The Hopark mountains chain, one of the biggest on Jezoi, and the biggest on the Jhagie continent is situated at the far north of it, extending to the west. Those mountains separate the continent from the sea and make it difficult to sail from this side, as the mountains are extremely hard to cross.

There is two way to pass the mountains. A courageous man can venture inside the mountain pass and try his luck against the numerous monsters and Goliath tribes. Or a rich man can pay his way under the mountain to the Dwarves.

The most secure passage goes near the dwarven capital, known as Kar’Adlor. An unwarned person would usually find the city greatly organized, compared to the human cities of the rest of the continent. But those last days this spectator would see a strange agitation amongst the citizens, particularly the religious ones.

The rumor was spreading that a strange dwarf had appeared during a ceremony and started a fight against the church’s warrior present at the moment. The majority of the citizens was wondering who was that strange dwarf, how he had managed to appear where and how he did and what the authorities had planned to do with him. For most of the citizens, the interest they had about the situation was nothing more than a curiosity and the newest gossip. But for some groups, this dwarf was an intruder here to bring death and misfortune to the city and some others were viewing him as an envoy from their God, Duordin. And those two factions were starting to make a lot of noise in the city.

Amongst the dwarves of authority, the topic was strongly discussed. The question was to know if the strange dwarf was an enemy or not. In all the cases, they couldn’t execute him before they managed to interrogate him. And he was strongly resisting each time the soldiers tried to conduct an interrogation. The daily beating and privations didn’t seem to weaken him, the soldiers had reported seeing him eating the dirt of his pit. Something else quite strange was the fact he always had his hammer. It was a small hammer, barely qualifying as a weapon, but each time it was confiscated, he found a way to get it back.

But the most strange detail about him was the markings on his arms and legs, those strange black marks that looked like flames. Nobody knew what they were, but everyone had an idea. The wildest gossips were stating they were divine marks, marking him as a divine envoy here to reform the way the Church worked, to better or worsen it.

All those things were the considerations of the majority of Kar’Adlor’s inhabitants. The soldiers in charge of surveilling him were usually wondering which one of them would take the brunt of the next confrontation. It was often the youngest ones that fought him first, as a way to “harden themselves”, under the examining gaze of their seniors and the Optio carceris. They would soften the tall dwarf before their seniors would beat him half to death and send him back to his pit. But that was their usual consideration. Today they were wondering what was happening in the bottom of the hole.

Since five minutes a strong light was leaking out of the pit. It was a blinding light that only started to deem a few seconds ago. The soldiers were standing around the opening in the ground, on their guard and protecting their eyes with their hands. They were forbidden to use lethal weapons, but their metal gauntlets were shining in the light.

As the light was diminishing, they were more and more stressed, wondering what they would soon discover.

Once the light has disappeared and they had regained their eyesight, none moved for several seconds. They weren’t looking at the tired and tall dwarf they were used to see. He was there but looking even angrier than usual.

Near him was standing a beautiful naked woman, she seemed lost like she had no idea of what she doing there, or how she had arrived in this situation. But there was a spark of intelligence in her eyes, and she bore the same markings as the prisoner on her arms and legs.

She looked around, like if she was assessing the situation, while the soldiers were wondering what to do. Then she opened her mouth and spoke with a soft and deep voice.

“Well? What are you waiting to send a ladder down there and help us climb out of this pit? We need to see the High Priest and the King. There are important matters to discuss.”

The soldiers were dumb looking at her, not knowing what to do. Their Optio carceris approach them and looked down the hole.

“As if such important people would like to see you. You’re here in my prison, and you are my prisoners until further notice. If you had something to say, you’ll say it to me, and you can start with how you manage to introduce yourselves here.”

“How we get inside your parody of a prison is none of your concern, you’re just some grunt of no significance. We need to talk to someone important.”

“As if. Boys, do like your used too.”

__________

It’s been a bit surprising to hear her talk to the soldiers. I don’t know what she told them, but her voice was really sweet in my ears. And, as the soldier started to move the metal grid covering the pit she spoke to me, in french. She speaks french! I’ll be able to have a real conversation with someone!

“Sorry master. They are too dumb to be reasoned with and they won't recognize we are of higher status than them.”

“It’s not your fault if they are stupid.” I responded to her. “Be ready we’ll have to fight them or they will torture and separate us. I won’t let them do anything to you, but I not sure I can fight them and protect you at the same time.”

“Do not worry, I can defend myself.”

Seeing a small light similar as the one Mjoln produce when I summon him I throw a look at her. It seems she can also summon a weapon as she has an ax in her left hand.

__________

The little bitch! With her near him his fighting like a demon. He always fought like a madman, not thinking to protect himself, but now his even more crazy in his fighting. He always restrained himself to not cripple my men, but now he doesn’t care about them. And her, she cared even less about us.

It’s my prison, my men. I’m supposed to be the law here. And yet, they fought so hard together that I was obliged to let them together or risk my men lives.

It’s obvious they're not used to fight together.

And here I am, writing my report of the event. I’m sure I’m going to be yelled at by the Beneficiarii. But there is a positive thing there, now that she is there, we can talk with them. And soon it won’t be my problem. The Beneficiarii or the Centurion will take care of it, or someone else. With a bit of luck, they will soon leave my prison.

__________

I was slowly waking up, and contrary to the last days, I wasn’t lying face on the dirt. I was still lying on the dirt, but at least my head was resting on something soft and comfy and comfy. Delicate fingers were caressing my face and passing through my hair.

