Clicker System 16 Hailer

From time to time, Tang Gon would see shadows of it pop out of the trees or in the bushes off in the distance. Every time he would try to approach it, the furball would just magically disappear. It was always too quick and ran away before Tang Gon had any way to react to it.

Seeing the furball once again, Tang Gon having learned his lesson, quickly summoned his Pyro Snake. The Pyro Snake following his command lunged at the furball and wrapped around it, preventing it from escaping. This time, Tang Gon was successful in capturing it.

Rus.h.i.+ng towards the Pyro Snake that held the furball in its grasp, Tang Gon quickly grabbed it afraid that it would disappear once again. This time, upon contact with Tang Gon, the furball started glowing. Before he knew it, the furball gave off a warm bright light and disappeared.

[+50 Clicker Points]

The system was starting to get on Tang Gon's nerves. The previous time was him petting it and gaining 20 some clicker points easily, but now he had to actively search and catch it. This was not getting easier for him.

The 50 plus clicker points, however, was in fact an added bonus. While this couldn't compare to the bonus clicker points he received as part of his beginner's bag, this was still a considerable amount.

[Tracker -10 Clicker Points]

Tang Gon cheerfully laughed as he watched the scout leave his sight. There was no way he was going to let the scout get away this easily.

...

The encampment was situated south of a nearby stream, right off of the leveled plain. As resource was scarce, the main camp had to essentially live off of the land. The proximity to the stream provided them the use of water and the occasional fish for meals.

Sometimes, there would be wandering animals that approached too close, giving them the opportunity to hunt them down, providing meat, lard, fur, and other items that were scarce, but high in demand.

The scout unaware of being tracked by Tang Gon and his system made his way to the main camp, prepared to show the commander of the dangers and harm Tang Gon just caused their camp when he entered the gremlin nest.

Seeing the site just over the horizon Hailer ran forward. He was finally there. It wasn't that far, but in the forest, one always needed to be careful. Careful of everything. Pitfalls, quicksand, hordes, and poisonous plants were some of the few dangers that they had to be careful of when going in. These alone claimed the lives of many of the soldiers stationed there.

As a result, the recruitment stations were open at the start of every month. The only requirement was to prove their strengths. Very little training was involved and as long as they could fight, they could join. The military structure of the empire was more profit-oriented, operating more as a mercenary guild with military structure.

Because the empire was involved in the manufacturing of ores and production, they shared a close relations.h.i.+p with merchants, traders, and dealers.

The work was dangerous, but the considerable benefits offered by the empire lured in many people. The majority of which came from poor families or were orphans that had nowhere to go. This was where most members of the lower society came to rise to the top.

As long as they survive for enough years, they could then maintain a comfortable position as a sentry or even a captain of the guards in a small town nearby. From there they would earn enough coppers and silvers to comfortably get by. There was the occasional beer on the weekends and excess splurges on holidays with extra side dishes.

The yearly campaign was a way that the current empire maintained its power. Although it was filled with gremlins and other minor hordes, there were considerable benefits to attacking and raiding the monsters. By using the monster population to its advantage, the current empire bolstered their combat force and advancements.

For one, this protected the nearby towns that lived off of mining the nearby forestry and metal veins. The second was that the army was able to collect the valuables that the Gremlins and other monsters had a habit of h.o.a.rding and stealing.

The forest was extremely dangerous and forced those to be in a constant state of caution. Hailer was just one of the many scouts recruited and sent out.

Before he knew it, Hailer was in front of the main camp.

Along the way, he heard the workers pounding the ground and constructing wooden barriers. The sounds of construction rang out with the workers busy and making sure everything was in working condition.

People watched as Hailer raced in from the gate. The majority of them kept to themselves as this was just another regular occurrence. Scouts went out every day, trying to keeping track of the events occurring in the forest and any indications of dangers coming.

Approaching the gate, he saw that there were a lot more people here today than any other day. Most of them were people he had never seen before this day. Servants, minor officials, and guards crowded the camp.

Hailer soon came to a slow walk. He kept his head low, but his ears high. As he walked, he managed to eavesdrop on a nearby conversation. Something about talks of dignitaries coming by to inspect the conditions of the camp.

Not sure whether this was the time or not, Hailer began to pace back and forth in front of the main tent. Finally deciding that it was important enough, Hailer walked in. He flashed his badge to the two guards and pushed them aside.

After walking in, he saw several high ranking officials sitting around a table. His commander was one of them, sitting there and making small talk. A servant poured drinks just as he walked in.

Seeing all the officials, Hailer felt that he was interrupting something important. By then, it was already too late to make himself small and unnoticeable. Building up his confidence and knowing the importance of what he had just recorded, Hailer quickly spoke up. "Commander, something happened in the forest! Someone disturbed the gremlin nests three miles south!"

"Insolent! Report that to your commanding officer." The commander while mild-tempered for the most part was currently tense and on edge after dealing with inspectors all morning.

Hailer seeing that the current situation was not in his favor, quickly tried to bring it out. Fumbling around in his jacket, Hailer took out the recorder and presented it to one of the attendants to appease the commander.

A minor official noticing the awkward atmosphere currently going on stood up and took the crystal from Hailer. Aware of the frowns on several other members' faces, the minor official quickly set it to play.

A scene of Tang Gon soon appeared, all covered in scratches and covered with dirt. Tattered in rags, Tang Gon looked like a lost traveler or perhaps an explorer of ruins. Both were possible a.s.sumptions of what profession he was, but the lack of supplies caused them to look down on him as someone unfit and dependent on luck.

Several seconds pa.s.sed and the officials watched the scene with little interest as Tang Gon just kept walking, doing nothing out of the ordinary. Hailer, on the other hand, was nervous and had cold sweat lined on his back. The commander kept glaring at him, thinking of what punishment should be dealt out.

A while longer, just as they were getting bored, the commander noticed that gremlins were soon appearing, stalking Tang Gon. More and more gremlins appeared. The gremlins screeched and circled Tang Gon, threatening him with their makes.h.i.+ft weapons.

"Idiot. He's just going to get torn apart."

"Another n.o.body trying to gain fame."

"There must be a good reason for him to show this to us."

"Quiet down and just watch. Just consider it to be a show."

Words of insult were hurled at Tang Gon but quickly settled down once they saw that the commander said nothing. The commander, despite remaining calm, had a migraine at the trouble this scout had just brought him. Regardless of the outcome of the video, he was going to be required to take action.

Before long, the scene of Tang Gon summoning his monsters and burning the gremlins reenacted. Summoning circles appeared around Tang Gon and flames covered everything in the video.

The sudden s.h.i.+ft of their expectations changing caused their expression to be in shock at what they had seen. While gremlins were one of the weakest monsters and it was possible for anyone to fight back, the proximity to the hordes nest could overpower anyone.

A certain level of skill regardless of strength was required to escape the gremlins, much less decimate an entire nest of gremlins. The speed that Tang Gon took out the gremlins shocked them and the array of monsters and fire caused them to be wary.