'they really are dwarves...'

the person that stepped out of the vehicle was clearly a member of the earthen tribe as he only reached up to Mars' chest in height and had a very solid build that was visible even though his clothes, Mars looked at his face and saw that he was slightly panicked as he greeted the group

"you must be travelers, is anyone of you a doctor?"

Mars kept silent, even though he had a miracle like healing skill he didn't feel like using it for some stranger, bedsides he had been somewhat low on energy units for sometime now, then suddenly Yel spoke up

"I have received basic training from my mother"

"oh a sky person thank the heavens, please help my wife she's giving birth!"

"y-yes"

Yel agreed but didn't move from the spot as she looked over at Mars, Mars could feel her gaze and gave a sigh before he spoke

"it's fine Yel go help"

"thank you master"

Yel disappeared into the vehicle and the nervous soon to be farther paced around outside the vehicle for some time without speaking to Mars or the others, Mars gave a wry smile and put down his backpack and sat down on top of it, the girls also let their baggage fall to the ground before they sat down and waited, Mars looked at the dwarf that paced back and forth and thought about when it would be his turn to look that nervous but dismissed the thought he was always using prevention so he doubted that it would be his turn anytime soon

'...well you never know in life'

soon a loud woman's cry was heard after that of a baby, the dwarf stopped pacing and looked over towards the vehicle before he rushed over just as Yel stepped out, the dwarf asked Yel with fervor

"how is she? is my child alright?"

Yel gave a smile

"they are both fine, congratulations you're now the father of a health baby girl"

"a girl... a girl... I see..."

the dwarf looked spellbound as he repeated the words a few more times before he ran into the vehicle, Mars gave a smile

"good work Yel"

"thank you master"

time pa.s.sed and soon it was evening, Mars and the group had set up camp a little away from the vehicle and was in the progress of eating dinner when the dwarf couple walked over, mars looked at the woman and found she looked like a slightly short human teenager which looked weird since she was carrying a baby warped in a cloth, the dwarven woman saw Mars staring at her and gave a smile, Mars also gave a smile and stood up as the couple walked over, then the man spoke up

"thank you all very much for your help"

"we only did what was right"

"I see... my name is Mike and this is my wife Ulla"

both Mike and Ulla gave a bow before Mike spoke again

"even if you say you just did what was right at least let me return the favor... how about we take you all to the nearest city?"

Mars thought for a moment before he gave a smile and a nod

"well we would certainly appreciate it"

"great, then we leave at dawn"

Mike and Ulla both gave another bow before they walked back to the vehicle, Mars sat down again and Victoria jumped onto his lap and laid down as he looked into the fire as the night grew longer...

"ugh... I feel sick..."

"somehow I knew this would happen..."

Chloe sat at the window seat and looked out at the terrain that rushed by, she was turning paler by the minute, she was p.r.o.ne to being motion sick so Mars decided to keep the travel by vehicle to a minimum, but for now she would just have to endure it, the inside of the vehicle was a little cramped with it being made to fit dwarfs, but it was not so bad, plus the suspension was a work of art so one barely noticed that the vehicle was moving even as it was traveling about 150 kilometers an hour on rough terrain, clearly there were no laws against speeding in Beta, at least not outside the cities and towns, Mars gave a sigh and turned to look at the ones that clearly were having fun and that would be Varvei and Victoria, both had stock their heads out of the window like two over sized dogs

"do it in moderation please...."

of course they didn't hear him as their ears were blocked off by the wind, in fact only Yel that sat next to Mars answered him

"is something wrong master?"

"no it's nothing Yel sometimes I just wish everybody could be as well behaved as you..."

"thank you master, for your compliment"

just as Mars and Yel shared a moment together Mars felt the vehicle gradually begin to slow down, this caused Chloe to give a sigh of relief before she asked Mike that was driving

"are we there soon Mike?"

"yes we are nearing the city now, about 5 minutes then we should be there"

"thank the 13..."

Chloe sank into her seat as she bethedved out another sigh of relief and just like Mike had said the the vehicle came to a stop about 5 minutes later just outside the walls of a city, Mars' group stepped out of the vehicle and thanked Mike for the lift before Mike drove off into the city, Mars and the others went to line up at the queue for entering the city, Mars and Yel pa.s.sed fine but when it was Varvei's turn the the guards insisted she should wear a necklace with a number on for her own safety Mars walked back to the guards and asked them

"is there a problem?"

the guard glanced over at Mars before he went back to trying to convince Varvei to wear the necklace which she did after the people behind her in the queue began yelling at her, the same happened with Mary and Chloe, when the group was finally able to enter the city Mars walked up to Varvei and grabbed the necklace

"what's wrong Mars?"

"....there's something fishy with this necklace"

Mars looked at the necklace with his [Energy: sense] for a bit before he drained the energy from it with another skill, then he did the same with the rest of the necklaces, just to be safe

"there... let's go get some food"

Mars lead the group further into the city and soon they found a place that accepted cel, all other places only accepted kwl which was Beta's currency, then the group soon found a table and ordered some food, as they ate a group of rowdy customers entered the establishment and was shown to the table next to Mars and the others, the group was about 10 people and consisted of humans and dwarfs and looked to be in marry mood as they yell and laughed loudly, Yel was about to tell them to quiet down when Mars raised his hand and shook his head, signaling for her to leave them be, Mars and the others quickly finished their meals and left the restaurant behind, after finding an inn for the night Mars and the rest settled down for the night...

Mars' eyes snapped open, there was something wrong, he quickly sat up in the bed and looked around with transformed eyes, though his perfect night vision Mars saw that everything inside the room was calm, there were no intruders, Mars calmed down a bit and laid back down in the bed and right when he was about to fall asleep he had this weird feeling that something was wrong and sat up again and looked around once more, this time he got out of bed and walked over to the window and looked down onto the street

"what the f.u.c.k!"

the street was filled with people that seemed to be walking towards the center of the city, all of them wore a necklace similar to the ones that Varvei, Chloe and Mary had been given when they entered the city, Mars turned around and walked over to his bed and woke up Victoria that was sleeping in the corner of his bed

"what's... wrong Mars?"

"can you find out where the people on the streets are going?"

"sure... which one of... them?"

"the ones with necklaces around their necks, I'll follow you when I have woken up the girls"

"okay..."

Victoria jumped off the bed and when she landed on the floor she disappeared into a shadow