Hello Readers!

Today's chapter may be a bit confusing. I have had couple of mini-time warps that went back in time to explain current situations, as described in below chapter, I had initially separated them with indents in my MS Word, but unfortunately, this site does not allow that, unless any of you readers know how to do it. Anyway, so they are written in different text color.

Enjoy!

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On their journey to the Chamea Falls, Serina and Calb ran into a dwarf disguised as a human. After they got to know each other, Serina and Calb were invited to the City of Dwarves, Tovon. While there, they got to hear how the Dwarves from the Pleevon Plane ended up in the Garmea Continent. As the Dwarves were also curious about Corea, Calb shared with them the story about how he ended up being “God’s Instrument of Light.”

“So you are telling me that thing called PIDO is able to map out any area, and it is even able to detect movements made by anything bigger than a helmet?” Sirram, an elder of Tovon asked Calb.

“Well, that depends on the scale in which the map is shown. For example, if I set the map to cover the maximum range, it may not be able to detect Corea, here, for example, but if the area is smaller, I am sure it can pick up even a mouse.”

“I see, everything is relative.” Sirram stopped to consider something, and with a strain on his face, he looked at Calb. “Might I request your assistance in something that involves using that PIDO?” Even though Sirram asked for assistance, his facial expression was that of reluctance. As dwarves are a proud race, it took a lot out of him to request for Calb’s assistance.

“Well, if I can be of help, I do not mind.” In the short time that he has been speaking with Sirram, Calb realized that for Sirram to ask for his assistance would mean that whatever it was bothering the dwarves was something big.

“Thank you. Let me begin then.” Sirram was grateful. “About two months ago, people from our city started disappearing. It started out with the miners and craftsmen that were usually working by themselves in the remote areas of the mountain caverns. We thought that they either got lost or lost track of time, as that has been known to happen from time to time, but the length of time in which they were missing was just too long. So we sent out search parties and only half of them returned. I am sure you could imagine, we were on high alert. We made sure the next search parties were well armed and were from highly trained soldiers, and what we found were scattered signs of struggles, but they were not localized to one region but many regions of the mountain caverns.”

Sirram sighed and continued. “Only thing we could do was to keep on sending out the troops in rotations to find any other clues while the numbers of the city guards were doubled. However, two weeks ago, even the inner city people were starting to disappear. We didn’t know what to do. We, the elders, then decided that we must look for exterior help. That was the reason for sending out Kormor. Of course we didn’t let the whole city know of our intention because, again, we are a proud race and making it public would delay our actions. As luck would have it Kormor ran into you two on the very first day that he went out.”

“Ahh,” Serina exclaimed as if something clicked inside her head. “So he, definitely, had a reason for snooping on us huh, Calb?” Calb gave Sirram another strained smile as an apology.

“Ha haha HA….” Sirram waved Calb off. “He was snooping was he? Kormor the Stout was snooping! Wahahaha HA!” Calb was intrigued by change in Sirram’s demeanor. It seemed to him that the effects of the beer finally kicked in.

Elsewhere in the city of Tovon, Kormor suddenly felt eerie prick in his neck, as if he somehow felt Sirram laughing at him.

Sirram had finished what he had to say regarding the missing dwarves incidents, and then he moved on to inform the two the general psychological state of the citizens of Tovon. “Yes, as you can see, we had another reason for treating you with such hostility earlier.” Sirram laughed off the inconvenience that they might have felt at the entrance of the Halls of the Heroes. Calb was beginning to think that their beer certainly was a miracle drug to turn a dwarf elder, who was so self-conscious about the pride of their race, into a dwarf laughing off any dishonor for what it was and speak of it as if it was spilt milk.

“So what is the plan Sirram the Elder?” Calb was ready to get started, as this was, initially, designed as a short detour, he didn’t want to spend too much time with the dwarves.

“What is this Sirram the Elder stuff? You and the missy can just call me Sirram!”

