Nike wasn't surprised by how readily his request for a meeting was accepted, as he made sure the guards could see the slugs when they came in.
But surely… Owen could at least be discreet about his interest in the slugs.
"So these are the Beasts Alan told me about!"
He, Beast Tide, Melody and Festus were brought to the palace of the Bronze Empire a few hours later after an inspection to verify if it was ok to bring the slugs to the palace.
Some tried to run away, but with the help of the two Piepers he had, nothing serious happened.
Shaun gave him the Piepers for free.
"One for every fifty" She said "They actually are especially for guild use"
Nike could understand why.
Piepers can hypnotize other slugs and make them go where they want, but it's hard to take care of many slugs at the same time when in a building with many places to hide, that's why one Pieper for every fifty, to cover more ground with the voice.
And it's good that they are only for guild use, which means that only guilds can have them, since people could use them in bad ways.
And no one would be foolish enough to try to create a guild just to get one, the regulations are very strict, and it is rare to create a new guild since the bureaucracy needed for it was not worth the trouble.
He watched as Owen happily played with the slugs that were brave enough to approach him, one of them being a Boon Doc that looked at the man with concern.
Well, it was deserved, as the man has accumulated a lot of malice since the last time they met.
That actually brought a smile to Nike's face.
Well, time to prove the true worth of Doc Booms.
"Would it be fine if we change locations?"
—
They had arrived at the training grounds of the imperial palace, many soldiers were training with their weapons and wands, but stopped when they noticed Owen, bowing and greeting him.
"So" Said the emperor "What do you want to show me?"
Nike only smiled as he went into the shooting range and prepared a Doc Boom.
"Do you trust me?" He asked.
"Of course?" The emperor said with confusion.
"Good"
He then put the Doc Boom in his blaster, a Twin Sparkwing SF Pro, and pointed at a very nervous emperor as Beast Tide and Melody snickered.
"Hm… Nike?" He called out.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt"
Then he fired.
Certainly, some of the guards tried to put themselves in the way and some rushed to to apprehend him and the others, but nothing stopped the Doc Boom from dodge them all and land in front of the emperor, who was utley stupefied.
The healing light spread on the people around the Doc Boom, and soon they were all blinded.
When the light went off, everyone turned to the emperor, who still looked stupefied, but much healthier.
Owen raised his head, looked Nike dead in the eye, and became serious.
"Call for an emergency meeting"
***
"We're here to discuss something important"
Owen had to admit, his heart skipped a beat when he saw the slug transform mid air.
But that didn't change the fact that he had been purified.
Owen was a quarter elf and the only thing he had from the elven kind was the ability to sense Malice.
He knew he was in a tight spot, but that didn't change the fact that couldn't trust the temple, as the new appointed high priest was corrupted.
With that he called an emergency meeting with 99% of the relevant forces of the Empire, like the guilds, the magic tower, the Craftmen Hall and Elf Brigade.
"Recently my friend Nike, the guild master of Green Fields, and his friends had discovered a place with Beasts capable of generating Life energy.
A series of murmurs followed after this, but one person stayed quiet.
He looked at Alma, the leader of the Elf Brigade, a high elf with silver eyes and hair, despite her young appearance.
She had one of the slugs sleeping on her hand, a Fandango, and she looked at it with pure fascination.
He smiled at that.
"Lady Alma" He called "The one you have your hands is called Fandango"
The screen behind him lit up and the information from the manual was displayed for all to see.
"This guy has the highest production of life energy among the others and it's the species only function" He explained "They're like a generator, but, more importantly"
The screen changed, showing the video they had recorded earlier.
In the video, the screen was divided in two, in one a soldier had just put his hand in the machine that could measure the amount of malice on a person.
The number was quite high, level 8 out of 10, and in the other Nike was putting a Doc Boom on his blaster and pointing it at the soldier.
Nike shot and the slug transformed, landing close to the machine.
The light on the video was reduced so as to let the people watch the results without the interference of the Doc Boom's light, and there it was.
The number on the machine quickly went down, and the soldier, who was pale and seemingly sick before, was now much more healthy.
The room was filled with gasps and murmurs as Owen turned to look at the people present.
"The Doc Booms and Fandango are our top priority" He said "Doc Booms can purify Malice, and Fandango can amplify the slugs powers, I'm sure you all can understand what this information means, right?"
Many nodded, while others seemed to still be too surprised to say something.
Well, he couldn't blame them, he was still processing all of this, but he couldn't stop it.
He had something else to add.
"We also have a great problem coming our way"
He had to create a plan to deal with the artifact that would soon be sent to his Empire.
***
"Is this the place?"
"Yes my Lady"
Alma had been curious about these new creatures that had been found by Nike, one of the few elves that left the elven territory to make a living for himself.
He was now guiding her inside, along with Owen, who insisted on coming like a child throwing a tantrum, and his main servant Alan, who came to make sure the emperor wouldn't cause trouble.
Nike's slugs were happily chirping around him, climbing his back or playing with his hair.
She was surprised when she found a Fandango, but she was more enamored than impressed at first.
They were cute and simple.
To them, if you're good you're good, and if you're bad you're bad, but a few treats are enough to buy them over.
She has decided to get some for herself and some for her people.
The elven territory has been getting smaller and smaller with the recent increase of Demonic Beasts, and her people have been struggling a lot with this.
Although the Fandango were not combat oriented, they were definitely what elven kind needed the most, them and Boom Docs in the worst cases.
But now here she was, in front of the place where she could find the solution to all her problems.