< Would you like to name Aurora, the first member of your Ant Army, its commander? >
"Yes." Viel said.
< Aurora has been named the commander of your Ant Army. >
< She will undergo an upgrade. >
—--
< Aurora >
"If I see you slack, wait to be frozen!"
– Mutated Horned Army Ant
– Rank: 1
Health: 450 / 450
Mana: 250 / 250
Attack Type: Ice Elemental Damage
Strength: 100
Intelligence: 60
Vitality: 70
Agility: 100
Dexterity: 30
Title: Commander of the Prince's Army
< Commander of the Prince's Army >
– Increases the morale of allies within a 10-meter radius.
– Grants a 10% bonus to attack and defense of the troops under her command.
—--
After he demonstrated his strength in his duel with Aurora, some of the Common Ants asked him if they could join his army and after culling out the best from them he achieved his 25-member Ant Army.
Also, he was able to convince a Speedy Silver Ant, which he named Flasty, to join his Army. It was a Rank 1 Monster with a small, if not none, combat capacity. Its forte was its speed, it was the fattest monster in the Ant Colony.
Adding up all his current summons, subordinates, and so on, he has Ferto and Aurora; who were reaching Rank 2, Jör, who was in the middle of Rank 1, 25 Common Monster Ants and 10 Rank 1 souls that he could use to create 10 Rank 1 Monsters; who could be even more powerful than normal Rank 1 monsters depending on the object used.
Right now he only has the Defender's Blade that the family of Devlin, the town guard and former owner of the sword, gave him. But with the help of his master Randolph and his own blacksmithing abilities, he would be able to mass-produce objects to use his Animating Touch skill on.
He got out of the Ant Nest and commanded Flasty to take him to the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis territory. After getting there, he told Flasty to leave and summoned Jör.
After his two upgrades, his appearance changed significantly. He grew from nearly 40 centimeters in length to 120 centimeters. He became more substantial as if he had lost his ethereality. He was less transparent than before, and you could no longer see through him perfectly. Additionally, his scales, which were now of a purple color, became more visible.
"Hi Papa!" Jör said.
"Now you can talk!?" Viel exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes! What do you need me to do?"
"How great! Jör, I need you to turn invisible and check the surroundings to check if a mosquito swarm comes here. When you see it, follow them and let me know. Also, your Uncle Lux is here, if you see he's in danger, protect him." Viel explained.
"Ok Papa!" Jör said as he turned invisible, although Viel could see his silhouette, and went to complete his task.
Silently, Viel walked around to find Lux. After a few minutes of walking, he finally spotted him. He was observing the Graduation Ceremony of the Dwarf Party with Colette's party and other dwarves, just like in the novel.
Suddenly, Viel heard Jör's voice inside his head.
'Papa! A cloud of mosquitos is heading to where you are.' Jör said.
'Ok Jör, come here and secretly protect your Uncle.' Viel commanded.
Viel went to the nearest Ant Hole and told the Ant Guards there of the events.
As he said so, one of the Guards entered the nest. After a moment, two common ants came out and headed in the direction from which the sound of the dwarves running came.
"Tell Vermora that I won't forget this." Viel said as he bowed.
After that, he headed to the village. Tomorrow all his hard work will pay off.
—--
The next day, Viel went to the Plaza of Leaf Village because he knew that the party that was fighting yesterday with the Red-Eyed Mantis was going to try to bully his little brother, and he won't allow it.
"I heard that you brought back the corpse of the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis after it was killed by the Red-Striped Predator Mosquitoes. Is this true?" Frederick, the leader of the party asked.
"Yes," Lux answered. "However, the ones that dealt the killing blows were the dozens of Obsidian Mosquitoes which were all Rank 1 Monsters."
Frederick nodded his head in acknowledgment. "I know that you were not in the wrong, and simply took advantage of the situation, but it still didn't sit well with us. We can only stay here in Leaf Village for a little more than four days, but the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis might not spawn again before we leave this place."
"You can keep the Beast Core if you like, but we need the Terror Mantis' bladed claws and its exoskeleton. Can you give this to us as a sign of friendship?"
"And, if I refuse?" Lux asked.
"Hah? You dare refuse?" the Shield Warrior of the group shouted. "We are being civilized with you even though you stole our prey. If you are really an upstanding individual, you should hand the Beast Corpse over to us along with an apology!"
"That's right!"
"Augustus is right. The Terror Mantis is rightfully ours, you thief!!"
"Give us back what is rightfully ours!"
Seeing that it was the right time to intervene, Viel got near Lux and spoke.
"I didn't know that graduates have fallen so low as to force a junior to give them something they didn't even kill and were able to obtain. I think we should call you failed graduates." Viel said.
"And who are you?" Frederick asked with a frown.
"His big brother."
"This is not your place to intervene." Frederick advised Viel with a threatening tone.
"It will be if want it to be." Viel declared. "Why don't you buy them from him?"
"You dare! I don't know if you are brave or just stupid!" Augustus shouted with a sneer. "Selling something that originally belonged to us? Is this how Half-Elves operate?"
"Bastard!"
"Scum!"
"Thief!"
The Dwarves in the crowd that had encircled them were starting to murmur to each other.
Colette's group had also arrived at the scene and looked at the Half-Elf and Frederick with frowns on their faces.
Seeing that Colette was going to intervene he send a mental command to Jör, who was hiding in the crowd while being invisible, to tell Colette to stop.
Suddenly, she halted her steps and returned to her group as she winked at Viel, who was giving her a side-eye.
"How about we settle this with a duel? If you win, he will give you the Terror Mantis' bladed claws and exoskeleton." Viel said.
