Petra was followed by the dumb dog all the way to the bottom of the Spirit Stone Mine. Here, the crystallized walls ended and began to turn into an even deeper colored stone, almost black.
It was here that she found a small underground workshop...
The workshop was exactly what you'd expect from two dwarven sisters, a messy mix of discarded homework and unfinished tools.
Apparently, they were the kind that got distracted easily.
The cavern had been widened into a solid stone hall, reinforced with thick, rune-carved supports that glowed with a steady light, filled with spiritual energy that carried a windless wind. A large forge crackled with arcane fire in the center of the room, sending sparks dancing across the rough and incomplete floor. Metal scraps, unfinished plates, and strange weapons were scattered across massive stone tables. Despite it all, it still somehow formed a functional, well-understood system, at least, for its dual residence.
The air smelled of soot, fire, and melted mixtures of magic ore, combined in a series of untested alloys. Despite the heat radiating from the forge, the chamber still held a comforting coolness, provided by magic runes and pre-prepared vents that stretched to the surface.
When Petra entered, they both stood up immediately to greet her.
The two girls were wearing a special outfit over their normal clothes. It was a set of thick, baggy black balloon-like overalls and an upper coat that covered most of their bodies, heads included. Imagine a snow suit, but black and dwarf sized, stubby, with some extra puffy elements added on top.
It was a bit odd…
One of them set down her hammer, its head still glowing faintly red, while the other trotted over to cool down the forge they had been using throughout the long night.
After adjusting their gear and returning to normal clothes, they walked over to Petra and offered a proper greeting. They still smelled like ash and fire, but now they looked like sweet little girls, nothing like the bulging black balls of coal from before.
Looking at them—
It was a bit difficult to tell that these two girls were so strong.
Shortly after Petra had taken them in, she had all the new girls go through a poison resistance 'ritual'. After noticing that neither of them flinched, Petra naturally had to test their strength. What she discovered shocked her…
Their physical strength exceeded almost everyone else by a massive margin.
It was terrifying!
Although it came at the cost of mobility, the sheer power each of them possessed easily made up for it.
They could compete with Petra, who had a dragon bloodline.
Petra bet that… she could give them each a massive shield and tell them to run around bashing people in the head. If she did that, then perhaps these two would be the most lethal of her guard, er… servants.
…She would probably do that in the future…
Mm, probably…
Petra wondered if she could find a dragon who would be willing to give her a piece of their horn, no, some scales, that should make a good shield, right? A red dragon, mm, yeah… that sounds good. Unfortunately, there weren't any dragons on the Cross Continent.
All of the Dragon Clans were overseas… all of them except her.
Cough cough!
She was just passing through, but Petra still wanted to take this opportunity to drop in and see what the two sisters were up to.
They were both practicing what Elli had taught them.
Even if they were slacking off, that didn't mean that they weren't practicing. They had come 'preloaded' with high-level forging skills, but now they were hard at work learning the Rune Language from Elli. Their progress really showed, and their learning ability was incredible.
It was so incredible that she eventually had to ask…
-
Petra had asked what the origins of these two sisters were. Although they were hesitant at first, now that they had spent a significant amount of time together and grown closer, they decided to tell Petra everything they knew, and indeed, they were another trap set by fate—!
These two girls were a race called the Blackstone Barbarians!
They weren't actually dwarves at all, or at least, not in the traditional sense. Petra had guessed that they were the legendary Black Dwarf, but it seemed as if she was wrong.
Their background was a bit tragic…
No, 'tragic' was the wrong word…
They were two naughty little brats who had run outside and left the 'tribe' to 'play'. Leaving the tribe was considered taboo, but they were never punished because while they were playing outside, they were caught by slave traders, scooped up like confused chicks, and taken away like naive derps.
They told Petra, in a way that displayed a considerable amount of knowledge for 'normal children', that the 'Blackstone Barbarians' were a very strange race.
Since they trusted Petra a great deal, they naturally spilled all their secrets…
And indeed, it was a big secret!
-
The Blackstone Barbarians weren't just a simple tribe, no, they were an entire race, a race that was genetically engineered to be 'perfect! Pretending to be a race of barbarians was simply a cover, and this cover worked extremely well, because up till now, not even their 'predecessors' had realized who they actually were.
