I was not disappointed with all of the goods he had brought me. There was enough monster flesh to last for quite a while and enough wood and stone to create some of the tools I had thought off. The only downside was that I could not eat at all from the meat because I had 30 mouths to feed now.
Before I could send those idiots out to gather monsters and other materials I still had to put in a lot of effort and invest a lot of time. While Rome was not built in a single day, wasting precious time is something I want to avoid. Looking at the corpses of the monsters I did not find a single one, that had any special characteristics that could be utilized.
Most of them were charred all over eliminating the chance to use the fur. While the bones were still usable I had to kiss goodbye to using nails or fangs aswell. They were unusable after meeting the immense heat from the magic.
Although the meat was cooked tenderly and tasting it was almost sinful, I still felt a bit of regret not making more clear and precise orders. Since there is always a next time, I will have to be more careful with phrasing in the future.
I went to the corpse which was still intact except for its missing legs. Seems like he put our training session to good use. Without waiting for him to narrate I used every strength I can muster and even sent my body in overdrive for just one instance, so I can hit the head of the monster with all of my might.
The impact was loud and resounded in the close vicinity but to my dismay, I had not managed to push through its skull. All of my strength would just leave a bloody gash on that monster. I am too weak, even a darn fox can endure a blow with all of my force.
This feeling of powerlessness was vexing, I knew that it was not enough to compete with those players. Forget about that, even fighting against small monsters is now a battle where I have to put my life on the line.
Not to forget about the injuries I have sustained in my fight against the Observer and the horde of baby wolves. My body still aches from time to time. The worst part is I have no clear idea, how long my body will need to return to its normal state. As of now, I am will remain with this weak shape.
My self-esteem had crumbled even further as my partner in crime did not even bother paying attention to me. This leecher was currently paying the Big Sister a visit and began to talk about her great prospects for the future.
Like a moth to the light was he attracted towards her. It surely did not help, that her prospects were still in clear view while she spoke with Tom. His gaze kept on drifting downwards and she did not even seem to mind. Though the Big Brother did not share that sentiment. The only one who had no problem with it was herself
If it is so easy to keep him occupied like that I will let her run around topless all day long. His pitiful attempts at communicating made me nearly die from second-hand embarrassment. The beet-red head and his stammering left me doubting whether I truly could get him a girlfriend at all.
" Sorry to interrupt" I was not sorry at all. " But can you please give me back the thing you called accessory. And you, can you give me back the other object you picked from me?" I pointed at the Big Brother.
She looked at me full of reluctance as she removed my fingerless gloves. After she had handed them over, the bloodsucking coin was launched at my face. I caught it with ease, but he should know that I am not the one he should be worried about.
Though looking at the awkward behaviour and the pitiful attempts at what just barely can be called flirting, he should not worry at all. I left the trio alone and moved back to the resources once more.
I needed the coin for my next set of ideas. After checking whether anyone was watching me, I cut open their flesh and inserted the coin, that sucked its blood dry. It was nice to know, that the coin had finally started to suck blood again.
Hmm, the feeling of unease and trouble was still in the air, so what could it refer to? What detail could I have missed, every loose end should have been taken care of. The scum, my affiliated player, the siblings and the small children. Ah yes, I forgot about the children.
While training the ruffians I forgot about those small pests. They have yet to return and they haven't been hired by my partner yet. Although searching for those pesky brats is a troublesome matter, it had to be done to avoid them falling into the hand of another player.
Seems like my time to experiment will have to wait until I have found these 5 children who are somewhere in this town. Time for a round of Hide and seek. The only trace I can follow is that they went North after "confirming" my vital status.
I quickly grabbed my hood and put it on my head again. I can never be too safe especially if I have to cover a wide area, I never know who or what I might encounter. There are a lot of people who I would like to avoid meeting in my current shape.
Running around I stop and listen attentively to my surroundings. If I have learned one thing about human children in my former life, they are loud and nearly always screaming. It should be easy to follow all of their noises. The sound could travel quite far in this place devoid of any other NPCs or players.
But I the only thing I heard was my breathing and my heavy footsteps as I was moving forward. If they had left footsteps I still could have followed them quite easily but on this solid ground, it was hard to leave one, especially if you are a tiny twerp.
Those kids would not stay quiet for too long and if I do not see them currently then I have to change my search methodology. I jumped to the nearest roof and looked into every direction, to see whether I would spot something, but even this strategy did not yield any results.
If I can not find them the ordinary fashion I will just have to send my little critters. The ant queen will be surprised to see that not every idea of mine is reckless and stupid. The best part is that I did not have to negotiate with her, as the tenant inside of my body had already informed her about my plan.
It was always a sight to behold how many ants were residing inside my body. As they crawled out I was surprised I did not know that some of them had grown wings. When did the ant queen develop that kind of ant?
Though the biggest reason for my surprise was not the fact, that the ants had wings but its general design. These ants looked like a small flying fortress and many warrior ants had taken place on it before it started to lift itself into the air.
But with its multiple wings came a deep buzzing sound, that made an ambush quite impossible. That way it could function as a transport tool for the ant army to pass over any kind of terrain. Though any kind of stealth mission was out of the question.
For the time being, I should return to the rest of the NPCs. I still can head out after the ants have located the children. Staying in the same place longer than necessary, will not result in anything productive either way.
