Chapter 13: Foes become friends

When Alex awoke he felt a bit dizzy and his skin felt like something was crawling all over him. He jumped out of bed and began examining himself only to find that there was nothing wrong.

“Alice status check now!”

“Calm down Spartan, you are not in any danger. The feeling in your skin is just the changes from the sub-dermal armor taking root. It finished several hours ago but your nervous system is still adjusting to it. Check your status updates.”

Then he focused his eyes and saw several blue screen updates.

Construction of brick wall complete

Bathroom construction complete

Bedroom 1 construction complete

Bedroom 2 construction complete

Training room construction stage 1 complete

Tannery construction complete

Brick wall construction complete

Sub-dermal armor enhancement complete: Your body now has a layer of nanite armor created beneath your skin. Your inner organs are protected from small arms fire and short bladed weapons. However you will still receive damage to the outer layer of your body.

Epidermal nanite cloaking enhancement complete: Your body can now use nanites to bend light around you making you nearly invisible to the naked eye. This upgrade requires nanites to consume energy to keep the cloaking active

“Wow! That was a lot of upgrades. Let’s see… Alice, activate the cloaking ability.”

Immediately, Alex saw his image change in the mirror. His cloaking ability looked like the predator cloaking technology. He wasn’t invisible but if you were scanning an area it would be hard to see him, especially in a forest or cave like structure. In low light, this would be excellent. He had Alice deactivate the cloaking field and got dressed. Once Alex finished he walked out of his room and discovered that the shape of his shack had now changed.

There was now a hallway that led to the main room where Eve had cooked their food. This room served a dual purpose as a kitchen and dining room. His room was on one side on the other he assumed was Eve’s room and at the far end of the hallway was the bathroom. Alex could tell because he could hear water running.

Eve must be in the shower or bath. I guess she really enjoys being clean. Not that I can complain about it because I really hated taking cold baths in the waterfall.

Alex knew the bathroom wasn’t available so instead, he walked toward the main room so he could check out the rest of the upgrades.

The main area hadn’t changed much but except there were two doors on the opposite side of the room from where the fire place was. He opened the door on the left and saw that it was the tannery. Inside there were numerous cutting instruments as well as spools of various kinds of threads. There were also mannequins of various types that Alex assumed were to allow armor to be molded into specific shapes. He ran his fingers across the mannequins and took all the upgrades in. He was just in awe at what was done in so short a time.

Once he finished examining the different tools he left the tannery and then closed the door behind him. Next, he went and opened the door on the left. This room looked like a classic martial arts dojo. The floor had a smooth dark colored wood finish with several mannequins on one side of the room. On the other there were was a weapon rack with a spear, a staff, a sword, and a shield.

Does this thing already know what weapons we use so it produces them here? Why is there a spear though? Bella is the only one that uses the spear. No need to worry about it. It's time to begin my daily training session before heading out again.

Alex looked around further but there was nothing more to see. Hee closed the door and sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and began his inner energy training. He began with the breathing exercises and circulating his ki during his meditative state. He had Alice awaken him after 1 hour so that he didn’t spend too much time. When the hour was complete he saw a slight sheen of sweat on his body. Now, he moved on to his next endeavor which was to learn the art of pankration, the ancient martial art used by the Macedonian leader Alexander the Great and his men.

Alex pulled the book out of his inventory and began looking through it. Unfortunately, all of the words were in a language he did not understand.

“Alice, a little help with the language barrier.”

“I will take care of it Spartan.”

Immediately, on top of the black letters in the book green letters began forming words in English over top of the words that were already there. Alex was able to read the words now. The book began talking about the origins of Pankration. It was a martial art that meant “all encompassing” or “all power”. It was an art that including boxing, low kicks, grappling, as well as chokes. All of its techniques were created to kill enemies on the battlefield. It also taught combat with shields and swords or shields and spears. He began flipping through the pages. He saw the images of a warrior making various movements and as he progressed, Alex began to see how they all worked together.

These are similar to the military skills and the Krav Maga that I learned in the past.

