Sobha SeaHaven Projects In Dubai is ready to move residential property at Dubai Harbour, Dubai with every kind of convenience. This development offers standard living to you and your family with a wide range of amenities. It offers 1,2 and 3 Bedroom apartments with a gated community for a well-living way in a secure and safe gateway. The project offers spacious flats with stunning views of the Arabian Gulf and is equipped with modern amenities and also developed to offer residents a modern and comfortable lifestyle.
A perfect staycation destination that you had forever wished for. Start a renewed life and new beginning at this one-of-a-kind property which is a host of amenities where you can indulge in your leisure time and vast green expanse. The flats are equipped with modern amenities such as a swimming pool, gym, children's play area, and a multi-purpose hall. The Sobha Seahaven project also features landscaped gardens, water features, and a jogging track. Settle amidst lush greens where you have a better environment and purer air to breathe. Beautiful development with soaring homes awaits your arrival in this complete address and nurturing in every aspect of life.
This infrastructural development is loaded with state-of-the-art amenities and contemporary design abodes. Enjoy every convenience in this gated complex that has all necessitates and that can be procured with ease. Reflecting a lifestyle that is truly blessed and aspired combined with stirring luxury like never before. Take Benefits at the right place at the right time where the magnificence of nature is all set to indulge you and your family.
Dubai Harbour is a prestigious waterfront development located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is an ambitious project that aims to transform the city's coastline into a vibrant destination offering a seamless blend of luxury living, entertainment, and maritime activities. Spanning an impressive area of 20 million square feet, Dubai Harbour is strategically situated between Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah, two of the city's most iconic landmarks.
It is set to feature an array of upscale residential properties, including luxury apartments, penthouses, and waterfront villas. These residences will offer breathtaking views of the Arabian Gulf, the marina, and the iconic Dubai skyline. With world-class amenities, stylish designs, and impeccable finishes, the residential offerings in Dubai Harbour are poised to provide a truly luxurious living experience.
For More Info:
Visit Here: Sobha Seahaven Dubai
https://youtu.be/2Dkre1noCGk

Global Info Research announces the release of the report “Global Fire Fighting Fire Truck Market 2023 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2029” . The report is a detailed and comprehensive analysis presented by region and country, type and application. As the market is constantly changing, the report explores the competition, supply and demand trends, as well as key factors that contribute to its changing demands across many markets. Company profiles and product examples of selected competitors, along with market share estimates of some of the selected leaders for the year 2023, are provided. In addition, the report provides key insights about market drivers, restraints, opportunities, new product launches or approvals, COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine War Influence.
​
According to our (Global Info Research) latest study, the global Fire Fighting Fire Truck market size was valued at USD million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD million by 2029 with a CAGR of % during review period. The influence of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War were considered while estimating market sizes.
​
Key Features:
Global Fire Fighting Fire Truck market size and forecasts, in consumption value), sales quantity, and average selling prices, 2018-2029
Global Fire Fighting Fire Truck market size and forecasts by region and country, in consumption value, sales quantity, and average selling prices, 2018-2029
Global Fire Fighting Fire Truck market size and forecasts, by Type and by Application, in consumption value, sales quantity, and average selling prices, 2018-2029
Global Fire Fighting Fire Truck market shares of main players, shipments in revenue, sales quantity, and ASP, 2018-2023
​
The Primary Objectives in This Report Are:
To determine the size of the total market opportunity of global and key countries
To assess the growth potential for Fire Fighting Fire Truck
To forecast future growth in each product and end-use market
To assess competitive factors affecting the marketplace
This report profiles key players in the global Fire Fighting Fire Truck market based on the following parameters - company overview, production, value, price, gross margin, product portfolio, geographical presence, and key developments.
​
Request Free Sample Copy Or buy this report at:
https://www.globalinforesearch.com/reports/1534958/fire-fighting-fire-truck
The Fire Fighting Fire Truck market is segmented as below:
​
Market segment by Type
Jug Fire Truck
Foam Fire Truck
Compressed Air Foam Fire Truck
Foam Dry Powder Combined Fire Truck
Dry Powder Fire Truck
Other
​
Market segment by Application
Municipal
Industrial
Airport
Forestry
Others
​
Major players covered
SANCO
Vartosprem
Fire Group
Carrozzeria Chinetti Srl
REV Group
CFE
Oshkosh
Rosenbauer
Magirus
Hubei Jiangnan Special Automobile
Sany Heavy Industrial
Shanghai Jindun Special Vehicle Equipment
Beijing Firefend Engineering
Shenyang Jietong Fire Truck
Hubei Boli Special Automobile Equipment
Zoomlion Heavy Industrial Science and Technology
Mingguang Haomiao Security Protection Technology
​
The Main Contents of the Report, includes a total of 15 chapters:
Chapter 1, to describe Fire Fighting Fire Truck product scope, market overview, market estimation caveats and base year.
Chapter 2, to profile the top manufacturers of Fire Fighting Fire Truck, with price, sales, revenue and global market share of Fire Fighting Fire Truck from 2018 to 2023.
Chapter 3, the Fire Fighting Fire Truck competitive situation, sales quantity, revenue and global market share of top manufacturers are analyzed emphatically by landscape contrast.
Chapter 4, the Fire Fighting Fire Truck breakdown data are shown at the regional level, to show the sales quantity, consumption value and growth by regions, from 2018 to 2029.
Chapter 5 and 6, to segment the sales by Type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2018 to 2029.
Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, to break the sales data at the country level, with sales quantity, consumption value and market share for key countries in the world, from 2017 to 2022.and Fire Fighting Fire Truck market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2024 to 2029.
Chapter 12, market dynamics, drivers, restraints, trends, Porters Five Forces analysis, and Influence of COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine War.
Chapter 13, the key raw materials and key suppliers, and industry chain of Fire Fighting Fire Truck.
Chapter 14 and 15, to describe Fire Fighting Fire Truck sales channel, distributors, customers, research findings and conclusion.
​
The analyst presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. Our report on the Fire Fighting Fire Truck market covers the following areas:
1.Fire Fighting Fire Truck market sizing
2.Fire Fighting Fire Truck market forecast
3.Fire Fighting Fire Truck market industry analysis
4.Analyze the needs of the global Fire Fighting Fire Truck business market
5.Answer the market level of global Fire Fighting Fire Truck
6.Statistics the annual growth of the global Fire Fighting Fire Truck production market
7.The main producers of the global Fire Fighting Fire Truck production market
8.Describe the growth factor that promotes market demand
​
Global Info Research is a company that digs deep into global industry information to support enterprises with market strategies and in-depth market development analysis reports. We provides market information consulting services in the global region to support enterprise strategic planning and official information reporting, and focuses on customized research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, database and top industry services. At the same time, Global Info Research is also a report publisher, a customer and an interest-based suppliers, and is trusted by more than 30,000 companies around the world. We will always carry out all aspects of our business with excellent expertise and experience.
​
Contact Us:
Global Info Research
Web: https://www.globalinforesearch.com
CN: 0086-176 6505 2062
HK: 00852-5819 7708
US: 001-347 966 1888
Email: [email protected]
​
​
​

The dog was barking at her husband's frantic attempts to extinguish the toaster, but Lulu was determined to have a productive, happy day. God help her. She was fiercely writing a grocery list.
"How do you stop spelling "bananas"?! She yelled in frustration as her husband passed by on his way out the front door with the flaming toaster.
"Where were you when that song came out?!" He yelled as he made a hasty exit.
"This shit is bananas..." she murmured to herself until she got to the spelling instructions, punctuated by the beat of her husband trying to smother the toaster fire with a shovel outside. She heard her neighbors talking to him. Great. Well, maybe this would stop them from gossiping about the Christmas Lights Incident anymore.
Her son called and said that he and his wife couldn’t come to lunch because the bus had turned into a spaceship, and there was just no way the driver was qualified to fly it. She told him that marijuana was illegal, but he said that he already knew.
Her husband left for work. She walked to the grocery store down the street ferociously, each step stomped with such energy that she scared the homeless people. No matter what happened, there was going to be corned beef and cabbage, damn it. And a completely unreasonable quantity of mint chocolate chip ice cream, because it was on sale.
She returned to find a sternly written warning from the Home Owner's Association taped to the front door. This happened a lot. She wasn't 100% clear what rule the toaster fire fell under, and apparently, the HOA board wasn't, either. If they had been, it would've been another fine.
Someone called her 11 times in a row, but she got dinner in the crock pot. By the time she picked up, her husband said that the doctor was sure his finger could be reattached.
"Don't worry about waiting around the hospital. The surgery will take hours," he said. Nevertheless, she first prepared herself through a generous application of her hot pink sparkly tactical blush, then went to the bus stop.
A disheveled young man tried to rob her on the bus, but she told him she didn't have time for that crap today. She recommended a good community college program that had helped her nephew get a fantastic job working with computers. He was so confused that he just got off at the next stop. He would forever remember it as the day a hooker turned his life around.
Three days later, she and her husband arrived back home with all their fingers. The neighbor she had texted had put out enough food and water for their dog to last a month, Lulu was relieved to see. She'd worried about that hyper little fluff ball. They could smell burned corned beef before they even opened the door. The house was as foggy as a speakeasy, so Lulu aired it out. She scrubbed the crock pot for ten minutes.
She prepared them two bowls of mint chocolate chip ice cream for their next meal.
"This is kinda fun. I like this better than if we'd had that corned beef," her husband chivalrously declared.
She laughed, simply happy that he could hold a spoon at this point.
"You know, I do, too."

