“Oi, who is that?”
“Ya better stay away from ‘im, ma friend.”
“Why?”
“Tis that damned Alviss Blackforest, ya see. The son ‘f that sneaky witch!”
Whenever the young Alviss came out for a stroll, he was met with similar murmurs. Sometimes, they would even directly confront him and put him on the spot.
“Where is yer wretched mother?”
“How is it livin’ in a withered forest?”
“Don’t ya feel any shame?”
Young Alviss was continuously met with such berating words, but he still believed in what his mother told him.
No matter what, a clan must band together. A race must support each other.
And so, he kept wishing for such a day where his people, his race, his clan, would accept him and his mother.
However, that day never came.
In fact, when it was finally time to heed the call of the legendary hammer and choose a successor, things quickly got out of hand.
After every dwarf or clan member fought for it despite the hammer rejecting them all, it was Alviss, the one who accidentally stumbled upon it, who was chosen.
Naturally, that did not sit well with anyone in the clan.
A son of a witch? A young dwarf who hadn’t forged a thing in his life?
They tried to beat him, force him to give it up, but he wouldn’t.
They tried to take it by force, to have it choose someone else, but it wouldn’t.
And so, eventually after everything, the Saorsa Clan finally relented and accepted things for what they are.
Alviss Blackforest was the new owner of the legendary hammer Amphygyeis.
But with that hammer, came a big responsibility.
One that Alviss simply did not agree with, but no matter how much he argued for a peaceful solution, no one would listen to him.
Eventually, when he refused to do what they considered his duty, they decided to kill him and hope that the hammer would choose a new successor, despite the low odds of that happening.
After that, a witch hunt began for him. The ones who stood by him were killed.
His mother barely managed to sneak him out while giving him a newly created charm necklace.
Even though he tried begging her to come with him, she stayed back and held the raging charge on her own.
After all, she was indeed a witch.
That was decades ago. Alviss was forced to wander the world in constant pursuit of what he was in possession of.
He forged weapons, fought battles, even came to make some friends.
However, the thought of his own people turning on him and wishing for his end always struck a chord within him.
That was another reason why Alviss couldn’t accept the Undine Clan’s domestic conflict.
It was why he gave that speech despite being an outsider. He wanted to avoid an outcome that splits a clan, a race, into factions.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
That was what Alviss Blackforest ever wanted.
Peace.
Life had other plans for him, however.
**👑**
In the central square of Sweet Scylla, just slightly north of the Nimue statue in the middle, the golden figure of the old clan leader, Rania, flickered with every lightning strike that hit the ground.
The foggy clouds had long since been turned black like a raging storm.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Alviss felt his thick body hair stand on end from all the sparks around him left behind by the endless lightning strikes.
“I’m glad you are here, Alviss of Blackforest! I couldn’t stand the sight of those unambitious merfolk who can’t even begin to fathom the concept of Pathbreak!” His opponent was still standing with his arms wide, the azure emblem on his forehead flickered and cracked with sparks of static.
“...”
“While I’m glad for it, I cannot see why you would fight for those kinds of people!”
Erik simply continued to laugh, waiting for him to use his powers fully. To use his own Pathbreak so that their duel can truly commence.
Why I would fight fer ‘em? That is simple. I want t’ help ‘em.
Alviss walked forward, with every step, his feet seemed to get bigger, threatening to break through his boots.
When I took on the job, I didn’ know the folk here were in such a dire fix. Otherwise, I would’ve gladly forged their weapons fer free.
Instead, I took their hard-earned gold as payment and continued t’ indirectly put pressure on ’em to get more. Even if they were controlled by that little Hyking creature, the pressure on ’em must’ve been awful t’ bear.
Now, they stand in fear, who are ya to call ‘em weak?
Aren’t ya the very source of their horror? Even though I aint completely aware of their circumstances, I can understand their hesitance.
When somethin’ is engraved in ya, it takes a miracle to rupture through it.
I can’t be that miracle, but I shall still stand here to protect ‘em, to make up for the pain I have caused ‘em!
RIP! RIP!
“?!”