Petra would be killed 'if they knew' 'she knew'…
Yikes, what a trap…
The sisters didn't know what had happened in between, but they did originate from Black Dwarves, or to be more specific, their lineage was… Ancient Dwarf, Stone Dwarf, Black Dwarf, Telltera, and then Blackstone Barbarian! They possessed the bloodline of Dwarf, Dark Elf, Giant, and then Human. It was a terrifying combination, one that shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances, but—
Petra listened, not understanding the weight of these words.
If any of the other girls were here, then perhaps their reaction would be much more explosive. Unfortunately, Petra didn't care, the sisters were too naive, and the dumb dog was a dumb dog.
Someone, or something, had intentionally bred them into a superior race, and the Blackstone Barbarians were the current product of that experiment.
Although she didn't care, Petra still felt a headache coming on. Why were these two 'slaves' she casually picked up another source of trouble?
Was she cursed?
The raccoon, Deer, and now the 'Dwarves' all had a problem. Should she look into it? Would the others also have problems? Mm, the Twins, Wind, Mell, Bell and Dorothy all seemed to fall into the 'troublemaker category'. Was one of the others going to turn out to be a super terrorist or something?
Author: "…"
Petra shivered, genuinely too scared to know. She tried to avoid 'fateful encounters' where she could, but they always seemed to find their way to her…
It was bullshit!
She sighed to herself, thinking what a pain in the ass the future would be…
-
Back to the topic!
Petra couldn't wrap her head around how a dwarf could grow into a Blackstone Barbarian, especially after hearing that ridiculous genealogy. I mean, seriously, did you read that? Black Dwarf and Giant? Just imagining it was scary, not to mention the outcome… One needed to know that the giant race was a very, hm… 'difficult race'. They were around ten meters in height, some even reaching sixteen to eighteen. In exchange for their strength, they had a massive disability, and that was that they were very stupid! For a dwarf, it was no different than trying to mount a whale…
Mm, yeah, so you could imagine!
It wasn't a secret that Kilemin was a Blackstone Barbarian.
The reason he didn't look like a dwarf, despite the two girls before Petra definitely looking like dwarves, was because the Blackstone Barbarians 'life cycle' was actually very special.
For the first fifty years of their life, they maintained a dwarf-like appearance. But after that, similar to how elves changed drastically during the last few centuries of their life, the Blackstone Barbarians would have a period of explosive growth when their giant race bloodline finally kicked in, becoming more human-like after there 'fifties'.
That was why Kilemin looked human, apparently, he was over fifty years old...
Probably…
Who knows, there could always be another secret…
As for the two girls, they were still very young, so it would probably be another twenty or thirty years before they began to take on their human forms. Until then, Petra would just keep treating them like Black Dwarves!
As for the purpose of the experiment that created them, it didn't really matter to Petra. She was the kind of person who would do something 'like that' just for fun, so she could understand if that was the reason behind it. As long as whoever was in charge didn't come to her doorstep and demand the two sisters back, then there wouldn't be any problems! No sane person would do something 'like that', nor would they think this way, and whoever took multiple millennia to create the Blackstone Barbarians certainly wasn't reasonable, but Petra's brain didn't work too wellz...
At this point in time, Petra still had no idea that the identities of these two naive brats were actually a lot more 'special' than she had imagined.
Meh, hindsight…
As for the possibility of someone actually coming to retrieve the two girls, Petra was already 'prepared' for that. Even if they could find her, then as long as it wasn't a walking disaster, she didn't think there were many people who could fight her, at least not while she was willing to commit a double suicide.
Whoever attacked her would definitely be unwilling to follow her into the grave! Yep!
This naturally made Petra completely invincible. Yep-yep!
There's nothing like holding the launch codes…
Mm! Yep-yep-yep!
In addition to flipping the table, Petra's mind also had another strange string of logic.
This world had 'Gods', and the gods naturally wanted to preserve the world. Therefore, if she were ever in a fight where she was at a disadvantage, it was far more likely that a god would literally descend to stop her before she used the King's Hand to blow everything up.
That was logical, right? Yep-yep-yep-yep! It was for her…
So, with that said—
This naturally made Petra completely invincible!
Yep!
Can't argue with that, because I'm here, and you're behind the screen! Dumbass!
-
After tossing her last cookie to the dumb dog, Petra left the maid with the dwarven sisters and headed deeper into the mines.
