Chapter 9 new Lia-Ki

You wake up after being unconscious for an unknown amount of time. You try to lift yourself up and feel that your body is extremely weak. Even thought all serious injuries have been treated and no trauma took effect, you still feel weak. You can barely lift your head and look around.

"Don't move around too much. Your body was broken to almost no return. You are quite smart to keep a bomba fruit around with you. If you didn't have a bomba fruit, you would have experienced a major trauma, that would have crippled you for life." You hear a voice unfamiliar to you.

The voice is deep and sounds like a very strong person. The voice is a hoarse and tough, similar to how dwarf's talk. You look around to see the owner of the voice and hear it getting angry and shouting at you "What are you doing, you buffoon! Your to injured to move. Turning your head around like that might even kill you as you are right now. Lay down and let me feed you a healing salve. It will help you regain your stamina and heal any leftover bodily injuries. Wouldn't want any more traumas, do we?"

You wait in anticipation as minutes pass and you are suddenly struck by a stinging pain on your left leg. You want to scream, but you can barely open your mouth. How could you possibly have enough energy to scream? The pain feels like hell and you are forced to lay there and endure. You can't even drink one of the blimberry juices, as they take too long to restore stamina.

The owner of the voice says "Oh wait! I forgot to reapply the numbing salve. I'll get on that right away pall!" The owner of the hoarse and deep voice runs over towards you with a bowl full of something that looks like purple-green mud. He starts rubbing it on your leg and the pain slowly goes away. You can finally be relieved of that mind numbing pain.

You finally can concentrate on what's around you instead of concentrating on not fainting from the pain. You look at the owner of the hoarse and deep voice and are stunned. You see a 1 meter tall man. You instantly recognize him as one of the dwarves. Who knew your initial suspicion would be spot on.

The dwarf look at your side eyes and asks "What are you surprised about? You can tell a dwarf by their voice. Have you never met one of us, or something? Oh right, can't talk, in too much pain. Let's fix that, shall we?"

The dwarf heads back to the counter he came from and continues mixing some unknown ingredients. He comes back in a few minutes with a dark-red-green liquid in a small syringe and a cup full of some plant bits.

"The energy mixture first. Wouldn't want you dying from a single needle sting." The dwarf jokes and feeds you the plant bits. The water with plant bits glides down your throat and rushes into your stomach. You feel a sudden burst of energy. You have regained 1 stamina.

The instant you feel energized the syringe is injected into your left arm and the dwarf empties it into your hand. The unknown liquid moves through your veins and is circulated throughout your body. You feel a lot of pain, but it slowly goes away as your stamina comes back bit by bit.

Tens of minutes later you can finally get up and move around. You have 3/15 stamina. You grab your head as you barely get up and look at the dwarf. "Thank you. Truly, thank you for all that you have done. I won't forget this kindness and will do anything to repay you."

The dwarf looks at you and says "Before payment, I want to know what the hell happened to you? What did you do to wreck your body to such an extent, that even a bomba fruit barely saved you? Were you fighting some kind of troll or ogre in that valley?"

You shake your head and let out a small laugh. The dwarf also chuckles and you say "I wish things were that simple. I can handle a troll or two, maybe even an ogre on my own, if I am at my peak. However, not even me at my peak can fight a Cyclops. I barely managed to fight off and kill one. Then two more came chasing after me. I barely survived with my life thanks to quick thinking and a lot of stress."

The dwarf looks at you, astonished. He slowly asks "Did... Did you really kill a cyclops?" You nod your head and the dwarf looks awed "Damn. Can't believe I found a human that can defeat a Cyclops. People mostly don't go to the Giant's mountain. We know what to expect at Medikki Forest, but no one has come back alive from Giant's mountain. No one here knows what is there. To think it is full of Cyclopes. Well, thank you for informing us of that."

You look at the Dwarf and suddenly remember. You left Kristatanti and we're going through Lai-Ki. Where on Shamutanti are you? You look at the dwarf and ask "Would you be so kind as to tell me where we are?"

