268

Year 265

More Lumoof’s Travels

“Another one.” Lumoof nodded, as he checked his equipment. “Where’s Kafa?”

“On the way.” Stella nodded. “Though I’m sure you will be enough, we do want to increase our team’s experience.” The void lady smiled. Kafa and Edna both walked in.

“Both of you?”

Edna shook his head, but Kafa nodded. The new lizardfolk domainholder was ready. An exploratory trip to a new world. Most of the time, it was Stella, Edna and Lumoof that did the visits. But Stella found more than one world, and so, there would be another team. Roon, Ezar and Edna would go to the other one.

Stella had to be on standby for the demon meteor shower. Stella’s [void explorers], now three of them, moved faster. There would come a time where they’d most likely discover more worlds than they could explore safely. “Ready?”

“Never.” Lumoof chuckled.

“Off you go anyway.” Stella laughed, and the void portal sucked them through.

***

They landed in what appeared to be a lush field of greenery, teeming with life. Bugs. Insects. Kafa looked around, and sniffed. “I sense a great disturbance in the fabric of reality.”

Lumoof nodded, as he felt it too. He expanded his senses, tapping into the grass and the bushes, and felt it instantly. It was very far away.

Reality. Both of them experienced how it felt to have reality tear apart before their eyes. There were ripples everywhere. Something is wrong. And they both know it.

But this world shouldn’t be like that. Lumoof reached out and sensed the world’s core, and felt it intact. Lumoof briefly looked up to get a sense of their location. This world, discovered by the [void explorer], was not linked to any others they know. But it was linked to three other worlds. There were paths they could see.

Kafa tensed, sharing Lumoof’s vision of the stars. “But there are no demons?”

“Then what could it be?” Lumoof looked back, as a cloak of magic appeared around him. To most people, he was as good as invisible. Kafa’s scales transformed, it’s lustrous scales functioned as if they were the scales of a chameleon, shifting color to match its surroundings.

Camouflage.

The pair rushed through vast forests and fields of animals-

They moved, sensing the unusual disturbance in the reality of space. But as they got closer, they began to sense the source of it. It felt like powers similar to the void.

“A native void mage?” Lumoof said.

It was not impossible. Void mages can occur naturally. If there was some kind of people like the Zaratans-

Lumoof’s eyes widened. The information was relayed through the artificial mind network and they returned with a confirmation. It matched most signatures. “Zaratan.”

It was a land of life, but as they sped up, they heard the roar of battle.

“Attack the creature!” The command came from a dwarven warlord of somekind, surrounded by an army.

There was a gigantic Zaratan in a half-dried lake, attacked by the natives. The natives were dwarves, and they had cannons. Those weapons bombarded the Zaratan, and the Zaratan attempted to defend itself with the use of void magic. But it was clearly injured, there were multiple deep cuts that had rotted throughout its body and signaled the presence of combat some time ago. It’s use of void magic was different from Stella. It twisted reality in order to deflect the shells.

Lumoof landed nearby and quickly tapped into my network of minds to figure out what was happening. We connected with all the leaves and surviving plants in the battlefield, and listened to the dwarven attackers.

“How long before we can cut this turtle up and make weapons out of its shell?” One of the dwarves complained to the other.

“A bit more. Its magic is waning. This is it flailing at its last breaths.” Another of the dwarven attackers said.

The lord commanded. “Keep attacking. We must not let this opportunity go!”

The connected grass focused on the aides and sycophants around the Dwarf Lord. It’s always lucky that aides and shoepolishers exist to recite the plan to everyone present. “With the [Void] turtle’s body, we would be able to attack the [void] creatures in the depths and reach the ores. We’ll finally be able to match the other Dwarven Lords in power!”

Lumoof looked at Kafa. “I’ll provide aid to the Zaratan. Hold them off.”

Kafa nodded, and in a blink, he was gone.

The dwarves’ cannons attempted another volley of attacks, but they all smashed into a magical shield. The lizard warrior activated a magical item that contained [shield] spells, and landed in front of the Dwarven army.

“Cease this attack at once, and I’ll let you live. Continue, and I will not be merciful.” Kafa said with practised arrogance. His domainholder’s aura radiated outward-

Lumoof landed right next to the surprised Zaratan. “Careful, Kafa. The weight of your domain can hurt this injured Zaratan.”

The dwarves froze in fear.

“Old Zaratan, allow me.” It’s throat and neck was injured, but the moment Lumoof’s hands touched it’s body, a link in the mind was established.

It sent an explanation. This place was a trap. A place with just enough surface water for Zaratans to warp in, but not enough to provide cover or protection from their foes.

Through Lumoof, my healing energy spread into the Zaratan’s injured body. I felt his memory, and he shared attacks. We recognised some of them, and it soon explained through it’s thoughts. Demons, men, dwarves, mermaids and the trogs. This Zaratan has been attacked many times.

