There were 2 interesting things about the recent level up to level 15 for the antiheroes.

The first was the fact that Samantha had obtained the maximum value for charisma, and obtained the mind control skill as a result.

As if Ashley was not overpowered enough, the antiheroes now had the ability to dominate and control anyone who considered to harbor ill will towards them.

However...

"I don't want this.", Samantha said.

"There is no point in forcing someone to do something by controlling their minds. They should be willing to do things for me out of respect and love for me. Right?"

Trevor seemed to be thinking hard on what Samantha had just said.

"I agree that it is better that people listen to you out of respect... however, we should think of this as more of a last resort. There are many monsters in this world, and what if we come into a scenario where some unreasonable beast, or even an unreasonable human were to reject any notion of bargaining with us? This skill will certainly come in handy should that time come.", Trevor proposed.

"I suppose.... but for now I will not use this skill under normal circumstances."

"A good idea... as a matter of fact, it is better that it is kept hidden that you possess that skill. If rumor were to get out, then contact with us would be avoided by our enemies, and they would sneak around in secret trying to harm us... that would be a worst case scenario, given our status... we are strong if we face our enemies head on, but we are weak if they are able to get the jump on us.", Garett analyzed.

Trevor nodded.

However, there was one more thing that was interesting about this level up.

[Player Ashley: Charisma: -3]

"It's possible for charisma to go negative?", Ashley asked, looking somewhat irked by the fact that her Charisma was the only one that was this low.

"My charisma went down as well.... I think that yours went down as well during the last level-up, so it is certain that our skills can indeed decrease upon level-up... but why? Is this another aspect of this nightmare mode.... or perhaps...."

Garett's demonic mouth curved into a smile as he imagined the card game that he and Trevor had been playing right before they had both been killed and summoned to this world.

"Elf."

"Hm?"

"Do you remember that card game we played before we both were taken out?"

"How could I forget? The one mistake I made in my 30 years on earth..."

"It seems that our girls here obtained some crazy skills when they maxed out their stats, however... what if a stat was to be minimized?"

"You don't mean... could it be?"

"It's nothing more than a guess, but if it really is the case..."

"Heh heh heh.... what an interesting mechanic... while it is uncertain as to whether or not it is true, we will simply have to wait and find out."

Ashley and Samantha both had question marks floating above their heads as Trevor and Garett made their conversation.

"What are you two talking about?", Samantha asked.

"Don't worry about it. Nothing more than speculation with no real basis which shouldn't be given any thought. More importantly, we should be focusing on what is in front of our eyes now.", Trevor responded.

"Your mind control skill could come in use... and it doesn't even use any mana... however, it has its limits. You can only turn it on or off, and the person will not be in their own mind while under control- in other words, they become a drone. A drone is good if you need them to shut up and quietly obey you like a slave, however they are useless for anything else. The only time we should use this is on enemies who are either stronger than us, or a threat to our people.", Ashley said coldly.

There was no point in taking in people just as slaves. Even the goblins and spiders who they had hired under the pretense of slavery were able to come into the fold of the antiheroes because they had the ability to make decisions on their own, and were now extremely productive members of society- without having to be told or forced to do their work. The only real use for the mind control would be ordering a dangerous person to kill themselves or use them for some other objective such as defeating yet another strong enemy, or to order an unwilling person to do some sort of job they didn't want to do while they were not conscious of their actions.

It was useful, but only in odd and specific ways. Still, Garett was certain that one day it would come in handy.

"Should we not perform some tests on the skill though?", Ashley suggested calmly.

"On who? Our own people!?", Samantha shouted.

"Why not?"

"That.... we shouldn't use it on our own people!"

"It won't harm them, right?"

"Isn't that wrong to take away the power of making ones own decisions, even if it is just for a time!?! I will not mind control anyone who lives in this village!!", Samantha yelled.

Samantha had developed a love for the people of the village. Perhaps it was because they viewed her as kind and looked up to her, but she could not bring herself to use mind control on anyone who was living here, be it the goblins, the slimes, or the spiders.

"Tch. Inefficient. Have it your way, next person who arrives at our village we test it out on. How is that?"

"I suppose that's fine..."

