Chapter 5 "So apparently I'm a half breed like you." taking a big drink of mead "My parentage is elf and human though so that's why I am the good looking one." I tried to joke. Grim didn't rise to the bait this time. "If you're a half-elf, what's with the white skin and the fangs?" "Well, my mother seems to have been bitten by a vampire while she was pregnant with me. So I was born with some vampiric traits. You know the usual things like immortality and fast regeneration." I smiled showing off my fangs. Grim did a double-take. "Immortal, so you can't be killed?" "Oh I can be killed but I just turn up naked in the place that I designate as my lair. Big scaling penalties in the respawn time though unless I don't get killed for a year. The other benefit though is that when I hit thirty my ageing will stop. I'll never physically grow old." "I will however outlive your ugly mug. but I won't even have to miss you when you're gone because of my class." Grim looked a bit confused "What did you get for your class then?" "I'm a necrolord. Part necromancer, part army leader. I already have a squad of 10 skeletons that I can spawn in." And I told him about all of my other perks and abilities. "As soon as I have my first 10 summoned I will also unlock my first milestone. I want to talk to the guild master and the watch commander first. That way I won't get into trouble for practising necromancy without a licence. I also want to ask the commander about what I should do with my troops." Grim was now on his third steak. "Ok, so what do you want to do, look for a place? I have a good amount of money income now with the restaurant. Or do you want to do the talking first?" "I don't see why we can't do both. I can do the talking bits on my own while you find us a few different options, it's mostly your money anyways. I have one request though. Pick somewhere that has some big warehouse space nearby that's also for sale. I need something to convert to barracks for my troops." I knew what Grim was going to say so I held out my coin purse filled with most of my savings. "None of that, we are blood brothers, so what's mine is your crap. I will pay for half of the house and the warehouse. If this is not enough ill pay you back when I can." With that, I finished the last of my drink and stood up to leave. Just before I got to the stairs. "I want to see a receipt if you buy a place today, cause I know what your thinking." Grim just sighed, knowing that I saw through his plan to tell me he paid less than he did. I slowly walked through the town back up to where the adventurers guild was. The guild master and the guild mistress who ran the school used to be a part of my parents adventuring party before settling down here. After their promotion though the system gave them a few class upgrades and somehow nobody could remember their original names. They were now just the guild master and guild mistress of Storm cove. They were the oddest married couple you could see. The guild master was a huge minotaur. His class was a Cleric, he was the parties healer and took my parent's death hard. The main reason he retired from adventuring. The guild mistress was a gnome who somehow never looked like she was older than 20. Rumour had it she was over 100 years old though, and people quickly learned not to ask her her age. She was an assassin class when she was still adventuring and still used her skills to good effect. More than one kid was caught doing things they shouldn't when she somehow appeared out of thin air behind them. And if she found out anyone in the city knowingly harmed a child. Let's just say that the guards had more than one person running to them confessing their crimes, talking about the ghost who kept appearing with a blade at their necks, saying confess or die. The watch commander was a big hulking bearkin seldom found without wearing his full plate armour. He was the final member of my parent's group that settled in the town. He was the parties tank and had the bearnaught class. A bearkin variant of the dreadnaught. The people at the guild knew me and my connection to the guild master and I was able to walk straight to the back. The door to the back office was open, and as I had hoped I saw both the commander and the master sitting in some comfy chairs. I knew they often had lunch together and they seem to have just finished. "Hey, Drakon." The commander bellowed. "I heard that today was your day of awakening. Pull up a chair and tell us how it went." So I told them about my race and class and asked for their advice on what to do next. "Well, I'm giving you permission to have your troops inside the city walls." the commander said. "All I ask is that when needed your troops will help defend the city." I looked at him with a face that said, well duh... "Now for what you should do. I suggest that instead of an adventuring party, you form a mercenary company. It will bring in a good amount of coin and you could take on the quests that adventurers usually skip. Like escorting caravans, and scouting areas around the city. You can even send one of your units on an escort quest under the command of someone else while you do other things." The guild commander then chimed in. "If you do form a mercenary company, once you get a certain size, the system will officially recognise it as such. And your company can start gaining levels and perks on its own. Not just for the troops you summon but for everyone in the company." "Think it over, and I know you will want to talk to Grim before deciding anyways." the commander said. "Before you go, we have a gift for you. I would have come to find you later on today to give it but now that you are here." And the guild master handed me a big parcel. When I opened it I found my fathers guitar/axe. "I think he would have wanted you to have this, and I could think of no better time than your awakening day to give it to you." It was a strange-looking thing. a big metal axe with strings running down the handle so that it could be played like a guitar. My new identify skill kicked in. Axe of shredding. Damage type: Slashing damage. Small chance to deal bleed damage. Axe damage depends on the strength and axe skills of the wielder. Special traits: Growth weapon: Damage of weapon and its traits increases the higher the wielder's level and charisma are. Might unlock more traits later. Sonic boom: When played as a guitar can do a cone based sonic attack. Damage scaling depends on the wielders performance and guitar-playing skills. Inspiring song: Inspires any friendly troops that hear the song. Buff scales with singing, performance and guitar-playing skills. It would be a great weapon early on with scaling on both strength and charisma. But I remembered that all of my performance skills had a cap of 5 at the moment. So I was hoping that I might unlock a path or something like that which would raise that cap later on. When I slung it over my shoulder and strapped it to my back it felt like it belonged there. Giving both of the men a hug, there wasn't a dry eye in the room, all three of us remembering my parents. Not that any of us would ever admit the crying though. Once I collected myself I made my way back towards the school across the street where I had told Grim to meet me after we were both done. As he wasn't there yet I spent the next few hours sitting in the back garden trying to play the guitar but having no luck unlocking any skills yet.