Names.

Coming up with more got difficult.

At first glance, naming seemed to be a quick and easy way to increase the number of my followers with little effort, and ‌without the necessity for them to take part in any fighting and killing.

It was free, albeit deceptively so.

Not only could it easily backfire in the increased difficulty to feed the grown army, the glitched, unpredictable system disliked the practice despite supporting it, decreasing the maximum number of creatures in the long run.

I figured this much out already.

However, with the prospect of yet another fight, I felt pressured to use this very feature, if it could be called that way.

My imagination was strained to its limit, and my memory wasn’t getting any better either, unsure if I could tell them apart later on, and they would inevitably multiply further.

This time, I named only a few. After Natasha, there was Alina, then Mischa, and finally…

“I should name you Ekaterina.” I said to one of my randomly selected ursine monsters.

The system reacted immediately, with yet another announcement invading my line of sight.

Unit named! Ekaterina, The Named Ravager

Skill “Slayer of Champions lvl. 8” gained.

Five more hulking, bear beast-women appeared, materialising from another eruption of the thick, ruby fog, and greeted me with their stereotypical expressions of constant tiredness, yet not entirely devoid of warm disposition.

“For Master!” The newly named Ekaterina yawned almost comically. She still gave me a hug, very fitting her form of an anthropomorphic bear, which was quite awkward considering how big the supposedly ‘little versions’ of the so-called “Ravagers" were, easily towering over any adult man.

While the excessive abuse of the entire mechanic could theoretically produce significantly more monsters in a single session - easily reaching maybe two hundred according to my fast calculations - I wasn’t entirely adamant about expanding my furry horde this time. This time, I arbitrarily decided that the twenty would be enough.

If we achieved our goals in freeing the ‘sealed’ ones with other means, a whole full-scale assault against the well-prepared fortress could be called off, or postponed, maybe even indefinitely as long as we could avoid the escalation of hostilities.

Even after everything that transpired, there was a small part of me which wanted to cling to the dream, no matter how naive it was.

Besides, facing their exotic powers, a sheer quantity of monsters may not be enough to win the fight, anyway

For now, a handful of ‘Ravagers’ felt like enough to serve as shield-bearers and the battering ram crew should the more creative applications of their power fail, as well as metalworkers, during times of peace.

“That’s all for today. I am sorry.” I said quickly, which visibly disappointed the rest of my fluffy menagerie a little, as they seem to love those moments of special, personalised attention.

They, however, didn’t protest against cutting this short.

“Now, find yourself a little protection if you can, please.” I added, clapping my hands.

“For Master!” They replied in confirmation and slowly went after their new goals.

I found out that the bear-like monsters didn’t act with this boundless energy of others, and took the slower, energy conserving attitude instead, similar to the animals they resembled.

In fact, more active individuals in our small horde already defaulted to bringing a few remaining useful items to the fresh members, as an attempt not to waste any time.

Problem was that there was a serious shortage in all the material I would need to equip a conventional, albeit mediaeval styled, army, and the list of things we required would only grow. What we had was salvaged or looted and repurposed, and it wasn’t available in sufficient quantities. Our enemies, however, were likely much better equipped.

The more weapon reliant monster types went with farming tools, staves, or whatever else was readily available. Others would have to go in head on, with claws and magic against the tall walls of solid stone masonry.

With this in mind, it became painfully obvious that the twenty ‘Ravagers’ won’t be a miraculous solution for my problems. I was torn between the commitment to not let my monsters, my girls, sealed away longer than it was necessary, and the hesitation to command the meaningful assault against the fort.

“Tama?” I asked, “How are the volunteers I’ve sent faring?”

“We are running as far as we can, Master.” she said. Her normal, teasing tone attached to it assured me she wasn’t offended by the pressure I’ve put on her, or her kin.

Still, I should continue with putting at least some effort into preparation, if not to help, then to honour the dedication of my monsters.

“Thank you.” I said, reminding myself I should be patient.

“Kuma.” I called out, “General plan is to have your kin to wield shields to close the distance, and attempt to break down the castle gates.”

I wasn’t entirely certain if I explained that plan already or not, but I didn’t see any harm in repeating myself.

“Yes, Master.” Kuma replied. Immediately, I noticed one of ‘Ravagers’ tearing out the door of the hut.

Admittedly, this was an option I didn’t consider, but I wasn’t exactly keen on disassembling housing for materials. I didn’t want to rely on ‘Corruptors’ tree shaping powers as the only source of shelter, even if they could be grown on demand.

“Without breaking this settlement further, please.” I specified.

“Yes. Master.” She confirmed, with her typical expression, as she made the other ursine monster drop the dislodged door with a loud thud.

I sighed. This would require a little micromanagement, but I felt I was getting accustomed to the role, comfortable with my company, as weird or even impossible as it seemed a few days ago.

I looked at my immediate companions. Tama looked ‌preoccupied, diverting her attention elsewhere. Wait, I reminded myself, wait.

“Miwah, Brave. Could you show me other useful things around the village?” I asked in a hopeful tone.

