Dominik walked through the forest. He couldn’t quite remember how to tell where he was going. Something about the sun and the stars. Mostly he remembered using a compass. There may be one somewhere in the cave, but he didn’t think it was worth looking for now.
He could always just chart his path based on the direction of the dungeon, and how close he was to it, and of course he could always find his way back. At all times he could sense the dungeon.
However, he couldn’t recall any nearby towns. Maybe they never even visited a nearby town, maybe they’d only set up camp for weeks or months, though the latter seemed unlikely. He’d forgotten to take any coins from the dungeon though, so he figured it would’ve been unlikely he could do much even if he went to a human village.
Still, he could explore the forest, and more importantly, try and figure out how to create a contract with other animals. If he’d made a contract with spiders, or rather, if the previous dungeon overlord had, then could he make a contract with bees? A source of honey would be beneficial for the troglodytes, and any future denizens of his dungeon. But growing flowers in the cave seemed unlikely. Could they put it in jars themselves and carry those tiny jars to the dungeon?
But who would protect them? Dominik considered evolving the bees, fixing a flaw wherein the bees died after stinging something only one time, because the stingers broke off. And their arms were too weak to carry jars of honey. He considered the potential changes he could make to bees as he walked forward, only altering his path slightly as the terrain demanded.
Eventually he realized he wasn’t going to make much progress on foot, especially having no real idea as to where he wanted to go. But he realized he didn’t have to continue on foot. It would be much better to survey the surroundings from the sky. He would need to go back to the dungeon to retrieve enough biomass to create wings, and it could take some time to figure out how to do so.
He’d also just made such a great human looking avatar, just like he’d looked before, but so much better in all the details of his biology. Did he really want to ruin it before really trying it out? Or take the time to make a second flying avatar?
He’d passed by several birds, and while their meat and eggs were of no great interest, and while they couldn’t produce honey, they could be great scouts. They could help him chart his surroundings. With the right tools he could create a great map of the surrounding area with what they could see.
He spent time walking around near the dungeon, looking at the birds in the trees, trying to find the best birds to welcome into his dungeon, or near his dungeon, as scouts for his forces.
The dungeon was at the foot of a mountain, and while he considered looking for some sort of eagles for scouts, they’d stand out too much.
If he found a lake, he could find ducks, but they’re too loud. They’re funny, sure, but that would only hinder their ability to be the sneaky spies he needed to watch over the forest.
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Owls would be great at night, but for now he needed spies for the daylight hours, when most human activity occurred. He chose crows, and managed to find many roosting together in the mild weather. They don’t stand out too much, and from what he’d heard, they’re already very intelligent, for birds anyway.
Now he could only ponder how to form a contract with them. The knowledge of how to do this wasn’t there, so he finally gave up and just tried reaching out with his consciousness, offering the connection to his power.
The crows became loud, but they didn’t fly from their roost. Hesitantly, he felt the first of their souls respond, and the rest followed suit just after. Soon the clan was under his command, and he could see through their eyes as he offered them mana.
Under his care, this clan of crows would become stronger, faster, smarter, and overall, just better than other crows. Should there be a storm, they can take shelter in the dungeon. But for now, he had the murder of crows fly and scout out the area, as he tried to create a mental map of their findings. It was all coming together.
Soon the entire forest, and the whole mountain, would be part of his dungeon, directly or otherwise. He wouldn’t make the same mistake as his predecessor and let humans into his core to try and slay him. Nor would he let them harm the innocent lizard dogs of his dungeon they called troglodytes. He’d also try to think of a better name for them after they evolved a bit.
He sat down and watched through the crows’ eyes, taking in the entirety of their sights combined as one whole entity. A mass of scouts reporting as one. He enjoyed the view, the forest was quite nice looking, it seemed to be fall, the various colors were painting a beautiful picture as the birds flew over the landscape.
He had them fly forward from the dungeon, from the rightmost side, then he’d have them fly back on the other side. Eventually though, they came upon a human settlement. It was a small village, maybe just a few hours flight from the dungeon. The birds were getting tired, so he had them fly back shortly after that.
Dominik walked back to the cave entrance, occasionally stopping to take in the surroundings from the crows’ sight, but he made it back before they did. He had a troglodyte bring a few fat grubs to the cave entrance in a cloth sack.
The troglodyte expressed apprehension over approaching the sunlight at the entrance, so he walked forward and petted it, then took the sack from it.
He sent the troglodyte back and waited for the crows. After they returned he let out the grubs near the cave entrance and let the crows eat. They’d done a lot of work and needed the food. Protein would be good for them to build strong wings. After they were done eating, he had them line up so he could pet them. He pet each individual crow, and eventually came upon one with a hurt talon. It was holding up its leg, not wanting to put too much weight on it.
Getting closer allowed healing spells to waste less mana, so he put his right hand near the injured crow and healed its injured talon. When it was fully healed he pet it again and continued down the line until he’d pet them all. Then he let them fly back to their roost to rest for the night. After they’d slept they could continue their scouting at a more leisurely pace.
For now, he made his way to the human village. He began running, faster than he could recall running as a human, going much faster in his improved human form. He followed the mental map he’d made, running toward the human village. Nearly halfway there, running in the dark, he’d realized he’d forgotten to bring any money, but he continued on anyway. Today would just be for scouting.
Unfortunately, by the time he arrived near the village, it was still night time, so he had to wait until morning. Arriving at night might seem suspicious, and no one would be up anyway. So he sat down near a tree and tried to rest. Not that he seemed to need it.