John Newman: Homeowner

John pushed the large, wooden doors of the keep open, with a creaking noise coming from the doors, clearly falling into some disrepair. John and Mikuru coughed as the dust the door’s opening stirred up was inhaled by them. The musty smell of the castle caused them both to gag.

“Oh, Asshole Goddess, that smell!” John said between gags.

“This castle is going to need a lot of work to fix it up,” Mikuru said as she held back her gags, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth. “Are you sure you want this place?” she asked John.

“Well, it would give me a place to stash Idena and would allow you and Miho to hide out,” John pointed out as he continued through the main hall. A banquet table was in the main hall, the chairs scattered about, as if the people that were there had to leave quickly. Or were **** from their chairs. There were the remains of banners all around the walls of the hall, but they were all too degraded for John to make out anything. The two continued their way to the throne room, where two thrones sat. Between the thrones and slightly behind them, was an altar.

“That must be it,” John said as he began to walk towards the altar.

“What is what?” asked a confused Mikuru.

“Oh, uh, my quest said I must put the hearthstone on the altar if I wish to claim this kingdom as my own,” John explained to Mikuru as she followed behind him.

“Quests? Like a video game?” she asked.

“Uh yeah, exactly like that. Listen, I’ll gladly explain to you and Miho the basics of my powers once we get this whole kingdom and your guys’ living arrangements sorted out,” John promised her as he reached the altar. He took out his hearthstone, took a deep breath, and placed the hearthstone on the altar. A bright light flashed, and a gust of wind blew over John and Mikuru, who was also blinded by the light. When the light finally died down, John and Mikuru were in awe of the new look of the throne room. The aged color of the bricks was renewed with a vibrant grey color and the thrones, which used to be far too large for a human, were shrunk down to a more manageable size and looked like standard thrones of Great Britain. The two walked into the main hall and saw the banquet table and chairs had been restored to pristine condition, as well as various sterling silverware. The banners were restored and replaced with John in his full armor, with his sword resting on his shoulders, surrounded by the six girls whom he had gained as followers.

“Woah, this is amazing!” exclaimed John as he smiled at the look of his new castle.

“Simply amazing. You must truly be blessed by a god of the Abyss. Miho and I will dutifully follow you, John Newman, for as you rise in power so shall we,” Mikuru pledged to John as she bowed to him. John returned the bow and continued to look through the castle. The two found the master bedroom with a rather plain looking bed, a kitchen and pantry, and a surprisingly high tech computer room in the otherwise true to era castle. They found a basement to the castle that had a prison as well as a locked door with a sign that had its wording scratched off.

“Huh, this is the only locked door in the castle. I wonder if Asshole Goddess doesn’t think I’m ready for that area yet,” John wondered out loud.

“Do you believe you’ll take prisoners?” asked Mikuru, curious about his answer.

“I don’t know. Hell, does this prison even stop people from using magic? If not, then it’s kinda useless, right?” John asked. Mikuru nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps we should try it out?” Mikuru suggested. John agreed and had Mikuru go inside it. She then tried to use her magic to no avail.

“Well, it looks like it does cancel out magic. This could be most useful,” Mikuru said as she waited for John to let her out. Instead, John just stared at her, wondering how he could ensure her loyalty. “John, please let me out,” Mikuru asked. John refused, seemingly caught up in thought. Mikuru kept pleading and threatening John to let her out.

“Enough!” John said as he sat down on the floor. “I need to meditate,” John said as he began to clear his mind except for one thing: how to ensure the loyalty of his followers. John meditated for about an hour before he got up, saddened that he hadn’t gotten a new ability proc. That’s when he noticed the pop-up light blinking. Sighing at forgetting to check that after an important event, he clicked it.

Achievement Unlocked: My Liege!
Gain control of an Abyss Kingdom
Reward: Kingdom Management, +10 CHA

New move obtained: King’s Mark

King’s Mark
10 Stamina
The mark can be given by a king to any subject, ensuring their loyalty to the king and granting them passage to and from the kingdom

“Well that’ll work,” John said as he opened the small food door on the prison cell door. “Stick your hand through that,” John commanded Mikuru.

“Why?”

“Because the only way I’m letting you out of that cell is if you put your arm through that,” John told the girl in a stern voice. After a slight hesitation, Mikuru relented and stuck her hand through the hole. John took his hand, placed it on the back of hers and used King’s Mark. There was a small light flash where their skin connected, and, when John removed his hand, a mark appeared on her hand. Well, it was less of a mark and more of a “J.”

“Huh, I figured the mark would be, you know, an actual mark and not just the first letter of my name,” John said in a disappointed tone.

“If you are done branding me, could you let me out now?” Mikuru asked as she first rubbed her hand and then just stared at it. John let her out of the cell and commanded her to her knees. Mikuru gave him a disgusted look and continued to walk back to the main hall.

“Huh, guess it only guarantees loyalty but not subservience,” John decided as he followed Mikuru back to the main room. The two made their way back to the tech room and decided to go play around with that to see what all it could do.