The morning after our victory, I led a small team of Paladins, Clerics, and Artificers, with Rogues outside of sight alongside us.
Well, it was more accurate to say that we took one of the military vehicles and carefully drove it over to the next city. The Artificers didn't strip entire cars bare on the street, they had to get it into a garage somehow.
This excursion was primarily exploratory, to see what we were dealing with at the end of our effective territory.
The blockade was a nice touch. We slowed to a stop, we got out, and we approached. When they raised their guns, I held my hand up, and we stopped.
"This is a formal request for a ceasefire." I stated, projecting my voice with the amplifier. "We will continue to approach, opening fire will signal to us that you do not value your lives."
We continued approaching, the guns still trained on us.
The person who came out to speak with us was more forced out, he clearly didn't want to be the one to talk to us.
"Am I to assume you speak with authority?" I asked. He looked at the other soldiers, he didn't have a clue. "Then I'll make this concise and brief. You will dismantle this blockade, you will retreat, and you will not prevent us from making contact with the neighboring city. Any attempts to prevent us from passing will result in your immediate capture, any attempts to harm us will result in your immediate death."
The standoff was tense, after a few moments, I began to count down. "Five."
I could see sweat beading down their faces.
"Four."
Eyes wide, terrified.
"Three."
They broke first, backing away, guns still trained on us.
"If your intention is to retreat, such that you can face us with a larger force, allow me to make one thing clear." I blasted their blockade apart, some of them screamed. "Your bullets are useless against us."
They ran, we cleared the blockade away, and we repeated this two more times.
Seeing the city after so long felt... overwhelming. I had completely forgotten how big it was. It was almost enough to not notice the checkpoint, and the fifty of so Humans who stood on the other side, guns pointed at us.
"I will allow one of you to shoot me." I said, walking toward them. "A freebie, use your highest caliber, try and hurt me."
The bullet that struck me ricocheted into a tree, The silence that fell was just as deafening as the report from the gun, they stared at me in utter shock, and then they all ran
Several Human civilians looked at the fleeing soldiers, then looked at us as we stepped out from our territory and into theirs.
"Oh, shit. That video was real." I heard someone say. "Look at that sick fuckin' armor." Another spoke. "Are they going to attack us?"
"Halt." I commanded, my troop stopped, the tension in the air was palpable.
"My name is Ruuk Stingtail." I spoke. "For the time being, I come in peace, and invite anyone who is curious to ask questions.After all, it has been a solid year and a half since we had any contact with anyone other than enemies and ourselves."
There was still tension, of course, but eventually someone did approach, cautiously, of course. "Yo, uh, can I touch you? You know, to make sure you're actually real and not some sort of weird animatronic?"
I reached my hand out and he touched it. "Whoa." He pulled his hand back.
Several Humans had pulled out their phones, they were already recording us. I quickly appraised the people around us, looking for anything we could exploit for our own uses. I noticed someone with their arm in a sling, it wasn't in a cast, but it was wrapped up.
"You there." I said, pointing at him. He pointed at himself. "Yes, come here."
He approached cautiously. "What happened to your arm?" I asked.
"I, uh, I tore a muscle." He said. "Doctor said I can't do much with it until it heals."
"Ruka." I said, looking at the Paladin of Bahamut. He walked closer. "Show us your injury, if you would."He did, there was the ugliest bruise I'd ever seen.
"Do you consent to having your injury healed?" I asked.
"What?" He asked, blinking.
"I'm offering to have your injury healed." I reiterated.
"Yeah, sure?"
Ruka gently laid his hands on the Human's arm. "O, holy Bahamut, heal this grievous wound and grant wholeness and wellness to his man, zyak qe coi."
The Paladin's hands radiated holy light, the bruise rapidly faded, and the Human stared at it, utterly awestruck. "Holy shit." He gasped. "I mean-"
"It is not taken as blasphemy." Ruka stated, holding his hand up.
"We are here-" I spoke, looking at everyone, "-to prove our existence beyond a single video. Circumstances demand that what we do isn't simply charity, but the means by which we can survive. For this, I am sorry, I recognize that in this way, I am using you." I paused, dredging up and wiping away tears. "Our people depend on this."
If we were to have any form of peace, any form of justification for war, we needed to be sympathetic. By taking prisoners, we made ourselves targets to any would-be vigilantes looking to serve their country.
By being up front about our intentions, we showed a quiet desperation, efforts made to foster peace, even though I had bared the fangs of war.
More Humans gathered, those who were sick or in pain, we provided healing. I told our story, of how we one day woke up like this, the struggles of finding ourselves in a situation where nothing was made for us, how when we were quarantined, we were forced to fend for ourselves. How when the mine collapsed, we worked together to save the trapped miners. How when we were blockaded so they could force us to die en masse, how we were blessed with miracles.
How, when we fully understood what our intended fate was, the people heard the wisdom of my Emperor and elevated me to the position of Imperator, and how I used my authority to direct our people to our first victory.
"I shall admit, taking those soldiers' lives brought us satisfaction." I said. "They had oppressed us, tried to eradicate us, we gave them every opportunity to choose peace, to choose life. I just can't understand how they couldn't see us as people who desperately wished for love and compassion."
I laid it on thick, and the Humans ate it up.
Before long, we had expended our spells, and I said, "We will try to return, presuming the military doesn't try to carpet bomb us into oblivion, our prisoners of war be damned. I pray your leaders see reason."
We returned to our commandeered vehicle, closing the checkpoint so nobody could get in, and we returned to the city.
We did this each day we could, speaking words of hope for peace, determination to protect ourselves as needed. As always, we provided healing to those who needed it, some people even came, desperate for relief from something incurable, to which we did the best we could. Throughout this, I spoke of things to come, a thriving city, as much a part of the world as anywhere else, a place where we could share the wonders of magic.
I was asked, "Why do you close the gate when you leave?"
I simply answered, "If you entered, they would force you to remain, even though we know anyone who remains Human under the Divine Gate remains Human." It was an embellishment, but it was more poetic and exotic.
Throughout all of this, the military watched us like a hawk, waiting for us to slip up and cause some damage.
Days turned to weeks turned into a month, and we had solidified our existence to the world. We turned the checkpoint into our border, our Rangers found that we were completely sealed in on all sides by fencing.
I declared it the territory of the Empire.
"All of the land that the U.S. government sealed off belongs to the Empire." I spoke. "By locking it behind fence and gate, they have declared it our border, and we shall agree to that sentiment."
It was such a tiny parcel of land, compared to the rest of the continent, but it could comfortably fit ten offshoot villages, each which could connect us to other cities.
Construction of the new border wall began shortly after, the fencing uprooted piece by piece, replaced by solid stone proudly displaying the anachronism our lives had become, and even though there had been no agreement to peace, the U.S. government was powerless to stop us.
The moment I had claimed the land, the moment it was known to be claimed, my Emperor had claimed it in turn. By the end of the week, we had a new border wall built, one that was staffed with Rangers, Druids, Fighters, and Artificers. One that was connected by tramways, simplifying travel.
And throughout this all, Darastrixthurhi was transformed from a lifeless rock, to a city teeming with plantlife.
My Emperor held me in his arms as we laid on our bed. Sharing a bed together had always been a highlight of his being with me, his willingness to hold me, to touch me, made it all better, made it all right.
"Our enemy stalls for time, while we win the hearts of their people." He mused. "I can hear them praying to me, wishing for strength, for power, and I pull on them, make their hearts yearn. Tomorrow, invite them to visit, to witness the splendors of our nation, to feast with us in the name of peace."
"As you wish, my Emperor." I spoke.
"Ruuk, I permit you to call me your love."
"As you wish, slaitov." I replied. "Shall there be a day when we show our subjects?"
"I shall announce it during our feast." He replied.
My heart thundered, it was so sudden, yet... "Thank you, slaitov."
"Soon to be husband, Imperator mine." He replied.
When I announced the feast, the Humans who wished to join us were ecstatic. I even extended the invitation to the military personnel. "Come as civilians, if you would." I said.
The preparations that went into the feast went underway, we had a good hunt and our efforts to preserve our food was going excellently. When the Humans arrived, they marveled at the tramways, the architecture of our housing, our magical wonders. Some even saluted me, though they said they simply wanted to give me the respect I deserved.
I ensured they had the grand tour of the town, but when we neared the wall into the Fortress City, I spoke solemnly, "Any further, and you risk your Humanity." I looked at them all. "I would interpret any such entry as a desire to join our Empire, and will expect a pledge of loyalty."
The look of longing in their eyes showed me that my warning was largely going to be ignored. Hell, a handful of Humans walked right in, transforming almost immediately.
"It reacts to a want to become a Kobold." I said. "Anyone who doesn't want to might have a better time of it."
While our new citizens were given some proper clothing, I led the rest of the Humans around.
"Why didn't you stop them?" One of the Humans, a female soldier, spoke.
"Why should I?" I asked. "I very clearly stated what would happen, they made the choice."
I showed them around the Artificery, magic items and what technology we were able to make was proudly on display. I noticed one of them palm a device and walked over to them, holding my hand out. "Do not think we are not paying attention." I said. There was a tense moment before she put it in my hand. "Besides, this is just a little hand fan." I flicked a switch, two paper and wood blades extended and began to spin. "You taking this would have left one of our prisoners without any form of air conditioning."
I put it back, they tried to hide the anger at my casual mention of prisoners.
"Are they being treated well?" The soldier asked.
"Yes." I said. "Due to the lack of wireless signal, we allow them their phones so they have something to occupy their time when we're not putting them out in the yard for exercise or giving them their ration."
"You're forcing them to eat rations?" She asked.
"We all eat rations." I replied. "Feasts like this are for when we have a surplus that we can't guarantee to keep." I smirked. "That being said, as we are smaller, we need less to eat than the average Human."
I didn't pretend any of that was meant to be reassuring. "The prisoners will be joining us for the feast." I said. The incredulous looks I got elicited a chuckle from me. "If you think I'm being bold or flippant, we have them fitted with enchanted collars that will choke them if they attempt to flee. They are cursed, you see, and can only be removed with magic."
"That's fucked up." Another soldier stated.
"Inhumane, actually." I corrected. "But it's the only thing we have available that won't accidentally kill them. The worst that will happen is they'll pass out, a passive regeneration effect will keep them alive."
"Have you... tested these collars?" A third soldier asked.
"We have a small group of Sorcerers in the Warren who tried to summon a Demon for power." I said. "They have tested the collars every now and again, usually by fucking around and finding out." We approached the area where the feast was being held, food was already being set up, the prisoners were already seated, their eyes widened when they saw their fellow soldiers.
"You won't get away with this." The female soldier growled.
"Funny, that's what we said when we were locked in here." I replied. "They are fed, given water, are clothed, and are provided shelter. That's far more than we were ever given."
I directed them to their table, and soon, everyone was sat, except for my Council, and my Emperor. They arrived shortly after every one was seated, each took their seats. I sat beside my Emperor's seat.
I noted that same female soldier was attempting to film us surreptitiously.
"Today, we are gathered to welcome our Human guests, those who have seen us as people, rather than monsters." My Emperor spoke. "The establishment of my Empire was always a dream, to bring back a glory lost to time, to honor the thousands who died during the first Dragon Rage, to honor those who were murdered by my long-standing enemy." He looked around. "It had always been me desire to hunt down every last one of his children, to eradicate them, it was my Imperator who entreated me to choose compromise."
He paused, taking up a cup. "These Humans are here because my Imperator has likewise chosen compromise, to cast aside the hatred that has grown in his heart, for the sake of our peace and prosperity. Enough lives have been lost, let the first year of our Empire not be drenched in blood, that in peace and prosperity, our greatness is acknowledged, whether grudgingly, or emphatically. To my Imperator, without whom this victory would have never been manifest."
Every Kobold raised their cups, including our new citizens.
"And to our guests, who have agreed to come here in peace. May their wisdom be echoed by their leaders."
The cups were raised again.
"Now enough talk, let us feast!"
The Human frowned, putting their phone away. It was clear she didn't get what she wanted from that. After everyone polished off their plates, the people began dancing as our musicians displayed their newly awakened Bard Class- it seemed not simply playing or doing well at the arts was enough, one needed confidence and a desire to entertain.
Our guests were allowed to mingle and enjoy themselves, though the prisoners were kept under guard, any Soldiers who wished to speak to them would have to live with the fact that they would be listened in on, and considering the guards could use the spell Comprehend Languages, well, they wouldn't be able to hide beneath a foreign language.
"So, you're the leader of this little group." I regarded the Human who approached me, that same soldier who seemed bound and determined to catch us with our pants down.
"Yes." I said. "Your attempt at catching us with your recording won't work, you know." She betrayed surprise. "One, any idiot would know not to say anything incriminating at a party their enemies are invited to. Two, anyone stupid enough to do so wouldn't even make it as far as we did."
"Indeed." She said. "What was this about compromise?"
"Exactly as it sounds." I replied. "My God, Kurtulmak, has nurtured a well-earned hatred of Gnomes, considering their God committed near genocide against us. Imprisoned against his will, for the crime of wanting justice... When the victors write the history books, they will do everything in their power to make those who are suffering injustice out to be the bad guys."
"And what will your history books say?" She asked.
"That depends on your leaders' answer, Miss..?"
"Martel." She said. "Corporal Martel."
I had completely put it out of my mind, after all, we got our vengeance on the soldiers who tried to have us massacred by a God.
"So." I said. "The one who set Garl Glittergold against us shows her face." I remarked. Her eyes widened. "Why were you, of all people, not present that day, when we marched on your encampment?"
"I was called away on duty-" She started.
"Bullshit." I said. "You fled, didn't you? You ran from your fellow soldiers like the coward you are, you left them to die."
Arcane energy crackled across my body, and I had to hold back from blasting her apart. "Leave." I hissed. "This day of peace is not for cowards and traitors."
She backed away, clearly terrified. I couldn't hold back the anger any more, but I wasn't going to let her be a casualty yet. I aimed my spell at the metal pole, the Witch Bolt striking it. "I said LEAVE!" I roared. "IF YOU EVER DARE TO RETURN HERE, I WILL END YOUR MISERABLE, PATHETIC, COWARDLY LIFE!"
She fled, I did not care that several eyes were on me, if there was one thing I hated more than Humans, it was self-serving cowards like her.
I felt my God's touch on my shoulder, his presence soothed the rage, granted me the clarity of mind I needed to function. I cast my gaze toward the rest of the soldiers, who looked like they were mice caught in a trap. I approached them.
"You may leave, if you wish." I stated. "My anger at her is not anger at you."
"What the fuck did Tiana do, that pissed you off so much?" One of the soldiers asked.
"That woman was the one who called down a God to kill us." I stated. "The fact that she is present at all means she abandoned her post and left her fellow soldiers to die." My lip curled into a snarl. "The only thing I hate worse than anything, is a coward and a traitor, and that woman, Tiana Martel, is both."
I sensed a jolt of shock from my Emperor, I looked at him.
"Ruuk." He said. "Say that name again."
"Tiana Martel." I replied.
My Emperor about faced and roared, "Paladins of Bahamut, after that woman! Move!"
The Paladins gave chase, our Emperor did not order them around, out of respect for his pact with Bahamut.
"My Emperor, do you really want to risk any peace we could gain, chasing after one woman?" I asked.
"Ruuk." He said. "What are the chances that a single woman who can call down a God, who has knowledge of us that can be exploited, is suddenly not present when we finally make a counter attack? By our pact, your eyes are my eyes, and she has tried to cause problems the entire time she has been here."
He paused. "Tiana Mahtel, that's how she pronounced it, yes?"
I blinked.
"Wait, that woman is Tiamat?" I asked.
As if in answer, there was a roar, and in the distance, a dragon reared up, one bearing five heads of different colors.
​
[Navigation for 'Dragon Rising'- [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]]

