"So cool, the leader took out that Mama Yak Rat like it was nothing!" Big exclaimed.

We were leaving the Cave dungeon and about to head home. 

"Hey, Leader. Now that we have reached our first evolution stage, what's the plan?" Runt asked.

I can tell from the look on his face that he had something to share, "what do you want to do?" I asked him.

"I was thinking that the leader should think about building training grounds. Not only can we train more, but we can also throw some fighting competitions against each other to see how strong we got. I also think that the Leader should start giving out roles." He points out.

The others seemed to agree with him, "and what roles do you guys want?" I asked.

"Sir Leo already chose to be a Guard Captain, he should be your right-hand man. That makes him above us, we don't mind. I want to be a Grand Mage, I want a tower with my own space." Runt says.

I turned to the others, "how about you guys?" I asked.

"Since my evolution path says it all, I want to be a master craftsman. I can be the one to make everything for our daily needs and maybe to sell later on. I'm fine with being a daily citizen, I want my own building space." Yellow says.

I nod as I noted this.

"Want...to be...the leader's...shadow," Snail says.  Snail turns to Runt for him to explain, "right, snail says he wishes to have a secret team of assassins. They will do all the dirty work behind scenes. He does not mind doing everything for the leader." Runt explains.

My very own shadows, it's a great idea. I honestly assumed he'd want to be a hunter, but I guess he too wants to follow the path of his evolution.

"My evolution path is that of a tank, I too think I should be a part of the Guard. I want everything a tank needs. So, I think we should think about finding a blacksmith." Big says.

He's right, we'll need one.

I turned to Leo, "what about you, anything you think needs to be added?" I asked.

"An armory and a place for the guards, I think it should be next to the training grounds. Let me see, ah, and a place for everyone to eat." He says.

Everyone was chatting about other things that could be added while they went back home. When I got there I started jotting down everything I was told, starting with the most important. 

It looks like we need a few important roles; a blacksmith, an Architect, and a merchant. For now, those three are the most important to us.

All I can do is help build, but my imagination as a builder wasn't made for fantasy but for modern. And it's not that high of a rank, I need someone with a higher rank.

We gathered by the fire made by Yellow and had a brief meeting, "It seems that we have to start traveling to farther areas if we want to recruit any of these three roles, any volunteers?" I asked.

"Master, I think Big and I should go find the recruits," Leo says.

"I would also like to tag along as the representative for now until we can recruit someone." Runt adds.

With these three I feel the trip will be a successful one. 

"Alright, then it's been decided; Leo, Big, and Runt will go find the recruits we need. The three of us will stay here and keep our home safe." I tell them.

I had Yellow gather food that we had already cooked and stored a while back. I noticed that our food was thinning, but we should have enough to live on for at least a week. 

Besides, with Snail here we won't go hungry.

We followed Leo and the other two to the entrance, "You guys make sure you return safely, alright?" Yellow sniffles while trying to hold back tears.

"Don't worry, even though we have no weapons, we're strong," Big tells her.

"Bye Leader! Snail make sure you keep her safe, alright?" Leo asked.

Snail nods and we watched them until they could no longer be seen. "I hope they can find recruits and return safely with them." 

Journey North

Big lead in the front, Runt in the middle, and Leo in the back. It's always said that tanks were front liners since their job was to protect and defend, that was why he was leading.

It has already been three hours since they left the ruins. The first place they stumbled upon was a swamp in the middle of the forest.

"Looks dangerous," Runt says peeking around Big. 

'Yeah, it is. I can spot something in the lake ahead." He whispers. 

Leo steps around to have a look, as the only one with a human appearance he had a better advantage. 

Sure enough if one looked hard enough, one could see something with eyes lurking in the water. 

Whatever it was seemed to be watching them, but it did not leave its spot. 

"It would be great if I had a sword on me," Leo mutters. 

"If it was Leader's skill, she could just swallow it whole," Big says.

"We have no choice, whatever it is we'll have to take it down. It's blocking our path." Runt points out.

He had a point, "alright let's go." Leo says.

They made the dangerous choice to enter the swamp which signaled the creature to move.

It swam towards them at full speed, "Be careful! It's headed in our direction!" Runt shouts.

Big uses his hardening skill as soon as the creature made contact. Thanks to this skill it put it in a daze.

Leo uses his fist and lands another hit on the creature. It flips to his back which Big sinks his fangs in. The creature struggles wildly but finally died. 

Big and Leo both leveled up gaining half the experience points in the fight.

Leo grins, "that went better than I thought." He says.

They continued their journey through the swamp, they ran into three other Swamp Crocs on the way. Runt got the chance to level up and Big leveled up after taking down two. 

They finally reached the end of the swamp. Big was at level seven, Runt was at level six, and Leo was at level nine by the time they left the swamp. 

They continued forward on their journey, but while they were leveling up so were the others back at the ruins.

The first encounter came for our three traveling to find recruits. A monster slave trade was happening before their very eyes. 

The three of them stayed hidden behind a boulder as they watched humans load different monster types onto a wagon.

 These monsters wore chains, but what caught their eye were the short human-like monsters. Leo explained to the other two that they call these human-like creatures dwarves. Things dwarves were known for were mining, blacksmithing, and building. 

"We should rescue them." Runt whispers. 

"I agree since they're exactly what the Leader needs." Big agrees quietly.

"What about the other monsters? I think we could also bring them along." Leo says.

Besides the twelve dwarves, there were three goblins, two white Fenrir wolves, and five Arachne. 

"The more the merrier." Runt agrees.

"Let's go," Leo tells Big. Runt stays behind the boulder, he will not be of help with this fight without any spells to cast.

There were four humans to take down. They both agreed to take out two each, starting with the guard standing by the trees.

Leo snaps the neck of one that flopped down and made his way over to the wagon. 

He glances over at Big who had also taken out his guard. The other two will be tricky since sneaking up on them was impossible.

He nods to signal the attack, and they both jumped out alerting the two guards. Leo took him out by grabbing out and squeezing his neck.

The guard struggled until he finally stopped moving. Leo drops him and watches as Big used his snake body to wrap around the other human, squeezing the guy until blood oozed out of his eyes, ears, and mouth.

Leo searched the guards for the wagon key and found it on one of the ones by the trees. He then proceeded to open the back of the wagon to check the monsters.

Runt slithered up to the wagon when the monsters started panicking, "it's alright, we come to save you." He spoke.

The people of this fantasy world automatically understand each other, the only language monsters can't speak, is human language. Other than that, they know all monster language. 

"We should get moving in case more humans appear. I'll drive." Leo says.

Big and Runt nod as they climbed into the back to unchain the other monsters. 

They now had better transportation, it was time to continue North.