Vlad followed me through Ridgebrook like a shadow made of malice. Every step he took made villagers scatter into doorways, behind barrels, into animal pens—anywhere that wasn't within stabbing distance. I tried to look calm and authoritative, but deep inside I was screaming, Why did it have to be Vlad first!?
"Chief," Borrik called from the training square, not noticing the walking war crime behind me. "We're wait—"
He froze.
His eyes widened.
His soul temporarily left his body.
"What… what in the frozen hells is that?"
Vlad tilted his head politely. "Vladislav Drăculea. I enjoy discipline, loyalty, and long walks impaling traitors."
Borrik dropped his spear.
Somewhere behind us, a child burst into tears.
I clapped my hands loudly, desperate to maintain control. "Okay! Everyone breathe! This is fine! Everything is fine!"
It was not fine.
At all.
Lira moved toward us cautiously, hands shaking but jaw set with that stubborn practical courage she wore like armor. "Liam… he's dangerous."
Vlad smiled at her—an elegant, polite smile that somehow felt worse than a threat. "You have a healer's hands. Soft. Valuable." He looked at me. "Should I remove anyone who disrespects her?"
Lira almost fell over.
I raised both hands. "No removing! No stabbing! No—anything you normally do."
Vlad looked mildly disappointed.
The villagers whispered:
"Is he a demon?"
"He smells like a corpse!"
"He's too handsome to be human!"
"That's the problem!"
"Shut up, Old Merin!"
I cleared my throat and forced myself into chief-mode. "Everyone, this is Vlad. He's a warrior I… hired."
One brave idiot raised his hand. "Where did you hire him from?"
I stared at the man.
He stared back.
Vlad leaned forward. "A place far beyond your nightmares."
The man sat down immediately. I coughed. "He means… uh, the north."
"The north?" a woman squeaked.
"Yes," I lied. "Very north. Extremely north. So north it wraps back around."
The villagers nodded like this was profound.
Lira stepped beside me and whispered, "You can't keep him hidden. People are terrified."
"I'm terrified," I whispered back. "And I summoned him."
Vlad gazed around the square like a king inspecting his new territory. "You lead this village, yet the walls are weak. The men untrained. The livestock poorly guarded."
"That's why we're doing training today," I said quickly.
Vlad cracked his neck. "Good. I shall teach them discipline."
Borrik swallowed hard. "Chief… is he safe?"
"No," I admitted. "But he's on our side."
"Is that better?" Borrik whispered.
"Hopefully."
The training started badly.
Within two minutes, Vlad had disarmed half the men, knocked two unconscious, and pinned another against a fence with his boot.
"This is weakness," Vlad declared, tone disappointed. "Where are your warriors? Your champions? Even your competent farmers?"
A man cried quietly into the dirt.
"Vlad," I said carefully, stepping forward, "maybe… go easy? We're not trying to traumatize them."
"Trauma is a form of education," he said.
"That's not comforting."
Lira glared at him. "The village doesn't need… that."
Vlad studied her like she was a puzzle. "You fear death yet stand close to it. Interesting."
Lira stepped back. "I'm not afraid."
Vlad smiled. "Everyone is afraid. Even you." He glanced at me. "Even your chief."
"I'm not afraid," I lied.
Vlad raised an eyebrow.
I coughed.
"Okay, maybe a little."
He turned away, amused. "Fear sharpens men. I approve."
Halfway through the chaos, the Summoner's Ledger chimed again in my head.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[VLAD III HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY SUMMONED]
[ALL SUMMONS BEGIN AT RANK 1]
[VLAD'S GROWTH POTENTIAL: HIGH]
[NEW FUNCTION WILL UNLOCK UPON FIRST BATTLE]
I blinked.
A new function?
Already?
Of course the system would throw me new features the moment I was barely surviving my first summon.
"Liam?" Lira asked, noticing the shift in my face. "What's wrong now?"
"Nothing," I lied. "Just… brain problems."
She sighed. "You worry me."
"Join the club."
Training continued until the sun dipped low. Most of the villagers collapsed in the dirt. A child whispered to another, "If we pray hard enough maybe he'll go home."
Vlad had spent the entire afternoon beating grown adults with wooden sticks and lecturing them about spine integrity. Yet, strangely… no one died.
I would take that as a win.
As the villagers dispersed, Vlad approached me, cloak rustling like a living shadow.
"Your village is weak," he said bluntly. "But with discipline, I can shape them."
"They're farmers, not soldiers."
He smiled faintly. "Then I will make them soldiers."
Lira stepped up beside me. "Don't break them."
Vlad's expression softened—not kindly, but almost respectfully. "I do not break what belongs to my master's domain."
I opened my mouth to respond.
Then everything changed.
A distant howl echoed through the forest.
Low.
Guttural.
Wrong.
Villagers froze mid-step.
Borrik grabbed his spear. "Chief… that wasn't a normal wolf."
Lira paled. "Ranked beast."
Another howl answered.
Closer.
Hunched.
Hungry.
Vlad's smile widened.
"At last," he said. "A proper welcome."
He stepped forward, eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
I stared at him.
Then at the forest.
Then at the trembling villagers.
"Well," I muttered, "guess we're about to unlock that new system feature."
And Vlad walked into the shadows—
ready for slaughter.