First Prev Next Royal Road Patreon
u/KieveKRS providing the Trash certification of quality! (with help from u/coldfireknight cuz this one needed it.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nalah affixed the massive shield to her back, the rectangular form large enough for him to fit behind while only needing to crouch slightly. It was mostly ironwood, but the sides and front were metal-plated, so it still weighed a considerable amount. Despite that, the thing’s bulk hardly seemed to be noticed by the blonde-furred female, likely due to the constant construction work she involved herself in. It paired oddly with the long pike she insisted on using, but he couldn’t deny that poking at things while hiding behind a mobile wall sounded like a good idea.
Jax was wearing his new armour, the bulky chest-piece a mirror of his blond-furred pack mate’s. Though he forwent the protection a buckler or likewise would offer, he doubled up on gear. Gauntlets, vambraces, pauldrons, and anything else he could wear to compliment the massive axe he had taken a liking to.
Where Nalah was fitted to look like an apocalypse survivor—her protections limited to her torso, forearms, and shield—the black-furred male resembled a giant, if underfunded, paladin. All he needed now was some religious imagery and a penchant for exalting the qualities of their god. Joseph almost nudged the guy to suggest it for kicks.
On second thought, he decided that Jax absolutely did not need a reason to start yelling about the Human-turned-religious-figure, because there was no way in hell he wouldn’t. There was no telling what he would choose to say, and the Grand Hunter was perfectly happy never knowing.
Having been with the male as long as he had, it would probably involve ‘taming’ females or something else that would leave him groaning for weeks, if not just contemplating another high-dive from the cliff.
Joseph fixed his own equipment, the ‘Wraith armour’ worn over his own thin iron breastplate. He wasn’t thrilled to wear the extra weight, but it beat being mauled by the thing they were heading out to kill. The trips so far had been tolerable, fog and overcast skies keeping the temperature in check, but he didn’t want to go out in this on a hotter day as Summer really kicked back in. He was sweaty enough without baking inside all this crap.
He adjusted the wolf-skull mask, the rest of the hunting party having gotten over the worst of the unease it gave them. Though they’d needed to rotate people out for the sake of fairness, this would be their eighth consecutive scouting. Using the information that Raine and Faye provided, they narrowed down a likely stomping grounds for the creature and were systematically clearing sectors. It might have been discouraging to keep looking after so long, but the occasional marking on trees and the odd moss-wolf corpse tipped them off that they were getting close. There was still another week’s worth of searching left if today wasn’t the day, but somehow he doubted they wouldn’t need that long.
All in all, they numbered six; larger parties were attempted, but their efforts at stealth quickly became pointless between so many trudging through the forest and stopping for breaks. There was a bit of a scare where one of Mi’low’s pack went missing, but the guy had just stopped to relieve himself. Since the discovery was made by someone else knocking him over in the process by mistake, they decided that keeping the number smaller made communication easier. And lowered the amount of grumbling about needing a bath.
Jax, Nalah, two security members, one of the hunters, and him. Sure, grabbing Tel or the Wraiths would have been a bit more useful for cohesion, but they were all busy with things, and he didn’t want to grind everything in the settlement to a halt for nothing if the search turned up empty again. They were more suited to taking out their fellow Lilhun than some monster in the woods, as much as he disliked the thought.
Scarlet was spending a lot of time with Violet and the new Atmo, Faye was spending much of her recovery with the moss-wolves and moss-pup, and Tel was in the process of helping Harrow shore up the few security members that were slated to become snipers. Kaslin was still learning chemistry with Toril, and Raine was helping whoever needed a hand, so that marked off all of his usual accompaniment. He could have taken more of his direct pack, but they all had important things to take care of as well.
Sahari was managing the pack and putting people where people needed to be put, Pan was working with Idee and Heralt to make a line of armour for the whole pack, and Mi’low was...well, Mi’low. He was pretty sure she was unofficially the master of the hunter’s lodge and spent most of her time keeping track of what came in and out of it, while also making sure that everyone got their fair share. It needed to be done with the settlement growing as much as it had, and it kept Mi’low busy enough to stymie the flow of complaints, so he wasn’t about to complain.
They double checked that they had everything that was needed; food, water, arrows, bolts, and some bags to store anything that the snares had caught on the way back. Four ranged and two melee weapons meant that they would be mostly using Jax and Nalah to soak hits if it came down to it, the others peppering it with projectiles. Given that Harrow was insistent on the bear-thing being resistant to anything they could use at a distance, they also carried spare weapons for the ranged users, just in case. Nodding, Joseph gestured to the group finishing up their preparations for the day’s trip.
“A moment, sir?” Scarlet called to him as she approached the gate, the Wraith flanked by Rose and Cobalt. The two Atmo were decked-out in their own armour, which appeared to be almost entirely metal, save for the palm lining the inside for comfort. Each of their six legs were adorned with broad shields, their bases capped off with a flat storage carriage. They looked like someone had a little too much fun testing how much the insects could effortlessly carry and had ended up with sapient hexapedal tanks.
“Only if you explain why those two would look more at home if they had cannons installed on their backs,” he quipped, an expression somewhere between surprised, amused, and plain dumbfounded plastered on his face. The blackish red-furred female smirked for a split-second before resuming her usual servile presentation.
“The young mistress had extended her request for these two to accompany you.”
Joseph tilted his head incredulously. “Violet told you to send them?”
Scarlet nodded, gesturing to the outfitted Atmo. “They have been under her tutelage for some time now, and wish to be of assistance.”
The Grand Hunter snapped his mouth closed when he was about to ask why his daughter would teach them anything that might be useful for fighting a deadly beast. Of course she did; It was one of the first things he did for her. It would have been weirder for her not to pass on what she knew after all the hours she spent either seeing him coach the others, or being coached herself. With the time she had under her belt, she was the local Atmo Close Quarters Combat specialist, and no one else understood how the modified boxing she learned worked with their bodies like she did.
He wore a hesitant expression, shifting his weight to his other leg. “Well, they’ve certainly geared up.”
“It is a product our smith is rather proud of,” the Wraith affirmed confidently.
He exhaled slowly. “Seems a bit much.”
She seemed to be expecting the remark, barely pausing to register what he said before responding. “Your kit wishes you safe, yet understands you would not allow her to accompany you. These two wish to be of assistance.”
To punctuate her point, the two nodded in agreement, walking forward and slinging some of the backpacks onto their carriages. It seemed ‘no’ wasn’t something they were going to accept after Violet had said her piece. He sighed, conceding that they wouldn’t slow the party down with everyone carrying so much weight in equipment, regardless of the bags. They took breaks frequently enough to accommodate the Atmo, so that wouldn’t hinder anything either.
“Fine,” he relented with a wave of his hand. “We’ll take them. Not like they’d hurt anyway. But–” He put a warning into his tone. “–they’re not playing the hero and getting themselves killed. This isn’t going to work if they think any of us dying is still a net positive, got it?”
The two Atmo mimed their understanding, Scarlet replying with a victorious smile. Joseph couldn’t help but bemusedly roll his eyes. The female had taken rather well to baby-sitting, and that seems to have extended to humouring the young Queen’s schemes now. It wasn’t an unwelcome addition to their little sojourn. At least they could haul back any larger game without it tacking hours onto the return trip.
He thanked Scarlet for her trouble before dismissing her, confirming with the group that everything was accounted for, and set off before it grew too late. He wasn’t looking to get caught out in the woods during the night. The Lilhuns might be fine, but he was pretty well blind unless the moon felt generous.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Jax watched the two Atmo quietly follow on the sides of the group, their heavily armoured forms posing no issues with their naturally soundless movements in the forest. In the den, they would make moderate clacks and clicks as their chitinous legs contacted the ground, but the soft dirt and foliage stifled all but the smallest report of their travel. With Scarlet supervising alongside Violet, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the former Blade had influenced their movement with the goal in mind, though he had never paid much attention to how they walked before to compare.
He had to admit, having them carry the additional equipment was exceedingly useful. He had proposed having the group use the newly acquired platforms on their more arachnid-like abdomen to rest in shifts, but Joseph was quick to insist that the insects were of lesser stamina than even Lilhuns. The phrasing seemed like a comparative insult, but Jax had more than enough experience with the Human to know that he had simply spoken his mind. To him, everyone had sub-par stamina. Training had gone some way to remedy the discrepancy, but the Grand Hunter could still continue for longer than even the most well-conditioned of them.
The black-furred male rolled his shoulders, feeling the heft of his axe shift with the movement. It was an impressive size, the weight well-balanced and its edge sharp. He had once laid it to the ground out of curiosity and confirmed that it was about as tall as Pan from head to haft, though only if she stood to her full height. Regardless of its size, it was still lighter than the armour he chose to don.
Having only really worn leathers or a few sets of ironwood protections, the encumbering prominence of the iron equipment took getting used to. It wasn’t entirely restrictive, but did put a damper on any chances he had of sprinting from danger. That was fine, he supposed, since he was wearing it against a beast he had no experience with. It could very well outrun him regardless, and he would rather have the defences in either case.
Nalah seemed to be doing fine, the large barrier she kept on her back swaying slightly as she walked. She was unhindered by it, her movements barely affected by the bulk, which was reassuring. Joseph, however, seemed to be panting more than usual, the rolling cloud coverage easing as the sun progressively warmed the environment. The fog from earlier meant that it was rather humid, and that seemed to bore no well wishes for the male encased in dark leathers and thick plates. He had even flipped down his hood, the sweat beading on his skin adding a sheen to his visage.
“I liked this better when the sun didn’t exist,” the Human lamented quietly, just loud enough for Jax to hear. The black-furred male chuckled.
“It would be rather dark.”
Joseph glared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I just don’t rank ‘heavily armoured hike through the woods’ high up on my list of things I want to do regularly.”
“I believe that list would be occupied by your mates, no?” he ribbed playfully, a smirk arising when the Grand Hunter shunted his eyes closed in a grimace.
“I hate you.”
“I can see your smile underneath your displeasure, Joseph,” Jax quipped, nudging the male with his elbow, then giving an apologetic smile when his friend almost fell. Joseph sighed, waving Cobalt over and fetching a water-skin from the luggage that the insect was ferrying without breaking stride—though he needed to be careful not to get stepped on.
The Atmo always amused Jax. Be it their passive demeanour hidden by their towering stature, or his interactions with the den-kit, they never failed to be curious people. Having the two that accompanied Volta with them was an unexpected development, but he couldn’t claim to disapprove. If they had been imparted the methods of combat that Violet had cultivated, then there was little worry of them being harmed by naught but perhaps their current target. At least not until there was a better reference of its strength than the single encounter the first-years had so long ago.
At the time, it had smashed pillars and pierced flesh effortlessly, claws proving to be little more than tempting ministrations of tender touch to the thick hide. Jax only had some of the pack’s recount to base the experience off of, but was content to take their word for it. He was, ashamedly, preoccupied taking care of baser needs when the event transpired, so he was woefully unprepared for the eventual encounter. Still, he was afforded the best the settlement had to offer so that he might serve his duty of protecting the Grand Hunter. Harrow would never forgive him if only he returned.
His thoughts were disturbed by Joseph calling for a rest, Jax’s legs thankful for the break from supporting the unusual weight for so long. The Human dispensed rations and water for the pack, the Atmo waiting until everyone else was supplied before accepting their portion. They rested on their base directly, instead of curling their legs beneath them like Jax had become accustomed. Perhaps the armour impeded such, or they wished to remain mobile in the event such was required. Regardless, they blocked what little breeze there was, forcing the Grand Hunter to walk beyond them to enjoy it in the shade. It was short-lived however, as Rose quickly repositioned to stay between the pack and whatever lay beyond their protections.
It was a futile effort, it seemed, because it repeated again twice before Joseph groaned loudly and threw himself atop the carriage to lay back, his legs dangling at the knee. He seemed perfectly content with the unorthodox arrangement, snorting his amusement along with a muttered comment about a ‘taxi.’
The entertaining sight was marred by a distant yelp, snapping the group to attention. Jax and Joseph traded looks, subtle nods and gestures given to move out while remaining quiet. Ignoring his earlier complaints, the Grand Hunter flicked his hood up and donned the mask, drawing his crossbow and readying a bolt. The hunter of the pack mimicked the preparation, the two security members loosely nocking their arrows while Rose, Cobalt, Jax, and Nalah took point.
They proceeded quietly for far longer than the proximity of the noise would have suggested, but marks and gashes upon the trees implied a moving conflict. Thoughts of it being a lost cause quickly became moot as a closer growl and bark shattered the careful silence they had been maintaining.
Motioning for the pack to stop, Joseph waved Jax forward, Nalah approaching the other side. Using the large shield as additional cover, they peered around a particularly thick tree. Locked in combat were two moss-wolves, both attacking a truly massive grey creature.
Twice the Human’s height, half that in width. Four pillars as legs—the muscular trunks sinewy and defined—supported the disturbing hunched figure, the wide base tapering slightly into a thick and extended torso. A singular eye-stalk replaced the head, the ocular organ atop it pitch black and free of any indication of its focus. Four arms with deadly claws parried and sliced the two yellow beasts as they attempted to drive off the predator, a sickeningly large maw gaping to catch any attempts at a lunge. The mouth of the creature almost occupied the entirety of the available surface area upon its front, the jagged bone tools of manduction undulating with the promise of sustenance.
Joseph pulled them back, cursing under his breath as he tried to fight off the tension. From Nalah’s worried expression, it seemed his caution was rather potent, the other members of the group smelling his reaction as well.
“So, what’s the plan, Jax?” the Human whispered, his grip on the crossbow alternating with his fingers stretching across the trigger lest his fidgeting cause a misfire.
“I thought that, with your record, you would wish to tame it for the settlement,” Jax replied while thinking through a plan of action. He was glad that his friend trusted him, but he wished he had known the true scale of the beast prior. Joseph grit his teeth, turning to glance past the tree again with sarcasm pouring out of his response.
“Can’t quite see Winnie-the-woodchipper there playing great with kids.”
“You say that after adopting an Atmo as kit, Grand Hunter,” he returned, nodding to himself when a plan formed. The Human smiled, the banter easing the tension somewhat. “Rose, Cobalt, you two are the most well defended of us. Circle around and drive the beast this way. You should be capable of such without noise, yes?”
The two insects nodded, emptying their luggage behind a tree so as not to lose any of it before disappearing into the trees. The slight glimmer of their iron armour was the only indication of their position through the dense forest. Jax hoped that the beast was not particularly curious about the dimly pulsing glare, nor finished with its current altercation in time to impede the pair.
Satisfied with their progress, he motioned for the two security members to scale a tree and gain a superior vantage point. Their weapons would be able to maintain a more rapid pace of sustained fire at longer ranges. Joseph and the hunter were instructed to hide behind trees nearby, though the Human would need to remain grounded as his lack of claws made scaling the large flora difficult with his equipment.
Finally, Nalah and he positioned themselves much closer, in order to flank the creature as it fled the Atmo and occupy it long enough for the others to bleed it out, if not outright dispose of it.
With the forms of the Atmo peeking through the brush opposite them, Jax raised his axe to signal the start.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Joseph felt the hammering in his chest, his heart preparing him to fight for his life against the walking abomination that easily outclassed the only other predator that he had experience with. Sure, the moss-wolves were easy to take down once you had equipment and a plan, but that thing screamed danger.
He watched Jax and Nalah set up behind thick trees, their goal being for Jax to hopefully disable a leg or two with the war-axe while Nalah occupied it with the shield. As the two strongest members of his little family, he trusted both to do their job.
As a clusterfuck of animal and torture device, he had no faith in the creature playing along.
Swallowing his hesitation, he adjusted his grip on the crossbow again, mentally tallying his shots and cursing himself for not researching explosives. Sure, Toril didn’t want to be involved in that kind of weapon, but at the moment, the tailless white-furred male could suck it up and make one anyway. Joseph would give his left nut to see how quickly the chemist would make weapons of mass destruction just to annihilate whatever that thing called home.
Jax raised his axe, glinting the sunlight of it towards the Atmo. Receiving the start signal, the two clicked and loosed a deafening screech, the Human’s ears ringing even from this distance.
The beast seemed unperturbed by the noise, though the lack of visible ears may have had something to do with the lacklustre effect. Regardless, it did notice the two armour-clad insects charging at it, and smartly decided to extradite itself from the area. The moss-wolves, however, didn’t quite get the memo, mistaking the advancing assistance as yet another foe to defend themselves from.
He had to say, Violet taught the two well. They flashed their blades out in the same flicker jab that he had shown his daughter, and with an unceremonious squelch, the two bisected canines landed in four pieces, a vibrant green ichor now staining the weapon-like appendages of the Atmo. Undeterred by their first act of violence—as far as he was aware, anyway—they continued herding the beast.
It wasn’t as fast as they might have feared, its quadrupedal gait hindered by its proportions, but it was still quick enough to be damn intimidating. Its arms acted as a counter balance, constantly adjusting this way and that just to keep it stable. That thing was clearly never meant for sprinting, all its mobility being given to the overactive maw that pulsated with the exertion.
He readied his crossbow, the shaking in his hands not ruining his aim against such a large target. He eyeballed the distance between the creature and the ambush point, forcibly moving his finger off the trigger so that he didn’t fire early.
Closer. Come on. Almost.
Now.
Jax wound up like a particularly enthusiastic lumberjack, putting his full body into the rotation. The massive axe swung like a horizontal pendulum striking home with all the finality of a clock tolling midnight. It bit into the front leg of the beast, only sinking a few inches before momentum nearly wretched the weapon from the black-furred male. Luckily, the force and timing was enough to trip it, the creature crashing to the forest floor with a deafening roar of pain.
They could hurt it. That made him feel better.
His relief evaporated as the beast swiftly recovered, hauling itself from the ground faster than he thought possible, but his archers took it for an unspoken signal. Arrows and bolts peppered its thick hide, to no effect—it shrugged off the projectiles like they were nothing more than pine needles, none sinking far enough to gain notable purchase.
Jax hefted his axe for another strike, careful not to over-commit this time. Nalah prodded the beast wherever she could with her pike, the melee weapon sliced and skewered just past the surface of the hide, though not enough to do more than marr. It was, however, enough to gain the attention of the target, the creature swinging two of its four arms to rake across the shield that the blond-furred female held. The iron plating across the front let out an unearthly shriek as claws ripped and crumpled the metal.
Well, fuck.
Nalah was quick to react, treating the shield less as an immovable barrier and more like a slight distance buffer, dodging in and out of range to steal jabs with the polearm. The security members nocked another volley, picking different targets than before. An arrow bounced harmlessly off the black orb of an eye, another finding purchase in what passed for gums in its mouth.
The hint was received; aim for the mouth. Thankfully, that was a large target. Less thankfully, it realized that flashing its teeth was detrimental to its health, slamming the maw closed.
Jax managed another swing, this time into one of the rear legs. It wasn’t as effective as the first strike, but it did warrant a sweeping double back-fist from the creature, scoring Jax’s armour with shallow claw marks as he jumped backwards. Joseph let out a breath as he fired his second shot, only just narrowly missing the sliver of a gap between razor teeth that the enraged attack afforded. It couldn’t keep its mouth shut forever, each frenzied swipe pulling its form enough for glimpses of softer flesh within to appear. The hunter dropped from their tree, darting across to reposition for a wider angle to capitalize on. The creature noticed, lunging forward to eviscerate the easier target.
Joseph blinked as two armoured figures jumped in front of the Lilhun, raising their blades in a tight guard to block the four arms grabbing for a quick meal. The beast recoiled with a thunderous screech, two of its appendages sporting deep gashes that fountained blood, while the others managed to impact above the edged outside of the blades. Rose and Cobalt pressed forward, buying time and space for the hunter to collect themselves and scale up another perch. Taking advantage of its pain, two new arrows ripped through the air, smacking into exposed inner flesh. Two new protrusions joined the first in the mouth, one landing next to the existing projectile, while the other cleared the gateway of serration, driving deeply inside of it.
More flicker jabs and extended straights pushed and cut the beast as it tried to gain distance from the two that wounded it, every retaliatory strike earning it another gash in its grey hide.. Unencumbered by the constant barrage, Nalah thrust into its legs more vigorously, her body leaning into each attack to gain every inch of penetration she could into the muscle and thick hide.
Jax used the chance to score another chopping blow, doubling down on a previous wound to a back leg—striking bone this time, based on the unholy wail the beast uttered. Joseph raised his crossbow to land another shot into its mouth, but the beast flailed wildly to fend off the ambush.
Rose managed to block, Jax lunged backwards, Nalah deflected most of it with what remained of her shield, but Cobalt was caught by a strike, taking the hit to its torso. The Atmo flew backwards, rolling when it landed, the carriage and assorted armoured plates trailing behind it. Rose shifted instantly, covering the direction that their companion had been sent while Jax and Nalah focused on pulling the beast away from the downed combatant.
Joseph’s eyes flicked to the Atmo, waging an internal battle on whether helping the insect would be better or worse for the situation as a whole. He didn’t want to lighten up their assault if it would just mean more injuries, but Cobalt could be in dire need for a patch job. It was hard to tell from where he was.
Cursing, he bolted from his spot, firing off one last round into the gaping maw before clipping the crossbow onto his armour and sliding on his knees in front of Cobalt, healroot hastily retrieved from his pocket.
He paused, sighing in relief when none of the armour bore more than deep gashes, the carapace underneath unblemished by the attack. Cobalt clicked lightly, dazed, but otherwise seeming unhurt. Unlearned in the physiology relevant, he ushered the Atmo to remain out of the fight for fear of concussion or something similar. They could look at the insect back at the base to be sure later.
“Joseph!”
His head spun around at both Jax and Nalah screaming his name, a massive clawed hand sweeping at him—the monster's approach unnoticed while he focused on Cobalt. Lacking a better option, he lunged forward towards the underside of the beast to dodge the swipe, crashing to his shoulder on the dirt below.
The creature raised a leg above Joseph, pounding the earth scant inches from his head as he rolled sideways. Ignoring the kicked up dirt, he brought his fist to the underside of the beast, flicking the release on his bracer.
Blood spouted from the newly formed wound, the blade breaking at the mechanism as the massive animal lurched in pain, Joseph rolling out of the way of another attempted trampling. He scrambled to his feet, feeling the wind of another strike narrowly missing him.
Yeah, that would probably kill him.
Luckily, the injuries renewed the desire to flee in the monstrosity, the group of attackers proving too dangerous to continue challenging. It stumbled away from them, sparing Cobalt from its panicked trudging. Jax and Nalah started to run towards him, worry evident in their eyes, but he barked for them to finish it, redirecting the two to keep the pressure going. He didn’t want to mention the pain in the arm from where the bracer hitched. It didn’t feel broken, and thus was irrelevant.
Pressure applied, the grey beast picked a random direction free of opponents to escape, ignorant of the waiting security. When it was too close for them to shoot into its mouth at a decent angle, they slung the bows over their shoulders and drew the swords they had been afforded, patiently waiting with the blades turned down.
It passed below them, the two Lilhuns dropping from the branches to put their full weight into the plunging blades. Both landed on the large target, one sword sinking deep into a shoulder, while the other managed to pierce one of its hip joints. The beast spun haphazardly to dislodge the ‘new’ threats, both security members kicking off and finding new trees to set up in.
Whatever damage was actually done, it had lost the use of an arm, and its gait shifted awkwardly as the blade lodged in its hip worked more harm with each shambling step.. Emboldened, Jax picked up the pace, struggling to position himself with the amount of metal he wore. Ducking another swipe of its claws, he saw his chance and swung, pivoting with his axe as a counter weight. For the third time, his axe blade found the wound in its leg, adding a sickening crunch as the bone snapped from the impact.
The creature swung wildly, forced to favour its two remaining good legs, and the only other leg that could still support at least some of its weight. It was unstable now, the hunched figure swaying while unmoving. Unable to run, it decided to go down with as many of them as it could.
Rose caught up with the attack, drawing attention from the comparatively squishy Nalah as the blond-furred female deflected a wayward swing with her shield. The once iron-plated ironwood now sporting little more than jagged scraps of metal atop its silver wooden structure, a series of deep gouges marring the surface. Two lunging thrusts with the pike bit flesh, drawing new blood from the beast.
Joseph loaded his crossbow, getting off two bolts, but not managing to keep it steady enough to hit anything of use, his arm faltering under the weight of the weapon. Cursing, he decided to flank the beast and try his luck with the other bracer. If nothing else, the force in which the blade deployed was enough to pierce the thick hide, and the others were doing a good job of distracting it.
The red armoured Atmo let loose a series of directed swings, the fifth severing an arm in motion, the flying appendage forcing Nalah to raise her shield to block the unorthodox projectile. The female was sent sprawling from the weight of the impact, but the beast was too busy voicing its agony to take advantage of it. Jax worked another two chops into the broad legs, but neither managed to incapacitate it any more, and the prolonged exertion was slowing his reflexes.
As if cued into his waning energy, the beast flung Jax with another strike, the hunter of the group sinking a bolt deep into the cavernous flesh of its mouth to prevent an attempt at following up.
Joseph roared, desperate to finish it off before the creature could do the same to his downed pack. He sprinted at the monster's back and slid underneath it with as much speed as he could muster. Throwing his fist into the passing undercarriage, he let the deployed blade leave a long gash in its wake.
The grey monster lost its ability to stand, torn tendons, blood loss, and inflicted injuries taking their toll. The Grand Hunter kicked off his knees to fling himself out of the way of the collapsing figure, grimacing as the remaining bracer proved unable to support the abuse he had put it through. He looked back at the beast, the flailing body failing to right itself as teeth did little more than gouge dirt, its back exposed. Rose approached, raising their blades together and plunging it through the body over and over until it stopped moving.
Exhausted, the Atmo dropped where it was, breathing heavily. Joseph’s instinct to yell their victory was delayed as he hurried over to Jax and Nalah to confirm he didn't need to bring back bad news. Nalah seemed fine, if a bit sore from hitting the dirt and rolling, while Jax just asked to lay down when he heard that everything was over. Cobalt came over to the group, the armour that had come off collected atop the carriage it had managed to loosely affix to its base.
It was light, a chuckle originating from the Human as he slumped to the ground against a tree, but soon the entire group was roaring with laughter as victory settled in their minds. The two security members helped the hunter begin disassembling the beast, their contribution to the fight leaving them with more energy than the rest. They hadn’t been slacking off, that much was certain. The number of arrows jammed into the maw of the thing would have guaranteed a few extra seconds of survival and chances to escape if one of them had been forcibly tossed into there, and it had caused enough pause for the rest of them to get in a few hits up close.
Joseph rested across from Jax and Nalah, letting his heart rate slow from the rapid pace it had been pinned to since the start of the conflict. His arm continued its protests, but from the amount of movement he still had, he guessed that he had just strained the elbow. A few days taking it easy should straighten that right up.
Once the active members were about half way through processing the creature for hide and meat, Cobalt approached him, a mimed request for assistance putting their armour back on being redirected to Nalah since he doubted he could lift the damn pieces without hurting himself at the moment. She obliged, getting the blue Atmo back in full attire, though it took a while.
Rose stood first, stopping over to allow the hunter to place collected bits and pieces onto the carriage before securing it with whatever they could make due. A security member gathered the moss-wolf corpses for a similar treatment. Waste not, want not, he supposed.
Rose ended up carrying most of their spoils. When he was about to ask why, he, Jax, and Nalah were dragged to Cobalt and hefted onto the carriage. A series of confused questions revealed that the rest wanted to head back before it started getting dark, and it was pretty obvious who was the most exhausted of them. Lacking the will or energy to argue it, he flopped back on the Atmo as the trees passed them by, Nalah resting her legs across him as her head sat on Jax’s lap. The black-furred male didn’t so much as smirk, so it was clear he had pushed himself too far to quip about the arrangement as he laid down.
“The next time you wish to exhaust me this much, Joseph,” the Head of Security started after a long while of silence, tiredness in his voice, “I would prefer it to involve my mate and a bed.”
The Human snorted, closing his eyes and enjoying the lack of walking as the surprisingly stable Atmo carried the three of them. “Fuck off, Jax.”
“Of course, Grand Hunter.”
Next
A/N: Patreon is fixed!... aka new one cuz problems with the last. Check it out to support the story, get AI character art every now and then, or even preview sections of chapters as i write them! (aka, before kieve gets to fix them :D)