He continued flipping through the pages until he reached the armed combat section. This section showed a man wearing a shield and sword. The movements were very basic but the principle was to fluidly move between attack and defense. The skills showed both the sword and the shield were both weapons. It showed how to use edges of the shield similar to a bladed weapon and how to use the sword to deflect attacks and reduce the amount of damage that they can do.

“Alice, can you store the images from the book in your memories to help me train.”

“Affirmative Spartan. Please flip through the pages so that I can scan them.”

Alex did as she asked and moments later there was a three dimensional image in front of him.

“What is this?”

“I constructed a holographic image of you making the movements from the book. All you have to do is step into the image and match it perfectly. As you do it the repeatedly, I will speed up the image until you can do it in real combat speed.”

“Really?! That is amazing. Ok, let’s do it.”

Alex stepped into the image raising his shield just like the image so that it was covering his torso and the lower part of his jaw. Next, he held his sword horizontally with the blade pointing just slightly to the right of his shield. He moved his elbow up slightly to match the hologram. Once he matched it perfectly, Alice made the image move forward into blocking an attack coming from above by raising its shield. Alex moved behind it and matched the hologram's position perfectly. Move after move Alex followed the hologram. He spent an hour going through these movements. Each time, he was able to match the hologram faster and faster. He still was not able to follow exactly but he was definitely showing improvement.

My skill with the shield and sword is my 2nd biggest weakness right now. This should help sure up that weakness relatively quickly. I know I won't be the same as some famous swordsman but this should help fix that problem.

He was now covered in sweat and in desperate need of a shower. He exited the training room and saw Eve standing there cooking some meat.

“Good morning!”, she said.

“Good morning!”

“What were you doing that you are all sweaty already?”

“Oh I was training with my sword and shield.”

“Oh that is good. I am doing the same thing right now. Last night I learned to use one more spell called flame. It allows me to create and sustain a fire so I’m training my mana by constantly using it.”

“Not bad”, Alex replied. “I’m going to get in the shower and then I’ll come back and eat breakfast.”

“Good idea because you are really smelly right now”, she said holding her nose.

He laughed but he knew he hadn’t had a real shower with soap for over a week now. Rinsing himself off with cold water really doesn’t count as a means to actually clean himself. He was really looking forward to that hot water. Alex walked to the bathroom and opened the door.

The shower was pretty cool looking. It was completely encased in glass with a large shower head above and several jets coming from the walls. Inside there were a set of handles that he assumed were used to turn the water on. They were clearly marked hot and cold. Alex turned them both on and the water began streaming from the large shower head above. He put his hand inside and the water felt warm. He turned the cold side down some as he liked my showers hot. The water warmed up and began making the room steamy. He removed his clothes and walked inside.

The water felt amazing. This was the first hot shower he took alone in over 2 years. There was never a private shower in the prison where he was housed. Alex savored every moment of it. He could feel the dirt, grime, and sweat running off his skin. When he finished, he turned the water off. As soon as he did gusts of air came from the jets on the side.

What the!?!?

The air blew all of the water off his body. They were part of some kind of air drying system. Alex couldn’t believe something so futuristic would be in this world where he had to use a sword and shield instead of a gun. He simply shook his head and placed that thought in the category of things that made no sense to him. Alex stepped out of the shower and put his clothes back on before going into the front of the house to meet Eve. She had already finished cooking and was eating her fill of food.

“Today we resume our hunting but there is one problem. Our home has to be defended because people can attack us inside now”, Alex said as he tore into a piece of meat.

“How can we do both at the same time?”

“Simple, I hunt and you protect our home. You can spend the time training your magic while you remain here. Currently, you probably couldn’t hunt by yourself because you don’t really have too much skill in close combat. You need to fight from distance. If an enemy were to close the distance it would easily kill you. My skills are more suited for solo fighting. I am a pretty good shot with a bow to kill things at a distance.“

“You make a good point but how will I fight anything at a distance from inside this place? I mean there are no windows to make attacks from and I can’t stand on the roof.”

“Good point. I would stay outside and try to fight anything that emerges from the forest at distance. If it gets dangerous, go inside and lock the iron door. Not very many things should be able to break through the brick walls or the iron door, if they do blast them and kill them.”

“That is not very reassuring but ok.”

“Well do you want to go out and hunt for food without me?”

