Lines of beardless but still older dwarves brought me stones to form more cobblestone blocks while I in turn handed them enchanted crossbows I had made over the months of working in Snorlots forges.
In that measure, we worked to make a fortified raised wall to block off the incoming Thaggoraki while the Ironbreakers, the Clan's elite heavily armored melee units slaughtered en mass the invading Skaven.
'Should I get any time... I will start making potions as well.' I thought as inevitably I saw the less armored dwarves needing to back out of the fight when a Skaven got lucky to get them in a joint with a knife or something where their plate couldn't defend them.
"Ratling Gunners!" I heard a dwarf roar and I instinctively dived to the ground as a loud howl rang out with a stream of Warpstone bullets beaming towards the backline as the gunner were using the mountain of rat corpses as cover and a prop for their machine guns.
I looked over my shield of cobblestone and seeing the gunners in the distance I took out my enchanted crossbow that had the infinity, multishot, and mending enchantments. And I loaded up one of the few 'firework' arrows I had been able to make over the months I had been living here.
As un-suprisingly... Getting a large amount of gunpowder as a child wasn't exactly easy.
A loud thunk noise rang out and I saw the single firework bolt turn into five with the fireworks screaming as they ignited and sent the bolt outward faster and into the pile of bodies around the Skaven with a loud vibrant and multicolored explosion of sparks and flames ringing out as the five high power fireworks exploded.
It was funny... Fireworks could give some bad burns normally in smaller cases. But when a massive firework explodes, it really wasn't any different from a bomb when it explodes and with added lances of burning chemicals that just happened to look pretty.
"It's a good thing crossbows can still have the infinity enchantment," I muttered as I handed the crossbow over to a beardless youngling and shouted. "Use the lever on the side to draw it back! The crossbow has runes to conjure more ammo!"
And I got back to work.
Forming a three-block thick and tall wall of cobblestone with stairs on our end to let us climb up giving the Quarrellers who specialized in using crossbows to snipe the Ratling Gunners and any elite units.
With the dwarves longer longer-ranged units taking up positions further behind the wall I had made a while there was still in the center of the wall a large entryway so our fellow Dawi on the frontlines could retreat when needed and likewise act as a kill box as the Skaven would need to funnel into the entryway.
But as I turned from working on the wall to killing Skaven with another enchanted crossbow. And most importantly started gaining levels in doing so.
I heard a loud roar and in front of all the holes the Doom-Drills had dug out came a trio of monstrous Rat Ogres meaning the Skaven were done shoving simple Skaven Slaves to whittle down our ammo.
The Rat Ogres were massive... Especially to a beardless dwarf like myself, with each being like six or seven meters tall bipedal rat monsters that had been twisted by Clan Moulder's flesh crafting works.
'Clan Skyre really wants to kill us if they are using the shit they bought from other clans.' I thought grimly as I along with many other dwarves began shooting the Rat Ogres.
The Rat Ogres however were the line breakers of the Skaven for a reason, their sheer size, thick muscles. And frothing mad mindset due to the chemicals running into their mind, made them a rushing horror to behold.
Their forms were covered in Frankenstein scars of surgeries that been done upon their forms. And all too soon they rushed through the cannon and crossbow fire with only a few actually falling to our ranged measures before they met the Iron Breakers.
The Iron Breakers met the Rat Ogres with the roar of dwarven defiance, their shields and axes slamming into fleshcrafted flesh that was twisted with warpstone chemicals and other terrible Skaven 'science.'
And my previous roar to enhance the Iron Breakers paid off as although some dwarves who couldn't brace themselves got thrown around by the massive rat ogres. The rest dug in, they weathered the blows upon their forms, and with a war cry I saw one Iron Breaker dwarf climb up the large knotted arm of one of the beasts to plant his spiked Warhammer into his skull.
"Now start making the wall back closer to the ridge line near the tunnels leading into the clan!" The elder ordered though it was clear he disdained the hell out of the cobblestone structures I was building.
But it was helping, and although the structures wouldn't last the millennia other dwarven structures would. But this was just something we were using to slow down the Thaggoraki as we had zero idea how large this invading force was.
For all we knew it was just one of the many elders of Clan Skyre thinking we were easy pickings. On the other hand, Ikit Claw could be leading this army with countless numbers of slaves, warriors, and abominations more than triple our entire clan's population.
From there, I did as the elder ordered and began making another wall, this one a good twenty-forty meters behind the first wall. And this second wall I made two blocks taller so the ranged units could shoot more easily above the first wall.
And in the half an hour of me putting up the large long wall with Quarrellers taking over the positions I created on there to shoot their large crossbows. The Iron Breakers had to pull back. Pull back to the first wall where I had put some lava in front of the front wall to further force the Skaven into the five Dwarf wide opening I left in the wall.