Although they were already below the Spirit Stone mine, there was one chamber even deeper down into the ground. The air grew heavier as she descended, the stone beneath her feet shifting from the dark stone to a rougher black mineral, streaked with purple. The tunnels narrowed, and soon, only one passage continued downwards.
This corridor was clearly dug independently from the rest, given more attention.
Continuing down—
Soon, the path ahead widened, sloping sharply before finally opening up into a massive chamber at the lowest point of the 'mine'.
Petra stepped through the arched entrance and paused…
This cavern was huge! It stretched so far that the light from her lantern couldn't reach its depths. The entire place was silent except for a slow, rhythmic drip echoing from somewhere deep in the darkness. It was cold and uncomfortable, sending a shiver down one's spine, and leaving goosebumps.
Everything was empty, except for the large 'pool' in the center.
It was a wide hollow space filled with an 'unknown liquid', sitting alone in the center of the chamber. Its rim was clean, almost unnaturally so, and the shape of the pool seemed artificial, no, in fact, the whole room seemed artificial. Even from the entrance, Petra could feel the 'heat' rising from whatever was happening within that 'strange substance'. It flowed faintly, and the dense spiritual energy that leaked out tugged at her skin. The cave walls had begun to dissolve and become brittle from their exposure to this hazy mist, and the air, despite the moisture, felt dry and rough, making one feel as if they were walking through a static sandstorm.
The surface of the pool glowed with a soft silver-blue light, dancing with ribbons of black and white, curling in unique patterns.
This was—
Petra's newest creation…
It was a 'concentrated evolution medicine', perfected and refined, and thick enough to twist the air above it. It was the first drug she had created that incorporated metaphysical techniques.
Although Petra had tested it, even she wasn't sure about its limits.
Thousands of ingredients, weeks of research, and more experimental subjects than she had ever gone through, even to date, had all gone into the creation of this strange liquid!
It was meant for her beasts, and only her beasts!
For their next step, their evolution, she demanded the best possible 'beginning', so she had put everything into this substance!
This drug consisted of her latest strengthening medicine, a new series of evolutionary medicines, a special blend of Beast King Blood unique to each beast, and a single drop of the Leviathan Blood.
In addition, each evolution would require an immense amount of energy. This energy was provided by the Poison Sea that Petra had absorbed and condensed. Petra provided a single 'whale's worth' of Poison Sea to each of her beasts.
Fortunately, this still left her with thousands of whales! She had slurped up a lot! Mm, anyways…
Petra approached the edge of the pool and crouched down. The glow reflected in her big black eyes as she peered into its swirling depths. The unnatural black ribbons that radiated off the silver-blue substance flickered and curled in a disturbingly life-like way, forming 'patterns'.
Beneath the surface—
Something moved…
A massive shadow, indistinct and formless, glided through the silver sea, slow and steady, approaching with a concealed stability that slipped through its smooth surface. The water stirred, then slowly stilled, almost shyly in a sense…
Petra's lips curled up.
"It'll be soon," she said softly. "Just wait a little longer."
She gave a small, satisfied nod, then turned to leave.
Her steps echoed faintly as she walked away.
Behind her, a pair of eyes opened in the shadows.
Eight massive spheres lit up beneath the water's surface.
They flickered faintly with a soft red light, following Petra's departing figure as she left. The creature remained completely hidden within the darkness, but its gaze carried a certain emotion.
Disappointment…
Loneliness…
Sadness…
No, it was almost as if it had hoped she would stay longer, not unlike a young child...
-
Rippel! Hummm—! As soon as Petra disappeared through the tunnel, the air rippled, and a figure 'stepped out of the void', her feet touching the ground with a soft click.
"…Honestly," she muttered, "What kind of owner drops by just to pat you on the head and say hello? Tsk-tsk… how was that girl raised! Just what kind of parents were needed to… oh wait! Haha!" Her expression lightened despite her words. "So irresponsible~" Levy shook her head.
Her purple eyes curved into a mischievous smile as she slowly stepped towards the pool.
The creature shifted in response, its enormous silhouette tensing beneath the water.
Black ribbons of energy curled instinctively towards Levy's feet, before withdrawing, almost like terrifying eldritch tentacles that were—no, it wasn't just that, even the patterns they formed on the surface of the water were abnormal, almost maddening in a sense.
"Oh?" Levy tilted her head, ignoring the huge red flag, and looked at the shadow, amused. She could feel how extremely cautious this thing was.
