37 Chapter 37- Flaunting of Power (1/2)

Dubs crossed the river and emerged from the water, completely dry. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration went off in his head.

”Repulsion!”, Dubs shouted.

”Huh? What are you going on about now?”, Alt asked, looking somewhat annoyed.

Dubs began whispering to himself. ”If I can determine the source of the repulsion of energy from my body I can use it to create a rocket-like propulsion... perhaps even an osculating system... the uses are endless!”

Alt looked at Dubs dumbfoundedly. ”Dubs, I have no idea what you're talking about. Didn't you just say we needed to hurry up and make our way north? Lets hurry up... if there are enemies to fight there then I can't contain my excitement...”

Dubs stopped thinking so deeply and snapped back to reality. ”Ah! You're right, Alt. Lets get going.”

Dubs began to conceal his emotions and silenced his movements. The two made their way across the hilly plain.

After crossing a few hills, they came upon a much taller hill and began to climb it.

”I can sense people...”, Alt stated. ”Many dwarves, a number of humans... all of the humans have a small amount of mana- they are most likely knights.”

Dubs halted, and his dagger swung back and forth like a pendulum as a result of the abrupt change in motion.

”How close are we?”, Dubs inquired.

”They should be just beyond the hill... however, they are most likely underground. It might be tough to find the entrance- there may not even be an entrance around here.”

Dubs grinned maliciously. ”Will that be a problem?”

Alt looked at him comically. ”Haha! I suppose for the two of us that won't be a problem. If we can't find an entrance then leave it to me to make one!”

The two hiked across the hill, and to Alt's disappointment, they saw what looked like the entrance to a mine at the bottom of the hill. Minecarts full of minerals and resources were laid on tracks that were connected to the mine that dug into the hill and to another underground entrance in front of the mine.

The underground entrance where the carts were headed was most likely an underground 'highway' to the empire, connecting it to the mine.

Dwarves were pushing the heavy carts, and a few men in armor stood by with wooden bats.

”We need to hurry this up! If we don't get 30 tons of material moved by the end of the day then the landowner will have it in for all of us!”, one of the guards shouted, as he took his bat and swung it at one of the slow working dwarves.

”What happened to that dwarven pride of yours, eh!? I thought you all were the strongest and hardest working race. Can you not handle a little bit of hard labor!?”, the guard taunted.

One of the middle aged dwarves mumbled something under their breath. ”Why don't you take a go at pushing these carts?”

The guard, who was on the other side of the track, held up his hand in order to halt the progress.

The dwarves stopped pushing and the guard walked over to the one who had commented.

”I'm sorry, I must be hard of hearing. Did I just hear you talk back to me?”

The dwarf looked at the ground and stood still, not saying anything.

The guard hit the dwarf in the back with the bat. Once, twice, three times, a swift cracking noise sounded with each hit.

The guard started going into a frenzy, and beat the dwarf senseless until he was kneeling on the ground.

”I'm sorry, did you say something!? I couldn't hear you. Was there something you would like to say to me? Perhaps you think that your treatment is unjust? I will have you know that you should be bowing at the feet of the knights, honored that you lower beings can perform such a role in the construction of the empire! And yet you have the insolence to talk back to a higher being!?”

The man then swung his bat again, but before it reached the face of the dwarf, which was covered in bruises and bloodstains, it was caught in mid air.

”Ah, Ah. Looks like we have a winner! Ding Ding Ding! Congratulations sir, looks like you've made it onto the naughty list. I will be taking you back with me, so don't try to resist. It will only result in more pain for you.”, Dubs maniacally ranted.

With the bat in his hand, Dubs clenched his fist, breaking the tool in two.