It took around half a day for everybody to be situated and have the fortress running normally again. The wounded got treated after severity with everybody ending up back in top shape. How healing worked with dwarves Ethan didn’t really know, while they couldn’t use mana they had classes focused on enticing the body to heal at an exhilarated pace. It felt like assisted regeneration to him. Well with everybody fixed up the soldiers and Ethan got something to eat, with the former being sent off to rest for a day. Ethan didn’t really have that luxury, after around two hours of sleep he was woken up by Andrew, the dwarf had a grim look on his face as he looked down at Ethan.

  “Come we need to talk, the others are already gathered in the great hall.” Ethan rubbed his eyes and nodded, he just managed to drift into a dreamless sleep but knew he had to attend the meeting. He rubbed his face, trying to wake himself up a bit more. He was very tired after using so much mana…again…and combined with the fact that he was still a bit on edge from the fight, yes sleep didn’t come easy with so much going on inside of him. He took a deep breath and readied himself, he grabbed his staff and followed Andrew out of the small house towards the great hall.

  While walking Ethan noticed that all the dwarves had a sullen look on their faces, Ethan could understand why, it was not like they failed but the knowledge that there were beasts out there that could attack them at any moment made them fearful. All of them whose job it was to craft weapons and armor, cook food, and mine ores. Those dwarves weren’t fighters at heart, they would be the first to raise an axe to defend their home but they weren’t made for the frontlines even with their dual focus classes involved.

  Ethan looked down to the ground not able to look into their faces, he had promised them safety, built them a home but what would happen if not one monster but multiple of them attacked at the same time? The fact was, he was still too weak to claim he could protect everybody and there was nothing he could do to change it in the short term. In the long term he would need to fight more monsters alone and not share all the experience with the dwarven warriors. That would mean leaving them alone which he didn’t want to do.

  His thoughts were quickly interrupted when Andrew pushed the double doors of the great hall open. Inside of it was a large rectangular table. The table and the chairs were made of black stone, not the all so familiar ice he had used to create the many structures. Looking over the people that were gathered here he only knew some of them. There was Marshal, the former leader of the group of dwarves and now Andrew’s second if his guess was correct. Then there was Mason the silent scout leader who looked somewhat uncomfortable being here and not outside doing his job. A small surprise was Martin who sat next to Marshal. Then there was a dwarf who looked almost round because of his big belly, a thick red beard covering most of his face. Next to him was a muscular dwarf with a black beard who was covered in dust with small pieces of rock stuck in his beard and hair. At the end of the table sat a dwarf wearing heavy armor, even bigger than most of the soldiers Ethan knew. Unlike the others who wore their beards naturally, his was braided with rings woven into it.

  Andrew gestured to the three dwarves unknown to Ethan. “First, introductions, this is Bird, our provisions officer. He keeps stock of our food and plans the distribution, gathering and farming of our group. Next to him is Mills, he is the mine foreman and keeps track of the gathered ores and stone we need for crafting and construction. Gregor, you might know him from the battles fought, he was the right hand of my best friend, the one….who died during the first mole attack.” Andrew sighed but continued. “He will be in charge of our soldiers, their equipment, their training and their deployment.”

  All three nodded to Ethan, Gregor kept his eyes a bit longer on him giving him a second smaller nod while his eyes showed fierce determination. Ethan returned the gesture and focused back on Andrew. “The others you already know and meet a few times. Take a seat so that we can get started.” Andrew sat down on the head of the table opposite Marshal who sat on the other end. Ethan took a spot next to Andrew and leaned his staff against the table. All eyes were on him as Andrew asked him to repeat what happened in the fight.

  So Ethan told them every little detail he remembered, how they found the fleeing dwarves which were being followed by the monster. How he opened the fight and witnessed the massive regeneration the monster had. Which tactics they used to literally bleed it out, that only sapping it of their energy worked to finally kill it. Then the moment when Ethan ended the life of the beast for good with a thin sheet of ice to cut off its head. Ending the story with their way back towards the fortress.

  All in all it was a short story but while telling it he saw the faces of the dwarves switch emotions rapidly, from shock to disbelief, to fear and then to satisfaction and worry once they heard about the beast’s death. The table fell silent after that as everybody was occupied deeply in their own thoughts. Only for Andrew to slam his hand on the table, snapping everybody back to attention as he stood up and spoke one simple sentence.

  “Ethan…you have to leave the fortress.”

  Gasps all around, Ethan jumped up from his chair his mouth already open to shut the idea down but before he could even speak Andrew continued.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “You told me about war and now it’s time to stop acting like that is something in the far future. We’re here for over a month now so that only leaves around eleven months to prepare so you need to go and look for more allies while we do the same…here in the mountains. We couldn’t keep up with your speed and taking us along would slow you down to a crawl. No, we're better off staying here looking for more dwarves.”

