Part 1 -Swift Expansion

 

“So this is the training ground? You did pretty well in making it how goes the private rooms?” Stroking his new beard Urist asked a dwarf in a brown robe standing next to him.

“The construction is going well boss. We have finished up fifty rooms given a few more days we should have enough rooms completed for everyone's enjoyment.”

“Good. Afterward, we’ll turn the dorm rooms into a military barracks. Then we’ll expand the facilities in the left-wing for more production. Finally, we’ll make a hallway from the residential wing leading to a food hall where we will eat from now on. When we have that finished we’ll move onto the next steps. After you guys finish the rooms I’ll reward each of you with a wine bottle for your efforts.”

The earth mage when he heard that last sentence had to hold back his droll, “Many thanks boss. I’ll leave you to your test.”

“Mn. I’ll be stretching my body now take care.”

“Yes, boss.” And with that, the dwarf walked out and got mornings breakfast. 

After resting all this time I’ve finally got the go-ahead to move my body. Man seeing Valkus going outside and adventuring really has my blood boiling. Through I should go see my skills before I do it for real. I’ve been so busy even though I’ve upgraded the Civilization and Armament stone to Tier 2.

Having made up his mind Urist left the training ground and headed to the armament stone to see the sharp red stone had turned sightly crystalized. Putting his hand on the stone information began to appear in his mind.

 

Position: Civilization Leader

Age :27 Days

Exp:6244

Knowledge: Otherworldly(Tier 1) (Tier 5 - locked), Survival(Tier 5), Forging(Tier 3), Planting (Tier 2), Cooking (Tier 4), Fishing (Tier 2), Seven Strike (Tier 1)…”

Skill Slots:

Head: [Origin Flame(Tier 2)], [Map (Tier 1)],[Mana Seed (Tier 2)], [Empty]

Body: [Dwarven King Bloodline (Tier 1)], Rat King Bloodline(Tier 1)], [Strengthening (Tier 2)], [Berserker's Fury (Tier 1)], [Empty]

Legs: [Explorer (Tier 1)], [Forest Feet (Tier 1)], [Empty]

Available skills: 

Head: Abyss Water, Quick thinking, Energy Control, Leadership, Increased Senses, ...

Body: Stone Skin, Iron Fingers, Flame Body, Shadow Body, Hardening, Bladed Body, ...

Legs: Air plates, Weight Control, Flexibility, Quick Burst, Heroic Leap, Earthquake,... 

Some things had changed since the last time he checked it. Despite not putting any experience points to upgrade his skills; Origin Flames, Mana Seed, and Strengthening had gone up a tier. And that wasn’t all, he already knew he had the Dwarven and Rat king bloodline but he didn’t know that he had gained a locked skill Berserker’s fury. 

He thought momentary on the skill and could feel some pull in part of the brain that desired to be unleashed and cause bloodshed. He decided not to act on it or test it out for fear of being put in bed once again. He really wanted to actually train and not be nagged on by Uria about the news she learned in the forum chats.

Although the stuff she brought him was incredibly useful to know such as the waterways being poisoned, the most dangerous animals so far spot and other civilization events. Just that information alone was the tip of the iceberg.

When he heard that the waterways were poisoned for many races he was glad he didn’t just decant the water. Thanks to another dwarven civilization that had a dwarf use item identify on the water for curiosity sake they found trace amounts of angels release. 

Buying a report on the item they found out that if a little was taken into the body it was no problem. But if someone drank from the water for a half a month straight they will show signs of insanity. If they keep drinking for another week then they will start to lose themselves. And after a month they become deranged animals that foamed from the mouth and became cannibalistic in nature and lost forevermore. 

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. If I hadn’t listened to my ridiculous fear of decanted water we could have been wiped out long ago. Blah enough of that bad mood time to train. 

In the training room once again Urist went over to the left side where there was a temporary armory where items were stored. He grabbed a training spear made out of heavy wood and took a quick look at the items Vaikus had brought in a few days ago.

Thanks to Uri for identifying the items we figured out that the items Bronze Gauntlets increased strength, the blue colored tunic increased Defense and feathered leather boots Increase Speed. Two of the items with the exception the boots and knife gave a small boost to the user. Uri said the boots had (S+) and the knife Strength (S+) and Speed (S+).

When they found out these were magic items they talked for a bit how to best use these items and decided on letting the rune smiths study the engravings or give them out as rewards. For they were out here on display to put forth the idea as an incentive to train hard and gain accomplishments. 

Walking to the center of the room Urist cleared the thoughts from his mind and started pondering the First strike of the Seven. Although he had been lucky in using it in that life and death battle against the rat king he felt that he hadn’t fully mastered it. 

