Madman’s Retirement

So I was also considering something to mention. 

Been considering for christmas writing a bunch of extra short stories. Dunno, maybe. I already have five I think. 

1. Fish in the imperial palace

2. Kaiju in the hollow earth

3.toku hero in the world from which the system originates

4. A farming monster follower of demeter

5. Kappa/frog maybe? 

6. Oh look, six! pet to a rich family

You might wonder where I will find the time? Well, my school ends around december 14, so I will have plenty of time afterwards to write chapters. 

Any suggestions? I'll likely stick to non human characters, given the nature of the system. 

No aliens, for worldbuilding reasons, but anything on earth within reason might be on the table. I'm not stuck to the kappa/frog or 4 or 6, so replacing those would be fine by me. 

---

Shouting could be heard at the gates to the outpost as Grant came into view, sitting on his bear as he rode, towing a cart full of victims of the goblins behind him.

Grant continued to cradle the child all the while.

Two guards came forth and greeted Grant.

"adventurer Grant" said one stiffly. "What is this?" he asked. There was one general answer, but still, it is important to ask to verify.

"I raided a goblin camp and saved a few adventurers."

The two guards shared a look as they stared at the cart full. A few was not the correct answer.

Nonetheless.

"Would you like us to take it from here?" asked the other.

"Yes, I have other things to tend to." Grant said stiffly as he walked into the outpost.

As he walked past them, the guards shared a look.

Once he was gone, one piped up.

"... A lot colder than usual. What do you think happened?"

The other shrugged, as a uncomfortable look passed through his face. He indicated at the women gathered on the cart. "You know how it is. People rarely come back in a good mood after witnessing goblin encampments." He frowned as he recalled the bundle of cloth with a face peering out. "I'm more curious about the figure in the cloth. I don't think goblins spare kids, monster or not."

The other guard shrugged as they went back to tending to their duties. They had other things to do besides gossip.

But later? Later there would be plenty of time to gossip.

---

When Grant strode into the adventurer's guild, he entered with a presence from his normal one.

He was the weird one, who acted weird, dressed weird, and was generally unknown.

Today though, he was different.

His mere presence stifled everyone nearby, as they felt suppressed before the presence of Grant.

The guild quieted down, and tensions changed. No longer was it about humans and non humans.

It was merely Grant and everybody else.

Grant strode over to the line, and the line gave way, with not even the toughest among them willing to stand in his way.

With each step, the sound of rattling chains could be heard.

His cloak like the darkest abyss,

his shining eyes peering out of the darkness,

the glowing x on his chest,

beat ever so slowly, like a living, breathing thing.

Each step he took was suffocating the room, and the guild worker felt small before his presence.

"G-grant?" she asked as she looked at the man.

Usually, Grant was an eccentric adventurer, sure, but friendly. Approachable, and the mask did not hinder his jovial nature.

Yet now that very same eccentric man felt like a monster, loaming over her.

A presence that even the guildmaster could not compare to.

"I want you to count my proof of victory." his voice rang out, for not a person dared move under this pressure.

"Y-yes!"

Hearing affirmation, Grant turned his palm downward.

It all came flooding out.

For some, this was something to pay attention to.

Grant had just demonstrated spatial magic, something few adventurers knew, and those who do, rarely revealed such a dangerous card. So why expose oneself like that?

Goblin ears, orc heads, hobgoblin bits fell on the table, and soon a pile of "proof" was in front of her.

"It's so big!" whispered one adventurer.

It was a mountain of death.

Seeing the reactions of the surrounding adventurers, he merely stated.

"I found a goblin encampment."

The guild workers worked quickly as they counted, interrupted again.

"Register this ogre as my familiar." Grant said, as he revealed an ogre child to the guild, leading to oohs and aahs, with the eyes of some filled with greed, and others filled with disapproval.

A monster child is extremely valuable, easy to influence while they're still young, and easy to force a familiar contract onto.

Who cares if they look human in the end?

They could try all they want, but they weren't human.

The nonhumans had a different thought.

True, some had similar thoughts of greed, but others were disappointed.

Grant had seemingly been in support of the non-humans this whole time, but to make one your familiar, to equate them with beasts was to essentially treat them less than slaves.

And humanoid monsters like ogres were considered nonhumans, specifically the sapient ones.