“No!”, she said as she shook her head violently.

“Alright then. I also want to test some of my new upgrades while I’m out hunting. I’ll be back in a couple of hours”, he said as he stood up and walked towards the door.”

Alex got outside and pulled out his shield and sword as he started walking towards the forest. He looked back at the house that used to be a shack. The brick wall stood strong and the iron door looked imposing.

Amazing just yesterday it looked like this place could have fallen down if a strong wind blew. Now, it looks like you would need a cannon ball to break it down.

He turned away and began walking into the forest towards the cave where the goblins were.

Alex quickly made it through the forest to the waterfall area. He passed through without incident as there were no animals present. He finally made it to my destination, the goblin cave. He looked around and once again there were two guards standing at the entrance. These were upgraded from the last time. They both wore what appeared to be chainmail covering their torsos as well as helmets.

“Be careful Spartan. These goblins are more powerful than the ones you fought before.”

“How much so? Do you have any information on them?”

Alice opened a screen in front of me showing the enemy in front of me.

Goblin

Level: 8

Class: Warrior

Physique: 6

Mental Ability: 2

Physical coordination: 4

Reaction Speed: 4

Speed: 4

Crap that thing is even more powerful than I am and there are two of them. Well nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’ve got to end these things so that they don’t creep up and attack my home.

“Alice, activate stealth.”

Alex looked down at my hands and saw them shimmer before blending into the environment. He ran as quickly and quietly as he could to get to the guardians. He could see them looking around for what made the sound as he closed in on them but they couldn’t quite make out what it was.

Do they have poor vision? That is great! That will make this much easier.

Alex slowly crept up behind the two guardians and paused a moment. He readied his nanite-enhanced sword while he was behind them. He noticed that my sword did the same thing as his skin. It was nearly invisible. Alex quickly slashed his blade across the closest goblin's neck separating the guardian’s head from his body. Before the other could react he did the same thing again. Both bodies fell to the ground with a thump. He quickly released his cloaking ability and checked their bodies. He found two small purses of coins totaling 50 coins. he quickly stuck them in his inventory before moving into the cave.

As he walked into the cave his improved senses really began showing their worth. He could hear every small moving thing inside clearly. The smell of musk, blood, and sex permeated throughout the cave.The stench was almost overpowering. He shuddered at the thought of what was going on deeper inside the cave. He stayed close to the wall and away from the torches that the goblins used to illuminate the dark cave. As he walked farther into the cave he noticed there were no forks in the road so he only had to walk in a straight line. Alex walked for another minute or so before he saw the cave widen out and there were 8 goblins in the room. He took a deep breath as he didn’t want to rush in hastily. He carefully examined the room and saw that this room had 4 exits, one on each wall.

There will be more of them that will come if I kill them all here and I have no idea how many there are inside this cave. I need to find a way to kill them all very quietly. I’ll use my cloaking to scout out the rest of the cave. The darkness should provide me with ample opportunity to keep myself hidden.

Alex activated his cloaking ability and quickly moved to the pathway to the right. He walked in and after about 80 meters it opened to another room. The room was littered with bones and a large goblin about 1.5 meters tall was cutting open a large deer. It held a large butcher-style knife in its hand while 5 others kept a fire going and removed the pile of the unwanted pieces.

This must be the cook and the food prep area. If I had some poison I could kill them with that by putting it in their food. I’ll have to find some. Too bad Bella and her snake aren’t here I could have used Capone’s poison right here. Damn it! Why did she have to be so ridiculous about being even. I can worry about that another time. Now I need to go and check out the next chamber.

“Alice, how much time do I have left on my cloaking ability?”

“Without going into your hunger state, you have 6 minutes and 30 seconds. If you get low on time remember you have food in your inventory. If necessary I will draw power from your ki energy to support the nanite ability.”

“Thanks. Please give me an update for the time every minute.”

“Understood.”

Alex moved as quickly as I could while making as little sound as possible. Eventually he made it back to the large open chamber. As it did inspiration struck him.

“Alice, make a map of this cave and the enemies we find.”

“Already doing so Spartan.”

“You really are amazing.”

“I’m just doing my best to help you Spartan.”

