So, Melkor has magic, it is also magic that can be quite powerful when used in the right manner, he thought about it all night, while also trying to conjure more than just a few sparks out of his hands.
To be honest, he was quite overwhelmed by the whole situation, he knew he wanted strong and awesome magic, so why was he so confused as to what to do with it? Yesterday had been quite a lot to take in, him having some type of super rare magic effect, that no one in the whole association had any idea about, and the Whole affair of him having to fight Sheathed Blade. Not to mention the god awful food that evening, he absolutely despised Brussel sprouts, and guess what, dinner was ALL Brussel sprouts. Overall, an interesting day for him, but also not too great.

He didn't get quite enough sleep either since he was a little overeager to master his powers. Of course, it's stupid to think that he can master it over night, but let him dream.

Other than the problem of doing magic right, was how to survive today, Melkor hadn't planned to be fighting again today, at least not against the master of fucking arms. So he woke up and immediately greeted the morning by punching a wall. He wasn't in super angry power mode, so it hurt quite a bit. "OW fuck." He muttered angrily. He glanced around his room a bit.

It wasn't as bad as you would think, it had some nice dressers, a few shelves for books and quite a lot of pots for plants he did not yet have. There was also a cozy bed and the fact that he didn't have to share it with one of his new brethren.

After waking up Mel decided to do some morning exercise, which continued for some time until he was exhausted and gasping for air. He got up and wiped his sweat with a towel, before brushing his teeth. Yeah, imagine how surprised he was to find out these savages cared for their dental hygiene.
"Man, I still don't know shit about this place."
He looked at himself in the mirror before taking a small razor out of a drawer.

Clean-shaven, and exercised, he put on the new clothes Terry gave him. They were way too wide for him now, but at least it was better than the naked alternative.
After putting on the rest of his new armament, and attaching his new sword to its scabbard, he went downstairs towards the main hall of the Horned Dragon Association.

In the dining area there was not as much commotion as he expected to be. Actually, apart from the five other people, there was only his new friend Jerb, sitting in silence.

"What's up big stuff," Melkor called out to him. He strolled over to the giant grey minotaur and sat beside him, with a plate full of corn and bread.
"Hey Melkor, what's up?" He greeted the human with a big smile, seems he was all alone until now.
"Nothing much just woke up, did some workout, you know. The usual. But what's going on here? Where is everybody? Isn't now supposed to be breakfast time?" He looked around again to confirm his suspicion.

"Well, most members have some type of job to do, or they are on assignments. My squad is currently being treated in the medical wing after that incident with the Griffins of west Dorne. Nasty stuff I tell ya, never ever steal a griffin's eggs, especially not the eggs of a group. Never seen anything move so fast in my life." He shudders and shakes, probably imagining the horrors he saw in that situation.

"I think, it's better if I don't hear about it." Melkor just took a bite out of his cob of corn. "Why were you stealing eggs anyway?" He wondered while chewing.

"Money of course, city consul Dreyfuss wanted those eggs so he could raise them for his troops." He took a mouthful of his food, which seemed to be some sort of stew then continued to speak afterward,

"They make great warriors if they are trained properly. Because of their ability to fly and their talons and stuff. A force with griffins is superior to a force without them. So he paid us about 500 gold for each egg we managed to deliver to him."

Melkor chocked after hearing the price. That was a lot of potential money from just one job. He had to cough a few times to speak again. "So how much did you get in total?" He eyed his grey friend with interest, while also trying his best to chew his food with caution now. He had no interest in dying to corn, at least not yet.

"3.000" Jerb answered nonchalantly while also continuing to eat without sparing the impressed Mel a glance.

The human just gulped, that was actually quite a sum. He imagined what kind of awesome gear he could get himself. He just had to make some money and train so he could live a great life. God knows he had no intention to stay in this shithole of a town, which was also in the middle of a bloody desert forever.

"Yeah, it was a good job offer, but quite the risky one. The reward could have been higher if you ask me." His gaze shifted over to Melkor, who was still deep in thought and stroking his stubble.
"Anyway, what about you? Has your team got any assignments yet? The Terror squad has always been great at causing chaos wherever they go. And you seem to be as at least as destructive as the other ones." He then smiled and gave Melkor a pat on the back that knocked him back into existence.

"Oh, yeah I guess so. Back home I was a simple Seargent who accompanied caravans and stuff." Melkor had to make all of this backstory shit up on the go since he had to have a believable story, he couldn't just do the old 'I lost all my memories' bit, although some of these buffoons would probably fall for it.

"This kind of work suits me a lot better I think. It's also a lot more exciting." He then gave Jerb an ambiguous look and clenched his fist.

Jerb then laughed with his thunderous voice that could rival that of any movie trailer voice ever. After regaining his composure after a few moments, the bull stopped and put his massive hand on Mel's shoulder.
"I'm just glad you took this change of pace so well shorty. I hope we'll fight alongside each other many times my brother." He then got up and began to strap his weapons back on, by god there were a lot of weapons.

