Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

Despite his deep hatred for the man, Kane couldn’t deny that the eight years under Father's tyranny had taught him some valuable lessons.

One key insight he gained in that time, was how to cultivate the loyalty of subordinates. According to him, you'd start with these three ingredients: tangible benefits, a vision of a brighter future, and… a healthy dose of fear.

Individually, these elements might inspire temporary allegiance, but they would never secure lasting loyalty, especially so for fear.

However, when you show them that you can be dangerous, but not unreasonable, and that following you serves their best interests, a part of that fear would turn into the fourth requirement: respect.

The fact is, people always prefer to have a good reason for following someone, even if they don't technically have a choice. So when they realize the benefits, they'd rationalize away the fear as their leader simply being strong, but fair; and that was when respect was born.

All the while, the fear would simply remain in the back of their minds and prevent anyone from thinking they can exploit the situation, or rebel against their leader.

Thus, when respect was combined with fear, benefits, and a brighter future, true loyalty was born. Of course, the initial respect in this recipe for loyalty wouldn't last long unless it was backed up by future actions, but that would follow later.

Now, Kane didn't actually have much experience with leading, or the act of cultivating loyalty, just yet.

There was Luna, of course, but that didn't really count for three reasons. First, the blood oath, second, they shared hardships and bonded for four years which he didn't have time for now, and third, he couldn't really apply his one-on-one experience to a whole group.

Besides, they loved each other, so it was different.

Regardless, this meant he had to learn how to cultivate loyalty in a group on the fly, and Father's methods were his only starting point.

First, Kane had already sketched a brighter future for his newly acquired bandits, and he was planning to show them the benefits later, which meant right now was the perfect time for fear.

Fortunately, fear just so happened to be his new specialty.

As his voice, infused with the Echo of terror, started dying down, the four bandits had started trembling slightly. Their eyes were wide, and their backs were wet with sweat.

Aelia, who was enduring the brunt force of his generated fear, even started hyperventilating a little, despite her mental strength and pride.

Part of the reason his skill was so effective right now, was that they weren't in combat. The chaos and adrenaline a situation like that produced was often detrimental for generating fear.

Her mind was racing to try and comprehend what was happening, but she found it hard to focus with Kane still holding her chin and staring into her eyes with a threatening glare. She even thought she noticed some crimson flashes in them. Finally, she realized he was still waiting for an answer.

An answer she planned on giving, but rather than the normal voice she was trying to use, it came out a few octaves higher, against her will. "Y— Yeah. Understood," she squeaked out, immediately cursing her rebellious voice inwardly.

As if the sun had appeared to melt the snow, Kane's expression relaxed, and he even smiled a little. "Good," he nodded, as he released her chin, and turned around to continue walking towards the generator room. "I'm glad we understand each other."

At the same time, Luna glanced smugly at the stunned Aelia, before quickly following after her master.

The catling didn't feel an ounce of fear towards her master. She was absolutely sure he'd never hurt her, and he was equally sure that she'd never betray him.

They'd die first, and they knew it.

This, of course, was another downside to the Echo of Terror skill: it didn't work against true confidence. It needed its target to actually believe that Kane both could, and would, harm them. Basically, it needed a basis to work from.

Regardless, the loyalty of true love was far harder to achieve, and took much longer, so Kane couldn't rely on that with these women. At least, not yet. So instead, he'd have to start experimenting on how best to cultivate group loyalty.

Behind them, the four outlaws were quickly calming down again, while their expressions varied. Both Lyra and Anna looked at Kane's back with a little fear and anxiety, Mira, surprisingly, was actually grinning a little, and Aelia was frowning solemnly.

"Where did that fear come from?" she mumbled softly to herself. "It's been a long time since I last feared death or pain, so why am I afraid of him now?"

But, no one had an answer for her, and the Master-Valkyrie duo continued moving away, so rather than think too much about it right now, the four outlaws decided to quickly catch up.

Meanwhile, the shocked Ella had reorganized her thoughts after receiving Kane's promise not to keep her a secret. "Thank you…" she muttered softly through their bond.

To which Kane simply responded with a reassuring smile.

* * *

After a few more minutes of walking in silence, they finally entered the generator room. It was smaller than Kane had anticipated, being only roughly thirty meters (~100 feet) from one side to the other.

The room's shape was perfectly round, with its walls lined by darkened control panels, only interrupted by a solitary door on the far side.

In the centre of the room stood a massive cylinder, reaching from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Its surface was smooth and clear like glass, though it shimmered in a way that made Kane question its composition. Not that he actually expected this thing to be made of regular glass.

At it's base, the cylinder was anchored by a sturdy metal structure that held more control panels, and right in the middle of it all was a round, empty slot that was clearly intended to hold something.

He looked around curiously, before turning to the elf in his brain. "Ella? Any idea what to do now?"

Unfortunately, she was forced to shake her head mentally. "No idea, sorry. I never had camera access to this place. I only know this is where we need to be because the blueprint told me. I do know that the empty slot over there is supposed to hold something referred to in the mainframe as a 'power core' in order for it to work."

Kane nodded along and took in the new situation with a frown. Naturally, he immediately assumed the bandits had removed this power core in order to turn off the power, although he kind of wondered if they couldn't have just used the control panels.

But, before he could turn around and ask his new subordinates about this, Ella continued talking an a somewhat doubtful tone.

"There's something strange, though," she began. "When the place still had power, and I was still in control, I traced the power flow once, and I'm pretty sure it was all coming from the room behind that door over there, not this one."

Curiously, Kane raised an eyebrow, and his attention veered towards that door in the back.