48. Territory Construction (1)
Wayne wanted nothing more than to head straight out and hunt down that electric eel monster, Mriric, but first he had to relocate the dwarves to what would become his territory—the ancient dwarf kingdom. Of course, they also needed time to get accustomed to the 2nd class Gigant Predator.
As Wayne released Snow's hand, her face lit up with relief.
"Phew! The Odd Hole in my heart won't disappear now. And with this much Odd, I can easily pilot a 3rd class Gigant."
"Worth sticking around a few days for. But like I said, this is just temporary. You need to steadily breathe in Odd to optimize your whole body for it...!"
He skipped the part about emulating Count Boltain. Odd training methods varied from person to person, but at the pinnacle of the empire, Count Boltain and King Karian's Odd were like twins. From the aura they exuded, there was scarcely any difference from when King Karian had mastered the 8th stage Odd breathing technique.
'Too bad, but it's time to go.'
Wayne had spent the past four days at the Reinhardt bridgehead construction site in Dresden territory. For one simple reason: to complete Snow's Odd Hole.
He had mountains of work ahead, but once he left, he wouldn't see Snow for a while—and her Odd growth was important to him too. Fortunately, she'd succeeded in forming her Odd Hole far faster than Curtis or Sera. With Cassnet's swordsmanship to burn through her Odd completely, her reserves would grow quickly now.
"I'm sorry. Because of me, you couldn't move out right away..."
"Come on, we're not strangers."
"Pardon?"
Snow's cheeks flushed slightly, her expression flustered. They'd spent a lot of time alone in the tent, and rumors were already swirling through the unit. Wayne had told her the Odd Hole creation was their secret, so she couldn't explain—and everyone was thoroughly misunderstanding.
Seeing her embarrassment, Wayne chuckled. He couldn't tease anyone else like this, but with Snow, he still wanted to.
"So, you're leaving today?"
"Yeah. I'd love to stay longer, but..."
"Please take care. The Great Forest is a treacherous place."
"Worried about me now? Thanks!"
"It's not empty words. You need to stay healthy until I can repay your grace and offer my aid."
"Haha! Got it."
Wayne really wanted to rest more, but with so much to do, he had no time. "And next time we meet, make sure you're a brigade commander."
"Right. Grow fast and become my secret weapon."
"Secret weapon?"
Snow looked puzzled again.
"Just keep climbing the ranks diligently, and someday you'll have a chance to help me. Don't turn away then."
"As if I would."
She said that, but who knew what the future held? Still, planting this debt now might earn him help in a critical moment.
"Gotta go. The dwarves have waited long enough."
"Yes..."
And so he parted from Snow. Bridgehead construction would take time, so the dwarves had returned to the mountains first, planning to reunite here in a fortnight with 700 warriors.
That day, Wayne piloted the 2nd class Gigant Predator with the dwarves toward the Sierra Mountains.
Great Warrior Brock approached.
"The dwarves are ready!"
The dwarves had finished preparing to leave their beloved village.
"Wayne! Carrying all this luggage and food over the mountains to the barren lands is too reckless!"
"Indeed! We have to cross rivers, and there are children— we need to lighten the load."
"Who's crossing the mountains?"
"What do you mean?"
"We're going to the dwarf temple!"
"Wayne! The temple is in the opposite direction."
"Right! We'd have to go even deeper up!"
The dwarves looked baffled.
"There's a path there! Trust in our ancestors' legacy!"
"You mean the Steel Golems?"
"No! The great legacy of our dwarf ancestors is right here too. I'll explain at the temple!"
Dubious but obedient, the dwarves headed for the temple. It had been built by their ancestors, driven into the Sierra Mountains by humans long ago, and was used jointly by all dwarf clans.
Wayne entered first and began scanning the floor.
'It should be around here somewhere...'
Before meeting the dwarves, he'd eavesdropped via Eleven on their gatherings. Brock had mentioned an engraving on the temple floor identical to the shape of the king's hammer, Yol Das. So there had to be a keyhole somewhere...
'Found it!'
His guess was spot on, but it left a bittersweet pang. Wayne led the dwarves inside.
"Wayne! Why bring us to the temple? Where's the ancestors' legacy?"
Chieftain Yulih had followed Wayne's lead without question until now. But this made no sense to him. And as his clansfolk increasingly heeded Wayne over him, unease stirred.
"Chieftain Yulih! Have no doubts! I am the one to carry on the ancestors' legacy. The dwarves' heritage is mighty!"
Wayne raised the king's hammer, Yol Das high. Infusing it with Odd, it began to gleam. He fitted it into the floor's indentation shaped like the hammer.
Tzzzz! Crackle-crackle!
Yol Das flashed, and suddenly the eight pillars supporting the temple lit up one by one.
"What in the world?"
"The whole temple's lighting up!"
Soon the glow faded from the outermost pillars inward, leaving only the two innermost shimmering—with a vast, translucent ripple undulating between them.
"Ooh! That's the Valhalla Gate!"
"Sound the trumpets of ascension! The Valhalla Gate is open!"
"Valhalla! Wooaaah!"
The dwarves erupted in fervor.
Wayne stepped forward. "I, the inheritor of the ancestors' legacy, declare: This is called the Valhalla Gate, but it does not lead to Valhalla."
Priest Huldra spoke up. "Wayne! What do you mean? This is an ancient dwarf legend. When the king prays, the ancestor gods respond with lightning upon the temple, opening the Valhalla Gate to take us to Valhalla!"
"Huldra! It's called the Valhalla Gate, but it's actually an instant teleport gate to the ancient dwarf kingdom!"
"Instant teleport gate?"
"What's that?"
The dwarves murmured, exchanging glances. It looked exactly like the gate to Valhalla, yet Wayne said otherwise—confusing.
"I'll go first!"
