Binary Soul

> Kelly PoV <

I gaze up at Enuri’s Sunstone. If I didn’t know any better I’d think the actual sun was glued to the roof of this incomprehensibly huge cavern. The constant light is throwing my sleeping schedule off, though. If it wasn’t for all the clocks around here, I’d have no idea it’s already been two days since we got here.

I look around the only actual farm in Ecebis. It looked a lot tinier from far away, but now that I’m actually here, this place is huge! The sea of green spreads out in every direction for hundreds of meters. I don’t understand why most of it is hops, but I’m not complaining! The local ale’s pretty good, better than I was expecting.

I spot Umph staring blankly into the distance. He noticed my approach and turns to face me with grand, slow movements.

“Greetings Sistah of Steel. I see you have recovered.” (Umph)

“What’s left of me, anyway. You seem to be doing fine too.” (Kelly)

“Yes, I am once again of sound mind, Sistah of Steel. De remnant of de Shiny One is as strong as I remember.” (Umph)

He looks up at the fake sun. It’s hard to tell what sort of face he’s making since it’s an eagle's head, but I get the impression he’s being nostalgic.

“So you’ve seen it before?” (Kelly)

“Yes. It was me who made de shape, although it was de Shiny One who gave it de powah.” (Umph)

I see, so it really is titan-made. Most of this world’s bizarre scenery is like that. That famous backwards-flowing waterfall to the east, for example. Come to think of it, maybe Runetap was made by a titan?

Wow, that stupid thought just made a whole lot of sense right now.

“So… what happens now? You gonna wake up Draglael or what?” (Kelly)

I point at the 50-meter tall metal statue that’s several meters from Umph. That’s supposedly Draglael’s dormant body. Although, if you ignore the color and the size and the whole actually-a-titan thing, it just looks like a regular dwarven woman. The face is nothing special, and she’s just casually standing there with a regular everyday dress you’d expect to see on a villager, not on a mighty immortal being.

“Yes. I will try. But I have no knowledge of what may happen if de Calling should interfere.” (Umph)

“Interfere? But we’re under the Sunstone, right?! The Calling can’t reach you here.” (Kelly)

That was the whole point of bringing him here. Since the fake sunlight around us is just as strong as the real thing, it’s shielding him from the Calling. Well, it was an unconfirmed theory, but it worked out in the end.

“It is true dat de Figments of de Dark One cannot last under dis light. But de Figments of de Metal One are different.” (Umph)

“Oh. Right. Those things. They’ll pop out of the ground and start trying to stop you whenever you begin… whatever it is you’re going to do?” (Kelly)

“It is likely. De Calling will surely fight back.” (Umph)

I drop my shoulders and let out a sigh. It never ends with these bloody titans! So that’s why the message Brand delivered said to come here fully armed. Well, truth be told, I’m always wearing Scrappy lately. Somehow… it makes the missing arm easier to bear.

“So. How long will the wake up call take?” (Kelly)

“Three, maybe four days.” (Umph)

“Guh! You know I’m not gonna be able to keep going that long! Just because you’re a bloody titan doesn’t mean the rest of us-” (Kelly)

“Calm down Sistah of Steel. Dis is just a trial. I shall only test de strength of de Calling’s grip. It will not last more den an hour.” (Umph)

“... Alright. Let’s get this over with.” (Kelly)

*Tak tak tak tak taktaktak*

I bring out the maces once again. I wonder why I even bother folding them in these days… Hmm? Why did I even use this complicated method to store them inside my armor in the first place? Isn’t it super impractical? I remember doing this since Scrappy the Third, but why? That’s odd, I’m sure there was something-

*Hummmmmmmmm*

Huh? What’s this low hum coming from the ground? Ack! This guy started without me! He’s facing the Steelmother statue and being perfectly still!

*RRRUMBLE*

The ground shakes a little. A figure slowly rises from the soil a few meters away. It’s steadily coming out - a Figment of Draglael. It’s a metal full plate armor holding a shield and spear. You’d almost think it was a dwarven soldier, but there’s nobody inside that shell! It’s like fighting another Scrappy!

Wasting no time, I charge at it. This one seems to be made out of iron, so he’s much lighter and softer compared to my own armor!

*CLANK*

I ram into its shield at full sprint, knocking it over. Once these things fall on their backs, they take forever to get back up. I proceed to pummel it with both maces. It takes two hits to every limb and five more to the torso before it stops moving completely. Having finished with it, I look around.

“Umph... Umph! Damn it wake up!” (Kelly)

*SMACK*

I hit him across the talon so he gets my attention.

