Chapter 197: Falling into Place 1

"I bring gifts!" Drake shouted but frowned as he saw Natto be unresponsive to his arrival, "You know you can be happier. I just got like 40 E-Rank Monster Cores all cleaned and prepped for you."

"Ahem…" Landin and Charlotte said in unison, coughing loudly.

"Ok. They got them ready for you, but I told them to do it," Drake corrected.

Natto still remained seated below the Crystal unresponsive.

"Ok, I know what will get her to talk. Time to bring in the big guns," Drake smirked pulling a glistening small piece of delight from his inventory.

There was still no movement from Natto initially but Drake tossed the sugary treat into the air only for it to be snatched mid-air by the jaws of the small squirrel construct.

"Whash ahre shoo dohing…?" Natto said through small crunching of the candy.

"I am here to bring you more E-Rank Cores," Drake reiterated.

"You may hold onto them for now, I must concentrate on pairing with the Crystal until this is finished anchoring. As I have told you!" she sneered.

"Right," Drake smiled and threw her the rest of the candy bag, "Don't spend it all in one place."

Natto snatched the bag mid-air placing it into her sleeve and went back to a seemingly meditative state.

Drake turned around looking at the pair of teens and the other person who had found them on their way to the island, who would not let Drake from her sight since getting back.

"So are you just going to actually follow me around from now on, like forever?" Drake asked.

"Father told to be at service to… husband, so Sah Ul' will follow," Sah Ul' grunted, obviously displeased.

"Really? Sarah, do you even like me? Isn't there anyone you have eyes for in your tribe?"

Sah Ul' tilted her head slightly the ornaments in her hair jingling slightly, "Care not for weak men. Since gods took Rhak Tribe to battle no man has ever defeated Sah Ul'."

She pointed to Drake, "First man to ever beat Sah Ul'. Strong is fine, you protect tribe, Sah Ul' will give all to Patriarch."

Landin and Charlotte looked at Drake confused, not able to understand Sarah just yet.

"What is she saying?" Landin asked.

"She said she likes me oodles and oodles," Drake sighed.

Charlotte crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "What is she really saying? You know we can't even understand you when you switch to that language right?"

Drake raised a brow," Oh? That's cool, what does it sound like?"

Landin shrugged, "It kind of sounds like a mix between Dothraki and Klingon."

"Dope," Drake grinned, "Anyway, since little Miss Follow Along is with us, I won't be needing you two for right now. There isn't much we can do until you both are introduced to the system. I have an idea of what I'll be doing for Charlotte since I was able to retrieve a stone from the Guardian Buzzard… But Landin… I'll have to keep looking for now."

"Awe… I wanted to know what class I was going! Why can't we pick again?" Landin asked.

"Yeah, shouldn't we get a say?" Charlotte agreed.

"No. If you are going to have me teach you. You need to follow what I say verbatim. I've been through the process already and the process has to be correct. There are no ways of taking back a decision later without severe changes to your race or personality."

"Race changes…?" Charlotte asked then a light dawned on her, "Y-you aren't human…?"

Drake smiled, "You are very perceptive, good. No, I'm not human anymore."

"You were never human!" Natto chimed in, opening one eye.

"Aren't you meditating or something!?" Drake yelled back, then turned back to the teens, "I didn't have a choice when I was forced to change, but I don't want to see that happen to either of you just for the sake of getting stronger. If you feel the need to do so down the line I won't stop you, but for right now, it's my plan to not have it happen. Now," Drake walked over ushering them back across the ice bridge he made, "Get some rest. Tomorrow you will be shadowing me and Sarah while we fight off whatever comes for the crystal. Also, I want you both to look for anyone else who may be turning 16 and be interested in learning under me. I want to gather people here first before I go out looking for more."

"You think anyone would be insane enough to learn from you like us..?" Landin asked.

"No, but never hurts to ask. Everyone will turn 16 at some point and I'm not so sure anyone will have a choice in joining the system or not. There are always Non-combat professions but everyone will need to fight at some point, unfortunately," Drake said, giving a solemn smile.

"Non-combat? Why didn't you mention that before?" Charlotte asked, walking onto the bridge.

"Because it's non-combat. You can't protect people if you don't fight, I'll explain more in the morning, get some sleep."

"What about you?" she asked back.

"I don't sleep. Perks of being a super non-human. Besides I need to make sure nothing disturbs you kids while you sleep," Drake grinned waving them both off, as Sah Ul' walked up next to him.

Once the teens were off Drake dropped his hands and turned to look up at Sarah.

"You're too tall," he said flatly.

"Sah Ul' is average height for Rhak tribe women," she answered with a frown.

Drake clicked his tongue.

"Alright since you are gonna follow me, might as well put you to work. Did you get a replacement weapon?"

"No, being made by tribe warsmith," she said, slightly disheartened.

Drake rubbed the back of his neck feeling responsible for destroying her weapon but he sadly didn't have much to offer in the way of weaponry that would be worthy as a replacement. But he did have quite a bountiful amount of material the warsmith could use.

"Ok, take me to them tomorrow, I have some stuff he might find useful. Until then, just stay close, I won't let anything happen to you."

Sah Ul' looked confused for a moment unsure how to respond.

Picking up on it before they left the island on the bridge, Drake raised a brow curiously, "What?"

"Never…" she began her face looking down at the ground, "Never been protected since became warrior. Don't know what to say."

Drake scoffed.