A lucky fluke that saved us. I need to turn this fluke into consistency. Then I’ll have the power to protect everyone.

Inhaling Urist proceeded to take the stance that the secret spearman Mo had taught him.

 

Part 2 -Understanding Limits

 

Shift the foot back, grasp the spear firmly, bring it back to strike. When ready exhale and twist the legs, hips, arms and finally hands.

Then let it soar.

Wind and Flame twirled around the shaft of the spear before piercing forth cutting through the air. Although it seemed like a good strike Urist frowned as he brought back Greedy Serpent to his side and started thinking. 

I’ve grown stronger but the strike isn’t the same I used when I killed the rat king. Kept practicing to reach that level once again, well it’s a good time to finally test this bodies strength. Let’s see how much stronger I have become with some exercise.

Limbering up first he noticed that shockingly his flexibility had increased before it was a chore to try and touch his toes that now it was easy. He tried doing splits and found that that as well had increased considerably allowing him to perfect splits without any strain. It weirded him out in the ways he could stretch his body but felt glad that learning the seven strikes will be easier from now on. 

He moved onto push-ups doing one hundred and not feeling tired. He moved onto three-finger push-ups then two fingers and finally thump push-ups all done with ease. Feeling adventurous he decided to do one-handed thumb push-ups and although it was a bit hard he could manage it with great balance.

If my balance is so great then can I handstands? 

After a few failed attempts Urist managed to pull the maneuver off and began walking with his hands. It took him only a few minutes before he had become skilled in moving around the training room. He then began doing Handstand push-ups removing a finger every set of fifty leaving him with only with a thump and finger before the strain was too much to continue. 

Working up a light sweat he took a swig of water and moved to one side of the training room and moved to the other side as fast as he could. Digging his foot into the ground he became amazed that he could move twice as fast as his previous speed.

He already tested his eyesight and found that he could see within 100 feet in great detail, could also see fifty feet in the dark with perfect clarity. The last thing he needed to test was his strength which he had been quite eager to test since he woke up. He walked over to the corner where different sized rocks were located. He started easy with a fifty-pound rock and worked his weigh up to five hundred pounds before he felt some strain.

After he did these tests he felt pretty good that if he had to fight the rat king once more he wouldn’t be that disadvantaged in his current state. If he entered Berserker's Fury he had a feeling that he could overpower him and probably kill him one on one eight out of ten times. If he entered two-fold berserk it wouldn’t be a challenge.

If I had this power at that time then Uria wouldn’t be blind now. No, I can’t keep going like this. I can’t let the past drag me down, I must move on and deal with the consequences to the things I let happen and become stronger and make this never happens again. 

Affirming his belief Urist took his stance once again with his spear and began practicing once more.

---

“Hey, musclehead what is this report saying that the scout team has found a land bridge up north to cross the river? If so this will change our plans of expanding to the south.” 

Snorting Unicy sat in her chair and took a drink of tea before replying, “Stop calling me a musclehead you failed general. Blink personally reported to me this morning about them finding the bridge. Man, that Valkus guy is crazy I feel bad for those hunters under him, making them spend these past few nights outside in the wild. 

“But yes he said it’s more of a small mountain then a bridge easily able to transport back and forth. It’s also reported by Valkus went into the river and swam up into the hill and found a large lake. Both entrances are able to support ships to pass through if be built them. Honestly by the description with some work it can be considered a natural fortress to connect to the west and a shipyard to easily hold one hundred small or fifty medium ships. Although I wish we could see it with our own eyes before making such a judgement. ”

Pushing up his glasses Ubel looked over the mab on the table that had been expanded greatly in the northern area. Thanks to Reaver’s pets the hunting team made great progress in scouting the area yesterday. 

He didn’t have a big problem with the exception of the area that covered the river as it changed the plan they were going to put into action. Originally to obtain salt and seafood as they found out thanks to the report Urist bought that salt could neutralize the waterway poison. Also finding that natural non-transported sentient creatures and plants broke down the poison making it harmless. With a few exceptions such as cactuses which were known to increase the poisons concentration. 

It weirded out Ubel why there was such a strange poison in the fresh waterways but rolled with it. He and Urist talked about and decided when they had enough power they would investigate where this poison came from.

But that was a long time away and it was more important to focus on expansion. With such expansive fields to the west to tap in and were much closer it would be a better choice then going an unknown distance south.

“I was just making sure the map was correct. With this information, we’ll probably be going to have to change the plan. I’ll go talk with Urist and set up a meeting to figure out which will be better.”

“Mn. Then I’ll go back to training the troops with Volt and ready ourselves against the beast invasion hitting us tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be heading out first Musclehead.”

“I told you not to call me that shitty four-eyes!”

