Marcus meo survive the future that was ing, he needed more power. But even if he reached new heights, being alo his ces of survival were slim.

  Thus, he had devised a pn—to build an army.

  He could have taken the simplest path: sughtering and raising the dead as an undead horde. But even then, Marcus doubted it would be enough. No, he needed something more.

  And so, that decision had led him here.

  A guttural roar tore through the frozen air as a massive bone club came crashing down toward him. Marcus sidestepped effortlessly, his cloak billowing from the force of the strike. Before he could even take another breath, the club swung again—fast, brutal, relentless.

  He sighed, gng at the group encirg him.

  Rough, blue-tinted skin, rge protruding tusks, and barely any clothing save for crude furs and borapped around their frames.

  "Now or iure… still just a bunch of savages, huh?"

  Trolls.

  They had existed in this frozen nd long before the first humans ever set foot here. Strong, resilient, and viciously adaptable. The fact that they would one day be found across Ruerra, thriving in vastly different climates, roof of their endurance.

  But despite their raw potential, they had always been held back by ohing—intellect.

  Not that they were ht mindless, but most of their existence revolved around surviving the cold and growing stronger, not developing strategy, innovation, or plex thought. Their bodies demanded every scrap of energy they ed, leaving little for the mind to grow.

  Aremor shook the ground as a sed club smmed into the spot Marcus had just been standing in. He had barely moved, but the trolls were already being frustrated. Their battle instincts were kig in, mistaking their inability to hit him for some challeo their strength.

  They only uood ohing—power.

  Marcus exhaled slowly. If strength was their nguage, then he would speak it.

  The thought amused him. He had no desire to wait thousands of years for humanity to evolve, settle here, and fe their own civilizations. Why not shape something himself?

  Why not see if he could take these wild, brutal creatures and mold them into something greater?

  It would be an experiment. A test.

  A sharp grin spread across his face as his magic crackled in the air.

  "Let's find out."

  Dodging another swing, Marcus twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the crude, bone-fed club that came crashing down where he stood just a moment ago.

  The ground cracked uhe force of the impact.

  Without hesitation, Marcus eled his power into his fist and unched a brutal terattack. His knuckles struck the roll’s lower jaw with a siing crack. The creature’s head snapped back, and it was sent sprawling onto its back, dazed by the ued strength behind the blow.

  But Marcus wasn’t done.

  Aroll lunged. He weaved past its clumsy attack, his movements faster, sharper than theirs—striking with precision. A punch to the ribs. A ko the gut. A spinning kick that sent another reeling. Hit after hit, he carved through the horde, disabling them one by one.

  And theopped.

  His gaze locked onto the rgest of them.

  The leader.

  It was the same troll whose jaw he had shattered moments ago. But now, it stood again—wiping blood from its mouth, its stance more cautious than before. Uhe others, this one didn’t charge recklessly. It watched him, breathing heavily, muscles coiled with tension.

  Good. It was learning.

  Marcus smirked. This one had potential.

  Pathered in his hands once more, but this time, he shaped it differently. Instead of raw force, bed s surged from his fingers, snaking through the air like living shadows. The troll snarled and tried to retreat, but the ented bindings moved faster, coiling around its limbs, pulling it to its knees.

  Struggling. Growling. Fighting back.

  Marcus sloroached. A test. Not of strength, but of something else entirely.

  Could he ge them? Could he make them more than mindless beasts?

  He pced a hand oroll’s forehead.

  At first, the creature thrashed violently, but then… something shifted.

  Marcus felt his essence reaside, spreading like ink through water. He found the troll’s core—a crude, wild thing, ruled by instind hunger. And thewisted it.

  Not breaking. Refining.

  P his own esseo it, Marcus tempered its savagery, unraveling the chaos of its primitive mind. He wove hreads into it, threading logito instinct, reason inte.

  The troll vulsed. Its muscles trembled as if resisting the ge.

  For minutes, Marcus worked, his grip tightening as he poured more of himself into the process. Then, finally, the struggle ceased.

  The troll… breathed.

  Its chest rose and fell in measured breaths. The wild fury in its eyes had faded, repced with something… calmer. Sharper. A spark of awareness.

  It looked at him. Not as prey. Not as an enemy. But as something else entirely.

  Marcus's lips curled into a grin.

  It worked.

  The troll's appearance had ged alongside its mind.