"Ok! What do you want if you win?" Frederick replied.
Viel turned his head and looked at his little brother while winking. Seeing his big brother, Lux laughed internally and answered.
"A favor from you and an apology from your party."
"Great." Frederick said. "We will owe you one favor that you can ask of us when you meet us again in the future."
"Fine." Lux said as he looked at Viel. "What are the rules?"
Frederick smiled. "All you need to do is defeat me…"
"And me!" Augustus interjected. "I also have a say in this. So you need to defeat me too!"
"Lux, do you believe in me?" Viel asked.
"Of course, Big Brother. I would trust you with my life."
"Would let me fight them? I have a plan, it's not that I doubt your abilities."
"Of course, but don't let the name of the family down."
"Ok, I will fight for him. In exchange, why don't you fight with your whole party?" Viel proposed.
"Fine, you are just digging your own grave." Augusts answered.
Viel declared a duel invitation directed to their party, and almost immediately, a small orb of light appeared in front of Frederick, as he was the leader of the party.
The young swordsman pricked his fingertip with a dagger and dropped a drop of his blood on the floating orb to signal his intention to start the duel. After receiving his blood, the orb flew toward Lux.
Viel bit his finger and let a drop of his blood on the floating orb. After receiving his blood, the orb flew toward them.
Every member of their party did the same and dropped their blood on the orb, signaling their agreement to the duel.
"I recognize this duel," a voice filled with Divinity said. "The fight will begin in thirty seconds. Make your preparations."
A countdown timer appeared on the surface of the orb signaling that the duel was about to start.
"Duel Start!"
As soon as the glowing white orb declared the start of the duel, both parties clashed against each other.
As the countdown timer reached zero, Viel unsheathed his sword, Faithkeeper, and readied himself for the fight. He dashed towards the party of dwarves, sword in hand, and clashed with Frederick, the swordsman. Their blades met, and sparks flew as they exchanged blows.
Meanwhile, Augustus, the Shield Warrior, positioned himself in front of the rest of his party, ready to defend them from Viel's attacks. The Spearman, mages, and shaman stayed back, casting spells and using their ranged attacks to weaken Viel.
But Viel was not alone in this fight. He summoned Ferto, the Arcane Protector, who charged forward to engage Augustus in combat. The two clashed, their weapons ringing out with every strike.
At the same time, Aurora, the Commander of Viel's Ant Army, charged toward the dwarves, unleashing a barrage of ice attacks. The ant monsters followed suit, swarming the two Mages and the Shaman, who were weaker physically, and thus destroying the party's long-distance support.
Ferto used his Arcane Nova skill, unleashing a burst of mana that shook Augustus, giving Ferto a chance to strike with his sword and leave the Shield Warrior incapacitated.
Meanwhile, Viel
'Now then, where should I attack first?' Viel thought as he fought Frederick.
'Damn! This bastard has good reflexes! How am I supposed to beat him?' Frederick cursed internally. 'He is fast enough to dodge my attacks…' Frederick thought as he dodged another slash by Faithkeeper. "Dammit! Why does he have such a powerful sword technique?"
Frederick tried to get closer to his opponent, but Viel kept dodging his strikes, forcing Frederick into a defensive position.
"If only I could use magic…" Frederick muttered under his breath as he cast a spell.
"Ice Storm!" Frederick unleashed a blast of cold air at Viel.
However, Viel was already prepared for this. As soon as Frederick released the spell he countered it.
"Kaizer Sword Art First Form" Viel said as he thrust his sword forward. "Piercing the Heavens"
Frederick tried to stop it with his sword. A metallic sound echoed in the Plaza, leaving a silence behind. But it was broken by Frederick's pained grunt, who had his shoulder pierced by Viel's sword.
He didn't aim for the heart or the head as it was a "friendly" duel and not a death fight.
"Duel Over!"
"Winner, Viel!"
"That was a good fight," Lux said with a smile as he gave a towel to his big brother to wipe his sweat. "Although we all started off on the wrong foot, everything can be settled if we all sit down and talk in a civilized manner. Since you want the Bladed Claw and the Exoskeleton, I am willing to sell them to your party at a 40% Discount on the market price."
"You can buy the Bladed Claws for thirty gold coins and the Exoskeleton for eighteen gold coins. How does that sound?"
Frederick immediately agreed to Lux's request because he understood that he was attempting to resolve things amicably. A high-quality weapon and armor could be made from these materials, so even though they still had to pay a total of forty-eight gold coins, this was already a very reasonable price.
Frederick offered his hand in a handshake and said, "You have a deal."
Lux firmly shook the dwarf's hand.
"Well, at least you will invite your brother and your friends to a meal, won't you?" Viel said while patting him on the back.
—--
In a house located inside Leaf Village…
"Find any information that you can about the Half-Elves." Robin ordered the Dwarves who were kneeling in front of him. "I want to know everything about them. Now, Go!"
""Yes, Sir!""
All the Dwarves left the house and headed in different directions. Since their master had given them an order, they would fulfill it to the best of their abilities.
"Lux and Viel Von Kaizer…," Robin muttered. "Just how did both of you arrive here in the Kingdom of Gweliven? Just what is your goal?"
Robin was very wary of Lux and Viel because his father had warned him that associating with children from other races would just lead to trouble. Of course, he didn't believe this advice completely because he hadn't met any other races in the Dwarven Kingdom of Gweliven.
But although he didn't know if other races could be trusted or not, he was still very curious about the Half-Elves who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"I will soon discover your true colors." Robin said softly. "If you are a threat to this kingdom... I will make sure you are never heard from again."