My return to the surface was a bit anticlimactic. I was looking forward to seeing the sun again, maybe a blue sky, maybe the smell of a fresh breeze untainted by the unending tunnels of the underdark. Instead, it was nighttime when Ryld and I left the underdark. The sky was dark and overcast, the temperature of the city cold and muggy. Snow still lingered in parts of the city and I could sense monsters nearby, the thousands of monsters that appeared at night seemingly undiminished. The city smelled of rot and buildings left abandoned for too long, like it always did.

  “Thank you for everything, Ryld,” I told him. “I enjoyed hunting with you.”

  “I did not think I would enjoy our hunts,” he replied. “I thought I was stuck babysitting you for months, but you are a true hunter. It was good to hunt with you as well, Alexander. If you need our squad again, we would be glad to accompany you for more hunts. We have all agreed. When we find the rest of the paths to the underdark in your city, we will find you again and share the information with you and then we can discuss the future together.”

  I was deeply touched by his words. I wanted to hug the man or pat him on his shoulder, but I knew that such physical affection was uncomfortable for the dark elves. Instead, I bowed my head, and he bowed in reply before turning and heading back down the stairs into a basement that led into the underdark.

  I looked around to figure out where I was in the city. The basement we had climbed out of was, thankfully, one of the few that hadn’t grown into a dungeon. The building around me had fallen into ruin; nothing but loose stone walls remained. I saw a nearby building that stretched up several stories and dashed up to the rooftop to see the city better.

  Once there, I found myself almost dead center in the city: the Emperor’s palace lay to the north of me, and the army’s walls and the priests’ enclave were about equal distance to the west and east, respectively. I made a careful note of the location into the underdark in case I needed to visit the dark elves again. I had also made sure to pay attention to the twisting tunnels that led up here so I would not get lost when I returned to the underdark. I crouched on top of the building and watched the city at night, enjoying the fresh breeze that brushed my face. My phase beast followed me, flowing through the city streets and up the side of the building unseen.

  I no longer needed the amulet that let me see in the dark thanks to the blessing I had received, but it had served me well in the underdark. I wasn’t sure if it was some of my luck that I had received such an item, but without it, I would have surely died in the underdark many times over. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have tried to approach the dark elf city if I couldn’t see in the dark, so who knew? But thanks to my new divine boon, I could now see perfectly at night, just like the dark elves could. And with my enhanced vision from my body, my Divine Sight, my new perception attribute, and Gambler’s Eye, which enhanced my vision even further, I could see the entire city from here with almost perfect clarity.

  The biggest difference I noticed when looking at the city was that I now saw spirits . . . everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people had died here. Many of their spirits still lingered. I saw them roaming the city, floating through the sky, and walking the streets. They were even in the buildings around me, carrying on their routines as if they hadn’t died. It was eerie and sad to see how many there were. With a mental push, I turned down my Divine Sight with a push of willpower so I could see the city itself without being distracted by so many lost souls.

  I waited on the roof until the sun began to rise, watching the monsters as they fought like the savage beasts they were. The gods, if they had actually created this system at all, had done humans a bit of a disservice by making the “safe zones” full of nothing but mindless beasts. It had made everyone think that such beasts were all that existed when, in fact, there were all kinds of “monsters” that inhabited the Earth now, many of which were intelligent and potential allies.

  Once the sun had fully risen, I dashed my way across to Sycae and took to the streets as people began to wake up. The sky was still overcast and cold, but even through the cloud cover, I could feel the rays of the sun warming my body. I hadn’t appreciated how nice the sensation was before. Plenty of human literature had focused on the emotional well-being that came from the sun, but for the first time since coming here, I truly understood it. As Sycae came to life around me, I took some time to just relish the fresh, crisp winter day above ground and the sights and sounds of the many different people that inhabited this part of the city.

  I slowly made my way through the enclave. I stopped to buy myself some food from a street vendor that had just opened up and was surprised to have a customer so soon. I found the inn that Constans and I stayed at and ordered a warm bath from the innkeeper. Once I was clean for the first time since leaving the city, I took a bit of a nap in the comfortable bed inside the suite I had rented with Constans.