Serina, looking at Calb and said in her mind, ‘Hey, Calb, we have got to get some of that wonder beer from them before we leave. I want to have a taste later on.’ Serina had a mischievous smile on her face. Calb didn’t know how to respond. Only thing that he could think of was the danger of freeing all of her inhibition, as she was already a handful.

“So what’s the plan Sirram?” Calb asked again.

“About that miniature PIDO, how many people can you shoot with that?”

“Well, I don’t really know, but I would say about 6 at the moment.” Calb just had an intuitive figure.

“Hmmm, I had hoped you could do more, so that you can get in mental contact with all of the search party members.” Sirram seemed a bit disappointed.

“Well, I don’t think it is that bad. I am a soldier, and as a soldier, I understand that communication is vital in any kind of operation. However, I also understand that good leaders make a big difference between success or failure of any operation. As such, if I can coordinate well with your key leaders, I will, in effect, be able to lead large number of soldiers and complete the mission safely. It is how a military operation should be run.” All of a sudden, Calb’s persona changed into someone dependable. Serina never expected to see the calm and agreeable Calb change into a person that exudes commanding presence. She didn’t know how to react to this new Calb.

“Hmm, you did say you were a commander of this thing called space ship correct?” Nodded Calb. “In that role, how many people did you lead in total?” Sirram, too, was impressed at Calb’s sudden change in aura.

“Well, it varies from time to time, but my total subordinates averaged around 400,000 people.”

“What?! 400,000 people!?” Both Serina and Sirram were astounded. “Tovon’s total city population is less than 10th of that amount!”

“As you can see, when leading great number of people, communication is a key, and I think that my experience leading such number of people will be vital to your people right now.” Even though Calb put on an aura of a commander, there was no trace of arrogance or personal importance.

Recovering from his shock, Sirram asked Calb, “Well, if you were to lead a team to solve this problem, what would you do?”

“Well, first thing that comes into my mind is a general idea about the layouts of the caverns around the city, and an accurate map of Tovon. I don’t think I can make better decision without knowing these two. As such, if you will lend us some guide, I would like to map out your city as well as the caverns around the city.”

“I understand. I will provide some guides. In the mean time, do walk around the city of Tovon. I am sure you can map out the city while you are sight seeing?”

“That sounds marvelous!” Serina jumped in, as if on cue, to shake off any tension from the discussion, not that such was her intention from the start.

Serina and Calb were left on their own to stroll around the city of Tovon, and though it was not necessary, Calb had his 3D projection of the city out, making sure all the functionalities are operational. As for Serina, even though she was enjoying herself, looking at all of the different architecture and things that Tovon could offer, her mind was still stuck on Calb’s commanding presence she felt back in Sirram’s chamber. To her, the change was too drastic, and she was still not sure how to address that with Calb.

Noticing the difference in Serina, Calb asked, “You okay? You seem preoccupied with something.” Of course there would be no way for him know what was going on inside Serina’s head.

“Hmmm? No. I am okay. I am just thinking about the situation with the dwarves, and all the other things about the different planes. I was totally ignorant of all these until today, you know. It is still much to think about.” Serina gave him a general excuse.

However, Calb didn’t buy it. “Serina, I didn’t know you but for a just a few months, but I think I know you well enough to know that what you have just told me was just an excuse. Do you trust me so little that you have to hide things from me?”

Serina hesitated. She didn’t know what to say, but not wanting to hide things from Calb, she said what was in her heart. “I don’t know how to take you anymore Calb. You, all of a sudden, became a bigger person, in my eyes. I didn’t know just how formidable you were. All I knew was that you were unskilled in martial arts and untrained in manipulations of mana. As such, I thought you were just a normal guy. I know you have told me that you were a commander in your other world, but hearing and seeing one in action is totally different. The commanding presence that you had shown, while in Sirram’s chamber, was an indication of a greatness that I have never felt, and thus, I don’t know how to react to you. You already had such a presence, but recently, you have, also, been improving quite a bit due to your PIDO and the presents from the Guardians and stuff…. I don’t want to be overshadowed…like I won’t be good enough for you.”

