A powerful purple beam shot out from his palm, directly hitting Rubout in the back.

A tad bit lucky, Rubout was able to block the attack with his hardening skill—but even that was no match for Jared's attack, especially at such close range.

As long as the attack connected, Rubout felt a couple of his bones snap before he fell to the ground, eyes rolled back and unconscious.

The dirt particles from the collision danced in the air, Jared standing in front of his defeated opponent.

'I didn't think it would cause this much damage; I was surely holding back. Is he dead?'

Seeing Rubout's fingers still twitching, it was safe to say he was still alive.

[The god of dragons is proud of your battle.]

[10,000 coins have been donated.]

[The god of combat smiles with pride.]

[2,000 coins have been donated.]

'As expected. The dragon god seems to be the richest of all the gods currently observing me. And here I thought the goddess of trade would try to keep her position.'

He paused, his eyes now drifting toward a new notification playing in front of him.

[A higher soldier has sworn her loyalty.]

[You're getting closer to a new title.]

'Oh?'

The first person he noticed was Paimon, falling to her knees with her head bowed.

Another system notification came in...

[A higher soldier has sworn his loyalty.]

[A higher soldier has sworn his loyalty.]

[Multiple higher soldiers have sworn their loyalty.]

More and more system prompts began to pour in like bugs.

Turning around, he now saw them—all the lizard soldiers falling to their knees with their heads bowed.

Even in his former world, Jared wasn't sure if he had ever had so many people pay attention to him as the lizardmen did.

They didn't once raise their heads.

Not a single hint of hostility resonated within their beings. Instead, they willingly submitted themselves to him.

The man before them had just defeated their strongest warrior in a matter of seconds, with his bare hands nonetheless.

He was truly worthy to be called the Fourth Dragon Master.

[A new title has been obtained.]

[He who controls over a hundred dragons.]

[You have gained new skills from your title He who controls over a hundred dragons.]

[Subordinate: This skill allows those who serve under you to grow 100x faster than their initial potential.]

'Now that's a skill I could use to build my army.'

People born with dragon blood were naturally stronger than the average person. With the [Subordinate skill], he could make them reduce the awakening time even faster.

Lizardmen were considered undeveloped dragons. Though they were also descendants of the dragon god, they didn't fully inherit his form and powers.

As such, they were considered lesser.

But there have been stories of thousand-year-old lizardmen transforming into dragons after years of practice.

"This should be no different."

[Would you like to activate the Subordinate skill?]

Yes or no.

"Yes."

[Please select the target.]

"Every single lizard person present around me at the moment."

[Request confirmed.]

[145 lizardmen will now fall under the Subordinate skill.]

[Subordinate skill has been activated.]

Jared suddenly felt a huge chunk of his mana get sucked out in large amounts.

Before he knew what was happening, he was on his knees, eyes blurry and dizzy.

'Don't tell me I'm about to collapse again...'

Truly, he knew he had been falling unconscious a bit too often lately.

This time was just one of many.

While he was trying to find his footing, he felt yet another huge chunk of mana spread out of his body.

He reached his limit.

Not long after, Jared was on the ground, lying next to Rubout, unconscious.

...

"Hey man... I'm sorry about the other day. It was my fault." Eliot stood in front of James's door.

Ever since he lost his chance at publishing his book to the industry, James had kept himself inside his room, never seeing the light of day.

"James... you listening?"

There was no response, making it the ninth time Eliot had tried to speak to James with no reply.

Of all nine times, this one hit the hardest.

"I know I shouldn't have betrayed your trust the way I did. I... I didn't mean to do that. And I know how hard you worked on it, I know how badly you wanted this to work. And I still..."

Eliot pressed his head against the door, trying his hardest to hold back the tears.

"You're an amazing person, James. That is why I know right now you're eating yourself up about it, blaming yourself even though it's my fault. I don't want that. If you're angry, be angry. I am your friend; let me know how badly I fucked up, punch me in the face, have sex with my girlfriend. Literally anything but rotting in there... I'm... I'm seriously worried..."

The door suddenly opened.

Before Eliot could form a smile on his face, James charged out and punched him in the face.

Falling to the ground, Eliot laughed, blood dripping from his nose.

"Yes! That's what I'm talking about! Punch me again."

James clenched his fist... but rather than raining punches on Eliot, he simply stood there, gawking at him.

"Listen, man... not everything is your fault. You listening? Not everything is your fault. You need to know how to tell the difference. And when you do... you punch them right here and tell them, 'Go fuck yourself.'"

"... that doesn't make any sense."

"The world doesn't make any sense. You say this all the time."

"True."

Silence took over for a while.

"... I am sorry, you know..."

James sighed, "... I know."

"Haha! Typical you, forgiving me so fast is totally something you'd do." Eliot now pointed at him, "I will still be here to support you. I promise."

...

Jared's eyes snapped open.

'Dammit. I really hate losing consciousness. At this point, people might start thinking it's some kind of kink.'

He then sat upright.

First, he noticed the sun rays slipping through the window beside him.

But it wasn't just that... his sleep felt way too comfortable.

"Oh, that's right. I have an actual house now."

His room was just as he had explained to the workers, in a Japanese style. As such, the only things in the room were his bed and working table.

Although he was expecting to wake up to Ria right beside him, since she wasn't there, it would mean she was most likely at the farm.

With the way things were going at the farm, things would definitely go well for the other major plans he had.

He also left the fridge construction to Jessica; no doubt she would handle it well, so he wasn't all that worried.

"At this rate, I'll be getting closer to my retirement," he said to himself as he stood up from his bed.

That had been his whole plan from the start.

Once he had gathered enough money to sustain the village and a stable income, he would retire and rest as much as he wanted.

Now standing in front of the mirror, Jared realized his body had undergone some changes.

His six-pack, which he had never had before, was out, his shoulders broader, and his biceps visibly bigger.

"... Did I get... muscular overnight?"

He sure as hell had never worked out in his life. Even in his former world, the most he did was run around the compound to clear his head.

So how could he have gotten muscles?

"Maybe because of the new title I got?"

Puff!

Someone appeared behind him.

"Good morning, master. I hope you slept well."

Jared turned around, already recognizing the voice.

"Paimon," he uttered, one hand on his waist. "You really can't be teleporting into my room as you please."

Paimon was on her knees with her head bowed.

"Eeh? But I am supposed to be your—"

The moment she raised her head to see Jared's muscular body, her eyes went dim, her mouth opening as if about to drool.

"Urgghhhh~"

She made a weird sound, using her hand to rub the saliva dripping onto the ground.

"Urgghh?"

[Several gods find your appearance attractive.]

[One particular god has taken a liking to you.]

"I don't even want to know what that means."

Jared knew all too well that the gods observing him were more troublesome than they were helpful.

The fact that he had been receiving requests for a one-on-one was scary enough.

Good as it may sound, meeting any one of the gods could prove to be problematic, especially when he didn't really have a means to protect himself.

Sigh!

"Where is the rest of your army?"

"I had a few of them stand guard around the village. Some are on patrol, and the others have gone hunting."

Jared was surprised.

Who knew all he needed to do to solve most of the village's issues was to tame a primordial dragon?

"Alright. I'll go check just to be sure."

The moment he left the house, the sight left him almost speechless.

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