'The lava on the outside will kill the Skaven... Though I am not getting XP for it.' I thought with a wry smile seeing my EXP rate shooting up whenever I took a minute to load up a crossbow and using my fireworks I could blow up a group of Skaven.
To that effect as I directly nailed a Ratling Gunner that was setting up its turret to start spitting out Warpstone bullets towards us with its gatling gun and I heard a dinging noise mentally as I lvled up again.
[Kharn Lvl 14 Exp 2%]
[Skills- Levels Crafting/Archery-28. Small Arms-19, Leather Working-19, Metal Armor-14 Enchanting-13] [Statesmen Skills- Leadership-15 Mineral Inspection-7] [Mana Skills- Mana Enhancement-8 Mana Burst-11 Ghost Hand 15]
[Stats Strength-12
Endurance-15
Agility-5
Dexterity-16
Mind- 9]
My Dexterity stats was getting shot up really quick with how it scaled with my archer skill and the Ghost Hand skill was a spell of a sort that basically hypnotized myself to make my hands work with more speed and strength on something I wasn't focused on.
Or in other words, it was a skill perfectly suited for loading up and cranking the lever on a crossbow and still being able to look away from the contraption to keep an idea of my surroundings.
Although enchanting did give me the issue all dwarves did in having small parts of my body turn to stone and needing to be pulled out so I could quickly heal from the little pitting. But other internal magical skills, didn't turn any part of me to stone.
Which was another reason I never bothered to fuck around in learning how to throw fireballs or shart bolts of lightning from a clap of my ass cheeks. External expressions of magic would turn parts of my body into stone as I still used the Winds of Magic.
But... As I leveled up, as my Endurance especially grew more powerful. I kinda realized I was getting more resistant to the Winds of Magic effect on my dwarven body. However, at this point the effects it was doing upon me were miniscule with how low level my actual level and Endurance were.
But someday. Some day I would beat a pointy-eared elf bastard in a wizard duel and then break their scepter over my knee and call the work, shoddy knive ear work before leaving.
I was wrenched back from the platform I was laying across as I was shooting into the Skaven hordes and my eyes widened as I saw my father Urzak with a large rent and gash across his chest armor dragging me away as a chorus of screams rang out from dwarves and Skaven alike. "Come with me!"
He dragged me into the backline by the back of my leather jerkin and I was still in shock with the battle going on only now allowing me to understand as one of the elders roared. "Poisoned Wind Globadiers! Put on your masks, do not falter!"
'Shit... Fucking chemical weapons being used underground.' I thought as I realized that my father was rightfully getting me out of there.
But just as the poison wind bombs hit outside the walls I previously built, with the lines of Skaven slaves and dawi who replaced the Ironbreakers tasting the foul alchemical tonic of compressed warp stone dust and other poisons.
A loud explosion that cracked the stone floor beneath our feet and open large crevices made both me and my father trip and hit the ground as many of the impromptu defenses the clan had put up faltered.
"Get up! We gotta get-" A series of powerful green beams shot into the defensive lines and I watched as a stream of green gases left over from the shot of Warplock sniper left my father's chest and into the distance even as a huge hole remained in his chest.
"Dad..." I whispered as my father slumped with a hand going into the huge hole inside his chest.
Then he seemingly refocused on me and I felt his gauntlet-covered hand grab onto my shoulder as he fell to his knees. "Take... Take your mother to your master's chambers... There is an escape tunnel there. Go and... This grudge." He couldn't even finish his words as I saw his dark eyes empty of light and my father's form went limp with him falling on the back of his knees with his armor keeping him upright.
I stood there with my eyes glazed over as I felt my father's hand still tight on my shoulder and then as a snap of green light shot past me, I realized the Skaven snipers were still shooting at us.
And as I looked. And saw a wave... A whole wave of dozens of the Rat Ogre's smashing through the cobblestone walls I had put up. I realized what my father wanted.
He wanted me to flee the clan altogether. He knew the clan would die here in these caves at the affront of having Clan Skyre invading again... The stubborn dwarven elders of my clan would rather die than face the disgrace of having yet another clan hold taken by the Skaven.
So I did the hardest thing I had ever had to do in either of my lives... I pried my father's hand off my shoulder. And I took the enchanted blade I gave him from his side and I swore darkly. "I swear- I fucking swear I am going to bury this blade into Ikit Claw's throat Dad. I will bear this grudge with every step I take!"
I took one last long look into my father's face to engrave it into my memory and I turned and ran. Deeper into the clan's tunnels, knowing it was only time for more of Clan Skyre's more powerful warriors and machines to join the fight with how they had truly decided to dedicate themselves to destroying my clan.