Brock stepped up. "If this leads to Valhalla, I ascend and won't return!"
During the days traveling to the Sierra Mountains, Wayne had steadily taught Odd to Brock and smith Aelga. With their Odd doubled, they trusted him utterly and followed his word blindly.
Brock strode to the Valhalla Gate. "Dignity to the dwarves!"
"Valhalla!"
He shouted and vanished into the translucent waves.
"Brock entered the Valhalla Gate!"
"A true great warrior!"
"My head's big too—think I can fit?"
"No! You haven't killed enough foes!"
The dwarves chattered about the gate. But Brock didn't reappear immediately.
"He really went to Valhalla?"
"But that's good, right?"
"Yeah! I'll go see!"
"Me too!"
"Valhalla!"
Then Brock reemerged.
"What? He's back!"
"I, Brock, pillar of the heavens, declare: Beyond lies the ancient dwarf city. Our ancestors' legacy is mighty!"
"Ooh! So we can reach the barren lands in one go?"
"Waaah! Dwarves are mighty!"
"To our ancestors' city!"
From the Sierra Mountains to the barren lands was at least a month and a half's trek—longer with children. But this gate took them straight there. Perfect.
"Priest Huldra!"
"Speak, inheritor of the ancestors' legacy!"
"Distribute the buildings around the palace evenly among the dwarves, and manage the clan's communal property separately!"
"Understood, Wayne!"
"Great Warrior Brock!"
"Speak."
"Take the young warriors, open the main gate, and secure the perimeter! Send out scouts—goblins might be nearby!"
"Understood, Wayne!"
"The roads are well-made, so it'll be easy to find. And Aelga!"
"I, Aelga, forger of steel! Speak!"
The dwarf with arms bulkier than most fixed sharp eyes on Wayne.
"Aelga, gather the smiths and workshops—transfer the forge embers first and check for firewood!"
"Got it!"
Brock bellowed, "Prepare torches! Women and children first!"
Thus began the dwarves' migration.
After issuing orders, Wayne pulled Chieftain Yulih aside outside the temple.
"You sought me? Wayne!"
"Yulih! You must lead the 700 dwarf warriors from here."
"Me? Isn't there a great warrior?"
The chieftain yearned to follow Wayne first and learn the legacy—it would aid in ruling the clan.
"To bring the dwarf warriors safely, we need Chieftain Yulih's strength. And a dwarf to confirm the humans keep their promise—only the clan chief can do that."
"Hm... Understood, Wayne! As you say."
He agreed, but Yulih felt uneasy. Wayne had first moved 300 young warriors and dwarf families to the ancient city. The remaining 700 would cross once Dresden forces secured northwest Estel. As a seasoned chieftain, Yulih sensed the shifting tides but couldn't resist the momentum toward reclaiming the legacy.
'A clan can't have two heads.'
Wayne intended to sideline the chieftain and dilute his power.
"I'll open this teleport gate once a week when the moon is overhead. Send urgent matters or magic stones through then."
"So be it, Wayne!"
After seeing off the families and departing warriors, Wayne returned to the temple last.
"Eleven, come! You worked hard too."
"Grrrng! Grrrng!"
Wayne stroked Eleven's scruff and head. The true unsung hero was Eleven—thanks to him, finding the dwarves was easy, and Wayne had overheard everything.
"Back home, I'll catch you a cow!"
"Awoooo!"
Eleven howled joyfully. Wayne pulled the half-embedded king's hammer from the floor. The pillars' lights faded, and the translucent gate grew hazy.
Piloting Predator with Eleven beside him, Wayne pondered as they approached the gate.
'The dwarf descendants carried and maintained this gate all those long years...'
A twinge of sadness hit. Long ago, the dwarf kingdom fell, engulfed in flames. The king died, survivors wandered the seas, settled the desert—and gathered "Or," the divine metal of gods, to build this temple gate for their return. They'd relocated the entire temple each migration.
One mystery lingered: 'They had the previous king's hammer—why not return?'
Perhaps the barren lands around the kingdom hadn't recovered. Leaving the question, the massive Predator entered last, and the Valhalla Gate linked to the temple vanished.
Upon arriving in the ancient kingdom, a fragment of King Bras' memory flashed through Wayne's mind.
"Ugh!"
The sudden recollection made Wayne open the Gigant hatch and gaze upward.
'Ah! It really sparkles.'
King Bras' memories were finally clarifying. When he'd first absorbed the king's Odd and memories, emotions had been too raw, fragmenting them. But revisiting the familiar now sharpened them.
The ceiling bore a massive continent map, two lights twinkling: one at the ancient dwarf city where they stood, the other at the Sierra Mountains temple gate. In ancient times, five lights shone; with Yol Das, the main gate here could reach them all. But when the kingdom fell, all had gone dark.
Four gates linked to the ancient dwarf kingdom. One in the elf kingdom Akad, buried in the Great Forest; one at the Quicksand Desert gateway; one in the vast basin at Sky Mountains' center; and the last in the human kingdom where King Karian ruled...
'Ah! There's one in the Lava Cave too!'
Buried under rubble now, but a Valhalla Gate surely waited inside. If the gate pillars were intact, erect them, insert Yol Das like at the temple, and reactivate.
"Oh! If I play this right, I can haul every Gigant from the Lava Cave here in one go!"
Wayne clenched his fist. With these dwarves and Gigants, he could transport the supply-model Gigants—and even Martias—in a single trip.
"Wayne!"
Brock came running urgently.
"What is it?"
"Humans! East of the canyon—humans and a Gigant!"
"Gigant?"
Before Wayne could order, Eleven bolted out like an arrow.
"Tell the dwarf warriors to follow me!"
"Got it!"
Wayne mounted Predator and raced after Eleven with the dwarf warriors.