Alex continued hugging the wall around the chamber and moved to the opening on the left side of the room. When he walked down the corridor the room split in two directions. He took the one on the left first.

“6 minutes Spartan.”

As Alex walked down he saw dozens of goblins lying there asleep. He clutched his blade and was about to go on a killing frenzy but thought better of it. If even one made a sound he wouldn’t make it out of this cave alive. Even if they were weaklings the sheer numbers would lead to his demise.

There are a lot more of them than I originally thought. I’ve already counted nearly 70 and there are more chambers in this place. Getting rid of them is going to be difficult with these kinds of numbers.

Alex made his way back out to where the two chambers split and entered the chamber on the right.

“5 minutes Spartan.”

He walked in and was horrified at the sight. This was the largest room by far. There were four men and 9 women bound and chained to the walls. A dozen others were being ravaged by goblins in every orifice they had. These things had no preference they raped the men as well as the women. Alex gripped his sword so tightly that he thought he would break the handle. The worst part was that he could do nothing to stop it right now.

I promise I will come back to free all of you. I will not let this injustice go unpunished. I will have the head of every single one of these creatures. You all have my word.

Even with his strength and skills, he would be no match for the sheer number of the goblins in this place as there were almost three dozen in this room alone. He clenched my teeth as means to calm his anger but it didn’t work. He needed to kill something and soon or he might lose it and cause his own death. Alex rushed out of that room as it was making his stomach turn and went back to the main chamber.

“4 minutes Spartan.”

Once he returned to the main chamber Alex went through the last corridor and it opened into 3 chambers. The left chamber led him to a room with 2 female goblins who were taking care of what appeared to be nearly a dozen infant goblins.

No wonder I can’t make a dent in their numbers. These things reproduce so fast it is ridiculous! I have to get strong enough to free the people in here. Maybe with their help, I can crush this goblin colony.

Quest: Destroy the goblin colony.

The goblins are a threat to your livelihood. Find a way to kill them off. You will be rewarded upon completing the quest.

A quest?! This happens in this prison too? Whatever, it was what I was going to do anyway so I might as well get rewarded for it.

“3 minutes Spartan.”

Alex rushed back and then went to the chamber on the right. There were two guards there and a room that actually had a door on it. His curiosity almost got the best of and he moved forward in order to see what was going on. After a few steps quickly stopped and thought better of it. He knew he better not t try to get inside for fear of losing his cloaking ability and being overrun by the goblins.

There must be something important back there. I’ll be sure to check it out when I come back. I can pretty much guess what will be in the last corridor but I better make sure just in case.

Alex ran back and went through the central corridor and there it sat in a chair made of bones was what he thought would be there. It was thethe leader of the goblins. He wore chainmail and had a large hammer on the ground next to him. Upon his head rested a crown made of bones. This thing was larger and more muscular than any goblin Alex had seen before. Its skin was also a greenish-blue color instead of the regular green

“2 minutes Spartan. It is advised that you exit this place now or your cloaking may not keep you hidden all the way to the exit of the cave.”

He heard Alice’s suggestion and then turned around and left. Alex made his way back to the main chamber and then straight out through the corridor leading to the entrance of the cave.

“1 minute Spartan.”

“Deactivate cloaking.”

Alex felt a wave of coolness go across his skin and hewas easily seen again. He rushed out of the cave and back towards the forest. He smelled something musky in the distance as he was still seething with anger from what he had just witnessed and he rushed off towards the smell. When he got closer to the source of the smell he began to hear howling.

“Spartan, you have entered the territory of wolves. I suggest you run as information on this world suggests they will be considerably larger, faster, and stronger than the ones from your world. As a result, they will be much more dangerous. Depending on how many wolves come, my rough calculation of survival with these wolves is 17%.”

“17%?!?! Why so low?”

“This is based on a traditional pack of wolves which usually hunt in groups of over 12. If that many appears there are angles of attack that you cannot react to and will allow the wolves to take you out.”

“Alright, Alice plot a course for returning home.”

“I will but you should put your sword and shield in your inventory and then climb the tallest tree you can find. I would suggest that you fire on them from in the tree using your bow and arrow. It is too late for you to run now. They are closing in and they are too fast for you to outrun even with your ki energy. In two minutes you will have no choice but to fight.”

