Warlords 9

While Leti was already on board with most of what was going on, thanks to the former Scholar's further 'convincing' she had been made into an eager accomplice. The Stable Master did not just crave the world Chaz wanted to create through Yrel, she wished to have what they had. However, her skills were needed. It was, according to her mistress, the only barrier that was preventing the Stable Master from becoming like her. It was not clear whether or not the Stable Master could perform her duties or not after the change, but no one has ever heard of a pet that could interact with the tools that were necessary. It was not a risk Chaz was willing to take. For that reason she was standing by obediently, waiting to aid him in whatever way she could so as to expedite her own ascension.

“Do it.” Chaz ordered.

Leti nodded, flipping to the right page in the tome. “Service, this time?” The Stable Master stared down at a familiar-looking Rengari that was on all fours in front of her. A somewhat comical and disturbing sight, but not one that changed anything for her, in particular.

“Her skill points are spread out. She is a Ferocity pet. A lot of points unspent, of course.”

“Take it all and put it in the service tree. Wanna see what happens.” Chaz advised in a bemused tone.

“What all is down that skill tree, anyway?”

Leti nodded and did as he asked, making the changes and noting the interesting ones down as she does.

“There is one early on that reduces base intelligence and turns one-hundred percent of bonus intelligence into Strength and Stamina.”

“We want that.” Chaz nodded. After it was done he walked up beside the former Rengari and tried his best to move her. She was already strong and heavy, but after that change she was completely immovable.

“Does that mean we can equip these girls with gear?”

“It seems so, sir. It seems like it becomes a one for two, as well. The scaling is better than anyone could ask for.”

“Could it be exploited?” Chaz asked his mind racing.

“It's fairly early in the tree. If you dip into this for a soldier you could equip them with specialized gear and have a dumb fighter that is stronger and tougher than anything. Their strength and stamina would naturally out-scale others in all circumstances.”

Chaz licked his lips. He loved min-maxing his pets. “How dumb is she, though? Reduced base intelligence?”

“She is below average, but not stupid. The main thing is that bonus intelligence comes from education as well as gear, so she's lost most of that.” Leti explained. The girl did not mind at all the implications of what she said.

“So if I need someone to be useful for other more delicate matters I skip this one?” He looked up at the Stable Master pointedly. She offered a short nod in response.

“Continuing on we have two exclusive talents.” She glanced over them.

“One increases carrying capacity, run speed and base attack damage when not using hands... Interesting. I'm sure that'll come up later.” She moved her finger under the other.

“The next one caps strength at half of the base and turns all bonus strength into stamina, but triggers lactation increases milk production by five-hundred percent.”

“Woah! That's a lot?” He wasn't sure what five-times milk production was for a draenei.

Leti nods. “Seems like a lot. Which one?”

“Good to know about the second one, but we'll put a rain check on that. I decided this girl'd be a mount, so...”

“Got it.” She made the selection, then made the obvious selections that finally lead down the tree into the last talent.

“Final one.” She cleared her throat because it was a mouthful.

“First, this talent locks the tree permanently due to the drastic changes. That is something new... The skeletal structure is reshaped to increase pet efficiency as a mount to %140 that of the standard.” She stopped, did the math in her head, then looked down at him.

“Yes, that does make her better than most normal mounts by quite a bit and efficiency removes all negatives. There's more: Mount gains additional loyalty through use. At max loyalty she gains an intimidation aura that affects all creatures that share a type within forty yards? Wow... I suppose one with the will or experience could resist this fairly easily, but still.”

“Yeah! Wow! Obviously press that one. Might have to to rehabilitate this girl. Feel bad for breaking her brain in a bit when I trained her.” Chaz said, watching Elle closely as Leti selected the final talent.

The draenei mount shuddered as much of the fat on her body began to fade into tone. She maintained a feminine shape, but even her breasts shrunk down to a modest, sleek A-cup. Chaz was not pleased about that, but let it go because what happened next he really, really liked. Her body began to move. Her limbs that had been shaking and awkwardly planting the draenei on all fours shifted into a more comfortable position that allowed her to stand naturally. Her front forearms extended and her hands faded quickly into a pair of hooves. Actual, real hooves, not gauntlets, not prosthetics. The mount's entire form increased in size by just a bit.

“It looks like she changed size perfectly to match you. Most mounts don't do that. You are usually out of luck if you are a goblin or a tauren.”

