Chapter 12: Daily Routine
Stone Ravine — 1 Month Later
Theo sat lazily on the edge of a cliff, one leg hanging over the drop as the wind drifted past him. From up here, the entire village was visible below, small, scattered, and busy in a way that almost looked organized if you didn’t stare too hard.
In front of him, his system window floated open as he scrolled through it with a half-interested expression.
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[ CONTROLLED TERRITORY ]
Numbers : 1
Populations : 127
Stability : Fractured Balance
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“Sigh… I was super excited when I saw this,” Theo muttered.
He tapped on the section, and the display shifted.
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[ PASSIVE EFFECT – FRAGMENTED TAXATION ]
All individuals within controlled territory contribute a portion of their earned experience.
Current Rate : 0.25%
Scope : All registered inhabitants
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“Fragmented taxation…” he murmured, eyes narrowing slightly. “So that’s why my personal growth’s so stunted compared to everyone else.”
He leaned back a little, staring at the numbers as if they might change out of sheer irritation.
“Because I can siphon EXP from other people… but still…”
His hand slowly curled into a fist then tightened.
“Why the hell is it 0.25%?!” he snapped, jabbing a finger at the screen. “You never wanted me to get the good stuff, did you?!”
He pointed at the window angrily.
“What are you, a banker or something?!” he went on, voice rising. “You got a thing for fractions?!”
He tapped the interface again, harder this time.
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[ GENERAL INFORMATION ]
Name : Theo Poliznev
Title : Village Vice-Chief
Class : Necromancer
Level : 1
EXP : 352 / 1000
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[ CORE STATS ]
HP : 100 / 100
MP : 70 / 70
Stamina : 60 / 60
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“And look at this!” he continued, gesturing wildly at the numbers. “What kind of EXP gain is that?! One hundred twenty-seven people feeding into me and it still doesn’t do shit!”
He kept going, fully committed to arguing with a silent interface—
—and completely failed to notice David approaching from behind.
“Oh? You tryin’ to talk to your god, boss?” David said casually. “Heard it works better if you do it in front of a burnin’ bush.”
Theo stopped mid-rant and turned his head slowly.
“…Sigh. You wouldn’t understand,” he said, the fight draining out of him just as quickly as it had come. “So how was it?”
“It’s about to start, boss,” David replied, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
---
A moment later, Theo and David stood with a group of scavenger men along another section of the cliff.
Together, they looked down. Below them, several scavengers were in the middle of lowering a man tied securely with ropes. He dangled awkwardly in the air, being guided downward with careful coordination.
At the bottom of the ravine, a single demon hound waited alone. Trapped within a confined space, boxed in by sheer cliff walls and the massive rubble barrier they had created weeks earlier.
The demon hound didn’t move. It simply stood there, watching. Its eyes remained locked on the terrified scavenger being lowered toward it, following every inch of his descent with quiet, patient focus.
The man hung stiffly in the air, rope creaking above him as his friends carefully guided him down. Closer and lower. Still, the hound didn’t react.
Only when the man’s feet finally touched the ground did the tension shift. He swallowed, clutching the pile of fresh meat in his arms, then began to move, slowly, carefully, as if any sudden motion might snap whatever fragile understanding existed between him and the beast.
Step by step, he approached. Then he crouched and placed the meat down on the ground.
He didn’t turn his back, he didn’t run. He simply stepped backward, one careful step at a time, never breaking eye contact.
The demon hound’s gaze dropped to the offering.
A brief pause.
“…Go,” the scavenger said, his voice tight but steady.
Only then did the hound move. It stepped forward and began eating.
Its tail wagged. Not subtly either, it swayed with visible enthusiasm as it tore into the meat, fully absorbed in the meal now laid before it.
Above, a collective breath was released. The man’s shoulders dropped as relief washed over him, a shaky smile spreading across his face as the rope tightened again and began pulling him back up. Further from danger and finally safe.
“Yeaaaahhh!” the scavengers cheered as he reached the top.
They crowded around him immediately, hands landing on his shoulders and back in congratulatory pats.
“Great job!” Theo said as he stepped forward, wearing a warm, almost angelic smile. “You did it.”
“Ah, thanks, Vice-Chief,” the man replied, scratching the back of his head, clearly embarrassed despite the grin on his face. “Finally got this one to listen.”
“Well then,” David cut in lightly, his tone carrying a hint of amusement, “reckon that means you’ll be feelin’ real confident about tryin’ the alpha next?”
“Eh?” the man froze. His expression slowly darkened.
The celebration died instantly. Around him, the congratulatory pats shifted in tone. What had been enthusiastic encouragement just moments ago turned into something… more solemn.
His friends gave another pats to his shoulder. The kind of pats people gave when they weren’t expecting to see you again.
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“GYAAAAAHHH!! PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!”
The same man who had been basking in praise minutes ago was now screaming at the top of his lungs as he dangled midair.
Below him, the alpha waited. Unlike the previous hound, this one showed no hesitation. No patience. No interest in negotiation.
