The afternoon had been about building the foundations of my village. This night would be about building the foundation of my personal power. My previous abuse of the system was a good start, but I still had to grab some bonuses and titles before the day was over.

My Head Warrior was an unexpected companion, and I didn't plan to keep her throughout the night. But teaching her some basic Tower common sense until we had our hands full of food and were forced to return to the village the first time wouldn't hurt.

When I was out of the eyesight of the two guards by the entrance of the village, I started running. I kept the pace to a little below half my maximum running speed, so my Head Warrior could follow.

"Why we running only now?" she asked.

"During the first few months, it's best to avoid doing superhuman things among those who haven't [Awakened] yet," I explained. "It confuses and scares them. Only do it when it's necessary or when you're trying to send a message."

"Ya, like blowing people's heads right off them shoulders," she said, and I could hear the provocation on her voice.

I didn't stop running, but my voice became cold again. "First, I'm not your friend, I'm your boss. And I'm your boss because like everyone else, you either obey or die. Keep your smartassery to yourself and respect me, or there will be consequences."

To my surprise, she laughed. "Ya not ma boss because ya scare me, big boy. Ya ma boss because I wanna follow ya. I've seen tha streets and what ya're doing be solid work."

"Second," I continued, ignoring her, "don't talk like a walking ghetto stereotype to [Awakeners]. You have six points to charisma, persuasion and presence. They will know you can speak properly. I know it. Only regional accents are accepted, anything else will be perceived as a persuasion attempt. Which are considered attacks."

Now was the moment of truth. When people [Awakened] and found the first other [Awakener], the feeling of unending power overwhelmed their reason. They either attacked head on, tried to manipulate the other into obedience, or submitted.

She hadn't fought me and only fear could make [Awakeners] submit. Fear of consequences. Fear of taking a beating. Fear of death. But since she said she didn't fear me, it left only manipulation.

I hadn't been subtle in telling her I could tell she was using her social attributes against me. Whether she insisted or gave up on it would determine her entire future in my empire.

It took her a few moments to reply. "Was I being that obvious?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "Trying to manipulate [Awakeners] backfires more often than not. Always assume they can tell what you're doing. They usually can. The improved reaction speed we get from agility makes us extra perceptive, able to detect minor cues common people can't."

We ran in silence for a while after that. It was nighttime, but we could see everything as we run. Everyone was given darkvision while on the First Floor, which made things as clear as if it were a few minutes after sunset. Unfortunately for animals, they were given the same gift.

It confused with them fiercely. It messed with their ability to tell if it was night or not and many didn't find safety to sleep, while others didn't leave their lairs. A great example was a rabbit I spotted as we ran, sleeping on open soil because it couldn't adapt. I approached and twisted its neck, then brought it with me.

"Fighting animals on the First Floor is the best way to unlock physical skills and improve them until level six or seven. It's the smart thing to do, too, as it's a relatively safe environment to get used to your skills. The Tower is merciless, don't go glory hunting, it's not worth it."

"How do you know all these things?" she asked.

I had a good lie prepared for that question. "When humankind was kidnapped, some people attracted the attention of the gods in the Tower. They became our Patrons and each one of us was given a [Wish]. It has some limits, like any skill we wished for will only be given on the Second Floor. I [Wished] for knowledge on the Tower."

The existence of Patrons and [Wishes] was true. Me being a Chosen was not.

"What kind of knowledge?"

"The kind that tells me to unite humankind under me as quickly as I can, no matter the price," I replied somberly, making it clear I didn't want to talk more about that.

We kept running. I saw a few birds, but those had too many bones and not enough meat. Squirrel meat wasn't tasty, and I let those go too. I passed the information to my Head Warrior.

And then we found the perfect meal. A wild boar.

I heard its cry of pain before we saw it. I changed directions towards it and found five naked guys surrounding the boar, wielding spear-like tree branches, trying to kill it. A sixth guy was lying weaponless to the corner, his neck bent unnaturally. Dead.

I hid from their sight with my companion and analyzed the situation for her.

"The dead guy lucked out in piercing the boar hide with that pathetic excuse for a spear but paid for it with his life. The lucky shot emboldened the others enough to keep fighting. Damn, they are stupid."

"Stupid? Why?" she whispered.

"The System Manual says we all start with the average adult's power, right? Think of the typical desk worker you know, some chubby guy, or maybe a skinny one. That's their true strength, no matter how many muscles two of those five guys have. Do you think five desk workers can face a wild animal without proper equipment?"

I pointed at the closest one, who lunged at the boar. "They don't have the strength or the experience for that. Look at their spears, they are too thin, their edges barely pointy. Look at the way they wield it. They can't even keep it straight when thrusting. Believe me, they will either die or run away soon enough."

