“Um…” Dwindle mumbled, “I meant, what is your name?”

“I am a swordsman.”

Dwindle shook his head and shuffled hurriedly to the young man in the cage. The dwarf didn’t have time or leisure to randomly hold conversation.

“Can you tell me where Red is?” Dwindle asked, holding up the ring of keys he’d snatched earlier, picking out a key on the ring to try to unlock the young man’s cage with.

“Is that the name of that cheater?” the swordsman huffed.

“Cheater?” Dwindle sputtered with slight indignation, “Red isn’t the type of person to cheat anyone!”

The young man pointed to one of his ankles that had purpled from bruising and rebuked, “Then how do you explain this!”

Dwindle was dumbfounded. This “swordsman” hadn’t explained anything and only strangely pointed at his foot for some reason.

“And this!” The swordsman tugged at his collar to expose his bare shoulder and revealed more bruising. He crossed his arms as if he had made his point.

“…what do these injuries have to do with Red?” Dwindle asked, unsure.

“Ha! I was toiling over how I lost to this so-called ‘Red’ fellow, and it finally came to me.” The swordsman paced back and forth as if he was on the verge of solving a crime. “I lost the fight only because he used dirty tricks!”

The sounds of coughing fits from the two gangsters were dying down. They would be uninhibited by chemicals soon enough and come searching for the intruder. Dwindle busily plunged different keys into the cage’s keyhole in attempts to unlock it.

“Yes,” the swordsman continued, “That was why my unbeatable sword techniques were beaten. He used unknown and uncouth techniques that no righteous warrior would ever use! It all makes sense!” He splayed out his fingers in what he had seen Red do in their fight, and then he grabbed at the air and tried to mimic what Red had done to him.

"These techniques are too animalistic! My sword techniques are meant for humans! This was why I was defeated. Those animal techniques handicapped my ankle, which reduced my speed, and hurt my shoulder, which caused my sword swings to lose power."

“Hey!” A voice called out from the other side of the cages. Panic began to set within Dwindle as he stared through the bars of the multitude of cages at an armored gangster shouting at him.

“Come here, dwarf!” the gangster barked, running around the cages to get to the dwarf. A beast’s paw almost caught him as he walked by. The gangster had to pause to get around the reaching hands and claws that stuck out of from between the bars. “The intruder is over here!” The gangster shouted loudly to get the attention of the other gangster searching the storeroom.

“How to fight a person who fights like an animal,” the swordsman mused, “That is the question.”

“It’s okay to lose to the champ,” Dwindle offhandedly remarked as he heard a satisfying click in the cage’s lock, unlocking it, “Red is the champ after all. It’s understandable to lose to him.”

The swordsman was quiet as his piercing blue eyes locked onto the dwarf, casting a predatory gaze that made the stares of the wild beasts in the cages next to him seem docile. Dwindle couldn’t help but shiver under the swordsman’s eyes. He felt as if a giant hawk was staring at him from the sky and was about to swoop down and pluck him off the ground.

“…This ‘Red’ is a champion?” The swordsman asked tonelessly.

“Um, yes. He’s the reigning gypsy brawling champion,” Dwindle answered, his round eyes having a hard time keeping an even stare with the young man’s cold gaze.

“Grab him!” One of the gangsters cried out as he ran up to the dwarf in attempts to throttle the trespasser.

Before Dwindle could react, mana burst in front of him as the cage door rocked open suddenly. The swordsman had disappeared, then, within a second, reappeared between Dwindle and the approaching gangster.

The gangster looked to find who had gotten in his way and he yelped in surprise, “Young Mister Van!”

The swordsman, Van, was still looking at Dwindle when he shouted, “Rematch!” Both the gangster and the dwarf stared at Van silently. What did this young man say?

“Rematch!” Van declared again, still staring unblinking at the dwarf. “I demand a rematch.” Van then stood up straight and held up a finger, “First, I didn’t know I was fighting against animal techniques, which put me at a disadvantage. Second, I wasn’t prepared to duel a champion of fighting, which made me drop my guard. Therefore, the only justifiable recourse is a rematch.”

Van nodded resolutely and waited on the dwarf’s response.

“Young Mister Van,” said the second gangster who had just joined them, “That dwarf’s an intruder. We need to catch him.”

“Silence,” Van demanded. He then quieted so as to hear Dwindle’s answer.

“I don’t understand…” Dwindle muttered honestly.

“I will rematch this ‘Red’,” Van declared, “And no one will do anything about it.” He eyed the gangsters behind him who instinctively backed away a step.

