Accidental Healer

Stacy hated watching Zortana do his work. She wanted to pull her eyes away but the moment she started to he always noticed.

"Don't even think about it." He ordered angrily, as usual.

Her eyes snapped back to the ruined body of the strange creature. Zortana already had the skin peeled back from its exposed chest and was in the process of breaking open the rib cage.

"I don't want to watch, why do you always make me watch?" She whined.

Ribs cracked and splintered to reveal the pink internal organs. She wanted to gag.

"You know why." Zortana snapped.

Stacy gulped, praying that he would at least work fast this time.

"Why keep pretending Stacy? I know you get just as excited as I do. Just enjoy the show."

"I don't! I hate it!" She protested, tears welling.

"But aren't you happy this one is joining us?"

Stacy thought about that. It would be nice to have others around, but so many others had joined them already. So far the only one who ever talked to her was Zortana though.

Stacy was worried that the others were too scared of him.

Everyone was scared of Zortana, that's why the others wouldn't talk to her even after they joined them.

She huffed like a scolded child.

"I'm not happy."

Zortana waved off her complaints. He didn't care as long as he got what he wanted.

"You know what will make me happy!" She whined again.

"Not this again…"

"What? Why can't we have him?"

"I've told you already. He won't want to join us right now, we need more before we see him again."

Since that day, the young man with brown hair was all she could think about. A wet squelch made Stacy flinch. Zortana had moved onto the next phase of his ritual.

Stacy retreated into the darkness of her mind. Wet chomping assaulted her solitude and she tried to focus on the brave young man that faced the giant monsters.

She needed him.

He'd protect her. He wouldn't be afraid of Zortana. He'd smile at her. Maybe even hold her hand.

Yes.

With him, everything would be ok.

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Gree Cek (Boretek)

Boretek sat lazily on his highback wooden throne that sat on the open air platform twenty feet above the next highest structure in his burgeoning kingdom.

As the faction leader of the Gree Cek he spent his days reveling at his kingdom being built at the hands of his subjects.

The universe was a funny place.

Boretek marveled at how quickly fortunes could change. Months ago he was sleeping in a hovel, eating scraps that he could barely afford.

He was the smallest fish in a massive sea.

But he'd always known he was destined for greater things.

People called him a fool. Everyone knew the success rates of new world dungeons. Maybe they were right, maybe he was a fool.

But this fool had not only made it out of his dungeon, but he'd successfully defeated countless waves of mana spawn, and several bouts of challengers growing stronger at every turn.

Now those same people who'd doubted him were building his kingdom.

He stood, arching backwards and opening each of his four arms wide, sucking air in through his nostrils. Months locked away in a dank cave dungeon gave him a profound appreciation for open air.

"You may approach." Boretek drawled beckoning with both his left hands.

Two of his soldiers proceeded up the stairs leading up to the throne.

The dungeon Gree Cek had been dropped into was more or less a wide open prairie. Rolling hills and tall grass stretched as far as the eye could see.

Of course, that isn't where the system had placed him. No, that would've been too easy. Instead of getting planted topside Boretek and his faction were placed deep under the rolling hills in a dark, cramped, musky cave.

It wasn't all bad though. The cave turned out to be a rich clay deposit. The very same clay that he'd used to build the pyramid where he now stood. The same clay that his slaves now used to build his kingdom.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, some of those slaves that occasionally flew too high for their own good.

Such was the case of the two human men that were lying prone at his feet.

"How high?" Boretek asked lazily.

"The right is thirty-one, and the other is thirty-nine."

Boretek raised a bushy red eyebrow. Thirty-nine was an incredible level for this early—Boretek himself had just reached level 30.

That's how fighter classes always worked though, they were just slower.

He barely spared the slaves a glance before plunging his spear through the first's heart. The kill notification lit up in the corner of his screen and he heard a strange noise from the second man a split second before his spear took him too.

Level up

Boretek didn't understand why experience worked the way that it did. He sniffed and returned to his throne leaving his soldiers—no, his subjects. To clean the remains. They would offer him anything found of value.

He felt nothing for the men. They chose a class that made them vulnerable, and thus was their fate.

He raised his status screen yet again to admire his titles gained. He was filled with a sense of pride at his many titles, but one stood out above the rest.

Savage Overlord - Your path to leadership was forged through chance and sacrifice, you weren't born into it like others. Now that your time has come you lead with an iron fist and brutality to control your subjects. +50 strength, +50 constitution.

Was he really a savage? Just reading the title again sent a shiver running down his spine. He loved it.

What he was doing was not all that different then what he'd seen done in his own world. As a matter of fact, his own brother had met the same fate as the two men just did. The system awarded experience based on overall challenge of course, but it also cared about levels. So when there weren't battles to be fought and fighters needed to grow?

Well the answer was obvious to Boretek. There would always be more crafters, and leveling them wasn't all that hard if you fed them with materials and proper equipment. Was he a bit hasty sacrificing these standouts? Maybe.

But he couldn't let his subjects outpace his growth.

Still it wouldn't be enough. His neighbor was strong, and well defended. An entire city of experience waiting for him, but he would need more power if he hoped to overwhelm them.

But the path was getting clearer each day, and with the help of his new "Allies" it wouldn't be long until the entire region belonged to the Gree Cek faction.