  Later in the afternoon, I nursed a beer in the main room of the inn until Constans finally returned to the inn and saw me. She screamed at the sight of me—thoroughly scaring the poor innkeeper—and ran over to give me a big hug. I returned the hug, suddenly feeling a bit like a dark elf thanks to my awkwardness, and then she started punching me in the side until I had to push her away, restoring the proper order of things between us.

  “You’ve been gone forever!” she told me.

  “I know. I’m sorry about that,” I said. “Things went a bit sideways where I was and it took a lot longer to return than I had planned.”

  “Spill it! Tell me what happened!” she said, bouncing up and down in the chair she had pulled up next to me.

  I took a sip of my beer and then told her where I had been and about the journey to bring the dark elves here, making sure nobody else was nearby to listen in.

  “Here? Like in the city? Real elves with magic and stuff? That is so cool!”

  “Yeah,” I told her, “but make sure to keep it secret for now. We don’t need any overzealous people trying to hunt them.”

  “Of course!”

  “So catch me up on what’s been going on here,” I said.

  “Ugh,” she said, “I can’t believe you were gone for so long. I recruited a team of people for you ages ago. They’ve been training with me, and our tutor brought in several more people to help teach us all. We’ve been scavenging together, too, to get experience and because they were getting bored.”

  “Slow down,” I said. “Who exactly did you recruit? Start from the beginning.”

  “Oh,” she said, “right. Well, you said you wanted trustworthy people. There was this old gang in Perama that was a decent sort. They always treated me well and weren’t too bad compared to some of the other gangs. I approached them and they all wanted a chance to prove themselves to you. Their leader is a good guy. Goes by the name of Basil. They are all teenagers like me, though a bit older. They have been working hard since I brought them over here.”

  “They sound like a good pick,” I said. I could tell she was a little nervous that I wouldn’t approve, but they sounded like the exact kind of people I had hoped she would find. “What about the other projects?”

  “I found what you wanted,” she said, “although most of the people are older and out of practice. The miners live out of an old warehouse by the docks here in Sycae. They mostly do odd jobs now since there is no more demand for their work. Sailors were much harder to find. The best I could do was talk to some of the fishermen out of Perama. A good number of them used to sail on the larger boats and are open to it again, if someone had one for them to work on. And if the pay was right and we could guarantee their safety on the open sea.”

  “That sounds pretty good,” I replied. We spoke more and she was proud to tell me about how she was leveling her classes and had made good money scavenging and selling what she and the others found with her Merchant class. After we were done talking, I asked her to show me where the gang she had recruited was staying.

  She led me to one of the warehouses by the docks and explained how she bought it for cheap because nobody was using it any longer. The gang helped her loot a number of cots from an old military bunker, and they had cleaned the place up and turned it into a bit of a home for everyone. For most of the gang, it was the first time they had a real roof over their heads in their entire lives.

  We entered the warehouse together. Inside, I saw a number of young men and women relaxing, sleeping, or playing games together. I quickly counted them, a bit surprised by how many she had recruited, and found there were twenty of them, five of them girls and the rest boys.

  “Basil!” Constans yelled into the room when we entered. “Alexander is back! Come meet him!”

  A tall, lanky boy with a mop of curly hair jumped up from a cot he had been sleeping on and rushed over. The rest of the crew gathered around as well, jostling each other and talking among themselves.

  “He sure is a big one,” I heard one of them say. “How could he be so tall?”

  “And so handsome,” I heard one of the young women say. “Are all the Varangians like that?”

  I had forgotten that my Evolution of Leadership had changed me. The dark elves had seemed more or less unaffected by it, but maybe now that I was back in front of humans, it would help me charm people easier; the heavens knew I needed the help. Basil stopped in front of us and stood awkwardly, clearly unsure of how he should greet me.

  “Hey,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Alexander. I’ve heard good things about you and your people.”

  “Ah,” he replied, shaking my hand. “Thank you, sir. We . . . uh . . . we are really happy for the opportunity.”

  “Let’s sit and get comfortable,” I told him and his people. “We have some stuff to discuss.”