“Eck! What? What is it Sistah of- Oh.” (Umph)

“Don’t ‘oh’ me! Get me out of here you birdbrain!” (Kelly)

“Right! Hang on Sistah of Steel!” (Umph)

He grabs me with his talons and immediately lifts off. We’re out of reach of the literal army of armor down there. Dozens of Figments keep appearing by the second! They completely surrounded us in an instant! There’s absolutely no way I can handle this on my own! I only faced 10 of these guys at most on the way here! I'm glad they're slower than monsters, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to escape so easily!

Okay! I’ve calmed down a bit, so let’s look over these guys. There’s too many to count. Looks to be about a few hundred. Most of them are made out of Copper or Bronze. A good number are made out of what looks like iron or steel and several made out of Orichalcum or Adamantite. While stronger Figments of Khamis are simply bigger monsters, the stronger Figments of Draglael are made out of tougher metals.

“Umph! What do we do!? We can’t just leave them there?” (Kelly)

“Figments are short-lived, Sistah of Steel. Dey will disappear before an hour passes.” (Umph)

I see... I never had the luxury to wait around during their night raids.

“But dis number is unexpected.” (Umph)

“That's an understatement. There has to be a way though...” (Kelly)

Think Kelly! There has to be a way! Darkhands are good at knowledge-gathering, right? So let's use what I know!

First of all, trying to fight them all off on my own is pointless. Both the number and time span are bad. They'll shatter Umph into tiny pieces without question. Maybe I could try and bring in one of the legions? But that rage-inducing smoke will... Will not appear!

I see! How didn't I notice it before!? The source of that smog isn't the Calling! It's the Figments of Khamis! All the Calling is doing is simply borrowing the afflicted titans' powers! Thinking about it now, the only thing these metal ones left behind is a pile of dust!

“I have an idea, Umph! Set me down at the edge of the fields, I’ll have to go appeal to the Senate.” (Kelly)

Shouldn’t take much persuading. All dwarves revere the Steelmother, so they should be willing to help. The thing is that bringing a legion out here will leave an entrances to the Depths unguarded. If the monsters down there decide they want to expand upward at the wrong time, it’ll turn into a tragedy. And those holes in the ground are too large to fill with just dwarven stubbornness.

Oh!? But we happen to have a Stoneshaper right here, don’t we? Just have to make sure it’s daytime outside before we attempt any hole-sealing. I’m really not willing to go through another Calling. Especially not when so many of my people are within running distance.

I really hope the clocks down here are correct.

* * *

It took two weeks and then some, but it’s finally time. As planned, Umph sealed off the Depths with his titan magic. Those buggers down there will eventually dig through, but it should buy us a month, maybe two.

Those geezers at the Senate were obviously elated. The spiders of the Depths are terrifying, but they’re the only real danger to this country. All dwarves are a dutiful kind, so there’s hardly any crime. Criminals get exiled immediately anyway. It’s a harsh punishment and a huge deterrent to those who were born here.

So with the 8 entrances to the Depths sealed off for the time being, we suddenly ended up with 8 dwarven legions of 3,000 soldiers each with nothing to do. So we had them participate in our little Awakening.

About half of them, which is to say 12,000 troops, consist of heavy infantry clad in full-plate armor and protected by greatshields. It’s a fearsome sight. Watching them practice their shield wall formations gives off the image of a steel curtain moving across the ground. Per my recommendation, they’re armed with warhammers, maces, flails and all sorts of other blunt weapons which excel at denting armor.

4,000 of the gathered legionnaires are engineers like myself. Although most have the ability to control golems, they won’t be fighting much. Their job is logistics. The battle will go on for days and our enemy will literally be popping out from the ground. Therefore, the engineering corps will be using 10-meter tall stone golems to ferry the injured and exhausted soldiers away from the battlefield, while bringing back those who have recovered enough to rejoin the fight.

4,000 more are Marksmen, armed with crossbows. Although normal bolts are useless, I’ve brought a very convenient thing with me - [Impact Pellets]. Admittedly, I only had 15 left when I arrived, but producing them is simple and cheap. In reality, they’re small Magic Stones imbued with an [Impact] spell.

That nifty little spell is something only the looney mages of Ferseit can come up with. It’s actually fairly recent, not even a decade old. Also, it’s only effective on the mage’s own lingering spells. As a result, its use hasn’t spread. It’s a questionable method at best and it takes someone of Red’s skill at mana manipulation to turn it into a weapon. Seeing her use what I thought to be a junk-tier spell to decimate the undead back then was a flash of inspiration.

I had her teach me the spell. It's easy to learn, but hard to master. That unfocused light burst I used during the Callings is the best I’m capable of. But you just need to be able to invoke the spell to put it into a Magic Stone. And since the mana required to do it so tiny, you can use the smallest Magic Stones available, which are cheaper than dirt.

Putting it into a Magic Stone was where it got really interesting. Doing that with a spell means it becomes 'neutral' and can no longer be controlled. In this case, it also meant [Impact] would be made effective against any and all forms of magic! Even ancient, dragon-sealing ones! It’s a tiny little thing that’s sure to change the world!

