Early Ifnen came, and finally their stratagem discussion was about to be done. There were a lot of contingency plans they had to plan about. Lord Prestonheim pointed out the possibility of encountering monsters at the descent. He was worried of the expedition ending prematurely because of a monster attack.

Servus 305-M stifled a laugh, "I can just imagine you being eaten by some shitty monster there!" He patted Servus 132-X in delight.

"Servus 305-M!" Lord Prestonheim shouted. "You do not jest with things like these!"

"Well, was it too dark for your liking, m'Lord?" Servus 305-M mocked Lord Prestonheim with a bow.

Servus 132-X saw the Commander clenched his fist, about to hit the disrespectful slave straight to the face. He had to stop it somehow from happening, regardless of his urge to hit the cocky red-haired himself.

He stared at Servus 305-M and said, "I won't die in that hellhole," Servus 132-X sighed and diverted his attention to Lord Prestonheim who stared blankly at the empty parchment. "I will get you the source of the stone, don't worry."

Lord Prestonheim massaged the bridge of his nose, "Don't get me wrong Servus 132-X, I do not underestimate you. But what are your chances of dying there?" He paced across the table. "I thought of a plenty. It is like any war ever fought. One could come up with the best stratagem, only to foil because of a cruel fate."

Servus 132-X understood Lord Prestonheim's cautiousness, but there is no time for that—at least for him. Being reincarnated repeatedly for 364 times either as a king, a general or a hero, taught him one most important thing.

"Fortune favors the bold," he muttered.

Servus 305-M looked at him with a startled look on his face. "Where did you learn that?"

"Learn what?"

"Fortune favors the bold?!" Servus 305-M grabbed Servus 132-X by the shoulders and slammed him on the table. "Fortune favors the bold?! Who told you that?! WHHOOOO?!" The crazed red-haired slave shook Servus 132-X violently against the table.

Lord Prestonheim stepped in right away. He tried separating the crazed slave from Servus 132-X who was struggling to free himself. The Commander had no choice but to knock him out cold. With one punch, Lord Prestonheim struck him on his abdomen making him reel to the ground before finally going unconscious.

The Commander called Tristam in. He instructed him to call in some men and carry the unconscious Servus 305-M to the infirmary. After that, he checked Servus 132-X and asked him if he needs some medical attention—he politely refused.

Lord Prestoheim slumped back on his chair, massaging his pulsing temples with one hand. "I am sorry about him." The Commander sighed. "I should've not asked him for his expertise."

"You seemed to know one another very well my Lord." Servus 132-X asked while he sat on the chair and gently massaged his neck.

The silver-haired Commander shook his head, "You are too observant for your own good," he continued to massage his temples. "Yes, we knew each other but that would be a story for another day."

Lord Prestonheim dragged his exhausted body to stand up. Servus 132-X opted to do the same, he stood up and approached the table.

Both recapped the possible scenarios of the descent tomorrow. They covered all the possible outcomes of the expedition tomorrow. Some were good, while the others were bad, so bad that the Commander couldn't help himself and said a little prayer under his breath.

Servus 132-X has no gods or goddess to pray on. All he can do at the moment, is to have faith in the woman he saw in his dreams. She could be a demon or a deity, or something else entirely. Right now, he could only hold on to her promises. He knew he shouldn't have done that, but he can't resist it. This habit had always been his downfall.

Lord Prestonheim paced back and forth at his side of the table while trying to massage his temples. Servus 132-X knew the Commander was speaking to him, but his mind went out to travel as far down as his dreams about that mysterious woman.

"A sword! You would need a sword!" Lord Prestonheim exclaimed while pointing at him.

The Commanders thunderous voice brought his drifting mind back to reality.

"Pardon me, my Lord," he interrupted Lord Prestonheim who was immersed in his own thoughts. "Did you just say sword?"

"Yes," Lord Prestonheim gestured him to come closer. " I know that slaves aren't allowed to use a weapon without permission from a Principalia citizen. But you already did that when you saved me from that Giant Centipede."

"I will make it official tomorrow and only for that time being, you shall don an armor and carry a sword into the burrows."

"Aren't going overboard, my Lord for a slave?" Servus 132-X asked.

"I may have, but I am your employer, remember?" He smiled at him. "As a man of my word, I shall give you proper equipment for the task at hand. You best remember that since you asked for that yourself."

Servus 132-X smiled and shook his head, "Of course, my Lord."

Finally, the planning ended. Servus 132-X excused himself out of Lord Prestonheim's tent and went back to his group's camp at the other end of the mines.

At the distance, he could see his fellow slaves enjoying the warmth of their campfire. He cracked a smile on his face as he could hear the dwarf's booming laughter. Echoing in the cold night.

The walk to their camp was dark. Most of the nights patrolling that area brought with them, torches just to avoid any rocks or accidentally falling into the burrow. Servus 132-X doesn't have a torch, but he was lucky tonight. The moon is at its full glow, lighting up the path for him.

He was a few footlings away from his camp, when he noticed the burrow, surrounded with the planks of wood from the Principalia's camp. He decided to inspect it, but as he tried to change his direction, the dwarf's booming voice echoed calling him.

"Oi! Lad!" The dwarf called. "Where are ya goin'? Our camp's right 'ere." The dwarf asked him to come back to the camp

"Join us lad! The soup the lass, made tonight is different something else!" He chuckled in delight.

Servus 132-X hesitated to heed the dwarf's call but realized that this might be his last night with them. He took a glance at the burrow once more before heading to the camp.

"Tomorrow I shall conquer the unknown!" He muttered in his breath.