  Ethan sat down and nodded. “I see…I don’t agree with you but sadly I know that you’re right in your assumption. We can’t hole up here in the mountains and hope for the best. I-I knew that I had to look for allies, for a proper location to build a base, I just…couldn’t accept that I…we really have to go to war.”

  Andrew nodded and gestured to the table. “You should tell them, everybody here needs to know what they’re walking into. Especially since I promised to be your ally, the others need the chance to walk away if they desire it.”

  Slowly Ethan stood up and started talking, about the meeting he was forced into right after the tutorial ended, how he was told there will be war between him and a man named Jacques Allard that they had one year to prepare before the entire world will be declared a battlefield. Also about the restrictions that were in place during this year of preparation. In the end before anybody could ask a follow up question a notification appeared in Ethan’s vision, he couldn’t even dismiss it.

  *Update* The progenitor war

  Requirements met!

  1/1 Find your first allies

  1/1 Inform your allies of the impending war

  1/1 Have at least one faction pledge their allegiance to you

  Global announcement going out in 3…2…1

  Ethan looked in horror and cried out. “N-no! You can’t!” he gasped when the countdown appeared, Andrew grabbed his arm and looked at him. “Ethan! Ethan what happened? Tell us we are here just-”

  *SYSTEM NOTIFICATION*

  THE PROGENITOR WAR

  PARTICIPANTS

  ETHAN DELANEY, PROGENITOR OF WINTER ELVES

  JACQUES ALLARD, PROGENITOR OF BLOODFIRE HELLBORN

  ELEVEN MONTHS UNTIL START OF WAR

  GREETINGS SYSTEM USERS OF THE PLANET GAIA AND WELCOME TO THE FIRST SYSTEM EVENT OF YOUR NEWLY INTEGRATED PLANET.

  BY ORDERS OF THE HEAVENLY COURT EARTH WILL BE THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE PROGENITOR WAR.

  YOU ENTERED THE TIME OF….PREPARATION. IN THIS TIME YOU CAN PICK A SIDE TO SUPPORT OR DECLARE YOURSELF NEUTRAL *NOTICE* NEUTRAL FACTIONS CAN STILL BE ATTACKED BUT DON’T HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WAR.

  AFTER THE ONE YEAR PERIOD THE WAR WILL BEGIN.

  ALL SAFE ZONES ESTABLISHED BY CITIES WILL BE…DISABLED

  ALL TERRITORY CLAIMS CAN BE CHALLENGED, THE ONE YEAR INVULNERABILITY AFTER CLAIMING A TERRITORY WILL BE….DISABLED

  ALL THE PROTECTIONS AND PUNISHMENTS FOR HURTING OR KILLING NON-SYSTEM USERS WILL BE…DISABLED

  THE ARBITER’S WORD IS LAW BEFORE AND DURING WAR TIME

  MAY YOU GROW STRONGER THROUGH CHALLENGE

  THE SYSTEM WISHES YOU A HAPPY SYSTEM EVENT

  Everybody read their notifications, Marshal was the first to speak and the look of horror on his face was clearly visible. “Non-system users…as in children?”

  Ethan and Andrew both spoke up in response. “The system doesn’t care about you, me or any of us. The system just is. There is nothing you can do about it.” The dwarf and the elf looked at each other, both of them nodding before turning back to the others. It may look cold to the others but they had to accept this kind of mindset if they wanted to stay sane in this system world.

  Andrew gave some quick commands to Mason, who was still reading the notification. “Mason, gather the scouts…everybody who has at least some skills based around it. I want you all out of here yesterday! Keep away from the valley but otherwise look for more dwarves, tell them the truth. That we’re gathering allies for the war.”

  Mason’s fist hit his chest. “It will be done.” He rushed outside and the door fell back into place.

  Marshal spoke next. “Martin, gather our miners, gatherers and farmers plus some warriors. We need to pick up ore output, the gatherers will split into two groups. One should look for mushrooms and other plants in the caves and the other one will go with the farmers and soldiers to our old entrance point. We need to find and grow crops in the fields out there, as much food as possible. You will set up an outpost there, understand?” Martin got pale but also hit his chest and moved out.

  Bird followed him, the provisions officer sensing a job in his specialty he wanted to provide help with, Mills too followed the moment he heard the word miners not even waiting for Andrew to give him a command. Gregor was quickly on their heels, each step filled with fire as he snapped out harsh commands to the guards outside the grand hall.

  In the middle of it sat Ethan, his eyes empty as he stared at the notification, this was the moment where the war became reality and everybody on earth knew about it. He had tried to push it away from him, trying to keep it out of his mind but now…the decision was taken out of his hands. The system had decided for him and now it seems the time for actual preparation was here. He couldn’t sit around any longer and pretend it would go away, even if he wanted nothing more than to be done with it. Still he wouldn’t let Jacques win, there was too much at stake for him, he still had to bring his sister back.

  Would you be interested in a discord server?