Situation that Serina and Calb are currently going through, is seen in many couples when one has accomplished so much more, in life, as compared to his or her partner. However, such is even more common when the one being overshadowed has ample enough of self-pride to be frustrated by it, as demonstrated by Serina’s wish of not wanting to be overshadowed. It could be said that she has already admitted deep down in her heart that she is not good enough for Calb since she had already considered it, but that notion is very flawed. In every relationship, there comes a time when both parties must decide where they stand in their relationship with respect to each other, and in such times, it helps to be honest with their feelings.

As such, the fact that Serina had accepted her doubt and insecurity by voicing it does not mean that she believes that she is inferior to Calb. It just means that she was strong enough to accept that she was weak at that point in time, and how she will feel in the future regarding the question of “where do I stand,” will only depend on whether she will overcome this temporary insecurity or whether she will be a victim of her insecurity. A point worth mentioning is that in lesser women or those that are naturally weak, such will not even be a dilemma for them because they have already accepted in their heart that they are inferior and that they will have no problem being dependent on their mate. In conclusion, there is a clear distinction between one accepting one’s insecurity versus one accepting one’s inferiority.

“Serina, I thank you for being honest with me. I think it takes a strong person to be able to share their insecurity with another, and I thank you for trusting me enough to divulge such sensitive subject with me. However, I don’t think that our relationship has changed, now that I have revealed this side of myself. I have not changed Serina. I am that same person that has been getting picked on by you for the past 4 months. The fact that you found out about my ability as a commander didn’t change me at all. Only thing that has changed is how you decided to look at me. Am I going to say that I am too good for you to be picked on, now that you have found out some things about my past? Do you think a person that you see in me would have let you pick on him just because you didn’t know of his past, if I didn’t want you to? Do you think the person that you see in me right now will be so weak that he will let you pick on him if he didn’t want you to?” Serina shook her head, “no” to all of the questions.

Calb grabbed Serina’s hands and placed them on her heart. “So, the only thing that has changed is your heart, and only you can choose how you will treat me from here on out. Only you can decide whether you will overcome this hurdle in your heart and stay by my side, or be swept by your insecurity and we end up going our separate ways, as I only want to have a relationship with someone I can respect. I can’t respect someone that considers herself inferior to me. You said you knew for a long time that I had feelings for you. Why do you think I didn’t confess my feelings to you? I didn’t confess my feelings for you because I wanted to be your equal first. I didn’t want to go into a relationship with you when I felt inferior to you. Do you think I would have felt that way if I thought that I was too good for you, that you were beneath me?”

“Serina, you brought me up from that defenseless guy to someone that can fend for himself with martial arts. You are always there for me when I am down. You even came and looked for me last night, when I was down, didn’t you? You are the person I love. How can I look down on you? How could I think myself bigger than you when I benefited so much from you?”

Tears flowed down Serina’s cheek, and without any reservation, she ran into Calb’s arms and kissed him with all her emotions, and being the sensitive guy that he was, tears ran down Calb’s face also, as if reflecting her emotions in his heart.

“Woah-ho! Way to go big guy!” Male dwarves cheered him on.

“Kiss him sweety. There you go!” Women among the crowd cheered her on. “You better not let go of that man. You’d better hold on to that man if you know what’s good for you!”

Serina and Calb didn’t realize that so many people gathered around them. Though Serina smiled with laughter at all the cheers thrown at them, but, as for Calb, he had never been the one to enjoy being the center of attention. All those years of being a commander of an elite fleet never fixed him of his shyness. Seeing Calb not knowing what to do, Serina grabbed his face and kissed him again!

“There you go honey! That’s the way to hold on to a man!”

“Keeoo…Keekeeoo…Keeoo…Keekeekeeoo…” Corea joined in on the fun as she flew around the crowd.

