[The baby demon rats have reached adulthood.]
"I can see that," Caleb snapped. "I'm asking why they're so big. All the previous demon rats that were my followers were the same size as me. Why is there such a big difference?"
[It is because of how the user raised them. They were able to immediately grow into the typical size for demon rats.]
Caleb stared at the screen for a few moments before oggling the giant demon rats patiently waiting for his orders. The system had mentioned before that their growth was dependent on how he raised them, but it was still a huge change. He had imagined that they would grow into something around his size, like his previous followers. Then they would eventually grow bigger.
They just skipped a stage. It was like those games about raising a pet from
The cave was actually quite comfy, in Caleb's opinion, if he ignored how he had flashbacks to what happened the last time he was in the cave. It was only thanks to the presence of the baby demon rats and [Steadfast Mind] that he didn't have a panic attack. He ended up cuddling up against his followers, using them as a bed to sleep on instead of the cold, hard ground.However, once morning came, Caleb knew he had to deal with the sudden changes. His old plan had to be scrapped. That was obvious. What wasn't obvious was what the new plan should be. He had to be careful so there wouldn't be a reenactment of what happened to his army last time. He decided to shelve the matter and focus on the baby demon rats.Caleb corrected himself. They weren't baby demon rats anymore. He watched as they scurried around like they normally did. Of course, it wasn't as cute or discrete compared to when they
Caleb swore up and down that he didn't know why he said that. He didn't have aspirations of ruling the world. He really didn't. He wasn't a power hungry or ambitious person. Unfortunately, there was no taking his words back. Once the words came out, he immediately regretted it, as they took it at face value. His army of eleven was determined to crown him the king of the world.It wasn't his fault. Okay, it was a little bit his fault. He could have said something else, but the question had really caught him off guard. It wasn't like he could tell them about his plans to return home. A part of him felt guilty that he was essentially abandoning them. However, this wasn't his world. He wasn't meant to be here. It had been a freak accident."My king," Gloria said for the hundredth time. "Why not send us to search for more loyal subjects?""There's no need,"
The question was how was Caleb supposed to plan world domination. It wasn't like he had any references to it outside of TV and video games. Of course, he couldn't follow what he had seen either since it was always the villains plotting world domination, and all their plans obviously ended in failure. If he tried to copy what they did, he would be just setting himself up for failure.Besides, not all the situations could be used, even if he wanted to. He wasn't a millionaire who could use his wealth to dominate whatever industry he forced his way into. This wasn't an urban setting. Caleb was clearly in a fantasy setting with things stacked against him, even if he did have a system trying to help him every step of the way.Immediately turning to the only one who could help, he asked, "System, do you have any ideas on world domination?"[The user needs to be more specific.]"I mean, can you give me ideas or plans to start?" Caleb asked.Unfortunately, the system is unable to help in this
Caleb wasn't sure what to feel when he saw the message. On one hand, it was the system's way of helping. On the other hand, it wasn't much help. All the quest said was to complete the first step to world domination. It never specified what the first step was. Basically, the system was leaving it up to him to figure out what to do. Then it would reward him.He sighed. Well, he supposed he would at least be rewarded for his efforts. It was nice that he got a chained quest. The rewards would surely get better as he completed each part. He tried to imagine what kind of rewards he would get. Maybe it would allow him to level up more than once. That would be great, but how would picking skills apply?After allowing himself a brief moment to think about the possibilities, he returned his attention back to the issue at hand. None of that mattered if he couldn't even complete the first step. Since the system was leaving it up to him, he would have to figure out what would be the easiest thing
Caleb stared in disbelief at what he heard. He must have been mistaken. There was no way that they had just suggested they make a scene so they could draw attention to themselves. What was more unbelievable was that he was really considering the idea. It was crazy, but he had hit a wall in trying to recruit more members. If this was the only way, then he might have to go along with it.Staring at the eager looks on their faces, he sighed and said, "I approve of your idea."Immediately, they all perked up, ready to move. Caleb was already beginning to regret it, but he didn't take his words back. It wasn't like they had no clear idea of how to do it. In fact, they had actually presented a clear and well thought out plan. It was actually quite terrifying, and he had to double check to make sure their Intelligence stats were still lower than his.He was still suspicious that the system might not have been so truthful about the stats, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. All