I shared thoughts of our own. Vallasira, the first Zaratan we met, and the old giant zaratans. Stella, and the void mages. I felt it’s relief, and instantly, it’s resistance to my healing energies faded. My healing powers now moved unrestricted, and began to mend it’s old wounds.

Healing injured old giants from old wounds would prove tough for even level 100 healers.

But I’m almost a god, and so, this was easy.

The dwarves stared dumbfounded, as they watched the injured flesh of the Zaratan heal before their very eyes. Regenerated.

The Dwarven Lord couldn’t move. Kafa’s presence made them freeze. Though Kafa was one, he had an ability to create little shadow copies of himself, and now those shadow copies were at the necks of the leaders.

The Zaratan healed in about twenty minutes, and its voice regained. Its telepathic voice was linked to its throat, as if the means of projecting its message was in the throat.

“This Sundhilla thanks the Tree’s avatar. A friend of my fellow Zaratans is a friend of mine.” Sundhilla spoke, fully healed. No longer injured, it no longer needed to warp reality around itself, and could resort to regular defenses.

“Our paths were enabled by your brethren. Without their guidance, we wouldn’t be able to reach the stars.” Lumoof answered. “It is nothing.”

“Such is the eternal cycle.” Sundhilla spoke. “Avatar of the Tree, please touch my head again. I shall transmit a gift for your aid.”

Lumoof did, and instantly, I felt it transmit a copy of its memory of the local star system. A star map of the local area, with notations. I shared it with Stella instantly. “Much appreciated.” Lumoof responded.

“May it lead you closer to the goals you seek.” The Zaratan said. “I shall now take my leave.”

The Dwarven Lord struggled. “No! You must not let it leave! We need it’s body! Without it, we cannot deal with the dark creatures beneath us!”

The Zaratan shrouded itself in a cloud of mist, and in a blink, it vanished. Lumoof landed back on the dried lake. Lumoof walked to the Dwarven Lord, and this time, Lumoof didn’t bother hiding his aura. The entire dried lake shook, as water seemed to pop out of the dried lake. “-I’m saving an old friend. Do you have objections?”

The entire dwarven army paled. The lord answered, his muscular legs wobbly. He whispered. In response. “-no, great one.”

“Good. Now you will take me to your city, and tell me everything.” Lumoof said. “And show me these dark creatures you speak of.”

“-what?” The dwarven lord shrunk. This was going to be hard to explain.

This was a world of dwarves. There were no one other than dwarves in this world, and so, Kafa horrified them. Kafa, a lizardman, in their eyes, was a monster. Lumoof, with his tall height, looked like a giant dwarf.

The dwarven lord reluctantly led them to the city of Greyhold. Not only did they return empty handed, they had to bring the potential enemy back home.

***

“Who are these people?” The Dwarven Lord’s court was filled with hushed whispers. “That man is so tall, but his companion- he is a monster?” Lumoof didn’t need much help to spy on those around him. The Dwarven City was built into the mountain, and there were remains of old tree roots that he could easily tap into.

“Creatures- guests.” The Dwarven Lord of House Greyhold clarified. “Of the other worlds. They were able to speak to the Void Tortoises.”

Zaratans. Void Tortoise. There were different names for the same things. We’ve called this world Dwarfworld, but we soon discovered they called it Delvegard, home of the delvers.

“And you bring them back?” One of the ministers of the Lord said.

“They will kill us if we don’t.” One of the aides defended the Lord.

“And risk the life of all who live on Greyhold?”

But we didn’t need interactions to learn about these people. With roots, with trees, we stalked the city and soon learned of the existences of magical mineral veins in Delvegard. The mineral veins all produced unusual types of metals, but they were also protected by the creatures known as the Darklings.

Void weaponry, made from the body of the Void Tortoises, was one means of defeating the Darklings. The other was the use of the Hero weapons. Heroes. There were heroes here, but the last demon king came to this world about 70 years ago.

Lumoof chuckled to himself. “If Stella was here, perhaps she’d be a goddess.”

“Or any of our void mages.” Kafa nodded. They were given the most beautiful guestrooms, and they were escorted into an area.

Thankfully, these dwarves of Delvegard were quite straightforward in their dealings. The actual meeting with the Dwarven Lord went as expected, at least, they didn’t tell a lie, just an omission of truth.

Darklings were creatures twisted by the void, and that was because in the depths of the Core. The magical minerals came in a few variants. First, was Sunsteel. These were the most rare ones, and they could only be found in the deepest of the magical mineral veins, where the presence of the darklings was highest. They didn’t know how it was made, but when Lumoof held the sample in his hand, it felt familiar.

“-this looks like the base component of the Sunrings.” Lumoof repeated. It wasn’t in it’s processed form.

Next, was Sunmetal. It was an inferior form of the Sunsteel, where the ratio of those unusual metals had not been properly formed. They were found on the outer areas of the magic veins.

