FSE

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Figuring out the ins and outs of the system, restricted seemingly to only a very few vague messages, and next to no helpful descriptions, wasn't an exactly simple task.

It said very little, be it numbers or ominously named skills, and explained nothing, unwilling to give me any clue how I should solve my situation. It also didn't come with any ability useful to gathering the information we needed, or translating the particular language locally spoken.

Yet, with a continuation of the conflict with natives growing on the horizon, and no simple way out, it seemed like a good idea to focus on. At the very least, it provided the instant force multiplier we could use should it, once again, come to blows.

Instead of trying the random keywords to spark a reaction, I focused on the only part of the system which demonstratively had an observable effect.

The naming.

It was the numbers which got my attention, and it always gave results.

I instructed Mai to call me four still unnamed 'Corruptors' from her flock. She did, assembling her smaller, cuter variants for inspection, and I briefly thought of sufficiently unique ways to call them.

Naming the first three - unimaginatively called Fleur, Leilani and Cassia - caused the level of the associated skill to go up to 38, then 39, and finally 40. In each case, the red fog spit out the new reptilian monsters crowding the longhouse we lived in. Twelve more joined our ranks.

"Master! Master!" They cried out, while I was satisfied with the predictable reaction from the only consistent and replicable part of my ability.

First though, I welcomed all of them, something I didn't always do previously, but came to make a habit of as I grew accustomed to my monsters. Strange, considering how little time had passed, but I refused to think about it. They were my monsters, and I cared for them.

I also felt less guilty about the reckless expansion, as those little lizards were necessary for handling the food production by twisting the plants with their magic, while probably being indispensable for defence. It would be harder for enemies to jump us if we turned the forest against them.

They wouldn't go hungry either. Once we picked some seeds and sprouts from the local fields, or some village granaries, we would have a wide selection of crops to work with soon.

All possibly with immediate results once the 'Corruptors' got their hands, or rather claws, on it..

With them capable of cranking up the maturation rate of the plants, and possibly exceeding their production, I didn't have to be worried about the unsustainable growth.

It felt good to have them around, and it filled me with the certain hope this would bring me close to understanding what was going on.

I picked the final one of their kin, thinking briefly to make up something, hoping it wasn't duplicate among the countless other ones. My memory was seriously strained by now, unable to think of anything unique.

"I should name you Lotus." I said. It had to do.

A screen immediately popped up.

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Unit named! Lotus, The Named Corruptor

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This time, it was only a notification, with no skill level rising, without the usual ruby mist spitting more monsters into the world. It just spoke of the name.

I hit the skill cap, no surprise. I already knew it existed. What I wanted to confirm was the suspicion there was something wrong about the numbers themselves, a discrepancy between the upper limit of monsters I would have available.

None of my cute little lizards got into a fight yet. All of them being children to foolish attempts to twist the mechanic, and this was as far as it would take me.

Newly named Lotus knew she was special in the way, and held on for the hug. I gave her one, ruffling the feathers all of her kind had in the place of hair.

"Master!" She approved of it.

"Master! Master!" echoed others.

Without paying much attention to them now, I murmured: "Overview"

The previously dismissed system screen came back. Luckily, my little kobold-like creature didn't mind being held the slightest, since I was too focused on doing the maths in my head.

"You were indeed a little special, last for today, Lotus." I whispered.

"Master!" she, once again, agreed excitedly, with her girlish voice.

"Would you mind if you handled the food production and the home improvement? Do fungi count as plants for your power?" I asked, more focused on sending them off.

"Master!" they all agreed, scrambling away to their task I didn't properly plan, likely being fed the instruction by their larger 'Alpha' who got to answer the actual question.

"Yes, my Master." Mai confirmed. "I tried them, and they are safe. We can test it on the human prisoner to be doubly certain."

I nodded, somewhat absent-mindedly.

"Thank you."

Preoccupied with the window still floating in front of my eyes, I entirely overlooked her suggestion to feed possibly poisonous mushrooms on our captive, my attention elsewhere.

I sat down on the bedroll, reading and thinking.

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The Master

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<The Root of All Evil, level 4>

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Skills

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<Scorched Earth lvl.22>

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<Slayer of Men lvl.23>

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<Great Devourer lvl.12)

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<Green Hell lvl. 40>

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Units (Active)

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Tama, The Purifier Alpha

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Miwah, The Eviscerator Alpha

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Narita, The Defiler Alpha

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Mai, The Corruptor Alpha

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144 * Purifiers

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28 * Named Purifiers

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140* Eviscerators

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40* Named Eviscerators

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45 * Defilers

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8* Named Defilers

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41* Named Corruptors

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150* Corruptors

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Units (In queue)

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<None>

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The numbers didn't match.

