VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 1

VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 1

[Human Realm – Kingdom of Lukas]

After harvesting the ancient trees, Lark’s group was finally on their way to the Dwarven Kingdom to deliver the first batch of elven oaks.

Of course, they didn’t forget to pick up Kel’ Vual in the capital along the way. The leader of the Arzomos Tribe was needed in order for Lark to successfully undergo his body reconstruction. The process itself was incredibly difficult, and without Kel’ Vual, it could turn more dangerous.

Kel’ Vual had just landed on top of Blackie’s back when a shrill cry, which turned out to be George singing his heart out, assaulted his ears.

The kid was utterly excited of finally visiting the famous Dwarven Kingdom that he even made a song for it.

The rhythm was completely out of sync, with no sense of timing. Whenever the kid tried to reach a high note, he would frequently squeak.

“Oh, they are the dwarves, with hearts of stone!

“The mountain halls, they made it their home!

“With their hands, they carved their own!

“So, raise your mugs, let the ale flow!

“We drink tonight, until we pass out!

“Hammer, strike, forge the steel!

“George The Quickcast is coming near!

“Your thick beards, I’ll pull them out!

“Dwarves of the mountain, fear George’s might!

“Wahahahaha!”

The first part of the song was quite decent, but the latter part quickly turned into a conceited mess of George putting himself on a pedestal.

“Pew pew, my fireball shot past!

“Pew pew, I am Quickcast!

“Bam bam! Come roll the drum!

“The dwarves nearby are in awe,

“Terrified of George,

“They dropped the hammer they hold!

“Pew pew! My spell is fast, my name’s George the Quickcast!”

Nearby, Austen was covering both of his ears, groaning and frowning, clearly annoyed by the incessant singing of his little brother. What George was doing was pretty harmless, and even Austen knew it would be too unreasonable to reprimand him for it.

“Hahaha! Kid, that’s quite an interesting song you’ve got there!” said Kel’ Vual, laughing.

Lark simply grinned, wordlessly agreeing to Kel’ Vual’s words.

Other people would probably find it annoying, but Lark and Kel’ Vual knew that this would later on become a fond memory they could look back to years from now.

“Oh, Uncle Kel!”

George was so engrossed with his singing that he didn’t notice Kel’ Vual joining them when they passed by the capital. Seeing his favorite uncle, George immediately stopped singing and approached the leader of the Arzomos Tribe.

“You’re finally here! So, it’s true then? You’re coming with us to the Dwarven Kingdom?”

Kel placed his large hand on top of George’s head and gently ruffled the kid’s hair.

“Of course, I’m coming with you,” said Kel. “Your master begged me to come, you see.”

“I didn’t beg you—”

“—He even cried, saying he needs me.”

Lark looked at Kel’ Vual, wordlessly telling him to stop blabbering nonsense. Of course, Kel ignored him.  

“Haaaah, what would your master do without me, eh? I was so moved by his tears that I had no choice but to come with you.”

“Ohhh! Body reconstruction, is it?!” said George. “I heard about it!” Master told us that he’ll be modifying his body!”

Now that George had stopped singing and the topic had turned into this, Austen joined the conversation.

“Uncle, this body reconstruction sounds dangerous. Nothing bad will happen, right?” said Austen worriedly.

Kel and Lark locked eyes with each other. Nearby, even Lady Alice and Chryselle looked worried.

“Of course it’s dangerous,” said Kel’ Vual.

“Then—”

“—But that’s what I’m here for. I’ll help your idiot master undergo body reconstruction safely, so don’t worry about it too much.”

Hearing those words, the brothers’ worries were alleviated somewhat. They’d come to treat Kel’ Vual as their real uncle – a family member – and they trust him with all their heart.

If Anandra was the grumpy grandfather who would always nag and punish them for even the smallest mistakes, then Kel’ Vual was the cool uncle who would visit his nephews every now and then to hand out presents.

Naturally, George and Austen loved spending time more with Kel’ Vual rather than with their senior disciple Anandra.