Then the crowd, hearing Corea, looked up, and as before with the city guards at the Hall of Heroes, the crowd of dwarves pointed at Corea and they all shouted, “A Kazanian!”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

“There is no way a Kazanian would be in Lamea Continent is there?”

“Don’t you see the green glow? What kind of eagle will have a green glow, if it wasn’t from Kazan?”

‘Corea, circle around the crowd some more and then find us in a bit.’ Calb spoke to Corea with his mind, and not missing the opportunity, Calb grabbed Serina’s hand and pulled her through the distracted dwarves and ran to the nearest alley to be out of their eyesight. “What were you doing kissing me like that?” Calb’s face was still red from embarrassment. On the contrary, Serina’s face was bright as sunshine. She was so happy, and in love.

“What’s wrong with kissing someone I love?”

“Well, it was already embarrassing that, as a man, I was seen crying, and if that was not enough, you had to kiss me, knowing that they were all watching.”

“What are you saying, you don’t like kissing me?” Serina mischievously smiled. She clearly was back to normal.

“Well, no…I like kissing you….” Calb was loss for words.

“Well, come here.” This time, Serina put her arms around Calb and kissed him again.

A small dwarf raid team was gathered at the Hall of Heroes with Calb, Serina, and Kormor at the front, facing the soldiers. Kormor had just finished briefing the gathered soldiers regarding the operation to raid the secret dungeon that was found by Calb an hour earlier.

Calb, had initially thought that he would have to make multiple scans as he walked to various points on the interior of the mountain, in order for the PIDO scan the entire interior of the mountain, but thanks to the recent upgrade to his PIDO, as well as personal improvement in mana handling, the range of the PIDO had increased dramatically. Therefore, Calb only had to scan from few points on the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, during the first run of the scan, he didn’t find any unusual movements or passageways unaccounted for by the dwarves.

However, there was a cavern that caught Calb’s attention. It was a big cavern with a wide open area that had numerous crystal rock formations like that of a stalactite, but these were much much stronger, stronger than granite. These rock crystals had, over the years, formed numerous passageways that seemed like an ideal place to hide. In order to have a better look, he decided to head over there.

On the way, he had noticed that certain passageways flickered in and out of the 3D display, and once he got to the said cavern, what he found was that as he got closer to the cavern, more and more clear detail of the hidden passageways were revealed in the PIDO, but he didn’t know why. The location of the hidden passageways were not so distant from the Tovon that the PIDO couldn’t pick it up, but they only appeared when he had gotten really close to the passageways.

After much investigation, though he didn’t have full understanding of how the PIDO actually gather the data for the 3D image, he was able to come up with a reasonable explanation. What he came up with is that he realized that the map that was produced on his PIDO was limited by the open air. In other words, wherever there was an open air, PIDO will be able to scan it. For example, if a house is fully sealed from the outside air, the interior of the house will not be mapped out by the PIDO, but as soon as any of the doors or windows of that same house opens, and thus allowing outside air to connect with the inside air, PIDO was able to map out the inside of the house.

So it seemed that the key was the air in the atmosphere, but he later found out it was not the air, but rather, mana that is flowing in the atmosphere. He came to that conclusion because he noticed that if he concentrated on the wall hiding the secret passageway, thus using up more mana than usual, he was able to see through the stone walls, even from afar. As far as he and Serina knew, only thing that can phase through the solid is mana, and the fact that he had to use more mana in order to map out the hidden passageway meant that his reasoning was correct.

With that understanding, Calb was able to locate all of the hidden passageways as well as the hidden entranceways, and what he found were four, natural, crystal, rock formations at four different locations that were, most likely to have been, turned into magic doors. Of course one would require special key or special mana manipulating procedures to activate the magic that opens the door, but when breaking in to a dungeon of a hostile, there is no need to be considerate about leaving the door mechanism functional for later use. You simply destroy the door, in this case the crystal rock formation, and the access to the dungeon will be secured.

‘All the squads ready?’ Calb called out to the four squad leaders. He had shot into the four squad leaders, earlier, with the minature PIDO.