Ashley and Samantha had been going back and forth for a while while Garett and Trevor watched, however it was now time to make their rounds about the village to discuss the plans with the workers and the people.

The first priority for Garett was to start mining operations to gather stone and metal. They had plenty of wood and plant based materials, as well as farms and livestock, however they currently lacked the resources of the earth.

The antiheroes went to the outer edges of the village to scout out if there were any light caves or open patches of rock nearby, however after circling the village nothing was found in the immediate vicinity. They would have to haul off a load of dirt in order to start quarry operations.

This would be a hassle without construction machinery, however Garett had a few ideas to assist the goblins in this work.

He picked an area that was not too far from the outskirts of town, but on the opposite side of the fields and stockades, where the digging could commence.

"This is where we will begin the quarrying operations. If we obtain stone and metal, the haunted city that you two were designing may not be so far off....", Garett stated with a nostalgic smile.

Ashley and Samantha both beamed with pride, however their faces both looked creepy in their own ways. Samantha because she was a demon, and Ashley because she was creepy to start with.

"A paradise... a paradise for monsters and humans alike... I wonder if we could make something like that....", Trevor wondered.

"No. We won't make a paradise.", Garett stated coldly, giving Trevor a sharp look.

"A hell on earth. Ruled by absolute dictators, where everyone is equal aside from us. There will be no sadness in our land except for those who refuse to align their views with ours..."

Trevor looked at Garett with the face of a scheming businessman.

"That's right... to the people of this world, we are nothing more than demons, cursed beings, and representatives of chaos... we ought to do our part and play up to our roles..."

Trevor laughed sinisterly.

"Heh... heh... heh.."

Ashley too laughed, and soon Garett and even Samantha joined in.

"Hehehehe..."

"Keh keh keh..."

"Ahaha...hahaha!"

The band of antiheroes were beginning to show their true nature.

----

Arlo and the lizard family were coming close to what was formerly the slime village.

The family firmly walked behind him, showing no signs of wavering with each step they took. They had truly prepared their hearts for anything. They looked as if they were ready to die at any moment, and would not have regret even if that were to happen.

Arlo had respect for these people.

He was scared himself of what would happen, but he forced himself to move forward, convincing himself that it was for the sake of the tribe.

He had destroyed his own reputation before leaving in order to become the scapegoat for the events that transpired in the eyes of his people, and yet this family showed not a single sign of hatred or anger towards him. This showed further their resolve to meet with the antiheroes and become their slaves.

He was proud to be traveling with such an honorable group. His warrior instincts told him that these people deserved his respect.

Arlo for just a moment was a bit happy that things had turned out this way.

Even if all his plans had been ruined by the arrival and existence of the antiheroes- even if the lizardmen would likely suffer as a result, he could not help but feel thankful.

He had met so many people with the hearts of true warriors as a result of their arrival of the antiheroes and the Determined.

After a few hours of walking, the many buildings that marked the new landscape of the slime village came into sight.

"So this is the slime village... I have always wanted to travel, however I could never abandon my wife and children to do so. In such a dangerous world, it is certainly difficult for one who has a family to go anywhere... as they say, stick close to those who you love, or else you might lose them before you have a chance to do so."

The lizardmen held his wife's and child's hands firmly as he smiled with a tired look. It was the look of one past their years to be adventuring, however who was still excited to see something new.

"I am sure I don't have to tell you this... but you absolutely must not anger the antiheroes... they are so powerful that to call them overbearing would be an insult to their absolute power. Not only this, but the elf has a complete confidence and psychological superiority over everyone he speaks with, to the point where you wish to agree and give in just by him glaring at you... no matter how rediculous or absurd his demands are..."

"We are fully prepared, Arlo.", the man said, while the entire family looked at him with serious yet prepared faces.

"Alright then. Let's head in."

-----

When Garett and the antiheroes were looking at the land that was soon to become a quarry, they saw some lizardmen in the distance walking towards the village.

Ashley's face tensed up and she stared coldly at the group, her hand twitching as she wondered if she should throw a fireball in that general direction.

However, her intuition flared up at that moment before she made the decision to do so.

[Don't kill them]

Ever since she had obtained the skill, [Always right], Ashley had a much sharper intuition than before. It was almost like how a conscience would work, except that this was much more explicit and clear.