“Kel, did you pass on my message?” said Lark.

“I did,” said Kel’ Vual. “I’ve added the name of the Thunder Lord Nikolai to the Arzomos Tribe’s hunting list.”

Currently, there were three people on the hunting list of the powerful Arzomos Tribe.

First was Van Bucky, the Protector of the Rabbit Tribe.

Second was Hatch, the whale beastman.

And third was the Thunder Lord Nikolai.

All three were equally dangerous individuals, and Lark believed it would be best to leave them in the hands of the Arzomos Tribe in order to prevent unnecessary casualties on their side.

“The Arzomos aren’t really that enthusiastic about this job, Evander,” said Kel’ Vual. “Some of them even complained that it’s bothersome, so don’t expect too much.”

The Arzomos were free-spirited in nature. And although they respected Evander Alaester, they didn’t consider him their leader. If not for Kel’ Vual personally giving the order, the members of the tribe wouldn’t even bother going out to hunt those people. Even agreeing to protect Big Mona in the shadows wouldn’t have been feasible without Kel’ Vual personally ordering his members to do so.

“As always, thank you for the help, Kel,” said Lark.

“You helped my son assimilate his core before, so just think of it as me repaying the favor,” said Kel’ Vual. “But Evander, you should seriously consider creating an elite force for matters like these. You can’t just keep relying on my tribe for these trivial things.”

Although the three people on the hunting list were powerful individuals, for the Arzomos Tribe, capturing these mortals was a trivial matter they could easily achieve if they put their minds to it. Of course, it didn’t change the fact that it was a bothersome task for the demons.

“I know,” said Lark. “But it’s not like I can just train soldiers out of thin air.”

“Heh. You’ve had your chance before. You shouldn’t have been too greedy. You’ve used up all those quality corpses and got nothing in the end.”

Kel’ Vual was pertaining to the failed essence animation spell Lark had performed not long ago.

In his desire to create several strong Blackstone Knights on par with the Lord Knight, Lark had used up numerous abyss lurker corpses, eventually failing the ritual.

Even Lark regretted doing it, and out of sheer entertainment, Kel’ Vual made sure to remind him of his foolishness every time.

“Tsk, tsk,” said Kel’ Vual. “Imagine if you weren’t so greedy, Evander. You would have gained so many powerful living suits of armor under your command by now.”

This wasn’t the first time Lark had experienced failure, and he didn’t really feel disheartened at all even after using up all those corpses. Back when he was still Evander Alaester, he’d gone through numerous ordeals and had experienced countless failures, especially when he was younger. Instead of becoming a setback, those failures became his stepping stones to becoming the Arch Magus during the Era of Magic.

“There are no failures, just results to be learned from, Kel,” said Lark.

“Alright,” shrugged Kel’ Vual. “Yeah, if you say so.”

Kel’ Vual didn’t pursue the topic any further.

The leader of the Arzomos Tribe said through mental transmission, “The kids will be horrified if they see the body reconstruction process. Don’t let them see it, Evander.”

Without looking at Kel’ Vual, Lark also replied through mental transmission, “Of course, that’s a given.”

Although it was called reconstruction, in reality, they would be removing the bones in Lark’s body and replacing it with adamantite. And once that was done, they would infuse mithril fibers into his muscles, forcefully integrating it into the body of Lark.

It was a long, excruciating, and gruesome process. Even seasoned torturers would probably be horrified if they witnessed it. It went without saying that it would be traumatic for the kids if they saw it.

“Hey, tell me,” said Kel. “You don’t plan on undergoing complete body reconstruction, right?”

There was a hint of nervousness within Kel’ Vual’s voice when he asked this question.

Back in his previous life, the ones who’d helped Evander undergo body reconstruction were the Black Mages of the Magic Empire. The leader of the Black Mages – one of the strongest magicians of that era – was there, too, and he patiently guided everyone in the group during the entire process.

