Re: Devil King Vol I

by Dantegrey

Magnus, the Strongest Campione of his Era, meet his end at the hands of a Pantheon. But Pandora never abandons her children and Magnus, now found himself embroiled in an entirely new world, with their own wars and disasters ready to occur. As a Campione, Magnus was irrational, as a small Kobold of the Dragon Empire, carving his way into the world, he is even worse. [AU, OCcentric]

2. Talon

2- Talon

The first thing that Carnage thought once he awoke from the darkness that claimed him after the battle in the underground caves, was that he was feeling way better than he should and that he was going to find Pandora and pinch her checks until she said uncle; as payback for the bloody pranks that she was pulling one after another on him with the [We want Grandbabies] bless gift or whatever.

However, as soon as Carn got back to consciousness, his [Blindsight] trait; usurped from the mole thing; show a picture of the room on where he was resting after the battle. His trait only reached around thirty feet, but it was enough to cover the entire surface of the room. It was about twelve plus twelve feet wide and ten feet tall until the crude stone ceiling (4X4 meters wide with a 3 meters distance to the ceiling), without any window and only a torch near the entrance of the room.

Carn was comfortably laying on a big hammock that holds his new body with easiness, covered by a rustic fur as a blanket; Carn couldn't recognize the animal but it was quite warm and pleasant to the touch and felt quite good. With a quick look at his new body, Carn noticed that he was taller than the Kobold form, about six feet and half tall, more or less. The color scheme of his scales was a gunmetal gray, golden runes till the back, even in his long tail; and his red marking was still the same.

His jaw was a bit shorter than as kobold, but now, the jaw was stronger and fill to the brim with a row of fangs, his tongue was a large appendage of eight inches long and thick as the tongue of a cow. Carn couldn't see if his eyes were the same, but touching his head, he realized that he had three little horns; at the front and the sides of his forehead, acting as a natural crow of some sort; surrounding a little mane of shoulder length, thick, red hair.

[Lizardman Lvl 1 Overlord Variant].

That was the mental title Carn had about his new body, although he could see nothing more on his title; Carn could felt that blessings of Tiamat were there, along with all the Usurped powers and the new abilities and skills that he had as Lizardman of this unique variation. The battle against the Arachne and the other Kobolds has truly rewarded with some seriously useful abilities, especially the webbing thing, he can create his own threads now. They look strong but they had the texture of silk, even if he couldn't break them by force and had to cut it with his [Stone Carving Claws], now those were evolved into two twelve inches long (thirty centimeters) stingers that grow from his forearm into twin stingers in each arm. Those could do a lot of damage.

Not really in a hurry, and enjoying the little buzz that Carn was feeling from the evolution into a powerful species; Thanks Pandora for the evolution, the Kobold body was a bit constricting and limited for his tastes; Carn started to familiarize himself with the changes his body. He was stronger and sturdier now, his scales were like a natural scale mail all over his body. Taking in and out his stingers, he realized that they seem to be allocated in his forearms, near the bones. Spinning some threads was fun, even if he had serious difficulties at the beginning to do not entangle himself like a fly in the middle of a spider web, and he could make clothes with it, the clothes were a bit crude, but without any sewing instruments, little can do Carn about it. A golden and red Kilt for protecting the crotch was the result of an hour of spinning and testing.

On a side note, Carn had the anatomy of a reptile, his penis has retracted inside a protected sack in the groin, curious, he has never felt something like this, although, this Lizardmen race reproductive instinct was a seasonal one. Contrary to humans and other races, who were on heat all days, Lizardmen entered in a state of heat, around once a year and mate with the nearest female they could find. That being said, nothing prevented a Lizardman to get intimate with females or other races whose heats were more numerous or continuous.

Raising from the comfortable hammock, Carn stretched his new body; he was not sure if this buzz and glorious sensation was common after evolving, but right now, it was welcome after all the shit he had to go through the cave trials. The Swampmist Clan has rigged it to hell, with the help of the Arachne, who seemed to be a Priestess of the Deity that shared the name with the race, Arachne. If it was similar to what Carn remembers as Campione, Arachne hated the other gods of her Pantheon with a passion. Her tale was a tragic one after she won a contest with Athena, the bitter goddess turned the poor lass into a half spider, half woman form.

Still, now he was the Chosen one of two heads of Tiamat, Red and Green, fire and poison, respectively. Carn knew how to create, manipulate and mix poison that he had no previous knowledge before, in fact, he was convinced that he could change the composition of his [Spit poison] trait, into all kind of venoms, from paralytic poison to deadly concoctions. Well, anything goes in the path of survival and raising to the top. However, Carn was sure that the two blessing is going to bring him tremendous headaches, later in the future. There is a thing about being an overachiever, that would bring all kind of shit over your head, and Carn was right in that path.

Scratching the scales of his neck, the door of the room suddenly opened and another grayscaled, tall Lizardman entered into the room. He was as tall as Carnage, however, there as a hunching pose in his movements, most of his frame was covered by a thick cape with a cowl; a black cloth embroidered with green runes that glow slightly in the little light that the torch provided.

"Well, aren't you really unique?", hissed as a laughter the newcomer with a cracked tone, revealing his old age. "As soon as we got you out of the Trials, you evolved into a powerful and never registered before Variant of Lizardman".

The cape opened to Carn could see a slim but still strong Lizardman of silver-gray scales with similar markings to him, but instead of golden, they were blue, under the jaw of the Lizardman grow a beard that reached his chest, hanging like the beard of a goat, and picked up into a braid.

"I am Blue Thundercaller of the Stormrage Clan". Presented himself the older Lizardman. "And I am going to be your guide for the next days, as we see what good can you do to the Clan".

"Greetings, Thundercaller", saluted Carn, standing in attention. All about this Lizardman spoke of Carn about the Thurls, Northerner Magicians, that taught him the secrets of the world, wise men that knew things that the mortal lot didn't know or directly couldn't recognize. "I will be in your care, then".

With a crooked smile and a gesture, Blue exited the room, followed buy Carnage as the older Lizardman guided him in the caves that represented the home of the Stormrage Clan.

In the beginning, Carn was a bit taken back, with a name as Stormrage, he was expecting a way more sky open lair for the den of the Clan, however, the caves were storehouses and the living quarters of the Clan. Lizardmen are a cold-blooded race; with notable exceptions like the Blizzardhowl Clan, who thrive in freezing conditions; and they tend to get underground to keep the heat as much as they can, the entire lair was near the domain of the Brimstone Clan, who lived in a Volcano, and the heat of the earth was very appreciated by the Stormrage Clan. However, the Clan passes most of the time outside, as they were naturally attracted to open spaced and clear skies.

It becomes quite a shocking revelation to see that they had entire stables of lesser dragon species. Wyrms, Dracs, Wyverns, all those lesser dragons were used by the Stormrage Clan as mounts to their air forces. The Clan was specialized in aerial combat, as they had an affinity for the sky, it was pretty common that once the members of the Clan has evolved past the Lizardman state, all of them develop their own set of wings, but in any case, most of the Clan were very good riders.

Blue Thundercaller was one of those odd cases that were still in the Lizardman state, mostly because he has part of a magical variant that provided the Clan with very needed magical assistance. It would be odd for the old Lizardman to even evolve, but Carn suspected that Thundercaller didn't really give two shits about evolution. The older Lizardman was powerful, respected and has found joy in his duty, little more can anyone ask from the life.

In all, and after saw how the rest of the Clan that they pass by, reacted to Thundercaller, Carn become more and more convinced that he was some kind of magician; perhaps a druid or a priest of some sort, that brings to the Clan resources that were impossible to found in the mountain that they had taken as den.

Thundercaller explained that the Stormrage Clan was one of the five Great Clans that represent the military power of the Dragon Empire under the Goddess Tiamat, Mother of all Dragons and Queen of the Ocean. The Stormrage Clan was the one that were born under the protection of the Blue head, representing the sky, The Brimstone Clan under the protection of the Red head, representing fire, Swampmist Clan, Green head, poison and nature, Blizzardhowl, White head, ice, and the Grimmwhisper, Black head, representing death and decay. All the lesser dragon species were born under one of those clans, clawing their path, all the way up to evolve into a real Dragon and join The Goddess Tiamat in the Queen´s Den were the Dragon rulers of the country reside and decide the actions and politics of the Empire.

Carn asked about his own unique condition, that he did not fit in any of those categories, but Thundercaller, brushed aside his worries, assuring him that he was simply a variant, a more powerful or specialized evolution. It was rare, as they required more than simply level up to the level 100, and no one knew what kind of requirements were need to make it, but it was not something that out of the ordinary.