  I immediately had a good impression of Basil, since he didn’t try to posture or intimidate me and seemed humble even in front of his people. I wasn’t sure how he had survived running a gang with his demeanor, but I was glad that Constans had found him. I also realized that part of that was coming from my Divine Sight perk. I could literally see his soul and it was giving me a positive feeling, one of trustworthiness. I scanned the other members and saw a mix of colors and impressions, too many to sort through right now.

  I gestured for everyone to sit down around me. They weren’t sure what I meant at first, but they got the idea when I settled onto the floor. Everyone eventually settled down into a semicircle with me, Basil, and Constans in front of them.

  “So,” I started, “Constans has probably told you some of what I have in mind, but I wanted to lay it all out for you and let you all decide if you want to work for me or not. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m not a lord or some noble, so I will not be offended if you speak to me, got it?”

  Basil nodded. Everyone else just watched me, clearly unsure of who I was and if what I had said was true.

  “Great,” I said. “So to start: why would I be hiring you? What is our goal? Well, I will be honest with you. My goal is to save this city.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The group exchanged a few looks, puzzled by what I said.

  “Yes,” I said, “I know that seems like a lot. But I believe that I can do it, with help from motivated and dedicated people like Constans and possibly all of you. The city is dying. It is practically already dead. You all have experienced that firsthand. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” I heard some people say quietly. More nodded.

  “Well,” I continued, “I can change that. I believe that we can save the city.”

  “How?”

  “How is that possible?”

  “Is he serious?”

  “Yes, I’m totally serious,” I said, turning and looking over the crowd of teenagers. “I have resources and some unique things that I could tell you more about if you join me and should make it possible. Now, that doesn’t mean it would be easy or that we may not have to do some bloody things to make it happen, but I wanted you all to know that the end goal is something good, something noble.

  “Now, to the specifics. Well, first I need a troop of loyal people to work for me. I would train you, give you classes and equipment, and help you level. In return, you would be soldiers for me. Ones that I could rely on and trust. You would be my personal guard and help me with my goals, no matter what they were.”

  “Can’t you just hire a bunch of experienced soldiers? Why go through so many hoops to bring us on board?” Basil asked.

  “Hey, don’t discourage him if he wants to give us classes, Basil!” I heard one of his crew say, and everyone else broke into laughter.

  “The issue is trust. If we want to save this city, we may end up tangling with some powerful people. The priests, for one. Possibly even the Emperor, who seems to do nothing but drink himself into a stupor each day rather than try to save the city. I need people I know will stick with me through it all. Constans vouches for you all. She says you are good people and eager for a chance to escape your current lives. I can give you all that.”

  “I can speak for all of us,” Basil said, then paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, “and say that we are interested. We were facing another winter of starvation back in Perama. We always lose a few to the cold and hunger every year. By bringing us here and feeding us, giving us education and training and this place to live, you have already saved some of our lives. We appreciate that.”

  “Yeah!”

  “True!”

  “Agreed!” I heard some of his people say.

  “Well,” I said, “I’m glad to hear that. Let me give you some of the details of what I would expect from you all. Have you all heard about the legionnaires? The famous Roman army that could defeat anyone that dared come against them?”

  “Of course!”

  “Yeah!”

  “My ma said my dad was one of them,” I heard the others say.

  “I know some form of the legion still survives in the army’s enclave, but I plan to form my own. I would like you all to become the first of my legionnaires. Trained soldiers who could work together to defeat anyone.

  “What that means, though, is that you would be signing up for a life of service. The legion before had a twenty-year term. You would be paid a fair salary, given classes, training, and equipment, and at the end of your twenty-year term, you could choose to sign up for more or you could retire. If you retired, assuming we succeeded in saving the city, I would give you a parcel of land for you to own or a part of the city, some place of your choice to call home permanently. You would be free to sell it or develop the land and you would be responsible for protecting it. You would receive a small pension, but even after your term of service, you could be called up as auxiliaries if needed. You would be responsible for training your children or servants and sharing or acquiring classes for them, and they too would be expected to serve in the legion, if needed.”

  I could tell such long-term planning didn’t really concern anyone in front of me, but I wanted to lay it all out so they would enter the agreement with all of the information I had to give them.

  “Is he planning to run the city, not just save it?” I heard someone ask quietly, but I didn’t answer them.