  What was once pure white fur was now streaked with deep shades of bck, like creeping shadows staining its body. Its tusks, once dull and unremarkable, had transformed—their tips now frozen ice-blue, radiating an unnatural cold.

  Marcus slowly withdrew the s, allowing the troll to stand.

  And stand it did.

  It rose to its full height, t over the others at nearly five meters tall, its form broader, denser—ged.

  Yet, it did not attack.

  Instead, it stood before Marcus, watg, waiting. Uanding.

  A grin tugged at Marcus’s lips.

  “You are now enlightened,” he said, his voice low yet anding. “The first of your kind.”

  The troll tilted its head, reition flickering in its oy gaze.

  Marcus then turned his eyes toward the remaining trolls. They stared back, their massive bodies trembling—not just in fear, but in something else. Awe. Uainty.

  They had withe ge.

  They had seen what he could do.

  Marcus extended his hand outward. His voice carried through the cold air like a decree.

  “You all shall be the first stone in my foundation…”

  He ched his fist.

  “…for the peay time.”

  -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-

  Like the start of any civilization, the trolls needed resources—food to eat, shelter to live in, and tools to use.

  Food was the easiest problem to solve, at least for now. With only arourolls in the band, hunting nearby beasts was enough to sustain them, especially with Marcus’s guidance. However, he had to spend time drilling a crucial lesson into their thick skulls: avoid titans at all costs. The world outside was still far too dangerous for them to challes apex predators.

  He watched from a distance as the trolls surrounded a snow stag, a beast t over them in size and strength. But their increased intelligence had given them an edge. They had mahrough trial and error, to develop a crude hunting tactic.

  A few took the role of bait, drawing the stag’s attention with reckless aggression, relying on their natural durability to endure gng blows before darting away. Others focused on crippling it—stabbing at its legs, jabbing from behind, or throwing primitive spears to weaken it over time.

  The hunt ended in success. The trolls sustained only minor injuries, and as the stag colpsed, they erupted into triumphant roars. Then, as if remembering their pce, they turo Marcus. He nodded in approval, watg as they eagerly began dragging the massive carcass back to their cave.

  The challenge was shelter. In this era, where giants and god-like beings roamed freely, survival demanded caution. A cave was the safest option, solid defenses and cover from the elements. Marcus wasn’t about to push them into open terrain just yet.

  But ge was iable.

  Under his guidahe trolls had already begun evolving, and small advas were starting to shape their future. He taught them fire-making using stone sbs, guiding their cwed hands until they could create sparks on their own. Their reas to fire had been a mixture of fear and awe at first, but ohey realized its warmth and utility, it became a vital part of their daily lives.

  Cooked meat had been another revetion. The first time they tasted it, the trolls hesitated, as if something sn couldn’t possibly be edible. But the moment they realized it was not only safe but better, they never looked back. Seasoning wasn’t an optio, but even without it, the ge mattered. It meant they were learning.

  Over the few weeks, Marcus focused on their ons. Blunt bones and rocks had served them well enough, but sharpeools were the future.

  “Now, tie it like this… and this…” Marcus demonstrated, guiding the more dexterous trolls as they learo craft simple stone axes. It took time, but ohey grasped the cept, their efficy skyrocketed.

  Hunts became faster. er. More kills, fewer injuries. The increase in food roof enough that progress was happening.

  Their unication was still primitive—grunts, restures—but Maroticed some had begun reizing crude drawings, simple etgs in the dirt used to rey information. It was a small but signifit step, something he could build upon ter.

  The sound of heavy footsteps snapped him from his thoughts.

  At the entrance of the cave, Dar’win, the rgest and stro among them, returned from a hunt. Several trolls followed, dragging the massive carcass of a white boar.

  As Dar’roached, he k, and the others followed suit. It was an instinctual sign of respearcus hadn’t explicitly demanded but had let develop naturally. He gave a slight nod, and with that, they moved to process the boar for food.

  That was when Maroticed something new.

  Trailing behind them, barely visible in the dim light of the cave entrance, were a few more trolls—wild ohey lingered cautiously, their eyes dartiween Marcus and the band.

  Dar’win had found them along the hunting route.

  It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Iwo weeks sihe i, their numbers had grown from ten to nearly thirty. Newers often o be put in their pce, forced the hierarchy through strength. But Dar’win had taken to his role as the tribe’s leader well, ensuring order. The inal enlightened ones helped bring the wildlings into the fold, shaping them into something more than just scattered beasts.

  Marcus exhaled, watg the trolls as they worked.

  They were ging.