Grant could feel the stares on his back, but this was more comfortable.

Hatred, and greed.

He was far more used to this. Familiar even.

"Are you sure?" asked the guild worker, as she looked at him uncertainly, and the child in turn.

Grant said firmly. "I'm sure."

Seeing his determination, she nodded unsurely. "Alright then, I've registered the young ogre as your familiar. Is that all?"

Grant nodded. "Yes, that is enough."

With this, he turned to face the whole of the crowd.

"Did you hear that! The child is legally mine! He resides under my care!"

Grant's gaze passed through everyone there, instilling in them the fear of god.

"Heed my warning: this child is mine. If any of you even dare lay a finger, nay, even an eye upon this child, even consider touching him without my permission:

you have touched what's mine. And I will not hesitate to tear you to shreds!"

And with that, Grant disappeared from the adventurer's guild, and the presence was gone.

Even so, the guild did not return to normal for a good while, with no one noticing an adventurer quietly leaving the human side of the guild.

---

Once inside his room, Grant opened his divine realm, he waived his hand, as a house began growing, resembling a basic suburban house.

Once inside, Grant carefully laid the child down, before just sitting.

And thinking.

...

'Should I just end it? '

Grant simply pondered.

'Scrub all these church members off the face of the outpost? '

He could do it.

Just... finish them.

Kill them all, and then quietly erase them from history.

It would be easy, simple really.

Grant just sat there, pondering this though for a good few minutes after this.

No one amongst his creations dare approach him now, not with the aura he admitted. Quiet, yet overwhelmingly present.

---

'No'

That would be too quick.

Too easy

Too... painless.

He wanted to tear their plans to shreds, to watch it burn as they, ensnared in the burning house that would be their plans, as they were forced to watch helplessly as their plans collapsed upon themselves.

Every plan destroyed, reduced to nothing.

Nothing would escape his sight.

Grant came to a decision.

For that, he needed his scouts.

All the creatures he had made up to this point were nothing short of investments for the long term. Terrifying powers for him to control one day, but right now, he needed something now.

Something to scout for him, so he need not rely on his divine eye and waste his days on such foolish bugs.

To use it 24/7 was simply too... exhausting.

No, for insects, it was best to send birds to do the job.

Reaching his hand out, he began creating one of his most dangerous creatures.

Not dangerous because of their immense strength, but their great cunning, and ability to operate inconspicuously.

Their group mentality.

An evolution of crows, a creature descended of dragon lineage.

The second Grant created the first of its kind on this planet, a chain reaction would occur.

All corvids with enough dragon blood coursing through their veins would undergo a rapid evolution, awakening their dragon bloodline.

Unlike the other progenitors, whom had had to wait to slowly populate this world, with a flick of his wrist, 10 percent of all crows, ravens, and magpies would begin evolving, triggered by their dragon bloodline, mana ambient enough environments, and the new evolution available for their species, they would emerge far more than 1 million, more than enough to properly create a progenitor in its godly stage.

With a flick of his wrist, he would have over 10 million eyes worldwide.

10 million spies, and even a percent of them would be enough for his purpose.

Once he took this step, there would be no going back.

There would be no time for the planet to adjust unlike the other races he has made.

Flick

And so it began.

On that day, corvids fell from the skies in droves, as a mass evolution occurred, and all of them were brought under a unified front.

This day would go down in history, forever remembered as the black rain, and the ascension of one of the most terrifying forces on the planet.

Upon Grant's shoulder, a crow like entity began to emerge.

And yet, there were differences.

Its face had become a fierce blend of ferocious dragon and cunning crow, its face changed to closer resemble that of a wyvern, yet the beak remained.

4 horns emerged out of the head of the new progenitor, positioned similarly to the horns of a wyvern, but partially hidden behind the feathers of the creature, the horns more closely resembled a crown.

The legs were thicker than your average crows, clearly closer to the likes of a more familiar scaly beast, and despite its stance still being that of a wyvern, claws could be seen peering out of the creatures' wings.

The tail feathers had extended their reach, thanks to a more lizard like tail, obscured by the coat of feathers as well, much like many of the other features that defined a dragon.

The eyes were like that of a crow, yet the pupil had changed ever so slightly, becoming more of a slit, than the roundish eye that was the crows.

