Mixed Blessing System

Upon hearing the small animal's comment, every being in the group immediately looked in the direction he had pointed, sensing that the spectres were indeed nearby.

Using the system, Lothur saw that they were all Saints, between levels 20 and 21, a strength close to what the level 20 dinosaur had warned them about.

As for their numbers, there were a few more of these individuals, but the dinosaur might not have seen all of them, and no one there thought he had made a deliberate mistake or anything like that.

Immediately upon seeing these spectres, their strength, and their numbers, Lothur moved, distorting space and appearing in the middle of the area where they were.

Cykad, his tribe's junior, and Lothur's women saw this and didn't accompany him, knowing that even at levels higher than those creatures, they might have problems if attacked by the strongest ones there.

The dinosaur tribe's junior saw Lothur's move and swallowed his saliva, a little tense at the thought.

Along with Lothur, there were only his two creations, Blood and Smoke, both extremely calm on the young Ritter's shoulders.

When the three of them appeared in the middle of the area where those high-level spectres were gathered by a lake, all those creatures looked at them as if they saw ghosts.

"That..."

"Who are you?" 

These hideous-looking creatures, with distorted, truly macabre faces, shouted in terrifying voices, capable of scaring the most sensitive with only their tone.

It was night, and the powers of these dark beings were at their peak. But someone suddenly appeared among them, and they all sensed a bad omen.

This was especially true when they looked at the two adorable creatures on Lothur's shoulders, which gave these spectral beings a deadly, dangerous feeling.

Lothur was no fool, and he immediately noticed that the eyes of some of these spectres were directed at Blood and Smoke rather than at him.

"Can you devour the spirits of these spectres?" Lothur asked them, feeling that this should be the case.

"We can devour the spirits of all life forms, my creator. It makes no difference to us whether they are humans, Ancestral Folk, beasts, plants, demons, or spectres. Our ability works on everyone indiscriminately." Blood replied without hesitation.

"That is very impressive." Lothur smiled. "No wonder those spectres are trembling with fear. Anyway..."

Suddenly, Lothur clenched one of his hands, and dark flames appeared in it before a barrier of similar flames appeared around where he and these creatures were standing.

Feeling threatened by this level 23 Sage, these spectres wanted to flee, but if they tried to pass through the barrier of flames on their way, they would suffer the same fate of being stopped in their tracks.

Not only that but when Lothur moved, they barely had time to understand what he was doing before they all felt the darkness of the young man enter their spectral bodies.

Within less than a minute of his arrival, Lothur saw those beings completely change their expressions and positions, gradually kneeling before him.

"Master!"

They said simultaneously, with no fear left in their minds.

If their master wanted to destroy them, they would be destroyed with a smile on their faces!

Seeing these spectres that could think as well as low-level humans, Lothur didn't destroy them right away. He looked at the strongest of them and asked.

"Where is the Castle of Shadows?"

"I don't know." The creature answered truthfully.

"Does anyone here know?"

"No, master." They all said almost at the same time.

Lothur was not surprised, as he had questioned a level 20 spectre in the past and had not gotten the answers he wanted. 

He changed his questions. "What are you doing in this area?"

One of the strongest of the group replied promptly. "We are looking for powerful people. We have orders to possess the bodies of 4th-stage humans and search for the Seven Singularities."

"Are there any other groups like yours that you know the approximate location of?" 

Another spectre said. "We know of three other groups. But they are like us, ignorant of the master's questions."

Lothur imagined that would be the case, but there was something else these creatures didn't know. Not only did each group have the ability to know the location of other groups of spectres, but they were food for Blood and Smoke.

With his questions answered by these 10 beings, Lothur smiled and said to the two small ones on his shoulders. "Absorb them. I want to see what happens when you deal with spectres."

Smoke looked at the kneeling creatures and licked his lips, seeing a feast before him.

Meanwhile, Blood swallowed her saliva, grateful to her creator for offering them this meal.

Without delay, the two moved to the strongest spectres, targeting the best they could absorb there.

These creatures were conquered, while the two little cats had no trouble beginning to suck away their resistance.

But as Lothur extinguished the flames that covered the area, allowing his group to see what was happening, Blood suddenly looked at him and asked.

"My creator, can you give them back their freedom? It is not interesting to eliminate them when they are this way. I want them to fight for their lives."

Not only did Lothur hear this, but even his women and Cykad heard Blood's words.

'That... She wants to 'conquer' her own food?" Annaliese wondered.

'Is it too shameful for her to devour harmless enemies?' Cykad saw something he had never heard about these creatures. 

'She has a conscience! As cruel as she is, and as much as she wants her enemies to suffer to save themselves while she devours them, she still takes no pleasure in eating harmless beings!'

As small as that seemed, it wasn't. Creatures who lacked the essence that prevented them from committing certain atrocities, who would simply serve simple purposes, were hazardous.

In the situation they were in, the artificial creatures of legend would do whatever Lothur ordered without question.

But these cats preferred to have fun with their food, a sign that they had personality and wouldn't just do anything. 

They wouldn't take action against weak vermin who didn't try to defend themselves. That is, from what Cykad could see of this behavior, there was a possibility that these cats wouldn't attack low-level beings because it would be very annoying for them to have no resistance.

If this really were a sign of consciousness, then even if they were artificial creatures, Lothur's creations wouldn't be as terrible to this world as this dinosaur thought!

Hearing this, Lothur saw no problem and quickly allowed these spectres to do as they pleased.

...