“Yes, Master.” They answered immediately, with Miwah offering her hand as the guide. I took it, however, before we set out I had to make sure there weren't any more disasters waiting to happen.

“Any problems, Tama?” I asked my vulpine companion.

“I will try to get this finished quickly so we can focus on more important and more pleasant activities.” The vixen replied, smirking, her tone once again flirty, with her gaze fixated on the horizon. I learned to recognise the telltale sights where the ‘Alpha’ monsters directed the actions of others through the obviously telepathic, but otherwise poorly understood, link. The fact she wasn’t visibly distressed calmed me down - ‌the ‘Purifiers’ didn’t get into any fights just yet, it seemed.

“I will leave it up to you.” I said. The coordination she could provide was much better than the directions I could give.

“Yes, Master.” She said, her voice turning slightly sultry again. “I am looking forward to our time when pesky humans are dealt with.”

I didn’t answer, cautious about being receptive to the advances, and instead looked at Miwah. Not only do I have other problems to deal with, the system already sealed my partnership with another beast-woman.

The now white werewolf didn’t show any sign of jealousy, though she positioned herself at my side as a lady would. It felt weird, as it felt natural at the same time. My life has been filled with contradictory emotions since I came to this world.

“Lead on, Miwah.” I said, silently, to start the inspection of the village.

It was significantly larger than that abandoned hamlet in the mountains, its houses slightly larger and move liven in, with the signs of the previous occupation scattered everywhere from the unrestrained looting. Most, if not all, clothes, outfits, and tools were already put to good use, with very few things left behind to be piled in the corner for later use or dragged into the street by an overzealous furry menagerie.

My monsters, my girls, cheered as I walked around the village, and many tried to show off their findings, even if some of those were nothing more than trophies they loved to collect.

Among all that chaos, there was still that single, lone human girl they tried to wash and put into clean clothes. While she was positively the least combative native I’d encountered so far, with a disposition which ranged between erratic, to straight away apathetic, almost like a living doll with her slightly demented smile.

Considering the many bruises revealed by the quick wash, she was likely hit to the head multiple times, both figuratively and literally, a long time before my monsters showed up.

Still, my monsters weren’t willing to risk letting her anywhere close to me. Considering how things went so far, I couldn’t blame them.

“For Master!” argued two of my anthropomorphic rats when she tried to move closer, determined to keep her away at the spear length from me.

“Fo-mas-te.” The girl repeated, almost idiotically, rocking back and forth: “Fo-mas-te.”

She still bowed to me, though. After several encounters with the overly aggressive natives, and failure to make a significant success in communicating with the captured merchant, it was almost ironic that the only human that didn’t kill me was likely seriously mentally impaired.

I was ready to wave this away, however then something occurred to me - she was alone and isolated, we could heal her and her countrymen wouldn’t be any wiser. The previous situation with the murder among the captives wouldn’t, and couldn’t, happen.

“Narita?” I asked. “Could you please take her to the forest and try to use your power to heal her? Then have her rest somewhere.”

Here goes nothing, I silently thought to myself.

“Yes-yes, Master.” Narita answered, “Better to lock human-thing somewhere.”

“Yes, please do so afterwards.” I agreed with the overall misanthropy of my monsters. It was quite an achievement.

“Yes-yes, Master.”

The human girl didn’t resist when Narita, and her two tagalongs, dragged away like the doll indifferent to her fate. Curing her seemed like a step in the right direction.

I returned my attention back to the settlement.

The fires were lit; the pots set with the water boiling, while my monsters prepared to camp for the night here cooking the meals from comparatively abundant stores.

Or, possibly, meagre ones, as I had no measure how large a quantity of foodstuffs would be required for the village as this to go through the year, or through winter when nothing grew. Spoiled by modern civilization, I had no sense of scale in that regard.

The mere fact they had food storages was an improvement. One of the huts was a partial cellar instead of the conventional flooring, lined with stones and dug to the ground to store large pottery, while another was risen on stilts with rugged sacks filled with grain.

They weren’t doing that bad considering there could have been bandits lurking in the forest, but I hardly knew anything about the local societal dynamics, or the scale of how much grain you needed for a certain amount of people.

I could only be satisfied with the moderate improvement over our previous situation. Enthusiastic ‘Corruptors’ even found the cart I was asking for, ready to send the share to the rest of us still left in the hills.

At least my monsters wouldn’t go hungry for now.

Not everything was undamaged, though. One building half collapsed, half burned, probably during the fighting, and a couple of my monsters already tried to gut the dead oxen found nearby.

I tried to ignore the visceral image it produced.

A very few farm animals were found, though. I could assume they were scared and scattered when we took this place over, or someone took all the cattle away, but it mattered very little. My monsters would certainly try to expand their hunting, especially during more peaceful times, catching up to whatever was surviving in the area.

I wasn’t sure how animal husbandry would work if managed by species considered predatory by nature, though.

Pushing the consideration for longer-term plans, I continued further, but found very little spare materials we could use, which made sense in the hindsight considering the general level of development.

