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James stared at Michael in shock, "what do you mean that he's my, father?"

Michael sighed deeply before replying calmly, "I mean that before he came to this town and took over that he fathered you. You probably don't remember because you were only a few weeks old when he left. At that time he was still human."

James nodded solemnly and sat there quiet as he waited for the guards to bring him back to his room. Over the weeks he had continued to change. The second sign he noticed other than his eyes was that he in fact started to grow cream coloured hair along his neck. He noticed one day half a week later that he had started to grow patches of scales under his clothes, and his face had started to elongate. The next step over the course of a few months was the fact that there were little nubs on his back and that his tail bone had started to grow. That and his feet didn't fit inside his shoes anymore as they started to broaden around his toes. His heels also narrowed slightly and his toenails had hardened and curved down in the way a lizards might.

Finally, over the course of a year and a half he looked just like any of the other Draco-morphs, completely covered in red scales except for the neck where there was a ring of cream coloured fur, he had a completely prehensile tail, his face had elongated about a foot out in front of him, whilst his scalene eyes had longer scales on the eye ridges just above them, somewhat similar to eyelashes in the way that they left the skin. He had no spines anywhere on him and no horns. His ears had over the time shrunk into his skull to the point where there were only two small holes on either side of his head, a few inches behind and above his eyes, and he also had a pair of magnificent red wings on his back that had a span of 12 feet.

When the changes had finished and he was finally allowed to wander around in the compound he went to see Michael to see if he was able to get his freedom. To which he had replied with a condition, that he never leave this place without weapons and something else to protect himself with and that he changed his name with an official ceremony because the man that he once knew as James was gone. James hesitantly agreed and headed back to his room to think about a new name for the ceremony that was only a few nights away.

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A week later James was escorted from his room to another smaller one with a singular booth and two Draco-morphs standing beside it with many assorted items beside them. The two that had escorted him there left and the two that were standing to either side of the booth both gestured to a chair inside of it and James slowly walked forward to sit in it.

When James emerged on the top of the mountain at night he was wearing a straw necklace that weaved into his own fur collar. He also had dark scalene triangles that traced his eyes and intricate rope work down the entirety of his tail, the rest of him naked for the world to see. The top of the mountain itself had an altar near the far end, on which stood his supposed father, and the rest of the Werle around him eying him curiously, seeing if he looked anything different than the others, and to their surprise they found that his scales were more sharply defined and a darker shade of red then any of the others. The pathway that lead to where his father stood was blocked off at either side by more Draco-morphs each in tribal wear, sticks and leaves weaved into their furry necks intricately, certain Draco-morphs had head wear as well, probably as a sign of superiority to the others. As he walked down the pathway every single one of them stared, except for Michael, who instead stood in front of the altar, supposedly to tell him what to do when he got there.

When he finally stood in front of the altar he looked to Michael with inquisitive eyes as if to ask what now? Michael nodded to James, his eyes filled with mirth before he turned to Wronst and nodded to him. Wronst looked back up with a serious look on his face, speaking loudly to his 'brethren.'

"Welcome everyone, to another soon to be successful ceremony," he then looked down to James, "well? Have you chosen your new name?"

James answered soon after, "I have, and I choose the name Xrohne."

Wronst nodded to Xrohne, before addressing the crowd, "welcome Xrohne. To my Werle!"

X nodded as the Draco-morphs started shouting their approval, both at his name and the joy of having new blood in the Werle once again.

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When the gathering finally started to wind down some eight or so hours later Wronst approached X directly, "so X, if I may call you that. Everyone has to pull their weight around here; I'm sure Michael explained all the jobs to you, and that you have one choice for a job or profession because that will be your job for the rest of the time you choose to remain here."

X nodded and smiled at Wronst, "you may, in fact I encourage that everyone call me X for short. Also yes Michael has explained to me what jobs you have, and over all of them I choose the military."

Wronst smiled happily, "wonderful! We almost never have anyone choose military, so you'll have a wide choice of weapons to choose from."

X nodded politely, "so uh, where will I be staying now that all this is over?"

Wronst grinned, "exactly where you are now, there's nobody living there."

X smiled and nodded, "very well then. Now if I may, I'd like to return to my room as I seem to have a busy day tomorrow."

Wronst laughed at X, "yes you may, and yes. You do have a very busy day tomorrow."

