Chapter 658 The Missions

Liam stood completely frozen.

For several seconds, he simply stared at the empty tray in the dwarf’s hands as though his eyes were refusing to accept what they were seeing. Just moments ago there had been seven disgusting, pale worms squirming across the metal surface, each one twisting and writhing in a way that had made even the witches uncomfortable. Now there was nothing. Not a single crawler remained. The tray was completely empty, almost as though the creatures had never been there in the first place. Liam’s expression slowly tightened as he looked from the tray to the dwarf, then back to the tray again. His mind went through every possible explanation, but none of them made any sense. He had been watching the creatures. Everyone had been watching them. There had been no flash of light, no movement, no spell, no visible technique. They had simply disappeared.

The others were equally stunned. Tatiana’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the room, her werewolf senses searching for even the faintest trace of the creatures, but she found nothing. Irina immediately brought a hand toward her head, her brows furrowing deeply as she tried to determine whether she could feel anything unusual inside her skull. Mary and Agatha exchanged an uneasy look while Gregor stared at the empty tray with his mouth slightly open. Even Leonid, who had been unusually calm throughout most of the dwarf’s ridiculous antics, had lost his usual amused expression. The silence that settled over the workshop was almost comical because every single person was looking at the same thing and thinking the same question.

Where the hell had the worms gone?

Then Liam felt it.

Something moved.

Deep inside his head.

His entire body stiffened.

It wasn’t pain. It was something far worse because it felt completely foreign. A tiny, almost imperceptible wriggle passed somewhere behind his thoughts, so deep that he couldn’t even tell exactly where it had come from. Liam’s eyes widened as he slowly lifted a hand toward the side of his head. At first he wondered if his imagination was playing tricks on him, but then it happened again.

A tiny movement.

A faint crawling sensation.

His face immediately changed.

"Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me."

Tatiana suddenly touched the back of her head as her expression became tense. "Did you feel that?"

Irina’s eyes widened. "You felt it too?"

One after another, they realized it. Every member of the group could feel something moving somewhere inside their skulls. The sensation wasn’t constant, but every few seconds there was another subtle twitch or wiggle that reminded them of exactly what had happened.

The worms had entered them.

Nobody had seen it happen.

Nobody had felt them entering.

And yet they were there.

Gregor slowly placed both hands against his head and looked horrified. "There is something alive inside my brain."

Mary swallowed hard, her face paling slightly. "Don’t say it like that."

"But that’s exactly what it is."

"Gregor."

"What? It is!"

The dwarf simply watched them.

He sat comfortably in his chair with his legs crossed, one hand holding his drink while a sly grin slowly spread across his face. There was something deeply irritating about that expression. He looked like a man who had just pulled off the greatest prank of his life and was enjoying every second of watching his victims realize what had happened.

Liam stared at him.

The dwarf stared back.

Neither spoke for several seconds.

Then Liam folded his arms across his chest.

"So let me get this straight," he said slowly, his eyes narrowing. "You somehow managed to put those things inside our brains without any of us noticing."

The dwarf took a drink.

"Yep."

Liam’s eye twitched.

"And you did it without asking."

Another sip.

"Yep."

Liam stared at him for a few more seconds before slowly pointing toward his own head. "What happens if you tell that thing to kill us?"

The entire group immediately looked at him.

Irina’s brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Liam turned toward her with an expression of disbelief. "What do you mean, what am I talking about? This bastard has put living parasites inside our brains. Do you understand what that means? He could potentially kill every single one of us whenever he wants!"

That statement immediately changed the atmosphere.

Tatiana’s expression hardened as she turned toward the dwarf. Leonid’s eyes narrowed as well, and even Agatha looked toward the old blacksmith with a little more caution. They had trusted the dwarf because the seer had sent them here, but there was a significant difference between receiving weapons from someone and allowing that person to place an unknown creature inside your brain.

The dwarf, however, merely chuckled.

"You worry too much, brat."

"That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one with a fucking worm crawling around inside your skull."

The dwarf waved his hand dismissively before taking another drink. "If I tried to hurt you, the seer would rip me apart down to my last generation."

Silence.

Liam blinked.

The dwarf’s casual tone didn’t hide the seriousness behind those words. In fact, Liam noticed something that made his suspicion grow. The old dwarf’s expression had changed slightly when he mentioned the seer. There had been a brief flicker of genuine fear in his eyes, something so subtle that someone less observant might have missed it completely.

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

Interesting.

The dwarf was terrified of her.

Not respectful.

Not merely cautious.

Terrified.

That actually made Liam feel a little better.

"Alright," Liam muttered. "That is slightly more reassuring."

The dwarf scoffed. "Slightly?"

"Don’t push your luck."

Tatiana glanced at Liam, almost amused despite the circumstances. Somehow, even after discovering that there was a parasite inside his brain, he still had enough confidence to argue with the person who had put it there.

Liam ignored the look and turned his attention back toward the dwarf. His expression became serious again as he asked, "So what’s the mission?"

