Chapter 21: Lair of the Nightmare Hounds

After that little episode, I started searching for the best place to build the Nightmare Hound lair through the Crystal that I had in my hand.

It was still heavy but I had no option as the only powerful warrior in terms of brute strength in my group couldn't even lift his own club properly and It was lighter than the crystal in my hand.

Lily and Lilith both were weak in terms of physical strength while Goblin was even weaker than me while I was a tier-0 lord in terms of physical strength. Both succubi were masters of playing with illusions while Goblin was a thief with proficiency in speed.

Now I think about it... I was already the second strongest person in terms of physical strength in my territory.

This didn't make me glad or smug at all because any of the above-mentioned could make me eat dirt with one move if we really fought against each other.

Orc could just overpower me with his raw strength. Lilith and Lily didn't even need to move from their position before trapping me into endless illusions.

Goblin just needed a weapon, a dagger on himself before slashing my throat with his speed.

I could utilize the skills that I had obtained from the succubus but I didn't have a proper channel to utilize the SF accumulated in my body till now for Deceitful charm. Housemaster was something else as I was able to increase my proficiency to 1% by helping mom at the house by doing household chores.

Housemaster was OP SKILL if I had to say and could aid me in battling those monsters. The only problem with it right now was I wasn't proficient in the skill to be able to use it like Lilith and Lily could.

I had tried using the skill I obtained from House Master once...

Oh... Boy.!!! It was not something I would love to remember.!!

I wasn't even able to inflict serious damage on the hide of Tier-0 Nightmare Hound by using Nightmare Fang WHEN... It was inside the illusion.

I then tried destroying its mind by impaling my dagger through one of its eyes but my hand trembled like crazy. I had to force myself and needed a little aid from Lily to kill the monster before puking everything I had eaten yesterday.

That is also the problem faced by many lords who hail from normal families like me.

I didn't have to fight for any resources as I belonged to a normal family, only having access to normal items that lords disdain.  The only items related to lords that I had even been provided by my family were two khukuris used by my maids right now. Even having these items purchased for me was more than enough to make me feel emotional and determined to work hard.

These items were only able to provide tier-0 lords like me with some form of protection for some time.

I also didn't have to prove my worth to anyone from my family in order to be nurtured by the family.

" Hell... My parents would have given me anything they could access to as their status of a normal citizen if I had asked them."

The children raised by top-tier families were ruthless and cunning and the most important point, almost everyone had their hands soaked in the blood of their competitors that competed for the resources.

They didn't even hesitate while killing their own family members for resources.

THOSE MEMBERS WERE FREAKING PEOPLE!!! Just like you and me.

Those that didn't even flinch while killing their own kin wouldn't even think killing monsters was anything and here I was pucking everything after getting my hands soaked with blood from the monster that was killed by Lily while holding my hand.

< You have to get used to killing if you want to become a powerful lord in the future.>

She was smiling at me with her hands clasping tightly over my hands holding a dagger before,

Squelch...

The Nightmare Hound in front of me was killed by destroying its brain.

Now back to where we were.....

I had decided the spot where the Nightmare Hounds Den would be residing within my territory.

It was going to be on the northern side of my lord's castle, just beside the plot of farms I was going to cultivate when I had enough SF points after some time.

The Hounds would be responsible for protecting the farmland while also patrolling the whole territory and protecting from any attacks from the monsters once the spatial screen vanished into thin air after 12 days.

Woosh.....

Just as I had instilled the pitch-black crystal in the ground, the SF within the area got concentrated over the crystal forming the silhouette of the big Nightmare Hound that roared toward the sky before penetrating into the ground. It looked amazing though.

The pitch black miasma shrowded the area with the crystal being the center. The ground began to alleviate forming a lair that looked like an opened maw of the Nightmare Hound from earlier.

There were two glowing orbs floating above the cave, transforming into two miniature versions of the Nightmare Hound that growled at each other with hostility.

[ Nightmare Hound lair: The origin of the Nightmare Hounds, one of the topmost predators residing inside the Greyvile forest. Guarded by commander-level Nightmare Hound. Can spawn two initial tier-0 Nightmare Hounds every day. The Nightmare Hounds would be loyal to the lord of the territory. ]

Once the lair was built, the two insignias belonging to the elite-ranked Hound and the commander-ranked Hound, flickering with several runes floated in front of the two glowing orbs above the lair. The two insignias that were floating in front of the orbs were flickering with excitement as they returned to their home after a long time, well not so long time if I had to say.

The two insignias swiftly penetrated the orb, excited roars could be heard from the two orbs floating above the lair.

[ Beep... Nightmare Hound Lair was successfully built. Lord can now summon two Nightmare Hounds every day without any SF points.]

[ Would you like to summon two Nightmare Hounds??]

"Summon them.."

There wasn't any reason for me to decline the chance to increase the number of combatants in my territory.

Two resounding roars filled with excitement could be heard from within the Lair before the Nightmare Hounds presented themselves in front of me.

[ Nightmare Hound]

[Rank: Soldier]

[Attribute: Dark]

[Strength: Tier-0(initial)]

[Loyalty: 90]

[Description: Common monster found within the Greyvile forest, one of the deadliest areas within the Azaroth Planet. It is best known for its ability to assassin opponents over its strength within the forest.]

[Would you like to utilize the Elite-rank insignia to upgrade the rank of the Nghtmare hound in front of you?]

[Yes/No]

[Would you like to utilize the Commander-rank insignia to upgrade the rank of the Nghtmare hound in front of you?]

[Yes/No]

The two Nightmare Hounds standing obediently in front of me had a ferocious wild aura encompassing them. I was even prompted by the system to upgrade the rank of the hounds by utilizing the insignias that just entered the orbs over the lair.

"Growl... Roar.."

The orbs were threatening me by growling at me when I got the message from the system. They were trying to intimidate me by barring their sharp fangs towards me.

Well, I wasn't interested in upgrading the ranks of the hounds for now so I focused my attention towards the newly summoned Hounds in front of me.

The two newly summoned hounds were completely blended into the darkness of the shadow formed by the lair above them, totally demonstrating their ability as dark attributed monsters that were best at assassinations.

The only trait that gave away their presence within the shadow was their gray eyes which were like two little fireflies, flickering from time to time.

Although they were now part of my territory, were faithful to me, and responded to my orders, they weren't rational beings and would perform every activity except those I had specifically ordered them to perform based on their instincts.

I was going to use them as deterrence against any other low-tier monsters roaming inside the forest once the spatial screen dissipated after 12 days.