Slithering out of the clutches of the two girls holding onto him, Urist soberly sat at the edge of the bed.

Today is the day huh. Traveling to another world? Well, I wouldn’t exclude such possibilities since we are already in another world. Whatever happens, we don’t have much time to mull things over. It’s time to do the final preparations before the event hints. Wonder if everyone's waiting for me in the war room. Fuck, what cunning plan will that bastard Ubel will cook up. He said he’ll deal with the shopping list, but I should double-check that he doesn’t do something awkward.

Speaking of awkward.

Looking back at the two girls now hugging each other, Urist mused to himself, “Really wish I had a cigar right about now. Helps me stop overthinking about these two and what to do with them. Man what a headache.”

“Oh? What did you just say?”

“Oh shi-”

***

Walking out of his room massaging his aching head, Urist headed towards the command room where Ubel and some of the commanders he had chosen were currently sitting. Urist noticed as he sat down that a commoner went around the room, pouring tea for everyone.

Hmmm, I’m going to need to nip that in the bud before it becomes a problem. After this event, we will need to come up with our rule of law.

Urist didn’t allow his displeasure to show and kindly thanked the commoner for the tea. The commoner smiled brightly and bowed his head, saying that he wasn’t worthy. After some back and forth words the commoner left the room and the last of the commanders, Joy the Lancer and Ayil the Fist Mage entered and took their seats.

With everyone seated Ubel told the commoners to leave and shut the door.

Ubel sat down and waited for the voices to quiet down before speaking, “As you all know every leader I’ve chosen is here except for Volt, who is currently in deep meditation. Before we begin I would like to tell you each of the names of your units to ease the route of information.

“Urist, you will lead the Wild Card unit. Your second in command is Uria. Volt, whenever he wakes up, is the Battle unit commander with Snorri as his second and current commander ‘til then. Unicy is the Cavalry Unit, and although you have nothing to ride your unit is made up of fast people.

“Valkus- 1st Hunter unit leader with Blink as his second in command. Joy- 2nd Hunter unit leader with Quake the Champion as her second.

“For the mages, they will be split up into two groups with Vlad leading the 1st Magic Corp. with Dali as his second. Helga will be leading the 2nd Magic Corp. with Qrita the water mage as her Second. And finally, Ayal will lead the support squad.”

Ayil snorted, frowning at the mention, “Why do I have to babysit? I should be on the front lines.”

Ubel turned to her and gave her his classic dead fish-eyed stare, “Because we are short-handed on trusted personal and you’ve been with us long enough to be tasked with this important role. Next time you will have your wish. Does that answer satisfy you?”

“Humph. Fine.”

“Now that that interruption has been taken care of, I hope that each of you will do well with your unit. Moving on, I’ve gone over the store’s items and made a list. Urist, buy them.”

Urist picked up the offered paper and began to read. As he read his eyes grew wider, “You wanna spend all our points on the military?!”

Item List

Leather Backpack X 100 = 3000 Points

Water Skin X 147 = 1470 Points

Leather Boots X 147 = 1470 Points

Socks X 147 = 1470 Points

Barrel X 40 = 400 Points

Assortment of Foodstuff X 250 = 500 Points

Tent X 12 = 2400 Points

Platemail X 10 = 2000 Points

Gambeson X 50 = 5000 Points

Ignition Crystal X 300 =2100 Points

Berserk Potion X 20 = 600 Points

Total spent = 20, 410

Leftover: 211

“Yes, as I believe we’ll easily make it back on this campaign, like we did from the last one. We shouldn’t hold back and fight with our fullest potential. We’ve already made enough weapons for everyone, even the Rat-kin who Vlad has assured me are combat-ready. Our food and water supply are also stable now that we have access to the river. And our defense is… acceptable, so I don’t see the reason not to spend the points.”

“But… the-”

“I know you want to save the points to revive the fallen, but if you care for the living as you say-”

“Say no more Ubel, I know what you mean… I’ll start buying the items. But I see only enough armor for us dwarfs, what about the rat-kin?”

Ubel snorted, “They’re meant to be expendable right? If they live through this then I’ll think about them next time. Besides, from what I’m told from Vlad they appear to be quite hearty. They already have clothes and weapons. We’ve done enough for them until they earn their keep and they shall receive only that much.”

Hearing such, Urist’s eyes flashed with understanding. He wants to move into the law of military a society based on achievements. That path is rigid and will lead to the ruin of the commoners and the unfortunate. That isn’t how I wish to rule, where we leave someone behind.

Having made up his mind, Urist stared straight into Ubel’s soulless eyes, “We made them Ubel and we must treat them right. I won't be buying armor for myself and instead will give them to two Rat-kin. Those that wish to follow my example may also turn in their armor to help the less fortunate. You may all choose what to do, I will not hold a grudge.”

