Chapter 168
168 Planning
The dwarves didn’t just use the mountain range as a refuge, but also as a weapon of mass destruction.
When the humans invaded the central mountain range, the dwarves retreated and let the humans invade as far as the third mountain, before releasing the weapon they kept hidden.
Without any warning, toxic fumes began to rise through the mountains as the temperature rose by several degrees. Earthquakes started before the mountains erupted. making humans belatedly realize that they were actually inactive volcanoes.
The dwarves redirected the magma flows to power the forges of the capital and major cities, but the dwarves could return the natural flow of magma whenever they wanted.
Needless to say, the expedition was completely annihilated. All ground troops were burned alive or intoxicated by toxic gases. Even mages capable of flight were unable to escape, as the dwarves used spells on a massive scale to separate the element of air and water from the world’s energy.
At that time, there were no teleportation crystals yet, so the only way to escape was to escape by air or by land, and both escape routes were sealed off. Hundreds of thousands were killed on the expedition and many precious artifacts were lost.
No one survived the expedition and fearing retaliation, the order sent emissaries to negotiate peace. In the end, the dwarves agreed to make a non-aggression pact with the order and the church, after receiving compensation for being invaded for no reason, of course.
It was one of the biggest stains in the order’s history and kept secret. The church was even sterner in keeping the expedition hidden, as its teachings were against any kind of interaction with inferior races.
Having a peace treaty with a nation of dwarves after trying and failing on an expedition would go against everything they taught and would make their believers doubt their teachings.
.....
It was a legend buried in history for humans, but it was just a story to scare children for dwarves.
“So the order of magic and the church had this kind of secret. It’s unexpected, but we can talk about it another time. For now, we should think about how to deal with the dwarf village in the mountain.” Treevor spoke after Durui finished telling the story of the human invasion.
“Is there anything to be discussed? If half of that story is true, it’s impossible for us to invade the mountains without getting killed. We have no means of defending ourselves against lava, or whatever large-scale spells the dwarves have hidden.” Emília spoke, strongly denying the idea of attacking the dwarves.
“You don’t have to be such a coward every time. Our master isn’t here anyway, so he won’t be hurt no matter what we decide here. Besides, we don’t have to worry about the lava. It should take days, if not weeks, to redirect the lava flow to the farthest mountains.” Treevor snorted at her dismissively.
“The real danger would be large-scale spells, but Durui can tell us what to expect.” Astrus nodded at Treevor’s opinion, before turning to the dwarven skeleton. “You were a sentry in your village, right? How are the mountain’s defenses?”
“The only entrance to the village...it’s close to where... we were ambushed...after entering...there’s a labyrinth of underground tunnels...and only one entrance leads to the village...as for spells large-scale... there are three in total.” Durui explained slowly.
“And what are they?” Treevor asked impatiently. The labyrinth wouldn’t be a problem since they would have a guide, but their invasion plan would change depending on enemy defenses.
“The first is a...detection spell that...covers the entire mountain...and 20 meters above the ground...is active at all times...The second is an offensive spell...which mixes the element of fire and earth...creating a pool of magma in the tunnels.” With those words, all skeletons sighed and glared at Treevor.
“Okay, I admit, I spoke too soon. I’m sorry, okay?” Treevor raised his arms apologetically and waved Durui on.
“The last spell is earth element...and it’s self-destructive...causing an earthquake all over the mountain...and burying the village.” Durui explained, but it raised questions.
“Wait, why cast a large-scale spell to destroy the village? Wouldn’t it be better to add one more offensive spell or create a barrier to protect the village?” Emília asked confused, but it was Treevor who answered her question.
“Remember, this is a village, not a fortress. It is likely that in case of attacks, they will evacuate the dwarves while using the defenses just to buy time.” Treevor spoke with conviction.
“Think about it. They can detect enemies as soon as they start climbing the mountains and are forced to waste time looking for the entrance to the village. After finding the entrance, they would have to waste time in the underground labyrinth and suddenly be bathed in boiling lava. .” Treevor explained, making the other skeletons realize the genius of the dwarves’ plan.