  “Once you sign up, there would be no quitting. You would be expected to serve out your term. If you elected to stay longer than twenty years, the land you earn would grow in size for every five years after that. Your salary would go up if you were promoted as well, but for now, given how small we are, everyone will be paid the same except for Basil, who I would make your commander.

  “Basil, you would be expected to maintain discipline and make sure that everyone carried out my orders. Any failures of discipline would need to be punished. Any betrayal of our secrets or desertion . . . Well, if someone betrays us, the penalty will be death.

  “I know that is a lot to take in, so please talk amongst yourselves or ask me questions and I will answer. Keep in mind that during your twenty years, you will have a comfortable income, and while I can’t guarantee your safety or comfort at all times, given what we need to do, I will always do my best to help you grow in power.”

  Silence lingered for a moment before people began to ask me questions. I answered them as they came, often just repeating what I had already said. Basil asked what sort of classes they could expect to get and if they would all get the same class or different ones.

  “I have a legendary class that I will teach to each of you,” I told them, “and I have some plans for some other classes. I will provide these classes for free. If you want to learn your own class, I encourage you to do so and we can learn to work your skills into the group, but you would need to save up and buy those classes on your own. I can’t give you more details of the class I will give you at this time.”

  I saw several people eyeing the gun under Constans’s arm, which she didn’t conceal like I did. They had been scavenging with her for a while now, so they all probably had an idea of what kind of class I could offer. I could see that many were intensely interested in how the revolver worked.

  “Can women join, too?” one of the young girls asked.

  “Yes,” I told her, “anyone is welcome. You will receive the same training, classes, and chance for promotion as anyone else. If anyone treats you differently, you come and tell me and I will handle it.”

  I knew that traditional Byzantine society had gender roles that seemed antiquated by modern standards, but most of that had apparently broken down in response to the death of most of the city’s populace. I wanted to make sure that it never came back, since the class system made such ideas ridiculous anyway. Anyone could become physically powerful enough to do things that humans on my Earth would have found unbelievable. There was no reason to discriminate anymore on this Earth, as far as I was concerned.

  After a few more questions, I ducked out of the warehouse and let them all talk together. Constans came to get me roughly a half hour later, letting me know that everyone had made up their minds.

  “We agree to your offer,” Basil told me when I settled back down on the floor in front of them.

  “Yeah!” I heard people in the group say. Several even cheered.

  “Wonderful,” I said, smiling at the group around me. “I have a unique skill that will encapsulate everything that we have discussed and formalize our agreement. I would like to sit with each of you and go over it to make sure that you all agree and understand what you are signing.”

  I started with Basil, bringing up my Evolution of Leadership ability to form a contract. I knew this was a bit like cheating since it would enforce our agreement no matter what, but trust could only go so far. I also wanted a guarantee of loyalty.

  We went over the contract, and then Basil and I signed it together. I stood and shook his hand, welcoming him as my first legionnaire. He beamed pridefully up at me, and I knew Constans had found the right man for the job when I could see his soul soaring with excitement at the opportunities in front of him.

  “Welcome to the legion, Basil.”

  The group cheered and I smiled at the boy in front of me, my first legionnaire. He grinned sheepishly and then moved aside to let another take his place. One after another stepped forward, and I made sure they understood what they were agreeing to. I looked over their souls as they signed to try to make sure they were honest and trustworthy. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at with each individual soul, but I was generally able to get a sense of the person in front of me.

  The only one out of the group that had a sour, untrustworthy soul was an older boy, possibly the oldest of all the teenagers in the room. His soul was a sickly green color and gave off the impression of cruelty and deceit. He agreed to the terms of the contract, but I could sense that he was already thinking of ways to take advantage of the knowledge I would give him.

  I excused myself for a moment and explained the situation to Basil and Constans.

  “Ah,” Basil said after I finished explaining. “Yeah, that is Decimus. He joined us just a few months before we came here. He has been quiet so not many of us know him, but he hasn’t done anything to make me worry before this.”

  “We can’t take him,” I told the two of them. “I can sense he will betray us as soon as he gets the chance. I’m concerned that he already knows too much as is.”

  Basil shrugged, looking uncomfortable. I could tell he wanted to defend one of his people, but he also didn’t really know the kid and didn’t want to disagree with me so soon after joining my legion.

