Merriheim's Left Claw.

Under the pale moonlight, the crashing of waves against the shore punctuated the back and forth pacing of an irritated figure on the hard earth, periodically cursing under his breath. At least a thousand men in black armor stood silently in formation between him and the river, posture so rigid they could easily be mistaken for statues.

The figure's steps paused, flaming red eyes revealing an inpatient spark as they gazed toward the horizon where several silhouettes appeared on an overlooking hill. The sparks cooled somewhat as a sultry figure wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"These fools were hesitating for so long," Larsial commented with a slight smirk, purple eyes drawn to narrow slits as she peered at the approaching army, "but the second the [Pillar of Creation] shows up, they rush forward so gleefully."

Ruse snorted, arms folded. "Hmph, human greed remains the greatest motivator." A slight smile played on his lips as he considered the irony of this situation, "I owe that stupid daeben a debt. Without him, it would have taken longer to unite this forsaken land. After all, we cannot indiscriminately kill anymore."

"The last generation had all the fun," Larsial pouted as she rubbed her cheeks against Ruse's. "Our generation's relying too much on subterfuge and tricks."

Ruse chuckled, his mood clearly lifted. "Funny you would say that. Is it not precisely because of our paradigm shift that you have swiftly climbed the ranks? If I had not become a primate just before the war ended, I would have stalled like all major combat-related professions right now."

"Hehe," Larsial chuckled, though the laughter did not reach her eyes which were peeled at the approaching figures which had become much clearer. Sheri Orthana led the nearly three-four-thousand strong army, a provoking glint in her gaze. Unfortunately, her army heavily paled in comparison to the thousand-strong army behind Ruse, resembling more a band of mercenaries than the well-drilled, machine-like structure of the men behind the Primate.

Ruse did not pay any attention to the approaching halben, her desire to show off her prowess an utterly repulsive sight for someone with true power like himself. "Speaking of subterfuge, what have you gathered on the daeben?" Ruse's demanding tone displayed his complete belief in her abilities.

Larsial, who recognized this, grinned as she released her hold around his neck and stood to his side. "My friends witnessed the birth of the weapon. It seemed to be a bow containing tremendous power. Unfortunately, he has not used it in real combat yet, so I cannot guess their properties."

"Any changes to the walls?"

"No changes," Larsial confirmed. "There does not seem to be anything special about them aside from being extremely thick. It would take a lot for a normal army to break through." She cast an admiring gaze at the Primate. "A normal army of course."

"And his companions?" Ruse asked, her face darkening as he remembered the blue haired beauty who pushed his clone to its death.

Larsial's eyes narrowed. "The songstress has been assisting the construction workers with her songs. The blood mage, electric healer, assassin and swordswoman have been clearing out the monsters in the middle ring with help from Asha's army."

"Asha?" Ruse's brow rose slightly. "She is still with them? Don't tell me she is actually joining his side?" He frowned, considering the consequences of such a possibility. "I knew this daeben was strong, but it seems we have to reevaluate him. He seems to possess leadership qualities too. Even more than strong individuals, it is leaders we need to fear the most."

Larsial still had some choice words, but she had to keep them to herself as their guests had finally arrived within hearing distance. Even though there was still over fifty meters between them, Larsial was well aware of the opposite halben's sharp senses.

Sheri Orthana, who had no way of knowing what the previous conversation was about, trembled slightly at Ruse's rage-fueled dark gaze. She could only assume it was as a result of their tardiness. Hence although she did not like it, she had the army stand in place then approached the Primate with five chiefs who lorded over the largest tribes on Merriheim's left claw. Bowing slightly, she greeted, "Sheri Orthana greets the Primate."

Although he was still in a terrible mood, Ruse recognized his need for these riff-raffs. "No need for pleasantries." Eyes narrowed, he continued in a biting tone. "Since you people have finally pulled yourselves together, we will set off immediately. Remember, two weeks from now you will attack the dwarfs from the north with everything you have. My troops will assault from the south. Larsial will dispense the details."