“Well, I am Red’s manager and his 'matches' are decided by me…” Dwindle began.

“Perfect,” the swordsman interrupted, “then it is settled. I shall have a rematch. You, manager dwarf, shall arrange it.”

“But Red has been taken,” Dwindle said, shaking his head, “I have to get him back first.”

“Simple. I know where he is, and I will rematch him and show him why animal tactics and being a fighting champion aren’t measurable to the Feather Talon sword style.”

“Please, take me to him!”

Van stroked his narrow chin thoughtfully but soon became rigid as a thought crossed his mind. He bent down and grabbed Dwindle off the ground like a handbag then began to sprint.

“We don’t have much time!” the swordsman shouted, “They already sent him off!”

Dwindle paled in hearing him. Was he truly going to lose Red?

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The two gangsters jumped in Van’s way.

“Move,” Van demanded.

The gangsters were obviously nervous. The one with the gruff voice spoke carefully, “Young Mister Van, please go back into the cage. You promised Big Boss that you would comply with his orders.”

“I need my rematch against the brawling champion,” Van retorted angrily, “Big brother will understand when I tell him that the honor of the Feather Talon sword style is at stake. Now, move.”

One of the gangsters began to tentatively step away.

“What are you doing,” the other gangster said to him in disbelief.

“Young Mister Van is rather skilled with a sword…” the frightened gangster murmured.

“You coward! He doesn’t have a sword right now!”

In that moment, he heard the sound of metal being unsheathed. He looked at his belt and found that his sword had been taken out of its scabbard by Van. A clear ringing of metal was in the air.

“I shall return this to you when I return victorious,” Van promised. “Do not worry. The Feather Talon sword style shall be avenged!” After those words, Van flipped over the gangster with the dwarf still in his hand.

Dwindle felt as if he would vomit from the speed of the swordsman carrying him. He was carried up the stairs within seconds and through the handless door above as Van sliced through it with his blade.

Entering the hallway, Dwindle saw that the beastman that had been sitting on the stool had disappeared.

Where’d he go? Dwindle wondered.

Glick watched helplessly as many sage symbol lines shot across the grand hall and wove into more encompassing symbols that boosted the power of its magic. Being an expert on defensive sage symbol systems, he could see he and his cousins were about to be trapped here with no way out.

“It’s a lockdown system…!” Glick grunted.

One of his cousins stepped forward and unlatched a metal box from his back, then dropped it onto the ground. The dwarf opened the box, revealing a series of life cores arranged in a hexagonal shape with sage symbol lines weaving between them. His plump hands poured mana into the box, and the life cores grew vibrant with light.

“Behold, cousins!” the dwarf shouted, “An invention to disrupt a sage symbol system: The Disruptormacator!”

The other dwarfs were baffled by the strange aura radiating off the metal box. One cousin couldn’t help but murmur, “What a terrible name…”

The sage lines spreading throughout the hall from the defensive sage symbol system finally converged onto the dwarfs like sharks onto an injured whale. Sparks like that from a bonfire erupted as the lines ran into the sudden emergence of four pillars of light and were forced to change course and go around the dwarfs.

“Haha!” The dwarf with the box guffawed, “Humans may have come up with the Sage Symbol System, but leave it to dwarfs to make it better!”

His cousins began clapping for him. He pointed his beard up with pride. Dwarfs never cared for fame or prestige from the masses. That was a human trait. They would rather curry favor from their peers in their respective professional fields, and of course, to rub their success in the noses of their rivals! Dominance through invention and innovation—a dwarf’s true ambition

The lines of the defensive sage symbols came back around for a second run at the dwarfs. On contact, there appeared cracks in the pillars of light the box had cast. The attacking sage lines diverted once again only to return and hit harder another time.

“Um...” the dwarf with the box mumbled with uncertainty. He and his cousins looked across the hall. A lone woman glowing with mana who had a wide smile looked back at them with arrogance.

“That woman,” Glick said with worry, “…she definitely knows her stuff!”

Bonfere was in the midst of tasting a chemical vial when he commented, “She’s controlling the defensive sage system rather well. She must be mage who had attended one of the prestigious human sage system schools here in Soalde.”

“A good student turned gangster,” one of the cousins laughed humorlessly, “just our luck!”

Within half an hour, the life cores in the metal pack were beginning to fade. The encompassing defensive magic of the hall were about to to swallow their party.

“My baby won’t hold out much longer,” the dwarf with the box grunted as he decidedly pumped his own mana into his contraption to keep it powered.