  “I will take him back to Perama tonight,” I told the two of them. “Will everyone else understand?”

  Basil thought about it and then replied, “Yeah, they should be fine. Like I said, he just joined us and not many really know him at all.”

  “Okay, great. I know this is hard for you, but we have to be careful.”

  I finished with the rest of the group, telling Decimus that we would need to talk privately after I was done with the others. The kid looked nervous and I could see him eyeing the door as he waited, but I kept my eye on him until we were done and he never bolted for it.

  I left my newly formed legion to rest, the excitement of the room palpable as I escorted Constans and Decimus outside. I told Constans to head back to the inn and I led Decimus toward the water.

  “Listen,” I told him. “I don’t fault you for who you are, but you are not right for what I am forming here.”

  “What?” Decimus said, immediately getting angry. “I’m just as good as everyone else in that room. Better than them! Why are you rejecting me? I don’t want to go back to that shithole of a bridge!”

  I could tell the kid was genuinely hurt, but not in a self-reflective way. He was blaming me and getting angry at me, not trying to understand why he might not have been selected on his own.

  “You have a choice,” I told him, cutting him off. “You can sign a new contract with me and you go back to Perama or I can leave you here in Sycae if you want, but you must sign the contract. Or if you don’t, I will kill you.”

  My statement hung in the air before us, his anger evaporating in sudden fear. I felt bad for bullying what was basically a child, but I couldn’t afford for him to betray us. I was either going to wrap him up in a contract he could never break or I was going to have to kill him, as distasteful as that was for me to do.

  “How dare—” he started to say, but I grabbed his arm and yanked it above his head, lifting him off the ground. He dangled, trying to break free of my grasp, but he was like a small puppy compared to me and my strength.

  I formed the contract and put it in front of him. “This contract states that you will never be able to communicate what you learned about me or my operations. Till your death and beyond. You will not be able to conspire against us. You will not be able to even contemplate ways to seek revenge against us. You will, in fact, forget everything you know about me and the group of kids that just joined my legion, Constans, and anything else you learned since you were recruited to come here. Do you understand?”

  The boy had tired himself out trying to break free of my grasp and stared sullenly at me as I held him above the ground.

  “I don’t enjoy doing this,” I told him, “but I can tell you were planning to betray us, even as you swore loyalty to me. You are lucky I don’t just kill you immediately and be done with you. This contract will give you a chance to live, at least.”

  The boy tried to squirm free one more time but then slumped in defeat. “I want to live here at least,” he muttered, looking away from me. “Don’t make me go back to the bridge.”

  I put him down. “Listen, I understand some of what you have probably been through. I know it’s hard to trust and that sometimes your mind thinks about betrayal because that is what you are used to, right?”

  He stared sullenly at me, refusing to answer.

  “I’ll tell you what,” I said. “I will add a provision to the contract that if you ever learn to trust and will truly never betray us, your memory will be restored and you can come find me and I will give you another shot at joining us, okay?”

  “So, what? If I just become a little lickspittle like the others I can be a part of your merry little band?”

  I laughed softly at his descriptions of the group. “Yes, that is it exactly. I’m pretty sure these contracts are very flexible and powerful. So I will add a provision that if you truly change, you will remember us and can find me. Maybe you won’t join the legion, but I’m sure I could find a use for you. But if that never happens, you will never be able to betray us or remember anything of this time. Understand?”

  “Yeah, I get it,” the boy said, not meeting my eyes.

  “To show you I truly don’t mean you any harm . . .” I took out some currency and gave him enough to survive here in Sycae for several weeks. “This is for you. You won’t remember where you got it, but if you are careful, it should help you find a way to survive over here.”

  He hastily grabbed the orbs and coins, eyeing me skeptically, but he was a little less sullen after he had the currency in his hands.

  “Now, sign the contract. I don’t want things to get messy.”

  He nodded and I watched as he signed the magical document in front of him. Once he did, his eyes grew dull. I could practically see the memories being locked away in his mind. I knew my evolution was powerful, but this was something else. It was borderline scary what the contract could do to a person.

  I backed away so he wouldn’t grow confused at seeing me and left him there on the docks, hoping someday he would find his way.