With these words spoken, Ruse flourished his sleeves and walked away from the retinue towards the river without another word. The black armored soldiers moved as one unit, systematically parting to let him pass, then closing up behind him without his stride ever breaking.

Just when Orthana was about to ask where he was going, Larsial smirked and snapped her fingers. Immediately ten massive galleons seemingly appeared out of nowhere, moored gently on the ocean. A number of workers peered down from the sailboats at the army with cold eyes, evidently regarding them with disdain.

The galleon sized Deathsowrn sailboats, which seemed to have been built around the ribcages of massive beasts emitted haunting, intimidating auras which suffocated most of Orthana's army even with the considerable distance. Even worse, the Deathsworn Ruse headed toward was clearly at least twice the size of the others and exuded even worse baleful aura. They could not understand how anyone could continuously live on those boats. If it was not for the promise of riches, many would have already run off.

Orthana struggled but managed to stifle the pressure from the boats. She cast a displeased gaze at Larsial, cursing this crazy bitch. It was obvious they were not warned on purpose!

Larsial smirked, not paying any attention to Orthana's displeased expression. She clapped her hands together and muttered a short incantation. When she opened them a moment later, a small, dark, strange bird nestled on her palm. Its beady gaze examined Orthana, then with a satisfied chirp it hopped onto her shoulder.

"That is my familiar," Larsial lazily explained. "Use it to contact me if you ever need to speak to either his Eminence or myself." She then proceeded to dispense all the intel she had gathered on the dwarfs in the past week. "Whenever you are ready, you can share yourselves among the sail boats. Excluding the sailors, each boat can hold roughly five hundred men. How you share yourselves is none of my business."

Orthana bit her lip as Larsial disappeared in a puff of smoke, the Chaos army boarding the flagship with calm, unhurried but purposeful steps, each stomp on the earth akin to a gong of death. She hated this feeling of weakness and helplessness that was forced upon her whenever she appeared before these people. Just look at how Larsial had openly placed a spy on her shoulder with a smile as if to say, 'I am watching your every move. You know I am, but what can you do about it?'

Orthana knew she was out of her league. There was no way she could beat these people as she was now... but just wait. Her gaze turned vicious as she glared at the sailboats. She had managed to unite the tribes, if only temporarily. However, She was confident she could bend them to her will within a short period. Once she accomplished that... hmph, they would see who the true ruler of Merriheim was.

As for those that daeben, with both her and Ruse attacking, he was already as good as dead. Her gaze cold, she split the army into smaller units among the chiefs and had them board the remaining nine sailboats. This was to ensure minimum loss in case one sailboat fell during the journey. After all, though the rumors praised Deathsworn ship, until she sailed across herself, there was no way to be certain of the chance of error.

Calmly seated upon a magnificent throne on the quarterdeck, Ruse cast his gaze upon the quartermaster and nodded. The quartermaster, in turn, nodded at a dark Merrite garbed in loose fitting garments but exuding an air of confidence. His place by the wheel marked him as the ship's captain.

The captain grabbed the wheel, deep sunken eyes looking beyond the horizon to their eventual destination. "Alright gents, we're running da beast's belly once again. We got royalty on board so I wanna see ya very best. We good? Great, now weigh anchor. Lower the sails. We set off."

Accompanied by loud shouts as the quartermaster detailed the commands to the sailors, massive sails the color of night descended from their moorings, the captain guiding the sailboat as the river's tide summoned it deeper into its embrace.

Aboard one of the smaller galleons, Orthana stood at the cathead, gaze locked on the massive flagship ahead. Fingers tracing the contours of a gemstone hidden within her sleeves, the edge of her lip slightly rose with a malevolent glint. Just you wait. I'll take care of both of you during this trip.

****

Aygor's Citadel

Unaware of the approaching danger, Kashi was led through a series of beautifully crafted tunnels by Anton Xafier, the two exchanging small talk as they discussed possible future paths for the dwarfs. It had to be said that Xafier obviously placed an obscene amount of trust in the daeben, taking each and every one of his suggestions to heart. Even if in the end he did not implement some of them, that would only be after seriously weighing pros and cons. For his part, Kashi did not dare raise too many requests or guidelines on how the city should be run in the future. This was because he understood better than most how weak he was in terms of politics and actually governing.