“Even if they somehow cooled the lava, it would turn to stone again and block the passage, forcing the invaders to waste even more time digging their way into the village. That would give more than enough time for all the dwarves to evacuate and take with them everything important.”
Treevor burst out laughing as he spoke, imagining the frustrated faces of humans who had tried to invade in the past, only to remember that he was planning to do the same thing.
“All the invaders would find would be an empty village and after entering, everything would collapse on top of their heads, preventing the fleeing dwarves from being pursued. It’s simple but functional. How do you plan to invade?” Emília completed her explanation and turned to him.
“Is there a hidden spell that blocks teleportation?” Instead of answering her, Treevor turned to Durui and asked.
“Teleportation?” Unfortunately, the dwarf was unfamiliar with the term and didn’t understand what it meant.
“If you don’t know what it is, you’ve already answered my question. I wonder if there aren’t any inside the mountains or if their leaders keep them for themselves.” Treevor wondered, but his plan was already laid out.
“You know, I’ve noticed a pattern in our plans. We’ve always used teleportation crystals as our main weapon. I think we should try other strategies, or that dependency could come back and bite us back in the future.” Emilia commented on how simple Treevor’s plan was.
She was sure it would work, but she couldn’t deny that it felt repetitive.
“Keeping it simple isn’t a bad thing. But if you have a better idea, let me know.” Treevor waved her on.
“It’s not a better plan, but I think it would be a good idea to leave teleportation as a last measure, instead of using it as a foreground. We can enjoy and test strategies, as well as train against new enemies.” Emilia was serious.
“Makes sense. Let’s try it your way, but keep the crystal in case of emergency. It would be pointless to train against enemies if they just bury us alive after all.” Treevor agreed with the idea and changed his plan.
With Athos away from the fortress, he had almost absolute authority over the skeletons, the only way for the skeletons to disobey him was if they had prior orders from Athos.
“So, who are we going to take? Just our current group or do you want to add someone else to the invasion? I think we should invade with a small elite team, instead of using the whole army.” Treevor began to list skeletons that were powerful among the army but had yet to receive a promotion.
“Personally, I want to bring that small team of adventurers that faced me yesterday. They were powerful enough to face me at my peak in terms of physical strength, so I’m sure they’ll be useful.” Treevor recommended the brothers Roy and Ruy, as well as the mage Olivia.
“How about Colonel Orus? He’s my brother and even though he can’t use magic, his skill with weapons is superior to mine. I’m sure he won’t let you down.” Astrus chimed in and tried to further his brother’s.
“I guess that’s it then. I thought I’d call that bishop too, but I think he’s better off leading a unit of mages than an individual fighter.” Treevor said and summoned all the aforementioned skeletons to a meeting.
The skeletons appeared within minutes and Treevor wasted no time, giving the command of 1000 skeletons each and breaking their minds.
Treevor summarized their next quest and the skeletons were glad to have the chance to prove themselves.
“Now that we’ve decided on our team, let’s come up with a concrete plan to invade the dwarven village. We’ll leave as soon as my willow is recovered, which won’t be long.” Treevor spoke and began planning, but Astrus stopped him.
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“Sorry to interrupt, but there’s something that’s been bothering me for a while. I ignored it until now, but how is that dwarf speaking our language? Aren’t dwarves supposed to have a language of their own?” Astrus was really confused by this.
“We dwarves are an... intellectual people, though humans... portray us as blacksmiths... who love to drink and feast... our basic education includes... the study of the language of other... species, beyond our own language.” Durui explained and resolved his confusion.
They spent the next half hour discussing the plan until they reached a consensus and then another full hour until the corrupted willow recovered enough to be able to fight, though most of its abilities were still unusable.
Treevor led the skeletons as soon as the willow recovered, not wanting to delay even a second longer. He feared that the dwarves had already started the evacuation and it would be impossible to pursue them. The sun was already high in the sky when they left.
‘Now that I think about it, the boss must still be halfway to the enemy stronghold. I wonder what kind of crazy plan he’s going to use to destroy the place,’ Treevor thought as he ran towards the mountains.
