Chapter 237: A new servant

Despite his advanced years, his lifetime gained knowledge… The old shaman was trembling as he looked at the terrifying entity that was sitting just next to him. 

He felt an invisible energy pulsating, radiating out of the small goblin, hitting his aged, wrinkled body with massive power. He really had to concentrate to be able to withstand the sheer pressure emanating from this seemingly harmless boy. 

Then, those eerie, but at the same time incredibly majestic looking, glowing, golden eyes! That was not something he had ever seen in his long years of life! This was a unique, new experience, a new sensation for the old man. He felt his knees tremble, ready to give up, and hit the floor. He felt his whole body being pulled closer to the ground, ready to prostrate in servitude. If he wouldn't be this strong-willed, the old man was sure he would already be subservient to whatever this goblin-skinned ancient entity was.

"[Orc] J-just w-w-what are you?!" He asked after a while with great difficulty, no longer sure how to look or address the being next to him.

"[Orc] You can just call me Aiden. As for what I am… Do you believe me now? Do you still believe I would be unable to stand up against the tides of darkness?" Aiden asked, his voice turning much lower, adding that additional layer of draconic feature, giving his speech much more kick to it.

His changed, transformed voice did achieve the hoped result, the old man was flabbergasted by all the changes that he so far witnessed and heard. For several seconds he just kept staring at the long, black-haired figure absentmindedly.

Eventually, as his mind processed the question, the old man nodded, however.

"[Orc] Y-yes, I do believe you… Aiden sir!"

"Hmmm." Nodding, Aiden accepted the old man's words. Then, in the next seconds, he pulled back his encroaching aura and deactivated all the draconic features he presented to the old man. The glow in his eyes slowly faded, his voice returned to its goblinesque, slightly higher-pitched state.

"[Orc] In that case, I have a task for you. In the end, I promise you will see something extraordinary. If you are willing the work with me, together, we will put an end to those otherworldly beings lording. You will get your revenge! What do you say?"

It didn't take even a second for the old man, to fervently begin nodding at the young goblin. Long letting go of his pride as an orc, he went on his knees and began to prostrate towards Aiden. Happy tears could be seen escaping through his dark grey wrinkled face as he exclaimed.

"[Orc] I swear, I swear on my worthless life that I will work with you, no. Serve you for the rest of my life! If you tell me to look right, I will never dare to turn to the left!" He was loudly banging on his chest as he was speaking, exclaiming his newfound zeal.

The sudden exclamation, the orc's newly made vow caught Aiden by surprise, although he was hoping for his cooperation, he wasn't expecting such fervent reaction at all.

However, there was no time to second-guess and doubting himself at the current situation, no matter how weird he felt on the inside, he maintained a friendly, calm attitude on the outside. 

Nodding at the old man's words, Aiden got up from his seat, and gently placed his hand on top of the still prostrating old man's head.

"[Orc] What is your name, friend?" He asked in a calm, friendly manner.

"[Orc] This one has lost his name when he was exiled, my lord. I was only known as the old man by the rest of the tribe for several years now." The old shaman respectfully replied, not daring to look up.

"[Orc] That's not good, I need a name to refer to you by. Hmm…" Hearing the response was another headache incoming for Aiden. He hit so many walls, troubles so far, and he hasn't even got inside the tribe yet! Thinking for a while, he rephrased his previous question. "[Orc] In that case, what WAS your name before being exiled? Or if that's not possible anymore, what name would you like to wear? What would you like me to call you?"

"[Orc] My old name is not something I wish to be remembered anymore. That is cursed, and it belongs to someone who did many cruel deeds in his life just to satiate his youthful greed. If the lord would provide me with a new name, I would wear it with pride." The old man answered, his tone was reverent and respectful all the way.

Hearing the old orc's words, Aiden knew that this conversation will just go in circles unless he himself provides a name. Thinking only for a bit, he smiled and spoke.

"[Orc] In that case, from this moment onward, you will be known as Roas, the New Dawn. Let this moment be the new dawn, the next hopefully much brighter chapter in your life."

Hearing his new lord speak, and say his new name, the old orc shivered, trembled with excitement. No longer able to look at the ground, he raised his head and looked his new lord in the eye. There was no hatred, no foul thoughts inside those eyes of his. Only glints of conviction, happiness, and respect could be seen shining through. He began loudly banging on his chest once again, as he spoke with great confidence.

"[Orc] From this day on, I am Roas, a servant of the great Aiden, the Ancient One, the great! This humble one will do you proud my lord! I will do my best to pay you back for the great kindness that you have shown me today!"

Although he wasn't sure that it would be possible, he knew he had to give some incentives, some benefits to the old man, to make sure his conviction wouldn't fade with time. After all, if all you would do is to serve, the faith he placed in him would falter just like it did with the demonic lords. 

Not wanting to share the same fate, he gave a wide, friendly, kind smile to the old man, and continued.

"[Orc] Welcome to the family, Roas! If you will prove to be faithful, and you will be reliable, I will share more secrets with you. About me, my origin, and I may even bestow some of my boons to you. You will see that being faithful to me, will be the greatest decision in your life!"

Hitting his chest once again, Roas responded in a respectful tone.

"[Orc] Don't worry my lord, I will prove my worth to you!"

Raising his right palm, Aiden silenced the reverent Roas, and as he reached out, he also raised him from his kneeling posture back on standing.

Although the orc was several heads taller even as he was hunched forward in his advanced years, Aiden could still grab his shoulders and look him in the eye as he spoke.

"[Orc] Now then, I have a task for you. I will need to shed this goblin skin of mine. It's not useful, all the other members of the tribe I have met so far have looked at it with disdain and contempt in their eyes. Even you, you also tried to play with me, and steal my companions."

Hearing the words, Roas immediately began apologizing. 

"[Orc] I am terribly sorry my lord, I was blind and stupid. Please forgive me for my blunder, in my old years, I had nothing to go for, the last thing I wanted before I died was to screw with the horde as much as I could without being blatantly obvious. Still, that's no excuse for my actions."

Shaking his head lightly, the smile did not fade from Aiden's face as he patiently listened to the old man's apology.

"[Orc] There is no need for that Roas. That was the old you, your past, that you have left behind. Now, you are different, you have a name, and a purpose."

Seeing how Roas was about to say something again, most likely continuing with his apology, Aiden shook his head once more and continued as he smiled.

"[Orc] Listen, the only reason I mentioned that is that I really need to change my current form to something more respectful, something… unique. I will need some time to do that and during that time, I will be unresponsive. For that, I will need your help to keep me safe during that time. If you do a good job, you will not only be the first being to ever lay eyes on something that this world hasn't seen for thousands of years, you will also gain my respect, and a reward! What do you say!"

Roas, hearing his lord's request, immediately went on his knees once again, prostrating for the nth time tonight. 

"[Orc] My lord, protecting you while you shed your skin to acquire your true self, would be my greatest honor and reward! Please allow me to keep you safe!"

The clear conviction behind the old man's words, caused a smile to surface on Aiden's face. With this, he was now ready to do that final step in his fusion and shed this goblin form to finally gain something new, something unique… something with more respect…

With that, he quickly navigated back into his system and selected the half-finished fusion process...