Chapter 164: Responding to Challenges

Sinuoli stepped forward quickly while his opponent was still in a dazed state; when that Little Beard regained his senses, he found a hammer pressed against his forehead.

"This Storm Hammer technique is truly extraordinary, your skills are superior, I concede!" This clansman was very magnanimous; without rolling around on the ground or making a scene, he simply jumped off the stage.

"Storm Hammer!"

"Storm Hammer Sinuoli!"

Watching Sinuoli resolve two challengers in a row with thrown hammers, the clansmen erupted in cheers. Although throwing weapons was not a mainstream combat style among the Dwarfs, it was no harm done as long as the results were significant.

Perhaps the two young men who came up to start the martial contest were famous warriors among their local peers; their defeat in a single move made the other challengers shrink back. After deferring to each other for a long time, a Little Beard in luxurious clothing was pushed out.

"Greetings to you, Master Generous Snuori! My name is Sitelinge!" He chose another nickname to address Sinuoli.

Examining the young clansman before him whose black beard was about the same length as his own, Sinuoli felt secretly strange; this young Rune Smith had a decent appearance, but by Dwarf standards, his physique seemed somewhat thin.

"Regarding you and your brother's strength, I personally have no room for doubt," his voice sounded somewhat lacking in breath, and his words were not particularly firm.

Such a weak display brought him a chorus of boos. One must know that during a marriage challenge, the bride's kin are usually the ones who should truly put in the effort.

"But out of respect for tradition, I shall ask to learn from your skills in engraving runes!" Sitelinge appeared somewhat dispirited, as if he had already conceded before the match.

Before Sinuoli could ask about the specific format of the competition, Lord Luoleike turned out from the small room behind.

"How is the challenge progressing?" This Dwarf lord seemed to have other things on his mind.

"Master Sinuoli just resolved the little fellow from the Golden Hammer Clan and a lad from down the mountain with two thrown hammers; right now, Sitelinge is about to represent our clan for a final sparring session with him!" Master Haleke reported the situation to his lord.

"Sitelinge? Can that small frame of his take Master Sinuoli's Storm Hammer? Get down quickly! Don't get yourself hurt, we have more important matters now!" Lord Luoleike muttered a couple of times.

Prince Sitelinge, hearing this, acted as if he had received a pardon and retreated directly.

"Why is he so useless? The qualities of our clan's ancestors are not like this!" Seeing his disciple not even offer a few polite words, Master Haleke also began to mutter.

Although everyone had basically reached a consensus that Sitelinge was no match for Sinuoli, under the circumstances where his father signaled the end of the challenge, saying a few harsh words would have been a way to show spirit.

"Since everyone has no objections, let the marriage challenge end here!" It seemed the matter was not small, as Lord Luoleike directly announced the dismissal of the guests to clear the venue.

The banquet had already ended, and the guests present were relatively sensible; after offering their blessings to Lord Luoleike for gaining a fine son-in-law in a hubbub of voices, they filed out.

"You few stay behind, we are going to the back to hold a meeting!" Sinuoli was also preparing to turn and leave; in his view, there was no need for him to intervene in the local affairs of Weifengbao, but he was still called back by the Dwarf lord.

The fortress management, which had a few more people than at noon, gathered in the lord's small conference room; each person was served a beer in front of them, though Sinuoli signaled that he needed a cup of tea.

"It is like this, our Human friends in Bretonnia have encountered a bit of trouble!" Lord Luoleike sat in the main seat, stroking his beard.

"Are the Norsca barbarians in the north going to mount their longships to harass the Duchy of Gelongni again? They are all Humans, why is there such a big difference?" An old Dwarf muttered.

"If you ask me, it's likely an internal matter! Chalun, that Knight King who organized the long-distance, the crusade, under the orders of their goddess, has left their country empty!"

Another Dwarf dressed as a soldier interrupted him; Sinuoli learned from those around him that this was Diweisi-Rongren, the champion warrior of Kalake-Zifulin. He was clearly a bit too drunk at the previous banquet, and now his speech was not very coherent.

"Must be, in the forest, those horned things have come out again! Wipe out the Greenskins, *hic*, he really dares to think!" Rongren, even while drunk, did not forget to ramble on.

"You are mostly right, but it is not Beastmen, it is Vampires!" Lord Luoleike raised his volume to suppress the noise in the conference room.

"Those guys who linger like ghosts and desecrate the dead, according to our friends, have come from the sea to harass them."

"Vampire Coast?" Sinuoli muttered. This group of guys manipulated all kinds of seafood and giant cannons and were indeed formidable opponents, but compared to Vampires on land, the Dwarf race had far fewer Grudge entries related to them; after all, it was hard for pirates to be adjacent to the Sons of the Mountains.

Sinuoli knew that in the Warhammer World, Vampires could be said to have a long history; their origins had to be traced back to Nehekhara thousands of years ago.

After the first defeat of the Lord of Undeath Nagash, Laimashazha, the master of the Laimiya city-state, out of a desire for the Lord of Undeath's eternal power, transported Heise-Akehan—the Lord of Undeath's strongest and most loyal servant—to her city-state.

In Laimiya, Akahan was awakened and imprisoned; he was forced to teach the local nobles the magic of the Lord of Undeath. In the process, he somehow got involved with Laimashazha's queen, Niefuruita.

Thereafter, after a series of melodramas and insecure magical experiments, they successfully developed a new version of the elixir of immortality; subsequently, Niefuruita became the world's first Vampire and distributed the elixir to the high officials of Laimiya, transforming them into the Vampire progenitors.

Strictly speaking, as long as the correct ritual is performed, any Vampire can be resurrected. Of course, they generally need to be powerful enough for their kin to be willing to resurrect them, and they must be worth resurrecting. Such a situation led to a large disparity in the strength of Vampires.

"Now their domestic strength is very weak; the harassment from those sea Vampires has already left the Bo'erdeluo Gongguo unable to cope, but that is not all; some Black Guard of the Morr church and some Grail maidens, who, serve the Lady of the Lake, those spellcasters,"

Lord Luoleike continued to state the situation; he originally wanted to call the Lady of the Lake directly, but considering that Sinuoli, the chosen of the Dwarf mother goddess, was present, he changed his words on the spot.

"Report to their lord, the desecrators lurking in the local forests and valleys of Bretonnia are going to coordinate with those on the sea!"

Thanks to Yuan Zhi Yao, Babcock324, Asia Governor, Graidus, Moshangyiwen, Brave A-Zheng, Grand Marshal Skard, Beautiful Boy of Moe for the monthly tickets.