As I continued to be stared at by a few tons of weapons and muscle, a certain kind of fear has overcome me, the kind of fear you only get when being stared at by someone who seems suspicious of you. Now imagine that fear times fifty, and each one of them could easily kill you.... yeah what fun. I have been in these types of scenarios before just never this, well intense. Goddammit, what have I gotten myself into again? Do I have some sort of death wish? Well, I guess this would be better compared to slowly starving and, or dying of thirst way out in the desert. It was my idea in the first place to join the talking cows, good thinking you fucking idiot! *sigh* I just hope I'll manage to survive today.

Think about it, how could I, a complete foreigner, a species of which they have never even heard of nor probably ever see one, compelling to these brutes? I gotta think of something clever, something dashing, something only a genius could think of!

I didn't have anything.

'Dammit!'

So after a few moments of silence and quite a lot of awkward tension and menacing stares, Terry started walking towards his fellow minotaurs, and somehow I felt relieved, would he stand up for me? Will he protect me from the quite possible mauling that awaits me? I'm sure Terry has got a solid plan to explain this situation and introduce me to the gang, after all, they might just be wary because they have never seen someone as handsome and charming as me, yeah that should be it.

As a deafening shout filled the halls...

"WE HAVE BROUGHT FRESH MEAT FOR THE HORDE!" Terry stated in a pretty calm manner. dude my ears!

Great, wow just feed me to them already, they look hungry enough! Fucking asshole, what a great senpai he is...
there is no way that bullshit will work though-

My line of thought was suddenly interrupted by an enormous cheering and chanting from the entire hall.
"BRING THE LIQUOR!!" They yelled

Well, guess I was wrong.

After a few hours of drinking, shouting, and getting to know each other, Melkor did seem to fit in well enough, he was damn tall, the Minotaurs were also pretty tall. He liked fighting, the Minotaurs liked fighting. It was because of this that the tension was easy to break and fun was allowed to be had. He made a few new acquaintances. Like Jerb the Rock, who was by far the tallest of the bunch and towered over Melkor like a, well like a tower. He was big and gray, and also the leader of his own squadron, just like Terry.
Jerb and Melkor instantly liked each other and they drank like no other in the mansion that day.

Our protagonist did quite well for his first impression, he even got challenged to a duel by the master of arms, after he had heard of War's defeat at the hands of young Melkor. Of course, both Melkor and Sheathed Blade were quite too drunk to hold a proper duel so it was rescheduled. Terry, War, and Steel did take quite a liking to the Human over the past few days, he had guts, was quite capable, and he had manners. It was that night that Terry went to the boss and signed up Melkor for the horned Dragon mercenary association, as a member of his Squad. And so he finally belonged to the group.

The next morning was quite tough for our hero though.

"Goooood fucking, Jesuuus, what was that brown liquid? I never thought I could get this drunk!" He complained to no one in particular.

"I'll never drink again." He stood up and took in his surroundings, most minotaurs had gone somewhere else or were cleaning up the mess they had made, the big hall was in quite a bad shape after the occasional roughhousing of tonight's activities. But worst was definitely the smell, the smell was quite bad. The scent of alcohol, sweat, and vomit did not mix well together.

The boy took a look at himself and was quite surprised. "Where the fuck are my pants!? Oh god nooo..." he had feared the worst or rather the wurst.

He started to look for something to hide his magic sword. The Hall they were partying in just a few hours ago seemed to be quite massive. He had not noticed its entire scale before. The decorations were a bit strange, to say the least, these guys sure liked to stuff large predators and collect all kinds of weapons in their hall, Melkor ended up finding a pair of shorts that somewhat looked like his, only more torn and ripped, and kind of wet, ew.

'better than walking around with my junk out and about' he thought and put on his trousers to hide his shame.

He then sat down and poured himself some water. Shortly after he had found his pants, Terry walked in and looked at him with the kind of smile that would immediately piss you off.

"Well, well, it seems like you have finally awoken youngling. How are ya holding up?" He said with a laugh

"Oh shut up you old mule, I'm just not used to the strong liquor you guys have got, it's way too strong for me to handle right now, I've never drunk anything like it! Especially that brown stuff. What's it called again?"

"Brinsbury Whiskey, the best kind in all of Orin. Be grateful you could have any, some folk would kill for this stuff." His tone was quite hurt, maybe even insulted.

"Yeah alright, I'm sorry Terry. I did not think you guys were suckers for the fine stuff." Melkor said jokingly.

"Not a problem kid, you're a horned dragon now! We'll take missions again starting tomorrow!" Terry said gleefully.

"Oh that's right, I'm an official member now! When do I get my equipment?" He was quite excited about having some adventures with his new pals. How could he not? This was always the sort of life he had wanted back home, he envied the heroes in movies who would go on epic quests and fight grand battles.
For him, this was a dream come true.

"Right now, that's why I'm here to pick you up kiddo," Terry said. "We are heading for the armory, I'll buy you some new armor, but you gotta pay for the weapon yourself, that clear?"

