A woman was laid out on the floor of a small room.

The room was dark, with the only light emanating from dim flames of a few wax candles. 

By her side sat a short, middle aged man. 

He wore Dwarven royal attire; a sleeveless brown frock coat with silver outlines.

He held her hand gently, and yet his face was as serious as could be. 

This woman was Gwentyn Gallopas, and she was pregnant with the baby of a dwarf… his baby.

SLAM!!

A short woman in a brown and silver midwife robe busted in. 

In one hand was a cup of steaming water and in the other, a wet rag and what seemed to be leaves. 

"Dorthy! You're here! Thank Arsaes!!" The man cheered, taking the water and leaves from her. 

He clenched his fist, staring at the meager supplies.

"Is this all you could get? Is this really all that my own brothers could offer me in helping deliver my child?!" 

Dorthy rubbed her neck, offering her apologies to the man. 

"I'm sorry Ivan. But this was the best I could do… I will be considered a traitor if I help any more…" Dorthy's voice trailed out. 

"I-It's fine!" Gwentyn spoke, her body pain-ridden. 

"Gwen! You shouldn't be moving!" Ivan leaned forward, turning his attention to her. 

"I-I'm fine!" She grunted. 

"Truly! So please, Dorthy, head back before we get you in any trouble." 

Dorthy stammered. "B-But–" 

"–Dorthy, you may leave. I thank you for your assistance." Ivan motioned her off. 

Dorthy saw his grim face, gave a small bow, and walked out of the room. 

"I'm here, my love. Whatever your pains, we'll face them together. And furthermore with our daughter!" Ivan smiled lightly, trying to lift the mood. 

Gwentyn looked at him for a moment. 

"Pfftt!" She snickered. 

"W-What's funny?" Ivan asked, cluelessly embarrassed.  

"Daughter, huh? I didn't know you were so hopeful." She smiled, laying back down. 

"Why of course! If we have a daughter, she'll no doubt grow up to be as beautiful and majestic as you!" Ivan kissed her forehead. "Besides, a boy would mean another dwarf having to live the life of Sanctum-smithing and soot! Our child deserves a lot more than that, ♡yes they do, yes she does, mwah!♡" He laughed, coddling her belly. 

 Gwentyn rolled her head to look at him, beaming with her next words. 

"Mhmm. I see. Well I hope for a boy."

"Why?" 

"Well. I suppose I want a child just like you. All your quirky perks and your big heart. Besides, I don't mind the smell of soot all that much. It's… comforting" she looked at him, melancholy as she held his face. 

"Gwen…" 

Her body convulsed.

"AHHGHGHH!! T-The baby!!" She cried, shaking around. 

Sweat rolled down Ivan's face.

He took up her hand and held it tightly. 

"You've got this Gwentyn!! Push!! Push!!!" He urged. 

A head was visible. 

"Ughhh! AGHHHHHH!!!! IT'S COMING!!!" 

The torso.

"Just a bit more, honey!!" 

The kneecaps.

"One last push!!!" 

Gwentyn gave her last urge of strength, pushing as hard as she could. 

"Y-You did it!!!" Ivan cried, tears streaming down his face. 

Gwentyn's breathing was ragged.  

"It's a boy!! It's a boy, Gwen!!" Ivan wrapped the baby and held him in his arms. 

"I-Im glad…huff…" she said, extending her arms out to hold him. 

"Here." Ivan handed him over. 

"He has your eyes."

"And your face. Haha. He'll…huff… be quite the charmer… when he grows up, huh?" Gwentyn joked. 

Ivan chuckled. "He's not crying, however. That's odd." He noted.

"Mhm. It's fine. He's all right, aren't you, my little Hidemi?" Gwentyn smiled, cooing at Hidemi's face. 

Hidemi reached out back to his mother, smiling but didn't make a sound. 

"Hidemi? You already chose a name for him? Heh!" Ivan wiped a tear from his face. 

"Of course! He's my son, isn't he?... huff" Gwentyn smiled, motioning for Ivan to take Hidemi. 

Ivan didn't argue. "That he is." He agreed, lifting the baby and taking him. He turned away from her as he put the baby in his crib. 

"Ivan… please" Gwentyn spoke weakly. 

"Hm?" He voiced, tucking in Hidemi. 

Gwentyn's hand fell.

