The Author's POV

"That is all…"

Inside a spacious white hall, a dwarf put a small file on top of a desk and stepped back.

"Looks like the situation is still stable."

There were multiple people inside the hall; sitting on a large oval wooden desk. One of them grabbed the papers and read through them; he was a bald old dwarf. He wore circular black-framed glasses and had thick black brows.

"We've only suffered minor casualties so far, an' tha city hasn't been breached."

"…at least for now."

Someone else added.

With long hair cascading down his back and pointy ears, the man was an elf. His hair was primarily of golden color, however, if one looked closely, they'd noticed a few silver strands in his hair.

A regal aura exuded from his body.

Opening his mouth, his melodious voice rang throughout the whole room.

"Although the situation looks stable for now, we never know what might happen in the future. It's best if we don't get overconfident with the result of the first wave."

"I agree with Nasir."

A deep and powerful voice sounded, and the table slightly shook.

The voice belonged to an orc whose physique was at least double that of any of the individuals present inside the hall.

His terrifying eyes could make any regular person faint in fear.

"We should not be arrogant with our results."

Putting the papers down, the bald dwarf from before opened his mouth.

"Yroh, Nasir, although I understand what yer trying ta say, dinna be so pessimistic, we still haven't activated tha city's main defensive system yet."

A proud smirk appeared on the dwarf's lips as soon as he mentioned the city's defensive system.

And rightfully so.

Everyone in the room knew just how powerful the dwarves' defensive system was. That was because the dwarves never shied away from showing it off to the others.

Although they didn't know the full extent of its capabilities, from what they saw, it was no joke.

If not for the fact that it consumed a lot of energy, the dwarves would've already used it by now.

"Once tha system be up, we won't have ta worry aboot those demons for a while."

"…but don't you think that the demon's movements are a bit suspicious, Belgig?"

This time another person spoke up.

He appeared to be an old man well into his eighties. His long white hair gently cascaded down his back, and his long white beard reached down towards his chest. The only unordinary thing about him was probably his temperament. He wore a kind and warm smile on his face, making him look friendly to those around him.

He was Douglas, the headmaster of the Lock.

"They indeed be, Douglas, me best guess be that they're trying ta infiltrate tha defensive system an' shut it down."

"...That would be pretty problematic."

The bald dwarf's response caused Douglas to frown.

Belgig, which was the name of the bald dwarf, quickly reassured.

"Don't worry; we've already taken countermeasures for this."

"You have?"

"Yes, but I'll have ta apologise in advance for nae telling ye anymore than this."

Raising his brow slightly, a look of understanding appeared on Douglas's face.

"Understandable."

Smiling kindly, he stopped asking questions.

He understood what Belgig was trying to imply.

'No one could be trusted.'

For there could be someone present in the room that was secretly working with the demons. It was best to have the least amount of people know about the ins and outs of the defensive system.

Tap.Tap.Tap.

Tapping on the table, Belgig suddenly recalled something. A sly smile appeared on his face as he looked at Douglas.

"On another note, now that I'm talking ta ye Douglas, I want ta thank ye."

"Thank me?"

his head

didn't remember doing anything notable enough to

Belgig to raise his

of what happened in the

"Northern area?"

After a while,

"No, I apologize."

"Is that so?"

and looked towards the corner of

for

Show Douglas the video of the northern

"Yes."

the dwarf placed it in the middle of the

a video soon began to

"Here you go, sir."

"Thank you."

had already seen this before, he couldn't help but want to watch it again. It was

also curiously watched

Furthermore.

his head, Belgig

to see his

"Huh?"

witnessed the outstanding scene that happened in the northern tower. From how those at the towers beautifully defended the place with the massive spell, to Ren, Ava and the other's defending the western

total of ten minutes, and by the end

"Not bad."

aren't bad at all. They also look

quite the talented

wasn't anything in their eyes, it was still

lightly praising the youths, the only one who wasn't was Douglas, who looked intently at a

have I seen

***

"We're here."

before down the stairs of

located at the bottom of the city, towards the third level, and connects with each of the towers on

he started explaining to me

time he spoke, his deep voice shook my

orc knew the human language, I would've had trouble understanding

during wars...krr...Especially since we're facing a lot of opponents...krrr...The Utility center is an

sounds that came from his nose whenever he took

can also get a replacement

the prospect of buying

Ghorloz nodded his head.

new one made, or replaced...krrr...You must use

"Achievement points?"

payment system

—Clank!

bottom of the tower, Ghorloz opened a large metallic door. As soon as he opened the door, a wave of hot hair brushed past my skin. A

"Ugh."

like I was the only one not used to the

more demons killed, the more achievement points awarded...krrr...Achievement points are used to reward those that contributed a lot during the war....krrr...Also

to

do I check my achievement

Ghorloz halted his steps.

looking at me, he

want to check

"Yeah."

I nodded.

said, I should have some

demons I had killed,

"Follow me."

was about two or three of fine, making it hard for me

large board. From where I was,

formed around the board, it was hard to see the full names of the people

aside and let other people

paving a path for me with his big

in my vision, and I was

here ranks individuals by achievement points...krrr...It

shoulder,

board to see whether my name was on

how achievement

simple as

answered without taking his eyes off of the

see

"I see..."

I silently muttered.

said made sense. No,

you see

"Give me a second."

take me long to find my name, as it was quite

Rank - 209 17

209, that's

ranked so highly if I had