"Well, I gotta go on my patrol now." He started to walk out. "WAIT!" Melkor called out louder than he wanted. "um, could I accompany you? I have to kill some time until my duel tonight, and I actually wanted to see the city and go outside for a bit, If that is ok with you." He asked kindly.

Jerb casually smiled and then gave a nod.

The sun shone brightly over Dorne on this morning, much too brightly if you asked Melkor. High heat was not something he was particularly fond of, especially when combined with walking and wearing thick clothes. The streets were actually not that active this time of day, of course, he saw a few patrols of the local diamond dog consul, but other than that, inhabitants were a rare sight. Even if he saw someone, he was met with either an intense stare of hatred or just plain confusion as to what the frick he was. The people he actually saw weren't talkative either, they mostly just sat in silence at their market-stands or just walked hastily down the street, only to make a turn into one of the many alleys and hidden passages that graced the city. Infrastructure was not something you could expect in Dorne, the place was a mess, confusing street layouts, organized as well as unorganized crime everywhere and the buildings just looked like they could fall down any moment. Dorne was a filthy place, and that was putting it kindly.

Melkor and Jerb had been walking for just five minutes now and already he regretted his decision of patrolling with him. He was particularly shaken when he learned that these patrols Jerb takes, could actually take multiple hours. Because he would get lost without the big guy, the choices were to endure this boring stroll through filthy and unfriendly streets, OR get buttfucked by strangers in an alley.

Both options were awful in their own right but Melkor decided to follow the minotaur and keep walking with him.

"Sooo Jerb," Mel was trying to start a casual conversation. "how long have you been part of the H.D.A?"

The tower glanced over his shoulder and down to Melkor, while also maintaining his pace. "Well, I don't exactly remember when I joined, I was but a young lad back then, about your height." He answered with a snicker.

"Oh haha, very funny you tall freak. You and that drunkard Sheathed Blade are the only ones that are actually taller than me, so you must be an abnormality to the others." Melkor countered. He hadn't exactly noticed but he did seem a bit taller than he was back home, his arms and legs seemed longer than they have been, his whole physique also seemed... longer. He didn't think of it other than just his imagination or that everything in this world was just smaller than on earth. But maybe this strange dimensional rift or whatever it was, made him taller somehow? As weird as that sounds.

Melkor was lost in thought, so he didn't manage to catch everything of the story his friend started to tell him.
"When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs, every morning to help me get large. I just wanted to be the strongest guy around, it has been my dream and goal since I escaped my mother's womb. When the blazing heat of Orin touched my soft fur, I didn't cry no I shouted a warcry louder than a dragons roar." He told this with such intensity and passion that he lost himself in his story and didn't notice the merchants stand he walked right into.

A loud bang was heard, and dozens of nice pots and other fragile merchandise was shattered and spread all over the rough ground beneath.

Jerb just froze and opened his eyes. "Um, oops?" Melkor couldn't believe the destruction his companion had caused by just walking. He just bumped the stand and everything was immediately annihilated, it was honestly the most impressive thing he had seen in a long time.

The merchant behind the stand was smart enough to dive out of the way before the impact, otherwise, he maybe would have experienced the same fate as his pots. But now the guy was fuming. He stood up and Immediately started screaming and clawing at Jerb. The merchant in question was some sort of feline anthropomorphic cat with fine clothing and some jewelry.

"Oh fuck. Jerb, look at what you did. That poor cat has no more stuff to sell." Melkor tried to sound concerned but he couldn't help a few chuckles escaping his stoic expression.

"Look, sir cat. I am truly sorry for walking into your....uh your stuff, could you please stop ruining my clothes now?" He didn't sound as if he actually gave a fuck.

The cat guy spoke up. "You will pay for ruining my precious antique vases. I will kill you where you stand, buffoon." He didn't stop his clawing while speaking, he just went on and on. Jerbs clothes were really messed up now and his expression grew more and more annoyed.

"Ok, I tried being nice, but if you don't stop scratching me with your pathetic claws, I will break them AND your arms." He now looked down at the attacker with a menacing stare.

"You would have to catch me fir-" Before he could finish the sentence Jerb had already grabbed his arms.
He then gave a wicked grin, and looked over to Mel.

"What do you think Melkor? Should I teach this little kitty cat a lesson about manners?" He asked friendly, seeing Jerb mad was actually quite scary, not scary like a ghost or something paranormal happening, but actual 'run for your life scary'.

Melkor kept his cool though and just answered in monotone. "I don't care, go ahead." He did care, he didn't want to draw that much attention, but he also knew that it was not wise to deny Jerbs wish of breaking some bones, lest it might hit himself. That would be most catastrophic.

A sickening crunch resounded through the streets and shortly after, an ear-piercing scream of agony filled the air.
It seems our short-tempered friend has made short work of those puny feline arms. The sound alone was enough to make a grown man cringe. Melkor had luckily averted his eyes, so he didn't have to see that display.

The cat merchant now lay on the ground, still twitching and writhing in pain, while also mumbling that he'll let his assailant be burned on the stake, you know, the usual revenge talk. Though he was tough to understand him with all the foam that was coming out of his mouth.