“Alright.”

Alex rushed as fast as his legs could carry him into the forest. While he sprinted he placed his sword and shield into his inventory and pulled out his bow. He decided to leave the quiver full of arrows inside his inventory space so that none of the arrows would fall out while he rushed through the forest. After a minute or so he began hearing the sound of wolves barking loudly. They were gaining on him just as Alice said.

“How many Alice?”

“Currently, I was able to determine that 8 wolves are chasing you. There may be more because I am using your senses. You have a chance if you can kill or heavily wound most of them with your bow.”

“Good then I’ll keep running until I’m on the edge of the forest then I’ll climb a tree and fight it out.”

Alex ran for all he was worth and then he saw the lake. He immediately activated his ki energy and jumped as high as he could towards the tallest and widest tree in the area he could find. his body rocketed upward at an alarming rate as he shot towards the tree. When he got to the apex of his jump Alex was nearly 5 meters in the air. He missed the branch he was shooting for and tumbled down banging his body against several other tree limbs before grabbing hold of a branch strong enough for him to stand on. Alex pulled himself up and stood on the branch. His body was hurting from being bounced around between branches but he had to focus and fend off this attack.

He waited for a few seconds to catch his breath before drawing his bow. Then the first of them appeared through the trees. It was just as Alice said. The wolf was much larger than any that he had ever seen. This thing was the size of a man when on all fours. Its coat was completely grey and it was covered in powerful muscles the showed the possibility for explosive movements. As soon as it came into view Alex saw the crosshairs appear and he took aim.

Alex moved his bow until his aiming assist turned green. He took a breath and saw that it was still green before releasing his arrow. The arrow cut through the air with a whistling sound and hit its target. The arrow struck the wolf in the head killing it instantly. Just as it fell 4 more wolves came into view. He quickly knocked another arrow and shot. This time the wolf moved slightly and the arrow hit it in the torso. It whimpered as it fell to the ground. Alex managed to wound 3 and kill 2 more before the last 2 wolves showed up. He fired more arrows at the last two but they seemed to be able to dodge them. He clenched his teeth in disgust.

I guess I have no choice but to go down there and deal with them in close combat. The last ones seem to have enough intelligence to dodge the arrows. I wonder how they are doing it?

The other wolves were dead or no longer a threat because of their grave injuries. Alex put his bow and arrow into his inventory and pulled out his nanite-enhanced sword and shield. He jumped down from branch to branch until he was on the ground. The two wolves moved to flank him as Alice activated his hypercognition. This was the first time since her upgrade that he had used this ability. The world slowed down even more and the information that poured into his head was like a simulation of what would happen. It showed him ten different scenarios of various ways the wolves would attack and how I should defend and counter. It also showed me what might happen if he attacked. It showed him vital points on the wolves as well as their blind spots. It was incredible how much information flowed into his head in a split second.

Alex was ready as the large canine beasts began moving closer to him. He began the battle by attacking the one to his left. He raised his blade and it jumped toward him trying to tackle him to the ground. Alex quickly dodged left. This was the fifth scenario that he saw.

In the scenario, when I dodged, the wolf behind me would try to bite my leg and pull me to the ground. I need to bash my shield into the space just above my leg which will make it collide with the wolf’s snout.

Alex swung his shield around with all of his strength as he came out of his roll. A satisfying crack happened as he heard the wolf whimper. The one whose tackle he dodged landed on the ground and charged towards him again. This time he saw the trajectory and instead of rolling out of the way Alex stepped back out of the impact zone. Once the charging wolf was avoided, he slashed his sword diagonally downward towards its head. At the last minute, its beastly instincts must have told it to move because it avoided a killing blow by turning its head slightly. It did not escape completely unscathed though because the slash still landed across its nose and eye. Its eye was destroyed and it was bleeding heavily from its nose. It fell to the ground whimpering in pain. It was no longer a threat so Alex went over to deal with the one he had bashed with my shield.

The last wolf had made its way back to its feet but it was on shaky legs. It could barely stand but it still had a burning fire of pride and the will to live in its eyes.

