Armipotent

"That explains why you are weaker than me," Tang Shaoyang nodded, "But then, your level and rank confuse me even more. I don't understand how the system works. Virion is a Myth Rank, and he is around the same level as you. However, you are on par with Primordial Rank when you are a spirit. No, you are stronger compared to Primordial Rank. In this case, you are on the same level as Alton in the Lukan."

Zaneos nodded as he was confused as well. He had the same understanding as Tang Shaoyang about the System. They thought it was because of his talent and bloodline that delayed the Trial of the Ancient. With more talents, more than one class, and bloodline, the requirement to reach the next rank would be higher.

"Do you have any talent or bloodline?" Tang Shaoyang asked again. He felt like they needed a certain understanding of the system if they wanted to nurture strong people under them. With that understanding, they could create a clear path for themselves. Which was better, having more talents, classes, and a bloodline before the trial, or it would be better to have those before the trials.

"I do have two talents; sword and perception. Strange enough, I don't have a class even though the system recognized me as a demon swordsman. I even thought that my class was swordsmanship, but it seemed that my talent made me good with the sword. I don't have a bloodline," Zaneos did not mind sharing everything with Tang Shaoyang.

Tang Shaoyang nodded his head a few times as he rubbed his chin, "We will work with the class first before trying if you can obtain a bloodline. I don't know if a demon is different from a human. So, what class do you want? Let's see what I have in my inventory…."

He had four [Change Class] scrolls in the inventory, "I have Mage, Knight, and Marksman. The [Change Class] scroll provides a better class than the basic class in the smart base, but we have a few advanced classes too in the smart base."

"Before we talk about the class, I want to think about what I want to do first, Ma— Your Majesty." The demon swordsman had gotten used to calling Tang Shaoyang with Master, so it took a while for him to change that, "I want to adjust my class to my future job. Become a blacksmith is not bad too because we have dwarfs on our side."

Tang Shaoyang nodded and laid down next to Zaneos, "You want your class to align with your goal. You are still wise even though you have become careless."

"In the past, I craved power to protect myself from the people with power. I achieved that goal, and at the same time, the power changed me for the worse too. If I have a careful thought like you, it might be different, carefully planning your future."

"I don't try to comfort or make you feel better, Your Majesty. However, in my past world, those nobles human have a lot of wives and slaves. In fact, you are better than them because you treat your women well. Again, this is just my perspective, not to make you feel better. I don't think you are the worst compared to the people we have encountered so far." Zaneos responded while staring toward the sky.

The reason he said that was to console his Master. The demon tried to give his Master a new perspective in order to lessen the guilt. Of course, what he said was also a fact. It was common for a noble human to have dozens of wives and slaves.

"You don't have to worry about me, Zaneos. The reason I feel bad is that I became the person I hated. Imagine yourself becoming a person like a demon king you served in the past? How do you feel about that?"

Zaneos was completely silenced by the response. He could not rebut that; what if he realized that he had become the same as that demon king who betrayed him. He would have the same reaction as his master for sure.

"But are you really interested in blacksmithing? I can arrange a meeting with the dwarf so you can observe them closely if you want," Tang Shaoyang changed the topic. If it was his choice, he wanted Zaneos to be his third Marshal, but he respected the demon swordsman's wish unless the demon asked him for a job.

"I have been strolling around in the city yesterday and checking a lot of stuff. A lot of them were new to me, but I don't have enough time to understand everything," Zaneos started his tale about what he did yesterday, "I want to try a new thing, but in the end, my goal is to be a great help to you. I am good at fighting, so I realize that I might be a great help to you if I join the Tarrior. However, I realize that you don't need me to fight in the frontline with how strong you are. You don't need my help or protection, so I figure that you might as well join The TEIS. I will ensure the empire's security while you are away. That's more meaningful than joining The Tarrior."

"I see… So you have made your decision even before the spar, huh?"

"Yes. The spar is not to satisfy my curiosity but to test my power and how big the gap between us is. I figured out that if there's someone who can kill you, there's a big chance that I will not be able to do anything to help you. So yeah, based on the result of our spar, our gap is too big, and my presence in your army is useless in the Tarrior because you also have many trusted subordinates. TEIS is the best choice for my goal, protecting your home and family from any harm. It's also a new experience for me." Zaneos shared his thoughts as to why he chose to join TEIS instead of Tarrior.

"A great help for me is your goal, huh?" Tang Shaoyang muttered by himself. His subordinate could come up with a goal that fast while he was struggling with his goal. He had been thinking about his goal. Why did he establish the empire? What's the goal of this empire?

He had the power; that was why he established the empire. For that, he would not be slaved anymore by someone with power. What was the purpose of the empire? The empire had no real goal, he had been expanding and strengthening the empire, but it lacked direction. He came to the realization that the empire would get lost without direction. Most of the time, his empire would turn worse without direction, just like what he had experienced.