Chapter Eighteen: Dominance

The monster that came racing up the path to our campsite was not a radilgor. The creature was easily 40 feet tall and looked like some mix between a crocodile, and a koala. It was coated in thick black fur that stood out like a void in the darkening evening sky. I tried not to shit myself as I examined its system screen.

Kodrilus: Level 37

Type: Monstrosity

Affinity: Neutral

So it’s not after me yet, just my teammates! I noted, and immediately changed tactics. With a wave of my hand, I summoned 8 deathsworn minions all in the form of the radilgor to stand guard around my party. The sudden expenditure of mana made my head swim a little.

My new friends exclaimed in surprise, but I ignored them and desperately activated my newest skill. This time the mana expenditure wasn’t as steep, but the effects were worse on my well-being. If you have ever seen those cartoons where someone’s head gets jammed into a beehive then you might have an idea of the sensation that washed over me.

A buzzing vibrated through my mind instantly as I telepathically connected with all the monsters in the immediate surroundings. A migraine formed and I could feel the grip I had on my sanity fading. Too much! This is way too much! Too many monsters! I need to focus! Kodrilus! Focus on the Kodrilus!

It took a massive effort, but eventually, I isolated my focus on my immediate surroundings and connected with the monsters nearing the camp. Their thoughts were still wild and untamed, a far cry from the minds of the deathsworn under my control, but they were bearable.

The Kodrilus was now facing off against the deathsworn Radilgor, roaring at them to move out of the way. This prey is mine! It was the undisputed alpha of the monsters in this region of the valley. A king of the monsters.

No, that’s not right. This isn’t where it belongs. A loose flood of other thoughts passed through the connection and I could see that it had been chased out of its home by other adventurers. It was angry that it had been forced out of its home, and it was hungry. Of course. The fucking quest. An influx of people tearing through the valley is going to cause ecological changes. I would have almost pitied the monster if there was any time to. The beast once again tried demanding my deathsworn to get out of the way, not quite realizing that they weren’t true monsters yet. The agitation it felt rose, and I could sense that it was about to attack regardless.

“Stop!” I ordered the monsters that had started to gather around our group. Through the mental connection, I could sense that there were the three radilgor from earlier as well as two smaller beasts that were even more strange. The odd monsters were almost like giant snakes. If you replaced the snake's head with that of a shark and added thirty tentacles down the length of its slithering body.

All around me the approaching creatures froze, and I let out a sigh of relief until a notification screen popped up before me.

You have attempted to claim dominance.

Attempt unsuccessful.

Kodrilus : Level 37 has resisted your claim.

Kodrilus is now hostile.

My face went white as the giant beast suddenly turned its gaze from my deathsworn to me. It took one lumbering step toward me and released a howl that ejected the viscera of its lunch all over the ground.

“Well, shit!” Was all I could think to say as I took off running. It pounced at me as I fled, my party screaming something that I couldn’t make out over the beast's angry cries. What to do, what to do? I thought frantically as I darted back and forth across the valley floor evading the monstrosity behind me.

I ran until we were out of sight from my friends meaning they could at least get away safely if this large creature managed to add me to the menu. A large fiery geyser erupted at my feet forcing me to stumble just in time to narrowly avoid being cooked alive, but it gave the Kodrilus time to catch up to me and it snapped hungrily at my flailing arm. I kicked myself into a backflip narrowly avoiding losing a limb, and planted my feet onto its elongated snout mid-air before kicking off sending myself shooting forward.

I briefly thought about activating my spectral phase, but if the monster became bored with me then getting its attention would be for nothing. The shadows around me were congealing and forming tendrils, but those too would have no effect on a monster this size.

I pulled out Abyssal Ruination for the first time in a few weeks and power infused my body. As the buzz of energy passed into me I felt a deep hunger from the weapon, longing for power. The scythe hummed in my hands, and a cockiness blanketed my self-preservation as I stared into the giant's eyes.

So you want to fuck with me, do you? Well then let’s go. King vs King. Of course, I had no chance of winning against a monster that was more than double my level. It was one thing managing to get lucky against the priests with their frail human bodies. Monsters though on average had triple the attributes per level that an adventurer might. Which meant the kodrilus had six times as many attributes as I had. The only thing working in my favor was a slight edge on agility. Its own awkward body allowed me to nimbly evade it.

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It cried in rage as it lunged towards me snapping its vicious fangs, and I ducked underneath the jaws, swinging Abyssal Ruination as I did. The blade scratched a small surface on the flesh, but nothing beyond that.

Blight has been resisted.

Fuck! I had been hoping I could at least use attrition in my favor until I remembered another skill that I had obtained but had yet to see a need to use. It was stamina heavy in its cost, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice at the moment. Before the kodrilus could retaliate I launched another attack, this time using my impending gravity skill.

As I made contact a portion of my stamina withered away, but I used the momentum to take another swing. That was the last attack I could take before the monster slashed a clawed hand at me. I used my scythe to block, but the powerful arm sent me flying forty feet through the air.

