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

anything notable enough

reaction caused Belgig to raise

of

"Northern area?"

brows knit. After a while,

"No, I apologize."

"Is that so?"

frowned and looked towards the corner of the room

hand, he beckoned for him

you there. Show Douglas the video

"Yes."

dwarf placed it in the middle of the table and a holographic projection

device, a video soon

"Here you go, sir."

"Thank you."

the video. Although he had already seen this before,

curiously watched the

Furthermore.

his head, Belgig

to see

"Huh?"

at the towers beautifully defended the place

ten minutes, and by the end of it, some couldn't

"Not bad."

bad at all. They also look

are quite the talented

wasn't anything in their eyes, it was still quite an entertaining

one who wasn't was Douglas, who

have I seen him

***

"We're here."

the others, I followed the orc from before down the stairs of the tower. Towards

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

named Ghorloz, he started explaining to me the ins and

his deep voice shook my

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

since we're facing a lot of opponents...krrr...The Utility center is an area created with the purpose

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

can also get a

about the prospect of buying

Ghorloz nodded his head.

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

"Achievement points?"

system used over

—Clank!

Ghorloz opened a large metallic door. As soon as he opened the door, a wave of hot hair brushed past my skin. A strange pungent smell also lingered in the air, prompting my nose

"Ugh."

one not used to the smell as Ghorloz

to reward those that contributed a

to him,

I check

Ghorloz halted his steps.

at me,

check your

"Yeah."

I nodded.

like he said, I

exact number of demons I had killed, I definitely should've killed enough to get a

"Follow me."

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 was

large board. From where I was, I could see a long

formed around the board, it was hard to see the full

and let

with his big body, I would've had a difficult time checking the

my vision, and I was able to

over here ranks individuals by achievement points...krrr...It goes from 1 to

his large hand on my shoulder, Ghorloz squinted his

see whether

do they know how achievement

simple as counting how many people you killed is nothing to

without taking his eyes off of

to see if his name was

"I see..."

I silently muttered.

said made sense. No, rather,

see your name

"Give me a second."

the board. It didn't take me long

- 209 17

209, that's

so highly if I had to be