“Spartan I have a suggestion. These monstrous beasts could prove useful. I already injected the one you slashed with your sword with nanites. Hit it with your shield again and knock it to the ground then lightly slash it with your sword so that I can inject nanites into it.”

“You plan on controlling both of these wolves?”

“Yes, with my upgrade I can take control of them in about 3 hours. You will have to be close and provide energy so please start eating the food in your inventory as this will require a massive amount of energy to create the necessary amount of nanites for control. It will be weak to begin but as the amount of nanites increases then you will have more control.”

“Alright, that is good enough for me. I will kill the rest of the ones that are still alive before I begin eating.”

The one before me showed his fangs but Alex knew it was little more than a last-ditch effort to try and intimidate him. It was too late for that. It lunged at him trying to latch on with its powerful jaws but Alex easily sidestepped to avoid it. While he was out of the way Alex smashed his shield into its head with all of his might. It knocked the wolf several meters back as it rolled on the ground. He looked at his shield in awe.

I am really that powerful?! That shield bash was crazy strong and that would had to have weighed about 150 lbs.

Alex quickly rushed over to the wolf and made a small cut at the base of its head as he thought mind control would need to occur near the brain. Once it was done he dragged it over to the one whose eye was destroyed. It was lying on the ground not moving.

“Alice how can I transfer energy to them?”

“You won’t be transferring energy. You will be transferring more nanites. I am going to have every single nanite in your body, which is nearly 24,000, replicate. This will take an inordinate amount of energy which is why I asked you to eat. I will place about 12,000 nanites in each one. Then nanites will allow me to take control of their minds and establish a link similar to the one you and I share with them.”

“Alright, let’s get to it.”

Alex immediately felt his ki disappear as the process started. He walked over and killed the remaining wolves that were wounded by his arrow attacks. As he searched the bodies he found 4 coin purses. Altogether they totaled 300 gold coins. He sat down on a nearby rock and pulled out some food and devoured it along with emptying out one of his water skins.

“The efficiency of the replication process is better than I initially calculated also your ki energy’s purity has increased by 12%. Time until completion of mind control has been reduced by 26 minutes.”

“That’s good to know. I’ll start skinning these while I wait for you to finish.”

“Understood.”

Alex cut the fur from each of the wolf carcasses and saw them transform into fur and leather. He placed all of it in his inventory along with the choice cuts of meat. By the time he had finished, he was a bloody mess. Alex looked over at the remaining wolves and saw that they were no longer able to move.

This was a good haul. Now I should have enough money for the upgrades. There were also some status updates that came up while I was fighting the goblins and these wolves. I guess I’ll ask Alice to show them to me now that the fighting is over.

“Alice are they ok?”

“Yes, their injuries are severe but not life-threatening. Once the nanites are inside them I will heal them.”

“Alright now show me the status updates that you minimized during combat.”

[You have reached level 7 you gained 1 skill point to allocate to your physical and mental stats]

[You have reached level 8 you gained 1 skill point to allocate to your physical and mental stats]

[Your party has completed the achievement: I will protect this house by successfully defending your home from the first attack. Each person in the party will gain 1 level in any current skill or ability and the owner of the home will gain one free upgrade to the home]

Wow! Eve must have been fighting hard. I bet she is at least level 5 now. Hopefully, she can get the herbalism gathering skill and the alchemy skill so that we can make potions and poisons. I will spend some of the money to get the garden upgrade to the house when I get back.

“Alice, search through the shop for upgrading the house for a medical treatment area. If it is a tier I, I am going to purchase it. After seeing those people in the goblin cave, I believe having a medical treatment area will be essential for our survival and growing stronger as we travel along this journey in this hell hole.”

“Understood, Spartan. Scanning…… Item found showing information.]

Emergency Triage

Comes with basic medical tools for saving the lives of the injured in the field. It is on par with a medical facility in the medieval times. Any person in this space will receive a 20% increase to their body’s natural regenerative capabilities. This area can be upgraded. Cost 2500 coins.

“Wow, that didn’t seem very good until I saw the boost to regenerative capabilities. Now I definitely will purchase that when I return to the house.”