Of course, when it came to a general direction which the city should head towards, he already had multiple ideas which he and Xafier debated as the walked. If it were to be put in real world terms, Kashi was the Steve Jobs to Leila's Wozniak. He outlined the direction they should head toward and fought to create the possibility of success, but the little details would be left to the professionals like Leila to handle.

It was a delicate balance which worked so well because of the two leaders' personalities. Unlike other guilds where one person wished to hoard all the power even if he was not skilled in one department or another, the Hopeful Maggots had no qualms sharing power amongst its members to ensure optimal functionality. Razznik had learned this from Aileera as he watched her guild rise from the bottom even though she started King's Journey at a time when most major guilds were already established.

Kashi shook his head with a wry smile. If the gaming community knew Leila was Aileera, the Hopeful Maggots would only have two immediate outcomes. Experience a massive influx of personnel regardless of requirement stringency, then suffer joint attacks from all nearby guilds who would want to prevent that demoness from acquiring too much power before it was too late.

Kashi pushed these thoughts to the back of his head as they entered the dungeons and approached a cell at the very back. Kashi glanced at the cells they passed which were packed with remnants of the Chaos Brotherhood who had luckily survived the arena massacre. "Have you decided what you want to do with these people?"

"Haven't decided yet," Xafier replied with a hopeless shrug of his shoulder. "Most of them are locals who turned to the church for jobs during these hard times. We are no better so I cannot in good conscience condemn them to death." Xafier chuckled as he embarrassedly scratched his cheek. "Even without that, we dwarfs are not really in the business of killing captives. Which is why we have the current limbo. We cannot release them, but can't kill them either."

"You could always put them to work as a chance to earn back their freedom," Kashi suggested. Regardless of their loyalty or not, the daeben was aware of humanity's desperation for freedom. These prisoners could easily be considered free labor... well, not entirely free. That would be slavery. *Cough* Yes, their salary was their promised freedom. Yeah, this way they could be considered interns right?

"That's actually a great idea," Xafier seconded after a brief hesitation. "Most of these men are only desperate locals with low positions so their sense of loyalty should be next to nothing. Alright, we'll implement your idea with a small number first and see how it goes." At this point, they stopped before a tiny cell where a disheveled figure sat murmuring incoherent nonsense. Xafier's eyes turned colder than the daeben had ever seen as he glared at the figure within the cage. "This policy only applies to outsiders. If you find no use for this man, I will immediately order his execution."

Kashi was intrigued by this Jerxas who could elicit such a strong hatred from the amicable Xafier. The daeben approached the cell and knocked on the bars. Even the daeben who, considering his two other lifetimes had seen a lot, could not help but swallow a cold breath as the disfigured figure shuffled into the light and glared at him.

Jerxas' good eye glared at the daeben with inpatient suspicion. "Who the fuck are you?"

Kashi's gaze remained level, not offended in the slightest by the dwarf's brash tone. "The man who will decide your fate: life or death. You have thirty seconds to prove your worth."

Jerxas' hate filled gaze burned at the daeben, but upon seeing no reaction, he turned to Xafier. "What kind of game are you playing here!? Fuck, if you think I'm going to beg for my life, you two idiots can go blow each other."

Xafier's lips pressed in a cold smile. He really did wish this fool would keep this up. That way he would get to watch his head roll on the floor.

"Twenty seconds," Kashi's even voice sounded out.

Jerxas's eye twitched. "To hell with you!"

"Ten seconds."

"Fuck you!"

"Five—"

"Shit if only I found out how effective Nadir was, I could have completed my magic armor research."

Kashi's eyes shone with an imperceptible glow. "Congrats on choosing the path of life." The daeben inwardly smirked, once again awed by the arrogance of dwarfs. Even a plea for life carried so much arrogance with it.