‘Ready here,’ Dormeer the Tightfisted, the 1st squad leader, replied.

‘2nd squad ready!’ sounded Urteen the Pounder.

‘READY!’ yelled Matador the Loud, the 3rd squad leader.

‘Yep,’ Illyor the Calm, the 4th squad leader, lazily responded.

“All right, looks like all of the other squads are ready.” Calb informed Kormor and the rest of the 5th squad.

As the commander of the raid party, Calb had already sent the other 4 squads to their respective locations and taken leadership of the 5th squad, assisted by Kormor.

“Okay, as you all know, while the other squads are engaging the enemy, we will be cutting off the enemy escape route by waiting for them at their outside entrance to their dungeon. I have already disclosed the location of their entrance to Serina here.” Calb pointed to Serina. “She will lead you to the location while Kormor and I will remain here a bit longer to monitor the operation before joining you outside. Any questions?” Calb looked at the dwarf soldiers.

“Okay, it seems you all are ready too. Sirram the Elder had already told me about the might of dwarven soldiers! I look forward to seeing that for myself today. To the victory!” Calb raised his fist high to the sky, and all the dwarves followed.

“To the VICTORY!” The whole group shouted in unison and headed outside.

Satisfied with the response, Calb looked at Serina, “Be careful. Kormor and I will join you shortly.”

“Pffft, who do you think I am?” Serina gave Calb a look of ridicule. “Just don’t get lost on the way okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Understood.” Calb nodded with a smile.

“What do you think Kormor? Do you think we should, just about, start now?”

“I would say the 5th squad should be in place by now.”

“Yeah, that was my thought. Well, then, let’s start the operation then.”

‘All squads, commence the operation!’ Calb sent the order.

Within each squad, there were at least two dwarves that specialized in hammers as their weapons. With the commencement of the operation, those two hammer specialists each swung their gigantic sledge hammer toward the crystal rock formation with a force like no other. Within every stroke was the force of the hammer multiplied by the magic within the hammer, and when that hammer made contact with the crystal rock, there was a thundering noise that echoed throughout the whole cavern, followed by gigantic fissure that formed along the entire height of the crystal rock formation. Needless to say, the crystal rock formation, which was known to be harder than granite, in the hands of these two dwarves was nothing but a pottery cracking under the light tap of the potter’s hammer.

Calb had his 3D display out for Kormor to see the four dungeon entrances. Calb was waiting for any of the four entranceways to open up so that his PIDO can give him an update of the interior of the dungeon before going outside to join Serina and the rest of the 5th squad.

“Do you think it will take long for them to destroy those crystal rocks?”

“Do you doubt the might of our Dwarven hammers?” Kormor responded with his chest out while producing his gigantic sledge hammer from his belt buckle.

Being reminded of that thin and presentable Kormor sticking his chest out earlier at the road and seeing, now, scruffy and plump Kormor, doing the same gesture, Calb couldn’t help but to be amused at just how the two Kormors differed so much in appearance. “No…No…No. I was just a bit anxious about the timing, that’s all. I didn’t want any squad being overwhelmed in case other squads have difficulties getting through.”

“Hmmm, I see your concern,” Kormor proudly stroked his beard while considering Calb’s statement. “But rest assured, you will see the might of our hammers today, for sure!” As if the four squads were listening in on their conversation, all four entrances to the dungeon opened up at the same time right as Kormor ended his proud little speech about the greatness of their hammer.

“Ha, Ha! What did I tell you? What did I tell you?” Kormor was excited as he can be. He was so excited that he started dancing. He squatted down with his sledge hammer raised real high while twisting his butt from side to side. Calb couldn’t help but to smile. There was something about a short, fat dwarf trying to do the twist.

Enjoying the brief, unintended comedy moment supplied by Kormor, Calb casually turned his eyes to the, now, newly formed 3D map of the hidden dungeon, and what he saw was a disaster. None of the inhabitants of the hidden dungeon were heading toward the dwarves to engage them, which would be the normal reaction when someone invades their territory, but instead, all of them were heading toward the outside entrance where squad 5 were waiting! Also, what caught Calb’s attention was that the inhabitants were already centralized near the exit rather than being spread out all along their hideout, as if they had already known about the operation.

