As I walked up to Alvin and Thorn, they both turned to greet me, standing a little straighter as I approached. They looked tired, their clothes torn and stained from the day's hunt, but there was a glint of pride in their eyes. Alvin, always the first to speak, smiled faintly.
"We killed eight flame hounds," he said.
I stopped walking.
Eight?
That was it?
A bitter taste rose in my mouth. My jaw clenched.
I didn't speak. I didn't have to. They could feel it. My disappointment sat in the air like a weight. Flame hounds were nothing now. I could kill more than that before breakfast. And these two—my only subjects—had spent all day and only managed eight?
I almost turned and walked away. Almost.
But then Thorn, sensing the tension, reached into the satchel slung across his shoulder.
"We also found something strange," he said quickly. "On one of the corpses. It… looked important, so we brought it back for you."
That stopped me.
He pulled out a ragged piece of paper, its edges singed and dirty, but something about it immediately caught my eye. Symbols. A faint outline of a structure. It wasn't just a drawing.
I took it from his hand and unfolded it, my eyes scanning the markings.
It was a blueprint.
My mind immediately went to the notification I'd received when the Lord's Hut upgraded—the one that unlocked the chance for monsters to drop building blueprints. I hadn't expected to see one so soon, let alone from something as basic as a flame hound.
I stared at the paper for a long moment, already thinking about what it could be. An upgrade? A new structure? Something to make the camp less pathetic? The possibilities spun through my head.
Alvin and Thorn stood there quietly, watching me.
I looked up slowly.
"They're not even a lord," I muttered under my breath, more to myself than to them. "No interface. No notifications. No concept of progression. And yet somehow… they stumbled onto this."
The absurdity of it made me want to laugh—or scream.
They were nothing without me. Summoned tools, barely human when compared to me. And yet they were still the only things I could rely on for now.
The blueprint pulsed faintly in my hand, like it was reacting to me.
They had done something right—for once.
But it wasn't enough to redeem them.
Their pace was too slow. Their kills are too few. Their usefulness was already thinning. They didn't grow like I did. No skills, no titles, no evolution. Just raw effort. A dying kind of strength.
And the moment that stopped being enough?
They'd go the same way as everything else.
I turned away from them and began walking toward the Lord's Hut, the blueprint clenched tightly in my hand.
One useful item didn't change the fact that they were still weak.
Still breakable.
But for now, I'd let them live.
This blueprint might lead to something that actually matters.
And I would be the one to use it.
Stepping into my bedroom, I let out a quiet breath and pulled the crumpled blueprint from my pouch. The day had been longer than expected, and though my body was tired, my curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to see exactly what this thing was before I called it a night.
Unfolding the blueprint, I held it in front of me. A system notification instantly appeared, hovering in front of my face.
---
[Blueprint: Basic Wall]
Effect: Teaches a builder how to construct a 2-meter wide and 5-meter tall wall using basic materials such as stone or wood.
---
I stared at the floating text, reading it twice to make sure I hadn't missed anything.
A wall. That was it.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed. With how rare blueprints seemed to be, I was expecting something more dramatic. A watchtower, maybe a mana well, or something unique. But instead, I got… a wall. Just a plain, vertical slab.
Still, after a few seconds of thought, I shook my head.
No, this wasn't useless.
Walls mattered—especially for someone like me. The only thing keeping this camp safe right now was the Lord's barrier. Once that timed protection disappeared, monsters would be able to wander in freely. And when that happened, having a solid defense wouldn't be optional—it would be necessary.
Even if this blueprint wasn't flashy, it would likely be the foundation for more. Start small, expand later.
I closed the window and slid the blueprint under the bedding near the corner of the room. I'd deal with construction later, once I had the resources and a proper builder.
Just as I was about to lie down and rest, a thought popped into my mind.
I hadn't summoned my subordinate for the day.
My eyes narrowed slightly. I had planned to upgrade the summoning portal before using it again, hoping it would unlock stronger options, but the day hadn't gone how I wanted. There wasn't enough time or materials for the upgrade now. Putting it off another day might limit my options, but it was better than skipping the summon altogether.
With a quiet sigh, I stood up again and walked out of the hut, the night air cool against my skin.
The flicker of the portal came into view, its unstable surface humming softly in the quiet night. Behind me, I could already hear Thorn and Alvin's footsteps as they followed, the two always shadowing me when something important was happening.
I glanced at them briefly but said nothing.
They didn't need orders anymore—not for something like this. They knew the routine.
I approached the portal, staring into its swirling surface. Another piece for the growing puzzle. Maybe tonight's summon would be useless… or maybe, just maybe, it'd be exactly what I needed.
Either way, I was ready.