Across the hall, a woman with too large of a mouth for her face smirked seeing the dwarfs about to be defeated. She was one of the mid bosses of the gang and had gained her current position in the organization with her knowledge on sage symbol systems. Under her control, the sage symbols around them would be able to shatter the dwarf’s defenses and trap them.

Next to her, one of her subordinates complimented, “Your control over sage symbols has improved, boss!”

Her wide smirking mouth warped into a full smile. She began to wonder if she would be rewarded for being the one who captured these intruders.

A shadow appeared behind her. Before she could react, two fangs the size of kitchen knives sunk into her collarbone and dug into her torso. She couldn’t register what was happening before she breathed her last breath and died.

“Boss!” The dead woman’s subordinates cried out.

A man with pale skin and yellow eyes had just killed their boss with needle shaped fangs. The pale man then inhumanely flung open his jaws wide and started to devour the woman whole.

Those around the gruesome scene were too struck by horror to try and intervene.

“Sabe!” A voice roared from where the bosses stood. Boss Havul’s pock-marked cheeks jiggled as he screamed from atop the dais, “Sabe, stop eating Boss Helin!”

The snake man, Sabe, already had the woman halfway down his engorged throat and appeared having no intention on stopping.

“Sabe! Stop this instant!”

I should’ve been invited to the party, Sabe the snake man thought with indignation. I want to join the party now and feed!

The defensive sage symbols had weakened without the control of Boss Helin. In turn, the sage lines attacking the dwarfs had weakened considerably.

“This is it, lads,” Glick roared and turned to leap out of the entrance, “Retreat outside!” His cousins almost tripped over themselves in frantically exiting the hall. They all made it safely outside before the lockdown system completed.

“Bad move,” one of the bosses watching from the dais smirked and brought up a flute to his mouth and began playing it. The melodic tune was clear and loud but without rhythm, as if the sound was meant for something that wasn’t human.

Glick and the others gathered outside and turned to intercept any gangsters that may’ve made it out of the hall along with them.

“Keep a defensive line,” Glick barked out commands as he touched his jacket to activate his sage system barrier. The other dwarfs lined up next to him and readied their own defensive measures. If the lockdown system was disengaged, the gangsters would come pouring out.

Round dwarf heads had to turn at the sound of hissing behind them and the feel of warm breath on the backs of all their necks as a shadow enveloped them. They bent their necks backward to look up and came face to face with a giant white serpent staring at them with red eyes. A tongue longer than their defensive line flickered in and out from a scaly mouth.

“That’s not good,” Lorbrite mumbled. He could see his own fearful expression reflected in snake's red eyes.

The snake opened its mouth to expose its long fangs as it prepared to devour the dwarfs in one gulp.

“Dearie me!” A voice cried out to the sound of a wagon rolling down the street, “I hope you lot didn’t forget about me!”

The old dwarf driver was driving full speed in his wagon toward the dwarfs and the gigantic white snake.

“Old timer,” one of the dwarf cousins shouted in panic, “Watch out! That snake will kill you!”

The old dwarf rolled over from the driver seat into the wagon bed behind and tapped the wood there. A sage symbol appeared and opened a hidden compartment. A ballista then popped out which the old dwarf began to wield.

“Keep your heads low, youngins!” The old dwarf shouted, aiming his weapon, “This thing packs a wallop!”

With a trigger pull, the ballista began to shoot sizeable missiles in rapid succession, piercing the snakes hide and causing it to hiss miserably.

“It can’t be,” one of the dwarf cousins said with his mouth agape, “That old wagon is a dwarfish war chariot?”

Dwarfs rarely went to war, but when they did, they let their machines do the fighting. Such a war chariot was common in dwarfish war armaments, however they typically had considerably finer appearances than this rickety, outdated vehicle.

“Who did Dwindle say the old dwarf was?” Glick couldn’t help but ask.

“I have no idea,” Lorbrite answered truthfully, watching the wagon speed down the road while in pursuit of a retreating giant serpent.

“My Scale Lord!” A regretful sounding voice rang out. They turned and saw the boss who had been playing the flute was on his knees lamenting.

“This isn’t over,” Another boss next to him roared, “Men, kill these dwarfs!” The lockdown system began to fade, allowing passage through the exit.

“Stop eating people!” Boss Harvul commanded, still trying to calm the snake man down.

“That slimy gangster is right,” Glick bellowed to his cousins, “This fight isn’t over. Cousins, be at the ready!” They all produced their inventions and prepared for a wave of blue glowing humans now charging at them.