The country of Dalgarum is an enormous country with a population mainly consisting of dwarves.

Bordered between wasteland to the North, a canal to the South, tall mountains to the East, and a huge sea to the West, the country of Dalgarum mainly lived off, blacksmithing and wood crafting.

Dalgarum itself was mainly covered in large hills and had a hot climate, which had led to a freely spread population. Despite the number of dwarves, most of them lived in small villages.

The country's landscape was quite frightening; withered flower fields, bleak, bare forests, and smelly, overgrown ponds were just a sliver of the harshness Dalgarum had to offer, which was why the country was unpopular among foreigners.

The dwarves of Dalgarum were unwelcoming towards foreigners, especially toward the elves, and tended to welcome them with bitterness. They felt foreigners were a disease to the kingdom.

At that moment, a young lady with golden hair left a black carriage and headed deeper into the forest. A long sword dangled on her back, complimenting the silver armor she was wearing.

"Don't take too much time," a thick, bitter voice resonated from the carriage.

"Yeah, yeah," the woman rolled her eyes as she walked into the forest without giving a damn about the carriage or the person inside.

"Annoying little twat. What did I do to deserve such an asshole for a client?" the woman bickered with herself. The passive and daunting forest around her had the appeal of a forgotten land, which had been lost in time. The isolated forest remained in a capsule, untouched by the destructive essence of man. The dark shadows of the voluminous trees and puzzled bushes had become the structure of the forest. All the giant trees in the forest stood proud and tall as protectors of the exigent grounds, as the impregnated bushes that had consumed the hard regions of the forest concealed the land from beneath the dynamic portals of the open sky.

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The woman needed some time away from her client to clear her mind. She was afraid that if she spent any more time in the carriage with him, she might draw her sword and cut his head off. Standing before a large tree, she looked left and right. Then, she punched the tree as hard as she could. The tree trembled, shedding its leaves. Her punch formed a hole in the tree.

"That's quite an anger you're holding," the woman felt a chill running down her spine when she heard a devilish voice from behind. She turned around with her sword in her hand. To her surprise, a figure dressed in complete black stood before her. The power that radiated from her body made the woman tremble.

"A Half Immortal," the woman mumbled. Her grip around the sword loosened. Their cultivation gap was huge as she was at the Soul Refining stage, and the black figure was at the Half Immortal stage. If they fought, there was no chance for her to defeat the black figure.

"I am not here to hurt you," said the black figure.

"On the contrary, I am here to make a deal with you. A deal you might gladly accept,"

As a mercenary for hire, the woman liked the sound of the word 'deal'. Controlling the overwhelming fear in her heart, the woman managed to speak.

"What kind of deal?"

"Simple," the black figure shrugged.

"I will give you three hundred thousand gold coins for you to leave and never turn back,"

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The woman's eyes glistened with joy, but soon, the glimmer faded out. She couldn't believe someone would pay three hundred thousand for no reason. But then the black figure tossed a space ring toward her. The woman instinctively caught the ring.

"Check it out," said the black figure.

When the woman sent a sliver of arch energy into the space ring, her eyes widened. She saw stacks of gold coins within the space ring. If she had to guess, she would say the stack contains three hundred thousand gold coins.

"I am not very patient. So take the ring and leave, or I will take your life. The choice is yours,"

The woman's heart skipped a beat when she heard these words.

"I will take the ring," the woman quickly said without taking any time.

"Good. close the deal with a handshake," the black figure slowly approached the woman. The latter did not back away in fear because if the Half Immortal wanted her dead, she would be dead by now. Hence, she held her ground firmly. When the black figure arrived at arm reaching distance from her, she reached out to shake her hand. The woman slowly shook her hand as she felt a sting in her hand.

After shaking her hand, the black figure turned around and left. The woman was bewildered. However, she was able to heave a sigh of relief. With the space ring filled with three hundred thousand gold coins, the woman could settle down somewhere and live the rest of her life peacefully. There was no need for her to risk her life, protecting scums like her current client.

