The spinner slowed to a halt.
"...Mystery Slot!"
A burst of golden light erupted from the gacha interface, and I instinctively shielded my eyes.
When the glow faded, standing before me was...
A rooster?
Not just any rooster—this magnificent bastard stood nearly three feet tall with brilliant crimson and gold plumage that seemed to shimmer in the dappled forest light. Its comb was a crown of deep scarlet, and its eyes held an intelligence that made me uncomfortable.
It stared at me and I instinctively stared back.
[PFFT—BAHAHAHA! A ROOSTER! Oh my god, this is PERFECT!]
ChatZero's interface exploded with laughing emojis.
[You could've gotten a wolf! A bear! A freaking eagle! But NO—you got a CHICKEN! 🐓🤣]
"It's a rooster, not a chicken," I corrected calmly, analyzing the Rooster.
[Same difference! You're stuck in the deadliest forest on Erandor with a FARM BIRD! How are you going to survive with—]
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOOO!
The rooster's crow was so loud and earth-shatteringly powerful, that ChatZero's interface actually flickered and went silent.
The sound reverberated through the forest like a war horn.
Birds scattered from nearby trees. Somewhere in the distance, something large crashed through the underbrush, fleeing from the sound.
I stood frozen, my ears ringing.
The rooster finished its declaration of dominance, ruffled its feathers with obvious satisfaction, then began casually pecking at the ground as if nothing had happened.
[...Okay, that was actually impressive,]
ChatZero admitted grudgingly.
A translucent window materialized above the rooster's head:
SUMMON INFORMATION
Species: Gallus Rex
Rank: Initiate ★★
Age: 2 years
Trait: Territorial Lord
Loyalty: 45%
Special Ability:
[Rallying Cry]
Boosts morale and combat effectiveness of all allies within 50m radius
"Gallus Rex? Not just a normal rooster then..."
I crouched down, extending my hand slowly. Noticing this, Gallus Rex... cocked its head, regarding me with one sharp eye..
"Hey there, buddy. I'm Marfin. You and I... we're in this together and we will surely build something great, right?"
However, betraying my expectations, the rooster pecked my hand.
It was not hard enough to draw blood, but definitely hard enough to establish who was in charge.
[Loyalty: 45%] the system reminded me helpfully.
"Right. Guess I'll have to earn your respect."
I stood up, brushing dirt from my pants—pants that obviously weren't mine, which belonged to a dead sixteen-year-old boy whose memories I now carried like unwanted baggage.
Focus, Marfin. First things first.
"ChatZero, can he understand commands?"
[He's Initiate Rank Two-Star. That's one rank above you, by the way. Yes, he can understand basic instructions. Whether he'll OBEY them is another question entirely.]
I looked at the rooster...my first "citizen" of this future Village.
"Alright... Napoleon."
The rooster's head snapped up at the name.
"Yes, you. Napoleon. That's your name now."
Napoleon puffed out his chest, seemingly approving of his new designation.
[You named your rooster after a French emperor? How delightfully pretentious.]
"He's going to help me survive this forest... so might as well fancy him haha."
The plan was simple... assuming that it could escape the Restriction zone, I'd send this Rooster out there to search for water sources and if there's any found nearby... I'd expand my territory to that direction.
I knelt down again, this time keeping my hands to myself.
"Napoleon, I need your help. We need water. Can you scout the area and find..."
Before I could finish my words, my ears picked up loud noises from behind.
Curious, I turned to the source.
Between the massive trees, stood a creature which I could infer to be almost twelve feet tall, humanoid in shape but covered in bark-like skin. Moss and small mushrooms grew from its shoulders. Its face was a twisted knot of wood with two hollow eye sockets that glowed with a sickly green light.
It was undoubtedly a Forest Troll.
The name and stature was familiar to me because of the Boy's memories.
[Oh! How exciting! You're about to die for the third time! Should I start taking bets on how long you'll last or maybe get axed lol?]
This dude's still joking around, well considering it wants me dead... I wasn't surprised.
"ChatZero... what rank is that thing?" I asked pointing at the troll.
[Scanning... Initiate ★★★★. Four stars.]
Great...