Then the last one was the Dark Ore. These were often found around Sunsteel and Sunmetal, and they had intense light absorption abilities. Sunsteel and Sunmetal were excellent weapons, incredibly magically conducive, durable and could store way more magical enchantments per size.

But they had a downside. Once formed, they were not very easily recycled or remade. The magical enchantments were baked into their structure. Melting Sunsteel turns them back to Sunmetal, and melting Sunmetal turns them back to ordinary metals. With each process, they turned into lesser, more mundane variants.

Even the purity of Sunsteel varied. Because even making them into an equipment required a bit of processing, and each additional process weakened the natural qualities of Sunsteel. Most crafters that work on Sunsteel, essentially did it through a process called Cold Forging, where the metals are cut using a type of ice crystals.

Kafa looked at Lumoof. “I believe we need lady Stella here.”

“I believe we do.” Lumoof said.

The dwarven lord proceeded to narrate why these metals were important. This, in many ways, was a typical dwarven society, with a heavy emphasis on crafting, technology, and equipment. Sunmetal and Sunsteel, were critical for their prosperity, because it allowed creation of equipments capable of delivering more for less.

Most crucially, they allowed the creation of the strongest of the Dwarven War Machines. The Giant Spiders.

Lumoof frowned at the mention of war machines, and asked to see one.

The Dwarven Lord gulped. “We only possess two.”

“I will not harm them.” Lumoof said.

The War Machines were gigantic weapons. They were smaller than the Demon Walkers, but big enough that they were easily one of the largest weapons. But their design was surprisingly elegant and slender. It reminded Lumoof of one of Aeon’s memories. A Protoss Colossus from Starcraft.

“We pack as much Sunsteel as we can onto these things.” The Dwarven Lord of Greyhold explained. There was a Dwarven Engineer who walked over.

“And these are your most powerful weapons of war?”

“Yes.”

Lumoof once remembered Stella and the heroes spoke of a world that ran on steam and pipes. Of machines made of steel. But looking at the machine in front of him, it’s slender legs and small body, it didn’t match what Stella told him.

Lumoof knew that Alka could’ve made something better. Easily. In combat ability. Or design. But to achieve the same power to weight ratio, it would require a fair bit of high level craftsmanship that only those in the level 100s could achieve.

“Do you all not have crystal weapons and crystal equipment?” Lumoof asked, curious.

The dwarves look at each other. “We do- but we mostly use them as a magical storage to power the Sunsteel’s Enchantments.”

Lumoof’s eyes watched, and the artificial minds quickly analyzed the data. It was likely that they needed Sunsteel for the hinges, because the Sunsteel offered significant performance without weight. The legs and hinges of the War Machines were slender structures, only possible because of Sunsteel.

My priest looked back at dwarves. “And why do you need these weapons of war?”

“Well, other dwarves, of course!”

The dwarves of Delvegard were territorial, and frequently fought brutal wars. They tried their best to negotiate, but once war broke out, all combatants would pull out all their stops. In short, when they went to war, it’s all or nothing.

Kafa was shocked to hear that the dwarves were so brutal and ruthless. “They are nothing like the Mountainworld’s dwarves.”

“A different history.” Lumoof commented. “History is a shadow, forever looming over the psyche of society.”

Kafa nodded. The two sat in a room.

“What do you think of this world, Kafa?” Lumoof asked.

The lizardfolk closed his eyes. “Hungry for war.”

“Not that. How is this world valuable to us? Or it is not? That ultimately depends whether we intervene or not.”

Kafa’s eyes opened. “-Patriarch Lumoof, that is a question that is worth-”

“A million lives. Probably more.” Lumoof smiled. “Our type of engagement is vast. Ignore and do nothing, which is the least engagement. Then, there’s a trading relationship. Then, as a colony or vassal state of some kind. And at the end, full domination.”

“There’s also the friendliness of that engagement. Do we engage the locals? Do we ignore them? Do we send our own people because we can’t trust these guys? Do we- enslave them?”

“Surely not.” Kafa reacted at the last word.

“I know. But the range of engagement remains present. It is a choice, even if a choice we do not like.”

Kafa thought of that conversation with Edna. This was truly the weight of their task. They were now the eyes and ears of the Order, and the Order was a machine that would consume worlds. “We need more information.”

“That is also an option.” Lumoof smiled at the younger domainholder.

“What- what would you do, Patriarch Lumoof?”

“I will first propose a friendly relationship. A trading relationship to buy these Sunmetals and Sunsteels from these dwarves.”

Kafa paused. “Given how critical it is to their war-”

“They are unlikely to agree. If the Sunsteel proves critical to our war, they will therefore need to be conquered. Or at least, we will need to establish our own presence, and start mining these Sunsteel using our own forces.”

“-Is the Sunsteel that important?” Kafa interjected. “It doesn’t seem like it would be.”

Lumoof waited. Kafa was right. It’s not critical, but good to have. “No. We have alternatives. But let us propose a trade, and we’ll see how these dwarves react.”