Urist’s declaration made the air frosty as Ubel stared at him with empty eyes. Ubel’s hands began to tremble for a moment and everyone expected him to lash out at Urist. Readying himself for a war of words, Urist waited for Ubel's rebuttal.

Ubel’s hands slowly stopped shaking, and a snort was heard under Ubel’s breath, “Good, you passed my test, but you failed at giving sound reasoning. I’ll give you 50 points on the evaluation.”

Seeing everyone give him a disbelieving look, Ubel snorted at them and continued.

“What? Oh don’t you all give me that look, if Urist didn’t step up on this issue I would’ve given him a tongue lashing.

“Everyone will be equipped with armor thanks to so many warriors bringing their own gear. Added with the fact that the crafters are working overtime to turn the hunted hides into armor, we’ll have enough to arm our troops as long as we forgo the plate mail.”

Exasperated, Urist stared at Ubel, “Why test me?”

“‘Cause I want you to keep on your toes. If you wanna fight on the frontlines you need to know when to take command and when to take a step back. You took a step back when you allowed me to spend all our points, but fought with how I decided to spend them. Well done. Now does anyone else have any questions?”

Valkus turned to Blink, his interpreter, and whispered to him.

Nodding his head, Blink turned to Ubel, “How will the Rat-kin be spread out through the rest of the units?”

“Good question, I’ve already prepared a list of how many each of you will be receiving as reinforcements.”

The dwarfs each lowered their eyes towards the parchments they were handed.

Battle Formation

Urist - Wild Card Commander

Uria - The Blind Firekeeper - 2nd in Command

Uroa - Herbalist / Medic

Aqua - Water Mage

Vesi - Water Mage

Mo - Fishermen(Secret Spear Master)

Magic swordsman, Three body magicians(Brothers), Spirit Charmer

Earth Mage

Rat-Kin - 10

==============================================

Ubel - General

Wind messengers - 2

Gift - Poison Mage

Commoner spearmen - 10

Info Mage - 1

Assassin - 1

Spartan, Reaper, Avenger

Warriors - 5

==============================================

Volt - Battle Commander

Snorri - Slayer - 2nd in Command

Tänzer - Dancer

Unior - Spearmen

Elana - Earth Mage

Fatty - Tank

Ump - Shield Warrior

Adster - Light Mage

3 Spearmen

Medic

15 commoners/ spearmen

Rat-kin - 35

==============================================

Unicy - Cavalry Commander

Dane - Warrior

Littou - Warrior

Indar - Warrior

Elrish - Warrior

Mirro - Aura/ Repulse - Tier 2 High Power level

Eins - Rat-kin

Archer

Earth

Warrior (In training)

Rat-kin 35

==============================================

Valkus - 1st Hunter Squad leader

Blink - Hunter - 2nd in command

Reaver - Magic Tamer

Acar - Frost Mage

Emu - Wind Mage

Brick - Earth mage

Arben - Warrior

Rytar - Water/Ice Mage

Cero - Blood mage

==============================================

Joy - Lancer - 2nd Hunter Squad Leader

Quake - Champion

Zen - Brawler

Run - Hunter

Gale - Wind Mage

Earth Mage

Hunter

4 Four Hunters (In tTraining)

==============================================

Vlad - Blood Mage - 1st Magic Corps Leader

Dali - Blood Mage - 2nd in Command

Medic

Thair - Earth Mage

Fire, Water, Poison, Light, Frost Mages - 1 Each

Blood Mages - 2

Rat-kin - 10

==============================================

Helga - Spirit Charmer - 2nd Magic Corps Leader

Qrtia - Water Mage - 2nd in command

Blut - Blood Mage

Ran - Wind Mage

Dark, Earth, Frost, Time, Lightning, Flash Mages -1 each

Spirit Charmers - 2

Absorption Mage -1

Gem Mage - 2

Shadow Mage - 2

(In training) Mages - 2

Rat-kin 10

==============================================

Ayil - Fist Mage - Support Squad

4 Monks

4 Warriors, 3 Hunters, 3 Axeman, 1 Maceman

Earth Mage - 1

Medic - 2

Herbalist

Briana - Herbalist/Medic

Cook

Saera - Item information

“Now that you’ve looked over the formations, I believe it’s time to talk about how we shall do battle. I’ve made up a few basic plans that we can follow in case we do or don’t transfer. I shall begin, ask questions after I give an explanation. First, if we do tras-”

An urgent knock was heard on the door. Rolling his eyes Ubel sighed, “Someone go and see what they want.”

Everyone looked at Blink, who cursed inwardly before getting up from his seat and opening it.

Tänzer appeared before them in his air-headed state, smiling bashfully.

Annoyed, Ubel shouted at him, “What do you want twinkle toes we’re in the middle of tactics!”

Scratching his chin Tänzer replied, “Um, I was doing my morning dance near the crystal and two more Tier 4 powerhouses appeared.”

Instead of feeling happy at mention of more powerful forces joining them, Ubel began massaging his sudden headache. “Fucking hell.”