NOVEL WEB Chapter 255 – Dwarfs
Deep underground, beneath the endless mountain ridges of the Wall of the World, lay a humongous cavern that could house the whole Imperial City of the Empire of Aerthus. The many holes in its walls lead to different paths, sneaking around the endless mountain ranges. They were connected by suspension bridges and metallic, caged elevators and were the only way to move up and down from multiple platforms inside the vast cavern. In the middle, hundreds of man-made platforms were hanging from the ceiling, providing a place for more houses and businesses, all built from metal. The cave's sides were carved out throughout the many centuries, slowly giving way to more houses, villas, workshops, and arenas, standing atop massive pillars, now housing more than two million souls. The people here lived and died underground, never knowing what sunlight was. Far down below them, an underground river is flowing, known as the Shert River on the outside. It travels thousands of kilometers under the mountains from melting snow originating from somewhere far away.
Yet it was not dark as the whole cavern was lit up in a bluish light as unique crystals were fitted onto the bridges' railings, to the sides of the cave's walls, the buildings, or just hung up along the man-made pathways. Every humanoid figure who was walking down here was deathly pale, or their skin was grayish, ashen in color. None of them were taller than 140 centimeters, and the children only reached around 80 or 90 centimeters in height. Their bodies were very similar, thin, and lacking most of the distinct telling points of a girl and a boy, making it hard for the naked eye to differentiate between them. It wasn't helping that their hair was also devoid of most color, looking faded, same as their eyes.
The only different-looking people were those who carried themselves with a more regal aura, while the swarms of little people just got out of their way as fast as possible. This other 'kind' of humans had shaved heads, were a bit taller than the rest, and wore a white, loose robe. Yet their most apparent difference was in the number of appendages they had. Most of them had an extra pair of arms or legs attached to their bodies; some even had their lower torso replaced with a mechanical contraption or half of their skulls were made out of bronze, hiding who knows what underneath it.
In this society of dwarfs, the show of power, influence, and force was one thing: how many mechanical implants you had. Those who belonged to the lowest caste were still somewhat human in appearance, but the higher one climbed the social ladder, the less he or she resembled a human being. In the old times, they were miners digging deep into the Wall of the World, looking for nature's treasures. Some were more special, secret families under the rule of the House of Ein, tasked with private research that later on led to their body modification fetishes and the invention of different machinery. These were things that they wielded to this day, and they continued to explore the earth beneath the surface with their help.
Their society was cruel yet fair. Everyone had a chance to advance. It was encouraged and expected from everybody born here. They hated talentless people and those who feared the unknown the most. Anyone could rise to the top of the hierarchy; they just had to prove themselves. Showcase their talent and make something out of themselves, sometimes quite literally. The highest tier of the reborn 'House of Ein' was none other than those who wielded the title of Researcher. They were the cream of the crop, beings whose inventions advanced not just themselves but the whole colony.
In their eyes, they lost the surface to the demons. The whole world was destroyed, and they were the remaining bastion of humanity, vowing they would one-day rain righteous fire upon the land and conquer the surface, rebuilding it from the ashes. While the masses blindly believed the tales since birth, the head researchers knew better. Yet their motivation was still the same. Kill all the demons and reclaim the old territory of the House of Ein. Their knowledge of the demons' cultivation rarely fell behind. They always captured some and other 'specimens' from the surface, studying them, developing weapons against and out of them, not bothering with such outdated concepts as morality. Whatever killed a demon was commendable. Everything was permitted; the word 'taboo' was stricken from their language long ago.
Inside the main cavern, at the end of one of the bridges, an elevator led up to the ceiling, right into their research center, which was only accessible to the most elite members of their society. Here, one could find the same room where they once watched their experimental armor's field test, amongst many other research facilities and workshops. It spanned multiple floors and huge expanses, all carved into the belly of the endless mountain ranges of the Wall of the World. Now, three dwarven leaders were sitting in the main meeting room, two men and one woman. But it was hard to tell them apart as they all were skinny, bald, and androgynous.
"We received the first batch of resources from those missionaries." The female in the room spoke up, raising one of her four hands and placing a written list before the other two. Her name was Marian, one of the three Sages. It was a title only they held, and in reality, they were the top decision-makers, sitting atop the pyramid of their social hierarchy. Their experience and knowledge spanned not just decades and centuries but even a millennium. As the oldest of the three, Otto was the first to be named Sage. It happened more than 1200 years ago. Since then, only two others had risen to the title, forming their little council and controlling their people's future.
"They were pretty quick!" Otto chuckled, reading through the report, whistling a little, "Not bad!"
"Mmm… we could speed up many of our projects with these at hand!" Luca nodded, the third member of the Sages. "Just don't let the golem-producing wing catch wind of it. They would gobble up the live specimens instantly!" He said jokingly.
"No problem." Marian agreed, "Their previous failure will be a perfect reason to cut back on their share from this. Their intentions are good; they will be effective in the first wave of our attack on the surface, sparing our soldiers' lives! But for delicate operations…."
"We need our own people." Otto agreed with a heavy nod, turning towards Luca. "How's the armory? Are the projects ready?"
"Yes! My team has already completed multiple versions of the power armor you designed to outfit our warriors. We even tested it against some captured specimens! We can start mass-producing them this month. The V1 versions will be ready to deploy soon, and some of my men are already working on a V2 prototype."