"Chrystal sir!"

They walked through the place and had a little talk about the town. It was known for being a hive of outlaws, crooks, bounty hunters, mercenaries, and other types of scum. "There ain't no one in this town who can't kill someone" that's how Terry phrased it.

The horned dragon association was the only Guild who was approved of by the town lord, Dreyfuss Rex, a corrupt ruler who did not give a damn about Dorne and ruled with an iron fist. He has quite a defensive force stationed at Dorne due to it being quite far away from the next big city and also near the border to the neighboring country, which Orin was apparently at war with, a country run by centaurs and satyrs or something, either way, Melkor didn't care.

He and Terry entered the armory and encountered Sheyla, a female griffon who ran this smithy which was also kind of a weapons shop.

"Terry, what is that bird doing here?" Melkor asked him quietly.

"Never seen a griffon before have ya?" Terry whispered back "That's Sheyla, she runs the armory and happens to be the best blacksmith in town." He stated boldly.

"And you better remember it!" She said. She had a pretty gruff voice for something so feeble.

"Melkor, the newest member of the Terror assault squad, nice to meet you." Melkor bowed 'since when can birds talk? This place is getting weirder and weirder, what's next, talking magical unicorns?'

Terry interrupted his train of thought "The boy needs a weapon."

"How much has he got?" She eyed him up and down.

"About a hundred gold pieces." He pulled them out of his bag.

"That's about enough for some standard swords and maybe a bow, nothing special though," Sheyla said in an unenthusiastic manner.

"I have also got these rubies" Melkor proceeded to take them out.

"Now that'll get you farther, with that much you could have any weapon I have in store." She smiled at the sight of the shimmering gemstones.

"I think I'll have the finest sword you have right now." He said confidently.

The griffon walked to the back of her store and brought out a pretty big sword in a pretty unique style, with a nice handle to protect the hand and a shining silvery blade. Despite its design, it is quite large and has a grip capable of being gripped by two hands.

It was indeed a beautiful sword made with passion and personality. Melkor did enjoy looking upon it, and he could already picture himself with it.

"This is my personal creation, it will cost you all your rubies and fifty gold pieces." She said proudly.

"DONE!" and so Melkor did indeed buy himself the finest sword in the shop, ready to be tested out.

Terry looked at him and smiled. "I hope you don't lose that thing, it was quite expensive after all but damn if it isn't impressive" he eyed the blade once more "We'll be going now feathers!" And so Terry and Melkor left, while Sheyla threw something after them, perhaps she did not like the nickname given to her by Terry.

After getting his new weapon, and meeting a new species, Melkor had already forgotten about how badly this day started.

"I really like this sword, I think it suits me." He commented towards Terry.

"It does, it is unique, so are you. By the way, how do you like it here? Is this place much different than where you are from?" The bull asked, "I imagine it must be quite...... difficult getting used to 'us' hehe, you did well last night though!"

"Oh shut up, I'm doing juuust fine. Dorne is quite like a few places back at home, though it can be a bit smelly in comparison."
The Human started to look a bit downcast after thinking about home, it was a very quick change of pace and he never really said goodbye, he could never go back and talk to his loved ones. He could never see them again.....

'I just have to forget who I was and I'll be fine. I am Melkor now and I'll make the best of this new life, maybe I'll conquer the world or something haha.'

Terry seemed to notice the obvious frown on Melkors face, when an Idea hit him, "Haven't I promised you to teach you magic? I can evaluate your proficiencies back at the old magus tower if you want."

"OH sure, I totally forgot! Alright, let's do some magic n' shit!" Melkor instantly perked up and swung his shirtless, now pretty firm body towards Terry, perhaps with a little too much excitement as he nearly tripped.

Feeling down was a daily routine back at home for him, he had not been the most handsome, he was quite short, not to mention all the vicious friendzoning he was a victim of. He was really looking forward to learning about magic, and getting new clothes, but mostly magic.

"Listen, Terry." He said.

"What is it, kid?"

"I just want you to know how grateful I am for taking me in and everything, I've lost my people, my stuff, even myself in that desert, if it weren't for you I would have never made it. So thank you, Terror."

Terry just looked at him and smiled, he had not expected such a comment as of now.
"Since when were you this gay kiddo?" He let out bluntly.

"Fuck you old man," Melkor replied with a smile.

The early morning has turned into an afternoon by now, and it has come that all the leftovers were eaten, the last cups were drunk and even the tiniest bit of remaining vomit was cleaned from the halls. Melkor made a lot of plans deciding what to do with his magical powers and imagined where his true potential would lie within this world.

He also made plans to get a new set of clothes tailored, his pants were gross and his shirt just a torn piece of cloth by now.

Melkor gazes into the future with confidence and hope.
Oh if he only knew what would await him

Author's Note

Thank you for reading so far. I am also looking for an editor, so if you like the story and would like to contribute, i would gladly accept any help :)

What magic will Melkor be able to cast?
What challenges will he need to overcome?
And what dumb references will he make next time?

find out ;)