight had yet to complete his analysis of Michael, but he was positively surprised about his Lord’s actions and personality. Given that he heard many rumors about Michael’s mercilessness when faced with enemies, Siegfried expected Michael to be a little bit stiff and arrogant, maybe even harsh. However, Michael was far from that. In fact, it felt like Michael had two personalities. One for his enemies, and one for his allies and subjects.
“I am also happy to be back. Finally, I can start training for good!” Michael said with a smile.
“That’s right. But there is something else I must tell you. It’s a small surprise,” The Immortal Knight said mysteriously.
He pointed toward two Summons, which caught Michael’s interest as he felt something stir within him.
“Please welcome the first two Blessed Squires of your territory!”