"...Take care… of our son…"

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The funeral was dark and grim. 

Rain poured down, fogging everything. 

Gwentyn's body was burned on a pyre as tears streamed down Ivan's face. 

In his hands was little Hidemi. Cooing without fully grasping that his mother was dead. 

"Heh!" Someone snickered behind Ivan. 

"Son of a–!!!" Ivan whipped around. 

The 5 men standing behind him were looking awfully chipper, despite the dark day. 

"Is something the matter, Ivan?" The one in the middle asked.

He wore similar Dwarven attire. A long brown and silver frock coat. The only difference were the red streaks that went through his hammer insignia. 

He looked around the same age as Ivan, but he had a long scar that ran through his scalp to his chin. 

"You know damn well what the problem is, Donnovan!!" Ivan spat, holding Hidemi's head as lightly as he could while his body shook with anger. 

"You… You who call yourselves my brothers, wouldn't lift a finger to help me and my wife, though I am your chief and blood!!" He yelled. 

"Yet you come here to her funeral to add further insult to my name?! I won't stand for it!!" 

The man to Donnovan's right extended his arm in front of Ivan, as if to block him from Donnovan. He too wore the same attire, but his face and body were more toned with muscle. 

"Calm yourself Ivan. We are not a brutish people. Or would you sully the name of the Murong household further with conflict?" He smirked, edging Ivan. 

Everyone seemed to be against him. 

Ivan's face twitched. "'Sully?' You have nerve, Banderd. What have I done to sully our name? Marry someone who I loved completely and utterly? Yes she was human, what of it?!" 

"Fool! You dare to ask how?! Relationships between humans and Dwarves are completely forbidden!!" An old man slammed down his wooden walking staff. 

Ivan's face sank. "Father…" 

"Did you believe that because you were a Paragon, you could be exempt from rules?! You are the very definition of a fool!" His father yelled walking away from Ivan. 

"And that half-breed bastard of yours is no exception to the rules! Were you not chieftain, he would be done away with in an instant!!" His father added. 

The veins in Ivan's neck throbbed. "Why you…!!" 

"Give it up, Ivan. When will you realize that all that is happening, is your own doing? Besides, it isn't like your bastard will be able to Sanctum-Smith at all!! Har-Har!!" Donnovan laughed, walking away. 

The group followed him leaving Ivan and Hidemi in the rain. 

They're right… Ivan teared up.

Had I not met Gwentyn, she wouldn't have… tch! He sobbed, thinking of the good times with her. 

"Awoooo!" 

Ivan opened his eyes, staring at Hidemi. 

"Ah! Ohh, pbbwwwwfttt" he prattled, touching his father's face. 

"Hidemi…!" He exclaimed. 

H-He's making noises!!

His son had made his first noise. 

Joy overtook Ivan. 

Hidemi chuckled, playing with Ivan's beard. 

"Pwa, pwah!!!" 

"'Pwa, Pwah'?" Ivan tilted his head in confusion. 

It hit him. 

Does he mean…–

"Papa? You're calling me Papa?" Ivan jumped up and down. 

The rain started to clear up.

Hidemi grabbed at his father's face again, pulling at his beards. 

"Oww. Hey!" 

Ivan smiled faintly and thought back to what Gwentyn had said before her death. 

◇"Well. I suppose I want a child just like you. All your quirky perks and your big heart. Besides, I don't mind the smell of soot all that much. It's… comforting"◇ 

The clouds began parting as light started to crack through. 

A wave of sadness hit Ivan and tears began streaming down his face. 

"Oh… Gwentyn…" he sobbed, hugging Hidemi tightly. 

"I'll take care of our boy as best I can! I swear!!" He cried again.

Just him and his son, alone as the sun beamed down on them. 

Hidemi coo'd, falling to sleep in his father's neck. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few years were hard for Ivan. 

Raising a son by himself was one thing, but a half-breed son without the help of the Dwarven clan would be next to impossible. 

But Ivan rose to the challenge. 

Changing Hidemi's diapers, creating his own language in which he used his fingers to communicate with Hidemi, nurturing him, and most important of all— Sanctum-Smithing. 

An art sacred to the Dwarves, involving the combination of blacksmithing and Sanctum energy.

Hidemi was marvelously good at it. Inheriting his skills from his father, he had become good enough to stand against 2nd level Sanctum smith's at just the age of 8. 