I landed in a painful heap sliding along the ground. Barely managing to regain my footing before it was on me once again. This time I did activate spectral phase as I passed through its arm before once again attacking its head with abyssal ruination. My stamina was depleting rapidly, but the monster had slowed down significantly, as its head now weighed almost three times as much as it had been. I slowly moved my attacks to its other body parts as well.

The monster was too strong for me to defeat it like this, but fighting against the gravity being imposed on its body it now made evading the beast significantly easier. I still needed to think of a way to win though.

I thought about using the deathsworn radilgor I had recently summoned to attack. I dismissed the thought as I could see the futility in that action. After only just having been summoned their levels and abilities weren’t even on par with the living versions of the monsters yet. That’s it!

Reluctantly I pushed the limits of my mental contact, once again opening my mind to the beehive of activity around me. My deathsworn might not be able to stand against this monster, but maybe I could command the others to do the job for me.

Or maybe you can make even more of the monsters here hostile! I ignored the negative thought as I focused on the only potential way we could all survive this situation.

“Attack!” I screamed the command across the telepathic network. In unison, every monster within range let out a chorus of wails, shrieks, and howls. If the landscape itself wasn’t a nightmare-fueled vision of hell, the cacophony that suddenly erupted was itself enough to haunt my dreams.

The Kodrilus froze as the cries rang out, no longer focusing on me. It sensed the sudden shift in the surroundings as those who hadn’t managed to resist my commands suddenly began the hunt.

Plenty of creatures had resisted my call to attack, and the system momentarily flooded my vision with notifications of the various monsters that were now hostile, but I dismissed them. Enough monsters had obeyed that the killing intent was palpable. I turned to face the monster that had forced me to go to these extremes and a new emotion drifted through our telepathic link. Fear.

It hadn’t wanted this. A week ago it had been content to roam in its isolated spot of the valley. Occasionally preying on the weaker monsters who drew too close. Sometimes it got lucky and ended the journeys of adventurers who were too bold. The problem with forming a telepathic bond is the emotional connection and in that moment I understood its life foundationally.

The Kodrilus was a proud beast, but in that moment as it sensed what was coming for it, the monster whimpered and whined. Tame it. Control it. This is the army you will wield to solve your problems.

How easy would it be? If I had an army of monsters guarding my borders I would never have to worry about my kingdom. I could adventure in peace. Let my people prosper while I had the life I wanted to live.

If I do this wouldn’t that mean bending to the will of the system? I laughed as that question passed my mind as I realized I was asking the wrong question.

If I don’t do it, do I honestly think the system is just going to let me skate by? The answer to that made my decision obvious.

Even while I had enjoyed the fun monster hunting Grenthar and the others for the last few days the weight of the quest the system had given had hung balefully over my head. While they all thought it was the salvation to all of their problems, for me it was just another sign of a destiny that I wanted to avoid.

The worst part about it was that I couldn’t even think of valid reasons to avoid it. I bet if I took over the world I could probably do a hell of a lot of good. How often had I thought that I could do a better job running my country than the idiotic rulers that got voted in?

Sure, I wasn’t really batting for the fences with Shangrior yet, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t made progress. The system still saw a need to keep nudging me in the right direction and thus initiating this whole mess. The influx of other adventurers in The Wound was obvious. While we all mostly tried to avoid each other there were more signs of recent struggles the further afield we went.

Even the Kodrilus being outside of its territory and coming after my allies were just another example of the system's interference. For the last few days, my party members had talked about trying to complete the quest objective while I had been secretly hoping that they would give up.

With other adventuring parties out there and many undoubtedly higher level than us, it made no sense to pursue the goal. They had known it, but that didn’t stop them from continuing to talk about it. They would joke about leveling up enough to traverse into the deeper areas of the vale. I knew that they were holding back because of me. The greed in their eyes was obvious.

Further into the valley you went the denser the population of monsters there were and the more powerful they became. That didn’t even take into account how strong the monsters would be once you crossed into the dungeon to make your way to the royal chamber the quest had mentioned. If we were to make that attempt I knew for a fact we wouldn’t make it.

No, we would never make it as long as you hide your power. There’s always a chance you could succeed if you used your full power, I told myself, but that was no longer a concern. I couldn’t hide my power from them. Not anymore. With a frustrated groan, I approached the Kodrilus. I closed out my connection to all other monsters and focused on it alone. I am getting better with this skill. Took some getting used to, but it’s just like controlling my deathsworn.

“Submit!” I commanded, both with my voice and with my mind. It turned its hateful eyes upon me. It had never submitted in its life. It snarled at me and took a tentative step. “Submit,” I repeated. The three radilgor it had brought with it were now approaching at a lumbering run and howling in hunger as they gazed upon the larger beast. The serpentine creatures were much faster and were now only seconds away. Its gaze turned from the other monsters to me.

It knew the rules of nature, as well as I did. The strong rise. The weak are food. In a land where it had once been the alpha, I had come and claimed my place. It took one last look at its impending doom and made its decision.