Been around with bags, a disease at this point.
Been using the Bellroy Transit Workpack (20L) for a while now. It works because:

• It's lightweight.
• Zippers are smooth, materials are soft, and compartments are buttery to interact with, yet durable.
• Practical, fits all my needs and gives me more space than I need.

It doesn't work because:

• There's no strap for luggage handles on the back, making travel a bit inconvenient.
• Has a little too much space for my needs. I would love a 16-18L version with slightly smaller dimensions.

Thought I'd try out the Aer Pro Pack 20L, but was disappointed. While it's spacious, functional for most people and a lot of my needs, and padding is fantastic:

• I forgot how rigid and stiff their bags are. While this "durability" is needed for some, I'm just going in and out of meetings in the city and some travel here and there. I need to practically wrestle with the bag to get anything in and out (slight exaggeration) due to its stiffness.
• Zippers are no where close to how buttery smooth zippers are on the Bellroy bag.
• It's bulkier than I imagined, bulkier than the Bellroy, I wanted something smaller, not bigger or bulkier.
• Has way more compartments than I need.
• Not to anyone's fault, but as it was an international order, it's a final sale.

Thinking of getting the Aer City Pack, but worried again as its a final sale and it doesn't seem smaller or less bulkier than the Pro Pack. I would safely presume the same rigidity and stiffness.
Here's what I'm not looking for:

• Tom Bihn: Butt-ugly (no offense).
• WANDRD: Too photography focused.
• Peak Design: Too photography focused, not a fan of the side panels for my needs, not sure it's smaller.
• Black Ember: Seem cool, seem bulkiebigger. Can reconsider.
• Bellroy: Via Backpack (don't like the light beige interior), Classic Backpack Compact (no luggage strap at the back).
• Topo Design: Nothing that I liked.
• TUMI: Don't want to go back, cool, but overly priced.

I carry: MacBook Air 14", small pouch with gym shorts, power bank (for laptop + phone), two cables, two small adapter cables, two tiny bottles (bug spray, hand sanitizer), small pills container, 1L water bottle, sunglasses hardcase, small wallet, AirPods, small MagSafe battery pack.
Any guidance?

Been around with bags, a disease at this point.
Been using the Bellroy Transit Workpack (20L) for a while now. It works because:

• It's lightweight.
• Zippers are smooth, materials are soft, and compartments are buttery to interact with, yet durable.
• Practical, fits all my needs and gives me more space than I need.

It doesn't work because:

• There's no strap for luggage handles on the back, making travel a bit inconvenient.
• Has a little too much space for my needs. I would love a 16-18L version with slightly smaller dimensions.

Thought I'd try out the Aer Pro Pack 20L, but was disappointed. While it's spacious, functional for most people and a lot of my needs, and padding is fantastic:

• I forgot how rigid and stiff their bags are. While this "durability" is needed for some, I'm just going in and out of meetings in the city and some travel here and there. I need to practically wrestle with the bag to get anything in and out (slight exaggeration) due to its stiffness.
• Zippers are no where close to how buttery smooth zippers are on the Bellroy bag.
• It's bulkier than I imagined, bulkier than the Bellroy, I wanted something smaller, not bigger or bulkier.
• Has way more compartments than I need.
• Not to anyone's fault, but as it was an international order, it's a final sale.

Thinking of getting the Aer City Pack, but worried again as its a final sale and it doesn't seem smaller or less bulkier than the Pro Pack. I would safely presume the same rigidity and stiffness.
Here's what I'm not looking for:

• Tom Bihn: Butt-ugly (no offense).
• WANDRD: Too photography focused.
• Peak Design: Too photography focused, not a fan of the side panels for my needs, not sure it's smaller.
• Black Ember: Seem cool, seem bulkiebigger. Can reconsider.
• Bellroy: Via Backpack (don't like the light beige interior), Classic Backpack Compact (no luggage strap at the back).
• Topo Design: Nothing that I liked.
• TUMI: Don't want to go back, cool, but overly priced.

I carry: MacBook Air 14", small pouch with gym shorts, power bank (for laptop + phone), two cables, two small adapter cables, two tiny bottles (bug spray, hand sanitizer), small pills container, 1L water bottle, sunglasses hardcase, small wallet, AirPods, small MagSafe battery pack.
Any guidance?

Advance Market Analytics released a new market study on Global Fluid Transfer System Market Research report which presents a complete assessment of the Market and contains a future trend, current growth factors, attentive opinions, facts, and industry validated market data. The research study provides estimates for Global Fluid Transfer System Forecast till 2027*.
Fluid Transfer Systems provide safe and efficient loading and offloading operations in various offshore and onshore applications. Typically, these systems will utilize flexible pipe to transfer crude oil or other media in dynamic applications, and include means for storage, deployment, and recovery of the flexible pipe, and will incorporate power, control, and utility equipment. Rising demand from the automotive and transportation industry, demand for high durable couplings are the key factor driving the growth of the market.
Key Players included in the Research Coverage of Fluid Transfer System Market are:
Cooper Standard (United States)
Kongsberg Automotive (Norway)
ContiTech AG (Germany)
Akwel (France)
TI Fluid Systems (United Kingdom)
Lander Automotive (United Kingdom)
Parker Hannifin Corp. (United States)
Hutchinson SA (France)
Castello Italia (United Kingdom)
Gates Corporation (United States)
Challenges: Demand For High Durability Products
Opportunities: Increasing Demand for Lightweight Vehicle Parts
Increasing Investment in Research and Developments for Material Technology
Market Growth Drivers: Increasing Vehicle Production and Sales and Growing Adoption of SCRs in Diesel Engines
Strict Government Rules and Regulations
The Global Fluid Transfer System Market segments and Market Data Break Down by Type (Air Couplings, Hoses and Tubes, Valves, Crank Reels, Others), Application (Automotive, Aerospace, Oil & Gas, Chemical & Petroleum, Shipping, Other), Location Type (Offshore, Onshore), Sales Channel (Direct, Indirect), Material Type (Aluminum, Rubber, Nylon, Stainless Steel, Others)
To comprehend Global Fluid Transfer System market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Fluid Transfer System market is analyzed across major global regions. AMA also provides customized specific regional and country-level reports for the following areas.
• North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico. • South & Central America: Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Brazil. • Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa. • Europe: United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and Russia. • Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.
Presented By
AMA Research & Media LLP

-E-commerce trends are strengthening.
-A change in strategy has Shopify refocused on its most profitable business.
-The online retail star's free cash flow is set to soar.
This growth stock's rally is just getting started.
Shopify ($SHOP) is once again in investors' good graces. The e-commerce leader's stock price is already up more than 70% so far in 2023, as the market has begun to appreciate its exceptional long-term growth potential.
Yet fortune-building gains could still be ahead for investors who buy shares today. Here are three reasons Shopify's stock is still a great buy.
1. The online retail growth story is far from over
E-commerce sales exploded during the early stages of the pandemic when COVID-related restrictions forced many retailers to shutter their stores. Online retail sales then slowed once those safety measures were lifted and people returned to their traditional shopping locations. But investors shouldn't make the mistake of projecting the recent downturn in e-commerce growth too far into the future.
Retail trends are beginning to normalize. After experiencing some respite in recent years, brick-and-mortar retailers are once again being forced to close stores. Over 2,000 closures have already been announced in the U.S. alone so far in 2023. That figure could rise to more than 50,000 locations by the end of 2027, according to investment bank UBS.
At the same time, online sales are expected to surge. Global retail e-commerce sales will top $8 trillion by 2026, up from $6.3 trillion in 2023, according to Statista.
These trends should help to fuel Shopify's growth. More merchants will be compelled to invest in their online operations, which could drive sales of Shopify's best-in-class e-commerce software sharply higher in the coming years.
2. A wise divestiture reduces the risks for investors
Better still, Shopify should emerge as a more focused enterprise following the sale of its logistics business to supply chain specialist Flexport. The move marked an about-face for Shopify, which had until recently listed the buildout of its fulfillment network as a key part of its expansion strategy.
Shopify purchased 6 River Systems for $450 million in 2019 and Deliverr for $2.1 billion in 2022. The warehouse solutions provider and last-mile delivery platform, respectively, were to form the foundation of Shopify's budding logistics network.
But the company announced on May 4 that some of those assets would be transferred to Flexport. In exchange, Shopify would receive a 13% stake in the fast-growing supply chain company. Combined with its existing holdings, Shopify will own a "high-teens percentage" of Flexport, according to chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister.
The deal will allow the two companies to focus on what they do best. It will strengthen Flexport's logistics network, which will provide air and ocean freight services to Shopify's merchant customers.
Shopify, in turn, will no longer need to spend billions of dollars to build out its fulfillment network -- a high-risk endeavor with an uncertain payoff, particularly since it put Shopify in more direct competition with e-commerce titan Amazon. With these risks now reduced, investors are likely to value the newly streamlined and more profitable Shopify much more highly.
3. Cost cuts could turbocharge free cash flow growth
Shopify also cut about 20% of its workforce as part of the divestiture of its logistics operations and other cost-reduction efforts. Although painful in the short term, these cuts should further bolster Shopify's profit margins and cash flow.
Shopify's revenue jumped 25% year over year to $1.5 billion in the first quarter, driven by price hikes and an increase in sales made by merchants on its e-commerce platform. Shopify also produced $86 million in free cash flow (FCF), a significant improvement from the negative $41 million it generated in the prior-year period. Looking ahead, management expects the company to produce positive FCF for the rest of the year.
In the company's earnings release, president Harley Finkelstein said, "Shopify's strong first quarter results demonstrate once again that we're the go-to solution powering businesses of all sizes, on every surface where they sell."
With its improved cost structure and refocused strategy, the leading provider of e-commerce software solutions is in a good position to generate rapidly growing FCF for its investors in the years ahead.

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Financial Analyst – Facilities Management

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries

Job Summary

The job holder will support the Finance Manager in managing the finance analysis function for a specific business and support the business in preparation of budgets, forecasting financials, perform meaningful analysis of financials, cost allocations and assist operations in defining meaning KPIs for monitoring and improving performance and supporting business growth initiatives

Job Responsibilities

1. Provide analytical support and ongoing monitoring to aid key decision making.
2. Manage the closure of financial and accounting books on monthly basis.
3. Contribute towards Budgeting & forecasting exercise by integrating with key business stakeholders across functions.
4. Cost monitoring of projects vs budget and project management reporting.
5. Cost allocation to business based on predefined keys/rates.
6. Monitor and interpret financial performance, providing regular analysis and expert guidance to General Managers/Directors offering insight and recommendations to enhance business performance.
7. Review current systems, make recommendations for systems enhancement, and participate in implementation of new systems.
8. Review capital expenditure models prepared by the team and managed administrative process of seeking internal approvals etc.
9. Direct and co-ordinate all activities of the financial control function

Candidate Requirements

• Professionally Qualified – CA/ACCA/CPA/MBA or equivalent.
• 1-3 years of post-qualification professional experience within finance
• Strong analytical skills; should be capable of identifying and interpreting key business drivers.
• Sound knowledge of financial and management accounting concepts coupled with excellent financial analytical capability.
• Self-starter, able to work across functions and in teams. Results-driven, with the ability to perform on unstructured assignments
• Positive attitude and flexibility to work in a multicultural environment
• Exposed to ERP systems and strong excel skills.

Apply now »
Company vacancies, Sales Executive, Service Advisor, Analyst – Projects

Jobs Available in Kuwait, Accountant, Sales Executive, Analyst – Projects

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Sales Engineer

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries

Long Description

Job Summary

The Sales Engineer is responsible for the implementation of the sales plan to achieve the target and increase the department growth by optimizing the sales and market share of the existing products.

Job Responsibilities

• Always looking for new customers and sales channels and searching the market for potential initiatives. • Delivering the technical and sales presentation to the potential customers, explain the plans clearly and be ready for any customer enquiry during the meetings • Clearly revealing the pros and cons of each brand and acting as an honest mentor to the customers looking to keep the long term relationships. • Meeting customers mainly MEW to introduce our products, attending prequalification meetings and seeking MEW approval for Lighting and Solar systems. • Being available for customers’ queries and questions. • Preparing, reviewing, and qualifying the technical drawings and designs with the customer in preparation for the installation stage. • Being customer-oriented providing the highest level of services to the company clients. Improving networking with customers by keeping updated records and database. • Always looking for ways to improve the department profits by promoting the available services to satisfy the sales targets. • Being legally, socially, and environmentally responsible, acting as an ambassador presenting the professional and healthy image of Alghanim Industries. • Liaising with Marketing department to propose the necessary marketing tools. • Continuously keeping an updated customers’ information.

Candidate Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering field
• Up to 5 years of experience in direct sales activities. Working in the same field is a must.
• Creativity: Being able to think of new systems and new ways to work. Being able to think creatively and ask the right questions.
• Analytical Skills: Being able to understand complex mathematical analysis, calculus, and other mathematics for design and troubleshooting.
• Lighting / Street Lighting /Solar systems knowledge: Having the ability to use equipment and tools, able to read lux calculation reports
• Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to develop new solutions to problems. Having the skills to identify the source of the problem, create, and test solutions.
• Teamwork: Having to work well with others in order to get the job done.
• Listening Skills: Listening to workers, teammates, end user, and management is crucial to an engineer’s job.
• Communication Skills: Being able to communicate plans, thoughts, and rationale in the job. Good communication skills will greatly help in accomplishing the job.

Education

Apply now »
Multiple Job Vacancy in a MNC company – Jobs in Kuwait Sales Support Engineer, Visual Merchandising Manager, Financial Analyst, Gaming Consultant
📷
Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Audit Manager – Hyderabad India

Location: IN
Company: Alghanim Industries

Job Summary

Reporting to the Audit Manager, the incumbent is responsible for performing governance, risk management, and controls review and assurance related activities at PEB operations in India (Kirby India) and other locations as may be directed by the Internal Audit Management. In performing reviews and assurance activities, the role holder will follow guidance from Audit Manager and the testing guidelines in the control framework in engagement planning, preparation of audit working papers, documentation of findings, and analysis of information obtained from BU Finance and Operations, and past Audit and Investigation reports. Under the supervision of the Audit Manager, the incumbent will also undertake statutory compliance audits or fraud investigations. The role holder should always represent the department in a professional manner, abide by professional standards and the code of ethics as laid down by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and seek every opportunity follow the principles articulated in the department’s vision, objectives, operating manual (procedures), and Alghanim Industries’ code of conduct.