And who knows maybe if I am lucky, the kids have already returned to their Big Brother and Big sister and I do not have to continue this search. I watched as several flying ants departed in all directions before jumping down from the roof.
I was in no hurry to return, so I walked without a worry in the world and thought about the best ways to train this chaotic bunch. When they regain their consciousness I will let them have a taste of that wonderful meat. After pushing themselves so hard, they deserve something like that.
And an empty stomach is not good if you want to build muscles and do tedious workouts. After that have savoured that delicious meal I am going to ration it and use it to motivate them even more. Simple things like this, are a blessing for people at the bottom.
Nobody values water when it is available nearly anywhere, but those who are thirsty in a desert learn of its true value. It is the absence of things, that reminds us of the fleeting things we have taken for granted.
They have lost their everything, wife and their children. Had to abandon the warmth of their homes and now live as vagabonds in the wildness. Although they try to distract themselves, the guilt and feelings of anger are eating at them.
The first step is to make them realize their misery after they are constantly reminded of their inability, they will start to loathe themselves even more. I will show them a clear path to strength and will depict it as the only way to get their former lives back.
Even the most stubborn people will have to believe in my ways, otherwise, they get a little reminder of why they should have put their trust in me, this will continue until they do.
No matter who you are, regardless of background or your personal history everything is irrelevant once you have hit rock bottom. When the whole world is against you and you only have yourself to rely on, it is easy to wallow in self-pity and die full of grievances. But those who persist and struggle will emerge far stronger than had been before.
They are not alone, they have the same goal and they all suffer together. They can push themselves to the limit, their unity will give them strength. This bond will only continue to go stronger the more they struggle and suffer.
The human brain truly is fascinating, it can adapt to almost any circumstances and enables the human to believe in something even if the situation seems hopeless. While I can not believe in something like that, does not mean that others can't.
I can advocate for free-thinking all I want, but everyone has to find their answer. If you find solace and strength in God or any other thing, who am I to tell you, that you should not do that? It is not about who is right or wrong, it is about finding a purpose for yourself.
And I am giving them a purpose, whether they like it or not. It might seem like I am paying much consideration towards those NPCs, but do not mistake that for caring about them. I only care about results, not about NPCs generated by the system whose entire life is nothing more than a fabrication.
After coming back to the place, I saw Tom still ogling the Big Sister and he was none the wiser, as he fully ignored the NPC staring daggers at him. If he continued like that, he might wake up with a knife in his back. Not that he would care about that detail since he can indefinitely respawn.
Though my eyes did not last all too long on them before I saw the NPCs eating the monster meat to their heart's content. They were full of spirit and chatting loudly as if they had forgotten about all of the hardships they just had endured.
None of them had spotted me yet as they were indulging in the feast.
" .... my wife oh my poor wife. What would I do without the poor wife I never had." I could hear the sarcasm in his voice as he mocked my voice. Everyone was laughing at his words and they all made fun about me.
The conclusion, that these NPCs must have been escaping from the players was a blunder of mine. But they had managed to fool me, so I could not be too mad at them. I would go even further and pay my respects to them for convening me and Tom.
This seems to be the consequence of my actions, those fellas must have been influenced by all of my actions. Though I like their conning and sly behaviour, it comes just after me.
How do you motivate people who will always choose the path with the least resistance? The simple answer is to make the alternatives even worse when the main course. There are many methods. that leaves them craving for more.
They will remember this tasty meal for a long time but what if only a select few people are eligible to eat this delicacy while the rest gets to eat the scraps or nothing at all. What if someone can rest, while the rest has to suffer?
How would this bunch feel if one of them could enjoy himself with a woman? Of course, I have to make sure it is consensual, I do not want depraved beasts who listen to their carnal desires, I want tools of war and murder. If you can't even control yourself then there is no room for you on the battlefield.
I mean, I could ask my tenant whether or not he can concoct something to turn them into mindless slaves, but warriors like that are only as good as the person in charge and quite frankly I do not like to stay behind and play babysitter.
I would rather fight on the frontlines then sip on my tea. I do not want to waste this life by just rotting away on the inside and the outside. I have wasted my first chance at life I am not going to do the same here as well.
I will let them enjoy the feast without interrupting them, they have earned that much. They will learn of its true value quite soon. I sound like a villain already, I am only lacking the menacing laugh and the irrepressible desire to spoil my plans to the hero just so he can ruin them.
The villain with the nefarious plan and the incarnation of justice, otherwise known as the hero will have an epic battle with the hero winning in the end. The hero will go on be the paragon of justice and a role model for everyone in the world and the villain will die full of regrets.
The audience will cheer for the hero and condemn the villain rejoicing about his demise, gloating and snickering about his downfall. But they can sleep well because justice has prevailed. While the villain has to suffer to his utmost, for everyone else to feel good about it.
Nobody wants to see the villain doing stretches in his free time like I am currently doing. They need to see the vile and despicable actions, not the boring build-up. I am not suitable to be a hero, either way, I neither have the unwavering will nor the pure ideals a hero should have.
I am not a villain either, I do not relish doing something evil and heinous neither do I have the desire to rule the world.
I am fine with being myself and do what needs to be done, whether that is good or bad is none of my concern.
I do not care who you are, because that is who I am.
While I am at it, let us discuss about my little project...