I added my points to my reaction speed and speed before looking at my status

Name: Spartan

Level: 8

Class

Physique: 5

Mental Ability: 2

Physical coordination: 3

Reaction Speed: 5

Speed: 3

AP: 0

Abilities

A.I. Companion Tier II

Ki Manipulation Tier I

SP:

Skills

Nanite manipulation Tier III

Alex sat down on the rock where he ate and began meditating focusing on calming my mind. While he meditated he could feel his ki center. This small ball of light was spinning slowly within him. As he focused on it he could feel it slightly pulsating like my his heartbeat. The energy was a deep red color as thoughts of what the goblins were doing to those humans ran through his mind. Alex immediately tried to push the thought out of my mind. As he did the ball of energy became a blue color, almost like that of the clearest sky. The calmness of the energy was amazing. Focusing on it even forced his anger to subside.

Is that it may be to increase my ki or at least my control over it has to do with my emotions.

As he quickly left his meditative state and looked around, he started grinning from ear to ear. He believed he had just made a significant discovery. Alex looked over at the wolves who were still lying on the ground.

“Mind Control status check Alice.”

“Currently, a sufficient amount of nanites is within you. You need only cut your fingers and then use the opening to touch one of their wounds so that the nanites can go directly into their blood.”

Neither wolf was in any shape to fight back so Alex ran his fingertips across my sword and lightly touched both wounds. It was a strange sensation feeling the nanites run from his fingers into their bodies. It felt as if water was flowing through his hands. It only took a few seconds for the transfer of the nanites to be complete.

“Now the nanites will begin to work. It will take some time and more nanites before you are in complete control but as they are right now they will not harm you. I am already healing their wounds and beginning to apply the nanites to their minds. It will not take long before you can lead them back home.”

Alex sat on the ground a watched carefully as the wolves convulsed on the ground as if their bodies were having involuntary muscle spasms. The wounds on their bodies began to heal. He could see the wound on the one that he had hit with the shield begin to close. The one whose eye he destroyed stopped bleeding from its face. He continued watching intrigued by the whole process. He wasn’t paying attention to the time as I watched on.

“Alice, are they in pain?”

“No, Spartan, the nanites are actually healing them so they are feeling little to no pain. Currently, the nanites are bonding to their spinal columns and I am calibrating the nerves to follow your commands. You can try it now for something simple like standing or following.”

“Ok. Stand up”, he said to the wolves

As he watched the wolves slowly and gingerly moved to stand on their feet.

Hmm… that wasn’t too bad. They have been through an ordeal today. They watched their family members die, they were put on the verge of death, and now they are being controlled by what a while ago was their food.

“You two had a rough day. I’m going to get you back to my home so you can rest for the night. Those things inside you will fix your wounds and in time I hope to become your new family. I know it sucks right now but it will get better”, Alex said to the wolves while bending down and patting their heads.

“Spartan they are wolves. They do not understand you at this time. Would you like them to be able to communicate with you?”

“Yes, very much so.”

“Ok as I program the nanites, I will facilitate the link between the four of us. I will translate their thoughts and feeling into words that you can understand and communicate your words into thoughts and feelings for them.”

“Ok. You two let us return home. Follow!”, Alex said to the wolves and they began walking behind him.

They both walked with a bit of a limp but they were able to keep up with their new human leader. He walked at a decent pace all the way back to the waterfall. Once they arrived, Alex took out one of his water skins and poured it on both of them to wash the blood off. Next, he stood in the waterfall to get some of the blood off my arms from skinning and cutting up the bodies of the wolves. Once they were all relatively clean, he filled his water skin and we walked onto the plains. There the group saw two large rabbits. Both of which immediately were filled with anxiety.

They must be like that because these wolves are their natural predators. I guess with these guys around I don’t have to worry about being attacked by them. I wonder if they will go and hunt them. No, better let them rest until their injuries are healed.

I continued walking with the wolves keeping a close eye on the rabbit beasts to make sure they did not come and attack us as we walked away. The rabbits never came and Alex accompanied by his new canine companions entered the forest again making their way back home.

After about another 30-minute walk they finally made it back to his home where there was a strange sight greeting me.