Job Responsibilities

• In consultation with the supervisor or Audit Manager, design test plans and independently perform substantive audit procedures as per defined test plan. • Deliver engagements including the mandatory statutory compliance audits with minimal supervision. • Prepare working papers in accordance with departmental procedures and best practice. • Prepare clear and concise audit, statutory compliance, and investigations reports to articulate engagement findings. • Perform special audits, including the investigations of suspected incidents of fraud. • Provide support in companywide risk assessments activities for the preparation of the annual audit plan.

Candidate Requirements

• Educated to degree level or equivalent preferably in Mechanical Engineering. • Holder of professional certification such as CA/ACCA/CPA/CIA is mandatory • Minimum of 3 -5 years of internal audit experience, Having pre-engineered steel (PEB) building industry background or manufacturing will be an added advantage. • Some line responsibility or project management experience will be an added advantage. • Knowledge of local language is preferable.
• Working knowledge of recognized standards such as International Professional Practices and Competency Framework for Internal Audit Activity, COSO, COBIT, etc. • Knowledge of relevant accounting standards • Basic working knowledge of relevant ERP systems to navigate and understand accounting transactions.
Apply now »Company vacancies, Sales Executive, Service Advisor, Analyst – Projects

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Sr. IT Manager – Data Analytics

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries

Job Summary

IT Manager – Data Analytics, AI, ML. will help drive Alghanim Industries’ efforts to leverage data to gain insights that facilitate better decision making, customer-focused marketing, and improved business / financial performance. Manager will provide technical and thought leadership, and work collaboratively across the various business units. The candidate will help us to jump to the next level by implementing Data Governance and new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning.

Job Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities: · Formulate strategy and roadmap for analytics across business units. · Lead cross-functional projects using advanced data modelling and analysis techniques to discover insights that will guide strategic decisions and uncover optimization opportunities. · Build, develop and maintain data models, reporting systems, data automation systems, dashboards and performance metrics that support key business decisions. · Design and build technical processes to address business issues. · Oversee the design and delivery of reports, performance metrics, and insights that analyze key business functions and operations. · Recruit, train, develop and supervise analyst-level employees. · Ensure accuracy of data and deliverables of Data Analytics team with comprehensive policies and processes. · Deliver elements of systems design including extraction, staging and reporting; viz. solution architecture. · Required to work with internal and external BI resources to deliver projects and support. · Vendor empanelment and management. · Examine, interpret and report results of analytical initiatives to stakeholders in leadership, technology, sales, marketing and product teams. · Oversee the data/report requests process: tracking requests submitted, prioritization, approval, etc. · Develop and implement quality controls and departmental standards to ensure quality standards, organizational expectations, and regulatory requirements. · Anticipate future demands of initiatives related to people, technology, budget and business within your department and design/implement solutions to meet these needs. · Organize and drive successful completion of data insight initiatives through effective management of analyst and data employees and effective collaboration with stakeholders. · Leverage analytics techniques to contribute to company growth efforts, increasing revenue and other key business outcomes. · Conduct technology and partner evaluations · Interface with business partners for roadmaps, requirements, and projects. · Conduct end user training to drive self-service reporting. · Ensure appropriate error handing, identification and notification procedures are present on all processes.

Candidate Requirements

General Business Skills: · Extensive experience interacting and partnering with senior executives. · Excellent communication, collaboration and delegation skills. · Excellent presentation skills. · Experience managing large complex BI projects and teams. · Proven ability to complete projects and achieve results in an ambiguous work environment. · Proven strong leadership skills within the project team and in the business community. · Proven ability to establish and articulate a vision, set goals, develop and execute strategies, and track and measure results. · Proven ability to build and motivate a team. · Proven strong negotiating and consensus building abilities. · Proven skills to work effectively across internal & external functional areas. Technical Skills: · Working knowledge of data mining principles: predictive analytics, mapping, collecting data from multiple data systems on premises and cloud-based data sources. · In depth expertise in Enterprise Data Warehousing tools such as Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, Spark, MSSQL etc. · Strong DB & SQL skills, ability to perform effective querying involving multiple tables and subqueries. · Understanding of and experience using analytical concepts and statistical techniques: hypothesis development, designing tests/experiments, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and developing actionable recommendations for business units. · Experience and knowledge of statistical modeling techniques: GLM multiple regression, logistic regression, log-linear regression, variable selection, etc. · Strong programming skills in: SQL, Python. · Strong Experience in at least one of the listed data management tools: Talend, Matillion, Glue Data Studio, BODS, Informatica or similar ETL Systems. · Strong Experience with Cloud Platforms such as AWS & Azure · Experience with data visualization tools: Power BI, Amazon Quicksight, Tableau, R, Raw, chart.js, etc. · Functional Experience & Strong Understanding of Customer Data Platforms, Data Lake and implementation experience. Education and Experience: · Continuing education and training to stay abreast of latest developments and best practices in data analytics field. · 10 – 15 years experience in SAP as well as non-SAP based technologies not limited to cloud technologies.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
Apply now »
Latest Jobs Today Accountant, Costing Clerk, Financial Analyst

Sales Executive

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries
Position Overview
Developing customer base and managing the business in terms of Customer relationship, Sales, Marketing and Profitability .The Industry segment covers Freight Forwarding, Exports , Imports and Transportation.
Essential Job Roles:

• Creating foreign agent and local client base and building business
• Selling Logistics services to various clients.
• Packing & Removal / Relocation services/ Export & Import
• Customs Clearance
• Warehouse and Distribution
• Land transportation / Sea Freight / Air freight / Imports by Land/ Ai Sea.
• Visiting individual customer once receive call or email / pre survey various location in Kuwait
• Handling diplomatic client
• Prompting our service with worldwide foreign agents
• Manage an assigned or entire geographical sales area
• Develop prospective clients, make cold calls and service and grow existing clients
• Respond to inquiries by clients
• Send inquiries to agents
• Prepare quotations through Sales support and send to clients
• Follow –up on quotations and close business, if lost revert with reasons
• On receiving confirmed business hand over to customer service / coordinators
• Coordinate through Customer service / coordinators with operations for container placing / container releases, booking the packing dates, getting quotes from the agents.
• Monitor timely Delivery of invoices to clients if any disputes, update credit control
• Collect dues and outstanding amounts from clients in allotted credit limit
• Meet volume targets
• Timely submission of reports set by the management as per the deadline. Weekly report/ monthly report.
• Provide MIS information on Market & Competitor activity to Management
• Ensure Credit customers are wetted out through the with Credit approval process
• Communicate with customer, suppliers, contract administration,
• Obtain the various relocation agency or membership

Skills, Knowledge & Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) from four-year University, ideally with majoconcentrations in business/marketing, logistics and/or supply chain management, or equivalent degree.
• 5 to 15 years related work experience
• Aggressive sales generation by nature,
• Self-motivated and man of ideas,
• Excellent communication and presentation skills,
• Thorough understanding of freight deal makings in GCC. Sales and marketing qualifications
• Customer relationship
• Administration and management
• Capable to make decisions
• Problem-solving
• Computer Skills

Apply now »
MNC Jobs, IT Manager, Purchasing Engineer, Cashier Vacancy

Finance Analyst & Senior Finance Analyst

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries
POSITION OVERVIEW
Alghanim Industries is recruiting Finance Analysts and Senior Finance Analysts for the Automotive and Retail Group. The job holder will be an integral part of the finance team providing clear, accurate and insightful business/financial analysis. The job holder will also contribute to business planning and be included in project work and or specialist ad hoc reporting.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conduct detailed analyses as per business needs.
• Prepare and present Key Performance Indicators.
• Prepare budgets and periodic forecasts.
• Perform resource efficiency analysis.
• Carry out cost saving analysis and provide recommendations.
• Analyse Advertising and Promotion and other key expenses.
• Prepare and update financial and/or managerial reports.
• Update the BU’s Master Data File.
• Provide data on day-to-day issues to operations, logistics & operational excellence.

QUALIFICATION

• Must have a university degree in finance or a relevant field
• Professionally Qualified – CA/CPA/CMA/MBA or equivalent

SKILLS AND CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

• Must have a minimum 2+ years of relevant experience post qualification
• Sound knowledge of financial and management accounting concepts.
• Demonstrated analytical ability.
• Fluency in English; strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint.
• Good interpersonal and presentation skills.