 

Part 3: I’ll wait

 

“And that is my report Urist, I think it’s our best interest to hold a meeting later tonight.”

Wiping the sweat off his brow with a towel Urist replied, “Agreed. Let's do it as the sun is about to go down. Is that all?”

“Yes, I’ll excuse myself and deal with other matters now.”

“Don’t work yourself to death now. Remember to relax once in awhile Ubel.”

Ubel snorted and began walking away, “If you're not working on improving yourself you're wasting your time.”

When Ubel was out of hearing Urist shook his head and gave a mumble, “Never gonna find a girlfriend with that attitude.”

Putting Greedy Spear on the rack Urist decided to take a quick shower to wash off all the grime. Heading into the shower room Urist took off his clothes and got out the ash soap laced with woozoo flowers and pulled the rope and let cold water wash over him. 

He could have activated his flames to get it at a good temperature but felt that cold water was the best. A scrub here and there and after a while he was cleaned, washed and refreshed. After getting dressed he headed to his and Uria’s room and saw her sitting their cross legged no doubt looking at screens in her head.

Hearing the bamboo door open Uria sniffed the air and frowned, “Why didn’t you come get me and we could’ve taken a shower together. You know I need help getting around remember?”

Pointing at the cloth covering her eyes Urist could only awkwardly cough, “It slipped my mind, come on I’ll carry you to the shower.”

“Sure although it’s not what I hand in mind it’ll have to do.” Holding out her hands Urist rolled his eyes and picked her up in a princess carry. Some dwarfs on their break saw Urist carry Uria into the shower and started whispering to one another.

“Is he going out with that blind chick?”

“Sshhh, don’t you dare look down on her newbie. If she didn’t sacrifice herself then would’ve been wiped out. She might be mean, a bully, and pretty much a bitch. But you better not say anything bad about her or scorn her or us bothers will beat you.”

“Didn’t you just say something way worse?”

Urist frowned at words and had half a mind to thrash those talking behind his back only for Uria to pull on his arm. Turning his head in her direction he saw her shaking her head with a bitter smile, “Just let them be I don’t care what they think only what you do.”

With an aching heart, Urist led her into the shower and let her stand on her own two feet. “I’ll be right outside when you're done or need anything. The change of clothes are right here and this leaver let the water fall. The soap is stored here in this covered and…”

Using gentle hands, Urist helped Uria get familiar to the shower before undoing the cloth around her eyes. He took a long stare to see the rip across her face scared and two glass blue eyes that seemed dull and lifeless. 

Each eye cost five hundred points but Urist didn’t care about the cost and spent them willingly although they were not real at least they kept infection out. It was only that Uria liked the cloth covering her eyes better then these objects.

He just stood there and took a long look at Uria not sure what to do. 

“You just gonna stare or join me dummy?”

Shaking himself from his thoughts Urist turned around and closed the bamboo door. “I’ll be waiting outside if you need anything Uria.”

As Urist leaned against the door Uria reached out and touched the door with her hand. “Ya… I’ll be right out...”

Sliding down the door Urist stared at the ceiling and let his mind wander as the wall slashed behind him. Thinking about his memories and wonder what he would get from the armament stone when he updated his knowledge. His name, the name of family and friends? Maybe it’ll be about the man on the wall? Or maybe just maybe he'll see the girl that he saw as Uria was struck down? 

Would I still be myself? No. It doesn’t matter I must keep moving forward for Uria for everyone as they depend on me to lead the way forth for a better tomorrow. No matter to my cost I must not let the past repeat itself.

Wait. What about the past? What happened to the past? Why can’t I just remember it all?

---

Finished using the shower Uria and Urist headed back to there room in silence. The two didn’t know what to say to one another as the awkward air-filled between him, a distance that seemed to stretch like an endless chasm. 

Entering the room Urist gently placed Uria on the bed a started to pull up before Uria grabbed his shirt and pulled on him making him fall on her.

“Stay with me for a little while dummy.”

Before he could answer she had wrapped her arms around him and hugged tightly to his chest. Urist tried to get out of her grip but was afraid of his newfound strength hurting her. So he quickly gave up and wrapped his arms around her and rolled so that she would be top of him.

“Ten minutes then I have to go Uria.”

Burying her face in his chest Uria replied softly. “That’ll be enough for me for now. I keep waiting until your ready.”

Running his hand through her silky scarlet hair Urist sighed. “Sorry that I’m selfish. Until I heal your sight I just can’t get rid of this guilt.”

“It’s fine. After all, I’ve waited for such a very long time what's a few more years?”

Bewildered Urist asked, “A long time? But we’ve only known each other for a few weeks? What are you saying.”

