Caleb collapsed to the ground and allowed himself to pass out, believing that his army would protect him. When he woke up, he noticed that not much time had passed since he lost consciousness, or at least he didn't think much time had passed given that everything looked exactly the same. His limbs still felt wobbly like noodles, and he wondered why he woke up before he fully recovered.
"System?" he groggily said.
[What does the user need?]
"Why am I awake?" Caleb asked as he sat up and observed his army.
[The system doesn't understand what the user means.]
"I don't feel fully recovered. I thought you might have woken me up," he said.
[No, the system wouldn't do that unless it was an emergenc
Caleb was embarrassed to admit he completely forgot about that. He had a lot on his mind, so it was normal that a few details would slip his mind. However, he didn't realize he could hold off on getting a new skill. Last time, he had picked a new skill immediately as soon as he leveled up. As for his first skill, the situation had been unusual."System, how long can I hold off on getting a new skill?" he asked.[The user has until they level up, or else the user will lose the opportunity to obtain a skill for the current level.]He frowned. "Why do I lose the chance when I level up?"[The user's soul and body need time to adjust between obtaining new skills through this method.]That was unfortunate. It would have been great if he coul
Caleb nearly cried the moment they returned to their cave. He could now finally rest, but before he could lay down, he could feel the eyes of his army staring holes into his back. What was it now? Did they really need him to order them to rest again? It was hard to figure out what they were thinking, and it was making him anxious.Turning his attention to Karen, who was right by his side, he said, "Take care of the army."With a nod, she set off to corral the other demon rats away to give him his much desired privacy. He settled down to sleep, but he soon found that he couldn't keep his eyes shut. His mind was going over today's events, preventing him from getting any rest. While things didn't turn out too badly, they hadn't turn out all that great either."There's no point thinking about it again. What's done is done," he muttered to himself.<
Unbeknownst to Caleb, his actions had far reaching consequences that would make him regret taking the quest. The disappearance of the knights pushed the people in the nearest town on edge as they contemplated what to do. Losing so many knights at once had to mean that there was a powerful demon nearby. Granted, most demons were stronger than most people.However, this didn't stop them from worrying about being invaded by demons. As they were consumed by fear and paranoia, one person managed to recall that the heroes had been summoned not that long ago. This news excited them, as it meant they would be saved. Their good cheer was quickly dashed as someone pointed out that the heroes would be stuck in the capital for some time.This wasn't good news at all. Who knew when the heroes would finally leave the capital? They needed the heroes to save them right now. Also, it took time to travel from the capital to their town. By the time the heroes showed up, it might be too late for them. Th
A demon wolf bounded through the forest as blood poured from the injuries that littered its body. It had not expected the opposition and was not running for its life. However, its path was soon blocked by a wall. The demon wolf skidded to a stop to avoid crashing into it when it realized its error. It wasn't a wall made of stone. It was a wall of demon rats.Before it could retreat, they fell down on him like a wave. The demon wolf howled as it tried to fight off its enemies, but to no avail. They bit and clawed at him despite all its attempts to throw, crush, and knock them away. Eventually, it succumbed beneath the demon rats and drew its last breath. As soon as they sensed it was dead, they stopped and parted.They waited for Caleb to step forward and examine the corpse. He gave it a once over before giving a nod. The demon rats took it as a signal to pounce and devour the demon wolf. Caleb watched from the sidelines as they tore the corpse apart and checked their stats. A few had
Caleb's ears twitched at the sound of humans screaming, and he came to a stop. He wasn't the only one to notice, as the other demon rats paused to listen. This was the first time humans had come into the forest since the incident with the knights. They had probably been scared away. It was the only logical assumption to make. He would have done the same.However, for some reason, humans were back again. It didn't matter what the reason was. What mattered was that they were currently in trouble. A part of him wanted to avoid them for two different reasons. One was because he still had his human instincts telling him to stay away, and the other was that it wouldn't be worth it. Going to investigate would probably not yield any benefits for him.The humans were likely dealing with demon wolves, and killing them wouldn't make Caleb or his army stronger. Besides, if he did help them out, the
The humans looked up at the demon rat with a mixture of terror and confusion. Now that one side was defeated and dead, they were at the mercy of the remaining demons. Seeing how eagerly they ate their own kind, they knew that they would face a worse fate. However, the demon rats didn't immediately attack them, even when they finished eating the demon wolves.Actually, as they stared at the demon rats, they realized they were quite small for demons. None of them had ever seen such small demons before. Most had always been several feet tall, or at least be able to reach the height of a small child. The demons in front of them could easily fit in the palms of their hands if they wanted to hold them, which none of them did.As time passed and they saw the demon rats still not doing anything to them, they slowly let their guard down. They were still wary of the demon rats, but it was hard to stay vigilant after the exhausting and emotionally draining ordeal and with the dem
Caleb frowned as he received the report from Karen. After some time, he had finally decided to allow them to move independently. If he wanted to use his army efficiently, he couldn't always be watching over them, which was why he had been testing them over the past few weeks. He had assigned them a bunch of different roles and left them to their own devices to see how they did.Right off the bat, it was a bit of a disaster, and it was partly his fault. Many of the demon rats still had problems understanding complex orders or thinking the way he wanted them to. When he ordered a group of demon rats to patrol and report back what they saw, their reports were inadequate. They either didn't match or couldn't remember what they had seen or heard.It took a lot of screaming, fighting, and explaining before he could set up patrols that fit his requirements. The system had kindly reminded him that he should have only picked demon rats with a certain amount of intelligence to make it effective
Caleb watched anxiously as the red dots got closer and closer to their position. His army was already working tirelessly to fortify their base. While he did have his army make some changes to their base beforehand, it hadn't been with a focus on the defenses. Most of it had been cosmetic or to make the base run more efficiently. Now he regretted not setting up traps or barriers to get enemies out. "Karen, how long before they finish setting everything up?" he asked. "Things are going smoothly. We should be able to finish in an hour," she said, looking away from the demon rats digging a hole in the ground. He grimaced. An hour might not be enough time, as the red dots weren't slowing down. They weren't quite fast either, but they were crossing the ground at a decent pace. It would be cutting it close, and that was only if they didn't suddenly speed up. Caleb didn't like it. There had to be a way to speed up the process and get everything ready for their enemies. "Tell them to go fas