Now, I was completely certain the system wasn't really as systematic as one would think, with the monster count being wildly off. If I understood the logic behind it, there should be around one hundred and sixty members of Mai's kind running around, give or take, depending on whether the 'Alpha' leader variant counted towards their maximum population.

There were about thirty more.

My fluffy, both vulpine-like and canine-like followers were also far too many, with associated skill having a lower value, with the promise that more of them would appear before the only apparent limit, the so-called skill, hit their cap.

With my memories fuzzy because of exhaustion back when I tried to hold the ceremony to abuse this very mechanic, I couldn't even confirm if the spawning process was indeed following any logic when the horde of my lizard-like monsters entered the world. I wasn't able to tell where, and when, were additional monsters created. System abusing the loss of focus was the only explanation.

As far I could tell, the more recent changes behaved in quite the logical way. Three names raised the number of 'Corruptors' by twelve, while subtracting three from unnamed categories, moving them to name. Perfectly logical.

It was the rest that was wrong, confirming my suspicion, throwing all predictions out of the window.

Almost like the system bothered to count only if I paid attention.

The system was placing arbitrary limitations that existed only by its own decree, taunting me by offsetting the numbers from the apparent mathematical formula, almost like it consciously attempted to foil my attempts to understand it.

As much as I tried to be analytical about it, or maybe perhaps because of it, it just upset and frustrated me, and slowly allowed the emotion to boil back to the surface.

It, once again, felt like that stress from overwork faced with an increasing amount of impossible tasks. It was like the issue with language, with me being put in front of something I couldn't understand, stressing me in the process.

If it randomly added more monsters, would it take away my monsters from me just to spite me?

It was strange how I refused to part with them.

More I thought about it, the more agitated I became.

Unwittingly, I leaned against Tama, and even pulled her closer. She positioned herself on my lap, and I brushed my vixen a little, which she eagerly welcomed.

My mind was on something else. The annoying system.

I had to confirm whether the screen was lying. It wasn't like Tama was cooperative in such a thing at the moment. Even if her affectionate and overly receptive behaviour helped to rein in another spark of emotion, I thought I needed someone else to assist with more serious questions.

Narita was out on her duties. Mai led the newly spawned mini-versions out. Miwah was getting rid of her armour with the help of two of her smaller 'Eviscerators'.

"Do you see this too?" I queried, gesturing towards the floaty window with a nod.

"Yes, Master." Both 'Alphas' confirmed, even if my vulpine companion had their focus more on me than anything else.

I noticed earlier that they were at the very least capable of seeing the same window as I did, but I never tried to confirm that. Now I did.

"Do you have the same, or something similar?"

"No, Master. It is a part of you, as all of us are."

"Do you know how it works?"

"No idea, Master." Tama shook her head. "But it makes me feel I should protect and care for you even more. That it is here only because our power is still growing, otherwise it wouldn't be needed."

Being a spawn of that same system gave her belief of it disappearing at some arbitrary later point a frustrating credibility. Yet another thing it might whimsically decide for me. I tried to push down my recurring bad mood.

Tama's flirting had included other nonchalant oddities before, so I settled on putting the matter aside. Not that I'd be able to do much either way.

I turned my attention towards Miwah. The werewolf had been much more helpful.

"Are each one of you able to tell how many of your kind are around without reading this?" I asked, aiming to confirm whether the numbers I was fed were correct. An actual census would be a nightmare. I couldn't imagine herding them to the single place to check the headcount manually.

Luckily, 'Alphas' were better equipped for this.

"Yes, Master." Miwah said, pausing briefly to space out, a typical sign of her telepathic conversation with her smaller kin, though longer, and her expression betrayed higher concentration than was usual.

"A forty on guard here... a thirty working on the camp tasks... a sixty dispatched on the raid, twelve on the advanced post with Brave... sixteen for Helmy's group... and twenty raking the forest. "She continued. It was obvious she also tried to do the counting in her head, just as I did as she spoke. Then looked at her two attendants, finalising the summary: "And two."

It wasn't immediate, but it was fast, and quite an achievement. In fact, I couldn't imagine doing so without mustering them like a military unit in neat formation.

"One hundred and eighty," my werewolf said. Not only was she better than I was, Miwah could tell with certainty where the individual monsters were, albeit at the cost of spacing out for a few brief moments.

