Section 2: Origin

"What can I do about this?" Ishrufat still doesn't understand what the rat god wants him to do? He wants the magic stone mine in Sivania? Eshurufat knows that there is a magic stone mine in Sylvania, but it is only a vein after all, not much more than the minerals that the rat people currently have. Even if they were all poached by the nezumi, it would only delay their racial degradation and the end of their society for a year or two—not even a year or two.

"No, that's not what I want. The voice of the rat god sounded in his head. "I don't need minerals from your land, because they're just a drop in the bucket for my people, and they're not worth mentioning. ”

A new image appeared in Ashrufat's mind. He saw a fortress built on top of a treacherous mountain. In other words, it is a fortress that is combined with a mountain. He saw the warriors patrolling the walls, the fine armor and sharp weapons, and watched their unrelenting eyes vigilantly watch the movement outside the city.

A lot of information flowed into Ashrufat's mind along with these images. In fact, there was no need for an explanation from the Rat God, and Ashrufat also recognized the identities of these warriors. They are a dwarven race, a race that is friendly (or at least neutral) to humans. Dwarves live in the mountains, building their own fortresses on peaks and shallow underground, growing crops on the surface and digging minerals underground. They have an innate desire to amass wealth, as well as a high level of craftsmanship that borders on instinct. The dwarves are arguably the most familiar alien race to humans. Because for humans, dwarves are a kind of "friends" that are not aggressive, and there are also a very small number of dwarves who live in the Anthropocene realm, living with their artisan skills or business acumen.

However, although it is a civilized race, the dwarves are known for their toughness, bravery, and character traits such as being face-saving, cautious, and narrow-minded. But the most impressive thing is that they have a tradition of revenge. At the very least, the Ashrufat Dwarves have a "Book of Hatred" that any crime committed against them (whether intentional or unintentional, or even only in the dwarves' imagination) will be recorded in the Book of Hate, waiting to be avenged one day. These crimes range from large-scale warfare to personal harm to a fraudulent loan in a business transaction.

However, Ashruphat did not see anything to do with the crisis of the Rzumen in this dwarven fortress city. He fully understood the conflict between the two races - although one lives deep underground and the other lives on the surface, armed conflict is normal. Because the nezumi are selfish, and the dwarves are greedy. They are bound to clash over a habitable subterranean space, a deep vein, or a suitable passageway.

Like most interracial conflicts in this world, such disputes can only be decided by sword and fire to determine who is right and who is wrong. And according to the dwarves' retributive nature, the rats must be included in the category of the book of hatred.

The images began to become coherent, and Ashrufat felt as if his eyes were detached from his body, roaming the dwarven fortress city independently. He has no physical limitations, so he can traverse everything, including the solid earth. Then he understood what the rat god was asking him to see.

Beneath the fortress city of Karak-Grom lies a very large vein of magical stones. Ashrufat's eyes were not affected by the outside and roamed freely through the layers of soil, so he could see that this magic stone mine was a large mineral with impeccable quality and reserves.

On the periphery of this mineral are some half-fist-sized magic stones mixed in with dirt. Aside from their qualities, there is nothing particularly noteworthy. But as he advanced towards the center of the vein, the ore grew larger and larger, from the size of a fist to the size of a human head, from the size of a human head to the size of a millstone and the size of a horse, and when it reached the center of this vein, Ashrufat even saw many giant magic stones, each of which was enough to fill a square.

The Rat God continued to send relevant information into his mind, and then he understood why there was such a large vein of magic stones here. This is because this vein is "growing". Due to the wind of magic, the special geography, and the natural structure under the earth, the dark magical energy in the air precipitated and condensed in this place in a vortex way, and finally evolved into such a large-scale magic stone mine. What's more, this mine is theoretically inexhaustible. Because the black magic energy is constantly deposited, every once in a while, the black magic energy condenses here into a batch of magic stones.

"This is the key to the future destiny of my people. The voice of the rat god came to mind. "As long as this place is taken, then my people will have a solid base, and the danger like this one will never happen again. ”

But Ashrufat still couldn't understand it. Because as far as he knew, (from books), the dwarves had no interest in magic stones at all. This kind of thing is a dangerous existence for dwarves. If the nezumi came to help them remove these dangerous items, it was probably too late for them to be happy, let alone obstruct them.

"You want me to be a diplomat?" Ashrufar asked, a little surprised.

"No......" The Rat God sent new information into Ashrufat's mind. Ashrufat realized that the situation was not so simple, and that Karak-Grom was not a newly built city, but a very old fortress. Decades ago, the dwarves lost her after a massive cataclysm, and the place was eventually overrun by the Greenskins. But recently the dwarves have come back and recaptured the fortress after a bloody battle.