"Ok, had enough big guy?" Melkor sternly asked. It didn't have to come to this, of course, he knew Jerb was short-tempered, but this was a tad much.
His friend, however, was in a really cheerful mood, with a smile as bright as the sun. Weird. He turned to look at Melkor and just have a thumbs up, still retaining that bright smile.

"You know that this could have some consequences..."

'It definitely could.'

"Don't worry about it. He got what he deserved, I even apologized to that little shit licker. Ah well, I'm certain there won't be any trouble-" Jerb continued, starting to resume his march of doom.

'There is gonna be soo much trouble' Melkor just groaned internally and also continued to walk alongside his patrol partner.

Melkor had now been patrolling these streets for more than three hours, and Jerb was showing no signs of intending to stop anytime soon. After that whole merchant business, nothing of interest really occurred, aside from the few glances Melkor got from the guards that passed the duo from time to time. It was now around noon, so the heat got even more intense than it had been before, which also served to sour the mood of our human further and further.

"Hey...Are we gonna be done anytime soon? This heat is driving me crazy. Can't we at least take a break, I need some water or I'll die of thirst." You could hear in his voice that he had enough of walking these sheer endless streets. Whenever you think you've reached the end of a road, there was another turn into another road, which also led to more alleys and more roads. Fucking diamond dogs man, can't build cities for shit.

"Hang on you baby, we're almost done anyway, so let's keep moving. Any water you're gonna get here won't be drinkable anyway." The endurance of this guy was just astonishing. How he had been able to walk this far in this crazy heat, had been an enigma to the dried up Melkor. Then again, he was probably used to stuff like this.

So they continued marching. Onward and onward, with no visible goal in sight.

Overall, the experience was dreadful, the only saving grace was hearing Jerb tell all of his crazy war stories and ridiculous tales of his childhood.
He even claimed to have wrestled a dragon into submission, and that was only the second most unbelievable thing Melkor had heard from his friend. While complete bullshit, these stories were entertaining, and even somewhat educational.

Melkor had learned that there are indeed far more continents than the barren wasteland of Orin. There were quite a few, but the most interesting he had heard of were Pleona, home of the great jungles and Lizardfolk and Ursupan, known as the mountain land up in the far north was also home to many species, Including the griffins.

But indeed the place that left him the most baffled, was a continent called Equus. Apparently, the whole continent was pretty much ridden with kingdoms and principalities run by ponies. Melkor had seen and heard some shit in these past few days in this world, but this took the fucking cake.

"So you're telling me, that there are ponies, that run whole Kingdoms. Proper, organized kingdoms?" Melkor asked again to be sure.

"Well, I've never seen one myself. Word says they are not too keen on visiting diamond dog lands, especially this rotten Place. The whole land is at war actually, we're just in neutral territory."

"I still can't believe that these ponies have whole kingdoms and stuff. Crazy if you think about it. And what are they like? Do they walk on all fours or are they some sort of weird bipeds like the diamond dogs ore that weird cat guy back there?" Melkor's interest was piqued, if only a bit. This topic was by far not as entertaining as the other stories Jerb has told. But it was just interesting to Melkor, he had seen and known ponies back home, so how was it that they also existed here?

"Like I said, never seen one. They do say that they are pacifists who think themselves superior to other species. Assholes." Having said that, He spat onto the street to truly show his disdain.

"Yeah, they sound horrible from what you've told me, big guy. So... how long are we gonna keep patrolling for? My legs kill me and the sun will burn my skin if I'm not careful, not to mention this incredible thirst that I've built up this entire time. There doesn't seem to be any trouble around so-" He then suddenly felt a hand on his chest, that held him back from walking forward. It was Jerb who stopped his advance, and his glance was focused on the nearly empty street before them.
The reason for their stopped march was standing right before them.

"Well well, look who it is. The giant cow that attacked the young master." A group of the same race as that merchant earlier took up almost the whole street. They wore torn cloaks and scarfs that covered their faces, there were about seven, and every one of them had at least one weapon. This was not good.
The one that spoke before stepped forward and drew his dagger.

"So, the boss want's you dead, understand? The monkey can leave, he only wants you." He then went into a stance that seemed like he was ready to pounce.

'He did not just call me monkey' Melkor internally raged. How dare that pussy call him a monkey? Ape, fine yeah, he could see some resemblance. But he was not a fucking monkey.

"I told you there were gonna be consequences Jerb..." Melkor just said in a deadpan voice, while also exhaling through his nose.

"I know. I need to watch out whose arms I break next time." Jerb said, his voice showing no actual signs of regret.

Mel breathed in calmly.
"OOOOH YOU THIIINK?"

Author's Note

Join us next time when this dilemma needs to be solved. Will it be bloody? Probably.
Will it be fun? Most likely.
Will it be stupid? DEFINITELY!!

Thank you all again for reading my story.
If you enjoy it, I would be glad if you left a like or a comment. 💗
If you don't please tell me where to improve.