Office Romance with a Werewolf - Chapter 156

Unaware that the dwarves were already preparing to meet them, Randell and Nida continued climbing the Worlds Crown. They had continued climbing at a fast pace, using chi to launch themselves higher and higher. When they would take a break from using chi, they looked as if they were simply running up the cliff on all fours. For hours they simply continued moving up, as the sun continued in its journey across the sky. When it started disappearing behind the distant mountains, Randell called out to Nida,

“Let’s make a small cave with mana and rest for the night!” She simply nodded in agreement, and the two then set to carving the rock out of the cliff walls. After the battle at the village Randell learned how to better manipulate rock and dirt, so carving out a place to sleep wasn’t a big deal to him. He and Nida placed their hands on the rock in front of them while hanging from their claws, and sent their mana into the rock, carving away he rock hey didn’t want.

What they removed from the cliff, they threw out from the wall not caring that it would land on the camps below. The end result was a small cave five feet deep, and ten feet across, more than enough room for the two. Nida crawled forward until she was well inside the cave, and collapsed on the floor. Randell didn’t say anything, and looked at her with tenderness in his eyes. He felt horrible for driving her so hard the last several days, but it was a small price to pay for all the lives they would change.

Seeing she wasn’t waking anytime soon, Randell decided to stay on watch. They had decided that a watch would still be necessary while climbing, due to the possibility of the the rock breaking and spilling them out into the open air, and flying monsters thinking of a midnight snack. Randell sat back against the wall of the cave, and pulled out some drawing supplies he kept in his pack.

Randell started working on a design that he thought would help the dwarves. If fantasy lovers on earth knew what he was drawing, they would crucify him for his sacrilegious acts. However, he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about “immersion” as to him there were real lives at stake. If any people, had a problem with what he was doing, he’d tell them to go to hell.

Randell had learned that due to them being unable to use mana or chi, dwarves were considered the “weakest” race. As such any war fought between them and other races usually ended with them losing. They would only stand a chance due to the weapons they made, and used in battle. However these weapons would only carry the dwarves so far, against people who literally trained to manipulate the elements and controlling their own body.

The truth though was actually very different, as without taking man or chi into consideration, dwarves were actually the strongest race simply by physical strength. Randell was actually curious on who was stronger with just brute strength, dwarves or werewolves. As the night continued on, Randell continued working of his design, trying to find the right way to combine it with magic for the dwarves to use. He figured that the original item would actually be considered useless due to chi and mana users being able to defend themselves against it.

As he continued working the sun started rising, taking Randell by surprise that it was already morning. He decided that they could rest for a few more hours, and woke Nida so that he could get some sleep. She was angry at first, thinking that he was skipping his own rest for her. It took Randell a few minutes to explain to her that they weren’t going to continue until around noon, she still grumbled about how it wasn’t enough time but consented to his plan.

Randell then laid down and closed his eyes, losing consciousness almost immediately. It felt almost as immediate that Nida was waking him up at noon. Randell was obviously still very tired, and Nida said to him,

“You’re taking the first rest tonight, you’ve shorted yourself on sleep the last two days in a row.” Randell smiled bitterly and bowed to the words of his wife. After a small meal of the dried meat they had brought with them, the two continued if way up the cliffs. Randell looked at the rest of the distance that they had to climb, and almost felt a sense of vertigo. He almost had the thought that he underestimated the climb, and had more respect for the dwarven Kings that had made the climb with out any chi or mana.

As the day continued, so did Randell and Nida. They didn’t have the same haste they had the day before, since they were already out of range of any retaliation from the encampment below. They still ran up the cliffs, just not as intensely as they had before. They deleted this pattern the next two days, as they endlessly tired themselves out. Both of them had torn their hands and feet bloody several times, for the skin to simply knit back together and tear again not long after.

Finally after nearly four days, just as long as it took for them to run to the foot of the mountain, the two reached the top of the mountain. Both Randell and Nida pulled themselves over the edge, and collapsed at the relief of real flat ground for the first time in days. After what felt like hours, Randell turned to stand up, and came face to crave with an entire dwarven army.

Randell looked at the dwarves that had gathered apparently for a fight. However he could also see interest in some of them as one walked forward. Surprisingly he spoke the human language to Randell,

“Greetings humans, I would like to know why it is you have intruded in our territory.” His words were somewhat welcoming, but his tone wasn’t wasn’t as pleasant. Randell thought about his next words, before saying,

“We have come in aid of the dwarves, so that we might unite against the growing threat. We are as threatened as you are.” At Randell’s words Nida looked at them and showed them her eyes. The dwarves own eyes widened as they thought about this development. The dwarf looked thoughtful for a moment, then said,

“I am known as San antonio, one of the dwarves Chiefs. How do I know you are truly intending to help us, this woman could be a simple ploy to get us to let our guard down against you.” Randell was about to answer, but then he heard one of the dwarves muttering in the background.

“more like a prostitute he found in a brothel to bat her pretty eyes at us” The dwarves around him laughed silently at his words, until a bloodthirsty aura pressed down on all of them. The one who spoke looked up in terror, and saw randell glaring at him with glowing orange eyes.

“speak that way about my wife again, and I’ll throw you off this cliff!” surprising everyone present, the ones who he wasn’t targeting could even feel his aura. They sat back watching the situation, it was their own kinsman who started it but if Randell tried to attack then they wouldn’t stay still.

They were really surprised though, when they heard Randell speaking the dwarves language. They were doubly surprised, when nida’s eyes also started glowing orange. Randell then stated to the gathered dwarves,

“we are not humans, don’t confuse us with them!” After a few moments the glow faded from Randell’s eyes and the bloodthirsty aura started disappearing. There was an audible sigh of relief through those who had faced the brunt of Randell’s rage. They also started glaring slightly at the one who spoke for nearly bringing that beast down on them. Randell felt this was the most desirable situation though, as he was able to demonstrate that he wasn’t human and that he wasn’t a pushover. The gathered dwarves now looks at him with a small measure of fear, so Randell decided to confirm that he was in fact an ally.

“The two of us come from the far northern mountains, there is a small settlement of mutants up there that has escaped the persecution of normal mutants. We came here to call for allies to stand with us in the coming fights, or to join us as we build our own nation away from human control.” Randell knew he probably made down mistakes in his speech, as he lacked real use of the dwarves language.. It seemed as if the message had gotten to them though, as they looked at Randell with a small amount of respect now. Then the one who called himself San antonio stepped forward, and announced to the whole assembled group,