"That is all…

"

Inside a spacious white hall, a dwarf put a small file on top of a desk and stepped back.

"Looks like the situation is still stable.

"

There were multiple people inside the hall; sitting on a large oval wooden desk. One of them grabbed the papers and read through them; he was a bald old dwarf. He wore circular black-framed glasses and had thick black brows.

"We've only suffered minor casualties so far, an' tha city hasn't been breached.

"

"…at least for now.

"

Someone else added.

With long hair cascading down his back and pointy ears, the man was an elf. His hair was primarily of golden color, however, if one looked closely, they'd noticed a few silver strands in his hair.

A regal aura exuded from his body.

Opening his mouth, his melodious voice rang throughout the whole room.

"Although the situation looks stable for now, we never know what might happen in the future. It's best if we don't get overconfident with the result of the first wave.

"

"I agree with Nasir.

"

A deep and powerful voice sounded, and the table slightly shook.

The voice belonged to an orc whose physique was at least double that of any of the individuals present inside the hall.

His terrifying eyes could make any regular person faint in fear.

"We should not be arrogant with our results.

"

Putting the papers down, the bald dwarf from before opened his mouth.

"Yroh, Nasir, although I understand what yer trying ta say, dinna be so pessimistic, we still haven't activated tha city's main defensive system yet.

"

A proud smirk appeared on the dwarf's lips as soon as he mentioned the city's defensive system.

And rightfully so.

Everyone in the room knew just how powerful the dwarves' defensive system was. That was because the dwarves never shied away from showing it off to the others.

Although they didn't know the full extent of its capabilities, from what they saw, it was no joke.

If not for the fact that it consumed a lot of energy, the dwarves would've already used it by now.

"Once tha system be up, we won't have ta worry aboot those demons for a while.

"

"…but don't you think that the demon's movements are a bit suspicious, Belgig?

"

This time another person spoke up.

He appeared to be an old man well into his eighties. His long white hair gently cascaded down his back, and his long white beard reached down towards his chest. The only unordinary thing about him was probably his temperament. He wore a kind and warm smile on his face, making him look friendly to those around him.

He was Douglas, the headmaster of the Lock.

"They indeed be, Douglas, me best guess be that they're trying ta infiltrate tha defensive system an' shut it down.

"

"...That would be pretty problematic.

"

The bald dwarf's response caused Douglas to frown.

Belgig, which was the name of the bald dwarf, quickly reassured.

"Don't worry; we've already taken countermeasures for this.

"

"You have?

"

"Yes, but I'll have ta apologise in advance for nae telling ye anymore than this.

"

Raising his brow slightly, a look of understanding appeared on Douglas's face.

"Understandable.

"

Smiling kindly, he stopped asking questions.

He understood what Belgig was trying to imply.

'No one could be trusted.'

For there could be someone present in the room that was secretly working with the demons. It was best to have the least amount of people know about the ins and outs of the defensive system.

Tap.Tap.Tap.

Tapping on the table, Belgig suddenly recalled something. A sly smile appeared on his face as he looked at Douglas.

"On another note, now that I'm talking ta ye Douglas, I want ta thank ye.

"

"Thank me?

"

Douglas tilted his head in confusion.

He didn't remember doing anything notable enough to warrant any gratitude.

Douglas's reaction caused Belgig to raise his brow.

"Are you perhaps not aware of what happened in the northern area?

"

"Northern area?

"

Douglas's brows knit. After a while, he shook his head.

"No, I apologize.

"

"Is that so?

"

Belgig frowned and looked towards the corner of the room where another dwarf stood.

Waving his hand, he beckoned for him to come to him.

"Oy, you there. Show Douglas the video of the northern tower incident.

"

"Yes.

"

Taking out a small device, the dwarf placed it in the middle of the table and a holographic projection soon appeared in front of everyone.

Tapping on the device, a video soon began to play.

"Here you go, sir.

"

"Thank you.

"

Dismissing the dwarf, Belgig began to look at the video. Although he had already seen this before, he couldn't help but want to watch it again. It was very entertaining.

Besides him, the other people also curiously watched the video that was playing.

Furthermore.

Turning his head, Belgig amusingly looked at Douglas.

He wanted to see his reaction.

"Huh?

"

It was then that they witnessed the outstanding scene that happened in the northern tower. From how those at the towers beautifully defended the place with the massive spell, to Ren, Ava and the other's defending the western area of the tower by themselves.

The video lasted a total of ten minutes, and by the end of it, some couldn't help but compliment.

"Not bad.

"

"Though lacking, they aren't bad at all. They also look quite young.

"

"They are quite the talented humans.

"

Although the battle wasn't anything in their eyes, it was still quite an entertaining watch.

At that moment, whilst everyone was lightly praising the youths, the only one who wasn't was Douglas, who looked intently at a certain youth on the screen.

'Where have I seen him before?'

***

"We're here.

"

Separating from the others, I followed the orc from before down the stairs of the tower. Towards the utility center.

"The utility center is located at the bottom of the city, towards the third level, and connects with each of the towers on the walls.

"

As I followed the orc; named Ghorloz, he started explaining to me the ins and outs of the place.

Every time he spoke, his deep voice shook my eardrums.

If not for the fact that the orc knew the human language, I would've had trouble understanding him.

"It isn't strange for weapons to break during wars...krr...Especially since we're facing a lot of opponents...krrr...The Utility center is an area created with the purpose of providing a place for us soldiers to our weapons fixed fast.

"

The only trouble was the slight nasal sounds that came from his nose whenever he took a breath.

"We can also get a replacement right?

"

I asked, genuinely curious about the prospect of buying a new weapon rather than having it fixed.

Ghorloz nodded his head.

