Tom noticed he had a notification that was blinking in his vision a different color than the others. He opened it and read through the information.

"Oh, ho! I have now killed that thousand creatures that Azroc needed. We can summon him again for some rewards!" Tom said to James as they walked to the Security Center.

"I can't wait to see him again. Love that guy. Do you think he would know anything that might help us with the war?" James asked.

"Only one way to find out. Let's get the others and summon him." Tom offered, now excited to get to their destination.

Moving even faster now, Tom and James arrived shortly at the Security Center and entered through the large steel door. Inside were Brian, TJ, Kiera, Derek, and a few security guards on duty.

"Hey, can we call Jay here too? I think he will want to be a part of this." Tom asked.

"What exactly is it you want to do?" Brian asked, suddenly skeptical of allowing it to happen here.

"I'm going to summon my patron," Tom smiled evilly.

"Your face is freaking me out a little. Should I be worried?" Brian asked cautiously.

"No, it's fine. He's a good guy. He's just....a lot, I guess is the best way to say it?" Tom said unsure exactly how to prepare people for him. "You'll just have to meet him and decide for yourself what you think."

"Alright, I'll call them in," TJ said walking over to the mic for the announcement.

About half an hour later, everyone was assembled and Tom had gathered what he needed to draw the summoning circle on the floor. Brian managed to find some washable markers so that the floor could be cleaned after. Tom tried to assure him that summoning his patron would use up anything they drew on the floor, but he still insisted saying he wasn't going to permanently have a summoning circle on the floor.

With Brian appeased, for now, Tom set about drawing the summoning circle. James was giddy with excitement and the others seemed to be looking forward to it as well. Once the circle was complete, Tom spoke the incantation.

"Admoneo te, magne spiritus, ad nutum meum accede et da mihi potestatem quam cupio. Habeo crustulum,"

As before, the circled flared to life with lights and a breeze blew through the room as a portal opened and Azroc rose through the portal in a bodybuilder pose.

"How's it going wankers?" Azroc asked as he looked around the room.

"Hey, Azroc. It's good to see you again." Tom greeted him, stepping forward as he spoke.

"Ah! Tom! My favorite new warlock. Great job killing a bunch of fucking monsters. You really got out there and kicked some ass didn't you?" Azroc moved over and slapped Tom on the back, causing him to stumble forward.

"Whoa! Uh, yeah. We have been fighting a lot. No shortage of monsters to kill." Tom said trying to recover from the blow.

"Excellent! There sure are a lot of people here this time. You putting on a show of some kind? And where's that cockholster Joe? He get any better since we talked?" Azroc asked looking around again.

"He's not here. He came around and has been helping with the farming project for food." Tom explained.

"That's great to hear. I'd have hated to have turned him inside out and played jump rope with his entrails. It's an amazing threat, but a little messy in practice." Azroc said as he leaned over to Tom and elbowed him in the side winking while he spoke.

"Ha, yeah," Tom laughed nervously at the threat.

"This is your patron?" Brian asked.

"I am. You got a problem with it lucky charms?" Azroc asked, turning to face Brian.

"Oh absolutely fucking not. I was just in awe because I've never seen a creature of your, um, power level before." Brian furiously backpedaled as he tried to see if praising the parton would help.

"Ha! Few have." Azroc said, puffing out his chest in pride.

"So Azroc, what's new? Slay any assholes recently?" James asked, moving forward and holding out a fist for Azroc to bump.

"You know it," Azroc said fist bumping James. "Those motherfuckers got what was coming to them. Pansy ass sons of bitches."

"Right on!" James replied, shaking his hand out from the fist bump which actually hurt his hand.

"Now, about those rewards, Tom." Azroc began turning to Tom.

"Actually, before that, I was wondering if you could tell us a little about yourself. Where you come from, how you got to be where you are? Can we become as powerful as you?" Tom asked hoping Azroc could share some of the information with them.

"You want to know about me?" Azroc seemed genuinely stunned that Tom was asking about him.

"Sure. You are my patron. I'm just as interested in you as you are in me." Tom replied with a smile.

"No one has ever asked about me before except to ask what kind of goodies they can fucking get. I'm blown away, Tom. You really are different from those other asshats." Azroc replied.

"That must be tough. And lonely." Tom said.

"I mean, not really. It's more like a job where you just do it because it's what you have to fucking do. There are others I talk to, but I don't exactly get a lot of free time." Azroc explained. "Well, I guess it started when I hatched on my homeworld of Garatha. I never knew my mother. Bitch laid her eggs and ran off."

"That must have been horrible," Tom interrupted.

