Something was wrong.

I was certain of it. I just didn’t know what that something was.

Not only that, the nebulous system granted me another level with no tangible reason behind it, immediately doubling our current numbers, with a strange message about the upcoming end.

It felt strange too. Never had the skill selection been associated with this unexplainable feeling of urgency demanding attention before.

Did it mean we were in danger?

It couldn’t be ruled out.

“Did you feel it too?” I asked.

“Yes, Master.” Tama answered in confirmation. She nudged herself close. But I was preoccupied with other matters to mind or enjoy that, as this strange sensation prompting action was all I could think of.

“We will keep you safe, Master.” Miwah added.

“Could you please put everyone on a lookout?” I ordered and returned my attention to the floating window nudging for selection.

As my ‘Alphas’ hushed the few recent additions that spawned nearby out of the hut, I hastily considered my options.

The ‘Sovereign of Blood’ didn’t seem to be a good option.

It was almost impossible to tell what kind of power was associated with ‘flesh’ or ‘blood’, but the wording reminded me of vampires. Having the monsters that actively preyed on humans would just invite more conflict I was so desperately trying to avoid. Though it was also possible it meant something different, that ‘flesh’ represented another form of healing powers, if I was going to choose something to defend us from the surrounding threats, I didn’t feel I had time to take the risk with power with unknown and potentially duplicate applications.

The ‘Space’ associated skill was equally exotic. Though potentially powerful and with many implications ranging from teleportation to portals, I simply couldn’t rely on it at the moment where I didn’t know where the danger came from. Or if it even existed.

I was, however, much inclined to pick the ‘Mind Over Matter’ with the promise of telepathy, which would cast all my communication issues away.

It was something one would associate with the strength of the mind and considering what I’ve seen so far psychic powers wouldn’t be entirely unbelievable under my unique circumstances. When I noticed it was associated with ‘Force’ not ‘Mind’ or ‘Communication’, it somewhat crushed my expectations about talking without words and I rejected it right after.

If we were indeed going to be attacked, I needed the more straightforward combat oriented minions. It was exactly the opposite of what I wanted, however nagging inside my brain begged to differ.

As much as I didn't want to continue the fighting, I came to care about the wellbeing of my monsters. I held Tama close, her affection more welcomed when I faced this unexplainable sensation of unknown origin.

Torn between the last two remaining options, which would surely boost our ability to fight, I finally made my choice.

“Select skill Slayer of Champions” I said aloud, hoping I wasn’t wrong in my assumptions that it was going to come with the most durable monsters yet, saving my other followers to undergo the painful death and resurrections, or necessity to rely on nothing but their sheer numbers in battle.

As the fresh addition to the growing horde materialised out of red fog erupting from the ground, I silently hoped postponing the idea of flying creatures in favour of durability was the right call. The sense of urgency was replaced with the inner tension finally easing up, almost like a weight came off my chest. It didn’t mean that danger disappeared with it, though; I reminded myself.

Skill “Slayer of Champions lvl.1” gained.

An overlay announced as the new monster towered over me.

She was, just as the others before her, an anthropomorphic animal, this time resembling a huge humanoid bear with black-grey fur of uneven pattern resembling unpolished steel.

I had to briefly wonder whether the power behind my monster's creation would ever break the habit of providing me with all-female company.

This time, no half measures were taken regarding womanly shape. Not only was she big, probably taller than Miwah, her noticeably plump, buxom figure, her rather broad and bulky features made her look more like a wrestler than actually fat.

She kneeled to get more on my eye level and looked at me. I was sitting, and she was kneeling, and I still had to look up to meet her eyes. They were black, and quite calm.

“Master?” she said in a deep, tired, though still feminine, voice. My new ursine monster probably noticed I was staring. She said nothing else, just looked at me expectedly, almost like she didn’t want to exhaust herself by speaking.

Her face was typically ursine shaped, though discernibly feminine, as it was typical for all my monsters, with a short snout and rounded features framed by a short, but rich mane of spiky ashen hair.

“Oh, sorry.” I said and tapped Tama, suggesting that the cuddling session was over. She seemed to enjoy bossing around her kin without leaving my lap, but there was no time for this now.

I stood up once I could.

“Do I get a hug?” The new ursine monster said with a weary smile, her face showing quite human-like expressions when she did so, as usual for my creatures. She looked at Tama, then back at me.

I accepted. She was one of mine, and I was glad she was around. It felt safer.

She stood up too, and I hugged her, and she held me in the tight grip. I quickly freed myself from it though, as it was quite a weird moment, considering the height difference between her and me - my head was as high as her chest after all.

“I didn’t mind, Master.” She said, calmly, “Quite enjoy hugging.”