"Correct, if beyond repair, you can have a new one made, or replaced...krrr...You must use achievements points to pay for anything here.

"

"Achievement points?

"

"It's...krrr...the payment system used over here.

"

—Clank!

Reaching the bottom of the tower, Ghorloz opened a large metallic door. As soon as he opened the door, a wave of hot hair brushed past my skin. A strange pungent smell also lingered in the air, prompting my nose to involuntarily close up and my face to grimace in disgust.

"Ugh.

"

It seems like I was the only one not used to the smell as Ghorloz continued to leisurely move forward.

"The more demons killed, the more achievement points awarded...krrr...Achievement points are used to reward those that contributed a lot during the war....krrr...Also a great way to motivate soldiers.

"

Catching up to him, I asked.

"How do I check my achievement points?

"

Ghorloz halted his steps.

Then, looking at me, he asked.

"You want to check your achievement points?

"Yeah.

"

I nodded.

'If it's like he said, I should have some points, no?'

Though I didn't know the exact number of demons I had killed, I definitely should've killed enough to get a decent number of points.

"Follow me.

"

Hurrying my steps, I followed Ghorloz from behind. Because he was at least twice my size, each step he too was about two or three of fine, making it hard for me to keep up. But this was nothing to me.

Before long, we soon stopped in front of a large board. From where I was, I could see a long list of names displayed on it.

However, because a large crowd formed around the board, it was hard to see the full names of the people as they obstructed my view.

"Krrr...Step aside and let other people see.

"

If not for Ghorloz paving a path for me with his big body, I would've had a difficult time checking the leaderboard.

Soon the board appeared in my vision, and I was able to catch a glimpse of it.

"The list over here ranks individuals by achievement points...krrr...It goes from 1 to 1000.

"

Putting his large hand on my shoulder, Ghorloz squinted his eyes and explained.

Similarly looking at the board to see whether my name was on it, I muttered.

"How do they know how achievement points we have?

"

"The dwarves' technology is much more advanced than you think...krr...Something as simple as counting how many people you killed is nothing to them.

"

Ghorloz answered without taking his eyes off of the board.

He was trying to see if his name was there.

"I see...

"

I silently muttered.

What he said made sense. No, rather, my question was stupid.

"Krr...do you see your name anywhere?

"

"Give me a second.

"

Squinting, I thoroughly checked the board. It didn't take me long to find my name, as it was quite far up.

===

Ren Dover | Rank - 209 | 17 kills - 574 achievement points |

===

"Ranked 209, that's not bad.

"

I did not expect to be ranked so highly if I had to be honest.

Since there were many more powerful people than me, and I did not have any real AOE skill, this was honestly quite a good rank. I was satisfied.

"574 achievement points, that is not bad...krr

"

Ghorloz said from the side.

"What about you, what rank are you?

"

"Just a bit below you, rank 278, with 507 points.

"

"Not bad, what can I buy with those?

"

Sounded like a lot of points to me. Perhaps I could even buy myself an artifact.

Unfortunately, Ghorloz was quick to pour cold water on me.

"Not much as of yet, since the cost of repairing a regular sword is just as much...krr...It's still a good amount of achievement points for the first wave.

"

"...That so.

"

I inwardly clicked my tongue.

The fact that the number of achievement points I had was only good enough to repair my sword was a bit disheartening, but on a good note, I could still use money to repair my sword.

Since I had a few to spare, might as well use those and save the points for later.

Having both spotted our names, Ghorloz turned around and once again beckoned me to follow him.

"Follow me; I'll bring you to a blacksmith.

"

"Thanks.

"

***

Kracka! Kracka!

Bolts of lightning continued to tear the sky apart. Blocking the sunlight; a dark grey cloud hung in the sky. Rain began pouring down like torrents, limiting the vision of everyone present.

Kracka!

Another lightning sounded.

Standing on top of the northern tower, was a petite girl; the girl was Ava. Pressing both of her hands by the side of the wall, she silently gazed at the massive veil of rain. Lost in her own thoughts.

This continued for a couple of more minutes before she sat down on the ground and took out a small pale green flute.

'The flute of Artemis.'

At first, she was sceptical about its abilities.

What Ren had said was just too good to be true.

But now that she had it, she realized that what Ren had said was true. This was a true game-changer for her.

As of right now, she could only control three animals with the flue, that was excluding her two other pets.

Furthermore, according to Ren, in the future, once she got the flute repaired, she would be able to tame more.

For that, she couldn't wait.

'I've changed didn't I?'

A wry smile appeared on Ava's lips.

If it was half a year ago, Ava would've never have had such thoughts. Thoughts about wanting to become stronger.

The only reason she used to train hard was because she didn't want to let her parents and family down.

Although they never looked down on her, Ava never felt uncomfortable at home.

How could she?

Everyone was so successful, yet, she wasn't. It made her feel insecure, and almost felt suffocating. Although she did enrol at the Lock, she knew that she couldn't make it far with her monster tamer profession.

That was just how she saw it not too long ago.

It was this insecurity of hers that led to her shy character.

However, that was the past.

Standing up, a faint smile appeared on Ava's lips.

'It's fun.'

The prospect of getting stronger was fun. The prospect of going out from the human domain was fun. The prospect of feeling free was fun.

Everything felt new to her, and she couldn't help but look into the future with excitement.

Just how much stronger could she become?

—WHIIIIIII! —WHIIIIIII!

Suddenly, disrupting Ava out of her thoughts, the sirens began to sound. Following this, someone shouted.

"Everyone get ready, the second wave is coming.

"

Gazing into the distance, Ava's hair blew away as a terrifying pressure bore down on everyone that was present on the tower.

Without a doubt, this wave was going to be much harder than that previous one.

Even then.

She was not scared.