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?"

tilted his head in

anything notable

Belgig to raise his

not aware of what happened in

"Northern area?"

brows knit. After a while, he shook

"No, I apologize."

"Is that so?"

frowned and looked towards the corner

for

there. Show Douglas the video of

"Yes."

the middle of the table and a holographic projection soon appeared in front of

the device, a video soon began

"Here you go, sir."

"Thank you."

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

him, the other people also curiously watched the video that was

Furthermore.

Belgig amusingly looked at

to see

"Huh?"

at the towers beautifully defended the place with the massive spell, to

by the end

"Not bad."

they aren't bad at all. They

quite the

eyes, it

the youths, the only one who wasn't was Douglas, who looked

have I seen him

***

"We're here."

orc from before down the stairs of

the third level, and connects with each of the towers

orc; named Ghorloz, he started explaining to me the

his

the orc knew the

weapons to break during wars...krr...Especially since we're facing a lot of opponents...krrr...The Utility center is an area created with the purpose of providing a place for us soldiers

sounds that came from his nose

can also get a replacement

the prospect of buying a new weapon rather than having it

Ghorloz nodded his head.

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

"Achievement points?"

payment system

—Clank!

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

"Ugh."

the only one not used to the smell as Ghorloz continued to leisurely

points are used to reward those that contributed a lot during the war....krrr...Also

to him,

I check

Ghorloz halted his steps.

at me,

want to check your

"Yeah."

I nodded.

it's like he said, I should have some points,

know the exact number of demons I had killed, I definitely should've killed

"Follow me."

step he too was about two or three of fine, making it hard for me to keep up.

we soon stopped in front of a large board. From where I was, I could

was hard to see the full names of the people as

aside and let other people

not for Ghorloz paving a path for me with his big body, I would've had a difficult time checking

vision, and I was able to

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

hand on my shoulder, Ghorloz

at the board to see whether my name

do they know how achievement points we

than you think...krr...Something as simple as

answered without taking his eyes off

trying to see if his name was

"I see..."

I silently muttered.

made sense. No, rather, my question was

see your

"Give me a second."

the board. It didn't take me long to find my name, as

- 209 17

209, that's

to be ranked so highly if I had to be