The only odd thing was that Carn was different from any other variant that the Clan has ever registered. Carn took a risk and told Thundercaller that he was a [Lizardman Overlord], but the older Lizardman did not show any shock, just widening one of his eyes; Lizardman equivalent of raising an eyebrow; and said that as ominous as it sounds, they already have a [Lizardman King] among this batch of hatchlings, along another couple of variants, so it was not something to worry about.

In fact, Thundercaller was a variant himself, a variant of Lizardman called [Lizardman Magic Caster], it was a variant of Lizardman with an affinity for spells and magic. Carn was very interested in the matter of magic and how the magic work in this world, giving Thundercaller the impression that his [Lizardman Overlord] could be a magically attuned variant too.

In his previous world, all magic essentially called to different deities and divine powers, fueled by the powers of the magicians, as Campiones, they had godly magical reserves and could cast a spell in that scale. In this new world, he didn't know how magic works, as Carn has only seen the Arachne cast a spell, and it was of divine nature, as his [Divine´s Bane] skill activated, giving him quite the influx of power when he battled the Arachne priestess and her Kobold minions.

Thundercaller said that he would be delighted to see if he had magical talent later, as the Clan could always use more Spellcasters, those are always in high demand as there are little of them with real talent beyond one path of magic. Later Thundercaller would explain the path of magics remark, for the moment he kept explain Carnage how the Stormrage Clan works and what where they expecting from him from now on.

The Five Clans were essentially the armies and military arm of the Dragon Empire, currently, they were engaged in a long war with the Southern Empire, a conglomeration of city-states that joined under the banner of a Demigod called Jusar a thousand years ago, and whose descendants; and fellow Demigods; keep it going, the VIII Emperor was the one that started the war.

The Southern Empire has been expanding quite aggressively lately, engaging in a quick and brutal war with the Asgard Kingdom; where the Empire´s Legions were butchered, between the hostile terrain of the Kingdom and his military forces it was an absolute loss for the Empire; and the Dragon Empire. Tiamat was expecting a quick and ruthless win as it happened in the Asgard Kingdom, but the Southern Empire unleashed their ace under their sleeve. Myrmidons, legions, and legions of those blasted ant-men.

Myrmidons, bipedal ant-men who looks pretty much like bald, strong, human men but with antennae, compound eyes, chitin armor in chest, arms and legs and three nailed fingers in each hand, two fingers and a thumb. They are surprisingly strong, resistant and absolutely relentless. They were harder to kill than the average human soldier, as they had a very high pain threshold and could take quite the punishment before they finally collapse and die. Luckily they were quite vulnerable to fire and electricity, and bug poison works like a charm on them. This last part has been puzzling everyone for a time, but the Dragon Empire took it in stride and use it in the war.

The war has been on for about thirty years; dragging some allies from each side. The Dragon Empire trusted his right flank to the Asgard Kingdom, as they were united in their hate to the Southern Empire and the All-Father Vidar has been a good friend of Tiamat for hundreds of years. The Southern Empire more than allies, what brought to the battle was slaves, they had a very well funded and expanded slavery system and business that allow them to enslave practically all the races they could their hands on, transforming entire countries into their slave-kingdoms. They did something like this with the Dark Elves, previously know as the Desert Elves. Their little but beautiful desert kingdom was ransacked to the ground and all their population turned into slaves. In a similar manner, practically half of the Southern Empire forces was composed of slaves from those subjugated kingdoms, making his Imperial Legions quite the variate bunch.

As Clans, the Five Clans were surprisingly independent, they will obey Tiamat´s will, of course, but how do they managed to get what Tiamat wanted, is all to them. Carn noticed that there was a trait that was so different from his human past that he was having troubles wrapping his head around it.

It was not a secret that humans are greedy and backstabbers, in order to raise themselves into a position of power and privilege, they had no problem in betraying anyone in their path. Regicide and other government rebellions were a very common thing. However, this was not the case with the Dragon Kingdom; they were a meritocracy, always eager to prove themselves, evolve and become a Dragon, the maximum achievement of their race, joining the Queen´s Den as rulers at the side of Tiamat. Only one Dragon has surged in the last seven decades, and the war has already cost the lives of twelve of them, so the Queen´s Den was never overpopulated. They lack any political greed, they were happy with what they are, but always strive forward to become something more. It was confusing for a human-like Carnage was in the past; alas, for his Lizardman mind, it has all the sense of the world.

Back with the Five Clans, they were now neck deep in the war, and the Stormrage Clan was suffering from a nasty series of stumps, from the plague that has affected several of the races that they used as mounts, to the slow and weak batches of hatchlings that they have been experimenting in the last years. This last batch has been quite the silver lining in a cloudy season, especially between Carnage and the other survivors, that has demonstrated impressive talents and had evolved in less than two weeks since they were born.

Fortunately, the newcomers; after defeating the treachery of the Swampmist Clan, something that is going to cost them dearly, specially when the Dragons in the Queen´s Den got an ear of an Arachne Priestess working with them; could bring back the strength of the Clan and make then shine as they did in the past, before this series of setbacks cost them dearly.

After this explanation of how the things were, Thundercaller continues to guide Carnage to the rest of the complex. As soon as they continue to explore it, Carnage soon realized that the main bulk of the Clan was out of the mountain, otherwise, the massive residential complex and the humongous stables would have not been so empty, not to mention that he had the sensation that his evolution has put him on a rank above the common Lizardmen.

Telling his suspicions to Thundercaller, he laughed and confirmed it. Usually, the common Lizardmen is not very clever, strong, durable and tenacious, but they lack flexibility and that is the leaders of the Lizardmen come in and turns their kin into fearsome foes. Unfortunately, in this war, they were fighting someone that it was a bug-like mirror of their own.

It didn't take long for them to see all the key spots of the Clan´s Den, Carnage paid special attention to the forge, the library, and the non-flying mounts. Something tells him that his gray scales meant that he was not going to be part of the flying forces, surely magic could do the trick, but even when he was a Campione and had complete domain over the Storm, he liked to fight with his feet on the ground.

As they moved inside the caves, Thundercaller reunited with other similarly cloaked older Lizardmen, who were acting as guides of other evolved Lizardmen, as soon as they get with the other group, Carn smiled widely and saluted to one of the bigger specimen of Lizardmen, with sky blue scales and a complex azure colored lightning bolt pattern all over his body. He has recognized Sparky as soon as he put his eyes on him.

"Well meet, Sparky, it has been a while", laughed Carn saluting the other Lizardmen who frowned for the nickname, but his fury soon abated as he recognized the unique scaled pattern of the Lizardman who was speaking to him.

"Unnamed? is that you, you clever bastard?". Laughter as well the tall and strong Lizardmen, moving closer to him. "By Tiamat, I didn't expect you to survive, the last thing I saw of you, was you disappearing into the deep caves, hunting a phantom".

"Ha, not so phantom, a bloody Arachne and those spider´s ass lovers of the Swampmist Clan", snorted Carn with humor. Truly it has been too close to be comfortable, but he was alive and he has evolved, so it ended well for him. On a side note, evolution really has done wonders for Sparky´s mind; if, as Thundercaller said, most of the Lizardman were not on the sharpest tools of the toolbox.

"Wait, you are Carnage?, I will be dammed, should have expected it", shook his head with slight amazement Sparky. "But I am not Sparky, you cocky asshole, I am Storm, told you in the cave".

"So you did name yourself?", this time was Carnage´s turn to wide one of his eyes in surprise. "Didn't know it was possible, I was named Carnage after they rescued me from the hellhole where I fought the Arachne and her little pets", shrugged Carnage like it was an everyday occurrence.

"Is not the usual, but if one of the hatchlings demonstrates a special interest in the name, they are usually allowed to keep it", nodded Storm. "Although, I am pretty sure, that it has more to do with the fact that the guides like Thundercaller or Shadowhisper are too bloody annoyed to name all of the hatchlings and they just roll with it". Laughed Storm in humor.

Thundercaller just smiled at the jab and shrugged his shoulders, but the other guide, Shadowhisper, just frowned under her cape and huffed under her breath, she does seem to be annoyed to be playing guide for the younger Lizardmen. With a quick count, Carnage realized that there were about nine Lizardman present, all of the supposedly from this year batch and variants of the usual muscle heads that was the common evolution. It was interesting to see what kind of special traits and skills will these ones have. It was a safe assumption to say that Storm is possible the holder of the [Blue blessing of Tiamat], as Carnage was now the Red and Green chosen one, however, the other Lizardman must have special skills to be given this treatment. Well, he was going to see soon, as the Guides were to spoke among themselves for a little and soon divided the group of nine Lizardman.