"My king, we have captured them," Gloria stated as his followers pushed forward the demon rats they had encountered.Caleb stared at them and the prisoners for a moment as he tried to process what he was seeing. What happened to his initial assumptions? He had assumed that the demons that would poke their noses after the initial warnings would be other demons. Instead, rat demons actually showed up to sniff around their territory. Where had they even come from anyway?As if sensing his question, Gloria continued, "We caught them sniffing around our borders. They were probably checking to see how strong our defenses were."Since he hadn't been constantly checking the map, which he should have, he didn't catch this. It was a good thing Gloria and Dennis had been nearby to catch them. With only eleven followers, they had to figure out how much territory they claimed they could actually defend. Claiming too much land would make it difficult to patrol and guard it.On the other hand, if th
Even though Caleb was still very much creeped out by the skill, he didn't hesitate to abuse it. Since the demon rats wouldn't be missed, he put them to work and had them reveal anything they knew. Unfortunately, it didn't yield any results. Since they were disposable, they didn't really know much and couldn't properly convey it to him because of their speech problems.However, he was able to confirm that they would lead him to the next if he really wanted them to. While he wanted to jump on the idea, he knew better than to go through with it. He didn't know how long the brainwashing would last. What if it suddenly wore off while they were leading them to where the nest was or right as they were in the middle of the nest? Things could get ugly.No, he needed to wait for the brainwashing to wear off before brainwashing them again. Caleb monitored them for a week, but the brainwashing showed no signs of wearing off. In that time, other demons came to investigate, like he had expected. The
When another week passed, Caleb had enough. There didn't appear to be any signs of the brainwashing wearing off, and it probably never will. He couldn't say for sure, but it was beginning to look like that was the case. In that case, there was no point in waiting longer to see when it would wear off. Their territory had been constantly harrassed by several demons already.Other demon rats had been sent as well, but Caleb had them easily subdued and brainwashed. They couldn't give him any valuable information either, but he now had a dozen brainwashed demon rats. That would mean his army was two dozen strong if he included himself. They should be more than enough to attack the demon rat nest.Of course, he couldn't leave their own nest unprotected. While they were gone, some other demons might invade the place to take it for themselves. Since he had no faith in the brainwashed demon rats, it meant his own followers had to be left behind to stand guard. He also had to determine how many
Hello, I just wanted to inform everyone here who had been following Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race that I'm going to be rewriting/editing it for eBook, paperback, etc.I figured that since this work was never marked complete when it was supposd to back in January, I might as well post another author's note here.I will try to keep everyone up to date on when the first book will be released here on my currently updating stories and on F******k.If anyone's interested in beta reading for me, please contact me through F******k since I have no idea how to contact anyone on here.I'm also thinking about redoing the covers again.
Hello everyone. I just want to thank all my readers who have been following along for so long. Caleb's story has ended, which means I currently don't have any stories being written on the platform at this moment.I feel like my writing style has changed since I first started writing on Meganovel, and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. We shall see how much more it changes.Anyway, there are several things that I want to let you know.I'm a bit sad that Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race didn't get as much love as my other stories, but there could be many factors that could have contributed to it. Maybe in the future I'll do a rewrite or remake of it since I still like the idea.If I do go through with this idea, then I'll just immediately go to eBook and paperback, and it would be very different from the one here. We will have to see, and I'll let everyone know.As for a new story, I'm still debating on what story I want to do. My plan is to have at least one ex
"Have you heard? They say a new demon king has appeared," someone whispered in the streets."How can that be? Wasn't the demon king killed before they could become the demon king?" another whispered."Well, the demons are acting differently compared to after the previous demon kings died," a person said.Caleb pulled down his hood even more as he passed by the gossiping crowd. He had only stepped away from the castle to catch his breath. It had been months since he had returned to this world, and he had so much work to catch up on that it wasn't even a joke. So much had happened that it felt surreal. There were still plenty of demons defying him.They still couldn't believe he was the new demon king. Caleb could understand why. He hadn't become the demon king the proper way, so it was natural that they were suspicious of his claims despite all the support he received. Even with support, there were some who simply didn't care. Bringing the demons together was a difficult job.He didn't
