“...two hundred twenty-five, two hundred twenty-six…or was it twenty-seven? Tsk,” a certain white masked youth clicked his tongue in frustration. “Hey, can you guys stop moving? It's hard to count.”

The youth was currently in a huge, dimly lit cave. The rock walls were gray and rough and small patches of moss grew in some areas, indicating that slivers of sunlight had occasionally slipped in. Long, stone spikes threatened to fall from above. The sound of dripping water reverberated incessantly and intermittently. Besides the rhythmic plops and drops of water, only the youth’s voice and the constant clanking of metal rang out.

In front of the youth were piles of cocoons wrapped in metal chains. Like the bondahed blonde hero from long ago, they lurched back and forth chaotically. But unlike the hero, their heads were also wrapped in chains and their screams and curses could not be heard.

“I have to start all over again. It's all your fault,” Em blamed the cocoons which squirmed and hopped like jumping beans.

Suddenly, a tall, handsome youth with gray coloured skin arose from the shadow besides the masked youth.

“Master Em, I've finished collecting the last ones,” he reported before the shadows spit out tens of bodies.

Em flicked his hand and metal chains quickly appeared, covering the bodies entirely.

Gets annoying if I don’t do that.

Em thought and turned to the tall youth.

“Great job! It's a good thing I found you first, Dun,” Em extolled the Dark Elf as he patted his back. “Otherwise, if I did it, I would've destroyed three-quarters of Solvenheim trying to find these guys!”

“Haha, you must be joking, Master!” Dun laughed nervously even though he knew his Master could've actually done so.

As one of the strongest beings in Solvenheim and a master of stealth, it was truly fortunate that Dun carried out his Master’s goal in his stead. His Master was too whimsical and lazy to do things in a relatively quiet manner.

“Okay, I don't know the exact number, but I got at least 200 here,” Em changed topics and pointed at the cocoons.

Then he explained to Dun, “Since Solvenheim has a population in the trillions, this is really not as much as I expected.”

Dun made a bitter smile and said, “With all due respect, Master’s standards of ‘those with potential’ were really too high for Solvenheim.”

He went on to repeat the things his Master told him before.

“Those who could lift mountains with pure physical strength. Those that could decimate entire armies of the nobles with their spells. Those known for peerless comprehension and achievements in the scholarly, martial, and magica arts,” Dun continued as he recalled the criteria Em gave him, “amongst many others.”

Dun glanced at the squirming cocoons and sighed as he realised that these kinds of people were now rendered helpless. He was also very impressed by the strength of those chains.

“Eh, okay,” Em reluctantly agreed and realized he might've gone a bit overboard for his first world. “Haah, then I guess I got a good harvest? This'll probably be the first batch those two will have to train.”

“For the White Realm?” Dun remembered the purpose that his Master told him about just recently.

He now knew a little more of Em and his goals.

‘Training those with potential in an environment where they could grow endlessly.’

Dun learned that his Master was not from Solvenheim and was from an entirely different dimension. It sounded absurd even to Dun, but it was the only explanation for Em’s ridiculous display of power, even if he didn’t display much. How can such a being exist in Solvenheim? But Dun didn't care either way. He just wanted to be by his Master’s side and was actually even more excited by what awaits them in the future.

“Yeah, I’m almost done here,” Em said nonchalantly. “But, I'll go out with a bang! The state of Solvenheim is so much more interesting now, after all.”

A cocoon happened to lurch and hop all the way to Em before bumping into his legs. Em gave an empty, cursory glance before swinging his leg and kicking it dead center! The poor cocoon bent at an angle and was blown away before embedding itself deep into the stone wall. This resulted in a loud boom and a rumbling through the whole cave. The cocoon twitched once before going totally still.

“Hold on, Dun. Let me just take care of this first,” Em said with a lilting voice as if he were taking out the trash.

He reached out in the air and made a grabbing gesture with his hand. Then, he pulled down and there was a deafening sound as if something was being ripped apart!

The tearing sound hurt Dun’s ears terribly and he held his head in pain. A sudden, splitting headache threatened to break his mind. The unbearable pain was as if his very soul was being ripped apart! His breathing became ragged and large beads of sweat dripped from his face. The more Em made the tear bigger, the more terrifying the pressure became for Dun. He felt the familiar feeling as if his internal organs were slowly being crushed. Even with all his power, the Dark Elf gnashed his teeth to keep himself from passing out.

Fortunately for the Dun, his suffering came to an abrupt end when Em finished making the giant rip in space. The opening was just a little taller than Dun and it was wide enough for two or three cocoons to pass through. Beyond the tear, one could see that there was a boundless, white space.

“Get used to this soon. You’ll experience it more often if you want to accompany me,” Em chirped.

The groaning elf nodded hastily and rubbed his body to relieve the pain. His Master began to kick the metal cocoons into the now gaping hole. Dun watched absently each time his Master swung his leg and a cocoon flew into the opening as if he were playing a game of soccer. Sometimes, he threw one like a spear and let out a satisfied grunt whenever it’d reach the target. Finally, Em jumped and dislodged the cocoon that he had struck into the wall before hurling it towards the tear. Em’s little game with the unfortunate captives soon ended and the cave quickly emptied out. The Dark Elf knew very well that his Master didn’t have to go through all this trouble. However, Dun remained silent at the scene because he didn’t care about Em’s sadistic tendencies.

“I’m going to talk to a few of my friends, Dun,” Em explained cheerily. “I need them to do a few favors for me.”

Dun once again nodded absently and Em jumped into the giant tear himself. Soon afterwards, the tear mended together as if it didn’t exist in the first place. Now, only the sound of water droplets and Dun’s breathing could be heard.

The Dark Elf stared at the space for a long time before plopping down to the ground wearily. He waved his hand weakly and the shadows gathered and clumped together to form a big body pillow. Then the shadows combined until a bed materialized.

“I...need a little break, I think,” he decided out loud.

He hugged the pillow to his chest and laid down on the conjured bed. The shadows coalesced into a soft, silky blanket that fluttered over Dun’s body. In the comfort of a dimly lit cave, he reminisced about his recent experiences and his new life before dozing off. Being a servant was certainly tiresome.