Chapter 14: Grind

I was staring at my screen as the past two days flashed through my head. After hunting another set of Three-fanged Vipers, my hunch was verified. As long as my subjugates gained level, I would also gain a certain amount of experience. Now, the strongest was at level 15, while the other two were at level 13. They could at least take on a Three-fanged Viper on their own. Seeing how using Subjugate and them leveling up giving me a nudge in level as well, I figured subjugating a few more creatures wouldn’t be a bad idea, but things didn’t go that well.

Every time I did, the monsters fought back, and the subjugation always ended up in failure. Bria told me that my willpower wasn’t dominating enough. Nevertheless, killing our prey still gave us a bit of experience. Since we had also earned a good amount of shlings, I bought the Goblins a good set of equipment. While we were shopping, Shiki also chose another sword for me.

“You must acquire your own blade, my liege. Kiriwan has to go back to its rightful owner,” he said.

Hearing Shiki’s cringeworthy, novel-esque speech, I was forced to buy a sword — Gale. In terms of appearance, it was similar to Kiriwan, but it had a green blade instead of black. However, I found the big difference in quality when we hunted. Even though my level and skills were higher than when I was wielding Kiriwan, the damage dealt by my attacks were just similar to Wind Cutter, resulting in more than a few close calls. Nevertheless, I eventually got used to it and was finally able to replicate the pseudo-Crescent Slash. Since it’s like Crescent Slash but not quite, I called it Pseudo Slash. Unfortunately, Crescent Slash was still beyond me.

Rihoku had also leveled up. He was now level 17, but the bigger change was when he reached level 16. A small horn started to grow on his forehead. According to Bria, that wasn’t something common to Nighthowls. It meant that Rihoku was alpha material. Not only that, he also somehow learned a new skill wherein his scratches cause a temporary corrosion effect. It wasn’t strong enough to kill an enemy with a nick, but it did amplify his attack damage.

With our current power, hunting War Orcs seemed feasible, but that wasn’t our primary goal. Based on what we got from Garr, the Golden Sun would be gathering adventurers for another expedition. His requirement was simple: be at least level 20, and be strong. That was the reason why the adventurers in Castel were hunting strong prey.

Of course, the Goblins wouldn’t be able to join. They were our back up plan should anything go awry, but they were still not strong enough to be relied on. Much to their dismay, I commanded them to hunt during the night.

I sighed. “Don’t you have a spell or potion to stop the nightmares?” I looked at Bria, hoping to receive a pleasant answer. I had been experiencing nightmares every night since we came to Castel. They varied, but I always had to die before waking up. Is this a death flag? No, no. I hope not.

“Not really, but don’t worry. I will rush here if a nightmare haunts you again.” Bria reassured me, but it didn’t help wane my fear.

“Alright.” I sighed again and glanced at Shiki, who was already seated on his bed.

Bria left our room and went to hers. I laid down and closed my eyes, braving myself for what was to come.

***

“My liege, wake up.” Shiki was shaking me awake.

“Shiki, huh? I wasn’t having a nightmare,” I said, confused.

“You might be in danger, my liege,” he replied in his usual monotone.

“Huh? What are you talking about.” At this point, even I could sense the irritation in my voice.

“Bria’s gone, my liege. I can’t sense her power. There’s a possibility that she was abducted,” he explained. Despite the lack of emotions in his voice, I could still feel the gravity of the situation.

My eyes shot wide open. The last bit of sleepiness in my body vanished. “What?! How can she be kidnapped?! She’s level 60! Didn’t Garr say that the adventurers here are around level 20?!”

“I also fail to understand, my liege. But we must first return to our Lord. They may be targeting you too.” Shiki grabbed our packs.

Nothing was making sense to me, but I could feel that something wasn’t right. “Wait, go back to Lureschka’s chamber? How about Bria?”

“We will leave her, my liege. She’s one of our Lord’s generals, but she let her guard down. While on a mission at that. Our primary purpose is your safety, my liege.”

I gritted my teeth. I could feel my anger welling up inside me. “Leave her?! She’s our companion, our friend, Shiki! How can we leave her?!” I shouted.

“Your safety is our priority, my liege,” he replied, still not a hint of inflection in his voice.

“No! I won’t leave her. I’ll search for her. You can go back on your own.”

“If you won’t give in, then I can only follow. However, I have a condition, my liege.”

Hearing that soothed me a bit. “What’s your condition?”

“If the situation becomes too dangerous, we’ll leave. That means you and me. I will drag you if I have to.” His voice was still the same, but I could somehow sense his seriousness.

I wasn’t happy to hear his condition. However, I figured that Shiki was an indispensable asset should we charge at an unknown enemy head on. After all, a common adventurer in Castel was still stronger than I was. Firmly, I replied, “Alright, deal.”

Without another word, we ran down, dragging our stuff. Garr was at his usual place behind the bar. We were about to leave when something hit me.

“Garr,” I growled, “did you happen to notice people abducting Bria, my friend?”

“You were targeted, after all, huh,” He said while sighing.

My ears heat up. “Targeted?! What are you saying?! Are you a part of this?!”

“No no no!” He shook his head. “I’m not a part of this, but I knew you were being targeted. You claimed to be from Turg, right?”

“Yeah, and so what?”

“Turg was the furthest city before Castel. It was a unique city who accepted everybody regardless of race. But when the Golden Sun knew about that, he was infuriated. He hated monsters, ya see. To him, humans were the greatest. Since then, people of Turg have become a secret code for targets.”

My heart sank. “We were targeted since day one! Why didn’t you warn us?!” I glared, trying to blame something, someone for my stupidity,

“I did. I told you to be careful out here. That’s the most I can do, or I’ll be targeted.” His voice croaked.

I grit my teeth. He’s not to blame. He’s not to blame, I thought, trying to calm myself, but it did little. I was about to explode, when Shiki grabbed my shoulder.

“We’re losing time.” His husky, metallic voice brought some sense into me.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. Do you know where they could have taken Bria, Garr?” I said. This time, a bit calmer.

“I’m sorry, but no.” Garr’s shoulders sagged.

With gritted teeth, we left Castel.

***

“Where should we go, my liege,” Shiki asked.

“We’ll fetch the Goblins. We need as much force as we can gather,” I replied matter of factly. “How did you know Bria was abducted?”

“We can sense each other’s presence within a certain range, my liege. For Bria, being gone for ten minutes at most was usual. But it had already been half an hour. That was highly unusual. It’s unlikely that she would abandon us, since it was our Lord’s order to keep you safe. There was no other explanation than her being held against her will. But I can’t grasp how they can abduct her, a general. She wasn’t so foolish to leave herself open to attacks.”

I pondered for a bit, then something about what Shiki said stuck. “You can detect her? Then, you haven’t detected her since we left Castel?”

“Not yet, my liege.”

After that, we walked another half an hour, then Shiki abruptly said, “My liege, I found her.”

Just as Shiki finished his sentence, a loud growl came from behind us. When we looked behind, four level 18 Nighthowls were baring their fangs on us. I could feel my irritation rising. Not now. I don’t have the time for this!

Suddenly, multiple windows popped up.

[Subjugate Nighthowl Lvl 18

(yes) (no)]

[Subjugate Nighthowl Lvl 18

(yes) (no)]

[Subjugate Nighthowl Lvl 18

(yes) (no)]

[Subjugate Nighthowl Lvl 18

(yes) (no)]

Amused, I selected yes. Another screen popped up.

[Subjugating Nighthowl Lvl 18…

Target is resisting subjugation…]

I gritted my teeth, annoyed and irritated. Surrender already. Damn it!

[Subjugation successful!]