'Jeeze... What the hell is with all the tiny earthquakes?' I thought as I reached Master Snorlot's domain within the clan's tunnels.
And before I even went to activate the steam-powered door it slid open with myself blinking as Master Snorlot with red-rimmed eyes snarled. "Boy! Get in here now!"
And he dragged me into his forge with his deceptively strong hands that held the back of my leather-lined forging smock.
"Snorlot! Let go of me ye snaggly tooth old fucking codger or I will break your nose again!" I warned him as I used my Gamer-enhanced strength to pry his fucking mitts off me.
He glared at me and I realized something was actually wrong when he didn't even give the high-quality ale I brought with me not a single glance.
Hell even when the 'small' Greenskins party tried to raid our hold he was still in a happy-go-lucky mood to be drinkin after he took part in smashing some Greenskin faces in with his enchanted hammer.
"Boy! The Thaggoraki of Clan Skyre are here... The mangy vermin have come with their drills en-force and you need to stay here." He said firmly and I blinked before it all fucking made sense.
I remembered my mother and father of this new life talking about the clan's old hold. Which was built into a mountain that had a large lake atop the flat peak which had the freshest and most refreshing water.
The lake that was so high in the air that the clouds couldn't even taint it helped make some of the finest ale to stain a Dawi's beard. And that lake was my clan's undoing when Clan Skyre used terrible drills they set into the lake to tunnel into the bed of the lake and eventually lead into the clan hold drowning many with the once blessed lake's waters.
So as Snorlot said I needed to stay here. Well away from the fighting, I was torn obviously.
First of all, I knew I was still but a beardless child barely more than ten years of age even if I had a good bit of combat training due to you know... This world being Warhammer and life was suffering so the clan made sure we knew how to defend ourselves the moment we could walk.
Not to mention how I had a lot of pressure on me from the clan obviously to take up the responsibility of being the clan's runesmith from Snorlot when the old codger eventually got too stubborn to wake up from his deep sleep.
But... I could actually help. I had my Gamer ability that allowed me to buff allies fighting beside me. I was stronger than any dwarf my age. And I was really good with a crossbow!
I didn't need to be on the front lines or anything.
"Master, I can help. I can use a crossbow and... I can enchant people's weapons and such." I spoke earnestly.
But Snorlot snorted with his large grey beard twitching as he swiped his hand to the side and said. "No boy, you don't even have a lick of a whisker on your chin and ye think the clan wouldn't string me up if I let the next runesmith for the clan's several centuries see the battlefield?"
I remained silent for a minute as I looked through my gamer system and I visibly hesitated as I wondered how much I should say. If I should say anything that could give away my otherworldly abilities.
Finally I mentally said 'Blast it.' And I walked over to the side of Snorlots shop to pick up a pickaxe... And I embraced myself as Minecraft 'Gamer' as I said. "I have an ability that lets me quickly place down blocks of matter. Just... If I can reach the holes from where the drills came through I can block them off in but a minute at most."
A snort was my answer and I walked over and funny thing about being a irl Minecraft Gamer. When I pick up stone and other materials, it just sorts itself into a proper block once I have acquired enough of the resources.
And being a dwarf well underground... I had a good stack of a couple of hundred cobblestone blocks I had gotten from the years of running around picking up stones.
I waved my hand downwards and Snorlot's face twitched as a one-meter by one-meter block of cobblestone seemingly kept together via concrete or something appeared on his forge floor.
"See. If I can just get to the holes I can block them off! Hell, I can even move some of the lava from your forges to their holes and block the holes with your lava!"
Snorlot used lava heated by several powerful heating runes to power all his steam contraptions, so he did have a good bit of lava constantly active.
There was a moment of silence before Snorlot slowly nodded with clear reluctance in his eyes. "Aye. It's a good plan Kharn, but that will not stop the Thaggoraki, they will simply drill more holes. They will drown out any lava with a mountain of corpses, we have to meet them in open slaughter to truly beat them."
My fist clenched as Snorlot clapped a hand on my shoulder and said. "Kharn, the Vermintide is a sea that must be parted by axes. Not stoppered with a dam of stone."
Then he exhaled and said. "But ye are right in how you can be useful. Come... Yer father will likely stab meh with the very axe I made for his own grandfather but I will see ye made use of."
He brought me to the front of his forge before he said. "For making yer walls and such, do you need any materials or how does it work?"
I quickly explained that I was just... Sorta magically taking the stone in and then with my will I could crush the stone together to make the cobblestone. I just needed loose stone for me to handle to make more.
"Aye, I will have the beardless bring ye all the stones then. Now come boy we will head to the battlefield and have ye set up killing fields for the Thaggoraki."
We swiftly made our way back up the tunnels and I could hear the roar of battle through the tunnels as the Dawi met Thaggoraki in open combat.
We came up to the main atrium where wounded were being carted past us and I brough up my leather smock's hood to cover my face as the adults would obviously be wondering what the actual fuck I was doing here.
And seeing the main defensive line of dwarves armed in the heaviest of armor, shields and great axes mulching through the lines of the Skaven I filled my voice with power. The winds of magic and I spoke with my voice ringing out.
"Part the vermintide with your axes brothers and sisters!"
And as my winds of magic blessed voice hit the ears of the Ironbreakers, I saw their backs stiffen before they seemed to literally grow a couple inchs as they roared out. "Baruk Khazâd!"
My charisma skill at this point was level 12, and with that. The strength of all on my side who hear my cheers would gain twelve percent more strength, vitality, speed, dexterity, and resistance to magic.
So my buff wasn't anything to scoff at for sure.
And I could see Snorlot giving me an odd look before he lifted his great runic Warhammer into the air with lightning arcing off it as he roared out. "Slay the Thaggoraki, and resolve the old grudge!"
He then pointed me to an open area where he told me. "Make perches and platforms so the Irondrakes and Thunders can shoot from an elevated position."
I nodded and ran over to the side of the massive Atrium and I realized that the Skaven were still locked in combat not far from where they had initially dug into the atrium having only managed to get hills of bodies that were being pelted by incendiary dwarven rockets.
But I knew that these rats were just the Skaven Slaves being spent with the express purpose of wasting the Dawi's ammo and tire us out.
As I could hear with my finely tuned dwarven ears the roar of more of clan Skye's machines from coming down the multiple tunnels their drills had made.
"Three blocks high, stairs on the sides as railing and a guard for Skaven ranged shit." I muttered as I quickly got to work putting up a quick set of fortifications on the sides of the Atrium and then after a moment of thought, seeing the massive attrium and how wide open it was besides the main support pillars.
I began making a wall two blocks tall and thick across the atrium with the little guard towers for dwarven ranged units to take over and soon enough I was stopped when one of the elders roared at me.
"Boy! What in Grimnir's beard are ye doing?" And as he got close his eyes widened as he saw beneath my hood and scowled. "Kharn... You little beardless fool what are ye doing. Wait that bastard Snorlot brought ye here didn't he?"
I threw up my hands not wanting to get cuffed upside the ear and I said. "Master told me to help build these little walls, our Quarrellers and Thunderers can easily use the elevated position to shoot over our own troops ahead of us to hit the Skaven and should the Skaven get this far, the wall would funnel them into a tight hole for the second line!"
The elder Longbeard visibly snarled before he said. "Aye, keep working lad. But your father is going to box your fool ears to fix whatever is floatin in your noggin for leaving where you were told to be."
My lips twitched at the reminder of the inevitable ass-kicking coming my way but I just kept working as the Skaven had broken into the main Atrium at the front end at although different angles and positions. But that didn't change the fact that all the tunnels were thankfully only on one end of the Atrium.