Cold.
A biting chill roused him from his slumber.
The unrelenting rain had drenched him while asleep. Muttering profanity after profanity under his breath, he opened the map, seeking shelter somewhere.
Luckily, there was a cave nearby.
Yet it was occupied, a yellow dot inside of it.
'Please, be weak. Please be controllable. Otherwise I'm really going to die.'
Shivering, he reached for the reins with both his hands.
Yet he only hand his right hand.
Only then did he realise yesterday wasn't a nightmare. A quiet sigh escaped him, as focused once more on seeking shelter.
'I need to keep moving. Whatever happens, I need to keep moving.'
He shook his head, before patting the horse.
"Let's go, pal!"
Enduring the biting wind and rain, he soon came across the cave entrance.
Large enough to fit in a bus, with a small stream springing forth from within.
Carefully making his way closer to the entrance, he noticed a large amount of branches accumulated inside.
'Perfect! I can light a fire!'
'But, where is the creature?'
Although it was by now early morning, he could not make out anything else inside the darkness of the cave.
Making up his mind, he gave a command as he got off the horse.
'Wait here for me, and don't make any noise.'
Before heading inside, he grabbed the only remaining sword from the horses storage pack.
'Although it was only slightly longer than a kitchen knife, it will suffice...'
'Hopefully.'
Nervously, he made his way into the cave.
Before he took each step, he made sure not to step on anything. His shivering stopped, and he knew he was running short on time.
'Hypothermia is setting in, damn it.'
After searching for another minute, he found the owner of the cave.
A large, curled up ball of wool. A bear, with the only difference between it and earth's bears being the size.
It was nearly twice the size of a grizzly bear.
He then recalled the description of monster control.
[Monster control - allows the user to control non intelligent species. Success depends on the users willpower vs the targets willpower.]
Deciding to take the risk, he tried activating the skill on the sleeping bear.
'Control!'
He now paid attention to the skill, trying to figure out how it works. A thin 'thread' shot out from his head, piercing into the bear. A sudden headache hit him, and he understood that he failed at controlling it.
"GRRR?"
The bear stirred awake, shaking its head furiously.
Then, it hateful gaze turned to Magnus.
'Damn it!'
It furiously charged at him, each step kicking up a cloud of dust.
The sight of it sent chills down his spine.
He desperately shouted.
"ALL POINTS TO WILLPOWER!"
[WIL:15] - > [WIL:25]
A warm feeling swept through his head.
The bear was near him, opening its mouth, ready to tear off his head.
'CONTROL!'
A sharp pain shot through his head.
The bear stopped, once more furiously shaking it's head, as if to shake off his influence. Feeling that the control could break any moment, he changed the goal.
'Kill!'
With a mad dash, he ran under the thrashing bear.
Seeing it's jaw approach, he cast control once again, causing the bear to freeze up. Yet the headache got worse, his vision blurred.
Enduring the pain, he buried the knife into the bears chest. Warm blood splashed his eyes, and without care, he stabbed the knife deeper.
Before pulling it out, and slashing open the bear's stomach.
"ROAR!"
In its death throes, it broke free of his control, sending him flying with a swipe.
"AHH-"
His entire chest was caved in by the blow, causing him to vomit out blood. The bear walked towards him, intent on ending him before it died.
Each step it took closer, Magnus felt calmer.
'CONTROL!'
The bear paused it's steps. And unlike before it didn't-couldn't resist the skill. Even still, the hatred burning in its eyes grew stronger.
Magnus gave a command.
The bear struggled to resist, but its body refused to listen.
It walked up to a sharp rock, before standing up on its hind legs.
In the next moment, it fell backwards onto the rock.
"ROoooaaa-" with one final unresigned roar, the light in its eyes went out.
Seeing the spectacle, Magnus relaxed his breathing.
[Level up.]
'Huh?'
The gentle white light enveloped him once more, his pain vanishing within moments. Much to his delight, the exhaustion, the stuffy feeling in his chest, and the feeling of cold all disappeared as well.
He jumped up from the ground, checking himself all over with his remaining hand.
"I'm alive! I'm fucking alive baby hahahaha!" a hearty laugh escaped his lips.