“Tell me about it.” Chaz sighed.

“It's why we typically build our own and tauren stick to kodos.”

Chaz approached her from the side. “Uh, you know that 'moo moo' shit was just a joke, right? You aren't a cow, you're a mount!”

Elle furrowed her brow and glanced over at him with confusion. She hesitated, her tail elongated and whipped back and forth. After thinking it over for a few more seconds she responded. “This isn't a test, right?”

Chaz rested his hands on his hips and sighed. “If it was a test you failed.” He nodded slowly as the mount adopted a worried expression.

“But it wasn't a test.” She immediately became relieved.

“So go ahead and talk as much as you want, uh...” He trailed off.

“You know what your name is, right?”

“It's Elle.” She said frankly. She may have shrugged if she could but it looked as if her bone structure no longer allowed it.

“Good girl!” Chaz said encouragingly, lifting his hand to pat her on the head.

She smiled and leaned down into it. “Thanks.” The former Exarch was being very casual and understanding.

“I dunno what a mount even has to say, but you can say it.” He offered.

Elle inhaled deeply and stared up in thought. After a while she asked. “I kinda want to run?”

“Well... We're trying to be discrete, but we can probably run once I'm back on the Horde side of things.”

She nodded intently. “Okay. Sounds good. Do you wanna return me to your collection until then?”

It was Chaz's turn to be confused. “Is it nice in there?”

She looked around. “It's fine. I just don't feel much point being out here when I'm not in use.”

“Got it. Got it...” Chaz was surprised by the frankness of the new mount. She was his, for sure, but she seemed very well-behaved. Almost perfect.

“How do you feel about being amount, compared to... You know?”

“What I was?” She looked to be deep in thought again. She furrows her brow.

“Y... eah. You know it's actually really troubling now that I think about it?” She looks down, lifting one of her front hooves. She tries to look back over her shoulder and lifts one of her back. Chaz instantly regretted asking, but became relieved when she added.

“But I would just feel a bit better about it if you made use of me, you know? Took me out for a run?” She seemed to have her interest drawn away very easily by work, and her surroundings. She was briefly distracted by a bug that flew by, he noticed.

Chaz leaned back when encountered by the odd dichotomy. “What if I was using you to run down your former comrades?” He asked, suspecting he knew the answer.

Elle gritted her teeth. “The fact that you would even suggest such a thing is awful.” She paused.

“But I mean... So long as I'm being put to work I guess I would endure it. Do you want to?” She asked eagerly.

“What?”

“Go for a run?” She stared at him. Her large, silver eyes had not dulled. They still carried a brilliant blue glow that showed she was still touched by the light, unlike those broken mounts and cows that he had seen back home in the main universe.

“To... Run down your former companions?” Chaz asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. But I can start working, right?”

“Hold that thought.” As he said that Elle nodded and went back to allowing her attention to be carried off by whatever moved within her vision. Chaz turned to Leti.

“So use increases her loyalty? Seems like even the thought of it distracts her.”

“Seems like it.” She clutches the tome to her chest. The woman had just been observing idly, wondering if being a mount would be better or worse than being a cunning pet like her mistress.

“What is loyalty, exactly?” He inquired.

“A bit redundant to think about, but it increases their effectiveness. Loyalty is just increased through feeding and taking care of your pet normally, so barely anyone even considers it. Because why would you not feed and take care of your pet? It is a bit obvious that doing that would make them more effective.”

“Right?” Chaz agreed.

“But she doesn't need to be fed or taken care of. She just needs to work. Apparently?” Leti nodded. That seemed to be what followed logically from what the talent said.

“What's this intimidation thing?”

She opened the book and used her training to find additional information by inspecting the newly created mount with it.

“Intimidation creates intense stress, culminating in loss of mental faculties for the duration. Intimidated individuals lack complex sense and awareness.” Let explained, closing the book once she was done.

Chaz rubbed his chin. “So it makes them ****? Yrel can we use this?”

Yrel stood and stepped into view. She had been watching and working on her own meditation with the trinket she was given. She considered the question. “If it works similarly to your training then it could work to forge them but then they would just be 'wild' and would need to be 'tamed'.”

Chaz grinned. “Aren't you curious what a free draenei that's been forged would act like?”

“Do you have a plan?” Yrel asked curiously.

