Serum

It was at times like these that he realized how small she really was. 

Waking up in the morning, Dirk took a glance at Pandora’s figure. 

She was easily a head shorter than him, and her body that curled up beside him contrasted greatly with her lofty figure that she showed everyone else. 

Of course, he didn’t pity her in the slightest thinking she lived a stressful life. Instead, he found himself thinking of Ava, and despite their vast differences, he couldn’t help but sense a faint similarity between the two girls. 

Suddenly, Pandora shifted, her limbs spreading out as she stretched. She was waking. 

Her hand reached out, somehow finding his face and pushing against it. Her leg also wriggled its way around with a faint sense of purpose. 

Pandora’s eyes squinted as she looked at Dirk beside her, going from pushing his face away to spreading her fingers and running it through his hair. 

Then, she grabbed it and pulled herself over, placing her lips against his neck. 

She bit down with her fangs, drawing blood and taking a long sip. 

This lasted several seconds, her body shifting atop his as she did so. 

And when she was finally done, she pulled away with a satisfied smile. 

This was a fairly new morning ritual. Pandora really hated mornings, but she found out that if she got a bit of Dirk’s blood while waking up, all her grogginess would fade away. 

Of course, she also loved to get handsy. After getting her dose of vitality, Pandora laid on Dirk’s chest, her knee snaking around under the sheets. 

Sensing her search for his forbidden region, Dirk frowned. Then, his hands shot out. 

Pandora expected him to push her off, but instead, she found his fingers grabbing her sides and poking into her ribs. 

“AH! No! Hahaha, not fair!”

She jolted violently as he tickled her sides ruthlessly, squirming around but unable to escape his grasp. 

It was only when she threw her body off of him that he let go. Taking a second to catch her breath, she looked over as he sat up with a small smile. 

She didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help but realize that he was suddenly treating her a lot differently. They almost never played around like that before. He was always so serious, and any joking came from her end.

She thought inwardly.

‘Guess he was serious about trusting me. I’m glad…’

She smiled, feeling a sense of relief. 

After that, the two went through their morning rituals before grabbing some breakfast from the food storage ring. 

After they were done eating, they left their room and grabbed Exos. 

It was time to report. 

……

Within the stronghold there was one primary fort that acted as the central headquarters for all the dwarven soldiers to coordinate from. 

It was also the busiest place in the entire stronghold. Hundreds of dwarves ran to and from the fort, going to complete whatever assignments they were given. 

And Dirk noticed one small detail about many of the soldiers. 

They were young. Not many of them looked to be aged in any fashion, despite their generally hairy disposition. And since this also meant they weren’t incredibly strong. They were shorter in height and their skin was paler unlike the darkened grey of strong dwarves. When one thought of dwarves, they usually conjured an image of the young ones in their mind, small but stocky men. 

Perhaps the war killed many, or perhaps the Haven had a frequent cycling system for their soldiers, but this amount of young soldiers wasn’t exactly normal. Plus, most of them were mages. 

Dwarves specialized in body refining because it capitalized on their inherent strength. Magic was usually secondary, only being learned for crafting. 

But the nature of this stronghold and the monster tides didn’t allow conventional tactics. And on top of that, Dirk remembered that in recent times there was a sudden surge in people who could wield mana, resulting in an influx of mages for all empires. 

He had these thoughts while bypassing several crowds and some marching soldier formations. 

They were being led by General Umangot personally, and naturally, everyone knew who that was, so they earned plenty of attention. 

It was at the gate of the fort that they stopped, greeting one particular dwarf who seemed to be waiting for them. 

He saluted with utmost respect, his stature large and skin dark as metal, signifying his strength alongside his nice robes with a high class emblem on it.

“General Umangot! It’s an honor!”

“Marshal Tanner.”

The General nodded at his salute before motioning to the trio behind him. It seemed the other empires had ranking systems similar to Horizon.

“These are the ones I told you about. Go ahead and bring them into your unit and give them a taste of the combat here. They’re voluntarily offering their strength.”

“I understand. They will be taken care of.”

“Then I leave them to you. Princess, if you don’t mind my escort.”

The General handed off Dirk and Exos, and since Pandora didn’t intend to go with them, she planned on staying back and speaking with Umangot. 

Before she left though, she turned to Dirk and reached out, her fingers straightening the collar of his shirt. 

She smiled.

“Have fun out there.”

“Always.”

He smiled back as she turned and left with the general, the duo attracting no small number of eyes. 

“Follow me.”

The Marshal then waved them in, treating them with respect since they had been personally escorted by the General. Not just anybody could get such treatment. 

But the Marshal had already gotten an idea of just who exactly he was dealing with when he saw Dirk. 

So much as looking at him gave him a tingly sensation, making him feel as if he couldn’t be safe before him. Granted, the power behind that feeling wasn’t great, but the fact that this young human boy could threaten a Marshal like him anyway was baffling at best. 

He didn’t need to make enemies, so he did as was requested of him and brought these volunteers into the fort. 

It wasn’t long before they arrived at what looked like a massive garage. The inside of the building was loaded with dozens of corpses, all of which were large and valuable, along with dwawrves who tore them apart for their material value. 

