It was getting dark as I rode out to the next location. Although the enemies were more difficult at night, I felt like they were still within my ability. I suspected that the level was a bit more for the monsters around here since this area was closer to the capital than the area before. I was on the back of a real horse this time, taken from the stables of the demons, although this horse was created by a dungeon, so was it technically a demonic horse? If it was, it had no physical differences from a real horse. It didn’t have red eyes and didn’t breathe out dark miasma or something. It just looked like a horse.

I had to slow to a stop as a large hulking ogre stepped out in front of me. I snorted derisively and began summoning a fireball. It stared at me dumbly as if it didn’t process I was attacking it, and only lifted its club as the fireball left my fingertips. It let out a roar as flames consumed it. I scratched my chin as I saw it erupt in flame, new ideas coming to me.

Even though I had hit it with the fireball, the ogre still wasn’t dead, and it began to throw its club around wildly, striking the trees and ground wildly. This time, I switched my jobs and instead attacked it with Monster Tamer skills. First, I weakened it, and then I began to attack it mentally.

{The ogre has been tamed as your monster.}

I nodded to myself. This was much easier to do with all of my skills available. I still contemplated being able to tame a tiger without those skills. Using my White Mage job, I healed the ogre back up and then gave him an order to fetch me other monsters. I considered using the aphrodisiac, but I worried it’d be too much for me to handle. Instead, I sat back and waited for the ogre to come back. He returned holding some kind of smelly mass of slime. I used Monster Identification to find out it was called a Bog Mangler.

With the ogre holding it, I managed to get it tamed as well. Then, I ordered the ogre out again. Another ten minutes and he came back with what looked like a goblin. This one was extremely easy to tame. The second he saw the ogre following me, he became tame. I sent them both out, the goblin came back with a dozen other goblins, while the ogre came being chased by a giant.

The ogre was significantly damaged, and I lost half of the goblins and the Mangler, but we managed to subdue the giant. I healed the giant, ogre, and goblins up, and then sent them out again. Like this, I spent about ten hours sending them out to fetch enemies and bring them back. The bigger mobs brought back smaller mobs, or sometimes a group of goblins would attract something larger. When it was all said and done, I had a giant, 10 ogres, 30 goblins, eight large cats, and a colony of pixies.

The pixies didn’t seem to have too much combat potential, and they mostly spent their time messing with the goblins. However, they were distracting, at least, and they listened to my commands, so that was enough.

“Onwards!” I gestured with my sword, leading my small army toward the next fort.