Erik watched as the fabric covering Alviss’ limbs suddenly stretched and ripped apart beneath his enlarging muscles..
And yet, there was no emblem showing up in front of his forehead.
“What are you doing?!”
Alviss continued to walk in silence without meeting Erik’s challenge.
“What is this?! I thought you understood!” The tall man with the broad shoulders and bronze-colored mohawk suddenly snapped and summoned multiple lightning strikes at his opponent.
However, a moment after, the dwarf simply walked out of the rising cloud of dust. The only difference now was, the rest of the clothes were ripped and burnt from the recent attack. He had also let go of his battle ax for some reason, perhaps due to the size his limbs were reaching.
“Why?! Why aren’t you using your full power?!”
“Such a thing…”
“Dammit! What the hell-”
In a split second, Alviss had already closed the distance, but now, instead of being half the size of the tall man, his figure seemed to tower over him instead.
However, in place of a huge body, Alviss had simply enlarged both his feet and arms beyond their limits. And on top of that…
“It… It can do that?! Ah, of course it would be a Melurial-”
Between his oversized arms, Alviss held his hammer that didn’t look out of place at all. This was why he let go of his battle ax earlier, he needed both arms to hold the growing Amphy.
“... I don’t need it!” Continuing his thoughts about not needing to use his Rupture, or as Erik put it, Pathbreak, Alviss brought down the now overtowering hammer. “With ma Amphy always matching ma grip, this should be enough for ya!”
“Aghhh!”
Even when faced with a giant hammer coming down at him, Erik stood fast, gritted his teeth and charged directly at his opponent, sending all the possible lightning strikes he could at him. Even the lightning cage began to rapidly condense, making its way to the dwarf threatening their master.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
In a mere second, the dwarf’s figure was quickly swarmed with exploding sparks of azure, creating a cloud of dust to cover him entirely.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The onslaught continued to descend upon him like a storm summoned for one person.
“?!”
Just when Erik thought he had succeeded, he glimpsed the undisrupted descent of the giant hammer coming down at him out of the dust.
Dammit! At this rate-
That was all Erik could muster in his mind before a pressure from the legendary object over twice his size came down at him with its full might, knocking him out instantly before he could even call out to his God of Lightning, Vingthor.
“Aghh!”
“Hold on!”
The merfolk suddenly panicked and reached for the nearest object they could hold. They felt the entire ground beneath them shake from the impact, threatening to split open and swallow them whole.
“Is… is it over?” Salil questioned.
Just as things calmed down a bit, a single fruit basket came rolling down from the south and stopped at Alviss’ now normal sized foot. He was still standing in front of Erik’s body that was laying in a deep crater in the ground.
“?”
Alviss looked down and saw the Hyking creature from before laying in the fruit basket with poorly wrapped bandages over his wounds. He couldn’t let that stand.
“We might be strong…” The dwarf began to mutter to himself before reaching down to grab the creature with some reluctance, “but even a creature as small as this could cause us much fear.”
If it were awake, and came at me now, it might have caused me much headache.
Alviss looked back at the puzzling looks the merfolk gave him.
For some reason, even some sirens were acting bashfully and slightly blushing.
Poor lasses, must be this heat. To a blacksmith like me, a little rise in temperature like this is but a warm up…
Even though Alviss completely misunderstood the situation, from the sirens, nay, the entire merfolk’s perspective, he looked simply magnificent.
“How… how is he still standing…?”
Lamia couldn’t believe her eyes.
Alviss was shirtless after all the lightning ripped whatever remnants of clothes he still had on his upper body.
His skin was radiating steam and smoke, even though the worst injury he had on him were simple scratches.
His muscles, from his arms, chest, to his back, were all sizzling and flexing from what they were put through.
He truly looked magnificent.
Even the ground all around him was completely charred and shattered from the endless lightning strikes.
Anyone else in his shoes would have been completely obliterated. And yet…
“Do your best, friend. Once this is all over, let’s get some cold ale in. It feels a little warm, a welcoming change to this sunless continent.”
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image [https://i.imgur.com/F6h7vmX.png]