Chapter 38- Interrogation

Dubs took a glance at Alt and asked him, "Alt, is there any way you can make it such that these people are able to see your body?"

Alt smiled menacingly. "I can do that easily. The reason they are unable to see my current form is because it is composed primarily of an invisible element, however if I create a form of a more visible element they will have no issue viewing me, assuming I don't use any stealth techniques."

Alt's shadow form shifted, and the dark energy seeped into the ground. Flowing up from the ground came some light brown earth particles, which swiftly replaced the purple shadow form.

When the shadow form had been completely replaced with earth particles, Alt looked up to see the guards terrified at what they had witnessed.

"M-monster!!", one of them screamed.

One guard, who had lost an arm as opposed to a leg, began to run away, stumbling. "I.. I have a family! I cannot die in a place like this! They are waiting for me at my home!"

Alt frowned, disappointed, and his face became filled with rage. The earth form shifted into a cloud of dust, and blew along with the wind to swiftly make its way over to the fleeing guard.

After Alt had caught up, he once again took a humanoid form and began to lecture before performing a spell.

"And what of the families of the dwarves that you drove to slavery? Are your words only true for yourself? If so, why is that? Because you are more powerful? Because you are superior?"

The man flinched back and tears began to flow from his eyes, a look of terror focused on Alt. "Stay away from me, monster! Get back!"

"You are the real monster here. I am simply giving you a taste of your own medicine.", Alt exclaimed, thrilled, before he began to bloodthirstily cast a spell.

"[Earth slice]', Alt chanted as a blade of dust chopped off the head of the fleeing guard. The head fell to the ground, and let out one last shriek before the man died.

Alt shifted into a cloud of dust and traveled back to where Dubs was, with the other 4 guards.

"If you wish to run, be my guest", Dubs stated. "Whether trash dies here and now, or lives to help me achieve my goals, I could care less. I can say with absolute certainty-though- if you run, you will not be allowed to live."

Four guards remained. Two of them had an arm chopped off, and two of them had a leg chopped off. None of them dared to move a muscle.

"It looks like we have come to an understanding.", Dubs stated.

Alt took his place beside Dubs, and Dubs asked Alt "What are the statistics on these men remaining, and what of their leader, who was killed?"

Alt began to rant off numbers.

"Each of these men are magical knights, trained in one particular element of magic. Their strength, agility, and perception all range from 2-4, and the leader has approximately 4 of each. Their magical controls for their respective elements are placed at around 20-30% for the lower echelon knights, and the leader had a control of 45%. Resistances for each member ranges between 10-25% for their respective element of mastery."

Even physically, Dubs was around 3-4 times stronger than these knights, and while they did have a higher amount of magical control than he did, Dubs had a complete resistance to all elements, while the knights only had partial resistance to the element they had mastery in.

"Your energy density for non-dark magic skills is currently at 7.5 Majoules per cubic centimeter. The magic produced by these knights just now was at a measly 1 Majoule/cm^3.", Alt critiqued.

Dubs looked at these knights. "And to think that you are considered to be the upper echelon of the empires warriors... look at you! You have been put to shame by a mere test subject like myself! Worry not, though, for I am not evil. I am willing to forgive you of your transgressions and spare your lives, if you are willing to work towards the establishment of my empire."

The knights all looked at each other nervously, and one spoke up.

"What must we do, then?"

Dubs smiled. "To begin, I will interrogate one of you. If I determine that you all will not prove useful- or that you may become a liability, then I will most likely rid myself of the burden of keeping you alive... hehehe"

The guards shivered, and Dubs pointed to the one in front. "You there. Come with me. Alt, keep an eye on the others.

"I am missing a leg! How am I supposed to go with you!?", the man screamed.

"So noisy...", Dubs exclaimed. Waving his hand, a shadow form engulfed the area where the mans leg should have been. "Use this prosthetic leg for now. We will deal with the other issues later."

The man stood up and looked at his leg. He couldn't see the prosthetic, but he could feel it there, as if it was pulsating with life. "What is this!?", he shouted.

"Stop asking questions. Follow me.' Dubs ordered, annoyed.

The man obediently followed.

Dubs took the man over to the mine entrance and the two sat on some stools that the guards had been using to relax while ordering the dwarves to do the busy work.

"Lets start simple. What is your name and position?", Dubs asked.

The guard began to fearfully speak. "My name is Arctus Windfulm. I am a soldier in the 3rd squadron of the empire's magical knight army. I served under Captain William Debraust, who has now been killed."

Dubs nodded. "And what is the purpose of the 3rd squadron?"

Arctus continued. "The 3rd squadron is in control of the mining operations. The landowners give us the authority to use slaves to perform these tasks, however if the tasks aren't completed then the squad faces disbandment. If a squadron is disbanded, the empire has made it explicit that knights who cannot prove their worth will be executed as a potential threat."

Dubs nodded. "I see. Now, let me explain something to you, Arctus. Do you believe it is fair to use those who are weaker than you for your own advantage?"

Arctus nodded his head from side to side. "No, I do not. However, I do not have the power to go against the captain, and even if I did, I could not hope to face the knights of the first platoon. Even if I managed to escape, I would be banished to the surface, which is more dangerous than any punishment the empire could put on me..."

"And what if you had the power to overthrow the corrupt system that is in place, for a new system that doesn't abuse the weak?", Dubs inquired.

"Of course, that would be wonderful, but it is certainly unrealistic. I have seen your strength, and admit that it is great, but you cannot possibly hope to go up against the entire empire on your own! It would be foolhardy!", Arctus warned.

"Do not worry about these things. The empire does not currently realize that I even exist, and much less that I am a threat. In due time, I will use the power of science and magic to build up an army to take on the empire. In the meantime, I will keep a low profile- however part of keeping a low profile includes silencing anyone who knows of my existence. Do you understand?"

Arctus nodded quickly. "I understand."

"If you all agree to become a part of my empire, I will guarantee your protection, and I will only allow you to harm those who are trash- those who are willing to use their power against the weak. Our empire will be one where the strong protects the weak.", Dubs lectured, excited.

Arctus gave everything some deep thought. "I... I have always been too weak to disobey my superiors... I have always thought that what we were doing was wrong, but somewhere along the line I convinced myself that it was a necessary evil... I wish to assist you! I will convince the others as well, I am sure they all have the same sentiments as I do!"

Dubs grinned. "Well then, Arctus, I leave it to you."