Shopping Spree

After a while more talking to Addy, the group headed back to camp with a large friend that couldn't move very fast. In fact, she was so slow that Allen was forced to leave her to walk to the camp without him since the sun was already setting and she would need at least a half a days walk to arrive where she could be clearly seen.

Addy had a skill called 'One With the Earth' that allows her to designate a large area as her home ground making her fast within the space as well as ten times more powerful than before. Unfortunately, it has a 2-day cooldown but does last a full day making the cooldown more of a 1-day cooldown. She even showed Allen how it worked speeding up their trip significantly for a decently long distance. Taking a bit more than a full hour off her walk.

Leaving a few wolves to keep Addy company as she made the very slow trek to the camp. Allen soon came home to eat and drink and even bathe slightly. Yes, bathe. Orion in his wisdom hollowed out several trees and used them to bring back ten full trunkloads of water.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of troops and they all needed water the most as mammals. One of the trunks was designated as Allen's personal water supply while the other nine could last the troops a full week if no one used them for bathing and only for drinking. Still, Allen didn't want so many smelly men running around every day so he ordered a wash at least every two days either at the river or using the water in the trunks.

After sending a few wolves to switch out the ones leading Addy here, Allen lay in his empty room checking what he could spend his fortune of meat on. Having killed 5 Water crocodiles with each one giving anywhere from 900 units of food at the least, to 1,500 units at the high end. The Ferrets on the other hand had basically no meat at all giving 50 to 100 units of food basically nothing. Foxes give more going for 100 to 200 units of food. Of course, they are eradicating the dens of the beasts allowing more food to be collected.

[Ground Squirrel Summoning Circle Crystal-> 110 Food]

[Human Summoning Circle Crystal -> 2,000 Food]

[Light Fox Summoning Circle Crystal -> 2,000 Food]

[Dire Wolf Summoning Circle Crystal -> 2,000 Food]

[Blood Bear Summoning Circle Crystal -> 10,000 Food]

[Zombie Summoning Circle Crystal ->1,000 Food]

[Fire Canary Summoning Circle Crystal -> 500 Food]

After some thought, Allen bought the Human Summoning Circle Crystal that was a bit too high for most prospective buyers, but for a fellow Humnan like Allen, he was willing to make the sacrifice to save a few Humans from becoming more than just a meal. Besides, if he could find people like Orion, Derek, or Henry, he would have a much easier time giving orders and just having a better time all around. Since the Ground Squirrel Summoning Circle Crystal was so cheap he also bought it. Lastly, he bought a Dire Wolf Summoning Circle Crystal.

At this point, the next step is to get as many element crystals as possible to upgrade current and future summoning circles. After sorting the results to only show elemental stones, Allen soon found they had increased in price by a ridiculous amount.

[1 Plant Stone (material) -> 1,700 Food]

[1 Fire Stone (material) -> 1,800 Food]

[1 Vitality Stone (material) -> 1,500 Food]

[1 Darkness Stone (material) -> 2,000 Food]

[1 Life Stone (material) -> 3,000 Food]

[1 Light Stone (material) -> 2,001 Food]

With a small sigh, Allen decided to first find out what he needed most first before paying the rest of his money on a single stone. Walking into the now unofficial summoning room where all the summoning circles were at, Allen pulled out all his crystals besides the storage and house crystal he obtained from Edith.

[Vitality Stone (material)]

[Human Summoning Circle Crystal]

[Dire Wolf Summoning Circle Crystal]

[Ground Squirrel Summoning Circle Crystal]

The room itself could only fit two more summoning circles before running out of floor space. After deciding to make his own room as the next summoning circle room Allen, decided to check to universly acknowledged trash Ground Squirrel. Crushing the crystal a summoning circle appeared on the ground.

[Ground Squirrel Summoning Circle (Upgradable) (Immobile)]

[Gathers Mana to summon 10 Ground Squirrels every week]

[Recruits Available: 10]

[Recruit Requirements: 6 wood, 6 stone]

[Upgrade Requirements: 500 wood, 700 Stone]

[Special Effect: All units summoned will start as completely loyal.]