Apply now »
Latest Jobs Today Accountant, Costing Clerk, Financial Analyst

I've told this story so many times that my larynx hurts. I've dictated it so many times and then had to go back and correct the mistakes I'm working on carpal tunnel as well. Anyway as you can tell I'm at that point of the day where I felt I should share but what's the point? I work in an industry where I'm a painter of sets and such for corporate events and plays and things like that. So out of the blue they decided when you get day to use isisyanite-based primers and paints and we did it over the weekend and I was exposed for close to 16 hours with only a 3M gas mask with a regular filter in it. The sprayed product was called chassis saver. If you want to look up the MSDS you're going to have to type in chassis saver MSDS. It's got a whole smorgasbord of fun like methyl diisocyanate mixed with aluminum flake? That was shot out of an HVLP gun under pressure in a closed Warehouse because it was seemed outside so there was no ventilation for 2 days. I had ... okay let's just quit trying to give anybody to benefit it out here and say I had no protection whatsoever. Cuz if I'm going to mention the 3M mask but not the fact that I need a full body suit gloves full face mask with supplied oxygen and I'm supposed to leave all of my clothes at work including my shoes and not get it on my skin along with proper ventilation? Well none of that was done. First off because we weren't worried about the danger secondly none of that stuff is available to us at work and thirdly I wasn't even the one using the stuff. Didn't matter I still became concerned when the room was a silvery cloud of toxins so after a couple weeks when I realized I was asthmatic and having reactions every time I went to work? My GM had me apply for workers comp and sent me home for 4 days. Then I was asked to come back to work to help and the symptoms started again. It took me a while to figure out what was going on by doing some reading on OSHA and the CDC. Plus all the other articles and case studies. It all lined up it was obvious that I didn't kind of get exposed... I was immersed in it. That includes breathing it having it in my eyes eating after using it no ventilation and wearing the same clothes home along with getting some on my skin when I was helping him clean up afterwards. Poured it on the side of my abdomen because it was in a mixing cup. It felt really good. Anyway, as soon as this hit corporate everything went s*** house crazy. I continue to go to work for 4 weeks and see the doctor that they had sent me to and since I've been self-employed my whole life as a portrait artist? That's my college degree it's a BFA and fine arts. Probably kiss my oil painting career goodbye. So they got rid of the job I had and any other talents I could fall back on. Anyway yeah this is going to be kind of a sarcastic post so enjoy it. What doctor was I send to that was an expert on chemical exposure with isocyanates and occupational acquired asthma? What was the name of that place it's famous like the Mayo Clinic but instead it's everywhere and oh yeah Concentra. You know the place you go to and the doctor runs a stethoscope all over you and says he doesn't hear anything to indicate asthma even though it sounds like there's a kitten stuck in your throat? Then he tricks your blood pressure and says it's normal even though it's rising quickly? He asks you why you're there and nods his head and you can tell in his mind he's going "well that's like a total s*** show. If I do what the insurance adjusters are telling me to do I'm basically sending this guy back to work to die. So let me get on that" I would come in and he would look at me and say so what do you want to do today and I would say I don't know maybe doctor stuff like check me see if I have asthma I don't know what the tests are for us to cyanide exposure? You're the doctor what do you want to do? Oh you want to go okay well be sure and sign that box telling me to return to work because he can't find any injury or evidence of exposure. Thanks. Oh this week you want to do blood work. But you only want to test for the most extreme exposure the kind that would cause neurological damage and okay. So he sends off the blood test tells me it'll be a week. And remind you I'm going back to work every day and getting re-exposed to all the stuff that I'm now allergic to and it's damaging my lungs and I'm coughing so hard my lungs are starting to separate from the wall my back. It's funny it's hilarious you know but at least they're saving money. They get to watch it and hear it but you know... buck up cowboy. You shouldn't smoke. Yeah y'all managed to do more damage to my lungs in 18 hours than I did in 47 years of light smoking. Seriously five cigarettes a day maybe. No history of asthma no history of allergies other than penicillin. I always watched other people just go through miserable seasons I mean just I swollen shut it's not running down their face and I thought how lucky I am. So my job decided that wasn't fair and locked me in the building with a chemical that destroyed a town in India. And they only used it that one time and decided they didn't like the properties of it. Probably cuz it's not meant to be put on wood but that's what the chassis saver was for was to give it sort of a metallic quality so they can roll the what yeah that's right bed truck liner on it that was day two and early the next day. When everybody was at work. When we were applying this stuff they were only two people there me and my supervisor. So if you look at the time clock it tells you when and who was there. If you look at when this stuff was purchased and under what project the stuff was charged to? what client? While we were doing a huge project for caterpillar that they were having out in Las Vegas. Don't know why one of our designers figured that bed liner would be a good idea for some of the staging when you can achieve that with paint and clear coat. But that's what he wanted. So so much for avoiding it just because it's not necessary. In the state of Texas you can't sue your employer for personal injury unless you can prove gross negligence. I would say that kind of falls where we're at. Unfortunately the other thing in Texas is that there aren't many workers comp attorneys because in 1993 they passed some laws that made being a workers comp attorney a tricky thing and you can lose your license really easy. In other words it was a very business friendly law to get companies to move here. Especially when you couldn't get sued for you know sending someone on fire or destroying their lungs and life. So a lot of people can get a worker's comp attorney even if they're a crappy one. But most of them that claim to be workers comp attorneys? They're actually just want to hear your stories so they can see if there's a personal injury lawsuit in there due to gross negligence cuz that's the only way they're going to make any money in this state and if it's a chemical exposure? I've been told by several attorneys who had extreme sympathy for my situation that they couldn't even refer me to an attorney that would take my case hey there's no attorney that's going to touch a chemical exposure case in Texas because it's already tough enough. Well I've been put the ringer lied to followed by a private investigator in the whole time I've been on represented and doing all the paperwork myself which they throw at me everyday usually it's fake stuff or stuff with the wrong date or deadline on it they mess with any attempts I get to find another diagnosis when they know damn well what happened on what day and with what products and who was there and when you know there's just no disputing the fact of what happened and when it happened and that we weren't protected because they don't have that kind of stuff there for PPE. we don't use that stuff so why would we need supplied oxygen masks. If I'm spraying something with metal paint mixed with silo I put on a 3M mask and use it organic filter and keep an eye on when it's starting to wear out even then? I'm not going to get leukemia or brain cancer for another 30 years well after I'm not working for them anymore so they've got that going for them and as do I. And this happened back in February 25th and I was sent home immediately because they were extremely concerned but they be suddenly became unconcerned about 4 days later I guess cuz corporate got involved and told me to come back into work and I spent another four weeks getting worse and worse and worse having the weekends to try and recover but not completely so I would start off at a level of irritation and asthma that was already underway when I returned on Monday. This was fun. Because even though they can see it they would just blame it on my smoking which is hilarious because you know life and for that weekend I wasn't allergic to anything in that building for two and a half years and I'm one of two people in the paint department so it's not a huge crew I'd say there's about 30 people that work there and probably too many people in the front office getting paid too much just sitting air conditioning. I mean they do work but you know if they had the chance they'd probably urinate on your face. That's not fair. They would wait till you run conscious from toxic exposure to gases anyway. Or they would but the workers comp adjusters do that for them. I mean they pay them for a reason and it's not help the employee so? Why am I talking to them again without an attorney oh yeah see above. So yeah they're just having a good old time they're beating me like a pinata making me run around like an idiot and freaking me out with letters and false deadlines that after a while I began to realize it being seriously gas lit I stopped playing nice guy and started recording phone calls and screenshotting text messages to make sure they got saved and save me everything in files and whenever they screwed up and intentionally put the wrong deadline on a Federal form like a FL la form from the Department of Labor anything like that? I would call him about that and record the response. One of my favorites was well that was just a suggested date because you know if you got it done sooner then you would get the paperwork done sooner and everything you get done sooner and you know just faster. Well yeah I understand how that works Einstein thanks I understand the whole concept and time and speed Mass velocity whatever. I swear to God they treat me like Chaka from Land of the Lost. They're all like 30 years younger than me and about to lose their jobs to AI but hey it'll be funny to watch. Won't need all those people running CAD machines and designing stuff after a few years. But let them enjoy it while they can anyway back to my career being ruined so they've just been having a good old time calling me and then they sent out a private investigator to harass me and want to talk to me until finally I just exploded and said what is it exactly you want to talk to me about.? I've been advised by everybody I know who is an attorney who may not be working in workers comp but they are an attorney? That I should never ever meet with a private investigator especially one that's a third party. You know one that's hired and not actually from the company. Cuz then he's not bound by the laws of an attorney or a police officer or an investigator he can do what he wants. Especially since he wanted to just talk to me and fill in the details of what happened that day. You know what caused the accident. I asked him what kind of forum is this going to occur in he said we could meet anywhere you want we can meet at McDonald's but I'm sure you don't want people here in your private information and I told him I don't like McDonald's anyway so I don't know I guess maybe after I get done with this doctor and have a solid diagnosis of asthma and something to stand on I'll be ready to comment. But until then I'm not meeting with you without an attorney in the room and probably even after I'm not going to meet with you without attorney in the room. So now it's come to this thing where I do have a doctor that's helping that was accidentally in their Network because I guess it slipped to the radar that they had an actual doctor that would do spirometry and asthma testing. of course they're messing with her a lot. I get your phone calls I get weird texts everybody has assured me that I'm obviously being observed surveilled. I don't see anything but I don't care either because nothing to see. I'm not at work. Why would I have asthma at home? I'm sure there's some triggers out there but I haven't discovered yet but that'll be fun and something to do in my free time. Anyway they seem to be kind of stuck in this rut where they won't go forward or approve anything unless I meet with the private investigator. Finally I blew my stack and said that I have no obligation to me the private investigator I've made my statement they were two people in the room y'all know what happened y'all know what I'm saying was the result you're not allowing me to explore that so I would think the best way for y'all to fill in the gaps and figure out what happened and what the situation this is letting me go to a f****** doctor that treats me and actually trust me for the things that I claim I have. That way instead of treating me like I'm lying you can prove that I'm lying which won't happen because I'm not lying which is obviously what you know so what is it he wants to ask me about again oh yeah he wants me to fill in the details is he a doctor? No okay well how about you get a doctor to do it instead of somebody who follows people husbands and wives around looking for infidelity. So I still don't have an attorney and I called OSHA reported the exposure and all they did was call my workplace and say "hey, did you have an exposure there?" and they said "yeah, but we got rid of that stuff" and they said "okay great" slow clap into a face palm. Which you know, kind of blew my mind. Because I thought calling OSHA was starting a nuclear war. That they would be in there with clip boards and chemical detectors and wanting to know just what the hell happened here. Because they've been really hard on this chemical and they've been trying to educate the public but evidently calling and just asking if it happened and them saying "well we got rid of that stuff" . That's enough for them. never mind the fact it was an "exposure to isocyanates in the workplace that I was reporting" which is what they told me they were going to check on. I wasn't calling them to tell them that they had harmful materials in a building, so evidently the guy I'm dealing with doesn't understand exactly what the law is or what law I was trying to get them to acknowledge. Cuz that would help my case if there were questions posed by government officials and they had to tell the truth. Either way, if they reported the exposure?great. They followed the law and I would have that an admission that an exposure occurred .....or they didn't report it and it would look really bad and probably cost them some money. But to my dismay, OSHA is obviously a joke. At least here in Dallas. So it's been real fun, yeah it's been one disappointment after the other of people just saying "I know this is my job, but I'm sorry. looking at your situation I'm just not good enough talented or educated enough to take it on. I'm just one of those people takes the easy cases and if something looks difficult? Even if it's a matter of you possibly dying or living on the streets and your whole family getting kicked out and never having a proper diagnosis to have on your medical records to show other employers or people in the situations that you can't be in in the future? I'm going to go over here and handle this easy money case." I'm sure there are some attorneys out there that if they knew about me and my situation it'll be all over it because they like a challenge and realize that there's not much left to do. All the information that I have and phone recordings, some documentation of b******* that has accumulated over the past months. Because normally you know you'd call a lawyer at the beginning of the case and there wouldn't be anything there. But since they figured I was never going to get an attorney? It was just "hey let's whack the pinata guy" . If an attorney were to walk in at this point? We've got enough acts of malfeasance and fraud and deliberate dishonesty, misleading statements and instructions, recordings and plenty of Doom and gloom documents meant to make me quit give up or go away out of fear or exhaustion.....and all I have to do is just hand you this stack and explain to you what's going on and we could probably even find a case that had nothing to do with workers compensation and had more to do with fraud and gross negligence and just have fun doing that. I mean they've had their fun why not? I didn't go into this looking for a cash settlement I just wanted to be taken care of and as the law states it should be. But I'm really just kind of f****** done with the whole f****** thing because everyone I talk to everyone I talk to doesn't want to touch it. When you have workers comp insurance that doesn't have ANY (ZERO) doctors in their Network to handle workplace asthma? which is one of the most common workers comp claims it pretty much leads the pack with all the saw dust and gas fumes out there to breathe in. But no we didn't have any doctors that would treat that or even know how to treat that at all. in fact the ONE that I did find? had retired about 5 years ago. That was funny. it was always a interesting thing to find out that when you finally had an aha moment leading to a hopeful situation? That turned out it was actually just a straw man. Even dealing with the Texas agencies help with people who are going through workers compensation or having difficulties? It depends on how you get on the line there's nothing more extremely helpful to the point where they'll even call the adjuster to make them call you back and help you fill out your forms whereas there were others that are just generally irritated by the fact that you're even calling and don't know what you're talking about. Well believe it or not there are some people in this world that don't do workers comp for living and don't spend their whole time having to deal with it. Especially people that are self-employed portrait artists for most of their lives. I guess this long-winded rambling stream of consciousness is just what's going on in my head and I can tell you right now it ain't a lot of good things and nothing really positive to say about working for anybody under any circumstances and I wouldn't take anything that anybody said they were going to do for you as a fact. It's all good on paper and everything but when it comes down to it it's all about saving money and if it involves an injury that doesn't look good on their records they got to get rid of that and they really don't f****** care what happens to you. You could be dissolving with sulfuric acid on your body and they would tell you to get out of the Sun and quit smoking. And they just watch it happen until you were just a pile of just steaming you know white powder on the ground or whatever happens. Do I sound frustrated? Flippant "whatever. Didn't see that coming". So I guess if you're in Texas and you're an attorney that this work is compensation and you want your entire case handed to you and you can say that you want a chemical exposure case in Texas I've got it right here for you if not fine. If you're from out of state that's fine too if you'd like to file a lawsuit that they beat me with clowns I don't give a carrot to a donkey whether you do that or not. As long as we win the case and they suffer for their behavior. It's not all vengeance. I want but is owed to me by law. And I didn't get that instead I got financial destitution cuz they have not paid me a dime and I'm the runaround which is basically we won't honor your claim until you prove that you were injured on the job. Okay I can't do that unless I prove that I have asthma. So they send me to a doctor that doesn't treat me for asthma now he's my pcp. Finally I find somebody that can treat me what do they do they immediately start pulling the plug on everything saying that my time's up sorry this show's over quick turn off the lights but hold up a minute they were too slow and I was able to get in there and she's doing spirometry tests and everything but you know I know it's not going to be enough because that's why I need to do the super serious testing the kind that definitively says whether you have asthma or not and there's no doubt there's no doubt that these people can try and split hairs and make excuses. Then I get to try and type for the workplace which wouldn't be hard if I had an attorney because this in front of a judge and argue it this is the guy before this is the guy after he's got occupational asthma he worked here for two and a half years and then after that weekend where was the only two days out of the year that that chemical was present and being sprayed? After that he developed severe occupational asthma and an insensitivity to isocyanide due to acute exposure with absolutely no PPE or guidance instruction and now no help no financial help and the guys that I work with here in town that run the show don't talk to me anymore it's all corporate people that were states away and have no idea and don't care what the facts are they just want the positive outcome which is the one that benefits them. But we all know that. We wouldn't be in this form if we didn't know that. Ask for all of y'all that have had better luck congratulations. I am truly happy for you. I don't know where I'm going to be I know obviously you can tell where I am mentally right now and that if another person involved with the adjuster or my employers handed me a form fill out to get the thing that I need that ain't going to happen that they say would happen that won't? I'd wad it up and throw it back in their face without reading it and not worrying about what they say will happen if I don't fill it out. Because they know if I fill it out and sign it or if I don't fill it out and sign it? It wouldn't do a f****** thing. Unless it was an attorney wanting to get with me and get a retainer and all that stuff set up .....and get going. Because nothing.....everything else is just a f****** waste of time, gas and mental energy. It's just that's what it's designed to do... wear you down. You know the truth and you can't prove it and you start feeling like you're living in bad movie like invasion of the body snatchers or something. like I said, it's the ultimate definition of gaslighting. So if you're going through the same thing with workers comp? I feel your pain. I definitely have sympathies if your injuries are more severe or debilitating than mine and you're being treated like this, but something needs to be done about the system because I'm quite aware of what it is now. I've had plenty of time to sit down and parse out what happened and watch videos listen to other attorneys talk read articles on the chemical and how not only companies and workers comp are reacting to it, but also the manufacturers themselves. For instance the CEO that wiped out that city in India? he showed up one day for court in India and then claimed he had to return to the states to take care of some business and never went back. India tried to extradite him for several decades. But instead? he was able to retire with a nice fat paycheck Savage whatever you want to call it and live out the rest of his days in Florida. And I guess he slept well at night knowing what he did. Union carbide. Bought by now Dow? Pretty sure they have never done anything wrong..... I'll have to double check that but I'm pretty sure on they are on up and up right? If they have the good attorney defend the behavior. I mean chemical companies they don't f*** around.... do they? anyway. whatever. I'm not too jaded to where I don't want to accept help or nail these f***. Or just get what I deserve. So take my post as a bit of Comedy or just a rant..... some venting. Maybe you feel the same way. Maybe it helps, maybe it doesn't. Just don't let it scare you cuz your case might be totally different than mine. I have an invisible injury and that's a s** place to be. Just like growing up in Texas. Well I guess it's time to lay down on the couch and play video games. How much is something like that pay?
My apologies if the punctuation spelling of what I've written up there (or actually dictated) has weird words that are completely out of contact in there somewhere. I dictated this because I'm so f****** tired of typing and I'm really tired of going back over what I wrote and fixing the grammar and trying to make it not look insane? It's just fatigue and I just thought I should get this out there in the Reddit forum. I'm a member of some other groups, but you know... first time listener first time caller

Whether you're a first-time buyer or an experienced investor, Hamre Real Estate Team’s comprehensive listings and expert guidance will help you navigate the Ottawa real estate market with ease.
https://www.weknowottawa.com/petries-landing/

I recently read a piece of news about young people in South Korea pouring into temples to escape from reality. This article is written in Chinese, I have never traveled to South Korea and can't verify the authenticity, so I post it here to ask for help. Is it real or is the media in China speaking ill of your country to transfer domestic contradictions? The following is the full article:
【韩国，“寒意”正在蔓延】
South Korea: "Chilling Atmosphere" Spreading
今年夏天，韩国大量年轻人涌入寺庙，全国150家庙宇人满为患。他们不为避暑，只为逃避红尘，在挂着门牌的禅房放下行李后，便日夜放空。山高月小，盛夏也有入骨之寒。This summer, a large number of young people have flocked to temples in South Korea, causing overcrowding in 150 temples nationwide. They are not seeking relief from the heat, but rather escaping from the secular world. After placing their luggage in the rooms marked with door signs, they spend their days and nights in idleness. Even in the height of summer, there is a bone-chilling coldness.
山寺外，寒意正在蔓延。韩国白领正流行自带便当，因午饭已涨到吃不起，“感觉一半工资都花饭钱上了”。
便利店的三明治和三角紫菜包，中午一抢而空，办公室泡面成片。社交平台上，韩国人称之为午餐通胀。饭后咖啡也成负担，高档咖啡厅门可罗雀，更多人选择回公司喝速溶咖啡。
Outside the mountain temples, a chilling atmosphere is spreading. White-collar workers in South Korea are now bringing their own lunch boxes to work because the cost of eating out has become unaffordable. They feel like half of their salary goes toward meal expenses.
Sandwiches and triangular seaweed rice balls in convenience stores are sold out by noon, and instant noodles have become a staple in offices. On social media, Koreans refer to it as "lunch inflation." Even post-meal coffee has become a burden, as high-end coffee shops are almost empty, and more people choose to drink instant coffee at the office.
曾经普通的排骨汤变成“别人请客才会吃”，国民餐饮烤五花肉则是奢侈享受。最后，连烤肉时免费供应的生菜，都开始收费。客人在不断变少，但涨价却无法停歇，一切都同在冲出轨道的列车上。
今年5月，韩国五花肉涨价11.4%，炸酱面涨价12.5%，韩国统计厅数据，韩国餐饮涨价速度，创1992年5月以来最高纪录。
What used to be an ordinary dish like pork bone soup has now become something they only eat when someone else treats them. Grilled pork belly, a popular Korean dish, has become a luxury. Even the lettuce that was once provided for free during barbecue meals now comes with a fee. Despite the decreasing number of customers, prices continue to rise, and everything seems to be on a train veering off track.
In May this year, pork belly prices in South Korea increased by 11.4%, while black bean noodles increased by 12.5%. According to data from the Korean Statistical Office, the rate of price increases in the food and beverage industry is at its highest level since May 1992.
涨价的何止餐饮，韩国水电煤气去年10月已涨23.1%，今年5月，电费燃气费再涨，电风扇成最畅销电器，原因是省电。
外卖吃不起后，韩国冷冻蔬菜和酱料包热销，预制菜销量翻了4倍，大学生则流行从一日三餐改为一天两餐。
梨花女子大学学生称，“现在周末只能整天坐在咖啡馆里，什么也干不了，什么也花不起”。
It's not just food and beverages that are seeing price hikes; electricity, water, and gas prices in South Korea increased by 23.1% in October of last year, and in May of this year, electricity and gas fees rose again. Electric fans are now the best-selling appliances due to their energy efficiency.
Unable to afford takeout, frozen vegetables and pre-packaged sauces have become popular, and the sales of pre-packaged meals have quadrupled. College students are also changing their eating habits from three meals a day to two meals a day.
A student from Sookmyung Women's University said, "Nowadays, I can only spend my weekends sitting in cafes all day, unable to do anything and unable to afford anything."
网上，韩国年轻人发起“不花钱挑战”，抠门短视频流行，省钱VLOG随处可见。年轻一代购物追求“神性比”，就是神一样的性价比。曾热衷大牌的年轻人，现在开始称重购买二手衣服，按照公斤打折。
首尔华阳洞的复古服装卖场上，年轻人在旧衣堆中翻捡。灰尘缓缓落下，生活正重回地面。
萧条呜咽刺耳，蜃楼蒸发消散。韩国出口已连续6个月出现负增长，而房价已连续9个月下跌。
在首尔，部分高端楼盘跌幅超40%，首尔永远涨的神话已成往事，仅余用60%收入咬牙还贷的人们。低迷的经济，催生失业浪潮。韩国大厂裁员，美其名曰自愿退休，此后又衍生出“安静解雇”，即要求雇员无声息离开。
Online, young Koreans have started a "money-saving challenge," and videos of frugal living have become popular. The younger generation now pursues the "divinity of value," looking for god-like cost-effectiveness. Previously fond of luxury brands, young people now buy second-hand clothes by weight for discounted prices.
In vintage clothing stores in Seoul's Hwayang-dong, young people sift through piles of old clothes. Dust settles slowly as life returns to the ground.
The sound of desolation and sobbing fills the air as mirages evaporate. South Korea's exports have experienced six consecutive months of negative growth, while housing prices have been falling for nine consecutive months.
In Seoul, some high-end real estate prices have dropped by over 40%, and the myth of Seoul's ever-rising property prices is now a thing of the past. Only those who bite the bullet and use 60% of their income to pay off mortgages remain. The sluggish economy has led to a wave of unemployment. Major companies in South Korea are downsizing, using the guise of voluntary retirement and subsequently implementing "quiet layoffs," which require employees to silently leave their positions.
韩国大学毕业生迎来难熬之夏，而韩国外卖员已达43万人，创下历史新高。今年4月，韩国20岁至39岁人群中，有66万人登记为休息人口。休息人口即指不工作，不考试，不求职，不生育。
荒芜正向未来蔓延，大萧条紧连着老龄化。首尔婚宴厅正批量消失，殡仪馆却人满为患，老年保健品销量超过奶粉，韩国港口货轮已难招适龄船员。
14所地方大学已无人报名。韩朝前线，韩国已考虑用AI哨兵，弥补年轻兵力持续减少。
寒意之中，大批年轻人返回故土，与父母同居，被称为“袋鼠族”，日常爱好之一是看“发呆直播”。发呆直播风行韩国。在盛夏中蜷缩的人们，打开免费直播间，看着NASA转播的地球发呆。
画面几乎没有变化，但所有人都知道，变化正在发生。
韩国曾有漫长的黄金年代，他们骄傲称之为“汉江奇迹”。因全力发展经济，1962年到1994年，韩国以GPD 年均9%的增速，狂飙了32年。1994年，韩国人均年收入超1万美元。
那年，韩国被吸纳入经合组织，加入“发达国家俱乐部”。韩国报纸欢呼雀跃，称韩国已从亚洲之龙升级为世界之龙。
那些年，随着黄金年代狂飙的韩国人，从不知萧条为何物。他们笃信高考公平，认定奋斗致富，坚信知识能改变命运。
汉城奥运会之后，85%韩国国民自认为是中产阶级，他们接受BBC纪录片采访时说：在20世纪末，每个韩国人都能过上和英国中产阶级一样的生活。
富裕之后，韩国人流行金饰，热衷海外旅行，并因随地打牌，插队喧哗等恶习，被韩国媒体批评为“丑陋的韩国人”。
所有欢歌在1998年戛然而止，金融海啸重创韩国，国家一度到破产边缘。海啸过后，一代人财富灰飞烟灭，更严重后果是韩国走向沙漏型社会。中产缩水，阶层固化，贫富差距越来越大。
此后，受惠全球化和互联网浪潮，韩国保持缓速前行。然而，寒意酝酿在沙漏之中。