Calming down after a while, he looked towards the system window.
'How do I distribute the stats I got?'
[Name : Magnus (changeable)]
[Class : Conqueror ]
[Level:2]
[Experience : 8/20]
[STR:7] [SPD:8] [INT:11] [WIL:25] [-] [-]
[10 points available.]
It wasn't long before an idea struck him.
"Hey system, can I ask a question?"
[Depends on what it is.]
"Since I got experience for killing the bear using monster control, I'm guessing if one of my controlled monsters kills something, the reward also goes to me?"
[Correct.]
"Huh, that's great. Then, when do I unlock the next stats, or skills?"
[Level 50 for the next stat to be unlocked. The skill shop unlocks from level 5, and you may earn skills outside the system.]
"Like sword skills or... Regeneration?" a glint of hope was visible in his eyes.
[Correct.]
"Good... Good." he glanced at his missing left arm.
'Then, I will dump all my points into willpower and level up using a monster army. The only issue is... Where do I get more monsters?'
[WIL:25] - > [WIL:35]
Once more, a warm feeling passed through his head.
'If its now... I could probably control the bastard.' he cast a hateful glance at the bear.
His thoughts were interrupted by growling.
Only this time, it came from his stomach.
First, he ordered the horse to come inside the cave. Then he went around collecting firewood, before clearing out an area on the ground, making sure the fire can't spread out.
Soon after, the fire was lit.
Using the knife, he cut off bits of the bears flesh, leaving them on the knife to sizzle.
'This isn't too bad. Water, food, shelter. I'm all set for now.'
Basking in the glow of the fire, his thoughts churned.
'First and foremost. I have to stay alive, no matter what. Whether it is to go back home or to not let anyone get this evil system, I need to make sure not to die.'
'To make that happen, I need to be strong enough to defend myself from anyone-' he recalled the knight who cut off his arm. 'Or be capable of running away, no matter what.'
Chewing on bear meat, he face scrunched up. 'And I need a proper food source, this is dogshit. A hunting squad made up of monsters could do the trick.'
Opening the map, he looked at the various dots moving around his location.
"System, what's the difference between red and yellow?"
[Red is an enemy, not controllable. Yellow is something controllable, hostile or not. Green is an ally or a controlled being. Gray is not something you can control but not an enemy, either.]
[Note: controllable does not account for whether you can actually take control of the beast using a contest of willpower.]
"Hmmm..." looking around the map, he hatched a plan.
Grabbing the knife, he came to the cave entrance. With the rain still going, he noticed the faint smell of earth got stronger.
Taking a moment to enjoy the smell, he quietly thought to himself 'It's the small things in life. Enjoy them while they last, Magnus.'
Opening his eyes, he saw the first test subject.
A crow.
'Control!'
The bird went stiff, before turning to look at him. He then ordered it to fly around looking for beasts that weren't too big.
The crow seemingly understood him, before taking off. 'This way I don't have to risk my life by searching for suitable opponents. Anything bigger than me is probably stronger, and my drone... I mean crow is gona prevent accidental run ins.'
It wasn't long after when he felt the crow tug at their connection, signifying that it had found something 'Not bigger than me and alive'.
Making his way through the rain on horseback, he arrived at the location.
A wild deer.
'Control!'
It fell under his influence without a hitch. Satisfied, Magnus ordered it to come closer, before slashing it's throat.
Although the control broke in it's death throes, the deer died instantly.
'So the willpower of things increases near death. They do say a cornered beast is most dangerous... Or something.' a glint flashed in his eyes. 'So that's why I managed to control the bear at the end.'
[Experience : 10/20]
'And it does work.'
The rest of the day, he spent hunting wild animals using the crow as his scout and the horse for mobility.
Between hunts he would return to the cave to rest, recovering from the cold and stockpiling the corpses for butchering.
By nightfall, he managed to hunt a wolf and three deers, giving him enough xp for another level up.
Once more, all stats went into willpower. Looking at the 45 points in willpower, he smiled.
'With this, I'm certain I could control the bear without issues. Now then, tomorrow I'll expand my hunting radius, and try to get a proper army to hunt in my stead.'
Smiling while imagining himself leveling up endlessly, he fell asleep on the floor.