Adam woke up with a violent start from his sleep against the tree. "Damn, huh? I'm alive?" Patting his body and frenetically checking his current condition, he saw his wound was almost healed, needing only one or two more pulses of life energy to be back to normal.
"Phew, and now you tell me that was only the first night. Sorry, Mr. GODS, but I'd like to request a rebalancing. The difficulty slider was clearly set wrong." Puffing and complaining, Adam stretched and then set to work finishing healing his wounds.
Slowly injecting a trickle of life energy into his arm and chest, he admired the last bits of flesh regenerating, the wounds finally closing.
After several minutes of treatment, all that remained were scars on his chest and arm, not the most aesthetic, but he didn't intend to invest more energy for simple aesthetic reasons at the moment.
Rising slowly, he looked around him. "Thanks, guys, for keeping watch during the night, and sorry I didn't make your job any easier. No weapons for you, and on top of that, I acted like an idiot."
Continuing his analysis of the environment, he said, "Look at that. Everything is back to how it was yesterday, full of life and magnificent greenery as far as the eye can see. It's a beautiful day here. Nighttime, on the other hand, welcome to the kingdom of the dead. Seriously, even the rabbit carcass has come back to life."
Walking towards the remains of the tent, he added, "Bury last night's corpses in a corner and mark the spot so we can watch to see if they come back to life every night, please, team."
Lifting his head, he checked the position of the sun. "A little before noon, I'd say. Still plenty of time to prepare for tonight, and I still have a lot of energy. Let's hand out weapons and expand this little guard squad."
Watching the golems busy burying the carcasses, Adam also set to work on his side.
...
Two hours later...
"Funny, you all really have your own personalities, which wasn't easy to see except in combat until now, but with your weapons, it's pretty clear who you are in your little hearts of stone." He admired the squad, now equipped with weapons worthy of the name.
His gaze first fell on Primo, the team leader and his first companion, who now held a huge 1.8-meter tower shield in his right hand and a 2-meter war hammer in his left. The head of the hammer alone was 75 centimeters long and 40 centimeters high and wide, a simple weapon but one that promised violence and destruction with every blow.
Then, to his left, was the silent protector, equipped with the same tower shield but wielding a 1.5-meter double-edged bastard sword, simple but allowing for a wide range of strikes, perfect for reacting to most hand-to-hand combat situations.
His brother carried a pair of battle axes, becoming the pure embodiment of a berserker, his simple goal being the destruction of his enemy above all else. After all, if the threat is dead, then there is no longer a threat (except for the undead, who fuck with the concept of being dead and are therefore no longer a danger).
Looking at the two newcomers, he smiled slightly. None of these golems had chosen the same weapons. The first carried a huge, heavy war bow nearly two meters high, with a string made of woven grass and injected with a good amount of life energy, giving it enough strength and elasticity to withstand the golem's strength for the moment.[1] The weapon seemed designed to shoot tree trunks rather than arrows. Adam had filled the quiver on the golem's back with about thirty stone arrows.
The second had also decided to wield a tower shield, but as a weapon he wielded a 3-meter-long war spear. The 1-meter-long blade gave it the appearance of a sword with a very long handle.
Proud of himself, Adam smiled. "Now the squad is ready, guys. You are the future generals of my army, so you need names fit for the role. Primo, no change. You will be the marshal of the army. I have faith in you, man. You will be a perfect leader. Titan, you will be the general of the Order of the Rampart. You will be the front line of the army, its shield, preventing our enemies from reaching our brothers. Skar, you will be the general of the Order of Blood. You will be the blade ready to decapitate the reckless who dare to provoke us. Eagle, you will be the general of the Order of the Moon, capable of raining death upon the unwary who come too close, able to spot threats before they can approach. And finally, Iron, you will be the general of the Order of the Storm, the cavalry that will spread destruction and chaos in the enemy lines, elusive as the wind, violent as lightning."
With his hands on his hips, he added, "Yeah, perfect. I can already picture you at the head of our unstoppable army."
Sighing slightly, he continued, "Okay, for now, you are generals without any men. Iron, you are even a horseman without a horse, but this is the beginning, guys. We have to start somewhere."
"Okay, I'm hungry and out of energy, so no more golems for now. Let's go exploring. Objective 1: find something to eat, I don't care what. Objective 2: check out the fire we saw yesterday. If possible, it would be cool to make some allies."
He glanced at the makeshift camp, still in ruins. The collapsed tent and the small pile of earth where the bodies were buried were not a pretty scene, only the campfire area was perfectly intact. "That will be a problem for the tonight me ." He set off without hesitation.
"Generals! Follow me on this adventure!" Full of enthusiasm, Adam set off, followed by his golems, toward the column of smoke he had seen the night before.
As he walked, he checked one last time that he had everything with him. "Grimoire, absolutely cannot lose, check! Gotta find something better than a bag made of woven grass. Clothes, half-checked. Seriously, I look really weird in just pants; those wolves had to tear my T-shirt. Makeshift spear repaired and now made of stone, checked! Perfectly ready for adventure."
Walking toward the unknown, he hoped to find food, allies, and treasures to ensure his survival.
[1] Yes, a bow is both the string and the body that bends, but stone doesn't bend, but don't worry, it's magic.