[System][Do you want to subordinate the orc?][Yes or no]

  Kai stood frozen, his club still raised high, his chest heaving as if the air owed him money. The blue screen floated in front of his face with the idiotic patience of a robot.

  Katherine watched him from the side, her ears drooping, her eyes fixed on him as if Kai might crumble at any moment.

  "Kai…", she whispered, clutching the fabric of his shirt with two fingers. "What's wrong?"

  Kai swallowed and slowly lowered the club, without taking his eyes off the orc's body. It was sprawled on its back, breathing heavily, with dark blood caked on its neck and jaw.

  It was alive.

  Too alive for someone who'd just taken a beating.

  He could kill it. One more blow, and done. Silence.

  But the image shifted on its own to something else.

  The orc getting up afterward. Following them. That same ughter echoing off the walls again.

  Kai clenched his jaw.

  No.

  He couldn't leave that to chance.

  Subordinate.

  It's the same thing I did with you, Kat, he thought, feeling that old knot in his stomach. Only this time… I'm choosing it.

  The screen flickered. A blue light swept over the orc's body as if measuring it with an invisible tape.

  [System][Level 4 reached][New skill obtained: Mold Minion][Information: Change once a physical attribute and one personality trait of the minion]

  Kai blinked.

  He felt warmth. The same warmth as before.

  The orc appeared in his vision with clean, indifferent data.

  [Name: ???][Species: Orc][Css: Warrior][Status: Injured]

  Kai rubbed his side with his palm.

  He looked at the orc's size.

  The enormous body. The face made for biting and ughing afterward.

  Too big.

  If I have to walk around with this thing, I'm going to look like the final boss.

  "You're too big…", he murmured, tilting his head as if evaluating a piece of furniture impossible to fit through a door. "And really ugly."

  Katherine stared at him with her mouth slightly open, not understanding who he was talking to. She just swallowed, and her tail went rigid like a stick.

  Drawing attention here meant dying quick.

  An absurd idea crossed his mind.

  What if I turn him into a woman?

  Kai pressed his lips together.

  No.

  No.

  Definitely not.

  Smaller, he thought, leaning the club on the ground as if to anchor himself. A more human height.

  The image of the orc shimmered.

  The real body on the ground did too, with an internal crack, like damp wood adjusting. The shoulders lowered. The limbs compressed. The brute mass redistributed.

  It was still an orc.

  But no longer a wardrobe on legs.

  Kai inhaled once, sizing it up.

  And the face.

  More human.

  The tusks shrank, but didn't disappear. The jaw softened. The structure didn't stop being orcish, it just stopped looking designed exclusively for ripping off cute ears.

  Now it looked like a normal person.

  With tusks.

  And clothes that would probably be too big.

  Katherine took a step back, watching the transformation as if seeing a nightmare decide that today it wants to be more presentable.

  Kai lowered his gaze to the st part.

  Personality.

  He remembered the ughter. The tone. The way the orc had looked at Katherine as if choosing merchandise.

  I don't want to bring another problem on legs.

  Make him stop being brute.

  Make him… functional.

  The screen flickered one st time.

  [Name: Ivark][Species: Orc][Css: Warrior][Status: Injured][Stats:][Strength: 20][Agility: 5]

  The blue light vanished.

  The body on the ground stirred.

  Ivark inhaled sharply, as if he'd been underwater. His fingers clenched against the stone, and he sat up with a restrained grunt, propping himself on one hand, then the other.

  He opened his eyes.

  And the first thing he did was look at Kai.

  He stayed still for a second.

  Then he lowered his head and knelt on one knee.

  "Master," he said, bowing his torso with an almost theatrical solemnity.

  Kai watched him in silence.

  Great.

  Now I have an orc.

  Ivark raised his gaze just a bit and scratched the back of his neck with two fingers.

  "Excuse me…", he murmured. "I wasn't expecting visitors, master."

  Katherine stared at him with wide eyes, her tail moving slowly behind her.

  "What… did you do to him?", she whispered, gently tugging at Kai's sleeve.

  Kai didn't respond.

  Ivark looked around.

  Then he looked at himself and frowned, tugging at the old armor he still wore.

  It was too big.

  Ridiculously big.

  As if someone had put borrowed clothes on him from his previous version.

  "Uh…", said Ivark, raising an eyebrow and looking at his loose belt. "I think… I shrank."

  Kai looked him up and down.

  No.

  You just stopped being a door.

  Kai took a step forward, shifting his weight to one leg.

  "What's this cave?", he asked without courtesy.

  Ivark thumped his chest softly with his knuckles, proud.

  "Dungeon, master. I created it a week ago. With these hands."

  Kai blinked.

  You created it?

  Ivark nodded quickly.

  "It's not a pace," he added, adjusting the armor that kept slipping like a sack. "But it's mine."

  Kai shook his head slowly.

  "Do you have minions?"

  The word tasted strange in his mouth.

  Ivark scratched his chin.

  "No. The skeletons were here before. I just… made room for them."

  He pointed backward with his thumb.

  "I made the second floor… and the third."

  Kai frowned.

  "Why the third?"

  Ivark shrugged.

  "So if an intruder comes in, they get tired, get lost, break."

  Kai let out a breath through his nose.

  Good idea.

  Ivark looked at him more closely.

  "Master… you're tired. Not on the outside. On the inside."

  Kai clenched his jaw.

  You're right.

  Ivark pointed down the hallway with two fingers.

  "There's a second room. Dry. Want to sleep there?"

  Kai hesitated for a second.

  Then he looked at Katherine.

  She was watching him, waiting for him to decide for both.

  "Yes," he said finally, rubbing his neck. "Where is it?"

  Ivark stood up without hurry.

  "This way, master."

  As he walked, the armor danced on him like a poorly fitted bell.

  Katherine followed cautiously.

  They walked down the hallway.

  Now it felt different.

  Not less dangerous.

  But inhabited.

  Ivark stopped in front of a roughly cut stone door and pced his hand on the wall.

  "I made it in case someone… ran out of strength."

  He pushed.

  The inside was small.

  But dry.

  Kai entered first and slumped against the wall.

  His body weighed on him as if every blow was collecting interest.

  Katherine closed the door behind them.

  Her ears drooped.

  Her tail went still.

  "What do we do now, Kai?", she asked, pressing her hands to her chest, and her face was surprisingly flushed.

  Kai didn't respond right away.