"How about thank you? If you're feeling really gracious, how about. Thank you almighty Drake for protecting the small slightly shorter, more than a little bit weaker than you, I can't express my thanks in words but I hope these small amount words of thanks suffice- OK OK! I WAS JOKING PUT YOUR TEETH AWAY!" Drake laughed holding Sah Ul' back by her shoulders as she growled at him, displaying her tusks and pearly whites.

Drake let her go taking a breath before he chuckled walking across the bridge.

"Take a joke will you or you won't last long around me," he smiled.

"Jokes are for fools and children," Sah Ul' hissed.

"Good thing I'm a man-child by definition then…" Drake mumbled, "Alright," he added, snapping his fingers, summoning another Elemental, "We'll go keep the area safe till morning. Even with the other warriors and my elementals patrolling, I'll need you to keep the munchkin safe."

The elemental responded only by traveling back over the bridge and standing next to Natto silently.

"How use such magic but so strong?" Sah Ul' asked.

"Oh did I never say? Then, we'll have to have a good conversation while we patrol."

—-----------

After crossing the bridge, Drake checked up on the tents he had set up. Making sure all of the children and adults that had come with him were as comfortable as they could be under the circumstances.

He couldn't give them everything they wanted or needed but he tried his best to accommodate them. They were still children after all. They each got large beds that he had gotten from the Gnolls and Goblins in the tutorial and all the amenities he could muster.

Once he had a chance to speak to Natto after the anchoring, he would need to discuss how the town would be built. He wasn't an architect by any stretch but he hoped someone would have a profession or he could somehow manage to find someone that survived the tutorial with the profession.

His main concern was infrastructure, fresh water, and food in the short term. But if what Natto told him was correct he would need to think about much more after and he would need people to do so.

Looking through the camp he made next to the tribe he was satisfied, making sure to keep his Aura Sense expanded to the max to make sure everything remained fine. Also, he made sure to stay in tune with his elementals that were patrolling the area with the packs of Orcs making sure none were defeated. 

With that he had a constant flow of notifications he had been ignoring. Quest updates for some of the monsters in the area which he was glad for, and some that he hadn't gotten quests for. But most had been F-Rank with a very scarce number of E-Ranks.

The entire time he had been shadowed by Sah Ul'. Her face showed how disgruntled she was about doing so, but Drake also noticed how she had become slightly more relaxed the more she saw him interact with everyone.

Suppose she's lowering her guard now that I'm not murdering and laughing… Man, I went a bit far with that Guardian… Drake sighed, remembering his personality shifting the longer the fight went on.

Finally done checking Drake made his way to the outskirts of the populated area, noticing a familiar name pop up in the line of notifications.

[The 11th Honing Crystal has been placed by Shigure Kenzo - The Sword Saint, 72 hours until completion]

Drake scoffed, "Took him long enough, 11th huh? Already 11 people have started the anchoring process."

Before Drake could continue his thought process he felt an elemental wink out of existence on the East side of the encampment forcing him to double back.

Glancing at his status he placed his points into his status, a majority of them going into his Dexterity to round it out to 600, his Intelligence to over 1000, and placing the remainder into his Endurance.

His stats once again ballooned thanks to his two-level increase and massive race and title bonuses, especially the newest ones.

[Fledgling Ruler]

You have found the fealty of the masses in your new domain granting you a newfound power in your noble oblige in protecting your subjects.

+5% to all stats. 

[One of Four]

You have thwarted the first of four major beings still remaining in your world. The being known as Thunderbird Hula Garuda - Guardian of the West was one of the Four Cardinal Beasts meant to contain the world.

+50 to all Stats.

[Slayer of the West]

You have defeated the Guardian of the West, Hula Garunda, one who is known for their wisdom and expertise in magic.

The leader of the Thunderbirds has now fallen under the might of your actions leaving a gap in its domain and the leadership of its brethren. The West now stirs.

+50 to Wisdom. (Bonus +50 to Wisdom due to solo-kill)

[Drake Wallen]

[Race: Asuran] [F-Rank]

[Profession: Miner P5(0%)[F-Rank], Jeweler P5(0%)[F-Rank]

Tutorial Alias [Shot]

[Elemental Miller] [Unique] Level 27

[Vitality] 622 (20+ 220%) 

[Strength] 762 (100 +15%) 

[Dexterity] 600 (85 + 25%) 

[Intelligence] 1050 (105+20%)

[Wisdom] 688 (30 + 220%)

[Endurance] 491 (90 + 230%)

[Free Points] 0

First Blood, Two versus One, One vs Many, Monkey Slayer, Living on the Edge, Close Call, Dead Man Walking, Dual Class, Punching Up, Improbability, Rounded, Dog Hater, One Man Army, Dog Killer. Battle of Attrition, First of Your Kind, Goblin Hater, Goblin Slayer, Murderer, Serial Killer, Vanquisher of Kings, Tutorial Forerunner, First of Many, Well on Your Way, Glory of the Patriarch, Highest Contributor, Expectations of the Host, Dawning of a Tyrant, Incectocide, Marked by Dragons, Race Change, Birthright, Vanquisher of Kings II, Exterminator, Named in the System, Dawning of a Tyrant II, Hated by Many, The Awe of Many, Bounty, First Completionist, Top 3, Top 1, Fledgling Ruler, One of Four

Once done he didn't even spare Sarah a glance knowing she would understand as he shot past her to the other side of the encampment.

His hair shifting to a bright yellow he left the area at speed leaving scorch marks on the ground.

Nothing should be able to beat my Elementals right now except…. Drake thought as he found the area abuzz.

"Man… And I thought I was done with the bugs!" Drake sighed looking at the scene.

[Muscas Insectmancer Level 31]