Recruitment

Luna breathed deeply and looked at each of them in the eye and presented his offer. "I'm offering you a chance to join the ."

Cilapu and Carlos looked at each other before replying. "We'd like to know what's the catch."

Luna smiled. "It's simple. You abide by our rules and you won't be treated unfairly."

"Will we receive a position upon joining?"

"Absolutely not. Not unless you prove yourselves. Gentlemen, you'll find that I am not one to discriminate regarding a person's origins. If you're trustworthy and you show that you're deserving of a certain position within my Nation, you will have earned it."

The two hesitated for a moment. They knew nothing of Luna except that his nation was quite possibly the most powerful, seeing as he had been recognized by the system three times, publicly. What if they put in a lot of effort and he chooses not to recognize it? He knew that the two of them were leaders of a decent sized nation. If he was too suspicious or afraid that the two of them might possibly stage a coup d'état, then they'd stay as bottom feeders forever.

One thing that they weren't aware of, was that Luna knew that personal strength was what counted the most. Not only that, but his people were incredibly loyal to him, especially the Elves. Even more so, the Elves that had the shackling title of "low-born" removed from their names.

If these two even attempted any type of rebellion, Maxene alone could probably send her tamed beasts to eat them as a snack.

"Lord Luna, can you give us some time to think?" Carlos asked respectfully.

"I have some business to do in Bohol, so make up your minds by the time I get back." Luna then glanced towards where the rats were. "Although, I don't know how much time you have. Let's hope I make it back in time. If you and your people decide to join me then have them all gather in the center of the island. I'll look for your then." Luna turned around and left with Sura, finally heading to where the Tarsier base was located.

***

"Cilapu, what do you think? Should we accept his offer?"

"We don't exactly have much of a choice. The as a whole did well. But what business do we have trying to maintain a nation we can't even protect?" Cilapu clenched his fists. He hated the feeling of being weak.

"If he treats our people well, then we'll serve him faithfully. If not.." Carlos breathed deeply. "Forget it. I'll gather everyone then I'll join you on top of the walls to observe the rats. If they attack, we need to defend for as long as we can."

***

Inside Angry Bakunawa.

Emergency Food was enjoying having his head being caressed by his newfound friend, Astrid. She looked up towards Luna and asked "Lord Luna, do you think they'll join?"

Luna who was at the front looking at their surroundings, replied. "If they don't, then I wouldn't want men who would sacrifice their people to cling to a nonexistent seat of power anyway."

A few minutes later.

"Right down there, Lord Luna. That's where the Tarsier leader was staying in last time." Ricardo pointed to a statue of a Tarsier below. "That's the entrance to the Tarsier sanctuary."

The surroundings were quite beautiful. Over the years this area maintained lush greenery, especially now, the trees were abnormally tall. This area being left alone, meant that nature was starting to take over again.

Angry Bakunawa hovered over the canopy as everyone scanned the area below them. Luna, Sura, and Maxene's visual acuity was beyond the rest. This was even more so for Emergency Food. Not even the trio's advantages could surpass an Eagle's eyesight.

It only took Emergency Food a second before he signaled the others.

"Good job, Emergency Food!" Maxene patted him on the head. The poor bird was not used to being praised by Max, so he was stunned for a second before he showed a happy expression.

As Angry Bakunawa landed on the area a 20 feet away from the Tarsier leader, a dozen or so of them came out of the woods, standing in front of him and were obviously wary of this Dragon that came out of nowhere.

"Lord Luna, let the four of us go out there first. If they see familiar faces, they'll be more likely to hear reason." Ricardo suggested.

"Are you sure? If it doesn't work out, they can rip you to shreds in seconds. I just scanned them, and they're all at level 40." Luna warned them.

"We're sure. Consider it as our 'thank you' for taking us in." Alfred added.

"Alright. Just be careful." Luna felt a warmth in his heart. In this new world, for someone you just met to repay a favor by risking their lives was unexpected. He had to remember to take good care of these four in the future.

As the four stepped our of the spatial gate, the hostility in the eyes of the Tarsiers diminished a little bit, albeit, they were still wary. Seeing these four, the Tarsier leader stepped forward. Ricardo's party was quite surprised. These guys were now taller than them, their muscles were more defined.

"Ricardo? Astrid? Alfred? Jean? Why have you come back? Are those evil humans with you?" The leader spoke up. It could be seen from his eyes that he obviously had some fond memories of these four, the dozen Tarsiers also had the same expression.

After all, while Ferdinand's men were seen by these majestic animals as evil, their previous caretakers had nothing to do with it. It's just that these four were aware of how volatile animal behavior can be. Just like how a Lion and their caretaker could be best buddies for years, then the caretaker suddenly becomes dinner.

Jean who was the closest to the Tarsier leader prior to the new world stepped forward. "Jax? You still remember us?"

"Of course I do. We all do. We tried to look for you before."

"I'm sorry, we were stuck in Ferdinand's base for a while, but luckily we managed to leave and we joined Lord Luna."

"Who is this Lord Luna?"

"He's someone who took us in and protected us. He wants to meet with you."

"Jean, as you know we've had less and less reasons to trust humans. We'll meet with him, but if he tries anything funny, I hope you forgive us for what comes next."

"I can promise you he won't do anything." Jean then signaled towards Luna that it was okay to come out.

Luna exited through the spatial gate with Sura, Maxene, and Emergency Food.

That Tarsier's already large eyes, widened a bit more when they saw Luna step out.

"He bears the aura of the ancient one." The Tarsier beside Jax said.

Jax nodded. "Indeed. Here I thought that this Bakunawa in front of us was ancient enough as it is." He looked towards Jean and asked. "Jean are you sure that man and those women are human?"

"Yes. Why, Jax? Is there something wrong?" Jean was even more confused now.

"None."

Ricardo, Astrid, Jean, and Alfred looked at each other with questioning eyes. Lord Luna had an ancient aura? What did he mean? Was he trying to say that Luna needed to take a shower? Did he mean to say that Lord Luna smelled ancient?

The four were pretty confused as they communicated with each other secretly. They had no way of knowing that not only was Luna's body blessed by Gods themselves, but he also inherited the Draconic armor from a True Dragon. They couldn't be blamed for their confusion at all.

Jax then walked forward to greet Luna and the rest. He could sense that this man was incredibly powerful. The Tarsiers might not be the strongest of mutant beasts, but they were definitely ahead in intelligence. Although it was still unknown if it was due to the same object that made them evolve faster than the rest, their own innate talent, or both.

"Greetings. I am Jax, leader of the Tarsiers. You are Lord Luna, yes? State your business."

Luna smiled, obviously impressed by the Tarsier's straightforwardness. "Straight to the point. I can appreciate that. Very well then, I won't beat around the bush either." He looked at Jax straight in the eye and said.

"I've come to recruit you."