Running into the clan's depths I realized something terrible as well... The drills weren't only hitting the main atrium. As the sounds of battle rang out loud and hard through the many tunnels leading to the different parts of the clan.
The trading area I could hear was a major site of battle, the armory and barracks were also seemingly a large battle. But I was running for the residential area. To look for my mother above all else.
But Clan Skyre was the richest and arguably the most powerful of the four great clans of the Skaven, and they used all that money to buy all the Skavenslaves they could buy that they couldn't just breed on their own.
"Founds it! Found dwarf-thing brat, squeak-squeak! Little beardless runt there, ours-ours now, yes-yes!" A Skavenslave screamed and I went still seeing the blood and gore lining the tunnels leading to all the smaller tunnels that housed my family and all the more civilian dwarves.
I wordlessly took my enchanted forging hammer from my inventory as my eyes dulled and then I activated both Mana Enhancement and Mana Burst as the first Skaven Slave rushed at me armed with only a wooden spear with a sharpened point.
With a blur of speed, my hammer slammed into the shaven's fucking rat skull and I screamed as its head exploded into a red mist. I ran past the Skaven slave headless form to swing my hammer in a sweeping motion that carved open the hips and stomachs of the next Skaven in front of me.
"No-no! That dwarf-thing spawn, too strong, too fierce! Crushes heads with angry hammer! Must flee-run before it reaches us-us!" A Skaven screamed as I used another mana burst to punch a Skaven's knee in so I could make its head explode as I hit it with my hammer into the ground.
And the Skaven slave's cowardice... Actually made them flee as my unholy fury left broken Skaven bodies behind me in literal chunks.
I strode into my home. The two-bedroom home my father had hewn from the rocks with his own mining pickaxe when he brought my mother here after our old hold was flooded by the Skaven.
And it was destroyed. The furniture I thought I could easily pass down to my own grandchildren lay in wrecks as the Skaven seemingly broke the wood down to make more spears.
And even the plates and cups were seemingly shattered so the shards could be tied to wooden poles to make better spears.
I slowly walked into the depths of the house... And even as I heard the skittering of more Skavenslaves outside as they began looting their brethren's remains and even eating them.
I stared emptily as I saw the gnawed-upon corpse of my mother.
The only way I could even identify her was due to recognizing the remains of the dress she was wearing I remembered helping her collect some of the threading to patch up its holes over the years.
'I will never... Never suffer a Skaven to live. I am going to fucking make them go extinct.' I thought with my fury having simmered down to pure undiluted hate. Water was wet, and I was going to make an army of Skyrim Centurions to kill an entire fucking warren of the filth all on my own if I had to.
But seeing my mother's remains I knew I had to leave. So I shoved down all my emotions as best as I could and with my enchanted hammer at the ready, I sprinted out of my home and fell upon the Skaven with a primal roar with my mana enhancing my childish voice.
[Magical Skill- Lion's Roar, Learned]
My roar actually was an attack, with the Skaven screaming pain as the sonic attack deafened them and combined with a couple of Skaven that were right in front of my house tunnel getting their heads exploded via my hammer.
It didn't take more than half a dozen Skaven slaves dying within the next five seconds for the rest to once again flee to get more reinforcements or Clanrats that actually were armed.
But I didn't stick around as much as I wanted to for such reinforcements. No, I first blocked off my parent's home so no Skaven could eat my mother and one day I could give her a proper burial. And then as I ran down the hallways leading down to Snorlots forge which was also the treasury of the clan. I left behind pools of lava behind me.
From there, I reached Snorlots forges and as I took in its surroundings I took a deep breath and I first filled my inventory with the clans runic weapons, then my enchanting table.
Then I threw Snorlots notes and journals into my inventory while throwing his non-enchanted tools and anvils into the pools of lava that served to run Snorlot's steam machines.
A harsh Skaven scream rang out as the dumbass bastard tried to pry open the gate leading into the forge without the passcode resulting in it being sprayed with superheated pressured steam.
But I knew it meant that I was running out of time. So I quickly gathered everything I could carry in my inventory now. All the high-quality ale my father kept bribing that stubborn ass of a runesmith.
All the ingots of precious ores, refined metal, treasures, gems, and of course the prize of all prizes... Snorlots hidden store of Gromril. The beyond valuable meteoric iron/star silver that he had collected over the years in the hopes of our small clan eventually having a Gromril metal weapon that could withstand millennia and serve as the clan's treasure.
But now... His own hope, and dream of forging such a treasure for Clan Barruck was now mine. As I had no doubt that my Master would be the last one to retreat from the main battle in the Atrium.
"I will remember this grudge," I muttered as I took a deep breath and I went to where the secret tunnel that Snorlot had shown me, and seeing the small tunnel I got in and made sure to block the tunnel so nothing could follow me.