When X woke up the next morning, he stretched and yawned, noticing a little map on the table beside his bed. After getting dressed and grabbing the map he walked outside the room and down the tunnel to his right, following the green line that lead through multiple tunnels and towards a large clearing, supposedly where the military compound was. As he stepped outside he breathed in the fresher outside air, and surveyed the area. Around him stood a few small bunkers, a tiny hangar with an appropriately sized runway, some sniper nests around the corners and a small artillery post. All surrounded by a large chain link fence with barbed wire around the top. He then noticed a somewhat buff Draco-morph walking towards him, to whom he smiled and nodded.

"Hello there boy, my name is Gorlne, and you must be X correct?"

X nodded again, "yes, I'm X, so what is it that you want me to do?"

Gorlne chucked at X, "first off X, we need to get you to the armoury to get you some weapons."

X nodded and grinned at Gorlne, "I agree sir, shall we get to it then?"

Gorlne nodded and started to walk away, heading towards one of the small bunkers, X following behind him curiously.

"Well boy," he said with a grin plastered on his face and pulling the large door open with a grunt, "welcome to the armoury. Go ahead, choose your weapons, but know this, you have a limit of two guns, one shield, and two swords or knives."

X nodded and walked in, hearing the door close behind him. After looking back to see the door shut he freaked out a bit in his head, quickly gaining control of himself and looking around. Right off the bat he noticed a Type 99 assault rifle covered in dust, he smiled and picked it up, setting it off to the side before continuing his search. He next found a pair of rusted and dust covered cast iron blades in a set of sheaths, he picked them up with a grin, and set them beside the assault rifle. He then turned around and wandered over to the rifle area. Looking around carefully before his eyes finally rested on an M1 Garand. This one had definitely seen some better days, the barrel was almost completely rusted off, the clip in it had jammed, and the stock had a large crack in it that almost split it as a result. He picked it up carefully and set it beside the Type 99. The next area he walked to was where the shields were. There was a whole selection of them, from ancient Aztecan shields to Mayan shields, to Roman, to Greek, and many more that he couldn't recognise. His eyes ended up settling on an old Spartan shield. One made from wood and reinforced with bronze that thinned out at the edges to make the outside rim of the circle razor sharp.

X walked back over to his items that he had chosen with the shield strapped to his back. He picked up the swords and strapped them to his waist. He then picked up the M1 and strung it over his shoulder with care. Finally picking up the Type 99 and knocking on the door. When the door opened Gorlne smiled and nodded approvingly, "those are a fine choice of weapons boy, though they'll need some love to get them back to working state."

X nodded, "Aye, I know. But that's the way it is with most weapons as old as these."

Gorlne chuckled before replying, "I'll leave you too it then, you've got today off, but I trust you'll be back here tomorrow with those guns and swords shining."

X nodded and saluted, "yes sir."

Gorlne smiled and saluted back to X, "you're dismissed soldier."

X saluted Gorlne again, pivoted on his heel, and walked back into the mountain, following the cave systems back to his room. When he opened his room there were extra parts for his weapons, along with some polish and some small tools sitting on a table beside a bench. X smiled and sat down at the bench, taking the M1 off his shoulder and setting it down on the table, the rifle being in the worst shape of all of them. He set the rest of the weapons off to the side to make room on the table. After he had field stripped the rifle and removing the gas cylinder he removed the butt plate and proceeded to take the stock off, taking each step carefully until he had taken the full stock of the rifle out. He then proceeded to grab the new stock and attach it to the body of the rifle, grabbing each piece and screwing or placing them into the weapon. Grabbing the new barrel and inserting it into the slot above the body, then placing the last few parts in and grabbing an empty clip that had been set to the side when he had walked in, he pushed the clip into the rifle experimentally. He nodded and pressed the release, dropping the clip out with a quiet click.

He set the rifle aside and then focused on the Type 99, field stripping it and checking the individual parts carefully, before nodding and reassembling it with care. He then grabbed the two swords and examined them, reaching over to grab a can of de-rusting spray, and praying it onto the blades, watching the rust bubble up to the surface and harden, he then grabbed the swords and lightly smacked them against the desk, knocking off the hardened bubbles of rust. Repeating the process with the other side and polishing them till they shined. Next grabbing his shield and examining it carefully, noticing every little niche in the plating and smiling, one thing was sure. This shield was another of his weapons that had probably survived multiple wars until he found them. He then grabbed the bottle of polish and proceeded to polish it with care. Finally with all his weapons cared for, he pulled off his clothes and fell into bed, somehow pulling the covers over his body before falling asleep.