A bit surprised, Carnage realized that he has been left alone, as the rest were moved in couples and a trio; Storm in the last one; leaving him with Thundercaller who eyed him warily. Carnage stood his gaze; he really would like to know what kind of eyes does he had now, and keep silent, the older Lizardman was pondering something, and Carnage was waiting to see what kind of decision is Thundercaller going to make about him.

"Follow me". Finally said the Lizardman and Carn followed Thundercaller without a complain, curious about what Thundercaller could have in mind about his position in the Stormrage Clan forces.

They moved into the caves where the majority of the magical works had a place, not far from the annex, that had the forges and where he could see dozens of Lizardmen and Kobolds working in the forges to keep the Clan armed and ready for the war. Much as Carn expected, the majority of the weapons were spears, swords, axes, and shields; with little to none armor, except pieces, that protect the few weak spots of the natural scales of the Lizardmen. Kobolds, on the other hand, do seems to have extensively used of light armors made of some kind of leather and the scales of the bigger mounts that the Stormrage Clan had at their disposal.

No modern weapons, no firearms of any kind. Pity, Carnage loved firearms, they there powerful, loud and had a serious intimidating factor. On the other hand, magic seems to be very common, and a sorcerer of any kind, tossing fireballs around could be as dangerous as any firearm.

They entered into a room that contained a lot of arcane tools and paraphernalia, possible the place where the spellcasters of the Clan work their magic, especially now that they were at war, investigating and developing new spells that could turn the tide must have become a must. Thundercaller went for one of the wardrobes that contained a lot of different trinkets, from lamps with a tiny flame inside to a bottle that looks like had a piece of night slithering inside.

"You have put us in quite the conundrum", sighed Thundercaller, tacking several things from the wardrobe and setting on one of the work tables. "You are not from any know variants, you are a unique one, so we have to test all from scratch and see what kind of talents your variant has".

Well, Carn has to admit that it was blood sense, It was the first time the Clan has seen someone like him, so they will have to see what exactly an Overlord variant means, not to mentions that Carn was; according to the evolution messages; and Unique variant, due to some unknown requirements that he seems to have completed. Not that he had no bloody idea about them. Carn evolved and that was it.

"Today we are going to see if your variant has any talent with magic, tomorrow you will be tested by one of our Combat masters and the next day you will be taken to the stables and see if you link with a mount". Resumed Thundercaller what was going to be his schedule for the next days, it was not bad, Carn could use it to learn a lot more about this world and how his new body works.

Before they tested anything, Thundercaller gave him a briefing about how the Arcane magic system works, one of the four systems that regulate the magical side of the world.

The Arcane, the Divine, the Kinesis and the Rituals.

This four compiled all the supernatural skills of the world. Carnage suspected that [Circle of Usurpation] was of the Divine system, and all the traits that he has taken were something that he should have Not be able to take, that those were natural things, that were out of the "supernatural" system of the world, but he keep it quiet, it was a way too good ace under his sleeve to reveal it.

The Arcane system was divided into ten main branches, [Fire, Earth, Water, Sky, Abyss, Sun, Life, Death, Mind and Body], however, there was infinite sub-branches, developed with the years by all kind of spellcasters, like [Poison, Ice, Moon] and other variations of the main ten.

The Arcane system was the more flexible of the four because it was a very common thing that a spellcaster had an idea, and just went ahead and created a new branch, still, all of them had roots in one of the main ten, so they call it sub-branches and be done with it. Each living being, with an ounce of talent in magic, is born with an innate affinity for one of the main ten making them know spells of that branch practically by instinct and could learn through effort, study and practice, any other branch or develop his own.

The [Divine Domains] system was a bit simpler and complicated at the same time. Each deity posses a series of Domains that represent what do they govern over, as Priests and Priestesses of those deities, they had access to those domains, and considering the number of deities that are out there, trying to make a list of all the Domains was a fool's errand. In all, each follower of a deity can call out divine spells related to the Domains of its patron deity and that was it in a nutshell.

The Kinetic system was powers that were born from the mind and body of the living beings, their will manifested, imposing their will over the physical realm. [Pyrokinetic, Cryokinetic, Soma, Telepath, Telekinesis] and so went the list on, basically mind over matter would be the resume. However, is very rare to find Kinetics, as they are born that way and can not be trained; Dragon Empire was the exception to the rule, as practically all the Five Clans had some kind of inborn Kinetic power inside them.

Carn widened an eye, realizing where the [Pyrokinetic] skill that he got from the Brimstone Clan came from, that means that his Clan could have a measure of [Electrokinetic powers]; surely Storm was off the charts in that department, and following that logic, his Usurped skills should make a hell of a [Pyrokinetic] out of him; but even if it was the case, he did not have any [Electrokinetic] skills, not that he complained, his own [Circle of Usurpation] was bloody better.

Last but not least, the [Ritual] system. This was the more complex, taxing and frustrating of all. It comprised of hundreds and hundreds of methods to achieve the desired effect, it varies from simple, menial task, to alter the geography of a country, all depends on the power, complexity, and detail of the ritual.

All kind of things falls under this category, like protections over structures, enchanting objects, and persons, summoning all kind of supernatural beings, like angels, demons and thousands of other spirits. After Carn learned about the [Ritual] system, he knew that it was no different from the Sacred Runes that his people had, drawing them over objects and persons and calling for the aid of the gods, was a ritual itself.

Then, Thundercaller revealed a piece of information that made Carn use all his force of will to do not cackle in mad laughter. Arcane, Divine and Ritual system source of power was the soul, meanwhile, the Kinetic system feeds on the will and body.

Carnage had the soul of the oldest and strongest Campione of an era.

After the explanation and Carnage shivering a little trying not to show a crooked smile and laughing like a mad villain, scaring the shit out of anyone in the neighborhood, they proceed to test the affinity of Carn on the Arcane system, the specialization that Thundercaller possessed as [Lizardman Magic caster], and once again, Carn had to suppress his laughter at the dumbfounded expression of Thundercaller, when it was clear that Carn had an affinity with all the Ten main branches of the Arcane System. As soon as they started to test him, a box materialized in Carn´s mind, soon followed by another, explaining the origin of such a bloody miracle.

[God of Magic] and [Oldest soul].

One from Pandora, allowing him to learn all kinds of magic and the other from his Campione soul, who granted him Godly power magical reserves. It did come as a surprise to him too, but he managed to compose himself and do not stand there slaw jacked and just show a cocked smirk, leaving Thundercaller trying to make heads or tails about what, in Tiamat´s name, was going on here.

But Thundercaller recovered quickly and shaking his head a little, then eyed Carn; and boy, he did not like that look at all, was way to similar to when his oldest masters were about to put him into a hellish training that would leave him begging for a swift end at the end of the day; and smiled widely, showing the predatory fang that all the Lizardman had.

"I will be dammed, this is not what I was expecting", hissed in laughter Thundercaller.

Signaling Carn to wait where he was, he started to put back all the trinkets into the wardrobe from where they have come from and instead took out a jagged scroll, as soon as Carn put his eyes on him, he knew that it was made of human skin, the faint and dry smell of blood flickered in his nose too.

He did not care about it, perhaps because he was a Lizardman, and saw humans as little more than cattle, or perhaps because as Campione, he has done way worst things than skin a bastard and use his blood to create a parchment. A flash of memory, made him remember the time that he squeezed a man to death and with the juice, he tattooed a big fuck you in the back of his widow, so their King knew that Carn was not in the mood for any foolish around his turf.

Good times, good times.

"This is a ritual, a minor one, yet tremendously useful", explained Thundercaller. "It allows you to summon a Servant, a spirit made of pure magic energy that is totally useless in battle but will act as your steward, cleaning crew and warehouse".

"That sound useful", commented Carn, "why is a minor one? I can tell that having such a helper around is nothing to scoff off, especially if it could store your most valuable goods out of greedy hands".

"A good question", Thundercaller did seem pleased for the observation of Carn; but he supposed that, considering that most of the Lizardmen knuckleheads all the time, when Thundercaller found that a sliver of intelligence, he will nurture it.

"It has to do with the power needed to summon it". Answered the older Lizardman to the question. "The power needed to call in for the Servant is quite big, none of the non-specialized Lizardman can pull it off, and even high leveled Dragonkin; a very coveted evolution for our kin but hard to achieve; struggled to summon it, and even then, the Servant is not very capable and must be guided constantly, and had little storage capability".