Currently, Lark had only Kel’ Vual to help him. And honestly speaking, although his control over mana was outstanding, the leader of the Arzomos Tribe didn’t have much experience when it came to these things.

Demons had inherently strong bodies. Naturally, they never had the need to reconstruct their bodies.

“I’ll do it one at a time, Kel. So don’t worry.”

Lark’s reply made Kel heave a sigh of relief.

Even Lark knew that if he underwent full body reconstruction immediately, the chances of him surviving would be nil.

“So, which body part is it?”

“I’m thinking of reconstructing one of my arms first. It’ll be a good start. We can practice with it. And if things go South, I can just cut the limb off and regrow another one with the help of a potion.”

Kel nodded approvingly. When he learned that Lark had wasted all of the abyss lurker corpses, he’d been worried that his friend had become reckless. He was worried that he would undergo full body reconstruction out of desperation. Thankfully, Lark was still as sensible as before.

Their group flew for hours, and eventually, they reached the border of the Dwarven Kingdom.

Kel stared at the translucent barrier enclosing the mountains, but didn’t utter a word. He also noticed that although the barrier was thin, it was quite stable due to the elemental core serving as its medium.

“Woah! That’s the Dwarven Mountains?!”

George shrieked upon seeing the massive mountain range from the distance.

“It’s so huge! It looks so different when seen from above! And it’s so different from the books! How… how majestic! Even from above, I can’t see its end!”

Arcturus, who’d been flying at the back, started moving in front.

“King Lark, allow me to enclose everyone with my mana,” said Arcturus.

Like his father, the young Dragon wanted to make sure that their group could safely pass through the barrier. It would be too shameful if Lark’s group was rejected by the Heavens Dominion, and they ended up colliding with the translucent shield.

After receiving Lark’s go signal, Arcturus enveloped their group with his mana. They passed through the barrier smoothly and finally arrived at the outskirts of the Dwarven Mountain Range.

“Woah! Woah! Woah!”

George kept mumbling in amazement as their group kept flying east, toward the incredibly massive city containing millions of houses.

This colossal city was Rugard, the Dwarven Kingdom. At the center of this city was their capital.

“Should we stop by the Lair first? I’m sure my father will be glad to see you,” said Arcturus to Lark.

One of the reasons why Arcuturus suggested this was to see his little brother’s expression. He was looking forward to the face Agnus would make once he saw the elven oaks they’d harvested.

The hatchling must be seething with rage by now after falling into Arcturus’ schemes.

He must be furious and frustrated that he could no longer accompany King Lark on his journey.

“We’ll be making several more trips after this,” said Lark. “There’s no need to bother them for now.”

Due to the sheer size of the elven oaks, the Scylla and the Dragon could carry only one each at a time. Based on the blueprints, they would need dozens just to complete the base platform of one floating castle.

Hearing Lark’s reply, Arcturus was inwardly disappointed, but didn’t show it on his face.

“Understood, King Lark.”

With the Dragon at the lead, they flew toward a three-story stone building surrounded by a massive clearing – it was the workshop gifted to Gorovir by the dwarven royal family.

True to his words, Gorovir had recruited over a thousand workers and accepted several more disciples. From above, Lark’s group could see the dwarven workers moving about like ants, each of them working on their assigned tasks.

“A-Above!”

“It’s the Great Guardian Deity!”

“M-Master Gorovir is right! T-They really came!”

The moment the workers saw the Scylla and the Dragon, they trembled in fear and awe. They stopped whatever they were doing and prostrated on the ground.

Lark’s group landed next to the workshop. The elven oaks the Dragon and the Scylla were carrying struck the ground, creating a loud thud, and sending dust and rocks flying about.

After being briefed by the legendary blacksmith regarding their roles, the dwarven workers knew that Lark’s group would soon come to deliver elven oaks.

Still, they didn’t expect the elven oaks to be that big!

They were thrilled by the appearance of the Dragon, but they were also stunned by the colossal elven oaks.

If not for the fear ingrained to them since they were young, the dwarves would have stared at the Dragon and the elven oaks by now.