Jerxas secretly heaved a sigh of relief, but his glare remained strong on the surface. "Hmph. I have given too much to my research to perish here. I don't care who I work for as long as I can continue my research."

"That won't do," Kashi refuted with a shake of his head. "My guild only takes people with complete loyalty."

"Then you might as well kill me," Jerxas huffed as he sat down, a slight trace of weariness flitting through his gaze. "I refuse to lie. If I get a chance to betray you in order to save my life, I would do so without regret or consideration."

Kashi's brow rose in confusion as he turned to Xafier.

"He's a traitorous asshole, murderer, and animal," Xafier explained with a heavy gaze. "But an honest one. He never lies, for better or worse. It is only because of his honesty I decided to give him a chance if he could convince you." A cold glint flashed through his eyes as he glared at the dwarf. "However, it seems that is not to be the case."

Kashi nodded then turned back to Jerxas, a newfound respect in his eyes. "If you could bring an armor to life, it shows you are indeed a grandmaster in rune inscriptions and have a deep understanding of how the soul works. I could use someone like you at my side, but even with all these attributes, I still place loyalty above all." Kashi frowned as if pondering a deep problem. "However since I really want you in my guild, I have to create a situation in which your life is never in danger. I cannot promise that, which Is essentially leaving an exposed dagger which could stab me in the back at any time." Kashi took a deep breath as he contemplated his options. Eventually, he gave in to his impulse with a sigh. "My only other option is to make you swear your loyalty, but I know that will be the hardest thing to do to someone like you. Hence..." Kashi summoned the [Runes of Creation] and flipped through its pages, displaying their contents to the resigned dwarf. "How ab—"

BANG!

Jerxas slammed against the bars, his eyes glued to the swiftly flitting pages. "Serve! I will fucking serve you! Fuck, I will be your fuckboy if you want! Just let me take a glance at those pages!" The dwarf's bloodshot eye and desperate tone resembled a junkie with a shot of cocaine just barely out of his reach.

Satisfied, Kashi revealed a pleased smile as he shut the tome and glanced at the desperate dwarf. "Do you swear loyalty?"

"Loyalty?" Jerxas released an echoing laugh that reverberated around the dungeon. He revealed a terrifying toothy grin as he pledged, "As long as you live, my life and purpose will always belong to... what's your guild's name again?"

Kashi scratched his chin. "Hopeful Maggots..."

"..."

The two men just stared at each other, one hoping it was a joke, and the other wishing it was only a joke.

*****

Two days later, Kira sat on the floor by Kashi's side, as he, Otto Knutsen and Jerxas squabbled over several detailed blueprints, each providing their own viewpoints on areas which could be improved or scrapped. When Jerxas first appeared, there was a huge dust-up as Knutsen and the Hands ganged up on him with the aim of quickly taking his life.

Luckily, Kashi was present and only managed to defuse the situation after taking full responsibility for the most hated dwarf in the vicinity. Apparently, several dwarfs had their souls forcibly extracted by the soul stones Jerxas had been researching without his knowledge. Although he later found out and demanded only outsiders be used, the damage had already been done, and the hatred deep-rooted.

Kashi, upon hearing this realized he would have his work cut out for him in ensuring the dwarf stayed alive. If it wasn't because he needed Jerxas' expertise for several projects the city needed to begin functioning, he would have had him shipped him off to Suvron's gate to begin research on the teleport stones at its basement.

Thankfully, it seemed that having continuous breakthroughs in research was far more pleasing to the craftsman dwarfs than their hatred for Jerxas, allowing them to function optimally at least while in the workshop. Kashi finally understood why dwarves usually surpassed every other race in terms of craftsmanship. It was so deeply engraved in their bones, they would work with even their worst enemies for the sake of breakthroughs. Unlike humans and elves who would fight each other for recognition, power, and praise.

Kashi bid goodbye to the debating dwarfs who barely acknowledged his departure, then headed to the arena with Kira where a certain immortal dwarf was waiting to pound them into pieces for three hours.