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 in

notable enough to warrant

caused Belgig to raise

of what happened in

"Northern area?"

a while, he shook his

"No, I apologize."

"Is that so?"

the corner of the room where

beckoned for him to come

you there. Show Douglas the video of

"Yes."

of the table

device, a video soon

"Here you go, sir."

"Thank you."

the dwarf, Belgig began to look at the video. Although he had already seen this before, he couldn't help but want to watch it

curiously watched the video that

Furthermore.

his head, Belgig

to

"Huh?"

From how those at the towers beautifully defended the place with the massive spell, to Ren, Ava and the other's defending the western area of the

video lasted a total of ten minutes, and by the end of it, some

"Not bad."

at all. They also

quite

their eyes, it

moment, whilst everyone was lightly praising the youths, the only one who wasn't was Douglas, who looked intently at a certain youth on the

have I

***

"We're here."

before down the stairs of the

at the bottom of the city, towards the third level, and

followed the orc; named Ghorloz, he started explaining to me the ins and outs of the

time he spoke, his deep voice shook

not for the fact that the orc knew the human language, I

facing a lot of opponents...krrr...The Utility center is an area created with the purpose of providing a place for

only trouble was the slight nasal sounds that came from his nose whenever he took

get a replacement

asked, genuinely curious about the prospect of buying a new weapon rather than having

Ghorloz nodded his head.

can have a new one made, or replaced...krrr...You must use achievements points to pay for anything

"Achievement points?"

system

—Clank!

door, a wave of hot hair brushed past my skin. A strange pungent smell also lingered in the air, prompting

"Ugh."

I was the only one not used to the smell

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

up to him, I

I check my achievement

Ghorloz halted his steps.

looking at me,

want to check your achievement

"Yeah."

I nodded.

I should

I had killed, I definitely should've killed enough to get a decent number

"Follow me."

steps, I followed Ghorloz from behind. Because he was at least twice my size, each step he too was about two or three of fine, making it hard for me to keep up. But this

front of a large board. From where I was, I

because a large crowd formed around the board, it was hard to see

and let other people

Ghorloz paving a path for me with his big

in my vision, and I was

list over here ranks individuals by achievement

my shoulder,

at the board to see whether my name

they know how achievement points we

much more advanced than you think...krr...Something as simple as counting how many people you

taking his eyes off

trying to see if his

"I see..."

I silently muttered.

No,

see your name

"Give me a second."

checked the board. It didn't take me long

Rank - 209 17

209, that's not

be ranked so highly if I had