Becoming a Monster

Chapter 437: Chapter 437: Four Rules

The once-tense atmosphere was now filled with stifled giggles and low, painful moans. Despite the situation they were in, the cats were unable to resist their urge to laugh at the dog’s leader. The only reason they resisted bursting with laughter was still due to the fear of arousing Noah’s anger.

Meanwhile, the dogs were filled with second-hand embarrassment. If not for the cat’s demeaning murmurings and sly smiles, they would’ve never noticed Dogs’ blunder.

’Was it wrong to want to speak plainly?’ Some dogs still couldn’t understand.

Dog, however, didn’t pay attention to the reactions behind him. He was already beginning to tell Noah his tale about everything that transpired. From what they were doing before they appeared in the forest, to the confusion of where they were, up to when they were being hunted throughout the night by monsters they had never seen before.

Noah hadn’t expected for the canine to be so long-winded.

Neither had Alexandria. Her eyes were more of disbelief than everyone else there. Yet Dog finished his story without a sense of awareness of these looks.

"Following the smell, we ended up coming here. We didn’t come here to fight. We just wanted a place that was safe. We... already lost so many." His ears flattened as the words left him.

Alexandria softly clicked her tongue in irritation. "You don’t need to spill everything at once," she muttered, though she didn’t stop him.

Confused, Dog glanced at her. "But he asked what we wanted. If we are to speak plainly, then we have to tell the truth."

She inhaled slowly through her nose, then exhaled, forcing herself to remain composed. Turning back to Noah, her tone smoothed out again.

"What he means," she said, noting that Dog left out the most important detail. "We smelled something here that was familiar to something we smelled days before. Something that was the only resemblance of the place that we knew, that alone was enough to bring us this far."

Noah had already planned to ask about the smell the moment Dog mentioned it.

There weren’t many smells that could stretch throughout the forest. There were only four smells that they could’ve traced back to here: either the smoke, the blood, the dungeon, or... his blood.

Only after Alexandria explained more did he finally pinpoint it to his blood. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense. The creatures weren’t near the forest when he set up his dungeon originally. And if the story went exactly the way Dog explained it, then they would want to go the opposite way if they smelled smoke and blood because each smell was associated with danger.

There was no reason to dwell on it further.

"Do you mean this smell?" He easily created a cut within his hand, allowing a bit of his blood, thick with mana, to surface. Instantly, not only the two leaders, but the rest of the creatures snapped towards his hand, their pupils dilated.

"Tha-Thats the smell...that’s the smell!" Dogs’ excitement stemmed more from finding the source of the smell rather than caring what it was.

Alexandria didn’t react the same way. Everything about her had frozen, but soon after, her eyes narrowed toward Noah’s face. The smell affected her, too, but she understood something far more important.

The first time they had encountered that scent back at the station, Dobby had warned her. At the time, his words had felt vague, unsettling, easy to dismiss due to how unfathomable it seemed.

What they imagined under the effects of the smell was no illusion. The evolutions, the power, and the certainty of it was all possible.

Alexandria didn’t fully understand what Dobby meant by that until now. Under such close proximity, and with a smell more potent than before, she envisioned a version of herself that didn’t maneuver through shadows, but could become the shadow itself.

During this time, she was trying to understand what Noah was. In case Dobby was right about the smell, that would mean the blood was the key to making those visions a reality.

Noah watched their reactions with quiet interest. This was going better than he expected. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the creatures would reject him now.

"If that’s the case, maybe we were fated to meet each other." Noah offhandedly replied. And under their reluctant gaze, he absorbed the blood back into himself.

A few of the dogs were more open with their feelings, visibly deflating in yearning.

Alexandria was tempted to inquire about his blood, but asking now would be improper. Not to mention it could ruin their chance to achieve the very reason they came here. However, that didn’t mean they would give up.

Instinctively, she glanced towards Ailetta. It was impossible to ignore that gaze. If she played her cards right, she felt that she could curry favor with her and, in return, gain favor with Noah through her.

This entire time, Alexandria wouldn’t know that she would still be playing into their hands.

"How about this," Noah said, drawing their focus back to him. "If you want to stay here, then you must agree to four things."

He raised four fingers.

"One, under no circumstances should you attack us or any of the creatures you see behind me in any way. If you do, you die. Don’t worry, I’ll only kill the individuals; those who aren’t involved have no reason to worry."

If the cats and dogs were barely paying attention before, their breaths now hung on every word.

"Two, I can offer you food and benefits, only if you work for it. Otherwise, you need to feed yourselves. As long as you want to go out, just let me know, and I’ll open a passage along the wall to let you go back and forth. Don’t assume you can dig under it again, that was an oversight on my part."

This time the dogs’ eyes shifted downward, many of them believed that Noah was specifically targeting them, especially Digger, whose tail was already between his legs.

"Three, that place you see there." He gestured to his home. "That place is off limits to every single one of you. Even if you need me, you ask one of them," he gestured to the others.

"It goes unsaid, but if you ignore this rule too, then... you die." At this juncture, the cats and dogs were unsure if they wanted to hear the last rule. It’s not that they thought the first three rules were unfair, but it was the casual way he spoke of their deaths that unsettled them more than the words themselves.

Even if they weren’t going to disobey the rules he set, Noah’s tone sent their minds wandering in ways that inspired more fear.

’

Their thoughts continued to spread wildly. But when they saw Noah lowering his last finger, each and every one of them stood at attention.

"And four, if you want to stay here, then you need to be prepared to defend this place like it’s your own home. If you don’t want to, that’s fine too, I’ll still allow you to live here. I won’t have you do anything you don’t want to do."

"But once you make that decision, you’ll forever be marked as someone who will never receive anything from me no matter what you do later to make up for it."

There were many there who couldn’t understand the implications of Noah’s warning. But Alexandria understood that the punishment would perhaps be worse than not being allowed to live here.

To her, what was worse than death? Regret, bitter regret. To live while watching others grow stronger. To see benefits handed out just beyond reach. To know it was all lost because of a single choice.

It would tear at her until she gave up on herself, or she would have to leave on her own initiative.

She lifted her head, already knowing her answer.

"As long as you un-"

"We accept!" Noah paused, more dumbstruck than annoyed at having been interrupted. Even Alexandria was surprised as she looked over to her side.

Dog didn’t care to overthink things. What benefits Noah implied, what would happen if they disobeyed a rule? None of that mattered.

His thoughts were simple, good work will be rewarded. There was something that all dogs had in common. Rather they were house dogs or strays. All of them desire to be called a good boy.

Even he, a dog whose owner didn’t care about him enough to be given a proper name still held that desire.

"Even though the dogs don’t speak for us, we also accept." Alexandria voiced soon after. Though she was dissatisfied that Dog took the initiative from her.

Noah studied them for a moment longer, then nodded.

"Then you’re allowed to stay," he said. "If you want to set up your own living space, use anywhere along the southern border of my territory. Far enough to give you room, close enough that I’ll notice if something goes wrong."

He turned slightly, signaling to his golems. Moments later, two corpses were dragged forward. A troll. A goblin.

The cats stared in awe. While the dogs couldn’t stop themselves from baring their fangs at the sight of the goblin.

"Consider it a welcome gift," Noah added calmly. "For becoming my neighbors."

And just like that, Noah’s territory gained more members.