Chapter 15: Chapter 14: removal

The day finally came.

It has been two weeks since the attack. A lot of things happened.

The town's aura became dull and the people weren't as happy as it was before. 

Many grieved but moved on pretty quickly. People of this world can adapt to changes quite fast.

A huge crater also formed in the north. It was probably 2 km at least and formed some pretty abnormal phenomena.

It absorbs any type of mana into its own. I asked Teach about this but he didn't know the answer.

Fidus is already long gone and now, we are going back to where we have started.

At a dark alley, with an unpleasant aura. 2 people are currently walking towards it. The two of them were me and Teach.

"Why... Are we 1 week early?" I asked Teach.

"Well, the situation got quite tricky for the last two weeks and it would probably be better to acquire our goal faster," he explained. "Quite frankly, the main reason was because of external factors."

I looked at him with a confused face. External factor? He could probably handle them just fine right?

"Hmm, I'm talking about the neighbouring countries," he clarified with fear on his face. "They are such a pain to deal with. One minor event would happen and then they would immediately come to the scene like they know everything and tried to control it. It's honestly tiring."

He shook his head in pain and disappointment. I don't get why he is being so dramatic over this. 

We arrived at our destination. The blacksmith's workshop. It was still as neat as before except for a few spots. Mainly the rooftop. It was destroyed, straight-up annihilated.

"Okay, now this isn't what I was expecting," Wrath exclaimed while cracking a mocking smile. 

Still, did someone just attack the dwarf's house? If so then how did it go unnoticed in broad daylight?

Wrath then knocked on the door five times, stopped for a moment, and then knocked again three times. This is supposedly the password for the dwarf's workshop yet I only find it petty.

The door eventually opens and it wasn't the dwarf we were expecting for. Instead, it was a werebeast full of wounds patched up together by a bandage.

"Welcome!" The werebeast exclaimed.

"Oh, and who might you be little guy?" Wrath asked while squinting his eyes. You can even say he was appraising him.

"My name is Zed. Master said that I should guard this place while he is doing some project. He's been like that for a week now."

Wrath then made an understanding nod as if he knows the reason why the dwarf is acting like that. Shady.

"In the meantime, please come in! Since you knew the password, you can choose to buy anything here!" 

"Oh, that won't be necessary," He said which made the werebeast confused. "Just bring me to your master. I kinda know why he is acting like that."

With no hesitation, the werebeast lead us to a certain hallway. A banging sound was heard. It was getting louder and louder the more we took each step. The end was simply a metallic door overloaded with aura.

The moment the werebeast opened the door, his aura changed. His former aura was happiness and carefreeness but now it emits an aura of a warrior and a beast. 

"OLD MAN!!! SOME CUSTOMERS ARE HERE!!!" He exclaimed in an aggressive voice.

A sudden personality shift. His case happened with no trigger so it's a bit confusing. I'm familiar with it because it could sometimes happen to me.

"Don't ya dare talk to me like that boy. Taking ya out would be easier than taking your butt in," the dwarf calmly said without even looking at the werebeast.

The room was large but it only have a table, a forge, some weapons scattered around, and two chairs.

The dwarf was the centre of it. The banging sound was from his hammer filled with mana. Each time he strikes, weak hot shockwaves derived yet he wastes no energy at all. His form looks too clumsy yet he doesn't feel tired at all.

What a monster.

"I said there are some CUSTOMERS HERE! Can't you hear old man?"

"Fix ya behaviour first then we'll talk," the dwarf said, annoyingly so.

With a frown, the werebeast was forced to calm himself. His old aura is back and the rough atmosphere of him is now gone.

"Fine, but please, there is some potential money here," the werebeast said after sighing. We can hear you though.

The dwarf finally looked in our direction and frowned again for a bit.

"Who are y'all again?" He asks.

"Okay, that's it," Wrath snapped. "First off, who is this?" He says as he points out to Zed. "Like, where did he come from? I don't recall you having a werebeast inheritance. Secondly, you forgot me again? Seriously? Lastly, that was a great exchange of conversation BUT I don't want to hear it right now. I am trying to finish my business ASAP."