Ashrufat knew the Greenskins well, as he had impersonated the Greenskins and had become a boss. He knew that Greenskin would never give up on this kind of thing. The Greenskins were originally a very warlike and aggressive race, but now the shame of defeat and the desire for revenge have made them even more desperate to wage war in an attempt to retake the city. The whole of Karak-Grom has now become a fully militarized fortress, a battlefield on the front lines. The Greenskins and Dwarves fought countless fierce battles here, and every part of the surface and underground passages was the scene of fierce battles between the two sides.

With the tense atmosphere of war, the series of accounts in the Book of Hatred, the dwarves' retribution and the selfish nature of the rats, it is all empty to think that a diplomatic agreement or anything can be reached. To make matters worse, the fact is that if the rats dig up the magic stone, then Karak-Grom is in danger of collapsing. The dwarves would never allow that to happen, and the rats didn't have much time - their existing veins were not far off.

Ashrufat questioned in his mind, why did he delay until now for the sake of not solving this problem sooner? The Rat God's answer was unexpected—it turned out that the Rat God had been asleep most of the time, but this time it was so dangerous that the Grey Prophets woke him up temporarily with the most desperate prayers.

"By the time I woke up, it had come to this point. The voice of the rat god seemed to sigh, and it seemed to be angry, angry at the rat people's incompetence.

Ashruphat saw a new picture. In the core city of the Nezuk, the twelve Abyss Lords unanimously approved a war plan for the capture of Karak-Grom. A war seemed imminent. Ashrufat had vaguely guessed the purpose of the rat god looking for him, but he was still a little puzzled. Judging from what the rat god just told him, the rat people have a very large army, and this war is related to the rise and fall of the race, so they must go all out. On the other hand, the Greenskins and Dwarves who fought in Karak-Grom, although they were also large armies, were not the strength of the entire race, nor could they be the strength of the entire race. In terms of quantity, even fifty to one is more than enough.

The image continued, changing quickly, but Ashruphat understood what was happening. When preparing for war, the nezumi leaders were impassioned on the surface, and it seemed that they were going all out, but when it was really time to organize an army, they found reasons to shirk it one by one. What's the solution? The bosses are in competition with each other, and civil wars are common for the nezumi. Each of the chiefs wanted the war to drain the strength of others in order to give themselves an advantage in the future, so they did everything they could to free themselves from the obligation of war. The only ones who really pushed the war wholeheartedly were the Grey Prophets, but the selfishness and viciousness of the rat people made the Grey Prophets' efforts to mobilize an entire army come to naught. After a long period of bickering and confusion, the Grey Prophet finally managed to muster an army. Of course, although this is also a large army, there is no particularly huge advantage in numbers.

The result of the war was a tragic defeat - the attacking nezumi army was first defeated by the strong defenses of the dwarves, and then was taken by surprise by the greenskins as they retreated, who had come to attack the dwarves, but since the rats were in their way, they were happy to fight more. The greenskins cut off their retreat, and the dwarves attacked head-on, but the two mortal enemies who were not in the same place worked together perfectly at this time. The nezumi forces were blocked between the two armies, and were eventually annihilated.

When the news of this catastrophic defeat returned, the selfish nature of the rats came into play again. Instead of immediately reorganizing an army for revenge, they immediately plunged into a long period of division and accusation. The Grey Prophets, as usual, tried to unify the race in order to achieve a plan for the future of the race, but unfortunately, they were unable to do so by all means. Although the danger of running out of magic stones is imminent, the rats are showing signs of a large-scale civil war. In desperation, the Grey Prophets could only pray to the Rat God in despair, hoping that the great Rat God would guide them through this terrible crisis.

"Now that you are awake, why don't you lead your own people?" Ashrufat asked in his mind.

The Rat God made it clear that he couldn't stay awake for too long.

"So you're coming to me for a deal? What do you want me to do?"

The rat god's answer was straightforward. He needed an emissary, and a powerful emissary, to guide the nezumi in his place, unite the chaotic clans, gather the strength of the entire race, and eventually lead them to conquer Karak-Grom, which had been so well established by the dwarves. As long as they have this land, then the nezumi will never have this kind of crisis of resource exhaustion and racial degradation again.

"What can I get?" asked Ashrufat.

"I can send you out of this place and back into the normal realm. This time, the Rat God reverted to his original tone. "Moreover, I can awaken your sleeping servant once again. Believe me, although it is temporarily asleep, I believe that there are very few beings in this world that can awaken it. If you don't have someone to help, you may never get its services again. ”

"I can't necessarily do what you ask me to do. Ashrufat said.

"As long as you give it your all. The Rat God replied. "It's not a problem with who you are, how you look, and so on. After awakening your servant, I will give you the relevant information. I'm sure your armor can make you the right fit. In addition to this, I will give you one more important gift. I'm going to pour some of my energy into this gift, so that even if your true identity is revealed, it won't cause too much trouble. ”

"As long as Karak-Grom is captured, will the deal be done?" said Ashrufat, the last question.