The dwarf looks at you and says "We are in New Lia-Ki." You look at him surprised and say "New Lia-Ki? Since when has there been a New Lia-Ki?" The dwarf proudly lifts his head and says "New Lia-Ki is a village created by the dwarves. We constructed a small fortress to the west of old Lia-Ki. All the people who survived the goblin invasion were transferred there."

You are confused by this new revelation. If something this big happened two years ago, Analand should have been informed. You think to yourself "Why hasn't his highness Alan been informed of this "New Lia-Ki"? Did someone hide this news or is there something much deeper?"

You look at the dwarf and ask "Does the king know of this "New Lia-Ki"?" The dwarf looks at you a bit defensively and says "The information about New Lia-Ki is strictly hidden. No one knows it exists, except for a single friend of mine who helps deliver supplies from different cities. We need to keep our existence secret, so the goblins don't attack once again."

You think to yourself "This is quite peculiar. I need to find out what is happening here." After piecing a few pieces of the puzzle together, you decide to ask the dwarf to fill in some of the blanks "Does Lia-Ki have something the goblins need? What kind of treasure does Lia-Ki possess to attract the attention of so many goblins?"

The dwarf sighs and looks hesitant. You say to the dwarf "I assure you I will not tell your secret. I am a man of my word and I promise to help in any way I can. You saved my life, I owe you that much."

The dwarf relaxes at your reassurance and tells you "My name is Alute Britannisch. My grandpa, Sedrak Britannisch, was a field Doctor of Britannia, the last dwarf country of the old world. The last war it fought was 150 years ago. The goblins and humans of the old world attacked Britannia simultaneously and it fell. We lost the entire country and it is now only a small part of the wasteland known as the backlands.

There was 1 main reason why our country was destroyed. The thing we had acquired was a gift to us from our God Vulcanus. Five dwarf smiths and 15 humans sorcerers worked for 10 days and 10 nights to combine 4 different spells into 1 and enchant an a piece of the best quality metal the dwarves could refine.

This metal was a titanium-dark-steel allow and it was enchanted with the LAW, RAZ, PWR and TEL spells. I don't know what the intended use for this material was, but it is rumored to be indestructible and the sharpest item in existence. All who try to hold it without any sort of metal on their hands will have their hand sliced open and the metal will fall out. I might say rumored, but I can confirm it to be true."

The dwarf takes out a small titanium box. He opens the lid of the box and you can see a small unrefined iron lump, similar to the one you have in your backpack, there. The iron looks unimpressive at first, but the stellar energy it exudes is quite powerful and you see a several cut marks inside the box.

The dwarf moves the box a bit and the iron lump rolls a few centimeters. You are stunned, as you watch the iron lump leave a deep cut mark on the titanium box as it rolls forward. It soon bums into one of the walls of the box and an even deeper hole is made inside the titanium box.

You ask the dwarf, with a stunned expression on your face "Is... Is this the legendary Adamantium? It actually exists?!" The dwarf nods as you are even more surprised. "Adamantium. Never thought I would have the honor of seeing such a legendary material, but why do the goblins want this? The least I know is, that no weapon can make a person invincible."

The dwarf nods in conformation "indeed, No weapon can make a Giant, much less a goblin, invincible. Any weapon made with this will have the ability to connect with the wielder and give him complete control over it. It was probably made to be crafted into the ultimate sword, that can be fully controlled by the wielder.

Like I said, no one truly knows its purpose. One day, some sorcerer inspected the effect of LAW and TEL and thought "What if I can use this to make a special item that can control others wills?" and so he did. They tried it and made the jewel of the emperor.

War broke out as the human, elf and goblin kings exterminated Britannia. We managed to get rid of the jewel before someone took hold of it. A couple of year later the Staff of Kings was created and people began concentrating on that. Analand's King took it for himself and managed to use its power to fend off the attacks.

The Staffs ability to control was much stronger than the jewels and everyone eventually forgot about it. Now someone somehow got ahold of information, of its power and wants it for himself. Lia-Ki was just unfortunate enough to house me when the goblins attacked.

My family were the guardians set to defend this piece of Adamantium. The first member was my great-grandpa, next was my grandpa, then came my dad and now it's my turn to protect it."

