A Rattling Monster

Chapter 34: Planned growth

(Harem? Did I hear harem? Where is it? Wait, why there is only my favorite ratman and a djinn nearby? Did I miss it? Where are the beautiful and full of lust creatures? You don't know but the sand dancers, the djinns that are chosen to be part of any harem are really skillful. Not to the point of some succubus, but the way their sand move is delightful. About the story? You don't want to hear more about my 3 night with)

That small exclamation shout from the prince managed to wake up the last remaining soldier stuck in fear. They promptly reorganize into a formation, ready to sacrifice their lives to protect the prince. Only after they saw the commandant lamenting on himself did they realize there was no danger. It is good for me that they didn't immediately rush toward us. I don't want to kill a djinn but I have no means of defense except kill. I need to work on that, but I don't know how to do it. While the System is great, the only thing that I ever gained by myself is the [Craftsmanship]. Maybe I should test some spells learned from games. Now that I think about it, I was only contented with my current power. I lack the ambition to improve myself. I should work on that, I still have to at least make that stupid goddess pay for what she did.

And while I kept blaming myself, the prince begins to enter a state of intense reflexion. He was thinking that only one of his proposal will be accepted, not the three at the same time. And even if the free pass doesn't really mean anything to him, both the wish for the emperor and the free pass inside the imperial facilities are huge. He could make his father accept one, but both. I can see on his fa.. no, I can't see that on his face. Why do they have this stupid tradition? How am I supposed to read the mood of my interlocutor?

"I agree with your demands. But you have to earn those."

"Ssso what are your ordersss?"

"You probably know it, but you already killed the western king, a threat that has plagued this part of the desert. Now, I want you to remove every Tomb Kings that are in the South. I will not ask you to go into the Necropolis but all the other temples have to be cleansed of the presence of the undead. Saad!"

"Present my prince!"

"Give our guest Sleek a map with the location of the outer temples and the Necropolis. And give him a Pathfinder too."

"Yes my prince!"

I really wonder what is a pathfinder. By the name of it, that should be able to help me navigate in that desert without getting lost. I really hope it's like a compass or something like that. I can see the commandant enter the barracks and after a minute return with a bag. He grabs inside it a map and gives it to me. They have created the paper and a strange looking ink. I mean, not an ink that looks like the one on Earth. But that doesn't matter. On the map, I can see a wall with the description "South Wall". So I guess I will depart from there. After that, on a third of the map, I can see different oasis but mostly desert. On the rest is depicted multiple squares with a part of the map blank. That should be the Necropolis. As expected, the closer you are from the blank space, the more you have a chance to encounter one of those squares. If I have to bet, I would say those square are the temples they are talking about.

After carefully examining the map, I watch the commandant giving me a blue scarab. He is glowing I think but. A scarab? That's the pathfinder? Or is it something else? I look toward the prince, and only after some seconds have passed did he realize that I don't understand what this means.

"Yes, I forget you are not a djinn. The Pathfinder, the thing you are currently holding, is capable of finding her husband or his wife even when hundreds of kilometers are separating them. That way, when you have finished the task, you just have to put it in your hand and he will point to this exact location."

That's a really good thing. It's like a GPS, the only problem is, he is alive. And guess what will happen when I activate my aura. One melted scarab for the first table. Even the map will be reduced to ashes. But I can't tell them that. Because they think I am able to control my power since I am not running naked. But that's because the clothes are provided by the System. I am sure that if I bought normal clothes, they will be destroyed by me. No, I have to accept it. I need to improve myself, I was lazy but not anymore. I have to at least be able to hold that scarab in my hand and not destroy it with my aura.

"Th-thank you, your highnesss. This lowly ra-ratman will take his leave now, sleek sleek. May I asssk you to provide me with an es-escort to reach the southern wall?"

"Yes, of course, I have the ideal candidate for this task. Saad, bring our guest to anywhere he wants."

"Yes, my prince!"

"My many th-thanks, your highness."

"I hope the sound of your victory will be heard quickly. If you manage to impress my father, the emperor, you can gain even more than just my promise."

So that means that the more I killed, the stronger I will be and the friendlier your people will be toward me? Who will refuse such a great thing? I depart following the commandant without even looking back. I am certain the prince will not let me leave his sight before I am on the horizon. He can even try to follow me. But before I attack the undead, I need to go in one of those oasis marked on the map and improve myself or even create new spells.

We walked for 3 days on the ramparts. Since I am charged with a mission by the second prince himself, I am allowed to walk on the walls. First of all, it's a lot quicker than on the sand. Secondly, the entire army is now learning that the ratmen exist and that a deal was made. Some are still suspicious but most are friendly toward me. The fact that I am tasked to destroy their enemies, the Tomb Kings, are clearly appreciated. But what I want to know is the reason behind those walls. They clearly don't have a big threat, apparently, the sole menace is the undead. And the army is clearly relaxed, not in a state of permanent war. So why build such big walls if no one will attack them? Better be safe than sorry but still, that should have taken a long time to build.

During this travel, many times we were stopped by other commandants. They made us wait for confirmation since they couldn't really believe what their eyes were seeing. At first, Saad was friendly and even engaged with small talks like the situation of their family, if he had tasted the new liquor from some pub. But at the third stop and afterward, he was clearly pissed about the wait. Even his authority of commandant was not enough and his pride took a big hit. And knowing the future punishment he will have, he began to be angrier. At the Second Gate of the South Wall, he even insulted the commandant that was preventing me from leaving.

I mean that was questionable, at the best. Ok, stopping us from walking on the walls, that was logical. It's an asset of the army, you can't let a stranger walk freely like that. But preventing a guest from leaving the empire? Shouldn't he be trying to make me leave as soon as possible? Why was he insisting on making me stay? In front of such a stupid situation, Saad lost his calm. But in the end, the orders from the prince arrived and I finally left the gate. Saad, gave me a letter, written by the prince, allowing me to enter the empire when my mission will be successful. I thanked him for his duty and entered the desert once again.

It took me one day to reach the oasis that I chose. There, I put all of my belonging on top of a tree, to prevent any damage to them. I walked away from that tree and, when the distance seemed enough, I stopped. There I began to think of my next move. The most important thing was the growth of my System. I tried a lot of different interaction that could be seen in games, like a quest board, a map. In the end, no matter what I tried, nothing came out. I had to resign myself with just the System I had. And since he can't improve by my will, then it is I that will improve.