“This is where the Reclamation squads bring their kills for processing. Our job is to kill high value targets or reclaim the corpses of ones already dead. This means we must venture out into the battlefield, and this easily makes it the most dangerous job in this stronghold. As a team we look out for each other, but your life is still yours to protect. Don’t be stupid and stain my hands with your blood.”

The Marshal spoke seriously, and none of what he said was incorrect. 

However, Dirk didn’t respond. He just continued walking, his blindfolded eyes not giving away any hint of seriousness or nervousness. If anything, the Marshal could only sense a bit of amusement. 

On the other hand, despite his besst efforts, Exos couldn’t help but give off a hint of anxiousness. His face was stoic, as always, but his fingers still twitched occasionally, the kind of reaction the Marshal had expected. 

Without much more introduction, he led them into a barracks. There, the normal bustle of the fort had decreased. What took its place was a large team of dwarves who walked around as if they owned the place. 

Dirk’s first impression labeled them as adrenaline junkies. And perhaps that wasn’t too surprising considering the job. You had to be a bit crazy to willingly throw yourself into the hellish no man’s land beyond the solid walls of the stronghold. 

While none of the ones he saw were doing anything extreme or outlandish, their demeanor hinted toward that disposition. Dirk could see it in the way they carried themselves with no inhibitions and a certain level of relentless boredom. 

The Marshal gave a succinct introduction that none of the others cared about. After that, he told everyone to prepare for the day. 

Their standard routine involved spearheading reclamation efforts, allowing wagons and personnel to recover corpses and materials. They would head to the sites of major bombardment zones that the mages had cleared out beforehand and do their work there. By now, the first bombardment was ending, so they would head out soon. 

Dirk was already prepared to fight, as was Exos. So they just had to wait. Everyone else in the  barracks threw on their gear with practiced routines and started assembling. 

There were several other teams as well, many of differing levels. But it seemed that Dirk and Exos would be working in the Marshal’s team, probably in an effort to ensure their lives. He undoubtedly didn’t want to risk them dying under his watch out of fear for the repercussions. He probably didn’t want them there at all.

After some time, the teams all assembled. Dirk and Exos stood within the Marshal’s group which consisted of only 4 people. They were the elites who were responsible for watching over the entire operation as they went out there. 

“Move to staging!”

A shout was heard, and all the teams were moved through the fort and out to the stronghold’s roof. 

They arrived among pillboxes and fortifications. In front of them was the sloped wall that was covered in countless metal spikes, along with corpses impaled across them. 

Now, Dirk was able to get a front row view of the battlefield. 

The monsters were led by generals, so the tens of thousands of monsters didn’t wildly attack the wall. Instead, huge armies of them constantly moved, creating various currents like an ocean that churned in the distance. 

The movements created a faint rumble that constantly droned throughout the landscape, something Dirk had noticed a while ago. Only now, it was far more prominent. 

Dirk could see the monster waves in the distance, and in one area, there was a huge pile of corpses and fire along with the wild fluctuations of elemental mana. It was located between the stronghold and the currents of monsters. 

A recently bombarded zone, and the target of their mission. 

“Reclaimers ready!”

A man yelled, and all the nearby dwarves primed themselves. Several wagons also began rolling out. 

At the same time, several rows of spikes suddenly retracted, making the slope flat and easy to run down. 

Finally, the voice gave the order. 

“Commence!”

“Haa!”

There were several shouts as a few dozen men shot out of the stronghold, stepping into no man’s land and charging. 

Craters and ridges plagued the landscape, but it was nothing that could hinder the agility of those present. 

Dirk and Exos charged along behind the Marshal and his team. Dirk kept up easily, and Exos seemed to be able to as well. 

But his running was peculiar. Dirk knew that one of his legs was a magical prosthetic, and it seemed that leg was much stronger than the other because it launched him forward with every step. His other leg merely steadied him. 

So he was slower, but not by too much. They weren’t running at full speed anyway, only keeping ahead of the wagons. 

It took only a few minutes to arrive at the site, and Dirk subsequently got a whiff of all the blood and smoke from the bombardment. 

There were also massive piles of corpses, most of them blown to bits. There had to be at least a thousand in the immediate area. 

However, there were also some scavengers. Several dozen monsters were found snacking on all the corpses. After all, it was easy food that they didn’t have to fight over. 

These were the ones they needed to dispose of, as well as protect the wagons from any other stragglers. 

“Take care of them!”

“I count 23 Rank 5’s!”

“7 Rank 6’s!”

“A few casters in the back!”

The soldiers all started evaluating their enemies in what seemed like standard procedure. 

And then, without much suspense, teams went and started hunting. 

They all hunted in groups, keeping safe while disposing of the monsters as fast as possible. After all, getting caught by yourself in an unpredictable battlefield was a recipe for disaster. 

As for the Marshal, his team went on to hunt without so much as a word. 

After surveying the place, he turned around to Dirk and Exos. 

“Alright, I’ll have you guys join the teams to hunt…”

He spoke while glancing at Exos behind him, but when he looked around more, he couldn’t find Dirk. 

He frowned. 

“Where is your friend?”

“I’m not sure. He disappeared at some point…”

Exos looked around with similar confusion. He barely even realized Dirk was gone at all

Meanwhile, the man himself had taken his own path to hunting. 

And unbeknownst to him, a General was watching him from atop the stronghold’s tower, his eyes gleaming with great interest.