This used to be a farming community offering very little besides the food we seized.

No leftover planks or woodwork.

The only building with better construction, with roofing tiles instead of the simple thatch, proved to be yet another shrine, albeit tiny compared to the pagoda in the forest.

It was nothing more than shelter for a statue, likely representing a local deity - a carved statue of the Chinese-styled dragon.

It was made of nothing more than wood and a generous application of red paint. A few offerings were left under it, but I very much doubted this shrine had actual attendants.

Or it had, and I wasn’t able to tell their houses from the peasant.

It didn’t matter and was entirely useless for my purposes, too.

With Miwah close to me, and Brave a step behind us, I stared at this small place of worship, considering whether there ever was a way to resolve this madness in a non-violent way. It seemed they were fated to fail.

“I guess you will not give me my girls back, dragon?” I asked for the statue for no particular reason.

Predictably, the carved piece of wood didn’t reply. If the deity it was supposed to represent was real, it didn’t seem to be sympathetic to my plight.

“I guess not.” I said.

Then I looked away.

Suddenly, with a puff of the red smoke, as many times before, a ‘Purifier’ materialised.

“Master!” she cried, announcing her arrival, though the backlash I usually felt from the more threatening ‘sealing’ didn’t strike me as hard, and without the notification invading my view it was apparent that this one fell in combat only to be reborn near me, as the many times before.

I quickly scanned my surroundings, just as Miwah and Brave did, as the small retinue of the monsters that had never left my shadow formed a protective circle around us.

“What happened?” I barked out.

“It’s not our patrols.” Miwah and Brave confirmed in unison.

Before I got my answer, another of her kind formed out of the same haze.

Then another popped up.

“You attacked the castle?” I asked.

“For Master!” They exclaimed in response.

I knew they were fighting something, or someone, so much was clear, but I didn’t have a slightest idea who, or what, as the little ones weren’t exactly the most talkative girls.

“Tama!” I called out, as their ‘Alpha’ was the only way to get the tentative understanding of this mess.

The vixen seemed preoccupied. It has happened before, just with a different girl. The similarity was distressing.

“The volunteer group reached the fort.” Miwah said instead, though she remained alert.

Before, however, I got an answer from Tama, a large outburst of the ruby fog that accompanied all the spawning spat out the several more, this time with a triumphant notification announcing:

Skill “Scorched Earth lvl.24” gained.

Five fiery fox-monsters once again cried in unison.

“For Master!”

Then a few ‘Purifiers’ spawned, joining the quickly growing crowd, ecstatic to join the surrounding madness, with yet another message hitting me.

Skill “Scorched Earth lvl.25” gained.

A success, perhaps, flashed through my mind, as without loss, our number expanded.

I was proven wrong once again by the abrupt, sharp pain that brought me down to my knees, and sent all the surrounding monsters to rush towards me, worried.

The same crushing sense of loss, a part of me being ripped away, the same puffs of the bloody gaze dispersing into nothingness without returning the members of my furry menagerie to my embrace where they belonged.

6 units sealed until the caster is dead.

Forced on my knees, I cradled the headache the forced feedback caused, only to be hit by another wave of the agony associated with this cursed phenomenon exploding in my brain, worse than even before.

3 units sealed until the caster is dead.

My vision was too blurry to see the dying whiffs of the smoke of the disrupted spawning, but even that didn’t prevent me from perceiving the bland, almost taunting window.

1 unit sealed until the caster is dead.

“Tama!” I howled. “Tama, retreat the rest! Now! Now!”

I don’t know if she did, but when my vision returned to normal, I found the vixen, along with my faithful white werewolf, holding me.

“Master?” They asked, in distress in her voice, “Master!?”

“I will…be…fine.” I said, struggling as the echo of the unexpected sensation receded. There was, however, one more feeling I couldn’t blame on the link between me and my monsters - guilt.

It was my fault that they were put under the ‘seal’. It was because I hesitated, and pushed Tama for the quick solution without committing to the battle.

I had to make it better. I would not trade the new ‘Purifiers’ for ones held who knows where, under some spell that caused them so much distress.

“Brave! Gather a group, and go to secure that other village! I want a castle surrounded by this side of the river!” I ordered, hastily, driven by the recollection of my old plans rather than the entire process.

“Yes, Master.”

I was so tired of this. Tired and angry. As I got back on my feet, with heavy support from Miwah and Tama, I looked at the dragon statue of the local mini-shrine. The gaze from the painted eyes of the carving felt like they were mocking me.

Loses and gains. They were almost the same, but I didn’t care - I am not trading losses here, not if I could help it. That sorceress, or whoever the woman performing this magic, was, she would pay.

My girls suffered, just as I did. Our unity was torn apart, and I found that unacceptable, an insult, a provocation which had to be answered as the compass within my brain pinged me furiously towards the source of the ‘sealing’.

I gestured towards the statue with the raised finger almost as it wasn’t the coloured piece of wood, and growled,

“I don’t know who the woman is, but I will kill that bitch.”