Next, I pointed at the animal. "Wild boars aren't chihuahuas. It's in pain from the spear stuck in it, yes, but look at its eyes. That there is the fire of anger, not the ember of fear. It's not here because it can't run from the idiots, but because it wants to make them pay for attacking it."

As we watched, the animal rushed at the man who had lunged at it. That was the only reason the spear hit true, but it was too weak to pierce the boar's skull and bounced off it. As for the guy, he was so sure in his attack, he didn't even try to get out of the way of the boar. The boar hit his legs and made him fall, kept running, then turned and rushed at him again, aiming to hit his head with its own.

"Help!" he yelled.

My Head Warrior started moving, but I held her by the shoulder. She looked at me with questioning eyes.

"These are not our people. They were given the choice to stay with us but decided not to. They can't turn their backs to us and still have us fight for them. They can't have the cake and eat it too."

Meanwhile, one of the other four men froze, another stepped back in fear, and two stepped ahead to protect the fallen one. The boar ignored them and rushed at the man. They thrust their spears too, but one of them even broke at the animal's hide.

Really, if I had to guess, the reason the spear stuck on the boar pierced it was a mix of sheer luck and some skill the dead guy had. Likely the simple but useful [Pointed Thrusting].

The fallen guy tried to get out of the way and raised his arms to protect his head. The boar still hit him, then instead of going far for a new run, just kept there, nearby, hitting the guy repeatedly with its head and biting him.

The situation was even worse for the humans than I expected. The boar had small tusks and when it hit the guy's arm, it made a deep tear, blood splattering everywhere. He cried in pain, trashed in despair. The two other guys woke up from their daze and went to help, but their spears failed to deliver again.

Well, one of them pierced the hide, but not too deeply and it broke right after. It only pissed the boar, who turned to the attacker and charged at him. He didn't expect it and fell to the ground too, getting bit on the neck and dying soon after.

The guy who fell first stood up and just ran for his dear life. The others followed. The boar, breathing hard, headbutted the dead guy a few more times for good measure and then started to move away.

My Head Warrior still had her eyes glued on me though. "Why can't they? Have the cake and eat it?"

I smiled predatorily. "Wondering if you're not doing the same for these people that others did to you in the past? Others that could help but didn't? Don't kid yourself, they aren't your past self. They came to fight the boar on their own accord. They didn't run when the first one died because they didn't want to. They put themselves in this bad spot, you didn't."

"I could still help," she said, now angrily.

"But why should you? Do they even deserve it? They left our group, remember? Let's say it's because they fear me. Instead of fighting me, they let others under my supposedly reign of terror. They left you to suffer under me and ran away to save themselves. What if I was as bad as they feared?

"Let's say they just wanted to do their own thing. It was their decision. Why are you barging into their business? Were you also going to give them the boar? Feed them? Clothe them? Cuddle them into sleep? I have a plan for my people, and both the power and will to make it true. Do you?"

"It's just human decency to help those in need," she insisted.

"Know what? I won't cuddle you." I released her shoulder. "Go on, go help everyone who needs it tonight. If you survive, come back to the village tomorrow. Then we'll talk."

Some people had to learn the hard way and she was clearly one of those. A night being exposed to human greed, betrayal, and entitled assholes would do wonders to change her mind.

If it didn't, if she came to my village with a bunch of refugees and a heart filled with good will, she'd find herself out of a job. I had no need for a weak Head Warrior. Warriors were dubbed warriors for a reason. They were supposed to slaughter my enemies at war, not pat outsiders in the back.

That decided, I wasted no more time on her. Without warning, I rushed at the boar from behind. I jumped to mount on it, got a firm hold of its tusks, and twisted its neck with all my strength.

Just like that, it was dead.

 

Skill unlocked: Novice Sprinting
Level: 1 / 10
Type: Physical
Attribute: Agility
Effects:
» When sprinting towards or away from danger:
    » +1.7% (0.1 + 1.6) movement speed 

 

Skill unlocked: Novice Twisting
Level: 1 / 10
Type: Physical
Attribute: Strength
Effects:
» When twisting something:
    » +1.7% (0.1 + 1.6) strength

 

TP received
+10 TP — Unlocked a skill (x2)
Total TP: 83

 

As with most skills, these weren't good at low levels. Not that it mattered. I was perfectly capable of killing anyone on the First Floor for now, be they animal or human, using no skills.

After killing the boar, I put its 200lb carcass on my shoulders and started running back to the village. Without an [Inventory], I had to carry everything by hand. And with so many people around, I couldn't just leave the meat somewhere and come back for it later.

I didn't even glance at the human corpses a second time. They died for their stupidity. If they had been with my group, they would be safe and fed. Now, they became a mere advertisement for my village.

As for my Head Warrior, she was still crouching at the same place the last I saw her, thinking about the future and whatnot.

I kind of liked her naivety. It was refreshing after so many runs dealing only with the powerful of the Tower.

I hoped she didn't make me kill her.