I had awakened from my slumber long before the first hint of dawn appeared.
I hadn't slept properly the night before.
The anticipation of what would happen when Napoleon's loyalty reached 100% had kept me awake through every silent hour of the night.
I knew his morning crow would fill the final 1% remaining.
After all, he loved doing it every single morning.
"My rooster. My first citizen. My alarm clock. Crow already," I muttered in anticipation.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
"Fuck!"
I stood up from my bed, walked out of the house, and sat on the Chief's doorstep with my knees drawn up, waiting.
The crow never came.
I looked up at the highest point of my humble abode and shouted, "Crow, you damn chicken!"
Napoleon didn't react.
Maybe he was still sleeping.
Soon, the sky began to lighten at its eastern edge.
First grey. Then the faintest trace of gold. And just as the morning sunlight touched the borders of my territory—
"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOOO!!"
Napoleon crowed.
The sound erupted from the rooftop like a declaration of war.
And there he stood above me—feathers blazing crimson and gold in the first true light of morning, his comb a crown of deep scarlet, chest puffed to its absolute limit.
He looked down at me, almost majestic.
[Loyalty: 99% -> 100%]
The notification appeared immediately after. Unlike the many times before when I dismissed it without a second thought, this time I stared at it.
And it changed almost instantly.
[Host, Summoned Beast Napoleon has reached maximum Loyalty.]
[Soulbound Ability: Writer's POV has evolved a new application.]
[New Function Unlocked — Complete Comprehension]
Excited, I immediately opened the details and skimmed through the flashy description.
In short, Writer's POV: Complete Comprehension was an ability that allowed me to feel every ounce of emotion my tamed beasts experienced. More importantly, it enabled me to nearly merge my consciousness with theirs.
Complete Comprehension was a fitting name.
Let's test it.
"Writer's POV: Complete Comprehension, activate," I muttered softly.
My vision blurred for a brief moment.
Then I saw the towering trees from a height impossible for me to reach.
My neck moved without my consent.
I could only watch.
And when it turned to its furthest angle, I saw....
Me.
I was standing below with a blank expression.
That single detail made me realize immediately.
I was seeing through Napoleon's eyes.
No wonder I felt smug. Amused.
As if I wanted to open my mouth and yell, How did you like today's crow? Louder than ever, wasn't it? Kehehehe.
The intrusive thought baffled me.
[Stamina: 100%... 90%... 80%... 71%...]
Damn. It consumed a lot of stamina—which was understandable.
I immediately tried to deactivate the ability, and thankfully, it responded. Unlike Writer's POV: Omniscient View.
"Huff… huff…"
It took a toll on my mental stability as well.
"But still… that's quite the ability I got. Huhu."
[Beast Taming Ability — Advanced Functions Unlocked]
[New Ability: Shared Instinct]
My eyes locked onto the newest notification.
It seemed that reaching 100% loyalty had unlocked yet another ability.
Without hesitation, I opened the details and skimmed through them.
Shared Instinct allowed me to use one active ability of any beast that had reached maximum loyalty.
It also specified differences in cooldown depending on the grade of the borrowed ability.
Even so, this was insane.
Imagine using—
Napoleon's Rallying Cry.
Timber's Vine Manipulation.
Pride's Flame Breath.
How much more overpowered could that be?
I really needed to test it.
Before I could, however, Kaira emerged from the house, blinking in the early light with the expression of someone who had accepted the morning and chosen dignity over complaint.
Aldric followed, already composed.
Breakfast was leftover Ribichoso from the previous night's fire, reheated over fresh flames. Timber had drawn water from the well before any of us had asked. Napoleon supervised the meal from his preferred position near the fire, occasionally stealing glances at my food with the confidence of someone who believed this entirely reasonable.
I delivered the Sprite's portion to the cave entrance as I did every morning.
This time, she sat closer to the entrance than yesterday—close enough that the morning light touched the edge of her grey-green skin, and the tips of her amber eyes caught the glow before she looked away.
I said nothing about the distance.
I set the food down and sat beside her for a few minutes in our usual silence.
When I stood to leave, she spoke.
"…Lys."
I paused.
"My name," she said without looking at me, her voice barely above the cave's quiet stillness. "It's Lys."
I studied her for a moment.
Then I nodded.
"Good name."
I left before she could regret saying it.
Back in the clearing, I gathered the team.
"Today, we plant."
The cleared farmland stretched across the northeastern quadrant in rich, dark silence—waiting, as Timber had always insisted it was. Centuries of accumulated swamp fertility lay compressed into soil that practically hummed with potential.
I opened the system shop and began purchasing seeds.
The store had expanded its inventory after the territory expansion—not dramatically, but noticeably.
[System Shop Lv.1 — Current Seed Inventory:]
Rice Seedlings x50 — 5 SP
Wheat Seeds x100 — 8 SP (New)
Root Vegetables (Mixed) x80 — 6 SP (New)
Leafy Greens x60 — 4 SP (New)
Medicinal Herb Seeds x30 — 12 SP (Rare)
[SP: 2,757]
I purchased everything.
[SP deducted: 35]
[SP: 2,722]
Flasks and seed packets materialized at my feet in quick succession.
"Timber, can you sense what this soil needs? What suits it best?"
Timber crouched and pressed both palms against the earth, eyes closing. His vines threaded downward, reading layers I couldn't access.
"Wheat in the center," he said finally. "Roots to the west—drier there, good drainage from the channels. Greens near the well—easy water. Herbs…" He paused longer. "North edge. Near the Sprite's cave. The soil there carries old nature energy. Makes herbs stronger."
I looked at him.
"How do you know all this?"
Timber met my gaze with hollow, green-glowing eyes.
"Timber is a Forest Troll," he said simply. "Timber knows soil."
Fair enough.
We divided the land and began.
Kaira handled the wheat. Her strength turned furrow-digging into a task of minutes rather than hours, her rows clean and precise despite claiming no farming experience. Either she had paid more attention during those warehouse visits than she let on, or Elite six-star physical empowerment extended to agricultural competence.
I chose not to question it.
Aldric worked the root vegetables without complaint, his swordsman's precision translating unexpectedly well into careful seed placement. He knelt in the dirt with the same focus he gave his blade—each seed placed, not dropped.
Timber guided the leafy greens near the well, his vines weaving a gentle micro-irrigation network that would draw water as needed.
I handled the medicinal herbs myself—carefully, deliberately—pressing each seed into the north-edge soil with the awareness that Timber had identified something rare there, and I had no intention of wasting it.
Napoleon supervised the entire operation from a rotating series of vantage points, crowing whenever he felt standards were slipping—which was often.
By midday, all five crop types were in the ground.
[Achievement Unlocked: "The Farmer's Intent"]
[+25 SP]
[Crop Registry Updated:]
Rice: Day 0 of 25–30
Wheat: Day 0 of 20–25
Root Vegetables: Day 0 of 15–20
Leafy Greens: Day 0 of 10–14 (Fastest Growing)
Medicinal Herbs: Day 0 of 30–35 (Slowest, Highest Value)
I studied the registry with quiet satisfaction.
Leafy greens in two weeks. Root vegetables in under three. Rice soon after.
For the first time since arriving in this world, starvation had genuinely ceased to be a concern.
"Zero."
[What do you want, Mortal?]
"Nothing. Just checking if you're still there."
A pause.
[…Annoying.]
It didn't elaborate further.
I took that as its version of I'm here.
From tomorrow onward, I'd have to worry about the Storehouse.
155 days remaining.