There was never a reason given for the things that her intuition told her, however one thing remained true- everything that her intuition had told her to do thus far had resulted in the correct course of action, and she was beginning to gain much more confidence in her own decision making.

When one hears voices from their conscience, it can often be compared to the devil and the angel on ones left and right shoulder.

What then could intuition be compared to?

Just as how in a moral decision, good is the counterpart to evil, in a strategic decision, intuition is the counterpart to logic.

The age old question of any strategist- does one listen to their gut, or does one listen to a carefully planned out strategy?

Of course, there are flaws in both. If one listens to their gut on a whim and ends up being wrong, then this will create a sense of distrust in ones own intuition, leading people to not be able to make decisions on their own. To further matters, it one listens to their gut despite logic pointing to the exact opposite course of action, it will lead to an internal feud with oneself. For example, say that one is taking a multiple choice test, and they happen to know the answer to the question. Say that the student also happens to know that the teacher is not very well versed in the topic, and actually taught the class something incorrect- such that according to what the teacher taught, a different answer would be correct instead of the actual correct answer.

What does one do?

Despite logically knowing the correct answer, would you pick the answer which the teacher taught you is correct, and your gut is telling you that you will get the credit for, despite going against logic? Or would you choose the answer that you know is correct despite the risk of getting it wrong, in order to stick with correct logic?

Even so, if ones logic is flawed and one ignores their intuition and sticks with their logic, they will end up regretting it later on- so this is always a difficult decision to make.

There is no such thing as being able to perfectly predict a situation and how it will develop based on ones actions, however there is a philosophical theory called 'Determinism', which, if put simply, says the following.

Anything that happens, ever, without fail, happens for an exact and precise reason. There are no random events, and everything is governed by two things- the laws of the universe, and the initial conditions of the universe.

In other words, every event is determined before it even happens.

Before you have a debate on how human consciousness breaks this law, take into account that this philosophy states only that things happen for a reason- human consciousness and reasoning included within this 'reason for which things occur'.

Imagine a wheel that one might spin in some sort of gamble. Say that you were allowed to spin the wheel yourself.

If you knew exactly how much force was needed to get the wheel to land on the jackpot, then you could determine a seemingly random event before it has even occurred.

The friction between the wheel, the force of the spin, air resistance, and any other physical factors are what determine the result. While it may seem random to an onlooker who has no control over the spin, it is something that is determined as an exact result of a series of actions and conditions- regardless of whether these are human decision factors or physical and chemical laws.

Ashley's ability is equivalent to being able to know exactly how much force to spin the wheel with.

What does it mean for something to be random then?

In order for something to be random, it simply has to have an unknown outcome that appears to have a certain chance of happening.

Each sliver on the wheel is the same size, and so the chance of landing on any given section seems to be the same. Not only that, but a slight variation in the spinning force or other physical conditions will change the outcome.

However, this is not random.

The force used is determined through either a logical process of the spinner, or chosen without thought, however even if a decision is made thoughtlessly, that does not mean it is random.

Muscle memory and instinctively spinning the wheel with a set amount of force, while they have not been consciously determined, also can be the causes of the wheel landing on a certain value.

To speak simply, there is no such thing as truly random situations. There are only situations which we as humans cannot perceive all the conditions and factors going into an event, making it seem random to us.

Ashley listened to her intuition, however decided to take a safe bet in a compromise between the demon of intuition and the angel of logic.

She held out her hand, and from hundreds of feet away created a ring of fire that surrounded and entrapped the five lizardmen approaching the village.

"Oi, publicity seeker. Didn't you say something about testing out your mind control on the next people who arrive at the village? It looks like now is the time."

Samantha looked at Ashley, and nodded once.

"Alright. I'll do it."

The group of antiheroes cautiously headed over to the ring of fire that Ashley had created. Trevor held up his bow and a knocked arrow in the case of any attacks, and Garett watched the group's back.

They were not willing to trust anyone. If they were to trust others and let them casually enter their village, then it could lead to another incident in which the people who they had sworn their protection to would get hurt.

While the antiheroes did not care about people aside from themselves typically, they were leaders with the responsibility to protect their own people. If they could not even do that, they were not worthy of the title of absolute dictators.

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