Assimilate All Talents

Chapter 299: Start of Torben’s Journey (Side Story)

In the snowy Orna Mountains, a lone metallic humanoid trudged up the tallest peak. The path he followed was well maintained by the Frostaxe Clan orcs who inhabited the region, as it led to a being of great power and reverence.

At the end of the path, the metal puppet entered the opening of an ordinary looking cave that was anything but. As he stepped inside, he looked ahead to the end of the tunnel, where a massive eye had been patiently awaiting his arrival.

A deep voice rumbled through the cave upon seeing the puppet.

"Ah. The last Azrem Dwarf. Welcome, it’s been too long since I last spoke with your kind."

Torben, the last Azrem Dwarf, at least in spirit, approached and said, "Hello, Orna. You already know why I’m here."

He skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point; there was no reason to beat around the bush.

"Indeed, and I will stay true to my word and tell you what happened, at least from my understanding of it. Before I begin, how much do you know and recall of the war?"

"Hmm... hard to say." He responded uncertainly. "It’s been too many years, so my memory might be hazy on some details, but I remember most of the big events. The last major one I can recall was the rebirth of Ophis and his new title as the God of Rebirth."

"That is fine. What I’m about to tell you happened a few months after that event." Orna replied, understanding that mortals lacked the perfect memory he possessed.

He began, "With Ophis, Caela, and Neitarel leading the counterattack, many enemy gods perished. Throughout the battles, some of the enemy gods surrendered. Neitarel wanted to slay them all, but Caela and Ophis disagreed. Since they were in the majority, the enemy gods were allowed to live under the condition that they provide us with information."

"The captured gods agreed, and to uphold the deal, they came to me to oversee it. That was when I first met the God of Bliss. He also signed the deal, promising information in exchange for his safety. But afterward, he came to see me."

"He visited you? Why? Did he offer you some kind of deal?"

"Unfortunately, no. If he had, I would have had an easier time identifying the trap he laid." Orna’s confidence in making deals was well known; his ability to identify risks and rewards was second to none.

"He came simply to converse with me. His excuse was that, due to the deal he had signed, he could not participate in the war, so he chose to spend his time with me, away from the conflict. I was foolish to believe that was his true intention."

"And while you were asleep..." Torben could easily guess what happened next.

"As you suspect, I was later awakened when I was suddenly inflicted with punishment by my own Law of Trades. I did what I could to mitigate the punishment, but even I was injured to the point where I was forced back into hibernation again."

It was comedic in a way. First, he was lured into sleep, only to be woken up again and sent back to sleep right after. But no one was laughing, as during this time, two nations had fallen.

"The next time I awakened, the war was already over, with both your people and the Mystic Blood Clan nowhere to be found. I didn’t need to search for the reason why, the fact that I was punished by my own law meant I had failed to uphold my deal to protect you, and by then, it was already too late. It was only recently, when I saw the spawn of the God of Bliss, that I realized it wasn’t my sin that caused it, but his influence that exploited it. How he knew of my sin, I am not sure, there are various means to learn of such information."

Though Torben finally knew what had happened to his people all those years ago, he still didn’t feel any better. He would never say it out loud, but he still blamed Orna for what had happened. If Orna had realized what the God of Bliss was doing before it was too late, all of it could have been prevented.

Still, Torben had one more question. "What became of the God of Bliss?"

"Him? He broke the deal with his actions, and unlike me, he didn’t survive the punishment for breaching it. He wasn’t the only one, seven captured gods perished from breaking my contract. I assume they were all connected to some plan, though I can’t confirm whether or not that’s true. I only know that they broke the deal."

"I see... I have one more question, but it’s about something else."

Orna didn’t mind. "Ask away. I’ll answer to the best of my ability. It’s the least I can do."

Orna still felt indebted to the Azrem Kingdom for his failure to protect them. Even though he had paid the price for breaking his deal and technically owed nothing, he knew that his punishment didn’t compensate for or bring back those who had perished.

Torben nodded and brought up a question that had been lingering in his mind for countless years, since it first arose. This curiosity had only grown stronger when he met Sol and heard his explanation of it.

"What is the system?"

The answer he received from Orna only brought more questions, ones that made him even more curious. To find the answers, he would need to travel to the site of the final battle.

This was the start of Torben’s journey.