There was a long silence between Kali and I. What is she thinking? Waiting is always the hardest part. Think happy thoughts, no need to panic. You did your best. It's not the end of the world if she says no.

“What forms do you see being useful to this job? You seem to be asking for Zhelezo help acquiring these forms so what do you want us to risk our lives to help you hunt?” She asked.

“I have several targets in mind and have sorted them by terrain. Other than small wildlife like birds, mammals, and other tiny critters I think a wolf, bear, and giant spider would be good forms to have for day-to-day work. Wolves have excellent senses of smell and I could be useful in tracking targets. Bears are big and strong. Not much I need to say about that. Depending on the species of giant spider I can acquire a venom that could be useful in the capture and paralysis of criminals. I don't necessarily have to bite them if that would be a problem. I might be able to extract the venom from the form or I can create the venom sacks inside my normal body and add them to mine or my ally's weapons. There is a harder form to get that would be good as well. A giant eagle would make for great aerial scouting.” I stop and take a breath. I have spoken with Rubert about this list. He and I both agreed that I shouldn’t be hunting bigger prey than this. Not until I get all these forms. “For aquatic environments, I think a shark or a giant octopus would be useful forms for engaging with other hostile aquatic enemies. I don't know how common Saughan attacks are but it never hurts to be prepared. If the need arrives, we could consider hunting a whale. I imagine that such a form would be useful in large-scale naval combat. Especially when you consider the things I can add to each form with a large catalog of animals.” I finished with what I wanted to tell her. If I said I wanted to kill griffins, manticores, giants, and then eventually dragons I might get laughed out of the room.

There is a second silence. She actually seems to be considering what I have told her. “Alright, say I actually hire you. How long do you plan on staying in this town working for me? This is a lot of investment to be placed in one man.” She asked.

“For at least two years. I imagine I will have made a good sum of money and can reasonably survive on my own at that point.” I gave an honest answer. The events of the main campaign are gonna be something I want in on. A part of me wants to leave even sooner than that to try and find some big monsters but I won't be able to survive with just a couple weeks worth of training.

“That is a short amount of time. But I empathize. Humans aren't as long-lived as some other species.” She says. There's but a moment of pause before she speaks again. “If I do this, you will become a servant of the Clovis Concord. You will be sworn to the safety of its people, and their lives. Can you handle that?”

I stand at attention like I saw Martel do before. “Yes, Captain!” I say.

“Good. Do you swear to uphold the laws of the concords?” She said.

“I swear,” I said.

“Do you swear to protect the lives of your fellow Zhelezo?” She said.

“I swear,” I said.

“Good. Go get your possessions recruit. You are going to move into the barracks. You have the day off. Tomorrow you will be run ragged so rest up.”

Holy shit it worked. I can't fucking believe it. I think I am too used to disappointment. Guess I spent too much of my life getting used to disappointment. I rush back to the Purple Cup. "Winy good news!"

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"What's up? Find a ship to join. Mom said you were thinking about heading to sea." She asked. Winy is a small gnome who looks to be in her mid-teens. Which could mean anywhere from 20–50 for a gnome.

"Nah I changed my mind about that. I'm gonna be a Zhelezo. I am here to get my stuff and thank you all for all the help you have given me." I said.

"Really!? That was fast." She said.

"I got hired on the spot. I think I impressed them with my driven attitude." I said. I went ahead into the kitchen. It's sometime past 3 right now. Vorlin has already begun to prep food for the dinner rush tonight. "Vorlin I got a job."

"That's great, sweety. What is it?" She asked. I explained most of everything. I left out the exact nature of my powers but told her the Zhelezo was interested in training me because of them.

"So because of this I actually get a bed at the barracks now. I am very grateful for you all letting me sleep here but I am moving out now." I said.

"It was no problem sweety. If you ever need a room, our doors are always open." She said. I will admit it sucked sleeping outside, but the stables did block the wind and prevented me from getting rained on. Occasion I woke up to a horse stealing my blanket but honestly I don't know what I would have done without the help. But yea, finally not almost homeless.

I arrived back at the barracks. Martel is waiting for me inside. "Martel?" I said.

"I don't know how you managed to convince her to take pity on you but you are gonna probably regret this decision. Captain says I am going to be in charge of your training. She has given me the week off to train you properly with the goal being you can provide extra security in next week's wine fest." He said.

"Yes sir!" I said.

"Recruits, sigh. I have been told about your powers and how you need to kill and eat your targets. So the goal for this week is to get your muscles up and for you to familiarize a flying bird form. She wants you to watch the festival from the sky. We don't have enough time to get you familiar with weapon training so we are gonna focus on stamina, running away, the town's layout, and what is expected of you as a Zhelezo. Is that understood!" Martel said.

"Yes sir!" I said.

…….

I ate a meal at the barracks and found my bunk. Needing to see my memories I went to bed early. I found Rubert watching a memory of Saturday morning cartoons. “Enjoying yourself?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. I don't watch you most of the day as it can be boring sometimes. I did manage to catch the beginning of your conversation with Kali. What's the deal with you joining the Zhelezo?” He asked.

“I figured I was going to need a few months of training in combat and survival. There is nowhere along the coast where I can get those skills without paying for them. So I needed someone to pay that cost for me. I sadly don't have any skills to advertise so I decided to sell the promise of my future growth.” I said.

“Okay, but what about all the corruption in the Zhelezo that those books say is there?” He asked.

“As long as I am not killing people I think I can live with it. From within the system, I can push back on the more heinous crimes and deal with the smaller ones. I don't have the strength to fix the system yet. And even with some of the more powerful forms I can think of, the only way I could use my abilities to fix the system is to tear it down and rebuild it. That will have to come later.” I said. Moving towards my memories. I have found all the CR stuff but now I need to find all the dnd and pathfinder stuff. Exandria is a combination of lore from both companies. There’s dnd stuff like Vecna and pathfinder stuff like the goddess Raei also known as the Everlight, but she is also known as Sarenrae. Now on earth, this was done because of copyright issues but who knows why the change here. Because of this I am gonna assume that both settings are canon and if I ever get the ability to planeshift I might be able to travel to either world. Which also means they can come here.

We sat for a while each of us looking at memories. Rubert was watching lots of television and a bunch of my meals. He seems to be enjoying himself experiencing a life he never had through me. I am happy for him. Maybe that's what I can do for other people. For the people that will end up here. I can make this place a home for all I end up killing. Oof that's a weird thought.

“Rubert. Is it going to be wrong of me to say, ‘I know I just killed you but don't worry. You are going to get a really good afterlife,’ to the people I bring here. I know it's gonna happen. I am not going to live a quiet life, I have the potential and not living up to it goes against everything I promised my mom I would do.” I asked.

“Well as your first resident, I think it's fine to tell you this place isn't so bad. You can rearrange or even create terrain here. You can make houses. Your memories are filled with knowledge and entertainment from another world. Everyones going to die eventually. But not everyone gets a good afterlife. So I wouldn't feel too guilty about it. And if you kill bad people, you can make sure they are punished for their crimes.” He said.

“I guess when you put it that way it is not that bad. Thanks for the pep talk Ruub.” I said.

“Any time boss. I am here when you need me.” He said returning to the orb. I do the same. We spent the rest of the night like that.