"Wonderful!" Otto clapped with four hands. "I also have something to show you!" He rolled out a blueprint before them, showing a detailed drawing of what seemed like a golem the demons fought before, but it was much slicker-looking and modular in design.
"Another golem?" Marian raised her eyebrows, "No, this is not… it misses the slots for a soul-matrix."
"It is similar to the power armors." Luca chimed in too, as the two were excitedly studying it.
"It is a suit, yes. I modified the sarcophagus that the golem division came up with and made it more usable! One of us can sit in it and operate it!"
"Us?" the duo looked at him curiously.
"Of course! This weapon is not something some up-and-coming nobody could put their little claws on! Ahaha~ This is handmade by me~ Still, this suit needs the energy to operate; for that, we can use demonic cores or… to have it at its full potential, we will need our new friends' crystals~" He smiled happily.
"Interesting!" Marian leaned forward, watching the blueprint, while Luca also nodded rapidly.
"We need to factor in that they are demigods." Luca said, "And by their words, they are under the protection of a God."
"Gods! Bah!" Otto rolled his eyes, almost spitting by just saying the word, "What did they do when our homes were destroyed? Our people devoured? When our lineage was broken?! Our ancestors worshiped them! Yet they did nothing! After the surface is retaken by holy fire, we are going to aim our weapons at those so-called… 'Gods'!" He explained with disgust-laced words, "I have enough energy accumulated to operate the suit for one battle. The problem is there are two of them. We need to somehow separate them, and I'll finish off one."
"Easy. We are going to play the 'in awe' little humans who were abandoned by their gods for more than two millennia! Now happy to be reunited!" Mirian flashed a smile, "With Luca, we are going to draw away one and make sure the other remains alone for you to kill him off!"
"If I can get my hands on his core and use it as an energy source, the other is not going to be a problem either; that means we can get two. They had a third waiting up top, so… if everything goes smoothly, all three of the suits are going to be functional by the time we start our holy march!" he said with evident excitement in his voice.
"I am going to be more at ease if we are also present up there!" Luca laughed, "I wouldn't trust the others to have the same competence as us, leading the armies!"
"Exactly!" Marian nodded, "Our new meeting with them is going to take place two days from now! Let us get ready then!"
"I'll go, check on the testing of the V1 power armor! There is still work to be done with it!" Luca stood up, "Call me when we are ready to execute them!" he clapped, bowing a little to them before the trio split up, going to their own research bases.
Leaving the meeting room, Luca took an elevator to a different floor, walking for minutes in a dimly lit maze before arriving at a two meters tall, metallic, thick door with the writing 'Manufactoria' on it. One of his hands stretched out from under his robe, wholly made out of bronze, fitting into a hole in the door until a loud 'click' echoed before him, and the door split open with a rumble, letting him inside. Walking through a clean, white, and well-lit corridor, he hummed a happy tune as he walked forward with light steps. On the sides, dozens of different doors led to many rooms, all labeled with a number, marking various testing and manufacturing facilities. Taking the one with the number seven on the left, he soon stood inside a similarly white hall where dozens of other researchers were working on different parts of the power armor that Otto designed.
"Ah, Sage Luca!" one of his men rushed up to him with tiny, metallic spider legs, loudly tapping on the small, shining floor tiles. He was wearing a long, white robe, and on his bald head, four pairs of eyes were blinking at different intervals, looking at Luca with only one of them. The others were concentrating on different papers that he held in his six other arms, clearly reading and studying those. "Our prime testing specimen discovered another weakness in the V1 armors!" he said hurriedly, presenting the reports to him.
"Great!" Luca looked it through quickly as they walked forward, heading towards the oval pit in the middle of the room. It was a deep hole; its walls were painted with dried blood and marks of vicious battles, where their prime testing tool was pitted against soldiers wearing the suit to fight against her. "Implement the changes onto the V2 prototype! And make sure we do not lose our best tool!" He told him, with a clear and strict order, "She has been our best asset. I want to use her more and not break it before time, got it?"
"Y-yes!" He nodded quickly, scurrying away while Luca looked back at the pit, watching the exhausted, scarred Tylvana, gasping for air, leaning against the wall, and sitting on the ground. She was fighting for her life almost every other day. Her previous battle was once again almost one that took her life. Sensing someone was watching her, she just looked up, seeing the same face she had when she was brought here the first time. It gave her the shivers as not even Harimau looked at her like that. Those eyes were devoid of any emotion and only looked at her like a toy... And she was powerless to resist his will.
As she wanted to say something, her exhaustion overwhelmed her in the end, and she fainted, as her last thought was about the time she ventured into a freshly discovered cave and got captured. She knew immediately that it was probably leading to the dwarfs' territory, but despite trusting her own senses, she was still trapped without knowing how. Coming to her senses in a cell, numbed and weak, she was studied by people who she could only describe as demons; it almost broke her mind. Now she was made to fight their strange warriors, day after day, until she was broken in body. Yet she was not killed, always brought back to life; even her previously disfigured self was healed and repaired to her original form before her armor was melted into her skin. She knew she wouldn't be as lucky as to die and already dreaded the moment she would wake up in a sterile cell. She would be healed and then dragged out to do battle again, slowly reverting her mind to that of a beast. By now, she could not remain in her human appearance and was nothing more than a wild jaguar.