I am Initiate one star. Napoleon is two stars. Even if we combine our strength, we are both still weaker than that thing by a full star rank.
The troll's mouth creaked open, revealing jagged wooden teeth.
"HUMAN... FLESH..."
Its voice sounded like breaking branches.
Which clearly terrified me, I was a writer in my previous life not a militant nor any combatant. I did write several horror fics and monsters much more terrifying than this.
However, facing one and writing one was two different things.
I did have gravity Manipulation on me...
however I don't actually know how to use it properly.
Tsk.
I could feel my legs trembling...
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOOO!
[Napoleon had used "Rallying Cry"]
[You are under the effect of "Rallying Cry"]
[All physical stats temporarily increased by 25%]
[Fear resistance +50%]
In an instant, all of my lingering fear disappeared, replacing it with uncanny calmness while my body somehow felt a little stronger.
Soon, the troll roared and charged.
Before I could form a solid plan, Napoleon had already launched himself forward like a feathered missile.
While I too instinctively followed him.
The Troll's massive hands were about to crash onto Napoleon.
"Dodge it, Pal!"
He had barely dodged the punch and I weaved through the gap and thrashed my gravity coated hand onto its face which clearly made it back away for a few steps.
"Haaa! It was surprisingly natural, the boy must've been good with gravity Manipulation" I rejoiced over my first hit after transmigration.
However, it was short lived. A vine tore through from the ground and gripped my entire body.
"Fuck!"
I should have been more careful. The vines rose to my chest as it gripped tighter by the second.
And as it was about to grip my neck, my beautiful Rooster threw itself at the vines like a missile and tore through it with its peck.
However, before it could react, several other vines erupted through the ground and smashed him toward a large tree.
My forehead bulged in rage as I gritted my teeth, "How dare you hurt my Napoleon??"
"Kneel you Moss Head!" Extending my hand toward it, I roared at the Troll.
Gravity surged on its surrounding making it kneel forcibly but still it was resisting it.
"Stay DOWN!!"
I roared again and this time the Troll was immediately subdued.
I had maintained the state like this for five to six minutes as I tended Napoleon's broken ribs with a 10 sp normal potion.
So only 10 SP remained from my starting points.
[Forest Troll Subdued]
[+50 System points added]
[+25 Exp points added]
[Congratulations Host, You have Ascended to Initiate two stars]
"That can be done?" I stared at the interface with hitched breaths.
In this world, every individual was born with specific Stars on their soul and when they are born the stars appear on different parts of their body.
Next, they decide their rank with many experiments and rank them Initiate, Adept, Elite... etc.
Once that's decided, it embedded on their soul and could not be breached till death. I, myself had a sta.....
Wait a minute...
'Where is the star in my body?'
I inspected myself thoroughly but didn't find any stars...
[What are you so shocked about Mortal? Remember, you are not from this world... which makes you an unknown entity to the rules of this world as well]
"Hmph! That sums it up... because I am an Anomaly,I am marked Starless and also have the privilege of ascending through the ladder huh?"
[That is correct]
That opens up a lot of opportunities doesn't it? And now that I think about it... it's truly strange as to how a Initiate ranked can use Gravity magic so efficiently...
Could it be... I was privileged here as well?
I'll have to deeply think about it later on... because right now I was focused on Napoleon.
It seemed his loyalty increased a lot .
[Loyalty increased: 45% → 78%]
I stared at the notification and chuckled with satisfied hum after all I was sure Napoleon now sees me as his equal because of my star rise.
"HUMAN.... FLESHH... BLOOOD!"
The subdued Forest troll groaned, its shimmering eyes fixed on me and Napoleon.
I raised one of my fingers to my mouth, "shhhhhhh"
Immediately the Forest troll shut its mouth and stopped making any noise.
"Good boy!" I praised. To think I was scared of this scaredy cat before? Just a dominance of power was enough to make it lower itself in front of its own food? How Ironic.
"What should I do with you?" I muttered, walking toward it and placing my hand against its bark-like skin.
[Requirements fulfilled.]
[Would you like to tame the Forest Troll?]
[Yes / No]
The sudden prompt nearly startled me.
Right ...I had the Beast Taming ability, didn't I?
So,
.....Should I tame it or kill it?