‘ALL SQUADS! Rush through the dungeon without a rest. All of the enemies are escaping to their outer entrance. They will eventually overrun the 5th squad if we do not come to their aid! Run run RUN!’

“Kormor! We must join the 5th squad, quick! The enemies are, all, heading toward the outer exit. 5th squad is in trouble!”

“What is their number!?”

“They numbered about 40. That is four times the number of the 5th squad!”

Calb was frantic. He didn’t understand why there weren’t any resistance from the enemy. As he was in a hurry, he didn’t bother to turn off the PIDO, and headed toward the outside of the mountain. His attention was fully focused on running…running outside to join the 5th squad. Therefore, he didn’t see a sudden appearance of a movement in his PIDO.

The mysterious being was, initially, wrapped in the surrounding like it was the part of the natural rock formations, but when it started to move, it appeared in the PIDO like it appeared out of thin air. And its appearance, it was that of a predatory insect the size of a human. It waited until all of the dwarves making up the first 4 squads enter the dungeon before it decided to move, and instead of heading in the opposite direction, it slowly followed the dwarves into the dungeon. Yes, it had been watching the whole operation from the outside of the dungeon!

“Hold steady and drive them back! Do not let the enemy come out into the open. We must keep them at bay!” Serina was giving orders to the 5th squad.

With absence of Calb and Kormor, the leadership of the squad obviously fell on her hands. She knew that there would be some delay in time before Calb and Kormor returned, once the operation started, but she didn’t expect them to come out so quickly. She had thought that, upon the start of the operation, there would be the initial few that would want to run away at any signs of danger, followed by those that are disheartened after having realized the futility of resisting the enemy, but it was far from what she had thought. They all came at once!

The 5th squad came to a valley to the north of the mountain in which their city Tovon was built. It took them about 30 minutes to arrive at the present location. Initially, the dwarves thought that the information regarding the entrance was mistaken because all they saw were plain of grass with one, lone, giant evergreen tree in the middle of the plain. However, once they approached the tree and took a better look, what they found was a big circular stone with the diameter of 2.5 meters embedded underneath a 5 meter diameter tree trunk, facing opposite of Tovon. There was no doubt in their mind that this was the entrance.

“Alright, let’s get set up. They should have started the operation right about now,” suggested Serina to the dwarves. “I don’t need to remind you that Lameans are blessed with their innate martial arts ability. Don’t let your guard down when the battle starts!”

“You don’t need to worry about us missy, we are veteran soldiers! Looking down on your enemy is the first and last mistake in the battle for death,” dwarf number 1 responded with confidence, and he was about to say something else, but he was interrupted.

“Look, something is happening to the stone,” the dwarf number 2 pointed to the door.

“Looks like that is our cue! Be safe all of you.” Serina readied herself, as well as the dwarves.

“Let them come! I will mince them down.”

The circular stone flickered, and then, it started to illuminate the surrounding with increasing intensity, and as if it had exhausted all of its mana it gave a final flash with a nearly blinding intensity. What, then, followed was a horde of armed bandits rushing out of the, now, immaterial doorway while the dwarves were still recovering from the effects of the light. The bandits had the heads up on them!

“Hold steady and drive them back! Do not let the enemy come out into the open. We must keep them at bay!”

“Arrrgh! Come, you ruffians! Taste my battle axe!” Dwarf number 3 roared with battle cry as he charged to meet the oncoming bandits.

