Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race

Chapter 7: Recruiting Followers

Caleb had known it wouldn't be an easy task to start building his army of demon rats, but it really honed in when none of the demon rats were interested in hearing what he had to say. Every time he tried to speak with one, they would either ignore him, examine him, or pick a fight. The latter wasn't really an issue since he had gotten stronger, but still, he couldn't get a single demon rat to join him.

Well, that wasn't entirely correct. The demon rat that had greeted him last night and led him back to the nest was sticking to his side for some reason. He didn't know why, but he really hoped it wasn't for the reason he was thinking of. Caleb couldn't even tell if they were a girl or boy demon rat. In any case, he really had no luck getting anyone's attention.

[Can the system offer up a suggestion?]

"Go ahead," he said with a sigh.

[Why not recruit the demon rat currently with you? They appear to be open to listening to you.]

The system wasn't wrong, and it wasn't like he had better options. "Hey, do you want to join my army?"

All he received was a blank stare before the demon rat asked, "Army?"

Scrambling to come up with an explanation, he waved his paws around and said, "Together. Fight. Hunt."

That seemed to do the trick, as the rat nodded. "Together. Fight. Hunt."

[A demon rat has expressed interest in joining your army. Will you accept them as your follower?]

"Yes," Caleb said as more messages popped up.

[You have added a demon rat to your army.]

[You have obtained your first follower.]

[Your follower currently doesn't have a name. Will you like to name them?]

Staring at the last screen, he hadn't really thought about. He had been referring to all the demon rats he had encountered as just that, demon rats, because that's what they were. The thought that they might have names hadn't crossed his mind, but he wasn't sure why he was given the option to name them. Was there any benefits to giving them a name?

[It will encourage a stronger bond between the user and the follower. It would also allow the user to differentiate between the different demon rats the user collects for their army.]

That was a good point. "From now on, you will be Karen Bailey."

For a brief moment, he had considered just calling the demon rat something like Rat or Brown, but those were really inefficient names. It should be something memorable while being easy to remember at the same time, hence Karen Bailey. Karen was because they followed him around like a stubborn parasite, and Bailey was because he remembered seeing it have to do with castles.

[The user has named their follower Karen Bailey.]

[Karen Bailey is going through an unexpected growth. Please check Karen Bailey's stats for more information.]

"What?" His eyes turned away from the screen to check on Karen.

Nothing about them seemed to have changed at first glance. As he took a closer look, he then realized that something about their gaze had changed. Instead of the dull eyes he was used to seeing, there seemed to be a spark in them, like the spark of intelligence. Immediately, he rushed to pull up their stats and was stunned by what he saw.

[Follower Information]

[Karen Bailey]

[Species: Demon Rat]

[Strength: 2]

[Intelligence: 5]

[Stamina: 3]

[Endurance: 4]

[Dexterity: 2]

[Mana: 1]

Caleb didn't know what their previous stats were like, but he was pretty sure their Intelligence stat hadn't been five. His best guess was that it had been a two given how they had been talking to each other. That meant their stats had jumped from two to five simply because they became his follower. With this, that meant he would be able to make his other followers stronger.

Recalling how Karen was still staring at him, he asked, "Do you understand me?"

They continued to stare at him for a few more moments before nodding. "Yes."

He would have cheered, but he forced himself to contain his excitement. "You are part of my army now. Do you understand?"

After a moment, they nodded, and he frowned. Despite their stats having gone up, it looked like they were still slow. It was probably because they were not used to the sudden jump in their Intelligence stat. In any case, he had successfully recruited his first follower. Feeling more confident, he drew the attention of another demon rat to hopefully recruit them.

Caleb failed. "I guess it was too much to hope that would work just because it worked once."

"What are you doing?" Karen asked as they tilted their head to one side.

"I'm trying to build an army, but I don't think you understand me," he said with a sigh.

"Why?" they asked.

"Because the heroes were summoned." Seeing their stare, he started making gestures. "We are weak. They are strong. Fight together and win."

He wasn't sure if his explanation was working, but that was the best he could come up with. Telling them about how he used to be human and how he was trying to return home wouldn't mean much to them. It was better not to make things too complicated right off the bat. Surprisingly, they nodded their head and started heading off in a certain direction.

"Where are you going?" he demanded as he chased after them.

They only said, "Follow."

With no better option, he chased after them until they encountered a demon rat that was bigger than the demon rats he had seen so far. It wasn't as big as the ones in the game, but it was at least twice their size. He hadn't seen them before, and he wondered why Karen had brought him here. They started pointing at the bigger demon rat, but he couldn't understand what they wanted.

When it was clear he couldn't understand what they were trying to tell him, they said, "Fight."

"Fight? Why?" he asked as he looked back at the larger demon rat.

"Leader. Fight and win. Become the new leader," Karen said.