I scrambled out of the shelter, my heart pounding.
Standing at the edge of my territory, just beyond the invisible barrier that trapped me, was not a monster.
It was a girl. A human.
She couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen, dressed in tattered leather armor that had seen better days. Her dark hair was matted with dirt and leaves. Blood stained her left arm.
And she was running.
Behind her, crashing through the forest with predatory intent, were three wolves.
They didn't look like your run-of-the-mill Earth wolves.
These creatures were massive..easily the size of horses...with fur that seemed to absorb light and eyes that glowed red like embers.
[Hellhounds. Initiate ★★★ each. She's being hunted.]
The girl stumbled, fell, scrambled back to her feet.
She was going to die if I didn't intervene.
The girl's eyes met mine across the distance.
She was desperate. Terrified. Out of breath, seemingly running for a while.
She must be someone's daughter. Maybe someone's sister, or maybe a granddaughter.
Seeing her reminded me of my own family back on Earth.
In my old life, I'd had children. I'd watched them grow, protected them, loved them.
So a child getting devoured right in front of me?
I can't let that happen.
My morals wouldn't let me.
With my exhausted body, I stepped toward the barrier. I wasn't scared this time. After all, I was already adapting to this world, and as a writer who had written countless immersive characters, I knew what this situation would exactly require.
Calmness and precision.
"Timber! Vine! Pull that girl inside the barrier!"
"Master orders... Timber obeys!"
[Loyalty: 64% → 67%]
Timber immediately stretched his vines and fluently grabbed the girl, pulling her into the barrier within a few seconds.
The Hellhounds that had lunged at the girl found the spot empty. Their fierce gaze turned to our direction.
Now, they were running toward us with speed and precision.
That was expected.
I knew they'd lunge at us the moment we stole their prey. And the barrier wouldn't be restricting them.
So I coated my fists with gravity with unbelievable precision. My stamina was low, so I was certain that I wouldn't be able to keep maintaining it for long.
"Napoleon, protect the girl! Timber, vine! Strangle them or stall them!"
"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"
[Napoleon had used "Rallying Cry"]
[All physical stats temporarily increased by 25%]
[Fear resistance +50%]
Napoleon made his way to the girl and stood there protectively.
Timber had already stretched his vines to attack. However, the uncanny Hellhounds dodged them with speed and tore some of the vines with their sharp teeth.
In those several seconds, they peered toward me while I stared back at them.
My gravity-coated fists lunged faster as a Hellhound jumped on me. I immediately increased the gravitational force on my fist.
-Grrrkkkkkkk!!
The weight was presumably 50 lbs, which hit the Hellhound and sent it flying toward the trees outside of the restriction zone.
"Holy cow!"
I myself never had imagined that it'd be this impactful... compress and release.
"My Gravity Mastery was impressive indeed."
The other two Hellhounds suddenly stopped, keeping a bit of distance as they cautiously moved around.
One of them broke the formation and raced toward Napoleon.
"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"
The sheer volume of Napoleon's cry made even my ears ring, which basically shook the Hellhound to the core.
Soon, a wide vine erupted from the ground and strangled the hound.
On the other hand, the hound that was facing me was constantly dodging the vines from Timber.Taking advantage of that chaos, I landed a fatal blow of 60 lbs.
They felt nothing more than punching bags at this point.
I could have tamed them and immediately tried to progress my quest of building a village.
However, if everyone is a companion, then who'd be our food?
[Combat Complete!]
[3x Hellhounds (Initiate ★★★) defeated!]
[+150 System Points]
[+75 Experience Points]
[Congratulations Host, You have Ascended to Initiate ★★★]
[Congratulations Host, summoned beast Napoleon has Ascended to Initiate ★★★]
[Side Quest "Food Security" Complete!]
[Rewards: +30 SP, 1 Normal Summon Ticket]
[Achievement Unlocked: "Pack Hunter"]
[Special Reward: Skill - "Teamwork Tactics Lv.1"]
The notifications blurred together. My vision was darkening at the edges.
I closed all of them and collapsed to the ground.
I would have to check those later on. Right now I was totally drained.
[Stamina: 8%]
After a few seconds of resting and catching my breath, I stood up and walked to the girl while checking my SP.
[SP remaining: 257]
I bought a low-grade health potion and tossed it to the girl. She clumsily grabbed it and stared at it in disbelief and awe.
[Remaining SP: 247]
"You look shocked, girl."
"H-How did you do this? The flask just materialized from nothing!" The girl stuttered.
"It's a secret. Don't pry into it and just drink it."
She nodded gratefully and gulped the potion down. Almost instantly, all of her wounds had healed.
"What's your name, girl?"
"K-Kaira."