"Humm...".Hummed Carnage. "I take you to want me to learn and perform this ritual". Honestly, Carn knew he could do it, he has the talent and the power, but powerful eagles always hid their talons; especially in his case, [Circle of Usurpation] was not something that he wanted to be revealed anytime soon.

"By tomorrow morning, I will guide you to the Combat Master of the Lizardmen", nodded Thundercaller. "I expect you, to have your own Servant by then".

Carn widened his eyes, this crazy old lizard was seriously trying his best to made him show his cards. By Pandora, what does this old wanker want? Carn was biding his time, slow and careful learning and building his power; showing off was not among his plans, that was childish and foolish.

"By Pan..err Tiamat, are you out of your mind Thundercaller?, I am no spell caster yet, and you want me to try my hand at a ritual that higher and more powerful kin has failed to do so?". That has been close, he almost blurts out the name of his adopted mom, without checking out if Pandora was a goddess around this parts and how was she seen, Carn would keep her name to himself.

Thundercaller did catch the slip-up, but the older Lizardman knew better and was conscious that Carnage was a unique individual. The older Lizardman has seen practically every possible variation their race has to offer, and thanks to serving a couple of decades in the front lines during the first two decades of the war against the Southern Empire, he has seen practically all the evolution and variants that several races of the main continent had, and Carnage was nothing like he has ever seen before.

Sure, that new Lizardman; Strom; had all the markings of being a very exceptional breed; specially considering he was a [Lizardman King] and had the most impressive talent for [Sky magic] and [Electrokinesis] that Thundercaller has seen in years; but Carnage was a mystery, and frankly, Thundercaller loved mysteries, it was all the most satisfying once you resolve it.

"I have the utmost confidence that you will manage to achieve it, by tomorrow morning", dismissed the protest of Carnage with a waving of his claw. "Now, in order to be fair, I recommend you to read all you could about rituals in the Library, I will speak to the librarian to let you study at your heart's content, now, hop to it, youngling, you are burning precious time". Waved Thundercaller him to get to it.

Knowing that he had nothing to do here, Carnage picked up the scroll and grumbling under his breath about tyrannical and unreasonable old lizards, he set route to the library. This clever bastard has put in a very dangerous situation. If he achieved the ritual, it will show the older Lizardman that Carnage´s talent for the magical systems was out of the charts, even the most difficult of them, the Rituals; should he fail, on the other hand, it would show Thundercaller that Carnage was not as special as he thought, and would reduce the options of increasing his power that he should have otherwise.

In resume, showoff and achieve something that even evolved individuals have failed, or fail it, and be sent to mingle with the rest of the Lizardmen that were considered members of the clan but part of the main bulk of the Clan forces, with little to none chances to evolve into variants and more powerful kins, unless they achieve something impressive in the battlefield.

Carnage knew that as soon as he put his hand into a real weapon, or even better a forge, he would have no problems to become a terror in the battlefield. With the strength of the Lizardmen kin, swinging around a good sword or a fine battleax is going to be a pleasure. But he didn't want to be part of the main forces, far from him to disrespect them; he actually respected them a lot. Foot soldiers are the backbone of any army, without them, any army was screwed.

But perhaps it would do some good to gain some trusted allies among the Lizardmen warriors and to see how the Dragon Empire fares in the battlefield. Even if they were relatively humanoid and bipedal, the tactics of the Dragon Empire could be ones that he has not seen ever, and that would lead to some serious problems if he had to fight or leader a force against the Southern Empire.

Snorting to himself, Carnage shook his head and continue walking to the library, he was thinking too much, at the end of the day, he has to admit that he was an overachiever and hated to lose any challenge. Even as Campione, one of his traits was that he never backed down any challenge; that lead him into some serious headaches, but by Pandora did they worth of the trouble.

With his determination resumed, Carnage reached the library and soon started to immerse himself in the lecture of all the books and tomes of magic that he could put his claws on. Blinking once, he did notice the little fact that he knew how to read. That was a tremendously pleasant surprise, perhaps it has something to do with the evolution?, or all races shared a common language?, Carnage knew that Campiones had among their blessings, the ability to understand and read all languages, but he doubted it would be a common thing here. Back in Midgard, a common language was a bloody utopia, no nation would accept that, but a lot of merchants had Latin and Saxon as their languages. Well, anyhow, the rune-like writing of the Dragon Empire was nice, it was similar to the Runes he knew as Northerner but a notable difference here and there.

He devoured the knowledge, it was easy, he didn't understand where the people saw the problem in the Rituals, it was a work of patience, adequate materials and unrelenting determination to get to the end. It was just the same as working on a forge, now that he thought about it. Carn always had a hand for the forge; forging all kind of items, from farming tools to prodigious weapons; Rituals were just the same, you get what you need, prepare the location and start working, patiently hammering, heating, cooling and grinding, until the metal bent to your will and took the shape you need.

[God of Magic] made it, even more, easier, and before he realized, Carnage passed the entire of the daylight and way past the evening, reading in the library. Rituals were a fascinating theme and if he was correct, it had the right mixture of art and knowledge that called to him. Found the adequate ritual and the possibilities were bloody endless; although, he understood why very few devoted to them, the magical power needed to even backup; the so-called; medium rituals was astronomic, with several spell caster pouring all they had in the ritual array. Suppressing the need to cackle, Carnage knew that it was not going to be his case, with his Campione soul backing his spells, the soul power depending systems were going to be at his command.

The thud of a plate of meat and a tankard of some liquid near him took him out of his thoughts and when the smell of the meat reached his nostrils, Carnage realized that he was bloody hungry and thirsty, and he has been way too long lost in the reading. Blinking at the plate and the tankard, he saw Storm looking at him with a smirk and munching on his own piece of meat; the roasted leg of a goat, judging from the smell and the appearance.

"By Tiamat, Carnage, it way past noon, everybody has already retreated to their dens, what, on Tiamat´s name, are you still doing here?". Sat Storm in a nearby stool, resting his arm over the table, ripping a big piece of meat from the roasted leg.

It was a good thing, the Book Keeper was not around, the older and grumpy female Lizardman would have rip Storm´s balls out for eating near the books, with claws full of grease and leaving crumbs wherever Storm go. But Carnage was going to forgive him, Storm was a bloody angel that has brought him food and booze, he owned the [Lizardman King] that much.

"That old wanker of Thundercaller has tossed an impossible challenge to me", grumbled Carnage, leaving the book at a side, and cleaning a space on the table and proceed to wolf down the meat that Storm has been so kind to deliver to him.

"Ha, not really a surprise". Shrugged Storm. "All the Guides, of the nine that survived the challenge, have been testing what exactly we can do, and all of them expect us to be bloody prodigies". Storm took a chug from his own tankard. "I have been all day practicing both my [Electrokinesis] and my [Sky magic], I had to keep it until I almost pass out of exhaustion".

"Aye, they expect a lot of us", nodded Carnage, chewing fiercely on his cooked meat. "But after seeing how the Clan has been falling down this last years, it is not really a surprise". Commented Carnage, trying to see if the Guides has shared the same knowledge with all the evolved Lizardmen.

"The war with the Southern Empire, bunch of pink cretins", snorted Storm crushing bones under his jaws. "That Jusar Emperor of them, the VIII I think, is nothing but an ambitious fool".

"More chances for us to evolve into powerful variants", pointed out Carnage. "War always brought powerful warriors and beasts in the open, perfect to achieve glorious feats".

Storm stopped chewing for a moment and look at Carnage with surprise, he didn't think about it from that perspective. In truth, it was just as Carnage has said, a war brings forth the exceptional individuals of each Kingdom, as they were called to defend and protect their homelands. Really, it was the perfect chance to look for powerful individual and unique beasts, conquering new lands, acquiring unique trophies and rewards; with each one of those feats, they will evolve faster than in peace times and could evolve into more powerful variants of their races.

Who would have thought, the war was good for them, after all.

"Ha, I knew I was right, you are a clever bastard". Laughed Storm. "Even in the caves, you always were two steps ahead of everyone".

"Not really", dismissed Carnage with a laugh of his own; Storm was starting to become something akin to a friend. "I was as terrified as anyone else, but I keep it hidden better".

"Nah, I was too dumb to realize the danger", drink another shot of his jar Storm, "and do not think for a second that I do not remember how you dragged me by the nostrils even if I believed myself as the Alpha, By Tiamat, I owe you my life, I would have perished in the caves, if it wasn't for your help and cunning".