Gorovir came running out of the workshop, together with several of his disciples. The moment he saw the elven oaks, he gasped.

“Good heavens! Are those really elven oaks!”

Lark laughed. The blacksmith’s expression was so genuine like a child.

“It’s been a while, Gorovir,” said Lark. “I’ve come back to fulfill my promise.”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Gorovir couldn’t stop trembling. He’d expected the elven oaks to be massive, but he never expected them to be this big! Looking at the elven oaks before him, it felt as though the elven oaks he’d read about in books before were nothing but saplings.

Lark grinned. “Didn’t I tell you? You’ll be surprised once you see them. These elven oaks have been untouched for over a thousand years. Not only that, they all grew near a dragon vein, absorbing the rich ambient mana in the surroundings.”

Gorovir subconsciously salivated.

“This… this is amazing! With this, we can create a very strong base platform that wouldn’t crumble even when hit by powerful spells!”

Gorovir started touching the elven oaks. After realizing that Lark had purposely not used any spells to uproot it, rendering it untainted by mana, he nearly shrieked from excitement.

“Gasp! I-It’s pure! Untainted by external mana! Y-You’re Majesty, words can’t describe how moved I am right now!”

After that, Gorovir became lost in his thoughts and dreams, uttering numerous technicalities like assimilating it with the engine core, overflowing it with mana, etc.

The legendary blacksmith only snapped out of his mumblings when Lark asked him a question.

“Gorovir, how’s the mining of adamantite in the Bottomless Gorge?”

Hearing that question, Gorovir’s face distorted.

“About that…”

Gorovir deeply frowned.

“We’ve yet to properly mine the adamantite.”

Blackie and Arcturus showed displeased expressions when they heard this.

It had already been half a year, but the dwarves still haven’t mined them?

Lark asked, “What’s wrong?”

Gorovir sighed and began telling Lark the truth.

According to him, after Lark’s group left, the First and Second Weapons Factory immediately started mass-producing all the necessary mining equipment. At the same time, the dwarven army secured the transport routes leading to the deepest parts of the Bottomless Gorge.

Everything had been going well until one day, a powerful creature appeared.

This creature, shrouded in mystery, had the ability to command all of the monsters of the Bottomless Gorge. It was quite intelligent and with its cunning manipulations, it caused devastating blows to the dwarven army, killing thousands of warriors over the span of several months.

“A mere monster? What were father and mother doing?” said Arcturus.

If it were his parents, Arcturus believed they could easily take care of a mere monster.

“Forgive me for saying this, but the monster is really intelligent,” said Gorovir. “Whenever it sensed the presence of the Guardian Deities, it would hide itself and wait until the Dragons have disappeared.”

Lark and everyone in his group finally understood why the dwarves were having a difficult time mining the adamantite.

The number of monsters in the Bottomless Gorge was endless. And with an intelligent monster commanding them, it would be extremely difficult to subjugate them.

According to Gorovir, Vulcan even went as far as assign Agnus to escort the caravan transporting the mined adamantite. But to their utter horror, the monsters of the bottomless gorge poured in waves and destroyed the carts without any regards for their lives.

Gorovir lowered his head in shame.

“I apologize, Your Majesty,” he said. “You must have come here expecting to finally be able to undergo the body reconstruction, only to hear of this news.”

After uttering his apology, Gorovir steeled himself, fully expecting Lark to be indignant and vexed that the dwarves had failed to complete the task assigned to them.

But to his surprise, Lark wasn’t angry at all. On the contrary, he seemed pleased for some strange reason.

“An intelligent monster capable of commanding the monsters of the Bottomless Gorge?” said Lark.

Kel’ Vual already knew what was on Lark’s mind.

And the next words uttered by Lark proved he was right.

“Kel,” said Lark happily. “It seems I can still create a living suit of armor on par with the current Lord Knight.”

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Author’s note: The final volume will have more chapters compared to the other books and will also include side stories.