I slowly opened my eyes and was met with a beautiful view, a pair of nicely shaped breasts over me. And over theses was an angelic face, she was looking at me like if she was looking at a small cute kitten.

“Shh, rest easy fierce warrior. You fought well and defend me until you couldn’t even stand on your feet. You can be proud.”

“I-I… thank you, I suppose.”

“So, care to explain the situation here? I tried to explain to them we needed to speak with a higher authority, but the Optio carceris didn’t believe you’re an important person.”

“The fuckers throw me there first thing after my arrival. I can understand they're wary of me, I arrived on an altar in the middle of some ceremony. But they didn’t even try to understand my situation, they jumped at me, hammer in hands.”

“I see, I’ll have to explain to them the reality of the situation. I also suppose you don’t know how the System works.”

“No, I don’t.”

She then proceeded to explain things to me. The world System, the Skills, the Skill Trees, the Skill and Stat Points. The fact that as a Champion, I probably have some special advantages, but she didn’t know which ones. She also explained to me that she had the Servant Skill Tree has a race, and that would provide her with some advantages concerning our relation, she blushed and refuse to develop when I asked her too. But when she talked about the Sacred Place everyone needs to go to be able to spend their Stat and Skill Points.

We then talked about the Perk Store and the possibilities it offered me. She didn’t know the meaning of all of them, but she could give me advice and some information about those.

According to her, the bonus life would be the best option, but it was too expensive for now, and my situation was dire enough to warrant the purchasing of another Perk. The Race Change was also too expensive, but it wasn’t interesting, to begin with. Like me, she thought the Classement Expert would provide me with data about the other Champions. The Conceal Essence Perk was in her regard one of the best Perks, it should allow me to hide part of my Status from Skill like Appraisal or Evaluation. The Perks about The Stat and Skill Points could be interesting, but as we couldn’t know how much they would give, it was a risky gamble. The New Skill Tree was, in her opinion, too expensive to be interesting. The Servant Perk was also a no go, it was still present in the list, but its price had risen to 750 Perks Points, and Silma seemed a bit jealous at my mention to create a second Servant. The next Perk was the Up Skill cap one, in Silma’s opinion it was the best choice as the Skills were supposedly capped at level 10, or 15 for her, as she had the Companion Skill Tree. She explained to me that it was a Skill Tree that the companions of a Champion could get and it would probably indicate my Skills were already capped at a higher level than normal people. The last Perk was the Divine conversation, she seemed to be interested in it, but agreed with me on the fact it would probably be a waste of points.

In the end, I choose her second favorite, available with my resources. I choose the Private Sacred Place Perk and activated it. I was still resting my head on her lap.

Status *

Name: Thomas Ponti

Race: Depth Dwarf / Champion

Gender: Male

Age: 27 years

Characteristics *

Level *

4

Experience *

26%

Strength *

206 +

Mental *

153 +

Endurance *

306 +

Abstraction *

253 +

Agility *

56 +

Understanding *

103 +

Perception *

156 +

Sagacity *

128 +

Skills *

Skill trees *

Name *

Level *

Experience *

Type *

Evolution *

Champion *

Extradimensional inventory *

3

03%

Special

Unavailable

Familiar *

1 +

60%

Special

Unavailable

Personal map *

1 +

53%

Special

Unavailable

Small body enhancement *

6 +

95%

Passif

Unavailable

Small spirit enhancement *

3

17%

Passif

Unavailable

Depth Dwarf *

Dark vision *

2 +

72%

Passif

Unavailable

Feel metal *

1 +

73%

Special

Unavailable

Stone skin *

8 +

83%

Passif

Unavailable

Stone *

Stone reading *

1

9%

Special

Unavailable

Stone skin *

8 +

83%

Passif

Unavailable

Stone fist *

1

27%

Actif

Unavailable

Stone stomach *

1 +

92%

Passif

Unavailable

Iron *

Iron fist *

2

52%

Actif

Unavailable

Iron teeth *

2

02%

Passif

Unavailable

Iron hairs *

1

13%

Passif

Unavailable

Metal stomach *

1 +

75%

Passif

Unavailable

Feel metal *

1 +

73%

Special

Unavailable

Titles *

Duordin’s Champion *

Servants *

Name:

Race:

Level:

Experience:

Skill trees:

Sexe:

Silma Depthborn

Depth Dwarf / Servant

10

08%

Companion / Maid / Warrior

Female

Familiars *

Name:

Race:

Level:

Experience:

Kind:

Gender:

State:

Mjoln

Hammerite

1

8%

Iron

N/A

Summoned

Points *

Intellectual Stat Points *

2

Physical Stat Points *

6

Free Stat Points *

8

Skill Points *

4

Skill Trees *

Student *

10

Body characteristics

High

1m63

Weight

93kg

...

Wow. That’s a lot of information about me, the Body characteristics is a bit frightening as it described my body in all the private details I don’t want to talk about, I just share my high and my weight. I’m shorter than in my previous life and heavier. It can be expected, I’m a dwarf now, and Dwarves are short and bulky. But I think I’m rather tall for a Dwarf.

The Points section is a nice addition, as I can see how much Points I have. The one about the available Skill Trees is a bit disappointing, I can only choose the Student Skill Tree, I’ll look into it another time.

As I ask Silma the signification of the red asterisk and plus signs, she explained to me they are for obtaining information on the subject by the System and developing the Skill Store for each Skill Tree for the first and to allocate Points for the Second. The fact some Skills have the red plus and not other means I can level those Skill using part of my Skill Points, but she advised me against that.

All that is very interesting, but I don’t have the time to really look into it as I can hear footstep near the pit.