As the sun was rising over the distant hills, Jule finally managed to get some brief shut eye, his state not letting him rest for any long period of time over the whole night. What he considered just moments earlier as a barely acceptable bed, became heaven as his body sank deeper and deeper.

...

“Commander Redshield!!” The shouting of a scout completely disturbed his peaceful state, a cold shiver running down his back, he stood up from the bed in flash, the sudden awakening making him almost trip.

The scout was gasping and trembling, sweat pouring from every single pore in his body,it was obvious that he had run towards Jule’s room with all he had. Jule patted himself down for a second while the scout sucked in handfuls of air.

The scout was completely covered in mud, staining every single floor and wall. Just as Jule was about to punish the man who had entered his room so abruptly and covered it in mud, he was absorbed by the look in his eyes.

Most nobles knew how to read a person, it was a skill ingrained into their minds, whether that be at the academy or from years of subterfuge, no noble could survive without this ability.

The look in the man’s eyes immediately removed all thoughts from Jule’s mind, a white blankness taking control for a few seconds, before the loud thumping of his heart could pull him back.

“Report, NOW!!” Jule’s throat stung like hell from his sheer volume, alarm bells were ringing in his head, his shirt turning wet with sweat.

His intuition was telling him that things were about to take a turn for the absolute worst.

“Sir…” The scout’s eyes opened wide as he received the full brunt of Jule’s aura, but with a loud gulp he managed to hold back his wish to run away. He couldn’t finish his sentence though, taking a second to think, a second which tested Jule’s patience to its limits, putting him on the brink of violence.

Thankfully he could answer before Jule took action.

“Sir, in the middle of the night, the monsters reached the mine and stopped at it for a few hours. We thought them to be murdering the demi-humans, but they seem to have recruited them!, adding all 20 slaves to their ranks!” The scout says, trying not to stumble in his words.

A few seconds of absolute silence pass.

...

“FUCK!!!” Jule shouts and punches the wall with all his might, blasting apart a massive section of the weak wooden structure,splinters covering the entirety of the room.

The scout nearly curls into a ball and grunts in pain as a few splinters dig themselves into his flesh.

“How long ago was this…” Jule manages to release another sentence, a deep boiling heat covering his depths.

The scout thought that those words were much scarier than the earlier outburst, it was almost like a demon about to make you face your worst fears.

“A few minutes ago, the scouts just managed to get back, it was made a priority to inform you…” Once the scout said this, he left the room in a hurry, leaving behind a puddle of blood.

One might think that Jule was overreacting, what could 20 demi-human slaves even do in combat?

The problem was not the demi-humans, the problem was that instead of outright murdering them, they managed to recruit them. Monsters were creatures of instinct, they didn’t make friends nor enemies, they didn’t plan ahead and they could never be reasoned with.

Like normal animals, they simply followed their instincts to their best ability. Without a thought in the world, they always took the route of least resistance, they ate, reproduced and died.

Jule didn’t give two shits about how they did it, or how they convinced those filthy slaves…

If they managed to control their impulses, this meant that a Monsterkin was among them.

Monsterkin were the curse of humanity, once having caused its downfall. They were monsters that could think and reason, they could plan ahead and control the rest of their “pack”, this also meant that they were several tiers stronger than their unintelligent counterparts.

Normal monsters didn’t think of the best way to go about something, nor did they try to control their strength and save their stamina...Monsterkin were the exact opposite.

The only reason why humanity could continue existing was because, once they had eradicated human civilization, the Monsterkin had left the continent and made one of their own, The Monster Continent.

So…

Why the fuck was there one here?...

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Jule bit his nails, all the emergency plans he had formulated immediately going to the mental equivalent of a trash can.

This simple subjugation had just become a hellish excursion.

…

Jule paced around the room, his mind in disarray, making hundreds of plans and thinking of their viability.

He was only distracted when the commanders finally arrived, their faces pale and steps weak, they had clearly heard of the condition the scout was left in.

It was never a good idea to get on the bad side of a future ArchDuke, and all the commanders knew it. They needed to tiptoe around Jule in order to keep their future intact.

Jule didn’t even wait for them to get settled down before barking out orders, his past face now stuck in a full-blown scowl, he had too much riding on this mission.

“Gather our own baggage carriers, make sure to equip them with the worst weapons we have in reserve, promise them that for every demi-human they kill, they will get a silver coin”

Jule’s group had demi-humans too. Although usually in serfdom or in the dungeon, the demi-humans became a little more amenable to their situation if they were taken out once in a while, which meant that they could become mules for the many excursions taken.

Everyone knew that the demi-humans squirrelled away a few resources when carrying the bags, but just as one learned to live with ants and their occasional stealing of food, most nobles put the benefits before the pains. Nobles only took the most well-behaved on these trips, and when they returned well-fed, everyone suddenly acted a lot better.

