I Hate Systems

Bang!

There was a muffled sound as the egg cracked before shattering. The eggshell shards splashed around before pausing mysteriously as they were sucked back to the thumb-sized entity that crawled out of the host's mouth.

The eggshell shards flew towards it, latching onto its body at various locations, turning into an armour of sorts that protected all its vital locations. Some of them dissolved like water, forming a coating over the forearm of the wings, making them stronger.

Chirp!

Larna stared in a daze before shaking her head, muttering in shock, "What…just happened?"

The tiny creature had now turned still. Before, the moment it hatched, Larna felt her consciousness getting sucked into the creature. And it was in that state did she instinctively suck in the exploding eggshell shards and formed a coating over the creature's body with them.

Immediately after that, her consciousness returned to her body as the creature turned still. It was now her Invoked Spirit as Larna was able to feel a mysterious space in her body, "Is this my…Dreamland?"

Fenn stared at the thumb-sized Invoked Spirit, muttering in relief, "Thankfully, it inherited all the traits of my Invoked Spirit. There wouldn't be any issues after this."

"I'm feeling a bit dizzy," Larna said, controlling herself from fainting as she stared at her Invoked Spirit.

"You've just become an Invoker. So, it took a toll on your Mental Strength. You'll recover after a good night's rest." Fenn pointed at the remaining captives, "Once you've recovered, I'll teach you the ways to kill people and absorb their Mental Fragments."

"I feel a bit averse to killing people." Larna massaged her forehead, "Is it not possible to rear some eagles?"

"Sorry, but it's impossible." Fenn shook his head, "Getting our hands on the eagles is difficult for the time being. I didn't bring them with me as I felt hunting humans would be enough."

"If you are averse to killing them, you can always hunt down the criminals." Fenn said, "they are beneath humans, after all."

"You're right," Larna nodded, calm about the entire ordeal. After all, she didn't even flinch when Fenn killed so many people before her eyes for the entire day. Their village had a bloody history as the people there didn't originally belong to the region.

They were driven out from another region after having lost a conflict at the end of which a natural disaster struck them, leaving them with no other choice but to migrate. It had been a century after that as the villagers of the current generation were already accustomed to this life, having been born and brought up here.

Though, they still had plenty of run-ins with bandits that wished to take over their village and set up base there. So, even Larna had her fair share of blood. That was why they attacked Fenn too.

Of course, the other party was just too strong for them to do anything, ending up surrendering in the end.

"Why…have you come to our village?" Larna asked once she recovered a little, "What's your plan from now on?"

"The same as what I did to you." Fenn said truthfully, "I wish to create a powerful Clan here. I'm pretty ambitious, you see."

"So, this Clan would consist of you and your eight wives, right?" Larna said, "That might make things difficult between us and the villagers. You've already seen the scorn in their eyes. They might deal with us in the end."

She continued, "Everyone here is an expert in using poison for assassination. I already feel like their patience is waning thin while having endured your presence for a month now."

"You haven't exactly treated them with respect, you see." She gave her warning.

"I understand," Fenn reflected on his actions, asking her honestly, "What do you propose to make things better? I want to focus on our growth and not deal with all these issues."

"Then, leave these issues to me." Larna said, "Just give me the full authority. I'll handle everyone and ensure there are no problems."

'Wow, look at her. She's ambitious, alright.' Fenn laughed as he patted her, "Alright, do as you like. But, don't spend too much of your time on this. I want you to become an Ascender with me."

"Got it," Larna smiled, heading back to their house with Fenn as thoughts clashed in her head. Her status in the village wasn't much before Fenn arrived, and hence, she intended to ensure she would remain at the top of the chain here.

After all, it would be a lie to say she wasn't excited to hear Fenn's ambition, especially since based on what he said, Ascenders were able to live for centuries. She of course wanted to live so long and experience everything this world had to offer.

Moreover, even though she didn't have much experience, she could feel one thing, and that was the fact that her Invoked Spirit was strong. She was confident in defeating Fenn's eagle from before once she became a Superior Invoker.

Even though the eagle was strong, the mutated Invoked Spirit was way stronger, especially since it could create tools to wield, 'But, the resources required for it is expensive, especially since just to incubate the egg, around a hundred human lives were consumed. The number required to become a Superior Invoker would be in the thousands.'

'This isn't a figure that could be gathered easily, unless we have the help of the entire village…' Her thoughts halted at this point as her eyes lit up in surprise. She patted Fenn in a hurry before whispering, "I got it!"

"What?" Fenn stared at her, curious to see what she was thinking about.

"We'll just advertise your powers." Larna said, "That will give the villagers enough incentive to follow your orders, just to obtain that power for themselves. After all, we need a consistent stream of people for the long term, so we too should play the long game. We'll give them an option."

"An option for their children to marry your descendants and obtain the power into their families." Larna said, "We'll need to do that anyway once our children grow up. We'll just incentivise that process to make the villagers work for us naturally. This would shift their ideology from wanting to get rid of you to wanting to gain your power for their children."

"Brilliant!" Fenn flashed a thumbs up upon seeing that Larna still had a lot more to say, having thought of multiple micro-management to ensure the village worked towards their goal, "As expected, you're pretty smart."

"By the way," She expressed curiosity, "Since this is a new type, what's our Invoked Spirit called?"

"I've thought of a name already," Fenn smiled, "It's the God of the Skies, Garuda."