The black figure then slowly removed the cloak and hood, revealing her face. It was none other than Gaya. She then flicked her wrist as a ceramic mask appeared in her hand. When she shook the woman's hand, she took a drop of blood from her hand. Gaya dropped the drop of blood onto the ceramic mask. Then, she placed the mask on her face. Soon, the ceramic mask trembled as it merged with Gaya's face, turning her into a woman who resembled the mercenary Gaya met a second ago.

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Gaya planned to take the woman's place from the beginning, one way or another. Now that she had changed her face, she then proceeded to look the part. Thanks to Titus and Optimus, who were in charge of acquiring items for the Order, Gaya managed to get a replica of the woman's silver armor. With a flick of her wrist, she changed the black armor. Eventually, Gaya returned to the carriage she was following behind. Inside the carriage, there was someone who could get her in touch with someone from Han Torum. To pretend to be the mercenary, Gaya needed one last thing to change, her cultivation. Thanks to Michael, she had a special rune that could mimic the energy radiation of a Soul Refiner. It was a pale blue rune that glistened on her palm before fading away. After everything was said and done, Gaya returned to the carriage, where she met a couple of dwarves drinking and pissing. They seemed to have no shame or care. The dwarf she was about to meet was called Valmas. According to Gaya's sources, Valmas was a weapons dealer and was on his way to Dalgarum to get his hands on the new contraption the dwarves of Han Torum had built.

The dwarves snickered and spat on the ground, showing their hatred toward a human. Gaya paid no mind to the dwarves as she opened the carriage door. Inside the carriage, a beefy dwarf with hardly any neck drinking to his throat. He used his long bushy brown beard to clean his hand. When he noticed the woman, a strange smile emerged on his face. As far as Gaya trailed the dwarf, she could tell the dwarf had no interest in women as he had in gold coins. Simply put, the dwarf loved gold coins more than anything. He was even fueling several wars so he could trade weapons with them and get rich.

"There you are. Took your sweet little time eh? I am not paying you to protect the trees love," said the dwarf. Spit and ale splatted out of his mouth as he talked.

"If I am protecting something else and not you, you would have been dead by now," Gaya rolled her eyes. Since she was following the carriage and the woman for five days, she knew how the woman would have responded to the dwarf's comment.

"Hahahahaha," the dwarf burst into laughter after hearing her answer. Then, he wiped off his mouth with a cloth and gestured at Gaya to climb inside the carriage.

"Move your asses. It's time to resume our journey toward Embercrest," the dwarf raised his voice as Gaya sat beside the dwarf. The carriage slowly moved. Gaya took out the silver sword resembling the woman's and sharpened it in the carriage. Looking at the shiny blade, the dwarf kept his distance from Gaya. Their journey was uneventful as no one targeted the dwarf. Eventually, they arrived at the city of Embercrest.

The city of Embercrest was built at the base of a mighty mountain and was truly a true modern curiosity. Its appearance was matched by the backdrop of majestic mountains, which have helped shape the city into what it is today.

The riches these mountains and the mines in these mountains brought were of great importance. Still, they were also influential when it came to architectural designs, as the vast majority of buildings had been built alongside the mountains and often incorporated many different ores from the mines. The skyline was packed with unique buildings, and a lot of them seem to have evolved throughout the ages. Daily life wasn't too stressful in Embercrest despite the lack of powerful cultivators. The dwarves substituted the cultivators with contraptions and engineering marvels.

As Gaya looked through the window, she noticed the dwarves carrying rocks in a bag on their backs. These dwarves were heading for the city from one of the mines. Since the pavement was paved with stones, their ride was smooth and bumpless. Stone walls surrounded the entire city. In the distance, she saw some giant gears rotating under the waterfall. She read and heard that the dwarves produce lightning energy to power up the city instead of runes and orbs like the rest of the world. Something told her these gears, and the waterfall played a big part in the power generation.

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"I love the smell of Embercrest. Home sweet home," the dwarf laughed.

The further they traveled, the more dwarves Gaya saw on the street. Finally, they reached the city gates. To her surprise, she saw a carriage with the symbol of Guardian Guild engraved in went past them into the city.