“Die you puny little dwarves. How dare you break into our hideout? You will pay!” A headstrong bandit swung down with his sword at the rushing dwarf number 3. He knew that, even though the dwarf was rushing at him, the blinding spot - the light residue, from the circular door would still remain in the dwarf’s eye to distract him. That meant that they would be less than optimum, at least, for a couple of minutes. Therefore, he knew his sword will meet its target, but as his sword neared the dwarf, the dwarf had pulled out a shield, big enough to cover his whole body, out of his stomach and blocked his sword. Before he could ask “How could this be possible?” the dwarf’s battle axe landed on his chest and he breathed no more.

Just as dwarf number 3 pulled out his shield from his belt buckle, the rest of the dwarves readied their shield as well. Normally, they would not have equipped their shield in a small skirmish such as this, for the sake of an offensive battle, but because their vision has not been cleared of the blinding spot, they all resorted to defensive battle instead.

As for Serina, not being able to rely on her eyes for a while, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the mana flow around her enemy, instead, to deflect all the attacks on her body with her staff. Until her eyes recover from the blinding spot, she could only defend.

“Oh Ho, what do we have here?” The bandit confronting Serina spoke in a mocking voice. “We have an expert on our hands.” He threw bunch of shadow swings at Serina with his club in order to confuse her. “I’m right here little missy. Oh nope, I am right here…nope. Right here. Not-huh, I am not over there, but over here.” The bandit was having a fun time.

Not to be pulled into the bandit’s taunt, she patiently held her guard. Then when her blinding spot cleared, she kept her eyes closed in order to do some taunting of her own. “Hey, retard. Is that all you know how to do? Run your mouth? You heard of a phrase that says, ‘People tend to talk during battle because they are scared?’ You have been running your mouth all this time instead of attacking. What are you, a wuss?”

“What?! You little bitch!” The bandit reared his arm back and swung his club with all his might, at least that was his intention. Even before his swing reached a halfway point, Serina’s eyes opened and the end of her staff was already next to his face, and before he knew it, he found himself completing his swing at an air, while his body itself was flying in the direction of a dwarf that had just sliced his opponent and was on a follow through with his axe.

“CLANG!” The bandit’s head met the blade of an axe, and the body landed motionless.

The dwarf, unaware of what just happened, looked at the dead body beneath him and looked back at Serina, and she just gave him a big smile with her body language saying, “I don’t know how that happened.”

‘Serina! There was an unexpected development! Are you okay over there?’ Calb, having exited the mountain, immediately called her on his PIDO while running toward the valley.

‘Oh Calb, is that you?’ Serina leisurely answered him while sending her enemy flying back into the entrance of the dungeon. ‘Everything is okay for now. We had a little scare in the beginning, but things are under control.’

Calb was relieved. ‘I am glad all is well over there. Hold on a while longer, I told the other squads to rush to your help. They should be at the rear of the enemy pretty soon to give you some relief. Of course Kormor and I will be there in a few minutes as well.’

Now that he got the report from Serina, Calb was a bit relaxed, and he turned to let Kormor know of the situation, but he noticed that Kormor was struggling, trying to stay with him due to his short legs. Not wanting to delay any more time, Calb called to him. “Kormor, I am running ahead. I will meet you in the valley, buddy.”

Calb accessed his PIDO and activated the present that Pleevon the Mage had given him. He started to feel churning of his mana from his mana pool, and his mana started to spread throughout his body in all directions. Once his whole body was enveloped in mana, his internal mana started to interact with the external mana from the nature. The interaction between the two different mana started to swirl in unison, and soon, twin whirlwinds formed on either side of him while his body still had a thin coating of mana that was still enveloping him. As the two whirlwinds swirled outward, and then, toward the back of him, the return motion of the swirl propelled Calb forward, as if he was shooting through the two tornadoes. Naturally, his speed picked up greatly, and he zoomed ahead of Kormor.

“AAArrr! Don’t go all by yourself and hog all of the fun for yourself! Be sure to leave some for meeeeeeee!” Kormor’s shout was lost in the wind.

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Well, Calb had revealed, yet, another skill that he gained through his PIDO. I am sure you all will reason out, there is much more upgrades left in PIDO, though not anytime soon.

Hope you enjoyed it!

-----MooShoo-----