To my surprise, Claire fell asleep while she was hugging, and I sighed. I would have to look after the kids, but to my surprise, they behaved themselves when they saw Claire sleeping, and they didn’t cause much trouble to me. They ate, they studied, and they brush their teeth in silence before they went to bed.

After all of them fell asleep, I headed toward the lobby to create my mutant dire wolf. But before I could do it, I saw the old man Lucius and three other survivors near the entrance door. It seemed Sandra gave them the job to guard the entrance for the time being, but they also were looking quite frequently toward the statue.

‘So, they are keeping an eye on the survivors too, huh.’

Sandra was right in doing that, we get rid of the two most annoying troublemakers, but anyone could obtain crazy skills and then try to rule over the city. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. But I never thought she would trust so readily on a person that she only met two days ago, that said, the other three survivors were probably some people who she had keeping an eye for some time.

Lucius weapon was a nunchaku, and when I saw it, I frowned. The old man quite brave to use that kind of weapon against monsters, but he was a martial artist, so, he probably had a lot of experience in using that kind of weapon. Lucius saw me frowning, but ignored my action and just nodded.

‘Better keep my opinion to myself.’

I touched the statue and I when I thought about it, the hologram of the mutant dire wolf appeared. The beast's statuses were the same as I had previously seen, and just like that, I thought about changing the status a little bit. In the next moment, the skill lighting level 01 appeared on the mutant dire wolf status, and the price went up to thirty thousand.

‘Ten thousand evolution coins just because of a level 01 skill…’

It was probably cheaper than make myself learn that skill; after all, it wouldn’t be in my absolute control. In any case, I decided to create the monster, and soon after I thought that, the statue emitted an intense light toward the entrance door. After a few seconds, nothing changed in the hotel, but I lost thirty thousand evolution coins, and I felt the presence of a monster outside the hotel, and I also could feel a link between me and that monster.

You have created the monster:

Mutant Dire Wolf – HP: 1300 MP: 1100 STA: 600

Physical Limit Lv 09, Mental Limit Lv 08, Sensorial Limit Lv 13.

Skill: Lightning Lv 01, Bite Lv04.

Evolution Orbs: 0000/3800

The light surprised Lucius and the other guards, and because of it, they opened the door. When they saw the mutant dire wolf, they prepared to attack but luckily to me and for them, they hesitated when they saw the calm expression of the monster.

Although the beast was big and had some scary characteristics like the red eyes, sharp and massive teeth and claws, it didn’t look that oppressive when it wasn’t growling. Thanks to the silver fur, the monster looked just an over-sized dog which could behead an average person with its mouth and claws. But thanks to the link, the beast wouldn’t do that, unless I give the order.

“Don’t worry; he is an ally.”

I approached, and then I touched the mutant dire wolf nose. The other three guards probably already knew that we could create monsters. But just like Lucius, they observed me doing that with their mouths wide open.

“I can’t call you mutant dire wolf, it’s too long. Your name will be Silver.”

Silver just nodded with his head while looking pleased because I was petting his nose. Although I should treat him a little better since he was an ally, I shouldn’t get too attached to him and lose time playing with a pet; he was my new weapon. So, I decided to test my new weapon.

“All right, Silver. Go hunt some small fries and return here at dawn.”

Silver nodded and then he disappeared in the darkness of the night, well, almost. I still could see him from afar. While Silver probably could feel the link between, the creature was essentially a monster. I didn’t know if he could follow complex orders, but if he can, then he would be a lot useful, and I would be able to use him strategically.

“Young man,” Lucius said while frowning. “How much did you spend to create that monster?”

“Thirty thousand evolution coins and I would appreciate if you or the other guards don’t attack him. He is easy to recognize, right? He didn’t look at any of you like he was looking at food.”

“I presume you obtained that amount by killing Ann, is that right?” Lucius asked.

“That’s right.”

I obtained much more, but I didn’t have to say that to anyone. At first, I thought he maybe would say to share with him and the other survivors, but he didn’t have the nerve to say it and so just stared at me. Since he didn’t have anything to say, I just left. I returned to my room and began to meditate while hoping that Silver would bring me a lot of evolution coins and without suffering much damage.

‘Speaking of damage, if the statue created him outside, then he can´t enter this hotel and can’t recover like us. I have to create something like a dog’s house outside for him. It shouldn’t be that expensive, or perhaps should I just make him use some warehouse nearby?’

All the useful things disappeared, only empty boxes were left behind, so I should use a warehouse instead. It would be better than an improvised house anyway. I finally did everything that I had to do, and from that point on, I could finally focus only on building my strength. To accelerate that process, I spent the rest of the night meditating, and my MP increased by four points.

When the morning came, the lobby was already full of survivors ready to leave the hotel. While I was busy meditating, Sandra and the others used the taxes everyone offered and created two ten meters tall towers made of metal in front of the hotel. They organized various groups to stay on those towers during the day; the groups were made of two survivors using two big rapid-fire crossbows, other two survivors equipped with shields and other two responsible for reloading the crossbow with their MP.