“RRRGH!”
It leapt. Its jaws snapped shut just short of the man’s legs, missing by mere centimeters as he was yanked upward in a panicked scramble.
The man let out another strangled scream, and promptly fainted.
Even as his unconscious body was hauled up by his friends, the alpha continued to pace below, agitated and restless, its attention fixed upward.
“Welp,” David said calmly as he watched from beside Theo, “gonna take a fair bit longer with that one, I reckon.”
“Yeah…” Theo exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Guess it’s not that easy with the alpha.”
Theo’s gaze drifted across the ravine. It wasn’t just one or two hounds. Below them, in different sections carved out by rubble and terrain, several demon hounds could be seen, each isolated, each trapped within their own confined spaces.
Over the past month, the scavengers hadn’t been idle. They had been methodically, patiently, and systematically separating the pack one by one. Good thing they had enough stocks of blowdarts with powerful sedatives.
Since most of them were too weak to actually kill a demon hound and somehow the hounds had more value alive, Theo had come up with a different approach. Rather than eliminate them… They should tame them. Well, “tame” might have been a generous word, actually Theo said “own” them back then.
Still, Theo had watched more than enough episodes of Caesar Milan’s dog whisperer show back on Earth to convince himself this was at least possible. And with David around—someone who had actual experience dealing with wolves and hunting dogs—it didn’t sound completely insane. Just mostly.
Of course, the most dangerous part of the process… was assigned to the weakest members of the scavenger tribe. Theo had explained it in a way that sounded almost reasonable. If the demon hounds learned that humans were easily frightened, they would grow used to that dynamic. Over time, they might associate humans with food rather than resistance, and their behavior would become more manageable. That was the explanation, anyway.
The real reason was much simpler: The weakest tribe members were the most expendable.
“Well, at least after a month, we got the weakest one to listen, boss,” David said, watching the earlier hound continue eating its meal without aggression. “Reckon that’s a solid bit of progress.”
Theo gave a small nod.
“Anyway,” David added, shifting his attention toward another section of the ravine, “time for some punishment.”
“Alright,” Theo replied, rolling up the sleeves of his robe.
The two of them stepped forward to the edge of the cliff overlooking the alpha’s enclosure. Around them, several scavengers moved into position as well, bows in hand.
David raised one hand.
The signal was immediate. Men drew their bows in unison, tension building in the air as bowstrings pulled taut. Beside them, Theo lifted his palm, aiming downward at the alpha.
For a brief moment, everything held still. Then David dropped his hand, signaling the attack to began.
A volley of arrows cut through the air.
Whoosh.
They struck around the alpha, some glancing off, others biting just enough to draw a reaction.
The beast yelped, twisting and shifting as it tried to evade, but the confined space worked against it. There was nowhere to properly run, nowhere to escape the barrage completely.
At the same time, Theo released his magic. Fireballs formed and launched in quick succession, arcing downward and bursting against the alpha’s body, most of them landing around its head.
“I gotta say, boss,” David remarked with a low whistle, “your aim’s gettin’ better by the day.”
“Well, it’s the least I can do,” Theo replied, continuing to fire without pause. “Not like it’s actually hurting her. At best, it just scares her with the blast.”
And that was true. None of this was meant to kill. The demon hounds’ hide was far too tough for ordinary arrows to penetrate deeply, and Theo’s firepower was still too weak to do real damage.
But the arrows still stung, and the fireballs—while not lethal—delivered bursts of heat, light, and impact that kept the alpha constantly on edge.
It wasn’t about injury, it was about conditioning. At the same time, the scavengers who weren’t armed with bows stepped forward and began shouting, banging, and making as much noise as they could.
The cliffside filled with sound. Pressure. Relentless, controlled harassment directed at a single target. This was part of the demon hound taming program.
A pattern training. Simple, repetitive, and—most importantly—consistent. If you behaved, you ate. If you tried to attack the one bringing you food, then there would be no reward. Only discomfort. Pain. Noise. Heat. Confusion.
Over time, the pattern would settle in. At least, that was the idea. It was how dogs were handled back on Earth, more or less. Whether demon hounds would follow the same rules… that remained to be seen.
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Scavenger’s Village
By the time they finished the day’s training, the sun had already begun its slow descent. Theo, David, and the rest of the men made their way back toward the village, their pace noticeably more relaxed now that the work was done.
From a distance, it still looked like what anyone would expect from a nomadic settlement, clusters of oversized tipi tents, arranged loosely across the land. But up close… Things had changed. Subtly, deliberately, and very much not by accident.
But because Theo ordered them to.
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Ancient Roman Washed Their Clothes
Bimbanana's History Class:
Wood ash, the original cleaning agent and precursor to modern soap, has been used by civilizations since at least 2800 BCE.
Originally a waste product from cooking fires, it became a foundational chemical for hygiene (the key ingredient in "lye") until it was eventually displaced by mass-produced synthetic detergents during the Industrial Revolution.