Yrel stared down at the apparel Chaz gave her. “I look like a slutty Wrath Guard, Master. You are a hunter, not a warlock.” She remarked. He had given her black plate armor. Though armor may have been a bad word, as all that the ornate, dark plating covered was parts of her tits and her pelvis She wore an eye-mask that ran from her nose and connected up her horns to make them look dark and sinister. It had the dual effect of hiding her identity and completing the look. Instead of her iconic hammer she was given a simple, black axe.

“They don't need to know that.” Chaz chuckled, donning his own imitation of Saronite armor. Elle had been equipped with similar, dark-looking mount plate that served to boost her stats. He had also made sure to run her around for a while before the plan would come to fruition so that he could raise her loyalty. The effect was stark.

“Looking forward to ending some poor draenei as the 'Dark-Rider's Corrupted Mount,' Elle baby?”

“Yes, I am, Master!” The former Rangari said eagerly. All of her reservations had dripped away over the course of her being worked and run around. Just the thought of being used further was intoxicating to her.

He turned to Yrel. “The Legion's already here. It's the perfect cover.”

“I suppose...” She could not argue. It really was a good cover if they wanted to test out their theories. They left from the discreet location they had based themselves out of in preparation and began traveling the road. He had to go slow so that Yrel could keep up. Elle's speed, as he found, was completely on a whole other level. Her abilities as a mount were far and above anything he had ever had. Even from the originals on Azeroth, the new method Yrel found created far better results than he could have imagined.

Neela stared down at the quest reward and sighed. Just because she was a draenei her kind expected her to work for free, but all she really wanted was to be treated just like all the other adventurers. She saw them enter town and collect rewards and had no idea why when she did the same thing she simply received a pat on the back.

“Does no one understand that I'm trying to make a living, here?” She commented more-or-less to herself, shuddering as she stepped up to what felt like a virtual precipice. It was an odd feeling. Nothing had come upon her yet, but she felt intensely afraid. She wanted to turn back and begin walking back down the road but her legs shook. She could not move. Then when she looked up from her 'reward' she saw it. Saw them. Sitting on an odd mount that she could not quite make out was a small rider in intimidating dark armor. Walking beside him was the largest Wrath Guard she had seen in person. A female one, which was new to her. She walked confidently forward beside him, barely paying her any mind. Or, if she was it was difficult to tell behind her blank, uncaring mask. As they came upon her the demons black-painted lips curled into a cruel smile. She lifted her hand towards Neela.

“P-please don't hurt me!” Neela begged. She felt as if she had forgotten how to fight. Forgotten how to run. She even forgot how to reason. All she could do is watch in fear as the rode up on her.

In watching she noticed that the mount that she so feared was far more warped and dreadful than she could imagine. It was an actual draenei. Her form had been shaped into that of a mount for the dark creature riding it. She knew now why she was so afraid; it was looking at the mount bent her mind, no, simply being in it's presence that bent her mind. She shuddered and almost slipped ****, but not from fear. Her attention shifted back to the Wrath Guard.

“What are you-” She clutched her chest. It felt as though her soul was being crushed, compacted. Paradoxically, as this dreadful feeling was coming over her there was warmth similar to the light wrapping her body and her insides. It burned, but the pain faded into just that warmth gradually. It was around that point that she entered a daze. The fear was not fully gone, but dulled. She still felt intimidated but the dread was not there. Instead it was just the common fear that one would feel when confronted by an overwhelming foe.

She breathed easily as the Guard lowered her hand, nodded to the rider and said something into his pointy green ear with a smirk. They walked around her. She felt completely and utterly confused. As they left her she was able to get up again, but she felt different. She was still her, but something was missing. Neela looked down at her hands and turned them over. They were still hers.

“I don't understand what's wrong.” She commented. She shook it off, knowing she needed to return to town and tell everyone about this strange threat.

“Didn't seem like much happened at all.” Chaz said, removing the helmet to make it easier to breath.

Yrel shook her head. “It worked, like I said. She just hasn't been tamed by anyone yet.”

“So what you're saying is, she's like an animal now, but probably doesn't feel too different?” Yrel nodded. Chaz grinned.

“This is actually not too bad, huh?”

Yrel looked at him and appeared to agree. It was difficult to tell since she was still wearing the mask. Only her vague, dark smile was visible.

“If I can forge all of my people then they will all just be animals waiting to be tamed. I will work towards that goal.” Chaz nodded and patted her on the thigh approvingly.

***

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