The sound of Arnold hammering on some metal echoed throughout the domain. Arnold's domain had been awfully quiet ever since most of the summons started living outside the domain. It wasn't their decision do to so, but with half of the world under Arnold's command, he needed people he could trust to be out there. Not inside his domain. Most of the time the summons only came together when the private dungeon opened. That is, once every three months after that, everyone went their separate ways.

The rest of the time, they helped him looking over the world. Or at least the part he owned. The only one to keep Arnold company in the domain was Scylla. But seeing how lonely she got after spending all the time alone, Arnold decided to let her and Cetus have some fun together. As for his army of undead and automatons, they hadn't been inside the domain for quite some time as they too were busy protecting the people.

So, right now, Arnold was the only one inside his domain with a bunch of corpses. As of now, he was busy forging a new arm for himself by fusing Hercules' remains with a frost giants bone. He had tried various combinations and although they proved to be strong, they weren't was Arnold was looking for. 

He wanted to make something that could potentially one-shot the demigods. He needed something like that because he had a quest to clear and killing a demigod was an important and the trickiest part of it. Well, one could say it was one of the most important tasks because it was so tricky. Arnold was sure he would get a chance to kill paladins and vassals during the War of the Worlds, but he wasn't sure when and where he would get a chance to kill a demigod.

He was kind of in a hurry because system sama had put an end to his level gains. And the only way to start getting more levels along with more attributes and potential points was to complete the ascension quest.

He was already being forced to wait for about a year before he could get his hands on some extraterrestrial basta*ds to kill. Hence he did not want to delay his ascension anymore than that. In other words, he was hoping to kill a demigod either before or within the duration of the event. But it wasn't like he could do anything other than waiting. 

Previously he thought if he made the gods enraged, they might send in someone else to take care of him. It was also one of the important reasons why he was mocking the gods as if it was his life's mission. But it all turned out to be in vain. No matter what he did, the gods did not even try to 'put him in place'.

"I wanted them to fear me... but not so much that those idiots... stopped sending in more of the gods to fight me!" Arnold yelled before hammering away, "God, it's so frustrating to wait for something that you don't know if it will ever happen."

[Patience is the key to virtue.]

"Have you ever seen me being patient?"

[Considering the way you're beating your hammer, I'll say no.]

"That sounds wrong on so many levels!" Arnold quickly dropped the hammer before making the weirdest face he ever had.

[I know. It was intentional.]

"Okay... so I was wondering if I can ask you a question?" Arnold's voice suddenly got serious.

[You're going to ask me regardless of my answer. So shoot.]

"God, I hate it when you're right. Anyhow, I was wondering since I can't use the exp I have to level up. What else can I use it for?" 

[So the real question you're asking is... how do I get stronger even if the system is telling me not to? Am I right, or am I right?]

"You are right, but what's the point of having you here if I can't get even stronger?" Arnold picked up the hammer once again and started trying to shape up the arm.

[Look, Arnold. You are already as strong as a demigod. Probably even more than that. You don't need to get stronger for a while. Have you seen your sister's stats? That's the level you should have been at as well.]

"I know what you're doing is for the best. But I just want to know is there a way for me to get rid of all this exp in a way that benefits me. I mean you're not even allowing me to get a new subclass!"

Making a new arm wasn't the only reason Arnold had for visiting his domain. System sama had told him that no one can see what was happening in his domain but him. Not even the all-seeing eye of Heimdal could see what he was doing inside his domain. Thus his domain had become a place for Arnold to vent his frustrations and worries out, without anyone being aware of it. He was afraid if the gods got to know about his insecurities, he would be in big trouble. 

Arnold had been getting worried lately. Ever since Aiden was born, Arnold had been training relentlessly to protect the ones he cared about. But even after all that, he was worried that it wasn't enough.

This thought even kept him awake at night. Only one thing kept racing in his mind, what if it wasn't enough? What if he couldn't protect Nina, Aiden or Nicole? System Sama wasn't human. He couldn't possibly understand that being the strongest also meant that someone was at his weakest in a different way.

Arnold wanted to keep moving forward. No, he needed to keep moving forward. Because he was afraid that if he stopped for a moment, the gods would take everything away from him. This logic of his became more prominent after what happened with Hercules.

He could only defeat Hercules because he got the private dungeon as a reward for completing a quest. If he hadn't gotten the dungeon, no one in the fcking world could have stopped Hercules and his army. So when anyone said Arnold saved the world, he could hear them saying that he just got lucky. But sooner or later, his luck was going to run out and he wanted to be prepared for it.

[Alright, fine. I'll think of something. Till then you keep your focus on making the arm.]

***

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