Lord: Starting with Contract Half-Elf Twins

A series of fierce barks rang out in succession.

Even if he couldn't understand what Flintclaw and the gnoll Morash were saying, just by looking at Flintclaw's furious and almost murderous state, Allen knew that the negotiations had broken down.

However, this was within his expectations.

He gently kicked the flint claw, stopping it from gathering magic.

Then he pulled out the flintlock pistol and closed the cell door again.

Under Solina's somewhat bewildered gaze, Allen did not go back to the first cell to communicate with the jackal Kag again.

Instead, they sent Flint Claw back first and came back the next day.

……

The next day, Allen did not go down to the dungeon himself. Instead, he sent Solina with the key and Flintclaw to see the gnoll Kag.

After Allen's explanation last night, Solina already knew Allen's plans.

It's actually quite simple. Although Allen is the "Lord," even if he wins over the two current leaders of the gnolls, their loyalty won't be very high. So he decided to play the "good cop."

So, after Allen presented unacceptable conditions to Kag and Morash yesterday, today Solina, the "red-faced" one, presented the real conditions that had been prepared.

Her explanation to the gnoll Kag was:

"Your brother refused to accept the task of killing you and offended the lord with his foul attitude, so the lord decided to grant him death."

"But I greatly admire your subservience to the strong and your loyalty to your brothers yesterday, so I will bestow new favors upon you."

"Gnolls can still join the Stonehold, and you will be granted the great power of the lord."

"Your brother will not be killed, but will be exiled. Can you accept this condition?"

Kag felt a sense of despair upon hearing that Morash would be killed.

But after hearing the second half of Solina's meaning, he immediately understood who he should pledge allegiance to.

So it humbly knelt before the girl who had conquered it with fire and kissed her shoes.

In fact, even if Morash were to be killed, it would remain loyal to Stonecastle.

As a gnoll with low intelligence, Kag, as the chieftain, prioritizes the survival of his tribe, and following the strong is a common practice for this type of monster.

For Kag, the only thing he couldn't accept was killing his brother with his own hands.

As for exile, it was nothing to lower-ranking races in the wilderness.

Just like when a pride of lions or a pack of wolves changes leaders, it's already a good outcome if the defeated old leader and his children survive.

When the brothers came to power, they ruthlessly killed the previous gnoll leader and all his cubs, all for the sake of possessing the best females.

There's no need to kill your brother with your own hands; your brother can still live.

These two things were the greatest blessing for Kag.

Therefore, its loyalty to Solina is different from that of ordinary people who submit to the strong.

So it was taken out of the stone cell and brought to the hall of the stone fortress, where Allen was already waiting.

Allen didn't intend to say much more to it; this tribe would be under Solina's control in the future, and he only needed to play the "good cop."

He opened the [Recruitment] interface, put in 1 crystal, and the panel of three recruitable followers appeared.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

【Name: Kage】

Race: Gnoll

Age: 18

[Character Template: Elite]

[Faction: Chaos & Evil]

[Level: Warrior lv11]

[Status: Severe burns]

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

【Name: Tree Man】

Race: Treant

Age: 41

[Character Template: Standard]

[Faction: Lawful/Neutral]

[Level: Treant lv10]

Status: Normal

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Name: Seabird

[Race: Seabird]

Age: 1

[Character Template: Standard]

[Rank: Flying Bird lv1]

Status: Normal

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

There wasn't even a rat near the stone fortress; only the tree people who took turns living near the fortress and the seabirds flying overhead were captured by the [Recruitment] system.

Without hesitation, Allen chose the gnoll Kag's panel.

Then I opened the [Cultivation] interface and added another crystal.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Gnoll Hunter

Type: Combat Skill Inheritance

Enhanced effect:

Inheriting the hunting and killing skills best suited to gnolls, this combat skill excels at running and attacking, greatly enhancing running and jumping abilities, and slightly improving the ability to strike weak points and inflict wounds.

Advanced Paths: Gnoll Bonebreaker, Blood Frenzy Hunter, Gnoll Warlord

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Name: Darkblood Warlock

Type: Bloodline Awakening

Enhanced effect:

Awaken the dark power hidden within the gnoll bloodline to gain a faint shadow and corrosive abilities.

They can learn some curse abilities and can also put allies into a bloodthirsty berserk state by consuming their life force.

Advanced paths: Darkblood Pact Demon, Necromancer, Curse Priest.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Shadow Assassin

Type: Combat Skill Inheritance/Bloodline Awakening

Enhanced effect:

Through special training, the shadow magic in one's bloodline can be applied in a special way, allowing one to become invisible and move silently for a short time by blending into the shadows.

Advanced paths: Shadow Hunter, Bloodthirsty Berserker, Shadow Warlock

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Without pausing, Allen immediately selected the first option: [Gnoll Hunter].

Stone Fortress's top combatants have always been spellcasters. Aside from Allen and his two companions, Flintclaw is also a natural spellcaster.

Having a follower specializing in combat skills can also make the combat power more balanced.

More importantly, while combat skill enhancements are not as immediately effective as spellcasting enhancements, the difficulty of inheriting combat skills is much lower.

After learning the gnolls' exclusive combat skills, Kag can train the new gnolls in his tribe to learn them.

Although not many can be trained, this will subtly further enhance the overall combat effectiveness of the gnoll tribe.

The third enhancement path is also a combat skill enhancement, but it cannot be used without bloodline activation, and therefore there is no expanded benefit.

As for the second warlock path, the spell that makes allies go berserk by paying a price is impressive, but its niche has already been taken over by Flintclaw's [Kobold Warcryer].

If Flintclaw can remove the [Kobold] racial restriction from this class, then its ability to cover an entire army without much cost is far superior to this spellcaster who has mixed curse abilities.

Having received the enhancements from the Lord's Handbook, the gnoll Kag almost immediately felt the changes within himself, and even his burns began to heal rapidly.

But before it could kneel down in gratitude, Allen waved it away from the stone castle.

Solina played along with Allen's performance, leaving with Flintclaw and the newly enhanced Kag.

If you're going to act, you have to go all the way. They have one more scene to complete before they can be considered to have finished Kag's "onboarding process".

After Solina left, Allen opened the "Lord's Handbook" again and sighed softly.

"Only one crystal left, it's gone way too fast."