Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6), Dakota Krout [free novels to read TXT] 📗

on the laughter, but her face firmed up as soon as they started. “I am General Mayhem, and I can tell you what it takes right now. Quest, issued!”

Quest gained: Ranker. You have been given the chance to become an Officer of the Magisteel Legion! An Officer has full citizen rights, and privileges befitting their station. To succeed, you must demonstrate not only your willingness, but your ability, to benefit Dwarvenkind. Your starting rank will be determined by your accomplishments when you return to your superior Officer to complete this Quest. Rewards are as follows:

Lieutenant: You have benefited a Company-sized contingent. Your reward is a rank, and lots more work to come.

Captain: You have benefited a Battalion-sized contingent. In addition to your rank, you will gain 1000 reputation with the Dwarven Council.

Major: You have benefited a Regiment-sized (2-3 battalions) contingent. In addition to your rank, you will gain 2000 reputation with the Dwarven Council and a small homestead.

Colonel: You have benefited a Brigade-sized (6+ Regiments) contingent. In addition to your rank, you will gain 3000 reputation with the Dwarven Council, a small homestead, and a large plot of land to do with as you will.

General: You have benefited the Legion as a whole. In addition to your rank, you will gain 4000 reputation with the Dwarven Council, a small homestead, a command of your own, and a large plot of land to do with as you will.

Noble (Major General): You have completed a task, or created something that benefited the Dwarven Oligarchy as a whole. In addition to your rank, you will gain 5000 reputation with the Dwarven Council, a small homestead, a command of your own, immunity from past crimes, and a large plot of land to do with as you will.

Higher ranks of nobility are theoretically possible.

Failure: fail to create benefits that would gain you a Lieutenant ranking within six months. Penalty: demotion to the Legion as a private, and a gag order on all Officer requirements.

“I'm not sure if you are getting a clear picture of what this means.” General Mayhem shouted in their faces as they stared at the reward list hungrily. “You do whatever it takes to get the highest rank you possibly can. If you go crazy, if you make everyone in this entire world hate you… but you benefit all of Dwarvenkind? Instant nobility. Forgiveness for what you needed to do to get there. I will tell you now, I will tell you clearly, and then you will never hear it again…”

“We expect you to make any sacrifices you need to make, so long as we win this war against the Elves!”

Chapter Nine

Silence reigned in the area as General Mayhem scrutinized them, wondering if her blunt explanation would be taken the way that it normally was. She slumped and closed her eyes as it began.

“Free pass to steal stuff!”

“Woo!”

“They’re gonna be so sorry they ever treated me-”

General Mayhem shouted them down in an instant. “Hold it! Forgiveness only means after the fact! You get caught doing things that hurt our people, you still become a wanted person! I’m telling you that the ends will only justify the means if you do enough! I started as a General, and I single handedly planned, mapped, and executed the takeover of two major forts and all the minor forts associated with them! You think you can do better than me?”

“But you just said-” A random Dudette revealed her confusion to the group, allowing the General to have a target for her ire.

“That we expect you to make sacrifices! Not to settle personal vendettas, not to use your Candidacy as a tool against your own people. Whenever you turn in the quest, or reach the end of the quest time limit, everything you do will be assessed. You might do enough early on to end the quest early, but you can always refuse and try for higher!” Mayhem scowled at the stunned lot of Dwarves, her mustache quivering as she held in her fury. “If you do a whole lot, but what you do was straight evil, and wasn't enough to bypass the standard structure and reach the nobility? Do you really think we won't court-martial you?”

“Land? Space to build up my own base of operations… how I want it? That’s what I wanted from the start…” Joe wiped his bald head, glad that she was taking this time to clarify right away. They were far too many atrocities that he could unleash upon their enemies if he knew there wouldn’t be negative consequences for him. Actually… according to what General Mayhem had just told them, he could still create widespread devastation, so long as no Dwarf… Joe raised his hand.

“What are you, a child?” General Mayhem waved a hand at Joe. “If you have something you want to know, now is the time to ask. Just speak.”

“What if we do something absolutely terrible, I mean really, really terrible, more evil, actually… but only to the Elves?” Joe's question made the General smile.

“War crimes? Sounds like something that gets you promoted. Just make sure you never let the Elves capture you for any reason, but that same logic applied as soon as you joined us.” Mayhem turned to address the group as a whole. “Listen up. As a Candidate, you basically get to do whatever you want. You want to requisition goods? Do it. You need someone to teach you something? They will. The Legion will cover all the reputation losses during your Candidacy. Just remember, at the end of this Quest limit, if you are found to have been taking things just to take them… you better hope that you reach nobility.”

She let that announcement sink into their thick skulls, then turned and started walking away. “Are there any questions on this? No? Everyone follow me. There is one last thing to do.”

The entire company followed after her, slightly nervous after what they had just been told. They were going to need to balance acquiring