I’ve had countless failures in the past couple years, messed up relationships, and now I am completely lost. I have responsibilities to pay for things and live a normal life but I feel at any second I could have a mental breakdown and run away from it all. Although I don’t know what that would do except make things worse. I quit wrestling in hs, I took my football career of 9 years into college but quit that,I got my realtors license in Wisconsin but quit that, I tried to join the army but failed due to the size of my lungs, then I moved back home to AZ and tried very hard to find a job. Got one at a kitchen, hated it, quit. Got a job picking up apartment trash pickup , of course I hated it cuz it was trash-y, I had to walk 50+ flights of stairs and pick up people’s disgusting stuff. Did it for three weeks then quit right as I got a new job. Been at this job for 2 months. The newest one is Sales and security in the airport. I work for a company called clear which has this service that they open up a separate line from general or tsa pre check, when people go down that lane we sign them in then walk them to the front of their appropriate line. I hate the airport environment and I hate how the floor at the phx airport sits at and angle and feels terrible to stand on. I also hate that I have to dance around the truth or blatantly lie to get a lot of sales. Very few people can truthfully sell some product, especially if they don’t look like a super model. Which makes me think about my health. I have pains in my body like a 80 year old man but I’m only 19. I do my physical therapy and do hot yoga with my mother 2x a month. Its our little thing we just started so that should be good for my health. I used to live to work out when I was training to play NCAA Football but now I don’t go near a gym. Still my brain tells me I’m not good enough and I instead work out at home in the living room but only when no one is home. I hate it all. I have no friends within 25 miles of me. I have no family to hang out with. All I have is some friends on my games but I always feel like a loser when I play video games. Even if I only play for 2 hours a week( but sometimes it is more like 20 hours a week lol). I also feel that isn’t healthy. I try to eat healthy and feel like I generally eat well. I’m 6’4 215 or so and don’t feel extremely fat but also don’t feel skinny. More of a skinny fat with lack of muscle. I lack confidence, a sense of belonging, passion, or motivation. I’m on some shitty dating apps and girls will text me but I feel like I’m so insignificant why even bother. I don’t know what to do and I don’t know where to go. I wish I could run away and be with nature and eat real food and work out all day with my friends but of course how can I make money doing that and I barely have 5k to my name and I’m expected to pay 10k by the end of the year for rent and all these things. I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Oh and above it all I hate where I am. I’m in Scottsdale Arizona. The capitol of douchebaggery and old people. It’s like parts of Florida but dry and in a damn dessert. I want to be with trees and fresh air and water and I want to work in a environment that supports me , I want to help people, I want friends, I wanna look great. I don’t know. Any ideas?

GALATIANS  
Chapter Four (https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Galatians+4)
 
-3. … we were enslaved [משעבדים, MeShoo`eBahDeeYM] to fundamentals [ליסודות, LeeYÇODOTh] [of] the world.  

“The word τα στοιχεια [ta stoikheia], the elements ... meant (a) the letters of the alphabet… (b) the elements of which a thing was composed, as the fire, air, earth, and water of which the world was thought to be constituted; (c) the elements of the universe, the larger cosmos, including the sun, moon, planets, and stars; and (d) the spirits, angels, and demons which were believed to ensoul the heavenly bodies, traverse all space, and inhabit every nook and cranny of earth, particularly tombs, desert places, and demented persons. These spirits were said to be organized like human governments. In Rom. [Romans] 8:38 Paul calls them ‘principalities’ and ‘powers.’ And vss. [verses] 9 and 10 of our present chapter indicate that he has them in mind in vs. [verse] 3. …  
Paul … includes in ‘the elements of the universe’ all sub-Christian ideas and observances, both Jewish and Gentile. He regards these ‘elements’ as slave drivers who frighten men with curses for not propitiating them by observance of special days and seasons, food taboos, dietary fads, and circumcision. In Christ he declared his independence of Fate, Fortune, Luck, and Chance, and from astrology, the counterfeit religion and bastard sister of astronomy, whose practitioners exploited the superstition that the stars controlled men’s lives from birth to death.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X pp. 521 & 522)  
“The elements of the world] A mere Jewish phrase, יסודי עולם הזה yasudey ‘olam hazzeh, ‘the principles of this world;’ that is, the rudiments or principles of the Jewish religion. The apostle intimates that the law was not the science of salvation; it was only the elements or alphabet of it.” (Clarke, 1831, vol. II p. 387)  

-4. But [אבל, ’ahBahL] as that was filled the time, sent forth, Gods, [את, ’ehTh (indicator of direct object; no English equivalent)] His son, born [of] woman, and subject [וכפוף, VeKhahPhOoPh] to instruction [Torah, Law].  

“The four words, το πληρωμα του χρονου [to pleroma tou khronou], the fullness of the time, express a whole philosophy of history. The Hebrew prophets and Jewish apocalyptists believed that their God was the creator of the universe and arbiter of the destinies of all men and nations. Nothing could happen that was not his doing, either directly or indirectly through angels and men. He had a time for everything, and everything happened exactly on time. … The completion of this present age would be marked by a blood-red revolution, in which all good men and good works would be ground under the heel of the tyrant, while the wicked reigned supreme. Then suddenly God would intervene with the lightning of judgment to snatch the world from the mouth of the bottomless pit and restore it to Paradise, whence it had fallen with the sin of Adam. Sorrow and sighing would flee away, and the Messiah would reign with the perfection of a theocratic king.  
At this juncture, says Paul, when the appointed period of history was ‘full,’ god sent his Son γενομενον εκ γυναικος, γενομενον υπο νομον [genomenon ek gunaikos, genomenon upο nomon], ‘born of woman, bοrn under law.’ … Jesus was not only born under law, but was subject to it all his life. ...The ‘yoke’ of the Torah demanded that he observe the customs of his forefathers, such as wearing phylactery and prayer fringes, ceremonial washing of hands before eating, giving thanks at mealtime, praying at stated times, bringing tithes and sacrifices, and obeying the Ten Commandments.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X pp. 522 & 523)  
Not to mention circumcision, kashrut, and the prohibition of associating with gentiles.  
“Sent forth refers to God’s sending of his Son from his pre-existent state in heaven (I Cor. [Corinthians] 8:6; Phil. [Philippians] 2:6-8; Col. [Colossians] 1:15-17). Yet this Son was born of woman. There is nothing in these words, or elsewhere in Paul’s letters, to prove or disprove that he knew the story of the miraculous conception. His point here is that the Christ, although he was the pre-existent Son of God, did not come into this world with a body composed of celestial substance, but was woman-born like all other human beings. … It was very different from the conception of royal sonship in Ps. 2, where the king is called God’s ‘Son; because he has been chosen to be the Messiah. In Paul, Jesus is God’s Son by nature, and his Christhood follows by virtue of this sonship. This belief was the fundamental cause of the split between the Jews and the Christians. The lowly birth, the obscurity of Nazareth, and the fact that Jesus was a common laborer, constituted a grievous scandal in the eyes of all who were expecting their Deliverer to come riding on a chariot of clouds wielding the lightning of judgment. Paul’s gospel contradicts every form of hyperspirituality that fixes a gulf between God and his material world. On the other hand, his conception of the coming of Jesus was poles removed from the pagan stories of the births of heroes, savior-gods, and kings, whose legends were freighted with illicit relationships and lawless conduct like the lives of the devotees who had created them in their own image.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X pp. 523-524)  
“Nothing is said explicitly about the Son’s preexistence, which is at most implied … born of a woman: … The phrase is derived from the OT [Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible] (Job 14:1 …). So born, Jesus submitted to the law by being circumcised and thus became capable of falling under its curse. But lest the Galatians draw a wrong conclusion, Paul [and The Interpreters’ Bible] does not mention Jesus’ circumcision. Instead of genomenon, ‘born,’ some patristic writers read gennomenon, and understood this ptc. [participle] as referring to Mary’s virginal conception; but this is anachronistic interpretation.” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC p. 787)  

-7. Accordingly [לפיכך, LePheeYKhahKh], you are not [אינך, ’aYNKhah] a slave anymore [אוד, ’OD], for if [כי אם, KeeY ’eeM] a son, and, if a son, then [אזי, ’ahZahY] also heir from favor [מטעם, MeeTah`ahM] [of] Gods.  

“This is Paul’s proclamation of emancipation.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X p. 528)  

…………………………………………  
Worry of Shah’OoL to Galatians
[verses 8–20]  

-8. In [the] past, in a time that you did not know [את, ’ehTh] Gods, you slaved [את, ’ehTh] who that in their nature [שבמנהותם, ShehBeMahHOoThahM] were not Gods.  

“The Jews never ceased to ridicule idols and denounce idolaters… They demoted the old gods to the rank of demons and made a list of detractive names for them: angels, shepherds, princes; kings, emperors, benefactors, heroes; demons, personifications, idols, nonentities. Some were living, some dead; some were good, but were not God. Most of them were bad, and their idols were but images of ‘things of nought.’ …  
Paul did not deny the existence of these beings whose ignorant worshipers called them gods, but he declared that they did not partake of the nature of God (I Cor. 8:4-6). God permitted them to plague mankind to punish sin, especially the sin of participating in the sacraments of the Gentile cults (I Cor. 10:19-22; 11:28-31). But Christ had conquered them and no Christian needed to fear them.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X p. 529)  

-10. Behold, you are honoring days and new-[moons], seasons [מועדים, MO`ahDeeYM] and years.  

“Days like the Sabbath and Yom hakkippurim [“Day of Atonement”] are meant; months like the ‘new moon’; seasons like Passover and Pentecost; years like the sabbatical years… Paul can see no reason for a Gentile Christian to observe these.” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC p. 788)  

…  

…………………………………………  

Two the covenants
[verses 21-26]  

-21. Say to me, you, the wanters to be subject to Instruction, have you not heard [את, ’ehTh] the Instruction?
-22. Is it not written that to ’ahBRahHahM there were two sons, the one from the maid [האמה, Hah’ahMaH] and the second from the woman the free [החפשיה, HahHahPhSheeYah]?
-23. But [אך, ’ahKh] [the] son [of] the maid was born according to [לפי, LePheeY] the flesh,
and however [ואילו, Ve’eeYLOo] [the] son [of] the free upon mouth of the promise.
-24. The words the these, they are a parable to two the covenants:
the one from Mount ÇeeNah-eeY [Sinai], the birther to slavery, and she is HahGahR [“The Sojourner”, Hagar].  

“It is well known how fond the Jews were of allegorizing; every thing in the law was with them an allegory: their Talmud [ancient commentary] is full of these; and one of their most sober and best educated writers Philo, abounds with them…  
It is very likely, therefore, that the allegory produced here; St. Paul had borrowed from the Jewish writings; and he brings it in to convict the Judaizing Galatians on their own principles: and neither he, nor we, have any thing farther to do with this allegory, than as it applies to the subject for which it is quoted; nor does it give any license to those men of vain and superficial minds, who endeavour to find out allegories in every portion of the Sacred Writings; and by what they term spiritualizing, which is more properly carnalizing, have brought the testimonies of God into disgrace. May the spirit of silence be poured out upon all such corrupters of the word of God!” (Clarke, 1831, vol. II p. 390)  
“Allegorical interpretation rests upon the belief that every word, figure of speech, and grammatical form in scripture has a special ‘spiritual’ significance besides its literal meaning. The theory is that the God who dictated it meant more than rests on the surface and that while he said one thing, he also meant something else in addition to the literal sense… The Greeks had long since applied the method to explain away the immoral things which the gods said and did in Homer… Then Greek-speaking Jews, like Philo Judaeus, employed it apologetically to read Greek philosophy into the O.T. [Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible], proclaiming that Moses had said all these good things long before and better than Homer and Plato.  
The wonder is that Paul has so little allegory. His restraint is explained partly by his training as a Pharisee. The rabbis were suspicious of any interpretation of scripture that tended to make Jews lax in their observance of the law. Jews with Gnostic leanings, and those who considered some of their ancestral customs outmoded, could resort to allegory to justify their philosophy and conduct, while maintaining that they were the spiritual superiors of the conservatives who held to the letter of the law … His argument, however, is never strengthened by allegorical symbolism and typology, for these are convincing only to those who by imagination can find them so. Rather, as in Rom. 9-11, he introduces unnecessary complications such as the moral difficulties involved in predestination. His gospel does not rest on the quicksands of allegory, a specious method of interpreting scripture. Its interpretations are of interest to the historian not as correct representations of what the writers and first readers of the Bible had in mind, but only as source materials for understanding the life and thought of the allegorists themselves.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X p. 540)  

-25. Hagar signifies [מסמלת, MeÇahMehLeTh] [את, ’ehTh] Mount ÇeeNah-eeY, that is in Arabia, and parallels [ומקבילה,OoMahQBeeYLaH] to Jerusalem of our day, for she is in slavery with her sons.  

“… why does Paul mention Arabia…? Possibly because Mt. Sinai is in Arabia[?], which is Ishmaelite territory; he thus associates the Sinai pact with the eponymous patriarch of Arab tribes … Paul thus suggests that the law itself stems from a situation extrinsic to the promised land and to the real descendants of Abraham. Paul’s Jewish former co-religionists would not have been happy with this allegory.” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC p. 788)  

-26. But [אבל, ’ahBahL] Jerusalem from ascended [מעלה, Mah`eLaH], [the] daughter [of] freedom [חורין, HOReeYN] is she, and she is mother to us.
 

“The Jerusalem which now is was a most unholy “Holy city”, full of injustice, violence and murder, and subject to the cruel and wicked rulers imposed by a Gentile empire. But over against this Jerusalem of slavery lay an ideal celestial city, unseen at present, but destined soon to supersede it. Paul called it the Jerusalem above. Sarah, the free-woman, was the ancestress of its citizens, who were the people of faith and of freedom in Christ…  
Paul speaks of Jerusalem above, because this new city of freedom already exists in heaven where Christ is, where dwell the souls of those who have died in Christ. But it also exists on earth as the church, the body of Christ, whose members are colonists from heaven sent to prepare men for the full establishment of God’s kingdom at Christ’s second coming (Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:1-3).  
The biblical root of this conception of an ideal future and heavenly Jerusalem is Isa. [Isaiah] 54. Other descriptions appear in Ezek. [Ezekiel] 40-48; Zech. [Zechariah] 2:1-13; Hag. [Haggai] 2:6-9; Tob. [Tobias] 13:9-18 Ecclus. [Ecclesiasticus] 36; Pss. Sol. [Psalms of Solomon] 17:33. Historically the expectation assumed three forms. According to the earliest hope, God would build the new Jerusalem in Palestine and make it the capital of his theocratic world government. The plan of this glorious city was graven upon the palms of his hands (Isa. 49:16). From this idea it was but a step, especially for those influenced by Greek ideas, to think of this ideal Jerusalem as already existing in heaven. According to the Apocalypse of Baruch, God had shown it to Adam in Paradise before he sinned; to Abraham on the night mentioned in Gen. 15:12-21; and to Moses on Sinai, when he gave him the heavenly pattern for an earthly tabernacle (II Baruch 4:1-6; cf. [compare with] Heb. [Hebrews]12:22). The third conception combined these two ideas. The Jerusalem which was ‘above’ would come down to earth to be established in Palestine in place of the city that ‘now is’ (cf. Rev. [Revelation] 3:12, 21:2; II Esdras 7:26; 13:36; 10:54).  
So the new Jerusalem belonged to both worlds and to both ages, to heaven and earth, to the present and the future. Its constitution was the new covenant, and its citizens were the men of faith in Christ, a new kind of freemen who traced their spiritual ancestry through the line of Isaac and his mother Sarah as heirs of God’s promise to Abraham. As for Ishmael and his tribe, they were the men of law, predestined to be slaves forever. Needless to say, the Judaizers found Paul’s allegorical exclusion of themselves utterly unacceptable. They believed that the Torah was God’s blueprint for all creation, and that it would be observed forever in the new Jerusalem. That, they said, was why God was going to purge the old city – to establish an order of life in which perfect obedience to his law would be possible.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X pp. 541-542)  
“…it was a maxim among the rabbins [rabbis], that, ‘Whatsoever was in the earth, the same was also found in heaven; for there is no matter, howsoever small, in this world, that has not something similar to it in the spiritual world.’ On this maxim, the Jews imagine that every earthly thing has its representative in heaven: and especially whatever concerns Jerusalem, the law, and its ordinances. Rab. ["Master", Rabbi] Kimchi, speaking of Melchisedec, king of Salem, says, זו ירושלים של מעלה Zu Yerushalem shel me’alah – ‘This is the Jerusalem that is from above.’…  
There is a spiritual Jerusalem, of which this is the type; and this Jerusalem, in which the souls of all the righteous are, is free from all bondage and sin: or by this, probably the kingdom of the Messiah was intended; and this certainly answers best to the apostle’s meaning, as the subsequent verse shows.” (Clarke, 1831, vol. II p. 391)  

-27. That see, is written:  
“Chant, barren, not birthing, [רני עקרה לא ילדה RahNeeY 'ahQRaH Lo’ YahLahDaH] burst chanting and shouting, not travailing, [פצחי רנה וצהלי לא-חלה PeeTsHeeY ReeNaH VeTsahHahLeeY Lo’-HahLaH] for multitudinous are sons of her deserted than [מי, MeeY] sons of her mistress [כי-רבים בני-שוממיה מבני בעולה KheeY-RahBeeYM BeNaY-ShoMahMeeYHah MeeBeNaY Be'ooLaH].”  