[Note: First time summoning is completely free.]

Allen didn't even hesitate and activated the circle to meet his new troops. With a bright flash of light, several small figures appeared at his feet. Although large for Squirrels, they were only the size of a small housecat. That said all creatures of this world were larger than their Earth relatives so their size couldn't be considered remarkable.

[Race: Ground Sqirrel]

[Type: Normal+]

[Level 1]

[Vitality - 1]

[Strength - 2]

[Agility - 7]

[Intelligence - 5]

[Skills: Basic Earth Manipulation]

[Loyalty - 100]

[Note: Weak, but smart and evasive.]

[Basic Earth Manipulation (E rank) -> Allows the user to have some control over dirt.]

"Huh? Not terrible? They even have that same skill the Dirt Mages have. Even their stats aren't terrible, just having less Intelligence compared to the Dirt Mages, and they are a Normal type."

All the Squirrels were looking at Allen like he was some sort of god. Seeing their gazes Allen felt slightly helpless since he hadn't really had any real idea of how he would use them since he only bought them since they were so cheap and he was curious.

After both parties stared at each other for a full five minutes, Allen decided here and now, every Human would get a pet to accompany them. Regular Humans will get a Dire Wolf, while Dirt Mages will get this Ground Squirrel that seems to work well with their power.

Having decided, Allen walked outside where everyone had finished their meal and were just about to get inside to sleep. All the Forest Wolves had even gathered outside to sleep in the trees, several Tree Wolves joined in at the edge.

"I have an announcement!"

As soon as his voice fell, the talking and laughing stopped. Everyone moved without fail and formed a semi-circle around Allen. Most of the Wolves stayed at the edge of the circle waiting for Allen to speak. The Squirrels who followed Allen also joined the crowd and were the closest to the front.

"From this day forth I hereby announce all Humans will be accompanied by one animal companion officially! Normal Humans can obtain a Dire Wolf Companion, while Dirt Mages will get a Ground Squirrel Companion!

The exceptions to this rule will be Derek, Orion, and Henry. These three have helped me greatly at this point in time and will instead get paired with a Tree Wolf Companion! They will be allowed the choice of whether they want an additional Dire Wolf Companion or only have a Dire Wolf Companion or two or the last choice of only having a Tree Wolf Companion! The only thing I have to say to you three is, make sure your choice doesn't interfere with your duties and instead only helps you complete your tasks!"

Soon the crowd murmured as everyone looked at each other unsure of this new rule. Orion was the first to raise his hand at the new policy.

"Lord, if I may?"

"Go ahead I also don't want to force this on anyone so all are welcome to deny or ask questions on this policy."

"Then, Lord we have all more or less done your 'policy' already and have bonded with certain wolves to a certain extent. I do hope you will not split up partnerships if a Human has decided to make a Companion of multiple wolves. I also believe this might instead hurt some wolves as if they aren't chosen as a Companion, then it might lead to bad feelings between each other. I believe we should let this happen more naturally. Forgive me for my rude words..."

Allen had mostly made this policy because he didn't know what he would do with the squirrels so he was entirely fine leaving things as they were, but the idea of a partnership between animals just couldn't leave his head. Still, he knew how much unity was worth so for now he simply let it be for the night as he assigned the squirrels as helpers to the Dirt mages instead of partners.

**Authors Note**

*Info dump

*At this point in time his camp eats about 1,000 units of food a week if sparsely rationed, but Allen decided against harsh rationing when they have so much food and if his troops have a fuller stomach they probably fight better. So they eat about 1,500 a week and they all eat well with a fuller stomach. Now with all this in mind, Allen only has gained about 6,000 units of food with over 5,000 of it coming from the large lizards.

*So in case you were wondering how exactly Allen spent his fortune and how decisions were made, here it is. Allen also sees he gets several thousand units of food daily so he spends with less care. Asking Orion how long they can survive with the amount of food they have is mainly to see how well they are doing and how much change/strain the new recruits bring to the food supply.