The Mook Maker

Naming the ever-growing pack of monsters started to feel like an unwise decision in hindsight.

They loved it. The batch that returned from the dead after the last battle gathered around me, almost like I was some form of celebrity, their screechy, girlish voices filled with excitement. Each one waited for their new name and a welcoming hug. I tried to accommodate and thought of new names, and played along with the expanding menagerie of anthropomorphic creatures thinking of some way to call each one of them.

It was evident that the invisible system behind their creation approved of this, which slowly turned into a problem of its own.

With each diminishingly inventive name given, skill associated with them rose up, and two more creatures materialized from the bloody mist, each one vying for their share of attention and pressed me to continue the vicious cycle further. 

Eventually, it reached some invisible limit I didn’t know existed, and no more of them were made. Finally, afforded some peace and quiet, I was relieved. 

By that time, the furry cohort spilt over from the looted shrine and started rummaging through the camp we took over. I didn’t stop them or even checked on them. They had minds of their own, after all, and they seemed to have a better idea of what to do than I had. Freed from the distraction of making up names, the realization that I was in fact, lost in this world hit me again.

Not only did I not have any plan whatsoever, but I was also completely helpless, and entirely dependent on my current slightly creepy companions.

I pushed my mind in another direction: What should I do, or rather, how to communicate with locals? I didn’t come up with anything other than trying the awkward gestures that would certainly be misinterpreted due to the cultural barrier involved. 

The more I thought of it, the more helpless I felt. The monsters probably somehow felt my distress over this.

Not all of them left to cause trouble. At least a couple of them lurked nearby, in case I needed anything. Or in case I decided to run, I didn’t know. They did come with a blanket, and I tried not to think about what happened to its original owner.  

One of those lesser canine ones was over me almost immediately, pressing herself closer.

“Master?” She purred into my ear, sounding concerned. 

Others did perk up at the same time. 

It was like the whole issue with naming did make them a little bit more obsessive. 

I tried to ignore her. I did poorly at that. 

Back to the non-existing strategy of getting home. I assumed that perhaps if I found some sage or other educated individual, he might be a translator around here. I discarded it immediately.This hypothetical person might know other languages than their local one, though the chance it may be one I understood was almost non-existent…

How many people in medieval China know English? I wouldn’t even understand actual medieval English, it used to be a different speech back in that time. 

“Master. We found you the better clothes.” Miwah announced, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked up. I noticed she actually put some parts of the armour on, which didn’t fit her werewolf frame at all, but it was probably better than running around naked.

I stood up. A little pain reminded me of all the bruises I had. 

She, along with another lesser tagalong, presented me with sort of a coat. Also, the trousers, in matching colours of washed-out blue-grey.

“You… you didn’t strip it off of the… corpse, did you?” I asked, carefully. 

“No. It was clean, drying as we found it,” she said. 

I thought better than to question the answer. I smelled the clothing, and it didn’t reek of blood, or worse. A simple cloth, nothing more. I tried to put it on, struggling to adjust it properly as I had no idea how to wear the local garments, turning away they offered help nevertheless. The outfit, however, was better than nothing, and certainly more comfortable than the damn armour. 

I was certain there was something meant to be worn under it too, but I didn’t care that much at that point.

“We would find you better clothes later,” she offered. 

I immediately considered ordering them once again they couldn’t kill anyone for it, but I paused and changed my mind. Realizing how dependent I am on them, I answered with “Thank you” instead.

I never got to continue that conversation. Noise coming from outside, along with the unmistakable and a strong smell of something burning, got my attention away from the petty issues with the attire. It made me rush outside. 

There was a flurry of activity. 

The monsters were sorting through the things they found or looted in a way that made sense only to them. Whatever the previous occupants amassed here, useful or not, it was probably combed through. They made a blazing campfire even, and put some water to boil in the found iron pots. They even already got into hunting as well as I noticed so-called “Eviscerators’ dragging in two dead deers. How they managed it, I didn’t know. I didn’t want to know. 

“Master! Master!” The few monsters called as they prepared the sitting for me near the fire. I let it be.

The stench of burning was everywhere, but very few little vulpine pyromaniacs were in sight, which meant they were setting things on fire somewhere else. there was bound to be a lot of them, as my regrettable action did rack up the numbers if the crowd of shadowy canine types was any indicator. 

It immediately made me worried. 

I walked into the middle of the courtyard mess and looked around, finally noticing the smoke rising up above the surrounding woods. It was certainly noticeable for me and might be noticeable for the people in the valley, even if all that violence that got us to the point hadn’t been. Another reminder is that I had no way of diplomacy without speaking the local tongue. 

“They are burning the corpses,” Miwah helpfully explained before I investigated.

