Chapter 37- Flaunting of Power

Dubs crossed the river and emerged from the water, completely dry. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration went off in his head.

"Repulsion!", Dubs shouted.

"Huh? What are you going on about now?", Alt asked, looking somewhat annoyed.

Dubs began whispering to himself. "If I can determine the source of the repulsion of energy from my body I can use it to create a rocket-like propulsion... perhaps even an osculating system... the uses are endless!"

Alt looked at Dubs dumbfoundedly. "Dubs, I have no idea what you're talking about. Didn't you just say we needed to hurry up and make our way north? Lets hurry up... if there are enemies to fight there then I can't contain my excitement..."

Dubs stopped thinking so deeply and snapped back to reality. "Ah! You're right, Alt. Lets get going."

Dubs began to conceal his emotions and silenced his movements. The two made their way across the hilly plain.

After crossing a few hills, they came upon a much taller hill and began to climb it.

"I can sense people...", Alt stated. "Many dwarves, a number of humans... all of the humans have a small amount of mana- they are most likely knights."

Dubs halted, and his dagger swung back and forth like a pendulum as a result of the abrupt change in motion.

"How close are we?", Dubs inquired.

"They should be just beyond the hill... however, they are most likely underground. It might be tough to find the entrance- there may not even be an entrance around here."

Dubs grinned maliciously. "Will that be a problem?"

Alt looked at him comically. "Haha! I suppose for the two of us that won't be a problem. If we can't find an entrance then leave it to me to make one!"

The two hiked across the hill, and to Alt's disappointment, they saw what looked like the entrance to a mine at the bottom of the hill. Minecarts full of minerals and resources were laid on tracks that were connected to the mine that dug into the hill and to another underground entrance in front of the mine.

The underground entrance where the carts were headed was most likely an underground 'highway' to the empire, connecting it to the mine.

Dwarves were pushing the heavy carts, and a few men in armor stood by with wooden bats.

"We need to hurry this up! If we don't get 30 tons of material moved by the end of the day then the landowner will have it in for all of us!", one of the guards shouted, as he took his bat and swung it at one of the slow working dwarves.

"What happened to that dwarven pride of yours, eh!? I thought you all were the strongest and hardest working race. Can you not handle a little bit of hard labor!?", the guard taunted.

One of the middle aged dwarves mumbled something under their breath. "Why don't you take a go at pushing these carts?"

The guard, who was on the other side of the track, held up his hand in order to halt the progress.

The dwarves stopped pushing and the guard walked over to the one who had commented.

"I'm sorry, I must be hard of hearing. Did I just hear you talk back to me?"

The dwarf looked at the ground and stood still, not saying anything.

The guard hit the dwarf in the back with the bat. Once, twice, three times, a swift cracking noise sounded with each hit.

The guard started going into a frenzy, and beat the dwarf senseless until he was kneeling on the ground.

"I'm sorry, did you say something!? I couldn't hear you. Was there something you would like to say to me? Perhaps you think that your treatment is unjust? I will have you know that you should be bowing at the feet of the knights, honored that you lower beings can perform such a role in the construction of the empire! And yet you have the insolence to talk back to a higher being!?"

The man then swung his bat again, but before it reached the face of the dwarf, which was covered in bruises and bloodstains, it was caught in mid air.

"Ah, Ah. Looks like we have a winner! Ding Ding Ding! Congratulations sir, looks like you've made it onto the naughty list. I will be taking you back with me, so don't try to resist. It will only result in more pain for you.", Dubs maniacally ranted.

With the bat in his hand, Dubs clenched his fist, breaking the tool in two.

"Wha-! Who are you!? How dare you interfere with this camp? I will have you know that you are going against the empire!!!", the man screamed as he began to hold his hands together, preparing to cast a spell.

Dubs slowly walked around the guard. All the other guards around them had already gotten into a fighting stance, ready to attack at any time.

The dwarves, who had stopped working shook in fear. "Are we going to get punished for this?", one asked.

"Please sir, leave here immediately! If you cause any more trouble we might all be killed!", one of the dwarves shouted to Dubs.

"Hoh?", Dubs stated as he slowly paced in a circle around the guard, who was gathering up his magical energy. "So you are all the type of trash who will kill anyone that you have power over for barely any reason?"

"It looks like I will have to teach you what it means to be powerless..."

The guard finished gathering up his magic and waved his hands about, casting an incantation. A series of icicles formed above the guard, and they all took aim at Dubs.

"You will regret messing with the magical knights of the empire! No matter how skilled a warrior is, he will not be able to compete with the magical knights!", the guard exclaimed, before shouting "[Ice shards!]"

The shards of ice flew off towards Dubs, 10 of them in total. Dubs remained still, and yawned as if he was bored.

"Is this all you've got?"

The shards smashed into Dubs, but before reaching his skin they all shattered into pieces, which flew off in scattered directions.

"You won't be able to hit me with that...", Dubs stated as he swiftly stepped over to the guard.

Before the guard knew it, Dubs was right in front of the guard's face. A look of fear came across the guard, and he reached for his sword. Before his hand could make it to the sheath, it was sliced off by Dubs and fell to the ground.

The man started to shriek in pain, holding up his handless arm, which spurted out blood profusely.

"Aghhhh!!!! My hand!! Kill this man, he does not deserve to live after doing this to me!", he ordered the other guards.

3 other guards charged at Dubs, and 2 of them stayed back and began to form up their own spells. Dubs weaved in and out of all of them, cutting off limbs. An arm here, a leg there. In an instant all 5 guards were on the ground in pain.

"Do you see this?", Dubs walked over to the leader.

"When you flaunt your power over others, you should be prepared for one more powerful to flaunt their power over you. Do you not agree?"

The leader grabbed his sword with his free hand and pointed it at Dubs. "You will never get away with this!! The landowner will find out about the incident you have caused here, and he will inform the emperor about your crimes! You will be outcast and never allowed to return to the empire again! When that happens, you will be at the mercy of the surfacers, who will surely kill you on sight as soon as you enter their territory!"

Dubs walked over to the guard and began to whisper into his ear. "Sorry bud. Looks like i'm already an outcast. Might as well take you and your guards out of commission to prevent an information leak."

Dubs used the back hilt of his dagger to knock the leader out, and stood up.

"Is there anyone left who wishes to debate my authority here?", Dubs asked.

The remaining guards, who had lost their limbs cried out in fear. "No, sir! We beg your forgiveness! We should not have flaunted superiority over the dwarves, and we should not have been abusive to them! Please forgive us! We were only following the orders of the leader."

"Is that so?"

The guards all pleaded. "Yes, it is true! We will never be abusive again!"

"If that is the case, then why don't I propose a deal to you all. If I am able to find someone to heal your wounds, what do you say you become servants of mine... you should be honored... honored to perform such a role in the construction of my empire... AHAHA!!!"

Dubs began to maniacally laugh, and his voice trailed off.

"So? What do you say?", he said threateningly.