The dwarf’s grin faded slightly. He placed the cup down on the table and leaned forward, resting his thick forearms against his knees. For the first time since they had entered the underground workshop, he looked completely serious.

"The missions," he said, "are simple."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

That word coming from this man immediately made him suspicious.

The dwarf continued, "I’m going to give each of you a mission. You will complete it without letting the other party know what you’re doing."

Liam’s expression changed.

"Other party?"

The dwarf nodded. "Exactly."

He stood from his chair and began walking across the workshop. His short legs moved with surprising confidence as he passed between the enormous machines and glowing furnaces. The metallic beings continued their work around them, their movements precise and mechanical as sparks flew through the air. None of them seemed interested in the conversation, almost as though this sort of thing was completely normal in the dwarf’s workshop.

"I’m going to split you into pairs," the dwarf continued. "Each pair will have a separate objective. You are not to reveal your mission to anyone outside your assigned partner. The information your neural crawlers gather will be sent back to me while you complete those missions."

Liam listened carefully.

That actually made sense.

The dwarf wasn’t simply sending them somewhere dangerous for entertainment. He needed combat data. He needed to understand their abilities, their instincts, their weaknesses and the way they reacted under pressure. By sending them into different situations, he could observe them without having to stand over their shoulders.

Still, Liam didn’t like the idea of being separated from Tatiana.

The dwarf stopped walking.

Then he turned toward them.

"Liam and Irina."

Liam immediately lifted his hand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa."

Irina turned toward him.

The dwarf ignored his interruption.

"You two will be together."

Liam pointed toward Tatiana. "No. Give me her instead."

Tatiana looked at him in surprise.

Liam continued without hesitation. "I’m serious. If we’re going somewhere where we could potentially lose our lives, I’d rather go with someone I love."

The dwarf’s eyebrows lifted.

Liam then pointed toward Irina.

"No offense, but I don’t want to go on a potentially deadly mission with this grumpy woman."

Irina froze.

The entire room seemed to freeze with her.

Slowly, very slowly, she turned her head toward Liam.

"What did you just call me?"

Liam immediately realized his mistake.

Irina’s eyes had changed.

There was murder in them.

Liam pointed toward her with both hands. "See? Exactly! This is what I’m talking about. She’ll kill me before the mission even starts."

Tatiana covered her mouth, clearly trying not to laugh.

Gregor looked away.

Even Leonid’s lips twitched.

Irina took one step forward.

"Liam."

He immediately stepped backward.

"I’m just making an observation."

"You called me grumpy."

"I said you were grumpy. That’s different."

"How is that different?"

"Technically, the grammar changes."

"That doesn’t help you."

Liam looked toward the dwarf for assistance.

The dwarf didn’t even acknowledge the argument.

Instead, he pointed toward Tatiana and Mary.

"You two."

Tatiana’s expression immediately became more serious as she nodded. Mary also nodded quietly, accepting the assignment without complaint.

Liam stared at the dwarf.

"For fuck’s sake."

The dwarf continued as though he hadn’t heard him.

"Gregor and Agatha."

Gregor straightened while Agatha gave a calm nod. The pairing made sense. Both were witches, but their magical specialties were different enough that the dwarf could gather useful information from how their abilities complemented one another.

That left only one person.

Leonid.

The vampire stood alone on the other side of the workshop, his arms folded as he watched the dwarf with a faint smile. He had clearly realized that he was the only one without a partner.

The dwarf slowly turned toward him.

A strange smile appeared on his face.

Leonid’s eyes narrowed.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

The dwarf chuckled.

"For you, vampire, I have something special."

Leonid’s smile disappeared.

The dwarf walked closer, his expression becoming almost mischievous. "I’ve created weapons for werewolves. I’ve created weapons for witches. I’ve created weapons for humans and countless other races."

He stopped directly in front of Leonid.

"But I’ve never created one for a vampire."

Leonid raised an eyebrow.

The dwarf’s grin widened.

"So your mission will be different."

Liam glanced toward Leonid.

Leonid looked back at him.

Neither liked the sound of that.

The dwarf folded his arms across his broad chest and delivered the final part with complete confidence.

"You will go alone."

Leonid’s expression remained calm, but the amusement had completely disappeared from his face.

"A special mission?"

"Very special."

Liam slowly shook his head.

For once, he didn’t have a joke.

The dwarf had deliberately separated them, and everyone could feel it. These weren’t random assignments. Every pairing had a purpose, and Leonid’s isolation was clearly the most deliberate of all.

The underground workshop suddenly felt much quieter.

The metallic servants continued forging weapons in the background, their hammers striking glowing metal with rhythmic precision. Each impact echoed through the enormous chamber, filling the silence between the seven travelers and the mysterious blacksmith.

They had come here expecting weapons.

Instead, they had been given parasites, secret missions and the promise that some of them might not return alive.

And somehow, Liam had the uncomfortable feeling that the dwarf was only beginning to show them what this place was really about.