Joe tilted his head in confusion, "get along with whom?" he asked.
Caesar just shook his head in response, "follow me, it would be much more effective for me to show you, rather than explain" Caesar replied without slowing his pace down in the slightest.
Joe wanted to ask a few more questions, alas, he needed to fully concentrate on keeping up with Caesar, as his legs were more than twice as short, thus, a strange scene was created with Caesar leisurely walking down the s.p.a.cious halls while a short and stout dwarf ran to keep up with him.
Even the many guards they pa.s.sed by, couldn"t help but turn their heads and chuckle… It appeared as though Caesar was bullying his younger sibling, or son, which wasn"t an entirely incorrect observation.
They continued walking in a similar manner until they finally reached the inner gates guarded by a dozen or so guards. The gates themselves were made out of strong wood, however, there was no lever or any other sort of advanced contraption, meaning the guards had to manually push if they wanted to open or close the gates.
None of this seemed to enter into Caesar"s eyes, as he just simply walked toward the gate and pushed on it with his palm… soon, a loud creaking sound rang in the ears of all those present and the gates swung open, creating a gust of wind.
The guards at the side, who were somewhat sleepy, opened their eyes wide in surprise and their mouths went agape, "h-how did he do that alone?" one of them whispered in shock.
Caesar didn"t bother explaining to the shocked guards, he just turned around and beckoned Joe to most faster, although they were in no rush, he didn"t want the gnomes to be asleep when they arrived.
Joe, who saw Caesar"s beckoning gesture, harrumphed in anger, large beads of sweat fell from his face and his clothes were drenched… the chunky dwarf hadn"t exerted this much energy since he was at the mountain, and that was under the effect of adrenaline, to boot.
After a few more moments, Joe finally pa.s.sed by the gate and caught up with Caesar, he then crouched down on the ground and held his knees as he gasped for breath.
"J-just… wait… a G.o.d d.a.m.n minute…" he said with long breaths in between each word.
Seeing his exhausted appearance, Caesar rolled his eyes and leaned down to grab Joe by the collar, he put him on his shoulders and continued walking towards where the gnomes laid in wait.
"As your friend, and more importantly, as a fellow man, I advise you to lose some weight," Caesar said from below Joe, he could feel his shoulders creaking from the heavy load… it was beyond Caesar how such a small body packed that much weight.
"I"m not fat… I-i"m just big boned" Joe replied with an abashed expression.
Hearing Joe"s answer, Caesar didn"t continue to nag him about the topic, he was ignorant of the dwarven const.i.tution, he, after all, had never read about or seen a thin dwarf… and while having these unnecessary thoughts, they soon reached the most western point of the fox-kin stronghold.
The fox-kin stronghold had four wings, the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western, each wing containing a lot of s.p.a.ce and residents, however, the northern wing consisted of soldiers while the other three were mainly for citizens and supplies.
Seeing that the gnomes were still putting up their tents and other necessities, Caesar didn"t hesitate to approach them whilst setting Joe back down on the ground.
"Magni!" Caesar called out while cuffing his mouth as to make his voice travel further… And in the bat of an eye, nearly all of the gnomes turned their heads and looked over in curiosity… their eyes stayed on Caesar for a moment before shifting to Joe.
They looked at Joe weirdly for a few seconds before they soon shifted their attention back to Caesar, as if they never saw Joe in the first place.
"Ah, Caesar, I thought you were leaving… what are you doing here so late?" Magni pushed through the crowd of gnomes and greeted Caesar with a wide smile.
Caesar smiled back and took a step forward, "I did, in fact, plan to leave, however, I wanted to ask you a favor" Caesar said with an apologetic smile.
"Ah, you, asking a favor of us? I"ll accept anything as long as it"s within my capabilities!" Magni replied with stars in his eyes, he was clearly excited to get something done for Caesar.
Seeing his enthusiasm, Caesar didn"t hesitate to gesture towards Joe, "I need you to craft a few materials designated for inscription, this dwarf, Joe, is a very skilled magic accessory craftsman" Caesar explained.
Magni shifted his attention to Joe who was somewhat hiding behind Caesar"s legs, he hesitated for a second before putting his hand out, "nice to meet you, although I"m not skilled with mana inscription or anything of the sort, I"m a great engineer!" he greeted.
Joe nodded his head and also put his stout hand out, shaking the short gnome"s hand energetically, "nice to meet you, I had read about your race in some of my books, however, they stated you were… extinct" Joe said whilst tilting his head.
"Haha, we could be considered to be extinct in comparison to our past strength, alas, the remnants of our race and clan have been hiding out here in the dark continent" Magni responded with an awkward smile.
Caesar smiled wryly at the awkward exchange both Magni and Joe had, he cleared his throat and grabbed their attention, "ahem, Joe, please explain to Magni what you need to be created" he urged.
Joe nodded his head in realization, "ah, yes, I need you to make a few things, such as a very slim but st.u.r.dy needle, some sort of clamps, and…" his words trailed off as he looked at the monocle covering Magni"s right eye, "and… that!" he said whilst pointing to Magni"s right eye.
Hearing his requirements, Magni surprisingly didn"t have a change in expression, "very well, however, you need to supply the materials, since your dealing with magic, I suppose you need steel that can incorporate mana" Magni spoke while stroking his long and thick beard.
Joe nodded his head and glanced at Caesar, "would that be possible?" he asked, to which Caesar frowned and ma.s.saged his temples.
"Sigh, I suppose I could ask Musashi… is that all you need?" Caesar replied.
"Yes, I already have the mana gems, I just need the encryption tool and something to keep it steady while I compose my craft" Joe spoke with a puffed up chest and his confidence was on full display.
Caesar glanced between Joe and Magni for a few seconds, "very well, both of you stay here and get to know each other… I"ll go speak to Musashi" he said whilst turning around and walking away.
Caesar didn"t know if there was some kind of rivalry between the gnomes and the dwarves, however, a rivalry meant that their effort would increase… such a thing was desirable. Thus, Caesar devised this plan and hoped they would start arguing or, perhaps, have a debate on a few topics, as broaden their horizons.
Thinking to here, Caesar didn"t wait for their reaction nor reply and immediately disappeared from their sights, leaving two confused and awkward people in his dust.
"What do we do now?" Joe asked Magni.
"I suppose I can get to work right away, I"ll show you my work station" Magni responded.
Contrary to Caesar"s expectations, his effort at creating a rivalry may have ended up creating an unbreakable friendship… alas, Caesar wouldn"t know.