There was no need to hurt their valuable goods if they could manipulate them.

They would now finally be of true use though, fight fire with fire. Although the 20 strong demi-human group was insignificant, Jule didn’t want to leave a single uncertain element in the battlefield.

Once Jule explained how the minor problem was to be taken care of, his eyes narrowed, it was now time for the major one.

Jule was by no means calm, but he was trying his damndest to keep the image of a leader. He really hoped no one would provoke him, his fuse was exceptionally short right now.

“As for the Monsterkin, unless we know its species, it will be hard to make a plan. Therefore, we will continue as normal, but some rank 1 refiners will have to be diverted in order to distract a Bulette, leaving Parn’s hands free for when the Monsterkin dares to show its face”

A commotion rose on the bar when Jule announced this, the most raucous of the bunch being the leader of the rank 1 body refiners.

“But sir!...rank 1s cannot deal with an elementally charged monster, we will all die!” The sheer indignation in his voice led Jule to believe he was worried about something entirely different from the deaths of his comrades.

This bastard!...

HE DARES…

How dare he fucking defy my orders, I will have him… Jule could feel a storm raging in his thoughts, his fists clenching until his knuckles turned white. Jule took a few seconds to calm down, barely able to stop the lava flowing in his core.

He took a some deep breaths and stared straight at the man, with no mood to entertain his ego.

“I understand your point, some losses were always expected from this expedition though. You have my promise that as soon as a Bulette is taken down, your men will be reinforced and healed...they only need to hold it back for a few seconds”

Jule tried the diplomatic approach, but if the man dared to spit in his face again… He would no longer be as nice.

The commander clearly didn’t like the answer and was about to shout back with something inane, resulting in a disastrous ending for him.

Thankfully, he was saved by the female commander from earlier.

“Sir, our mind division can spare a single rank 2 mind refiner to aid the rank 1s” She sharply says, her head bowed deeply.

Jule’s head turns slowly.

“If your mind division fails to take down a Bulette because of this, it will be your head on a pike” Jule made sure to enunciate each and every word, no misunderstandings would be allowed.

“I understand sir” The woman did not doubt for a second.

Jule chuckled, a bit amused over the lack of regret the woman showed, her posture was straight and still. She really was a good Parn candidate.

“Good, equip the rank 2 with water scrolls, they should allow him to hold the Bulette back for a while”

As Jule finished, the rank 1 commander looks at the woman and bows deeply.

“Prepare your troops, we will head out in a few hours to ambush them!”

“YES SIR!!”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A dire wolf was walking while sniffing the ground, its body nimbly avoiding all the roots and shrubs that stood in its way. This dire wolf had been the runt of litter, which meant that it was much smaller than all of its pack, therefore, for many years, the wolf had been subjected to the abuse of his much stronger siblings.

That all changed when The Master arrived, the master made him sniff around for things that weren’t part of the pack. All thanks to his small size, he was nimble enough to always bolt away when he detected unfamiliar scents and danger.

The wolf didn’t know why it should do that, it only knew that when it did it, The Master would give him a tasty treat...and that was all it cared about.

Throughout the weeks, the wolf had gotten used to what he did, and thanks to the dense forest, its pack was much closer than usual, if it ran with all his might, it would reach them in five blinks.

It continued sniffing, his mouth salivating from the treat it would soon receive. But his mouth soon salivated for another reason, a very sweet and enticing scent enveloped all the area around it.

The wolf knew what the scent was from its past experiences, it belonged to those hairless apes, their flesh was especially tasty.

The wolf got ready to howl and warn the pack, there was no danger nearby so it didn’t need to flee. It was distracted by a weird noise though, his ears twitching while trying to catch it again.

He didn’t need to though, as blood pooled in the ground below him. He rolled his eyes upwards, a tingly feeling coming from there, only to see a small shiny thing poking out from his forehead.

And then he collapsed.

The blood kept flowing from the wound, but a small sphere of light blue water expanded from the wolf.

The forest returned to normal, the chirping of the birds and the swaying of the trees making it seem as if nothing ever happened, though the bleeding corpse of a wolf right in the center of a glade ruined the image.

A few more minutes passed and the glade was disturbed once again by some wolves, who were much bigger and stronger than the runt. A few steps behind them was a long procession of even more wolves, and some green skinned humanoids wearing rotting leather armor and some crude weapons. The most imposing sight though, was the four rock-like monsters surrounding the formation, their feet thick enough to be confused with tree trunks and with massive jaws filled with glinting teeth.

The wolves howled like madmen once the scene of their dead packmate came into sight, their minds not even wondering why they couldn’t sniff the blood from afar. All that mattered to them was that enemies were nearby, and enemies meant food.