Caleb didn't like the sound of that. Why was the fake laughing? It was obviously at the end of its rope. There was no way it could stand a chance against all of them. Something wasn't right. As the smoke cleared, his face curled in disgust at the sight, and he wasn't the only one. He could feel Grace lean towards him as if trying to hide from the sight.The fake could barely be called alive. Its body was fraying at the seams, and the skin was peeling off. The fact that it was still standing was unreal. It was really a gruesome sight that would have made him sick if it had been the him from before he showed up in this world. He was a bit unnerved and worried about what the fake would do next."It looks like it's my loss. I had really hoped to get rid of you, but it looks like I'll just have to wait for another opportunity to arise. You got lucky," the fake said.Just as those words left the fake's deformed mouth, bats swarmed around it. None of them could see what was happening, but th
"Do you think the human will really return with our new demon king?" Lisa asked as she leaned back against the wall. "He wasn't exactly enthusiastic about it before.""Who can say?" Takisha said as she brushed her hair back. "We can only wait for the results.""It's not like he would make a good demon king anyway," Ruth said with a huff."Are you going to try to kill him if he returns?" Mildred asked."Of course not," she snapped before she muttered the next part to herself. "It's not like you'll let me.""Shouldn't you be more honest with yourself? He actually grew on you," Lisa said with a smirk.Ruth hissed. "You're one to talk. You think the same."Lisa scowled, but she didn't argue against it. She wasn't the only one feeling some attachment. Well, it wasn't exactly an attachment. Takisha and Mildred barely knew much about him. They had only known each other briefly. However, that didn't diminish their interest in him. It was the only reason why they weren't eager to kill him off
Caleb's body moved to shield her. He grunted as he felt the bullet strike his side. Fortunately, it didn't hit anything vital, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Grace was screaming his name and rushing to his side as the fake waved the gun around with a bored expression on its face. Caleb pressed a hand to the injury and felt blood coat his hand."I guess that didn't work out. Let's try again," the fake said as they raised their gun again.Suddenly, the duo found themselves falling through the air before hitting the ground hard. Caleb wheezed as he landed on his injured side. He rolled onto his back to relieve the pressure and catch his breath. Grace was quickly at his side, casting her healing magic on him again. He could feel the telltale signs of her magic working before it stopped."What? Oh, no," Grace muttered as she cast again.This time, the effect was even shorter. Caleb could still feel his injury bleeding out. For some reason, her healing magic wasn't working properly
It was silent as Caleb and the fake Grace stared at each other. The real Grace glanced between the two of them, wondering what she was supposed to do. This was beyond anything she had expected when the system assigned the quest. She had thought it was a strangely easy task at first, but she quickly realized it wasn't as simple as she first thought.At first, she couldn't go herself. When she saw the restriction, she had thought she had misread it. However, the words didn't change, no matter how much she looked at them. The system had really told her that she couldn't go personally, even though it said she had to find him and convince him to come back. Luckily, she was able to convince the four demon women to go.Grace had been worried that they wouldn't listen, but they strangely went along with her request. When she had asked why, they all gave a different response. In the end, they all wanted the same thing, which was to have him back. That was good enough for her. With their help,
Caleb grunted as they reappeared in a different location and crashed into the ground. Apparently, Grace had teleported them away from the danger. Unfortunately, she hadn't done a good job at it, which was why he was currently in pain. Ignoring the pain and getting to his feet, he took a look at their surroundings. He didn't recognize where they were.Looking back at Grace, he said, "I have so many questions that I have no idea where to begin.""You asked how I got here, well, I got a little help from the system," she said.He frowned. "The system helped you?""It assigned me a quest to find you and convince you to return," Grace said."I see," he said.Even though the system did say it would help him return home, it didn't say it wouldn't get someone
As they sat in the car, Caleb couldn't stop feeling uneasy about the whole thing. This was probably the first time he had ever gotten in the car without someone who wasn't family. It felt odd, and he didn't know what to do about the atmosphere. Caleb wanted to break the silence, but he didn't know what to talk about. He obviously couldn't bring up the other world.There were several reasons why that simply wouldn't work. One was that this fake Grace wouldn't know about it. At least he didn't think she did. She would just think he was crazy, which led to the second reason. Even if she did know about it, they weren't alone in the car. Talking about the other world in front of others was just not the smart thing to do.Caleb kept glancing at Grace out of the corner of his eye, but she didn't even look in his direction. Her eyes were focused straight ahead, with a blank expression on her fac