They could easily do the very thing that the system didn't allow me to do, but maybe it was the point.

Either way, her report matched what the overview screen was telling me, too.

I checked with Tama. She was less direct about it, but confirmed the same. The system fed me with the very safe information the 'Alphas' could confirm, but it was where all consistency ended. The formula behind the actual numbers was wrong, if it existed.

I was tempted to test it again by attempting to get more 'Purifiers' or 'Eviscerators' to appear, as by the logic of things, the system shouldn't allow me to get more. Assuming it didn't play fast and loose with the upper limits, which I guess it did.

There was seemingly an exploit, or intentional flaw, depending on the point of view, that would allow them to increase their already exponentially rising numbers even faster. Though maybe their natural growth through combat was one that gave real gain, the attempt to bypass it by abusing the naming mechanic broke it.

It just wouldn't help me as they didn't solve the biggest problem I had.

"Select Skill?" I hummed, more to myself, or the floaty screen, rather than anyone else. I was sure Tama heard, as did Miwah, as they both were now close. The werewolf, positioning herself behind me, looked over my shoulder, while the fiery vixen still held on my lap.

I rested against the large, furry body of Miwah.

It was almost strange how I became accustomed to them; I thought, but I wasn't allowed to be distracted by it at this very moment. Not by awkwardness or acceptance. I wanted to figure out this system curse, and my faithful monsters helped a little, at least as emotional support.

"Language settings? Help? Manual? Settings?"

There was no reaction. I was about to be frustrated.

Randomly, I tried to poke the screen with my finger. I almost jerked when it actually did something.

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"Slayer of Men, skill level 23 out of 40"

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Unit count:

140

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Limit Until Root Expands:

208

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Unit Type:

Eviscerator

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Element:

Shadow

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My eyes widened.

It actually did something. Damned be the logic behind the unmatching numbers. There was the first reaction after the countless vain attempts, and after all that anxiety, and had all my attention. I actually kissed both Miwah and Tama out of that enthusiasm, the weirdness of which completely escaped me in the heat of the moment.

Mai and the bunch of smaller monsters returned with a bolt of looted cloth and attempted to hang the improvised curtains out of the ceiling, but I paid them no mind. There were more important things to focus on.

I tried, once again, to play with the interface, full of expectation, and it actually did something once again.

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"Green Hell, skill level 40 out of 40"

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Unit count:

191

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Limit Until Root Expands:

191

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Unit Type:

Corruptor

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Element:

Wood

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It wasn't quite helpful, considering it was something as I already knew, and the clearly stated limit showed the discrepancies in what should normally be a mathematically simple formula, but the promise of tangible progress was very exciting.

There was a resemblance, or perhaps an illusion, of interaction and control. It outweighed the errors in calculations, at least at the moment.

I was about to believe I was on the right path, and everything would soon sort itself out, almost like the pieces of the metaphorical puzzle were falling into place, forming a picture. I didn't see it yet, but I was about to assemble the pieces.

Then, something happened. Perhaps fate struck, or maybe the spiteful force behind the system tried to strike me down. I didn't know.

A sudden, and equally unexplainable, rush of energy, sudden, like the lighting from the clear sky, incredibly powerful, but not as deadly, several times stronger than the rush of power from the 'Defiler' boost.

Immediately, everything turned red as the wave of the mist swept the camp, a batch of new monsters materialising, with an excited chant:

"For Master! For Master! For Master!"

My mind scrambled to understand what had just happened.

For the first time, the bland, monochromatic window displayed something different from the rising numbers and suspiciously named skills. It showed a message, and it was just as worrying, if not more.

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*The Second Scroll Has Been Read! *

*We are rushing towards the end of days! *

Level 5 achieved. Unit cap doubles.

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I blinked again, struggling to comprehend what triggered this sudden change, and what the mysterious message wanted to say, however before I could gather my bearings, I was assaulted by another prompt, forcing the skill selection.

It was a familiar sight. I was forced to make this kind of selection twice already, but this time, there was a strange sense of urgency in it.

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Select your fifth element

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Skill: "Slayer of Champions"

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Element: Steel

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Skill: "Mind Over Matter"

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Element: Force

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Skill: "Terror From Above"

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Element: Air

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*Skill: "Stalker on the Boundary" *

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Element: Space

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Skill: "Sovereign of Blood"

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Element: Flesh

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It was almost like the will behind the bland screens wanted to dumbfound me with the wide selection of increasingly more exotic skills, some of which were defying the logic behind the already extremely loose definition of elements.

I was confused, but before I could have my answers, I would have to make a choice.