"Consider the debt sated". Snorted Carnage emptying his plate of meat and taking the tankard, really enjoying the taste of the red liquid, possibly a wine of some kind, he would really have loved a cold mead, but this will do. "I was seriously starving, I am truly grateful for the food and the booze, Storm". Changed the theme of the conversation Carnage, the last thing he needed now, was to Storm to remember how he has treated him like a dumb child back in the caves. At that point, Sparky, the electric Kobold, was little more than a useful and funny minion to sacrifice.

"Ha, It was fun to see you engrossed in a book", shrugged Storm, "but is a tiny payment for my life, and I will need of your unique sarcasm and guts in the future".

"How so?", now Carnage was a bit surprised and really didn't like where the conversation was going. It seems that Storm remembered and Carnage has made quite the impression in the [Lizardman King]. "We are still hatchlings, no matter how fast have we evolved, and if one has to pay attention to the ramblings of the Guides, a bunch of arrogant youngsters with little sense and too much arrogance".

"You know, that "I am nothing special" attitude could have work with the rest", eyed Storm him, with a crooked smile. "But I saw you on the caves, I saw how you always knew what to do and how to survive, not to mention, that little disappearance trick of you and the poison spitting thing; that was the second time you directly saved my life, by the way".

"Pandora curse my arrogance". Cursed Carnage in his mind. "He was conscious and knew that I have powers that are not normal, there goes my humble acting".

"And I should be your little bitch from now on, or you will reveal it to the rest?", asked Carnage with a tone that; literally, made a layer of frost cover the surface of their drinks.

"Peace, Carnage". Raised his claws in surrender Storm. "Nothing of the sort, well something in those lines, but not like that, Tiamat protect me, far from it, I knew very well that trying to pull an Alpha attitude with you is like taming a Wyvern with cuddles and hugs; a very bad idea".

"You have lost me, Storm", Carnage was a bit more tranquil, Storm respected him, that was good, but he didn't understand what he did expect from him. "If you are not going to blackmail me into your servitude, but I will be under you, frankly, I don't see where are you going".

Storm left his tankard over the table, and took a more comfortable position, for a fellow Lizardman, it was clear that the young Lizardman was conflicted a bit stressed for something.

"You, as I am a variant", started Storm on a common ground, "and I take that Thundercaller was so dumbfounded for whatever he discovered during your test of attitude in the Four systems that he did forget to tell you about how the Talons and the hierarchy of the Lizardman".

"Talons?". That was a new term for Carnage, it was the first time that he eared it, although, now that the thought about it, in several of the books that he has read, they did mention Talon spellcasters, he suspected that it was a Lizardman variant, he was wrong, so it seems.

"I will get to it later", said Storm asking for a bit of patience on the matter. "As variants", he retakes the explanation of what he wanted, "we are a step over the common Lizardman, who were strong but not precisely brilliant, think of a calmer version of me from the caves", chuckled with humor Storm. "They are the main bulk of our forces, be it on the ground or riding the different mounts that we breed here".

"Point is, variants as usually trained and considered leaders and guides of the forces of the Clan", said Storm and Carnage widened an eye, he suspected something like that, especially with the [King] remark that Storm had on his variant and his own [Overlord] adding to his title. "And even among those variants, there are ones that practically marks you as commander and leader of the armies of the Stormrage Clan and by proxy, the Dragon Empire armies".

Ah, so that was it.

Carnage gets it now, Storm was way more clever than Carnage gave him credit for. Storm was a [Lizardman King], so he was looking out for who, among the nine survivors, would be adequate to accompany him as the future field commander of a piece of the forces of the Stormrage Clan in the war.

Carnage knew that from Storm´s perspective, Carnage was a wild card, and Storm wanted to have that card in his deck. Carnage understood and respect that foresight and cunning. After all, one of the lessons that he learned as Campione was that proper preparation prevents colossal screw-ups and humiliations. But even with that realization, Carnage knew, that Storm and he will be on opposite sides of a battlefield at some point, both were Chosen ones, and they will have to fight for the right and privilege to be the Consort of Tiamat. Although now that Storm was practically offering an alliance and partnership, Carnage´s original plan to use him as a coal mine canary about that Chosen one's business, was easier than ever. And Carnage would gain an ally and a possible friend, for those inevitable future rainy days to come.

"I am a [Lizardman King]", confessed Storm, with the tiny sliver of tiredness in his voice, not a bloody day, and the pressure that they have put on him, has even grated the nerves of a Lizardman. It was quite the feat, considering that they belong to a cold blood race. "I have been told, that I am going to be the leader of the armies of our Clan, and all leaders; and believe me, I am not the only [King] variant in the Clan´s den now; have or are swiftly recruiting talented Talons".

Carnage did not say anything, just took a chug from his tankard and waved Storm to keep talking; Storm has not said anything about being the Chosen one, perhaps he did not know about it. It was possible that thanks to his [Circle of Usurpation] Carnage had an advantage over the rest, as he knew what he Usurps and how it works, but as it has happened to [God of Magic], it has only activated when it was needed, not revealing itself until some conditions meet. It was a curious thing, that he would have to inquire about on a later date from the library or Thundercaller.

"Talons are basically retinues". Explained Storm what the Talon term meant, although Carnage was already expecting something along those lines. "Each Talon Leader tries to recruit three to four claws, individuals that are of the trust of the leader and mirror its own talents or plans".

"For example, a Stormrage Clan Talon, could be formed by variants that had an affinity for [Electrokinesis] or that had an innate talent to tame and ride Wyverlings", gave examples Storm of two of the Talons that he has seen on the outside as he was putting his [Elctrokinesis] to the limit. "But I am different, I need to create a Talon that could help me lead battles, and that´s where you enter into the equation".

"Once I evolved as [King], I got a skill or trait, I don't know how to call it, called [King´s wisdom], that essentially made me way more clever than any common Lizardman". There was a bit of amusement and embarrassment in that sentence. "After I received it, all my memories came together under a new perspective, and I have to confess that I am not proud of how dumb I was. Later, when I was spoken about the Talons packs, I remembered how you dragged me by the tail during all the trials; with me being none the wiser and still convinced that I gave the orders there; and how I wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for your help. In resume, I need you on my Talon".

"Storm, I am a [Lizardman Overlord]", simply answered Carnage to Storm, as soon as that got cleared, all the better. There can not be two kings in the same throne, sooner or later, there will be blood. "No one knows what the heck exactly that means, but I seriously doubt with a name like that, we are not going to but heads".

Storm blinked, scratched the scales of the tip of his tail and sighed with tiredness, but he soon recovered and taking another drink from his tankard, already low, Storm keep that expression of determination, convinced that his [King´s Wisdom] has hit the nail in the head.

"[Overlord] or not, you don't want to rule], argued back Storm, surprising Carnage a bit for the clever and insightful remark.

It was true after all, Carnage has not the slightest intentions of becoming king of anything, that was a fool´s job; all the kings had a bull´s eyes painted on their foreheads, and not only from outside enemies. In a society, as militarized as the Lizardman, kings were excepted to be exceptional and that means a lot of pressure over them, to be worthy of those expectations. Carnage gave the two-finger salute to that, he will do what he wanted, as he has always done; Campiones are irrationals beings like that, and his soul was the soul of a Campione.

"I saw in the caves, you could have beaten me to the ground and take the leadership; that would something that a ruler would do, but you acted differently, you left me to believe that I was calling the shots and instead you keep us both safe, feed and protected, without me none the wiser". Resumed Storm what has transpired in the caves where they both were toss as newborn Kobolds. "I need that mixture of ruthless, cunning and foresight; you may not want to be a King, but honestly, Tiamat has blessed you with all the traits of one hell of a right-hand man".

"You made a convincing case, Storm". Carnage has to admit it, credit when is due, Storm has changed from a dumber than a sack of rocks Kobold, to a cunning young king that Carnage liked a lot more. Far from being arrogant, Storm has taken the lessons of the caves to the heart and recognize when he has screwed up, and when he needs help.

"Hope so, I truly need a strong Talon, and you and the other two are my last chance before I have to wait a season for another batch of evolved Lizardman variants". Shrugged Storm, with all the cards on the table, honesty was the best policy when dealing with Carnage.

"Two?, there were nine variants this morning", pointed out Carnage.

"Specialized variants, three were Priests and Priestesses of Tiamat, the went to the temple of the peak of the Den as soon as their talent with the [Divine system] show itself up and two were [Tamers] variants and were taken by the mounts caretakers", quickly resumed Storm what were the destinies of more than half of the nine evolved Lizardmen.