***********
The dwarves didn’t just use the mountain range as a refuge, but also as a weapon of mass destruction.
When the humans invaded the central mountain range, the dwarves retreated and let the humans invade as far as the third mountain, before releasing the weapon they kept hidden.
Without any warning, toxic fumes began to rise through the mountains as the temperature rose by several degrees. Earthquakes started before the mountains erupted. making humans belatedly realize that they were actually inactive volcanoes.
The dwarves redirected the magma flows to power the forges of the capital and major cities, but the dwarves could return the natural flow of magma whenever they wanted.
Needless to say, the expedition was completely annihilated. All ground troops were burned alive or intoxicated by toxic gases. Even mages capable of flight were unable to escape, as the dwarves used spells on a massive scale to separate the element of air and water from the world’s energy.
At that time, there were no teleportation crystals yet, so the only way to escape was to escape by air or by land, and both escape routes were sealed off. Hundreds of thousands were killed on the expedition and many precious artifacts were lost.
No one survived the expedition and fearing retaliation, the order sent emissaries to negotiate peace. In the end, the dwarves agreed to make a non-aggression pact with the order and the church, after receiving compensation for being invaded for no reason, of course.
It was one of the biggest stains in the order’s history and kept secret. The church was even sterner in keeping the expedition hidden, as its teachings were against any kind of interaction with inferior races.
Having a peace treaty with a nation of dwarves after trying and failing on an expedition would go against everything they taught and would make their believers doubt their teachings.
.....
It was a legend buried in history for humans, but it was just a story to scare children for dwarves.
“So the order of magic and the church had this kind of secret. It’s unexpected, but we can talk about it another time. For now, we should think about how to deal with the dwarf village in the mountain.” Treevor spoke after Durui finished telling the story of the human invasion.
“Is there anything to be discussed? If half of that story is true, it’s impossible for us to invade the mountains without getting killed. We have no means of defending ourselves against lava, or whatever large-scale spells the dwarves have hidden.” Emília spoke, strongly denying the idea of attacking the dwarves.
“You don’t have to be such a coward every time. Our master isn’t here anyway, so he won’t be hurt no matter what we decide here. Besides, we don’t have to worry about the lava. It should take days, if not weeks, to redirect the lava flow to the farthest mountains.” Treevor snorted at her dismissively.
“The real danger would be large-scale spells, but Durui can tell us what to expect.” Astrus nodded at Treevor’s opinion, before turning to the dwarven skeleton. “You were a sentry in your village, right? How are the mountain’s defenses?”
“The only entrance to the village...it’s close to where... we were ambushed...after entering...there’s a labyrinth of underground tunnels...and only one entrance leads to the village...as for spells large-scale... there are three in total.” Durui explained slowly.
“And what are they?” Treevor asked impatiently. The labyrinth wouldn’t be a problem since they would have a guide, but their invasion plan would change depending on enemy defenses.
“The first is a...detection spell that...covers the entire mountain...and 20 meters above the ground...is active at all times...The second is an offensive spell...which mixes the element of fire and earth...creating a pool of magma in the tunnels.” With those words, all skeletons sighed and glared at Treevor.
“Okay, I admit, I spoke too soon. I’m sorry, okay?” Treevor raised his arms apologetically and waved Durui on.
“The last spell is earth element...and it’s self-destructive...causing an earthquake all over the mountain...and burying the village.” Durui explained, but it raised questions.
“Wait, why cast a large-scale spell to destroy the village? Wouldn’t it be better to add one more offensive spell or create a barrier to protect the village?” Emília asked confused, but it was Treevor who answered her question.
“Remember, this is a village, not a fortress. It is likely that in case of attacks, they will evacuate the dwarves while using the defenses just to buy time.” Treevor spoke with conviction.
“Think about it. They can detect enemies as soon as they start climbing the mountains and are forced to waste time looking for the entrance to the village. After finding the entrance, they would have to waste time in the underground labyrinth and suddenly be bathed in boiling lava. .” Treevor explained, making the other skeletons realize the genius of the dwarves’ plan.