“Do I have competition?” Tama teased, just as she always did. I ignored the vixen.

“Would you mind if I call you Kuma?” I asked the newest monster.

“Not very imaginative. But I like it.” she said, sounding nearly sleepy, then added in confirmation and the smile: “I am Kuma, Master.”

At the very least, she radiated calm, which was much welcomed now. The absence of alarming noise outside the usual busy ambience of our overcrowded encampment offered the opportunity to indulge in it more. There were quite a few giggles outside too, which all ‘Purifiers’ liked to do as they fooled around, further ensuring there wasn’t an immediate danger.

I still had to check out on them.

The notification started me a little, despite it being something I was supposed to expect.

Unit named! Kuma, The Ravager Alpha

Skill “Slayer of Champions lvl. 2” gained.

The new window popped out of nothingness, as the system sealed the deal, and the new manifestation of the ruby haze materialised Kuma’s smaller kin into the world.

Though in their case, the ‘smaller’ wasn’t exactly a right description, as even the ‘mini’ versions of Kuma were as big as Miwah, showing they were the muscle of the team even if their stocky, plump features showed little actual muscles.

“Master.” They yawned and stretched, almost looking like they had just woken up.

Their ‘Alpha’ in the meantime, inspected the ceiling of the house, likely because her head nearly hit it with how tall she was.

“This doesn’t look sturdy, Master.” She remarked, “Or warm.”

It was true this building looked a little crowded, even if it was the largest one in this once abandoned hamlet, at least with the hulking figures of ‘Ravagers’ as the system referred to the bear like monsters. They didn’t look like the bringers of ruin, I also didn’t see them angry.

“Would you mind if we go outside?”

“Of course not, Master.” Kuma said and pushed the door open, keen to leave the confines of the room, which didn’t quite fit their size. All others followed suit, including me, though only after the big ones cleared the way.

As much as I felt pressed to make a choice leading to Kuma’s creation, there wasn’t any disaster that awaited me outside.

Although I was still out for a surprise, since I grossly underestimated what doubling our previous numbers meant,‌ and the fog was kind enough to put most of those somewhere outside the abode I was resting in. They wouldn’t fit in the shoddy longhouse. This small forgotten settlement had probably never housed even a tenth of their numbers.

The crowd of monsters grew more dense than ever before, and I immediately knew that previous plans to feed my growing horde would be seriously challenged with this rate.

It was almost eerie, considering it was merely my third day here.

It made me forget about testing what the newest type of monsters could do.

“For Master! Master! Master!” The thousand headed mob cheered as I stepped outside and made the way, while I, still a little confused, looked around. They were still fairly orderly and didn’t need the imposing bear-like ‘Ravagers’ to push them away. Dozens, hundreds, of ‘Purifiers’, ‘Eviscerators’ and ‘Corruptors’ jumped, and waved, and chanted joyfully, almost like I was some celebrity.

I didn’t feel like being one.

What I felt was the weight of responsibility.

I waved at them. Although it was a bit of a surreal experience for me, they seem to like it.

Then I gestured for Narita, who appeared among the crowd, to come , and called the other ‘Alphas’ closer. It wasn’t exactly the right place to have any kind of discussion, but I indeed underestimated how large the growth was going to be.

As I leaned forward so she could hear me when she came close.

“Narita, did you feel what we felt?” I asked.

It was quite a vague question, but she understood practically immediately.

“Yes-yes, Master.” She answered in her irregular speech patterns, “Something wrong. Maybe human-things. Did something. It is now gone.”

“Did the merchant know?” I followed up. Our captive was the only sample from the local community we have right now.

“Prisoner is startled.” Narita replied, “He didn’t do it.”

I signalled others to come close to. Luckily for us, the crowd went quieter too, probably owing to the link the ‘Alphas’ had with their smaller kin calming them down. At least we could talk.

“Are there any humans nearby?” I queried, then added, “Did groups of Helmy and Brave find something odd?”

“We didn’t run into anyone, Master.” Miwah answered.

“No stinky humans nearby.” Mia added, showing her typical disgust towards humankind most of my monsters shared.

“Kill all humans so we can have some peace and quiet.” Kuma remarked in an almost indifferent tone.

I opted to ignore both.

Looking around, our numbers were both our largest weakness and biggest strength. If we relied on altering the agricultural plants with magic, we would need those fast enough, and doing all that without knowing where the threat came from.

I didn’t even know whether the sudden infusion of power combined with the ominous sense of urgency was an attack, ‌a prelude to one, or the work of something beyond our knowledge and understanding.

Defence still seemed to be our best option, for now.

“Narita, Mia, please use your powers to make sure everyone is fed. The rest would be taken care of by our hunters. We need to hurry with those seeds, Miwah.”