At the age of 10, in a private test his father held, he was able to Smith Sparkling Cryomondine, the passing requirement for a Sanctum-Smith to be considered a pro. 

…

[Dwarven Council Room]

"What do you mean, 'no'?!" Ivan roared. 

"You must be a fool, father!!"

Ivan's father, Dwygrand Murong, stared down at his son. 

They were in the chieftain meeting room. 

Sitting at the long table bearing the insignia of 2 hammers, the rest of the council, Ivan's brothers, sat smirking. 

"No, you must be a fool. Do you really think I would allow a half-breed to join our ranks as a Sanctum-Smith? And to believe that he's smithed Sparkling Cryomondine… you must think me to have been born yesterday!" Dwygrand responded, chuckling. 

"It is the tr–" Ivan started.

"–A lie. It is a lie. And I will not hear otherwise. This matter is over. Am I clear?" Dwygrand interrupted.

Ivan slammed his fist on the table.

"I. AM. CHEIFTAN!!" He challenged, locking eyes with his father.  

"Hoho! Ivan… you must have realized by now, yes?" Banderd asked, sighing.

"? What are you…–" 

"You aren't chieftain! Heh! Well in name, yes, but power? I'm afraid that hasn't been and will not be the case for as long you live." Dwygrand chuckled. 

He stood to his feet, coming around the table. 

"You have broken the rules, my son. Married a human, had a child with one, raised it as a dwarf, and now you insist that I let him join the upcoming Dwanivit competition in six months? Preposterous!"

"But I–" 

He put his hand on Ivan's shoulder. 

"Just give it up, my boy. You've lost it all."

 Banderd cackled.

"Not only did  you form connections with the outside world via your power as a Paragon behind our backs and establish trade routes with the humans, giving them our sacred minerals and promising weapon trade, but you also want to further insult our honor by letting your mutt join our most sacred coming of age tournament?! I won't stand for it!! I hate you little brother! The one who should have been Paragon was me!!" He berated. 

Dwygrand raised his hand, halting Banderd's verbal punishment.

"Tell me you'll get rid of the boy and I will give you back everything. I no longer care about your connections with the humans for weapons. That, at the very least, benefitted the dwarves and came from your selflessness. But I will not stand for a half-breed smith in our ranks. Since before my great grand-father's time, that has been our way! There are many fine Dwarven women for you to pick from! Just say the word and I will spare no effort in helping you." He offered. 

Ivan started to sweat, thinking of Hidemi. Was there really nothing he could do to give his son a chance? 

"No!!" He asserted, shrugging his father's hand off of his shoulder. 

"I will not give up on my son!!" 

The other dwarves stood, ready to back Dwygrand.  

Dwygrand raised his arm, halting them. 

"I see…" 

"Well then it cannot be helped. I shall make you a proposition." Dwygrand told him. 

"?!" Ivan focused, surprised. 

"Don't get too excited, boy. I do this for the sake of the clan, not for you." 

"Then what is it?!" Ivan narrowed his eyes. 

"Hidemi shall go against Donnovan's son, Hisagi, in a Sanctum-Smithing match." 

Banderd's eyes flickered. 

Donnovan, who had been sitting lazily at the table, perked up, laughing at Ivan. 

“Ha! Hisagi? It would suck to be you right now, wouldn’t it brother?! I doubt your mutt knows how to even hold up a hammer! You’ll be disgraced and kicked out! HAHAHAHA!” 

"If you are to win, Hidemi will be accepted as a Dwarf and true Sanctum-Smith, having the full support of the Dwarven clan." Dwygrand told him. 

"... And if he doesn't?" Ivan asked doubtful. 

"Then both you and Hidemi are to forever leave the clan and never come back. Banished." 

Ivan bit his lip. "Banished?! That's absu–"

"But you have no choice. These are the options presented to you. You choose or you forfeit this opportunity for your son." 

Mhmph! Is this really the only option I have? Ivan thought. 

"I can give you until tonight to think about it." Dwygrand smiled while sitting down. 

"... Alright…" 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

☆"What's the matter?☆ Hidemi asked his father, signing words with his fingers. 

Ivan exhaled softly, signing back to him.

"Nothing, pal. Go practice your Vice and Clamps." He told him, ruffling his hair. 

Hidemi smiled and began turning around. 