"Not really. My species doesn't ever care for their young. We are pretty much born self-sufficient." Azroc replied. "Then my planet was integrated into the Grand System about thirty-five hundred years ago. I chose the warlock path and got this total asshole for a patron. Wanted me to do the worst things imaginable for rewards. My blood boils just thinking of that cunt licker."

"He really fits in with their team dynamic doesn't he?" Brian whispered to TJ as Azroc was talking.

"Hey, I am a fucking delight," Azroc said turning to face Brian.

"Oh, no disagreement from me. I was just saying you fit in well with Tom and his team." Brian said quickly as he raised his hands in surrender.

"Oh, yeah, I do don't I?" Azroc seemed to be proud of this fact. "Anyway, I did what I had to so I could get stronger. I fought for a century before I finally reached the pinnacle of power. Had to kill a lot of wankers to get there. Finally, I was offered a quest to pass over to the next evolution, and..." Azroc stopped. His mouth clamped shut and he closed his eyes as he seemed to be suddenly wracked with pain.

Growling and grunting as he hunched over, the pain eventually seemed to pass.

"Holy fucking shit that hurt," Azroc swore loudly. "Sorry, wasn't supposed to say that part. See we are all slaves to the fucking System in the end."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked concerned for his patron and what it might mean for his progress if he died.

"I'll be fine. I just can't explain certain things. You have to learn them for yourself. Fucking rules." Azroc said, panting slightly from the pain still. "Now where was I...Oh yes. You can become like me, but I can't explain how. For now, suffice to say, you do what I fucking tell you to, and you'll get there. I'm here to help you after all."

"That's great to hear! But I don't know that I'll live for a century. Human life expectancy isn't that long." Tom said feeling like all the air had been let out of him and his goals.

"Oh, that's not an issue. The System will keep you alive a lot longer now because you can increase your stats. You should expect to live about three times longer than before. Fucking elves got the long straw on that one." Azroc explained, muttering the last bit.

"So there are elves?" Tom asked.

"I mean, sure, there are nearly an infinite number of races. Different on most planets. You didn't think everyone was human did you?" Azroc asked.

"Well, no. Clearly not. You're not human, and the monsters here aren't. But on my planet, elves and dwarves and such are just fantasy creatures in stories and games." Tom replied.

"Good. you're thinking rationally. That's what I love about you. More than two brain cells to rub together. And you aren't just begging me for your powers. Needy bastards all of them." Azroc said angrily.

"I know you will help me if I help you, so I just want to get to know you," Tom explained.

"I wish the others could be more like you, Tom. But I'm here for a gift. So here you go. I hope it helps." Azroc said with a knowing wink.

With that, a prompt appeared in Tom's vision.

Pact Update:

You have completed both of your most recent quests to upgrade your pact. Kill monsters and send their souls to Azroc 1000 of 1000. Claim a site of power in Azroc's name. New powers are ready for you to choose.

"Hey, wait. What was the site of power I claimed in your name?" Tom asked confused about when he had completed that quest.

"The Grand Canyon dungeon with the world vending machine. As it was never meant to be a dungeon, it was a site of power holding the supply of all the world's goods. Marking it as you did the other dungeon completed that aspect." Azroc explained.

"Ohhhh. Cool!" Tom exclaimed going back to his prompts.

Pact of the Tattoo Upgrade:

You have completed a quest for Azroc. Due to your continued service, Azroc has rewarded you with an additional power. Choose one of the following:

* Tattoo of Stealth - Allows the user to become nearly undetectable for thirty minutes at the cost of 250 mana.

* Tattoo of Magic Nullification - Create an anti-magic field around you for an hour at the cost of 250 mana. Beware, your magic will also be nullified in this field. The effects of other tattoos will not be nullified.

* Tattoo of Healing - Gain 5 HP per second for three hundred seconds at the cost of 250 mana.

It was as though Azroc knew what Tom needed every time and had worked some way of getting him the edge he needed. But this time the choice was much harder.

"Damn. All of these would be amazing to have." Tom commented as he reread the options.

"Sorry, you can only choose one." Azroc started, then paused for a moment. "Although...."

"What?!" Tom blurted seeing a possible opportunity for an extra.

"There is a way to give you more than one, but you have to take on an extra quest this next time," Azroc explained.

"Well, this doesn't seem fair," TJ commented to Brian in a whisper as well.

"Fuck off dickweed. You want the help you should have chosen Warlock." Azroc said eyeing TJ until he began to shrink away from his gaze.

"What's the quest?" Tom asked.

"You have to be the one to kill The Master," Azroc said grinning widely.

"Deal," Tom said without hesitation.

"Whoa, wait, really?" Azroc asked a little surprised. "You didn't strike me as quite that bloodthirsty."