It wouldn’t last, I was certain of it. With our current population, overhunting would soon become a major issue, and in the most extreme case, almost overnight.

“Yes, Master.” They answered in unison, and I watched them briefly space out as they redistributed the orders to their smaller kin. They soon jumped into action, though with their current numbers, order was hard to tell from chaos.

It also made me wonder if I made the right choice. Our numbers made us slower and forced us to spread, inhibiting defensibility. Perhaps we should have pushed away from our current place to give the potential enemies more obstacles to contend with, maybe spread through the entire forest to make the use of its resources, making it difficult for others to enter.

“Kuma?” I addressed the most recent addition to our team: “I suppose you can help the most with keeping us safe.”

It was what I originally thought about when I selected the skill associated with her, though they undoubtedly could apply their power to something else than fighting. I just needed to find out what it was.

“Hmmm.” she pondered, almost lazily “Hunting. Fishing. Logging. Clear out the woods to make fields.”

“We will need to get some tools for that.” I said. Despite the creative use of fire, the monsters were mostly reliant on using the salvaged weapons for purposes they weren’t intended for, or had to attempt making the stone axes in the absence of sufficient quantities of iron tools.

They did a good job. However, if I wanted axes or saws, I would have to steal them from locals. I didn’t even know the right word for that to try with the captive merchant.

“No need.” Kuma answered, “Just metal.”

Without the further explanation, she grabbed one weapon my self-appointed bodyguards equipped themselves with, yanking it off the ‘Purifier’. The long curved sword disappeared - no, melted - into Kuma’s huge hand, dissolving completely, with only the leather stripes that made the sword helplessly falling down on the ground.

I looked at my other ‘Alphas’. They didn’t look surprised.

“I’ll show.” Kuma proclaimed and without the further ado made her way through the camp towards the forest, with its greenery already assaulted by the mass application of my monsters’ magic.

The green horizon heaved as the glow reshaped the plants, only to be drained to make sustenance for my furry horde, reminding me how destructive the monstrous abilities were to the surrounding environment. Perhaps it was for the best that I didn't select ‘Flesh’ as my next skill. It would certainly result in magical cancer.

However, it was all necessary; I told myself.

I pondered, but Kuma was entirely apathetic about it. Instead, the huge ursine picked the first tree still untouched by my ‘Corruptors’.

The blade, previously absorbed into Kuma’s large hand, formed anew, almost as it was melted and freshly cast into the invisible mould, cooling and hardening instantly.

My bear monster swung the weapon at the tree with her strength, which seems considerable, leaving the small wedge only after a couple of cuts, though it visibly angered the ‘Ravager’.

After the fourth hit, the blade broke, its shattered part flying into the air wedging itself into another trunk.

“I am sorry, Master.” Kuma said, for the first time, her sleepy voice showing regret. She recovered the broken blade with a bare hand, looking almost careless, reabsorbing the metal piece in the process.

She tried to hack the tree with ferocity, readjusting the magically formed weapon, or as currently used as a tool.

I was going to point out that the different shape of the blade would probably do the better job, but before the words left my mouth, another cut drove the newly formed weapon halfway into the trunk with a single blow, much to my surprise.

The steel was molten, then solid again, and with the fresh cut, a sufficient part of the tree trunk was removed, almost like they cut much softer material than hardwood.

I started from surprise when Kuma simply put all her strength into it, and with the loud, deafening thud; the tree fell over, leaving only the splintered stump behind. If I ignored the zero safety approach - it could have easily crushed someone - it was quite impressive, and done in record time considering almost zero skill.

“I hope it didn’t fall on someone’s head.” I still had to remark.

“I wouldn’t let it fall on you, Master.” Kuma answered, with the exhausted tone that might be the defining part of quirky personality. The blade she had was, once again, taken in, disappearing into her huge, furry hand.

“I suppose you can help with tree cutting then…” I suggested, and looked around. Before I could query whether she could part with the weapon or be consumed this way, or it was simply a part of her forever, I realised the distinct problem altogether, entirely made by me, even if unintentionally.

Letting a huge number of ‘Corruptors’ and ‘Defilers’ loose in the forest with the explosive interaction their power had was the mistake, and by the few minutes I focused on something else a visible chuck of twisted greenery was essentially turned to ash though unrestrained draining.

They did it before, but their numbers pushed the scale at which they impacted the environment way too high.

My monsters had a blast considering the intoxicating effects draining of life-force had, but for me, it meant trouble. If the cooperative effort of my undoubtedly magical rat and lizard-like creatures allowed them to skip one big meal, even the vast forest we had wouldn’t be enough, eventually.

“Miwah? Tama? Ask our scouts to note where locals have their granaries, if they have any.”