Now truthfully, making enough of those things to arm 4,000 people is ludicrous. Unless you happen to have 3,000 mages and 4,000 engineers willing to lend a hand. I had to steadily pass on the knowledge of [Impact] to them over the course of many days, but it was worth it. In the end we were able to arm each Marksman with 50 [Impact Pellet]-tipped crossbow bolts.

They already know not to aim it near allies. Various enchantments, golems and of course Scrappy could suffer if they’re careless. Their mission is to seek out the tougher Figments like Adamantite or Orichalcum and put them down. It takes two or three hits to completely drain their mana, but they turn into dust without having to actually hit them even once!

As for the 3,000 mages, they’ll be focusing on crowd control. Using Earth Magic to knock down the enemy. Fire or Lightning is pretty much useless against these things, so they won’t get a chance run wild. They’re all military though, they’ll do their job without complaints. Unlike mercenaries or adventurers that want to incessantly show off.

And finally are 2,000 priests of Enuri serving as medics. Since the only source of their faith down here is the Sunstone, we’ll be fighting on their holy ground. So they’re super motivated. Also, I notice there’s quite a few women among the clergy. About a two-to-one split in favor of the males. There aren’t any female clergy members on the surface, though. Admittedly I’ve never left Ferseit. It might just be a cultural thing.

To help things along, those Senators even authorized that everyone be given two healing salves, while officers receive an additional healing potion. Just having these on hand is a big boost to morale. Those salves are the same stuff that Brand brought back from the City States Alliance, so they're prefect for recovering outside the field.

Speaking of Brand, he’s apparently the overall commander-in-chief. I’m told it’s because our clan is known for specializing in anything titan-related, and he happens to be the highest ranked (and only) Darkhand officer. So he got the job shoved onto him. He’ll be overlooking the battlefield on a gryphon, using a magic tool to amplify the power of his voice so it reaches the soldiers below.

Ah yes, gryphons! Every dwarf yearns to own one of those magnificent beasts! At least those on the surface, it’s impossible to find an egg down here. That particular gryphon is Brand’s personal mount, he said he brought it with him when he was admitted into the country. His is a Falcon Gryphon with brown plumage, one of the more common breeds.

As for me… since I'm the one who brought the titan to this place, I am literally the last line of defense. None of the other dwarves can even come close to matching Scrappy, after all.

When asked for a spar recently, I obliged. I won. Several times. It escalated. At one point I was fighting 20 heavy infantrymen at once! Good bunch of lads. Had a great time sharing stories over a pint or two. Or six. The ale here may not be as strong as the werewolf-made stuff I brought, but the delicious taste does grow on you!

“Well then, shall we get started?” (Kelly)

“Let’s. Give the word whenever you’re ready, Umph! Come on, Shull! Off we go!” (Brand)

Brand took off on his gryphon. Wait, he named it Shull? Wasn’t that the name of that chicken he thought of as a pet? The one Mom eventually made into dinner?! And he says my naming sense is bad!

Ah, Umph is getting ready. He should be giving the signal any-

*SCREEEEEEEE*

Ow. My ears. I really should not have stood right next to him. Over 20,000 dwarves gathered here turn their eyes towards the transparent eagle-like figure.

“Breddahs and Sistahs of Steel!” (Umph)

Ohhh, now that’s a good voice he’s putting out! It’s even echoing slightly! Ow! My ears! I can’t plug them because Scrappy is in the way!

“All of you have gathered here to fight for de sake of my fellow titans! For dis, I am eternally grateful!” (Umph)

He spreads his wings wide as he utters that last sentence.

*THUMP THUMP THUMP*

*HUUAAAAAAH*

The gathered legionnaires take the cue and beat their weapons against their shields three times before raising their voices in cheer! A true salute in dwarven fashion! I'm glad I made Umph practice! This sort of thing is important for morale! Also it’s seriously cool!

Wait, why is he looking down at me? It’s not over yet!

“Go on then! Finish it the bloody speech!” (Kelly)

He lightly nods his head before facing the crowd again.

“Now! I wasn’t really listening to de second part of de speech! But I’m pretty sure it involved de fighting and de drinking...” (Umph)

You what? What is this bloody birdbrain saying now!? That’s going to have the opposite effect!

“So… May you fight a lot and drink a lot! And den, uh, FIGHT SOME MORE!” (Umph)

Why did that come out!? We’re not all violently drunken meat-heads like Red says we are!

*THUMP THUMP THUMP*

*HUUAAAAAAAAAAH*

…

Let it go, Kelly. You have things to do.

So my slacking off finally caught up with me. Now I have to actually do my job during work hours instead of writing this fic :(