"So that is the reason the goblins attacked, but who is their leader? Their king? And how does he know about Adamantium? Goblins are dispersed throughout Shamutanti and other lands. They don't have a kingdom or a country anymore. How can they gather under 1 person and corporate so well?"

A sigh escapes the dwarf's mouth. "I wish I knew. The dwarves these days are too scattered and distant. None remember Britannia for what it was and they all have started new lives. I only know of two other dwarves around Shamutanti."

You nod to the dwarf's explanation and a thought arises within your mind "Why are you telling me this? I am an outsider and have no influence over this situation. What do you gain by sharing this with me?"

The dwarf looks at you expectantly "You said you would repay me for saving your life, right? This is how you will repay me. This piece of Adamantium now belongs to you. I don't believe I can keep it safe and I don't think the goblins intend to make a sword out of the Adamantium, so I want you to take it and protect it.

If a man in has enough strength to defeat a cyclops on his own, while weakened nonetheless, then he is a lot more reliable than me. You have a lot of stamina for a human and your strategic thinking is way above me. I think this piece of Adamantium will be a lot safer with you than with me. Maybe you'll find a forger that can turn it into a sword and create the strongest blade in existence. I would be content knowing an honorable man, such as yourself, wields it."

You look at the dwarf, speechless. You stare at the short and wise looking dwarf for a couple of minutes and say "I swear on my honor and life, I will protect this and make sure it doesn't fall into the hands of the goblins or any other vile creature!"

The dwarf smiles and slaps your shoulder "That's the spirit, youngster. I'll prepare some food for you so you can rest up. After you finish eating, you may continue on your way. Make sure you check on that box often. The Adamantium lump might leave only small scratches, but they may add up and tear a hole in the box."

You nod and get up from the bed. The dwarf went to his kitchen and brought a really nice meal a couple of minutes later. You eat the delicious meal and regain 10 stamina. You have 13/15 stamina now. Your body has completely healed.

After you finish your food, you exit the dwarf's house and look around the fortress called New Lia-Ki. The fortress is quite small. It houses around 173 people and most don't live that well. The people living here are men, women and children who are refugees.

The fortress barely has any food and it will be a long time before they can begin to sustain themselves. Probably the only reason it is still afloat is the merchant the Alute told you about.

You doubt this kind of poverty stricken people will have any useful magical materials. Magical materials are expensive and these people barely have enough to eat. You decide to leave after a few minutes of observing. As you are leaving, you see some small children playing with each other. They are playing fencers and you suddenly realize your bag is a lot lighter than you remember.

You look inside and realize you don't have your sword on you. The broken spear has disappeared as well. You quickly run back and look for Alute. You enter the dwarf's house once more.

The door swings open as you rush in and ask, in a panicked voice, "Alute, have you seen my sword?" Alute is sitting there and reading a book titled "Throben" and drinking tea. When you ask him where your sword is, Alute suddenly slapped his forehead and went into another room.

Alute quickly comes back and he is carrying a sword and a spear. "I forgot to give you back this sword. It was quite a bit damaged, so I did some maintenance on it and did some rough patchwork on the spear. It isn't much better, but it is still an extra power point." The spear has been patched up roughly. You have received damaged Analand's warrior sword +5 power, roughly patched spear +3 power.

You sigh in relief and thank Alute for for fixing you sword, even if it is a little worse than before. You leave Alute's house without wasting any more time and get back on your trail.

Time passes and you leave New Lia-Ki with a higher moral and more responsibilities than you came here with. You look up at the sky and notice the Grateful Lion constellation sending you its stellar energy. You can ask the Grateful Lion to aid you if you fall into great danger.

You walk a fair distance away from New Lia-Ki and look back towards it. You notice an enormous horde of over 10,000 goblins are marching towards the small hill Nee Lia Ki is built on top of. A huge sense of panic comes towards you. You wish to rush over and help the people who saved you, but an army of 10,000 goblins is not something less than 200 untrained men and women can defeat. Going back would set back your journey more than it already has been and you will put the precious item you were entrusted with at risk.

A small tear wets your eyes as you look away from the goblin horde and begin walking towards the Meddiki Forest. Your resolution and will for revenge have grown much stronger. Your hate for the goblins has intensified.