"K-Kaira? That's a weird name."
"It's just Kaira, not K-Kaira!"
"Hahaha... messing with you."
She gave a flustered look, so maybe my little humor thing worked?
She looked tense and scared earlier. Now she looks a little relaxed.
Good.
"Now Kaira, why don't you tell me what you were doing in this dangerous forest all alone?"
"I'm... I was part of a caravan. We were attacked two days ago. I've been running ever since."
"A caravan? Well, I guess there must have been a pretty strong party to lead a caravan through the Jura Forest."
"Th-They were... but even so, they were attacked and everyone seemed to scatter and... I don't know how I ended up here."
She too must have been pretty strong to have survived this long as well.
"Kaira... What's your rank and how many soul stars do you have?"
It must have been a sensitive question. She somehow fidgeted. Nonetheless, I pressed.
"I'm just a little bit curious."
Her body shook as she exhaled softly, her expression turning a little bit hostile. Nonetheless, the gratitude still lingered.
"I'm grateful that you saved me, but still, don't you think it's rude to ask a lady her star rank and soul stars?"
"But you're just a kid..."
"So are you!"
I nodded genuinely. For a second, I had forgotten that I was sixteen as of now.
Soon, my vision was obscured by a water-filled bucket Timber had offered me with his vine.
What a thoughtful guy!
And what great timing. I was thirsty for sure.
I drank from the side and offered it to Kaira. She drank from the other side.
"That was thoughtful of you, Timber! Good boy!"
"Master happy!... Timber happy!"
[Loyalty: 67% → 70%]
What a genuinely good guy! I'm glad I hadn't killed him.
"Y-You're a beast tamer?"
"Hmph~ Yes."
"S-So cool... but what's that weird creature? I've never seen anything like it," she asked, pointing at my beautiful rooster.
"Maybe you haven't seen enough monsters yet?"
"Li-Lies... I would have known if there were such a cute creature out there..."
"Maybe. So... Anyways..."
Before I could form any other thoughts, my tummy grumbled loudly. How embarrassing.
Almost instantly, Kaira offered me some food she had with her, and we ate. I ate like a total foodie, like a monster who was hungry for days.
Well, I was hungry for days!
"Wh-What is this delicious food?" I asked as I munched down something that was almost similar to rice balls. However, it wasn't made from rice.
"Tchicho!"
What a weird name. However, it had already become my favorite food.
Afterwards, we asked questions back and forth, and when I was left alone...
"ChatZero... What rank is she?"
[Analyzing... Analyzation complete!]
[Don't worry... she is stronger than you, Human.]
"Is that so? what's her rank?"
[She is an Elite six stars! Quite the lucky and unlucky fellow in different ways.]
Lucky and unlucky indeed. If only she were born Expert, would she have been able to ascend further? Now she was stuck at the bottleneck.
Anyhow, I was standing right in front of the Hellhound corpses that Timber had gathered in one place.
That guy is truly helpful and humble.
"ChatZero, what can we get from Hellhound corpses?"
[Oh, NOW you're asking the right questions, Human! Hellhound pelts are valuable—fire-resistant material. The fangs can be used for weapons or sold for 15 SP each. The meat is technically edible if cooked properly, though it tastes terrible. And the hearts... Hellhound hearts are alchemical ingredients worth 40 SP each.]
I did quick mental math.
Three hearts: 120 SP.
Eighteen fangs (assuming six per hound): 270 SP.
Plus whatever the pelts were worth.
"We're about to become filthy rich."
[Filthy rich in a square where one cannot even pee properly without being seen! Lol]
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... ChatZero! You underestimate me too much! With these points I'll already expand and build necessary stuff. Just watch me, pal!"
[Guard your tongue, Human... I am no pal of yours!]
"Haa... I never knew ChatZero would love to be labeled as a slave. Tough luck. I should choose a nickname like 'Slave Chat.'"
Well, just like always, the dude went silent. Why is it always so fun to mess with it? Haha.
Either way, I immediately made the exchange with the store and gained 420 SP.
I guess the pelts were worth 30 SP.
-Whooosh
The pelts, fangs, and hearts immediately disappeared from the corpses. Only the meat remained.
[Thank you for your kind exchange, dear Seller! We hope to acquire more of your engagement!] -Anonymous Merchant.
I stared at the floating message. For some reason, I felt cheated because of those sweet words.
Anyways, I was filthy rich! Now I had 667 SP.
Just require 2 more inhabitants to expand my territory.
[Inhabitants: 4/6]
It seems Kaira counted as an inhabitant as well.
Either way, what remained was a summon ticket.
Well, no need to just stare at it..
So, closing my eyes again, I had spun the Normal Gacha pull once again!
And it landed on...