"You, Rain Swiftjaws, Leaf Windtamer and I, were the last battle oriented Lizardman left, and I am not entirely sure about you, the Guides are quiet about you after Thundercaller said something to them". Named the other two Lizardman that he wanted in his Talon or that they were already are, and he was the only one left without a Talon.

That was a pretty clever maneuver, a Lizardman without a Talon, if he pretends to get on the field, was a lone wolf with too many enemies out of the Den to be comfortable with, in a sense, Storm has put him between the sword and the wall. Carnage´s respect from the recently acquired wisdom and intelligence of Storm grow up a notch.

"Rain and Leaf, what are they?", asked Carnage, who knew that at the end, he was going to be part of Storm´s Talon, so he wanted to know as much as he could of his possible new fellow Talon pack members.

"[Lizardman Swiftclaw Rider] and [Lizardman Pathfinder] for what they told me", informed Storm with hope hidden inside his voice. "Will that means that you will be part of my Talon?".

"Aye, you clever bastard", snorted Carnage and Storm widely smiled, showing all his fangs.

After that conversation, they simply chatted for a while, Storm shared some of his future plans with him, wanting the opinion and unique insight of Carnage about them. In all, Storm has drawn a bit sketchy plans; in one day it was not really a surprise; but they were solid and had a lot of sense if he was aiming for the leadership of the Clan in the future, once he has evolved into the higher forms of the Lizardman.

Evolution was still a bit blurry for Carnage, he recalled that when he revealed Thundercaller what kind of variant Carn was, the spellcaster gave him a briefing on the evolution topic, but it was not a detailed one.

Once an individual hits level 100, they start evolving and depending on the requirements that it has full filled, it would evolve into a higher specimen, possible a variation if the individual was lucky enough.

Saying goodbye to Storm, Carnage retired to his little room; although personal den would be perhaps a more appropriate term; and unrolled the scroll that contains the instructions and requirements for the [Unseen Servant] Ritual, quickly reading the contents and snorting after finishing it.

It was quite simple, even without his [God of magic] criminally unfair advantage to learn all kind of magic, the Ritual was not all that complex. A circle of magic; there was written in other variations that should work as well too, like a triangle and a square; detailed and clear runes for the attributions of the servant, like a store, serve, clean, cook etc, and bathe the runes in a drop of the blood of the summoner. After that, it was only a matter of chant the name of Servant and call it, calling it constantly and without pause, as the summoner keep providing power until the Servant crystallized itself from the magic power poured in the ritual and bond with the summoner, for the rest of their lives and even beyond; depending of the ritual and the runes; there was all kind of variants that different spell casters of the Stormrage Clan have been discovering and recorded in the scroll.

Carnage completed it in a matter of hours, with a final blink of power, the magic took the shape of an androgynous, well dressed, with a red, slightly reinforced, jerkin; it lacked body from the waist down and its face was empty of any features, except a blackish skin, with two red markings; identical to the ones that Carnage had on his chest; and three tiny horns that mirrored the ones of Carnage.

Carnage baptized it Carravers; from an Englishmen butler that Carnage meets once; and the magic construct just took it in stride and accept it, with a monotonous tone that couldn't hide the deep vein of sarcasm that runs under it. Carnage was sure that they were going to get along, just fine. Carravers cleaned up the place in a second, storing the scroll that has summoned it, and a couple of other clothes that Carnage has made with his [Webbing] skill, vanishing back, waiting for the call of Carnage.

Calling it a day, a very productive and surprising day, Carnage rested on his hammock and sleep like a rock, sure that the future was going to show him even more wonders.

As the morning comes, his [Blindsight] alerted him of the sound of his door opening, making him awake and stay in alert in second; really use that one, was worth almost die to get it from that fat mole; but his nostrils caught a whiff of the smell, and soon recognized the smell of Thundercaller, who has come as he promised to send him to the Combat master of all Lizardman.

Carnage would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy greatly the shocked expression of Thundercaller, when Carnage summoned Carravers to get back the scroll and return it to Thundercaller. Carnage has already memorized the ritual, but he took mental note of starting his own spell book as soon as possible. Back in Midgard, several wizard and sorcerers had Grimoires of all kind, from books to scrolls, to more exotic things like wooden tablets and the sort. In this world, he knew that scrolls were common, and after all the books that he has read about magic and Rituals, he knew that carrying around a Grimoire would only help him to keep track of all the spells and Rituals that he was going to collect bar create during his lifetime.

The older Lizardman laughed his ass off, impressed with the talent of Carnage and storing the scroll inside his robe; he guided him to the open area outside, where dozens of groups of Lizardmen where training and preparing to join the front lines. With a quick recount, Carnage realized that there were easily more than two hundred Lizardmen warriors training in the open field. Engaged in mock battles and practicing their martial skills with all kind of weapons, however, Carn did observe that there were gigantic specimens of Lizardmen here and there.

Thundercaller informed him that those were Saurus, an evolution of Lizardman and a kin species called Saurions, that focus on impossible strength and resistance. In Carnage´s mind they were akin to Jotun, giants of the lore of Midgard, but a reptilian, lesser version of them. A Jotun could stood between the four and the two hundred meters, not counting monster like Surtr of Ymir that are the size of a mountain, this Saurus were about three to three meters and half of height, so they were not even close to a real Jotun, still, they do look capable of tearing apart anyone with claws the size of daggers and weapons according to their size.

For the first time, Carnage knew the rest of his Talon, as Storm has called it; they did receive him cordially, and with a bit of reservation, as the rumors of the why and the how of his name spread around the Stormrage Clan Den. A name like Carnage surely had quite the tale behind it.

Rain Swiftjaws, the only female of the group, was shorter than him and Storm, but taller than Leaf, standing on a proud six feet and a couple of inches height, she did seem to build to be swift and agile, with a pleasant azure tone to her scales and white tattoos like markings on her arms and leg. She had a soft mane of white hair that reached her middle back. If one had to judge by the Lizardmen beauty cannons, she was attractive, but her longer jaws and the silver eyes broke it a little. She was a [Swiftclaw rider], supposedly a gifted rider of the creatures called Swiftclaws.

Leaf Windtamer was one of the darkest types of scales that Carnage has ever seen, they were the color of a dark storm cloud, with a white lightning pattern on the scales of his back. He was the shorter of the bunch, with six feet height, however, he was of sturdy complexion, with stocked arms that bulged with muscles under the scales. His jaws were shorter than the usual on the Lizardmen and had cloud colored eyes. According to his variant, he was a [Pathfinder], a ranger and an explorer.

They observing him too, realizing that he was as tall as Storm and similarly built, but his gunmetal gray scales and golden and red marking did throw them for a loop, as it was very uncommon among the Stormrage Clan, perhaps in Clans with a higher affinity to the earth, like Brimstone or Grimmwhisper could be a common thing, but among the Stormrage, the coloration of the scales of Carnage was quite odd. Anyhow, Thundercaller has already declared that he was the most talented spell caster that he has saw in his long life, and that gave Carnage a bit of space, as the word of Thundercaller was very respected.

Together, the new Talon was guided to the presence of Fang Mountainbreaker, the biggest specimen of his kin present in the Stormrage Clan Den. He was a [Saurus Juggernaut] variant, a mountain of muscles, fangs, claws, and scales that could chop and elephant to pieces with easiness. Standing over fourteen feet in height, he eclipsed the light of the sun once he approached Carnage´s Talon and saluted all of them with a humor-filled rumbling.

Saurus, variant or not, are not precisely the sharpest tools of the toolbox, but with the age, Fang has gained the wisdom and cunning that experience brought to the survivors and has become a vital piece of the Clan, as he could teach all new warriors, all kind of tricks, techniques, and abilities to survive in the battlefield. Not to mention that he has practically killed everything that the Southern Empire has thrown at him, and was happy to teach the youngsters about the weak spots of all the enemies he has killed. In fact, he was quite proud of his collection of battle trophies, as it had a skull of all the species that formed the Southern Empire for the last two decades.

Learning under him was considered quite the privilege, as he had the experience and the scars to demonstrate that Fang knew what he was doing; and a Carnage´s Talon didn't lose the chance to learn as much as he could. Theoretically, they were there to see what kind of abilities did they have with the weapons, but once they get comfortable with the weapons of their choice, they did not lose time in practically kidnapping Fang and made him train them for the rest of the day, trying to master their weapons as soon as they could.

On a side note, Carnage did not choose a single weapon; he couldn't, he was already proficient with the weapons of his Northerner kin from Midgard, the memories of the Campione that he was, were there, showing him how to fight ruthlessly and with preternatural efficiency. Carnage was proficient with the sword, the battleax, and the spear, combining them with a shield on a dual wielding, but Carnage said that he was a bit more ambitious and would wait, seeing if he could forge his own weapon, a design that he had in head, and he has not seen it, in the armory of the Clan.

