Once we were back at the docks, I tried my best to collect myself.I had taken the time to mark the location at the docks before we joined up with the adventuring party.Just in case of an emergency, that is.I could see my hands shaking and I saw Isabella down on her knees with her head between her hands.She was mumbling something."I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry I couldn't save everyone... Please forgive me...make it stop... Please make them stop..." She whimpered.This kept going for a few minutes while I tried to calm myself... I couldn't stop shaking.That shadow dragon...that abomination did something to our minds. Never before in our lives had we witnessed such horror...It was mimicking the voices of our fallen friends and family...even someone like Tyranus. An enemy.I decided to glance around the docks to see if anyone was around.It was dark outside and currently, the docks were mostly empty. I didn't see anyone around.I turned to Isabella who was still whimpering in terror
Once the ship pulled into port, we said our thank-yous and goodbyes, then left towards the mountain.The port was quite busy with mostly dwarves, but a few humans as well.I saw a small number of people with mechanical appendages, as well. So it really was dwarven technology that the Kalsan's used on Arvild...Despite the impending catastrophe, people seemed mostly calm.Perhaps news hadn't spread, yet...There was a large field near the port and the mountain. High walls lined with strange machines that I had never seen before surrounded the mountain entrance as well. The field was barren and cratered heavily.It seemed that the machines might have been weapons of some kind.To be honest, I knew in my heart that they were going to need them. The Black Ooze would one day arrive here.But until then, Isabella and I were determined to spend our lives in peace. One day, when the Ooze arrived, we would fight to the death to protect our new home.Until then, we had time to spare.As we m
The next day since we didn't have work, we decided to visit Bronan. "Welcome! Please come in!" He said."Hey Bronan, we have the day off so we wanted to come over. I hope you don't mind," I said."No, not at all, I was just getting things ready to start teaching you two. Eh...by the way, what did you say you wanted to learn first?" "I don't think we did, but...I'm not feeling too particular about which we start with. They all sound very interesting," I said."I agree! They all sound amazing!" Isabella said cheerfully.Interestingly enough, even though we still had regular nightmares about the shadow dragon, as well as the end of the world, both of us were quite happy lately. Especially Isabella."Okay, lets start with alchemy then. I'll teach you what I know and then we can move onto machines." "Sounds good," I said.We spent the entire day learning about alchemy equipment, brewing processes, ingredient types, and potions themselves.Alchemy was often used for brewing potions, maki
Once we had reached the new cavern, Dufoth began walking behind us with the rest of the dwarves."The golems should be appearing soon. Be ready," he said.Almost immediately as he spoke, we heard a loud rumble. Several of them, actually.In the dark, I could see forward thanks to night vision. Isabella kept the cavern lit up with Grand Illumination and Grand Lantern Light for the dwarves.I saw several boulders begin to change shape and we were confronted with a group of huge golems.Not wanting to collapse the caverns, I decided to take it easy here."Assassinate," I said.I teleported within the group of golems and my blade sliced through the crystal in its chest as if it were nothing. As soon as I destroyed the core, the golem fell lifelessly to the ground."FULL MOON SLASH!" I released my second sword as the magic extended them and slashed multiple times within a circle around me. Four more golems fell. "Attack support!" Isabella said, raising her sword.At once, I was cloaked i
The next day, we were up at our normal time and decided to head over to Bronan's house next door. Today we would be learning about dwarven firearms.I had been curious about the subject for a while now, mainly because I wanted to test Vengeance on it.Once we arrived, we noticed that Bronan had already prepared several models of weapons called 'rifles' and 'pistols'.I recognized a few of them from yesterday. They were high-powered projectile weapons. Much louder than bows and crossbows, though..."Hey, Bronan. How are things today?" I asked casually."Very good! I received a message from Dufoth earlier about the relic that was found. They had a team working all night on it and found that it could be disassembled and moved piece by piece. Kind of sounds like all that work yesterday was a pain in the arse," he said."Yeah...pain in the ass..." Isabella mumbled.I groaned internally as well at the new information but decided to move on."Have they found its use, yet?" I asked."They're
In the months leading up until now, we had learned a lot of things.Our construction job was going very well. Woodworking was becoming second nature to us and so was stoneworking.We'd taken to storing construction materials in our inventories as a preparation for working each day. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of my old goblin traps as a result. I would really miss those things. They had so many memories and caused so much death. They saved my life plenty of times in the Lorelei Sewers.Among the things we learned were forging, alchemy, and knowledge of machines.Bronan really was a genius. He had designed a lot of the things used in modern dwarven society. On top of being an amazing metalworker and alchemist, of course. We learned a lot from him about machines.One day, as we were getting breakfast ready, we heard a knock on the door.Once I opened it, I saw Dufoth standing there. His expression was grim.I knew what it meant. It was time.We let him in and he sat down with us.
First, it was the ships.The darkness passed over our heads and blackened the skies as the water swallowed the ships north of the coast."HOLD FIRE!" One of the dwarves on the ranparts shouted."BY THE GODS! WE'RE ALL DOOMED" Another shouted."SHUT UP AND KEEP READY!" A third said."Isabella," I said."Right. ATTACK SUPPORT! DEFENSE SUPPORT! GRAND SHIELD ENCHANT!" She called.I activated dual wield and some of my other skills."GRAND SWORD ENCHANT! GRAND HASTE! FLAMES OF RAGE!" I called out.Both of my swords burst into flames and the golden threads attached themselves from my hands.Something in me knew what we were fighting.Then the black water began to shift.A crowd of horrors began rising from the coast and charged at us."ENGRAGE!" Isabella shouted.At once, all of the monsters turned towards her.I waited for a moment and then darted in and around the crowd, slashing and destroying the monsters.I kept this up for a few minutes while Isabella held their attention and attacked
(A/N: this chapter takes place during the two weeks after Mizik was engaged, before he was tortured. There was a mention of an incident in the ballroom regarding Cassandra as well as him showing his sword to the other nobles. This is a recounting of those events.)I was still in complete shock.The woman I had met in Lorelei turned out to be a Princess. Even more so, she wanted me to be her husband.It was still too hard to believe.But...this was my life, now.Currently, I was being escorted to one of the castle lounge areas. I didn't know my way around yet, so it was necessary.Once I arrived, I walked in and saw Isabella's face light up with happiness.She immediately stood up, ran over, and hugged me."Mizik! How did you sleep? Have you had breakfast? It's so good to see you!" She said.I'm still not used to this!"U-umm...Isabella?" I said."Yes?" She said.Her face was way too close to mine. I felt like I was overheating.She smells so sweet! I can't believe she's going to be my