Unlike the other progenitors, who had come into life without purpose, fresh and untouched, this one was filled with purpose.

The being had burst into existence, rippling with divinity as it came into existence with well over a million of its own followers, nay, maybe even 10 million followers.

It understood what its master desired.

The master wanted control.

He wanted eyes to see for him, to track for him.

The master would have it.

"To you, I grant the name Allrhalda, for through you, I will hold all of this town under my control."

The new progenitor crooned as it felt the name emblazon upon itself, to bring new weight to its existence, a name all of the drows and dravens would remember.

And so, the hunt would begin.

---

The Drows and the Dravens are Grant's greatest tool, and it is through them that Grant sees. 

A little coincidental, considering Grant also has Odin's eye, but it is that, a coincidence. 

It just happens that corvids are some of the planets smartest, birds, capable of using tools, forming bonds with and taming wolves, and form large communities, happened to be corvids. 

Dragons are generally selfish, unsocial beings, unwilling to work in communities, and thus you'll often find they only form small enclaves, rather than large societies due to this antisocial nature. 

Dragons who've evolved from kobolds are generally better at this substantially, but it's general fact, dragons don't like working together, nor do many dragon adjacent beings.

Drows and dravens, however, have no such problem. 

As part crow, part dragon, drows and dravens are intelligent, more so than the average crow, having the intelligence of an adult human, unlike the crow with the average intelligence of a 7 year old. 

Drows and dravens, like crows and ravens, form flocks and fly together, and even fly together with crows and ravens, forming close community bonds. 

They form small packs, with 2 dravens being the head of a "coven", with the drows being the followers. 

The dravens are like the alpha's of a pack; they're basically parental figures, serving to raise and care for the drows, who in turn serve the dravens like young wolves serve the father and mother of the pack, until they evolve into dravens, or the adult form of the two, and then are driven off so they may go on to form their own coven. 

I say drive off, but it's more like a teenager being driven off so he can start his own life. 

A draven will either mate with another draven, to form their own little coven, and then begin having kids, or find crows to convert into drows. It is built into dravens who cannot find mates to merely make their own mates, by feeding this chosen mate their blood so they will evolve into a drow, and then a draven after some considerable effort. They may also poach a drow from a nearby coven, by appealing to the head of the pack. 

Unlike dragons, drows and dravens closely value their familial, connections, instinctually even, and even their evolutions will stick close to and support the pack; some of Grant's shenanigans. 

This is what makes them terrifying. 

Dravens and drows work in packs, and to attack one is to wrong them all. And like crows and cravens, that is a terrible thing

Wronging one crow brings all the birds to your yard, and causing trouble. 

Drows have the strength of a goblin, and dravens the strength of an ork. Laughable, until you realize 

A. they fly

B. They're not stupid

C. They will not come at you alone, likely bringing not only their own coven, but every coven into your yard, and every crow and raven in the nearby area. 

They won't kill you of course, if they think it too dangerous to cause that kind of trouble and ire the greater human settlements, but they will screw with you, and no sensible man will help you, for fear of pissing the whole of the flock off. 

Unless you make an appeal and beg, offer sacrifices and incense, your life will be miserable. 

And if you try to commit suicide, the drows and dravens will save you... to make your life miserable. 

The covens also form greater covens, where they will train certain dravens to rise and evolve into greater races, so that they have support should anyone to endanger them. 

As a result, even the greatest of superpowers avoid pissing off drows and dravens, because their covens now have so many higher monsters amongst their flocks that even disaster level monsters and kaiju number amongst their kind. 

They encountered the kaiju raven queen at some point, and who now wholly supports their kind, which has bolstered their status to the likes of even the greatest of sects, if the disaster level raven monsters amongst them 

The drows and dravens, without doubt, are some of Grant's most dangerous cards, because not only does no one dare to touch them, but they see nearly everything on the planet, and this knowledge travels to their progenitor, who then alerts their master: Grant. 

Truly, the world in the palm of his hand.

-Flamel

Author's note:

Allr- all

Halda: hold

words are meant to be in old norse based off some basic research. 

I went through a few ideas, like using the demon crow, or Odin's old name of One eye, but in the end, decided not to use mythical names due to the rule of this world, where naming him after a demon would be dangerous