“Even if they somehow cooled the lava, it would turn to stone again and block the passage, forcing the invaders to waste even more time digging their way into the village. That would give more than enough time for all the dwarves to evacuate and take with them everything important.”
Treevor burst out laughing as he spoke, imagining the frustrated faces of humans who had tried to invade in the past, only to remember that he was planning to do the same thing.
“All the invaders would find would be an empty village and after entering, everything would collapse on top of their heads, preventing the fleeing dwarves from being pursued. It’s simple but functional. How do you plan to invade?” Emília completed her explanation and turned to him.
“Is there a hidden spell that blocks teleportation?” Instead of answering her, Treevor turned to Durui and asked.
“Teleportation?” Unfortunately, the dwarf was unfamiliar with the term and didn’t understand what it meant.
“If you don’t know what it is, you’ve already answered my question. I wonder if there aren’t any inside the mountains or if their leaders keep them for themselves.” Treevor wondered, but his plan was already laid out.
“You know, I’ve noticed a pattern in our plans. We’ve always used teleportation crystals as our main weapon. I think we should try other strategies, or that dependency could come back and bite us back in the future.” Emilia commented on how simple Treevor’s plan was.
She was sure it would work, but she couldn’t deny that it felt repetitive.
“Keeping it simple isn’t a bad thing. But if you have a better idea, let me know.” Treevor waved her on.
“It’s not a better plan, but I think it would be a good idea to leave teleportation as a last measure, instead of using it as a foreground. We can enjoy and test strategies, as well as train against new enemies.” Emilia was serious.
“Makes sense. Let’s try it your way, but keep the crystal in case of emergency. It would be pointless to train against enemies if they just bury us alive after all.” Treevor agreed with the idea and changed his plan.
With Athos away from the fortress, he had almost absolute authority over the skeletons, the only way for the skeletons to disobey him was if they had prior orders from Athos.
“So, who are we going to take? Just our current group or do you want to add someone else to the invasion? I think we should invade with a small elite team, instead of using the whole army.” Treevor began to list skeletons that were powerful among the army but had yet to receive a promotion.
“Personally, I want to bring that small team of adventurers that faced me yesterday. They were powerful enough to face me at my peak in terms of physical strength, so I’m sure they’ll be useful.” Treevor recommended the brothers Roy and Ruy, as well as the mage Olivia.
“How about Colonel Orus? He’s my brother and even though he can’t use magic, his skill with weapons is superior to mine. I’m sure he won’t let you down.” Astrus chimed in and tried to further his brother’s.
“I guess that’s it then. I thought I’d call that bishop too, but I think he’s better off leading a unit of mages than an individual fighter.” Treevor said and summoned all the aforementioned skeletons to a meeting.
The skeletons appeared within minutes and Treevor wasted no time, giving the command of 1000 skeletons each and breaking their minds.
Treevor summarized their next quest and the skeletons were glad to have the chance to prove themselves.
“Now that we’ve decided on our team, let’s come up with a concrete plan to invade the dwarven village. We’ll leave as soon as my willow is recovered, which won’t be long.” Treevor spoke and began planning, but Astrus stopped him.
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“Sorry to interrupt, but there’s something that’s been bothering me for a while. I ignored it until now, but how is that dwarf speaking our language? Aren’t dwarves supposed to have a language of their own?” Astrus was really confused by this.
“We dwarves are an... intellectual people, though humans... portray us as blacksmiths... who love to drink and feast... our basic education includes... the study of the language of other... species, beyond our own language.” Durui explained and resolved his confusion.
They spent the next half hour discussing the plan until they reached a consensus and then another full hour until the corrupted willow recovered enough to be able to fight, though most of its abilities were still unusable.
Treevor led the skeletons as soon as the willow recovered, not wanting to delay even a second longer. He feared that the dwarves had already started the evacuation and it would be impossible to pursue them. The sun was already high in the sky when they left.
‘Now that I think about it, the boss must still be halfway to the enemy stronghold. I wonder what kind of crazy plan he’s going to use to destroy the place,’ Treevor thought as he ran towards the mountains.
***********
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