It was quite an instinct.
The creature didn't move, but its eight red eyes brightened and flickered.
Levy smiled wider.
She crouched down, letting her fingertips hover just above the glowing surface of the pool.
"I still feel bad about 'that time', so I'll repay her here…" Her smiling lips trembled, forcing something back. "I'm sure Petra will appreciate the 'gift'." From her sleeve, something impossibly dark slid into her hand—a shard of condensed energy, pulsing with a heartbeat that wasn't its own, linked to something in the unseen world. The chamber quivered just from its presence.
Wang! The walls flashed with a purple light, blooming from Levy's body, and isolating the area.
The eight eyes widened.
Levy winked.
"Just a little appetizer. Since one of your kind survived for so long, despite your karma, then it can only be considered fate." She looked at the shard. "But fate isn't always enough." She grinned, then her eyes turned, before flickering with an unknown emotion. "I wonder what 'you'll get!'"
She held out the shard.
The pool responded instantly, waves of black light snapping upwards, almost as if they were desperately trying to reach the shard.
"Good," she muttered...
"So it is like that…"
Her hand opened—
The shard fell! Swoosh!
Plop!
Silence…
Time passed, then—
Hoooooooooooong—! Fouuuush! Boom! Everything shook!
Levy's purple eyes narrowed, extremely focused, as a wave of indescribable pressure exploded outwards and 'shattered the void'. Ka-ka-ka—Crack! Chink! Whoosh—!!
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
'Everything fell apart like a plane of glass!' Space rippled and cracked, shattering the 'material world'. The devastation was isolated to the room, pulling reality inwards like splintering glass! The rupture drew an unseen power from the depths of the unfolding void, [Violating] the law of [?], and hiding the scene from [?], allowing what was to happen to happen, uninterrupted!
Like a transparent hand, something emerged from the shard, pushed through the fractured void, and 'slipped down the fourth axis', diving into the 'Void' with an impossible speed! Woosh!
Hooooong!! Shatter—! The 'World Barrier' was pierced like glass—!!
- Extending --> 'Material World!'
- Extending --> 'Empty Void!' Swoosh!
- Extending --> 'Void Sea (Upper Void)!' Swoosh!
- Extending --> 'Void Sea (Layered Void | Shallows)!' Swoosh!
- Extending --> 'Void Sea (Layered Void | [?])!' Swoosh!
Clink…
- Extending --> 'Void Sea (Layered Void | [?])!' Swooooosh!
Clink!
- Extending --> 'Void Sea (Layered Void | [?])!' Swoooooooosh!
Levy's eyes ignited with a vibrant violet light! Clink—!!! Hoooooooooooong—!
- Extending --> 'Void Sea (Deep Void)!' Wang! Something shook!
BOOM!!!
The shockwave completely obliterated the remaining fragments of the material world, peeling it away in a single breath, then turning it to dust! Levy and the sphere of liquid hung alone in the aftermath, suspended in a boundless void where a sea of stars churned like a living ocean around them.
Spatial storms erupted along the horizon, spiraling into colossal vortexes of fractured light.
Rifts split open and closed again in the distance, revealing glimpses of impossible things, torrential nebulae, collapsing suns, and cosmic shadows twisting between dimensions.
Unlike the common cosmos, everything here was tinted violet, no, something even 'shorter'…!
"COME!" With a loud roar, something was ripped from the deep void. BOOM!
It was pulled through the higher-dimensional rift, torn from its slumber, and 'dragged' into the material world. With a vaporizing flash of purple light, it fused with the pool and the creature within. There wasn't even a moment of resistance, for either of them.
The scene lasted only a heartbeat, and then the universe snapped back into place…
Clap! With a BOOM!—FLASH! Then there was only silence…
'The world returned to how it was'.
Levy stood before the pool as if nothing had happened, her hands on her hips, triumphant. She narrowed her eyes, smiling contentedly. "He-he-he, not a bad catch! Not at all! Looks like you're lucky!"
The eight eyes within the pool trembled violently.
It felt as if it had seen something it shouldn't have!
In its mind, it seemed to have just been pulled through a dream…
"Now then," Levy murmured, stretching her arms over her head.
"Do you want to learn a little trick, big guy~?"
Absolute silence…
* * *
Between the constant training and endless construction, the next month was extremely chaotic.
-
One Month Later…