“I don’t know why but I just know it. Even if I lost my memories, my soul, my heart knows. And as long as we are together it’s enough.”

“Uria…”

 

Part 4 - Genetic Experimentation

 

Getting out of Uria’s embrace Urist headed out of the room and went over to the left-wing of the base. He entered a room where a group of blood mages with notepads writing on expensive animal skins taking notes. What they were taking notes was on a few dozen rats with different mutations and getting an understanding of what mutation affected what.

The one to lead these blood mages was Vlad who currently was doing a check up on the craziest mutation which was a humanoid rat-kin. 

Which besides having a rat ears and a rat tail could pretty much pass as a human. This was his, Vlad’s and his team effort to mutate correctly. They had used five thousand points and turned them into 500 rat evo points. 

It took them fifty evo points and many tinkerings with the mutation-selection to make a stable humanoid. On that point, Urist was surprised how much they could turn and tweak on a single mutation and it was only thanks to the bamboo seeds energy that they could cut the price down so low. When they passed it through the male tested rat took a small mountain of high nutrient food to feed the mutation.

But thanks to the bamboo seeds they had they felt confident that this rat-kin should have the intelligence of teenager. An with a little more love and care it should reach normal adults intelligence with no problem.

Urist chuckled at the thought, that if people from earth learned of this they would condemn him for his inhuman experiments at hyper evolving life. But then thought of the prospects of how safe mutations were when done with great planning along with some good common sense.  

People might have thought it was also wasteful to spend five hundred points to make a humanoid lifeform when he could just summon a dwarf that could have more use. Only he felt it was worth it for a few reasons. 

Number one to get over there hatred of rats and make sure that his race doesn’t become xenophobic to other cultures when they inevitably meet. Number two that there was still a large population of large rats that escaped into the forest. If he could use his Rat king bloodline to control them he could increase the dwarfs' power level by turning them into humanoids or mounts. And his final point was that going over the mutation-selection that the rats could become excellent trackers and combatants. 

Urist walked over towards Vlad after he had finished taking his notes on the rat-kin.

“So how is he?”

“Oh, my king! So glad you could come over. Yes, the rat-kin seems to be in perfect health and is currently sleeping after ingesting all that food. By tomorrow we’ll see how it’s movement and critical thinking is.”

“I see. I couldn’t help notice how cute you made this rat-kin… We need to come up with a name for him as it’s pretty hard to call something and it when it'll have high intelligence.”

“Ah, you can blame it on the blood mage here Dali. I put her in charge of the bodies features in the mutation. She took liberties to give him whiskers, and retract his buck teeth. Also, she made him pretty feminine and gave him gray hair. If he was in our world he would be sold as a top-class slave for ‘entertainment.’ But yes, a name we’ve also been thinking about it and are debating on Gray, Grau, or Eins.”

Urist gave Vlad a look, “You know we didn’t evolve them to be slaves but beings with equal status to us. I want to crush any ideas about xenophobia and that anyone can be useful given a chance. When we run into other races this will temper us on our ways in how to be diplomatic.”   

Scratching his chin Vlad awkwardly replied. “I misspoke Boss. Slavery was very common in the world I lived so it was just natural for me to draw similarities.”  

“Mn. As long as you understand it’s fine. Now I’m not saying I’ll outright forbid slavery right this moment as we still need to think about the rules of our society. Just that this rat-kin are to be considered citizens of our civilization. As for his name I quite like Eins so I’ll put my vote forth on that. Well, I’ll come by tomorrow and check on your progress before we fight against the beasts. 

“Where are you going boss?”

“I’ll be upgrading my skills now since I’ve upgraded the civilizations and armament stones. When you guys have a chance you should upgrade as well if you have the experience.” 

“Understood boss. When we are finished here we’ll do that in turns.”

Giving one last wave Urist headed to the civilization room and put on a thoughtful look as he looked at the armament stone.

I didn’t touch the stone when I upgraded the stone for fear of losing myself in my memories when my knowledge unlocked to tier two. But I can’t hold it off anymore I have to get stronger to fight against this beast wave. I’ve also chosen the skills I want to slot thanks to the class book Valkus got us. Enough hesitation it’s time to move forth! 

Reaching out with his left hand Urist touched the crystal and watched as the bloody sharp stone grew in brightness. It didn’t take long for a sharp pain to ring inside his head causing him to grunt in pain as he wished not to yell. 

But as the images came floating along the static and clouds Urist felt the pain compound onto itself to the point he couldn’t help by scream at the top of his lungs in pain. In the last moments, clarity Urist saw people running towards him before the world faded into black.

Countdown

Time: 18 hours 15 minutes until Beast Swarm Event

Points Gained: 7478