Alexia
An awkward silence ensues for a total of five seconds before the dwarven king lightly shakes his head and turns to look at the others, saying, “Told ya’ she wouldn’t be interested in fightin’ the scalies.”
I can’t help but raise a brow.
Scalies? And why does this dwarf talk like…
I narrow my eyes slightly at the dwarf as I take in a closer look at him.
He notices and turns to me with a nod and a grin, “Finally noticed, eh lass?”
“Do you by any chance know-” I start, only for him to laugh and finish, “Dravik? Ya, Father told me about ya. Told me ye were a real hassle to deal with.”
That has me quirking a single brow as I mutter, “Did he now?”
Guess I’m gonna be stopping by to pay him a visit more often now. Just to teleport in and startle him.
He deserves it for saying I’m a hassle to deal with.
Wait a second, did he say father?
The dwarf laughs at the look on my face as he says, “So he was right! Ya can show emotion sometimes!”
I fold my arms under my chest, feeling slightly attacked by that statement. Only to hear both Ethan and Astrid snickering beside me, making me feel a slight flush come to my cheeks.
Which just has the dwarf laughing even louder.
Meanwhile the other rulers who came over here with the dwarf look more than a little awkward. Even Varsac and Harold, both of whom treated me respectfully but still as if they were on the same level as me back during the first council, look awkward. Like they don’t know how to treat me anymore, and this conversation certainly isn’t helping.
Guess I have eclipsed them a lot in level by now.
They were close to my own level the last time we met during a council meeting, but now I’m far stronger. So their attitude needs to adjust.
But they’re not sure how to do that.
It’s rather amusing.
Would be more amusing if that dwarf wasn’t laughing his ass off.
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He eventually calms down and says, “Do treat ma old man well. He refuses to come home because of a certain young lass, so-”
“Yeah, yeah,” I tell him, interrupting what he was gonna say. “I wouldn’t treat my blacksmith poorly.”
The dwarf – whose name is Revan Goldsmith – chuckles at that and sends me an approving look before walking out of the booth and returning to the main area of discussion about the war. And the other leaders take that as their cue to leave as well, not bothering us any longer.
Which leaves me, Astrid, and Ethan all alone in silence once more.
With the two of them still snickering.
“Oh, shut up…” I mutter, making the two laugh even harder.
So, deciding to put the two chuckleheads out of my mind for now, I focus on everyone as the rulers arrive back at their booths and resume their discussion.
By now the discussion is moving off of war preparations and onto some other matters. More laws for the Dimensional Block as a whole, plans to set up teleportation pads for travel across the Block, since most people aren’t able to cross it like I or other Tier 3s are. What with it being as large as it is.
I’m able to break the sound barrier with my movements, much less the fact that I can teleport a couple islands over just from a single use of Quantum Displacement.
For regular people though, it would take them weeks to travel across the Dimensional Block. Regular people being Tier 2 users. Tier 1s would take months.
People who haven’t leveled almost at all could end up taking years just to cross the Block.
Having real transportation set up going beyond just the islands connecting and the little airships people have made would help a lot.
It’s a good thing that the islands are all scattered both horizontally and vertically, otherwise the Block would just plain be too large. But since there can be over a dozen different islands at the same spot within the Dimensional Block just at varying heights, it makes things a lot easier.
I continue listening to their discussions, not really having anything to talk about with Ethan or Astrid right now.
Come to think of it, when will they finish making those video games? I know some cities have started working to make them.
What if I go over there and offer them my protection go make them work faster? That might speed them up a bit.
Actually, hey, architect, why did you design the System after a video game anyways?
The bat on my shoulder opens his eyes, immediately making more than a few people within the chamber shiver just from pure instinct, with the thousands or even tens of thousands of people at the bottom levels of the council chamber looking around in confusion. But he ignores all of that as his voice enters my head, “I saw a video game long ago and liked the structured setup it had.”
Hmm. So you really did copy video games. Or at least made your own.
“I designed my own,” he admits while closing his eyes again, further confusing the mass of people down below.
Interesting.
The discussions down below continue going on for a while, and at one point I glance at my other shoulder to find Luna finally waking up from the rather long nap she’s been undertaking for a few days now. Something about a short hibernation according to System Father.
“Morning little one,” I tell her while reaching up and scratching her little head, making her squeak slightly in a rather adorable manner.
Then I turn my attention back to the discussion as something comes to mind.
Right.
Almost forgot about that matter of business.
I quickly alter the settings of my booth before speaking, my voice quickly spreading out of my booth and silencing the discussions across the chamber, “I would like to propose a new law.” My eyes narrow slightly under the shocked expressions of everyone in the chamber. “If any signs of a Tier 4 dungeon emerge, you will notify me or my sister immediately.”
Silence fills the chamber.