Since we now had four jeeps equipped with mounted submachine guns, the survivors didn’t have to wait for me, Claire and the kids. They could use those jeeps to receive that support, but because of our numbers were almost one thousand. The groups using the jeeps only could use them for two hours. While they could leave the hotel to hunt by themselves, without our help or the jeeps, they couldn’t complain if something happens. But probably all the fighters would eventually leave every day to fight, at least until the fiftieth day. Everyone had to fight as much as possible while they know what the enemies can do. The fights would become harder when the new monsters appear, because they were stronger and because their total strength was unknown.

Slowly, but steadily the survivors were beginning to adapt in this new environment. I was pleased because eventually, they would be able to rely on themselves more. The weight on my shoulders would decrease, and I would be able to focus even more on raising my strength. A few survivors still looked for Claire wanting her support, but even those would eventually grow. Probably when all the survivors learn their third skill, they will be self-reliant, as long as they hunt in balanced groups of five or six.

In any case, things were progressing well. The only problem was the fact that not a single survivor could create my steel bolts. It was more efficient for them to create projectiles that the other survivors would use on the jeeps and in the towers. But that fact I didn’t bother me, I could create a lot of ammo while I was meditating. Claire looked much better after an entire night of sleep, and the others looked pretty much fine. They knew the limits of idealism, and they knew some sacrifices had to be made.

I left all of them behind, and I opened the entrance door, my actions didn’t attract the attention of anyone. But the smell of the blood attracted their attention, when I opened the door I saw Silver almost covered in blood and pieces of monsters’ guts. But he looked fine.

Silver – HP: 1100/1300 MP: 600/1100 STA: 250/600

Physical Limit Lv 09, Mental Limit Lv 08, Sensorial Limit Lv 13.

Skill: Lightning Lv 01 44%, Bite Lv04 11%.

Evolution Orbs: 1999/3800

You have received 1999 Evolution Coins.

I received that message when I touched him, and I was surprised, he had done a pretty good job collecting that amount of evolution coins in half a night. And it also seemed that I didn’t have to feed him, Silver was chewing something. Because of that, I heard some screams and some murmurs. But what really surprised me, was the fact his name really changed.

“Go and take in the river and rest for the day. Remember, only fight against the small fries.”

Silver nodded and then he left at a fearsome speed. After I closed the door and I looked behind me, and I saw the questioning faces of many survivors… these people won’t survive for long if things like that can surprise them.

Claire and the kids were already waiting for me near the statue. She was frowning, and the other kids had complicated expressions on their faces. But Frank’s eyes were sparkling.

“Wow, is that big dog, yours?” Frank asked. “Can I mount him?”

In his eyes, it seemed that I was the new kid in the school who had an awesome toy. I couldn’t even imagine his reaction when I create a monster which can fly.

“No.”

“Why?” Frank asked, angrily.

“It’s not a toy; it is a weapon for combat.”

“Is that so?” Claire asked with a questioning face. “Then, what is the name of your crossbows?”

“So, you heard me, huh. It would be too impractical call him mutant dire wolf every time.”

“My senses aren’t as good as yours, but I heard it.” Claire shrugged. “Although now he looked more like red than silver. Anyway, did he do a good job? You look quite pleased.”

“Yes, for now, it’s very efficient. But for now, I gave him the order to kill only small fries. I should raise his strength while I recover the evolution coins that I spend.”

I wasn’t sure of that, but I didn’t know many monsters which had better senses than a wolf. So, I decided to use him only at night. Silver would be able to surprise most of the monsters at night. Besides, during the day, the nearby monsters would be killed by the survivors so that it would be inefficient. Until he gets strong enough, I will send him to kill the weak monsters. Maybe I can do some tests with the powerful monsters when his lightning reaches level five.

It was kind of nice having a creature that I was sure that wouldn’t betray me no matter what. It was a bit strange having a pet who would obey all my commands without exception, but it was far better than one who would cause to me problems on a daily basis. With Silver and my army, I could obtain massive amounts of evolution coins and orbs daily without doing anything, but that wasn’t enough. I also had to train my body and mind. I wasn’t smart to come up with good plans, so, I had to obtain combat experience and train my mind to take the best decisions as fast as possible. And I would only obtain those fighting as much as possible.

Thanks to the jeeps, our workload diminished a lot. Only a few handfuls of survivors insisted on fighting with us. They didn’t have much confidence because they were the weakest among all the survivors and also because they never used any weapons or practiced any sports before the monsters appeared. And strangely they wanted to be fighters, but that fact didn’t bother me, strength was necessary, and as long as they were ready to fight, I wouldn’t reject them. I also was in the same position as them, while I had some useful skills, I wasn’t in any way talented or smart. So, just like them, I decided to obtain strength even if the odds were against me.

‘Congratulations, you have successfully collected 5000 evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: Physical limit, mental limit or Sensorial limit?’

At the end of that day, I heard that voice. That had been the thirty-fourth time I heard that voice, and for the thirty-fourth time, I decided to break my sensorial limit. I didn’t know what kind of sensorial skill I would receive when I break the limit for the fortieth time, but it would be the last. I decided to focus on the mental limit after that, the potential of the elemental magic arrow was almost endless, and I would need the boost the mental limit would give. I broke the sensorial limit many times because I only wanted to survive, but my goal changed. So, my approach changed, as well.

‘I hope my last sensorial skill will be useful, like the others.’

I had no idea what kind of skill I would obtain, but that skill would change my life forever and open many paths to me.