Several logs had been laid on the ground near the bonfire, and the exuberant warriors of the Fourth Company sat upon them. Humans, beastfolk, and elves still clad in their battle-worn armor drank and laughed together. More than half of the soldiers in David’s unit were demi-humans since he was the most accepting of non-humans of the army’s officers.

In fact, Fourth Company was the only military unit in the Etronian military that allowed demi-humans as officers. David’s decision to integrate the demi-humans into his command structure certainly had its drawbacks. It was sometimes difficult for him to understand the perspective of elves and beastfolk, and they would sometimes act strangely.

Despite these difficulties, David was convinced that his decision was the right move. On average, his soldiers were much more skilled, and his officers were some of the greatest fighters Etronia had to offer. David had such a large pool of soldiers to choose from that he took only the best of the best.

One of David’s lieutenants, Griswold Teliom, was recounting loudly the story of how he had slain a dozen orcs during the battle. Griswold was a beastman of the dog phenotype. Physically, this meant that two dog ears stuck out from the top of his skull and a long black tail protruded from his lower back. Though it might not have been immediately visible, all of Griswold’s teeth were pointed like those of an actual dog. He and other beastmen of the dog phenotype were carnivorous. If he did not eat meat, he would start to develop serious health issues.

The primary difference between the beastfolk and humans was mental, however. In general, beastfolk had difficulty going against their instincts. Though they were social creatures, their thoughts would often be dominated by basic desires such as food, drink, power, and sex. This, paired with their heightened senses, caused them to occasionally act similarly to their animal counterparts.

After working with the beastfolk for the past five years, David knew this to be true. Sometimes, their animalistic nature made humans uncomfortable, but he knew that they also had many advantages compared to humans. A beastman could hear an ambush coming that no human would hear, and they could track an enemy army based on smell. If you knew how to deal with them, David thought, they were very useful to have as comrades.

Sitting near Griswold was David’s other lieutenant, Cailynn Ashbell. Cailynn, or Lynn to the humans and beastfolk of Fourth Company, was an elf war mage who served as the field commander for the mages of David’s unit. Technically, Cailynn Ashbell was not her real name. An elf’s true name took at least thirty seconds to speak, so they adopted a much shorter name when dealing with humans.

Beyond pointed ears, fairer skin, and lighter hair, elves were visually the same as humans. Beneath the skin, however, the elves were very different. Their life spans were measured in centuries rather than years. Their magical affinity was significantly greater than humans’, and even their physical stats were higher than that of a comparable human. The only downside the elves suffered was that they didn’t have Talents. This, paired with their naturally low birth rate, gave rise to their current subordination in most of the world.

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The elves’ extended lifespan gave them a different perspective and a frankly unnerving focus. An elf could focus on something for hours and, once done, act like mere moments had passed. The older elves were often infuriating to be around due to their frequent hyperfixation on seemingly pointless things. Luckily, none of the elves in the Fourth Company were older than two hundred years old, so David had not run into that particular issue yet.

David quietly took a seat on a log, and a female beastfolk warrior of the cat phenotype handed him a hollowed-out ox horn filled with a strong-smelling drink. After a moment of recall, he remembered the cat girl’s name. Recoiling slightly from the alcohol, David jokingly asked, “You trying to poison me, Mialeth?”

“It probably wouldn’t even work on you,” Mialeth responded with a smile.

In a contemplative mood, David looked down at the bright amber liquid filling the horn. He had no idea what the liquid was, but it was clearly alcoholic. David saw his own eyes looking back at him in the reflection, and he activated his Talent.

[Observe, Lvl. 9]

Name: David York

Class: Spellblade

Level: 43

HP: 477

MP: 82

Fortitude: 20

Strength: 25

Agility: 20

Intelligence: 12

Willpower: 14

Charisma: 15

Tier: B

Abilities: [Enhance Sharpness], [Enhance Strength], [Enhance Dexterity]...

Spells: [Shield], [Imbue Fire], [Imbue Ice]...

Talents: [Observe], [Lucky]

Alignment: Unprincipled (Selfish)

The character sheet was unchanged since last time he had checked. The orcs had been so far below his level that killing fifty of them didn’t allow David to level up. Briefly, David looked at the [Spells] and [Skills] section of his character sheet. [Observe] at ninth level allowed the user to see the three most recently used [Spells] and [Abilities]. David suspected this was done to save space.

David was still not sure what “Alignment” meant, but he was “unprincipled” and “selfish,” apparently. Having checked the alignments of other mercenaries, David knew that he was quite moral compared to the rest of them. “Selfish” was essentially the neutral alignment between good and evil, and David was trending toward the good end of neutral. Most of the mercenaries of the Band of Bastards were “evil” as defined by the System.

Griswold, having finished bragging to anyone who would listen, started walking toward the Captain of the Fourth Company.

“Oh, boy, I know that look,” Mialeth said from beside David.

“What’s that?” David said once he had swallowed a mouthful of his drink. Compared to the harsh smell, the drink had a sweet taste. It must have been some kind of distilled mead. David would have guessed that the drink was Dwarvish in origin if Dwarves existed on Ferrum.

“Griswold’s getting territorial,” Mialeth said, somewhat amused. “He’s going to challenge you.”

“He does know that the military hierarchy doesn’t operate on wolf pack rules, right?” David asked rhetorically.

“Try telling him that,” Mialeth said, getting to her feet and moving away from the rapidly approaching beastman.

David drained the horn of mead and got to his feet. The beastman lieutenant would only respond to the language of violence. Luckily, David was fluent.