Undying Warlord

Dilan wondered about the best way to handle the large group of survivors properly.

Despite being labeled the leader of a group with more than 600 survivors, he never really had to spend his time creating a pep talk filled with motivating words.

He was a simple and ordinary human being and certainly far from being a leader. That was Dilan's opinion about himself. He didn't feel the need to make use of his charm or charisma enough to convince others to follow him.

Letting his fists speak for him was much easier and less troublesome. Dilan knew that his group only worked because of each individual's efforts.

They gave their utmost to make the group work and served as the backend support, while Dilan was fine with doing all the hard labor.

He did the tasks nobody else was able to solve without neglecting to become stronger.

It was his strength that allowed him to control the people below him and to make them abide by the rules he had set up.

Before the Primordial Ascension, strength wouldn't have been enough to make him a good leader but right now, it was one of the most important factors as it determined the survivability of a group.

Dilan figured that he was lacking a lot, which was why it took him some time to come up with a solution to the problem in front of him.

The first thing Dilan did was to switch his Title to [Subduer] because his Charisma was enhanced while wearing this title.

Even if he didn't believe that it was necessary, before, Dilan still used the title, just to be safe.

At first, Dilan didn't notice any changes in him but after a second he quickly noticed that the gazes on him had changed a little bit.

'I'm not imagining things, right?'

For a moment he doubted the effect of the [Subduer] title because he didn't sense a difference within him.

Rather, he felt weaker as the title [Beyond the Stars] had been deactivated.

Clearing his throat, Dilan amplified his vocal cords with mana, quieting down everyone in the underground valley.

"I don't want to beat around the bush. First of all, I won't force anyone to follow me. Everyone can choose for themselves.

About fighting monsters, I won't throw anyone at monsters before you have received sufficient nourishment. In our group, we have compulsory training that includes combat practice.

The only time you will have to fight against monsters is to kill one monster aka your first kill. This is something everyone, who wants to join our group will have to do! But there is no need to be afraid because we will have adequate safety measurements in place so that nobody will sustain an injury.

After killing one monster, everyone is free to choose an occupation they want to pursue. This is what we did until now."

Instead of uttering gibberish, Dilan chose to speak straightforwardly. He was not a fan of talking around the bush and wasting time.

He might be eyed weirdly and in confusion but all of this could be handled later.

"Why is it necessary for us to kill one monster?"

Even if Dilan had expected a few questions, he was a little bit dumbfounded to receive this particular doubt.

He looked in the direction of the few Ascenders, and frowned a moment before flicking his head back to the survivors.

"Didn't your colleagues tell you what benefits you'll gain from killing your first monster? I can see that we have 6 Ascenders here. All of them should have killed a monster already or absorbed an Essence crystal. Either way, some of them will have an ability. They gained it after killing their first monster."

Realization dawned upon many survivors and many stared daggers at the Ascenders, who could only helplessly shrug their shoulders.

They had no idea what Dilan meant, which led him to figure out that the Ascenders had picked up the Essence crystals of deceased monsters and that they didn't actively hunt any monsters.

'That is not right either…'

Dilan could perceive the slight change in the body language of the two Ascenders. They tried to act confused but it was quite easy for Dilan to determine that they were lying.

That was not important for Dilan because he would probably act in a similar manner if someone were to expose their secrets.

Being in possession of ability didn't mean that it was a powerful one. Even if that were to be the case, if one didn't want to fight, even the strongest combat ability would be useless.

Because Dilan thought that the two Ascenders wanted to hold onto their secret, he started to speak once again, attracting everyone's attention.

"The reasons for us to demand everyone to kill a monster are a few…but that shouldn't be anyone's concern. Just know that we won't force anyone to kill more than just that one monster."

Dilan's voice was not exceptionally loud but everyone could hear him clearly.

"I won't repeat this, but all of you should have realized by now that the outside world is dangerous. That means if you guys don't want to rely on others, fighting is the only way to survive.

Explaining every little change the world has undergone would take too long and, to be honest, we're not omnipotent as well. We don't know everything.

Nonetheless, more information will be provided when you guys follow me to your new home…that is for the survivors, who're willing to follow me! As for the others, there is no need to be frightened. I won't expose the underground shelter to the others, nor will I kill you guys!"

Dilan noticed once again that he was not very good at public interaction, let alone convincing enough. Thus, he could only sigh inwardly.

Fortunately, his charisma and the [Subduer] title made up for everything he was missing.

He stood in front of everyone with his broad shoulders and his chest pushed out, wearing blood-smudged clothes, while the Gray Slayer was still in his hand.

If Dilan wanted to kill anyone, he could have done so easily by now. It would be pointless for him to lie about anything.

He could just do whatever he pleased…that was what Dilan's presence told the survivors in the underground shelter.

But this was also why they started to feel a little bit weird about the reason behind Dilan's actions.

Why was he helping them?

If they were to know that it was because of the ability crystals they were bound to obtain by killing their first monster, most survivors would be even more confused.

After all, how useful could this 'ability' be?

They knew little to nothing about the true value of abilities, and what kind of terrifying existence one could turn into as long as one had a powerful ability.

'If even half of them follow me, we will get our hands on 500 ability crystals. Out of that, at least 50 of them will be useful to us'

Currently, Dilan didn't care about using ability crystals for himself. He was having more than enough issues controlling the abilities which he had obtained from his occupation.

The most important for Dilan was to increase his group's defensive measures, and with 50 useful abilities, 50 new potentially powerful Ascenders would be born!

"Everyone, who follows me…no, the survivors, who have the highest probability of facing death, will be allowed to absorb one Essence crystal each. They will invigorate you, provide lots of status points and probably level you–... well that doesn't matter for now.

By absorbing the Essence crystals, you guys will be able to survive as long as your fighting will is still strong enough!"

There were way too many survivors to provide each of them one Essence crystal. That was why Dilan had to slightly tweak his plan.

He knew that it might be stupid to accept every survivor in his group, especially because some of them might have gone crazy during the last two weeks but it was not like the survivors back at the Rian mountainside hospital were less crazy.

Some of them might even be mentally ill for all he knew. As such, there was no need to discriminate for now. He could help them to survive and figure out more about their mental health later.

If someone was dangerous to his group, they would have to leave but until he would be sure about this, Dilan or someone he trusted had to get to know them better.

Until then, he wouldn't push away the humans, who needed his help. With more survivors, the group would attract more dangers but Dilan was also aware of the value and importance of every single survivor.

Not only could they become powerful Ascenders as long as they were nurtured properly but if even one of them would procure a powerful ability after killing their first monster, the entire group's chances of survival would increase drastically.

Dilan knew how powerful abilities could be. That was another reason why he was eager to get his hand on more survivors.

It was possible for one or multiple survivors to have Origin abilities. Of course, this was not something Dilan could be certain about but he hoped to find a few hidden gems in the group of survivors he would save in the following days.

'We need to become stronger…faster…much faster!!'

**

[A/N:If you like Undying Warlord, don't miss out on my other Novels. All of them belong to the same Multiverse.

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