After discovering his clothing situation was not all that favorable, Grant shrugged and decided that it didn't matter. As he left the cave Grant was thinking about what to kill to level up, as that was the only way for combat proffesions to grow stronger. While the summoning class was at minimum half the level of the combat class rounded down, you still needed to create and control your soldiers for it to keep up.
While hunting monsters would work in the end, it was slow and the fights were to small scale. Since he had the stats to do so in this particular world, Grant decided to revel in the slaughter of an army and begin his bloody conquest for the fun of it. Walking out of the old temple Grant was greeted with the surprised face of a young boy standing outside of the temple. Looking at the child, Grant felt lucky.
"Hi little fellow, do you mind telling me where the nearest place I can get directions is?" Grant said with a chuckle, startling the boy.
"M-Mom told me not to talk to strangers..." the boy stuttered.
"Well that's a shame now isn't it, if you spoke to this stranger I could have made you into a legendary hero." Grant snickered, allowing his powerful charisma to dominate the child's decision.
"Really! You can make me a hero!?" the boy jumped in excitement, completely believing something that even a child should find suspicious.
"Certainly, now let me put my palm on your forehead." Grant commanded, to which the boy complied.
Placing his hand on the boy's head, Grant tore the child's soul apart before stiching it back together as a completely loyal subordinate with the boy's memories intact. He would have granted a class as well but soul restructuring also counted as turning someone into a summon.
"So, mind telling me who you are and where the nearest village is?" Grant asked with a commanding air.
"Toreksvet, population between 30 and 40, one and a half miles away from here. This body is called Ren, my liege." the child, Ren, stated in a monotone voice.
With a smile, Grant ordered Ren to lead him to the village before resuming normal behaviour, couldn't have anyone be suspicious for now, even if it didn't matter. As the two walked, Ren was informing his master with what little he knew about their location.
Grant was at the Northeastern border of the Kingdom of Leiso, where the Eastern Amaks and Northern Jankes Mountain ranges intersected. At the intersection was a massive canyon pass to the outside, which was heavily guarded by the massive Leim Fortress. Hearing of such an optimal target, Grant couldn't help but smile.
After about half an hour Grant finally reached Ren's Village, where the villagers happily provided him food and clothes in the face of his overwhelming charisma. Once he had gotten directions to the fortress, Grant finally set off after sneakily planting an implicit liking towards Ren in all of the villagers' mind, and an obsession with Ren in the mind of his friend and crush, Tina. While Ren was no longer the the same as the previous one, Grant only did that last bit for funsies in the first place.
Deciding to enjoy the scenery and hopefully kill some clichė bandits along the way. I did not dissapoint as there they were, a group of bandits attacking a beautiful young woman while making lewd remarks.
Seeing the free experience, Grant stepped in and crushed the skull of the bandit leader with his fist. Surprising the peanut gallery.
"You! Who the hell are you!?" one bandit, who seemed to be the second in command, spat out in shock. He recieved the bandit leader's club to the face as a response.
With the two top dogs splattered across the dirt, the bandits came to the realization that it would be a good idea to fuck off and hope this stranger didn't care enough to chase them. Unfortunatley for them, Grant was a true gamer, never letting free experience points go.
As the bandits were now a grisly painting on the floor, the beautiful young woman held back the urge to vomit before starting to thank Grant.
"I appreciate the help, I would've killed myself before I let those bastards touch me." she stated, looking Grant up and down, admiring his handsomeness a bit before continuing" I'm Maria, and I happen to be going to the border fort. Seeing as you came from the same direction as I did, want to go together?"
"Why are you going?" Grant asked, ignoring Maria's question.
"My family just tried to sell me into slavery for a profit, so I'm leaving the country. You?"
"I'm going to burn Leim Fortress to the ground." Grant smiled, shocking Maria.
"W-why?" she choked out.
"As a practice run for when I topple the whole kingdom of course. Oh, I can help you get revenge if you want as well. I might be a madman that enjoys slaughter several hundred times more than the next guy, but I'm still a man and what straight man wouldn't want to get laid with a beauty?" Grant didn't beat around the bush, directly telling his plan to Maria.