Fang took interest on it, and once Carnage explained what he had in mind, the [Juggernaut] laughed, telling him that he was eager to see if the idea was as useful as Carnage was convinced that it was, they did sound promising. Especially for the more specialized divisions of the army, like the Swiftclaw riders and the Wyvern cavalry. Carnage promised Fang that as soon as he had the permission, he would even forge one weapon for him so he could judge by himself. Fang took it in stride and laughed, accepting the challenge.

In all, Storm´s Talon, as Fang has called them, showed proficiency in several weapons, making them versatile and adaptable, just as Storm liked and hoped it would be. Storm was a lancer, with and without shield; no surprises here; Rain was surprisingly adept with the sword, the lance, and the shield, with a knack for quick shooting the short arrows that the Swiftclaw cavalry used; Leaf was a nightmare with the dagger, the javelin, and the bow, but he had difficulties to parry hits with the shield, preferring to dodge than to block. Carnage tended to use two-handed weapons or to dual wield, but he knew his way around a shield, mixing it with the sword, the ax or the spear with easiness. On a side note, the only one that showed interest in blunt weapons was Carnage, the other did not like clubs, hammers or maces, something that Fang, on the other hand, seems to favor a lot.

The Talon dine together, recovering from the beatdown that Fang has dissed to them all during a last mock battle. The [Juggernaut] has kicked their scaled tails all the ways to Sunday, laughing all the time, and sending them flying with swirls in their eyes and not really wanting to get up from the comfortable floor. Carnage learned that he was still a youngster in the world of powerful monsters, a single, solid and real, hit from Fang´s mace, and he would have been turned into a smear on the ground. Carnage had a long road ahead and instead of frustration, he raised to the challenge, It was like facing a worthy enemy, his blood was boiling from all the challenges that this new world was offering him.

Soon calling it a day, as the tiredness of the day and the bruises from the beat down were still fresh, they retreat to their little dens, eager to rest and to see what the next day would bring. Especially Rain, as the third day was the day on where they will be guided to the stables, where the different mounts where hold. From the flying wyverns to the Swiftclaws that she had an affinity with.

Before he went to his private den, Carnage made a last stop into the library, collecting a writing kit and preparing to scribble down, all the ideas that he has had once he saw the [Saurus] and the extensive, yet surprisingly simple and specialized weaponry that the armory of the clan have.

For a Clan that specialized in aerial combat, they do have an adequate arsenal, a bit limited, but adequate. However, Carnage was convinced that some of the weapons that he saw in the Roman Empire, the Persian, the Egyptian, the Japanese, the Chinese, by Pandora, even the Inuit hunters, could do wonders for the military progress of the Clan. Especially, if he applies some tricks that appeared in modern times to their weapons. Real shame he never understood well how the firearms works, but perhaps it would be for the better, firearms were too dangerous, too lethal, too unpredictable to keep them around. Anyone can be a hero with a gun, lacking any discipline and mental fortitude to understand what they are doing or if they should do that.

Resting in his hammock and asking Carravers to keep the schemes and drawings, Carnage rested his bruised and battered body on the comfortable resting place, enjoying the texture of the fur and how it easily warmed his sleep; Lizardman was cold-blooded species that enjoyed heat a lot.

Carnage did not need much to sleep like a log until his [Blindsigth] signaled him that someone was knocking to the wooden door of his Den. Carnage swore that he has just closed his bloody eyes, but soon his senses tell him that Storm was at the other side of the room.

Grumbling under his breath, Carnage stood up and opened the door, cursing in good humor Storm, for awakening him. The [King] variant laughed and told him that the rest of the Talon was already in the stables, and he was the last one. Shrugging, Carnage yawned once and followed Storm to the stables. The bloody bastard of Storm didn't even look sore, and Carnage was still feeling the muscles of his arms sore from blocking the thundering strikes of Fang´s mace blows. Perhaps Storm´s [King] variant was more physical than his own [Overlord] variant, considering the abyssal difference in magical talent, it would not be a surprise. Carnage took note that trying to see if he could slay a powerful physical monster and Usurp some nice physical augmentations.

Being physically weak did not sit well with him or his long-term plans.

The Stables of the Clan were a massive open space and a network of caverns that hold the thousands of breeding pens that the Clan has to tame and handle the different mounts that they used on the battlefield. It was a bit of a labyrinth for those that are not accustomed to the layout of the different breeding pens and resting caverns. About a dozen types of mounts were kept always here, all of them relatively mindless breeds of reptilian origin, practically all of them with some common ancestry with Dragons and other powerful dragon-like evolution. Among those twelve types, eight of them were of the winged variety, as the Stormrage Clan specialized in aerial combat and domain over the skies.

As soon as they pass the strong fence that signaled the territory of the [Tamers], a short but bulky Lizardman of snow and blue scales come to receive them. Her name was Aurora Cloudrender, and she was a [Wyvern rider], a Lizardman that has tamed and rode a Wyvern; one of the most dangerous beasts that the Clan had under his control. Wyverns are two-legged, winged dragon-like beasts with a large and powerful stinger; a scaled version of a scorpion tail; filled to the brim with one of the most lethal poisons of the world. It was considered quite a feat to tame one of those, even more, if the beast becomes part of an aerial squadron where his size, jaws, talons, and stingers could put down, savagely, any aerial enemy forces.

Storm´s Talon was guided to the different pens, it was not a surprise to any of them, that Rain immediately moved to the Swiftclaw zone; her variant was a rider type after all. She was soon followed by Leaf, who didn't want to try his luck with any aerial mount for the moment, but the ability of the Swiftclaws to move swiftly and quietly despite their size called to his [Pathfinder] nature.

Swiftclaws were bipedal, velociraptor-like, reptiles; about seven feet tall, with powerful talons and claws, that could run at impressive speeds overall kind of terrains. All the ground cavalry of all the Clans made extensive use of this powerful reptiles, with variations here and there, mostly due for their environment and breeding.

For example, the Brimstone Clan´s Swiftclaws were sturdier than the other breeds and had the ability to breathe short streams of fire, or the Swampmist Clan´s Swiftclaws, who were capable of spit poison and their body fluids were poisonous as well. Stormrage Clan´s Swiftclaws were nimbler and faster than the other breeds, capable of running at impressive speeds for a long time and to jump and climb any obstacle with easiness.

Both Storm and Carnage liked the Swiftclaws, but neither of them was convinced that they were the adequate amount for them. If, they were able to ride a mount without falling at each step; even among a Clan with so many riders of all kinds, ground forces were a must, and a good chunk of the entire population of the Clan, simply fought on their own claws, as they lack the talent to be a rider of any kind.

Storm was hoping that it would not be the case of his Talon; Storm knew that with Rain´s variant, she was going to be a rider, Leaf, being a [Pathfinder] would have a lot of sense that he was going to be a rider. He and Carnage, Storm was not all that sure. In the best case scenario, both would have a flying mount, perhaps a Wyvernling or a Wingclaw, lesser forms of the Wyverns, but Storm would consider himself satisfied if all his pack becomes a rider of some kind.

It was a non-spoken rule of the Clan, but practically all the rulers of the Clan so far; the ones that have not evolved past the [Dragonkin] or [Saurus Rex], has been riders of some kind, be it from ground mounts of aerial ones. As [King], Storm hoped that he would be the same. Unfortunately, it has not been the case with the favored Swiftclaws of two of his Talon members, but there were still several options.

Carnage was taking it a lot better. He really didn't really care about a mount, although, it would be nice to reminiscence old times and had his own powerful beast to have at his beck and call, like the [Divine Beast Sleipnir] was once, but it was not something that he was focused on achieving. Between his magical and forging projects, he doubted he would have the time to invest into being a rider. Especially, if it was an aerial kind; as the former flying individual himself, thanks to the [Storm] Authority, he knew that flying with perfect maneuverability was a matter of thousands of hours of practice and no little amount of nerve breaking, almost, crash landings.

Aurora took them to the next pen, where the lesser flying breeds were kept, but once again, they did not show any talent or interest in the swift Wyvernlings or Swiftwings; moving forward, the next on the line was the higher breeds, Dracos, and Wyverns; in a surprising turn of events, Storm did bond with a Wyvern hatchling, a recently born beast, whose stormy cloud colored scales and black stinger was a perfect compliment to Storm scales; they bond quite easily and soon the Wyvern hatchling was nibbling at Storm tail, chasing the appendage as Storm tries to keep it out the reach of the tiny but sharp teeth of the little Wyvern.