“Did you run into more humans?” I asked carefully, almost afraid of the answer I might receive, and caught myself as I called people “humans” the same way as the monsters did.

“No, Master,” she said.

“Where is Tama?” 

“Preparing the bed for us, Master. There is one suitable … room, the rest was just an improvised camping site for humans.” She gestured towards the other buildings surrounding the courtyard. 

I shuddered at the mention of the bed, as I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but left it without comment. Instead, I sat in the place they designated for me near the roaring fire. It was getting cold.

The shadowy canine became a looming presence next to me, then lowered herself nearer, and it was probably her new slightly protective gear that prevented her from simply pressing herself to me.

“Miwah, could you send someone to…” I said, and after the brief silence trying to formulate my request, added, “... scout, down the road, to find out any human habitation? And uphill from where we came if there is some hint how…how we were summoned here?” 

“Yes, Master,” she said.

“Stay hidden, don’t attack anyone,” I added.

“Yes, Master.” She nodded. Then, my werewolf-like companion briefly gazed into the distance, her eyes glassy, before her attention turned back to me. 

First, I thought she simply opted to ignore me, but then I realized it was something Tama did when calling the ‘Purifiers’ scattered around the forest earlier - they may have some form of nonverbal communication between themselves. A few of the ‘Eviscerator’ types quickly dropped everything and disappeared into the woods, however, it didn’t r make a noticeable dent on those who stayed. It was still a crowd.

I was genuinely surprised they did follow any orders whatsoever as I was hardly a person worth following. 

“Thank you.”

“We are always there for you, Master.” 

I watched the butchery of the animals at the edge of the camp. Despite the messy job they seemed to do, they took upon it with gusto and only enforced my feeling of hopelessness over the entire situation. 

A harsh truth was, I wouldn’t last here a day without them.

“What is your plan now, Master?” Miwah started. “Humans had some food here stored, but it wouldn’t last them for long. They have gotten it somewhere” 

I nodded. I understood where she was heading, the fact they hunted proved that they needed food as much as humans would, and I had to admit to myself that I didn’t really think of it outside of getting an answer on how to return home. I wasn’t thinking from where the food would come from for me, let alone for … how many monsters now, I wondered?

“We don’t know where we are and what is going on,” I said, hesitantly, “How long will the food last?” 

“I don’t know.” She-werewolf admitted, “But I hope we will be fine with hunting for a few days, a few more if we count whatever humans had in store there. Then we need to move to better hunting grounds.” 

This didn’t put me at ease, I wasn’t used to handling this kind of situation. Though a few days were better than nothing,  it was a few days more than I would manage on my own if I were thrust into this situation alone - at least, I desperately tried to convince myself it will somehow sort itself out soon.

“Master?” Miwah leaned herself even closer. Though I was about to find out that this behaviour may be extremely common for them, it wasn’t still comfortable enough for me.

“A moment, please, I am trying to think…” I put up the excuse.

“Overview.” 

The familiar floating window came up leaving me quite surprised by what should be really obvious by merely looking around. But I supposed I was always slow on the uptake.

It was insane - their numbers more than doubled again, and even if they were currently peaked at some invisible capacity limit, there was no way of knowing if their population wouldn't start climbing again as I had no idea what the actual limitations of the system were. 

In any case, I wasn’t able to lead the army, let alone know how to feed it. 

I felt I was utterly incompetent when it came to leading them and wasn’t certain if they would indeed listen to me any longer if things went south. As far as I could have known, ‘Alpha’ titled monsters were the ones supposed to be in charge, making me more of a nuisance. 

“Master?” Tama's voice brought me back from pondering the status overlay, waving the whole thing away.

The vulpine woman was dressed in a red and white dress, decorated with embroidery of flowery patterns that probably had some significance beyond simple decoration, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. Maybe I saw the pattern in the shrine, I wasn’t able to tell. 

“It’s quite surprising what those humans kept stashed there. I am certain it didn’t belong to any of them,” she answered my own unspoken question about where she got the outfit, and before I added anything she offered: “Or perhaps you would like…” 

She didn’t get to finish her flirty line as, suddenly, one of her lesser kin materialized from their usual puff of the ruby mist, this time without any heads-up that accompanied the new addition to the small, yet growing horde.

“Master!” She exclaimed, in her screaky voice. Since the smaller variants didn’t really talk, I was confused for a short moment. 

Then, the next one appeared, looking equally alarmed. And another. And another. And a few more, in short succession, made me realize that the system already started to churn replacements for monsters lost somewhere. And they were dropping like flies.

Though Tama did react immediately as the first one spawned, this time I didn’t need her to realize what was painfully obvious. 

“We are under attack!”