"Hey Hidemi…" Ivan grabbed his hand. 

Hidemi turned back towards him.. 

"Aoww?" 

Ivan smiled. "You're getting much better at reading lips, son. You're mother would’ve been very proud."

Hidemi grinned. 

"Waaaaahhh!!" His eyes sparkled as he embraced his father. 

"W-Woah there!" Ivan fell on his back laughing with his boy.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Dwarven Council Room]

The room was dimly lit with the only light source being a single candle atop the middle of the table. 

In the chief seat now sat Banderd, grimmly looking at the dark figure seated opposite him. 

"So serious!" The figure across from him spoke. 

The darkness masked his face, making it unclear what he looked like, but his two red eyes peered through the darkness. 

"No need to be so tense my friend…" his deep voice resounded. 

"Tch! No need…?" Banded grit his teeth. 

"You can't be serious. Me just being in this room with you would have me banished!"

The figure's eyes went dead, emitting a serious murderous intent.

"Nggh…!" Banderd winced. 

Drip…

A single droplet of blood fell from Banderd's forehead to the table. 

"!!!!" 

This…!! It's not even Sanctum pressure!! Did the mere killing intent of this man make my body feel as if it were actually cut?! Banderd gulped.

"Like I said… no need to be so tense!" The figure's voice dropped back to a happy-go-lucky tone. 

"You enlisted the help of my guild, correct? I'm just here to deliver on the job proposal. Or would you like me to leave?"  

Banderd stammered

"O-Of course not!! I need my brother– Ivan Murong– to be killed." 

"B-But why did you yourself come out here…?" 

"Shhh" the man put a finger to his lips. 

Banderd fell silent. 

Quiet footsteps could be heard. 

A gleam of purple fire ripped through the room. 

“Ah…” the unknown man sighed holding another by his throat. 

Banderd’s eyes fell atop the intruder.

“W-Wati! Let him go! He’s my brother!!” he urged the man. 

The man rolled his eyes, gazing at Banderd again. 

“I’m afraid that's impossible. He’s seen my face and overheard us… two things he will never forget.” he choked Donnovan harder.

“You’re working with–”

SH~WOOP

Donnovan’s chest had a burned hole where his heart normally would’ve been. "That is not your concern. Besides, you should’ve been smarter. All you managed to accomplish was your own death!" 

Blood poured out from Donnovan’s mouth as he sank to the floor. 

“DONNOVAN!!!!” Bandered yelled. 

The man turned towards him. “You… Quiet. If I hear another word…!”

"Y-You're right. My mistake" Bandered cowered. 

He wasn't sure if what he was doing was the right thing. The man across from him was by all rights dangerous. If others knew of his existence, he would be the most wanted man in the world. 

"Just remember not to get ahead of yourself." The man wiped the blood on the table. "That ore I require… how much longer will it take until the bulk of it is unearthed?" 

"The Zogno fluorite? I-Im not sure. It'd take at least until the Dwanivit tournament in 6 months! None of the other dwarves know about this, so I have had to specially mine it myself with the help of a trusted few. Do you know how hard it is to mine such a prec–" Banderd began. 

The man's eyes went dead again. 

He wasn't interested in Banderd's sniveling.

Banderd shut up instantly. 

"... Very well." The candle's light flickered out.

Banderd stood up in worry. 

"You have until the date of the Dwanivit to give me what I need. Ivan Murong will be killed, of that, there is no doubt. Paragon he is, he lacks the qualifications in strength to be one, much like you." The man's voice resonated throughout the room. 

Banderd shook in fear. 

"Be wary, however!" 

The murderous intent felt like a sickle hung under Banderd's neck. 

"If you do not have the material I seek on the agreed date… your entire clan shall be slaughtered!!!! BAH HAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!!!" 

The presence disappeared. 

Banderd collapsed to the floor. The smell of his brother’s blood filled his nostrils with a toxic smell. 

"Huff…puff…Agh!!!" He groaned, sweating heavily.

"Huff…Hehe…! Hahahaha!!!!" He began chuckling. 

Finally! At long last, I will finally have what I deserve! And Ivan will be finished!!!! He thought, laughing in happiness. 

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

He turned to his dead brother. He had been careless. He let his family get suspicious as to what he was up to. 

But he had the perfect idea to deal with the mess. 

《Chapter 8: The Cursed Child》Fin