A New Attribute.

Its death was instant.

As the light faded from the eyes of the Ogre chief, it seemed as though something stirred within the minds of the other monsters at the cave.

As though they felt his death, but were pleased by it.

The goblins began moving in different directions, without form or an inclination as to wherever they were.

They looked confused.

And then it clicked to Shadow. It was mind control.

He had killed the Chief, breeding them all from the hex he had put them under.

CONGRATULATIONS

YOU HAVE SLAIN THE OGRE CHIEF

Huh?

NEW ATTRIBUTE ACQUIRED

ASSIMILATION

Wait wait, what's going on?

ASSIMILATION ALLOWS YOU TO PICK A RANDOM SKILL OF THOSE YOU HAVE SLAIN.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY IT?

Shadow looked at the system while he hid in the shadows, he was out of mana, weak, drenched in his sweat and had no way of escaping.

Yes, damn it. He cursed.

ACQUIRING SKILL…

MIND CONTROL. ACQUIRED.

SKILL ALLOWS YOU TO CONTROL THE MINDS OF ANYONE YOU'RE STRONGER THAN. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE AND THEY SHALL REMAIN BOUND TO YOU UNTIL YOU DECIDE TO FREE THEM OR YOUR DEATH RELEASES THEM.

Well, that's a broken ability, he sighed. He was tired, he needed mana.

SKILL DOES NOT REQUIRE MANA TO ACTIVATE.

A smile formed at Shadow's lips. Although it seemed like an inconvenience most times, the system knew exactly what he required at times like this. And for that, he had to be thankful.

Shadow stood up and stretched, he didn't need to hide anymore.

As soon as he stepped out into the light, an ogre who stood a few feet from him saw him and attacked.

It swung down its club with enough force to split a tree in half, but the attack could land. Shadow activated the mind control skill.

The club stopped just a few inches from his face, the gust of wind from the attack ruffled his hair slightly as the wind blew past him.

The ogre looked at him, placed his club down and looked at him once more. It cocked his head to the side and scratched its chin.

Then it picked up its club and walked away.

Shadow looked at the rest of the horde before him. They all seemed calm, as though they were waiting for orders.

This is an overpowered ability, and it's passive?

He shook his head in disbelief, then just to be certain, he walked over to one of the goblins.

Slit its throat with a sharp hand motion. The goblins didn't move. It simply stood there bleeding from his neck until it fell dead from blood loss.

Shadow shook his head once more. A truly broken skull.

CONGRATULATIONS.

YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE QUEST IN THE GIVEN TIME LIMIT.

REWARDS.

NO DIARRHEA OR MANA REFLUX

HEHE...

Shadow looked angrily at the system, it was back to its annoying self.

What do you mean my rewards are no diarrhea. The fuck is that supposed to mean, huh?

No answer.

Shadow swung his middle finger at the system then walked off.

Stupid system.

I HEARD THAT!

But Shadow ignored it. He walked among the midst of the horde with no worries or doubts. If anything he felt comfortable.

Then an idea clicked with him. He could make here his hiding spot, a pace to train and keep his treasures from the eyes of everyone.

He spread his shadow sense throughout the cave. It was bigger than he had expected, his shadow sense couldn't fully reach the end of it.

But his reach was just one kilometer.

But he felt at a certain point in the cave, it had a door even bigger than the one used to keep the slaves. He left the horde immediately.

He needed to know what was in there.

Minutes passed, and he stood in front of the door. This wasn't made of oak wood or anything of the sort.

It was a metal door. Thankfully, some time had passed and Shadow had been able to regain some of his mana.

He slid into the shadows and came out the other side. A dim golden light shone on his face. He saw the source of it and knew exactly what it was.

Money. Lots and lots of it.

Piles of gold so high it reached the roof of the cave. Shadow stood there in awe. This was just as much money as the kingdom of Ravenor's Treasury.

It must have taken years upon years to accumulate this much. But now it was his.

Shadow grinned darkly. In his past life he has been so bothered about saving more for his retirement.

But now he was just as rich as the entire country. If this wasn't a flex, then he didn't know what else was.

He slid out happily and went back to the horde. Although he was happy, he was certain about one thing.

Humans were involved!

And that meant that, the slaves and women being used to make crossed babies was for a particular reason. A reason he didn't know but had to find out.

He was just a child. Why did he have to stress himself so much?

He tapped two Ogres and made them follow him, the least he could do was free the humans and use this place as he wished.

He was sure, the truth would come out eventually, he just needed to know the right places to look.

The Ogres dragged the doors open, light poured into the cave. The human prisoner saw the Ogres and sailed in horror. But the Ogre's didn't move.

They stood there.

Rather, it was the little boy who had moved. The boy who promised to come back was here once again. He wasn't harmed or dead.

Rather he smiled at them.

"You're free now" he said to them, but even they didn't believe it. Yet…

Yet, they stood up with hope, they all approached Shadow. Their voices shook, their hands trembled but the look in their eyes…

He knew that look all too well, he once enjoyed it, but he had come to hate it. After he had been betrayed.

Shadow pushed the memory from his mind. It was getting late, and he needed to start heading home, but there was something he needed to check.

He had felt a false wall on his way here, he would check before he left but for now. The humans came first.

PAWN OF THE GODS…

What?

Shadow looked at the system expecting an answer.

.....

Syl?

YES?

What did you say? What does that mean?

I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!

Hmm, he shook his head and turned away, he had other important things to take care of.