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I don't think the word ASAP was made in this era but I have seen weirder things so this shouldn't fade me one bit.

The dwarf looked at us again narrowing his eyes more and more. It feels like being watched by a predator and with that in mind, I was about to cast a spell. 

"No, seriously, who are y'all people? Don't ya see I'm working?"

"The God of humans, your biggest customer. The one that you forgot, again. Sigh."

"Oh, that guy. That vendor who wandered around here."

"MY- you know what? Fine, I'll be patient just this once," he breathes deeply. "My name is Wrath and I want to remove Lapis' slave collar. You said that you have a way to do so and told us to wait for three weeks. A day after that, I asked if you could maybe make it one week lesser and you agreed to a much larger price. Remember us now?"

Wrath pants quite heavily after that quick outburst. The dwarf looked at him unfazed yet sternly. He doesn't emit anything yet the pressure he gives is truly frightening.

"Oh, I remember now, ya were here 2 weeks ago ain't it? Can't really blame this old man's memories these days now can ya?"

Wrath's eyes twitch a little bit but quickly covers it up with a smile. He is really pissed if I may add.

"Yup, yup... Now break her collar," he said quite aggressively.

The dwarf just nodded and brought a chair to me indicating that I should sit there.

He then searched his pockets and revealed some kind of amulet that is the size of his palm.

"The way to break yer collar is to add tons of mana inside of it. This way, it er... Demolish yer collar's major components like restricting free will, punishment runes, and blah blah blah..."

I quietly listened to all of his ramblings with little to no interest whatsoever. At first, it was okay but as time went on it became repetitive.

"With all of that junk out, we finally starting. Ya ready little missy?"

I subtly nodded.

He shuts his mouth and raised his hand. An enormous amount of mana suddenly entered the room and all of that was going to the amulet he is holding. I thought we need more preparation for such a crucial event but to think that he'll treat this as his usual Monday frights me.

The mana then was released at my collar which ultimately made it glow white light.

"Ain't that interesting," the dwarf said while smirking. "Enhancement: spirits."

The white light slowly vanishes and the cold collar slowly falls off to my knees. The dwarf noticed this and immediately caught it and threw it away into the lava. 

"Lava: ardere!"

"Wind: scutum!"

Before I could even react, a huge explosion of lava erupted where the collar was. The dwarf was caught up in the explosion while Zed and I were fine because of Wrath's shield.

"That old man deserves it. Can't even do something right," Zed said with an indefinite tone of voice.

"I can hear ya brat!!! Enhancement: touch!" 

You're master just got exposed to an explosion yet that was the only reaction. 

He then heals himself back to his full strength while Wrath is here impatiently waiting for all of this to end. He probably thought this was too anti-climatic in a sense. We did wait for 2 weeks for this.

"That ain't what I expected bout this thing but alright. Past is past, ain't changing that shit."

"Explosion... Wasn't meant to happen?" I asked carefully.

"Oh, you finally talked there little missy. I was thinking you were mute or something. Anyways, yup. That was a surprising boom to happen. It ain't cause of my craftmanship now does it? Yeah, probably that collar of ya has some self-destruct thing going on around."

"Yeah yeah yeah," wrath interrupts, "Lapiz, we're going leave now. Can't wait to leave this soon-to-be hell hole of a place."

"Oh, I got ya back if that thing happens ain't it brother?"

"Calling me brother after forgetting my existence consistently is insulting, to say the least. Seriously though, this will be a bad place to live from now on," Wrath said with seriousness. I think he's speaking from experience.

"Anyways, we gotta go old man. See you never again."

"Likewise, just put the money first. Now it's four adamantine coins right?"

Wrath froze and sweat immensely after that sentence. Like his dreams came to ruin. He forgot his greatest customer yet he still remembers the deal. Simply unbelievable.

Later that day, he was forced to pay money while Zed was asking for a raise.