Carnage did not have such a luck, and the Wyverns and he just stare at each other, nodded once and keep doing their business, much to the shock of Aurora, who has never seen the Wyverns act like that, unless a bigger, worse, and tougher predator was nearby. Anyhow, Carnage and the Wyverns had recognized each other, and that was all that he needs to know that all the Wyverns of the Stormrage Clan know that messing with him was a bad idea.

Identically happened with practically all the other breeds, Dracos were scared of him, Wyvernlings desperately flew out of his presence, Wurms roared and trashed around, uncomfortable with Carnage in their surroundings, Wyrms eyed him all the time he was in the pens, staring at him in complete silence, much to the amazement of the caretakers around, who have never seen them so quiet. In the end, there was the only pen left, and Aurora was about to pass without even entering; that called the curiosity of Carnage, who moved to see what kind of breed was there, and how come Aurora hasn't even bothered to show them this place.

As soon as he entered, taking advantage of a moment of distraction as Aurora was happy to found a fellow Wyvern rider in Storm; Carnage saw why Aurora didn't seem interested in showing them this pen. It was the den of the Butcherclaws, possibly the most dangerous ground predator of the Dragon Empire.

About fifteen feet tall, and twenty seven feet long, armored head to tip of the tail in dense scales, four muscular and powerful legs ending in sharp claws with a longer, slightly hooked rending claw on all of the four and with a jaw that could cleave an ox in two in one, single, bite; the Butcherclaws had a well-deserved fame of being ruthless, relentless and terrifying predator that could hunt down bigger preys that them with their claws and ripping jaws.

It was bloody perfect.

Carnage got inside of the den, judging from the sounds and the smells, there was only a quintet of Butcherclaws on the den right now; not really a surprise, such powerful beasts could turn the tide of a battle, as no common cavalry would be able to do shit against the charge of one of this apex predators. Getting closer to the barrier that separated the den from the outside, Carnage eyed over the top, seeing that there was a couple of young Butcherclaws hunting down a goat; it seems that Carnage has just arrived in time for lunch; and they were taking their time hunting the poor animal, who tried to escape, in vain, to the corners of the room.

Looking around, to be sure that there were no witnesses of his, supposedly non-possible, powers; Carnage made sure that there was no one around and with a wicked smile, jumped down the fence, using his [Walk Climbing] Usurped trait to reach the deep of the Butcherclaw den easily and with a loud roar of defiance, took his stingers out and started to hunt down the bigger of the two young Butcherclaws.

Alerted by the sudden roar, one that it was not from a Butcherclaw, one of the caretakers run to the fences, to see if some cretin has managed to fall onto the dens; it was not as unusual as one would like to think, Kobolds and common Lizardmen, especially the heavy labor type, are not clever enough to always be alert and on guard, near the dens of the predators; Butcherclaws were, along the Wyrms and the Wyverns, among the most dangerous mounts and war beasts that the Stormrage Clan had in their possession. Last thing anyone sane need, was to make them acquire the taste for the Kin taste, that would make their training and breeding even more hellish than it already was.

However, the caretaker did not see anything unusual on the dens, except a bawling goat, who was trying to fuse itself with the stone...wait, where are the Butcherclaws that should have been engorging themselves with the goat?. Forcing his hearing, the caretaker soon detected the echoes of roars, grunts, snaps, claws and flesh being cut and ripped; some cretin did manage to fall into the den and was battling the Butcherclaws!, although the caretaker was not sure it be impressed or astonished; it is needed a crazy kind of valor to have the guts to face a Butcherclaw, especially in its own den and without any weapon as the caretaker knew that no one is allowed to bring weapons into the dens, it made the war-beasts nervous.

Running outside for some help and the tools to keep the Butcherclaw at bay when they tried to get into the den to recover the remnants of the poor sod that has been their lunch, he did fail to notice the faint echo of laughter and the flashes of fire illuminating the deep corners of the den, showing the shadows of a Butcherclaw battling against a Lizardman, specially the part, when the Lizardman managed to put the Butcherclaw to the ground and raise an arm with two long and sharp claws.

Not ten minutes later, Aurora and a group of caretakers; along Storm, who was nearby and wanted to help as payment for the advises of Aurora about how to took care of his Wyvern and how to deepen the bond with the flying beast; entered into the Butcherclaws den to collect what's left of the victim, to prevent the Butcherclaws to acquire a taste for kin´s flesh and blood.

They arrive just in time to stare dumbfounded over the edge of the fence, how Carnage was sat in the middle of the den, eating a crude leg roast, comfortably laying on the flanks of a young Butcherclaw of red and golden scales; who was happily munching the rest of the goat; and scratching the head and side of the neck of another young Butcherclaw; a female back and gold specimen; who was rumbling in pleasure for the pleasant scratching.

"Ah", waved Carnage to the jaw slacked Lizardmen, making the scratched Butcherclaw poke him with the top of her snout, in demand of the scratching to return. "Aurora, why didn't you told me about this beauties? they are adorable". Laughed Carnage returning to his scratching duties, much to the pleasure of the Butcherclaw who rumbled back in the pleasure again; not much different as a house cat would have purred.

Storm was already laughing his ass off, congratulating himself mentally for recruiting this crazy bastard into his Talon; Carnage has done it again! meanwhile, Aurora and the rest of the caretakers were still trying to found some bloody sense to what the heck they were seeing.

Carnage has to admit, that his first three days of his life as [Lizardman Overlord] have been quite interesting, he even had a powerful war-beast of his own, now!, it was not the hunting hound that he had in the past or [Sleipnir] but he was very pleased with the Butcherclaw.

Now, he really should name this adorable little thing; was Rumbles a good name?.

End Chapter.

Character Info:

Name:

Carnage "Carn" Runescales of the Stormrage Clan.

Race:

Lizardman Overlord- Level 16

Talon:

Leader: Storm Thundercry (Wyvern rider) [King]

-Carnage Runescales (Butcherclaw rider) [Overlord]

-Rain Swiftjaws (Swiftclaw rider) [Swiftclaw Rider]

-Leaf Windtamer (Swiftclaw rider) [Pathfinder]

Unique Skills:

-Circle of Usurpation: Much like the Authority, Carn can steal a Skill/Authority/Trait from the body of a defeated enemy, but only if it has been defeated by him.

-Divine´s Bane: As former Devil King, Carn is the bane of any divine spellcaster or divine creature.

-We want grandbabies!- Pandora and Epimeteo, wanted grandbabies to spoil, like it or not, Carn would have a harem.

Skills/Traits/Abilities.

-God of Magic: Carn can learn any kind of magic, thanks to the Blessing of Pandora.

-Oldest soul: Carn had all the memories of Magnus Blacksson, the strongest and Oldest Campione of a bygone era. As magic comes from the soul, he had a godly reserve of magic to fuel his spells.

-Rituals:

-Unseen Servant: Carn can summon a Servant that acts as Steward, cleaning crew, cook, and infinite warehouse. He called the androgynous being of pure magic, Carravers It does have the sense of humor of an English butler.

Usurped Skills/Traits/Abilities/etc:

Skills:

-Pyrokinetic: Carn can create and manipulate natural fire.

-Webbing: Carn can generate natural webbing of three colors steel, gold and red, he can project it from fingertips, mouth, tail tip and ass.

Blessings:

-Red Blessing of Tiamat: As chosen of the red head of Tiamat, Carn domain over fire is way superior to the rest of his race. He has to participate, by force, in the tournament to see who is the Chosen Consort of Tiamat.

-Green Blessing of Tiamat: As chosen of the green head of Tiamat, Carn is the best poisoner of his race. He has to participate, by force, in the tournament to see who is the Chosen Consort of Tiamat.

Traits:

-Spit Poison: Carn can spit poison of varying virulence.

-Poisonproof: Carn is immune to all natural poison and highly resistant against magical poisoning

-Walk Walls: As a spider, Carn can walk barehanded/footed over non-slippery/wet surfaces

-Spiderkin: All Spiders considers Carn one of them, thanks to the effect of the [We want Grandbabies] bless, all female Arachnes found Carn specially Alluring.

-Stone Mimetic: Took the appearance, texture, and smell of the surrounding rocks, but not his hardness.

-Fireproof: Carn is immune to all kind of natural fire and highly resistant against magical fire.

-Blindsight: Perfect, 360º sight at 10 meters, no matter the conditions.

-Stone carving claws: 12 inches twin stingers from his forearms capable of cutting and carving stone with easiness.