"I was planning on doing it anyway. Now I just need to make sure everyone lets me see the light go out of his eyes." Tom said now grinning evilly himself.

"I think you just made the favorite Warlock ever spot now," Azroc said looking at Tom lovingly. "Brings a tear to my eye to see you willing to murder that fucktard. Gods I fucking hate necromancers. So full of themselves all the time. We get it. You can raise the dead. Big whoop! It's not like you're bringing them back to fucking life."

"Haha! Yeah, and they die so easily!" James added.

"This guy gets it," Azroc said smiling and laughing at James' interjection. "Anyway, as long as you hold up your end of the deal to kill him yourself, I can give you an extra reward now. You can choose two of the tattoos at once. But if you don't, and someone else kills him, you'll lose one of the tattoos randomly."

"I think I can make that sacrifice. If someone else kills him that's still what I wanted. But I really wanna see that fucker die by my hands." Tom said firmly.

"Alright. Then let it be so!" Azroc boomed as the lights in the room dimmed and power emanated from him and into Tom.

The prompt in his vision updated and allowed for the selection of two items as checkboxes appeared next to the options. Tom looked at his choices once more. He really wanted all three, but that couldn't happen. The stealth option could come in handy in so many places. But the Healing would be invaluable.

"This is tough. I'm not sure which one to choose for my second." Tom said out loud as he read over the options.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't include your fourth choice." Azroc said and more power emitted from him as another option appeared in the pop-up in Tom's vision.

"I don't think another option will make the choice any easier. Oh..." Tom said reading the prompt again.

Pact of the Tattoo Upgrade:

You have completed a quest for Azroc. Due to your continued service, Azroc has rewarded you with an additional power. Choose one of the following:

* Tattoo of Stealth - Allows the user to become nearly undetectable for thirty minutes at the cost of 250 mana.

* Tattoo of Magic Nullification - Create an anti-magic field around you for an hour at the cost of 250 mana. Beware, your magic will also be nullified in this field. The effects of other tattoos will not be nullified.

* Tattoo of Healing - Gain 5 HP per second for three hundred seconds at the cost of 250 mana.

* Tattoo of the Summoner - Increase the abilities of your summoned creatures for 1 hour at the cost of 200 mana.

"Actually that does help. I know what I want now for sure." Tom said checking the boxes for Magic Nullification and Summoner.

When he had made these selections, another window appeared asking him to confirm his choices.

Confirm?

You have selected The Tattoo of Magic Nullification and the Tattoo of the Summoner. Are you sure you wish to continue? Once selected this choice cannot be undone.

Yes

No

Tom selected yes, and the familiar sensation of a tattoo gun being run over his body enveloped him again and he winced at the pain. Fortunately, the Tattoos seemed to be completed in a matter of seconds so the pain was soon over. Suddenly, noticing where the pain still lingered from the tattoos, Tom's eyes widened as he lifted the back of his shirt up slightly.

"Really?! A tramp stamp?!" Tom cried indignantly first turning his head to try to see it, then giving up looked back at Azroc in annoyance.

"Hey, you were the one that chose the magic nullification tattoo. One of them was bound to be a tramp stamp motherfucker." Azroc laughed as he spoke. "I think it suits you."

"Oh fuck you," Tom said to him.

"That's the spirit! I like it when you're spunky." Azroc chuckled again.

Rolling up his sleeves Tom noticed his other tattoo was on both forearms. It looks as though it was a set of tapestries with a Warlock summoning creatures on one arm and another commanding them in battle on the other.

"The artwork is beautiful though on these," Tom said admiring the intricate details.

"Thank you very much. I've been working on these for millennia." Azroc replied bowing slightly. "Now, if there is nothing else, I'll leave you with your new quests and bid you farewell. So many other things to take care of. As much as I'd love to stay, I have to move on."

Another notification appeared in Tom's vision.

Requests:

Your dark patron, Azroc, has sent his requests to you. Complete the following tasks to receive further powers and gifts.

* Complete three total dungeons, claiming them in the name of Azroc.

* Kill The Master - The Master must die by your hand.

* Research your class - Find texts pertaining to your class and learn more about its history as well as ways to grow more powerful.

"Oh, and here, take this," Azroc said holding out a hand as a book materialized out of thin air and landed in his grasp.

He tossed it to Tom who read the title, "Warlock for Dummies". Azroc laughed at Tom's facial expression upon reading the title.

"It's actually helpful. You'll love it, sourpuss. Now I bid you farewell. Remember Tom, the path to power is fraught with peril and death. But you can achieve greatness if you push yourself." Azroc said, then looked around the room one more time." Later shitbags."

And with that, he vanished into another portal.