“A telling item in the counterpropaganda of the legalists was the argument that even among the Christians only a radical fringe consisting mainly of foreign Jews, of whom Paul was one, were proposing to abandon the law of Moses. …  
In one respect his quotation of Isa. 54:1 does not fit Paul’s allegory. It was Sarah, the mother of freemen, who possessed the husband, and Hagar, the slave, who was the deserted woman. As usual with Paul’s illustrations (cf. Rom. 7:1-4; 11:17-24), the details cannot be pressed without making them go lame …  
The Isaian figure to describe the plight of Jerusalem during the Babylonian exile grew out of a common experience in Hebrew family life. Childlessness, particularly the failure to bear sons, was great grief and disgrace. Such was the sorrow of Jerusalem; but the prophet bade her look forward with courage to the time when all her scattered children would come back to her (Isa. 54:3). God was her ‘husband,’ and he would treat his faithful remnant with everlasting lovingkindness, making them more numerous than the former population and giving them a heritage of great peace and prosperity (Isa. 54:13-17).” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X p. 542)  
“The prophet’s words are addressed to deserted Zion, bidding it rejoice at the return of the exiles.” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC p. 788)  

-28. But you, my brethren [τεχνα, tekhna, “children”], you are the sons of the promise, as was YeeTsHahQ [“He Laughed”, Isaac].  

“The Judaizers claimed that Abraham had obeyed the law of Moses by anticipation, and that God’s promise was his reward. Consequently the descendants of Isaac were children of promise only if they followed Abraham’s example in obeying the law. Paul turned it the other way about: the promise must be taken on faith, not as credit for obedience.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X p. 542)  

-29. And just as [וכשם, OoKhShayM] that then pursued, [רדף, RahDahPh] the son that was born according to [לפי, LePheeY] flesh, [את, ’ehTh] the son that was born according to the spirit, yes, also now.  

“In Gen 21:10 Sarah, seeing Ishmael ‘playing’ with Isaac and viewing him as the potential rival to Isaac’s inheritance, drives him and his mother out. Nothing in Gen is said of Ishmael’s ‘persecution’ of Isaac, but Paul may be interpreting the ‘playing’ as did a Palestinian haggadic explanation of Gen 21:9 (see Josephus, ANT. [Antiquities] 1.12.3§215 …” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC p. 788)  
“A rabbinical tradition of the second century A.S. interprets the Hebrew participle מצחק [MeeTsHahQ, “play”] (LXX [Septuagient, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible] παιζοντα [paizonta] in Gen. 21:9 to mean that Ishmael’s ‘playing’ became so rough that Isaac’s life was in danger. This son of a slave is said to have shot arrows at Isaac to kill him, and Paul’s statement shows that some such tradition was current in his day. He applied it to the Judaizers who were trying to force the Christians to observe the whole law of Moses, and to the unbelieving Jews who were excommunicating the Christians and their families and getting them into trouble with the civil authorities (1:5; 4:17; 5:10; I Thess. [Thessalonians] 2:14-16).” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X p. 543)  

-30. But what says the Written [Scripture]?  
“Banish [גרש GahRaySh] the maid and [את, ’ehTh] her son,
for not will inheritI [יירש, YeeYRahSh], son [of] the maid [האמה, Hah’ahMaH], with son [of] the free.”  

“The quotation is from Gen. 21:10 … The speaker of these words is Sarah, who is filled with rage against Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham is represented as greatly grieved, but God is said to have sanctioned the demand of the cruel and jealous wife….  
This story was one of the effects and one of the causes of the perpetual feud between the Israelites and the tribes that descended from Ishmael. The Hebrews were so sure that God wanted them to have Palestine that they found no moral difficulty in saying that it was God himself who had overruled Abraham’s conscience (Gen. 17:18-21). They affirmed that Ishmael’s character and destiny had been predetermined (Gen. 16:12). Consequently, even his circumcision at the age of thirteen could not make him a member of God’s chosen people. However great this innocent victim of a family feud might become by virtue of the halfhearted blessing conceded by an uneasy conscience (Gen. 17:20-21), he and his descendants were barred forever from the higher blessing. Theirs was to submit to the religious imperialism of the most favored nation or die. Moreover, all Abraham’s other sons except Isaac were barred from the promise and sent away ‘unto the east country’ (Gen. 25:5-6). And yet while all this was said to be the Lord’s doing, it was in the same breath declared to be the doing of the human actors in this drama of the nations. Sarah herself was said to have suggested that Abraham become a father by her Egyptian slave girl. Then, too, it was explained that Hagar’s flight from the cruelty of her mistress was voluntary, making her, rather than the callous compliance of Abraham, responsible for her plight ‘in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur’ (Gen. 16:7).  
Paul’s use of Abraham’s expulsion of Hagar and her child has its parallel in the equally heartless treatment of Esau which he employs in Rom. 9-11 in his longer discussion of the divine process of selection. Here too it was assumed that the hatred generated by centuries of war for the possession of Palestine lay in the heart of God. “I hate Esau,” said Malachi (1:3), making God the speaker; and Rom. 9:6-13 presses it to the utmost limit of predestination. But the love of God in Christ Jesus made Paul’s heart better than his inherited doctrine … When the history of the struggle for the possession of “the Holy land” is allegorized to justify a doctrine of “election” which foredooms countless souls to an eternity of torment in a future hell, it becomes as morally atrocious as it is irreconcilable with Paul’s gospel.  
Nevertheless Paul’s allegory gives the historian an insight into Paul’s mind as he wrestled with the insoluble problem of God’s sovereignty and human freedom.” (Stamm, 1953, TIB vol. X pp. 543-544)  
“Paul bids the Galatians rid themselves of the Judaizers – and, ironically enough, obey the Torah itself.” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 1990, TNJBC p. 788)   An Amateur's Journey Through the Bible

Quick Author's Note:
For better clarity of intent, the 'worthwhile opponent' stipulation in Lifedrinker is being changed to 'non-negligible opponent' moving forward.
​
--
​
"The Gellin Empress was the catalyst for our breakthrough," a mage explained. "Tracing Lord Rob's lingering mana signature through the space between dimensions proved effective at first, yet it came with an insurmountable problem: he only attained mana after initially leaving Earth. At a certain point, there was no more of a signature for us to trace. We had found his home dimension, but finding his home world within the infinite expanses of that dimension could have taken years of aimless searching, like blind men stumbling in the dark."
He leaned forward, clearly enjoying having a captive audience. "The key, then, lay within Lord Rob's memories. Even without mana, memories have a power all their own. The Empress looked within his mind and found locations of personal importance to him. Ones that he remembers with pristine clarity. By scrying for areas within Lord Rob's dimension that matched those specific locations, we were able to narrow down the scope of our search considerably."
The mage spread his palms wide, and his voice dropped a full octave, as if he was imparting a great revelation. "The result will soon be made self-evident. You shall bear witness to the foremost magical achievement of our era: a one-way viewing window into Lord Rob's world. The first of many to come."
In respect for the man's showmanship, Rob started up a clap. Granted, he would've clapped even if the explanation was done via a mindnumbing PowerPoint presentation, because nothing in the universe could stunt his enthusiasm right now. Riardin's Ranger, the Elders, Diplomacy, and the Soul Surgeon clapped as well, although Rob was pretty sure they were just following his cues. This moment couldn't possibly hold the same gravitas for them as it did for him. They mostly were here to provide moral support and satisfy their curiosity.
While for him, this meant everything.
"Do we need the Gellin Empress here to create the window?" Rob asked. "I'd also like to thank her for the help she's given."
The mage shook his head. "I'll spare you the details, but to be succinct; she taught us how to save a mana-based copy of the necessary memories, which will allow us to attune to a subset of Earth locations. Her presence is not required. In fact, she insisted that we proceed without her, as the Gellin have gone to rest for the night."
Must be nice. I'd trade ten Levels for a consistent sleep schedule. Rob internally frowned at himself, punting the envious thoughts away. No sour grapes. If the Empress helped me see Earth again, then I hope she sleeps like a baby for the rest of her life.
"One question," Keira interjected. "In your explanation, you stated that, without the Empress' assistance, it may have taken years to discover Earth. That is hardly the weeks or months you claimed in the past."
The group of dimension mages froze, embarrassment blooming on their features. They looked to the head mage for guidance, whose veneer of showmanship was deflating like a leaky balloon. "We were perhaps...optimistic."
"By years?"
"The previous estimate I put forth was one that assumed we would develop breakthroughs as we went along." His mouth widened into a sheepish grin. "As you can see, we, um, succeeded."
Keira raised an eyebrow. "Only with the timely assistance of a Leader." Her tone was calm, yet unyielding. "Rob is too grateful to point out this contradiction, so I suppose the task falls to me. You have also told us that you should be able to 'open' the window and let Rob send a letter home within the next week – is that more unfounded optimism?"
"No." The mage straightened his posture. "Now that we have located Earth, the rest is simply a matter of refining our spells and collecting reserves of mana. We are no longer blind, nor are we fumbling in the dark, and thus our progress moving forward shall be predictable and steady. This, I swear."
After a few seconds, Keira nodded. "Then I thank you for the wonderful boon you've granted to the man I love."
From behind, Malika giggled under her breath. Rob squeezed Keira's hand, gave her a warm smile, and faced the mages. "I'm ready whenever you are."
The tent thrummed with mana as the dimension mages formed a Mage Circle with Malika. It was no different from any other time they'd done so, yet the knowledge of what they were about to accomplish heightened the tension in the air to a fever pitch. Rob's pulse quickened, his throat tightening. He'd been disemboweled by monsters, decapitated by eldritch abominations, and none of those events made him a fraction as nervous as watching the dimension mages at work.
Minutes passed. Rob forced himself to be patient. Reaching across the boundaries of space and dimensions wasn't like heading to the store to pick up a carton of milk. It involved a level of spellcasting prowess that would take Rob decades of committed study to have even the slightest chance at grasping. Frankly, the fact that it was possible at all still beggared belief.
Maybe...maybe the mages were wrong. Not lying; just wrong. They could be overeager, sharing before they were actually ready, and they'd end the circle looking contrite and ashamed.
That was okay. No biggie. Rome wasn't built in a day, or...something. He could wait–
Creak.
It was the sound of a rusted hinge, of crumpling paper, of breaking bones, and more. A combination of all the noises things made when subjected to an external force. Like reality itself was groaning under the pressure.
Creeeak.
A thin, imperceptible line appeared at eye-level, dark as the endless void. Slowly, inch-by-inch, it widened.
CREEEAK.
It had become a rectangle. Two feet wide, three feet high. With a final CREAK, reality threw in the towel. The void dissipated, as if smoke blown away by a gust of wind, revealing...
Home.
Everything was as he remembered it. The same furniture with scuffed marks of wear-and-tear. The same living room where they'd watched movies each Friday. The same kitchen with a sink perpetually filled with dirty dishes. The same tacky wallpaper that his mom refused to change, and that he secretly enjoyed.
Identical. Like a portrait had been painted straight from his memories.
A tsunami of aching nostalgia surged through him. Rob didn't realize he was extending his hand until his fingertips were already brushing against the viewing window. Its surface felt solid, and for an instant he was terrified that this really was just a painting. Something invented to give him false hope.
Then he noticed that a window had been cracked open. Not the mages' window; the window inside his house. A small breeze blew inside, jostling a curtain ever so lightly. Just enough to make it move.
"It's real." Rob's voice was hoarse. "It's my home."
No one said anything. They allowed him his silence, a gesture which he greatly appreciated. Eventually, Rob took a deep breath, clenched his hands so that they wouldn't tremble, and looked at the dimension mages. "Thank you. I owe you...so much. Even if observing from afar ended up being the limit of what you could do, just seeing my house again like this is..."
He trailed off, unable to find words that were sufficient. Thankfully, the dimension mages seemed to understand. "You are most welcome, Lord Rob." The head mage smiled. "This is far from the limit of what we can do, however. Give us time, and this window shall open."
Rob nodded, choosing not to believe them. They were probably right, but on the off chance they weren't, he didn't want to look back on this moment with bitterness. Best to assume the worst and be grateful for what he already had.
As if drawn by a gravitational pull, his eyes drifted back towards the window. It was displaying a fixed point in the center of his home. "Can you switch perspectives? I want to check other rooms." His parents were likely asleep in their bedroom at this hour. Assuming they didn't sell the house out of grief and move, that is.
"I am afraid that isn't possible. We can transpose the viewing window to other specific locations that the Empress provided, but having it 'walk around', so to speak, requires finer control than we are yet capable of."
Yet, he says. Which means that with practice, they'll be able to. Rob placated himself with that notion. This was a minor setback, and he wouldn't let it get him down.
He especially wouldn't listen to that tiny voice in the back of his head, whispering that the reason he couldn't see his parents right now was because they were–
"Got it," Rob stated, in a wooden voice. "What other locations did the Empress pick out?"
The window's perspective blurred and shifted. Rob swallowed a gasp as an extremely familiar place was displayed before him. He'd seen it many, many times, even after coming to Elatra. It used to be at the top of his nightmare rotation, only ousted from its throne when Blights started coming into play.
In front of them was a small grassy lawn, surrounded by lecture halls in the near-distance. The place that had forever altered the course of his life.
"This is where it all started." Rob pointed to an empty spot in the middle of the field. "Portal opened up. Right there. Saturated with darkness. Chains shot out, tried to grab at Jason. I pushed him out of the way, and...the rest is history."
Silence reigned once more. After a few seconds, Orn'tol stirred. The young Ranger opened his mouth, preparing to say what would undoubtedly be some platitude reassuring Rob over his noble sacrifice.
"The grass truly is green."
Rob burst out laughing. He kept going until he was short of breath, wheezing as the others looked at him with eyes full of concern. "I'm okay," he managed to cough, once the laughter had died down to snickers. "Thanks, Orn'tol. I needed that."
"You're very welcome?" Orn'tol exchanged confused glances with the rest of Riardin's Rangers. "I am unsure of what I did to assist you, yet it's good to see you in high spirits nonetheless."
"Sometimes a little silliness is just what the doctor ordered." Rob offered him a high-five, which the boy accepted with zeal. They returned their gazes to the viewing window, Rob tilting his head as he peered closer. "Hmm. That's weird."
"What do you mean?"
"There's no people. It's early evening, but college students have the worst sleeping patterns on the face of the planet. Trust me; I'm speaking from experience. Usually you'd see a dozen partygoers strung out on energy drinks racing around now."
"Perhaps this location is known as a place of danger," Keira posited. "I would certainly be hesitant to tread where a portal of darkness sprang from the aether and kidnapped a civilian."
Rob watched the viewing window for signs of life, finding none. "Could be. Parents probably pulled their kids out after what happened to me. Then either the government condemns the area, or enough money is lost that the college goes bankrupt." He snorted. "Would be the least of what it deserves, considering the tuition fees. Bloodsucking vampires."
"People on Earth drink blood?"
Normally, Rob would have played along with their confusion, but there were more important things to focus on. "Can you change this to the next location from my memories?" he asked the dimension mages. "How many are there, anyway?"
"Five in total. One moment, please."
The window's perspective blurred, shifted, and reformed. Now it was displaying a city sidewalk, its view positioned right outside the best god damn burger joint in existence. Rob didn't care what anyone else said; two greasy slabs of beef squeezed between two sesame-seed buns was the absolute pinnacle of culinary delight. So what if his palette was 'like a five-year old's?' Wasn't his fault that delicious things were delicious.
Belatedly, he realized that his memory of this restaurant had been strong enough for the Gellin Empress to choose it as a point of reference for interdimensional portal magic. That...yeah, that tracked. Aside from the burgers, he had fond memories of sitting at the outside patio with Jason and his folks, drinking Minty Fresh Phantasma and inhaling cheesy fries as they mocked his dietary preferences. Good times.
He was about to explain what this place meant to him when a human casually walked past the viewing window.
She was a normal working woman like any other. Tired eyes, a purse slung over her shoulder, and dressed for lukewarm weather. A cell phone was held in her right hand, her eyes glued to some form of social media. She strode past the window without a care in the world, visible for merely a second before disappearing from view.
To the Elatrans, it was like a horror movie jumpscare. All of them froze. Several gasped. Elder Alessia grimaced. Faelynn muttered "a world of Humans" in a hushed tone. The only exceptions were Elder Duran and the Soul Surgeon, who crept closer to get a better look, their eyes shimmering with curiosity.
In contrast, Rob let out a sigh of overwhelming relief. That bored, everyday woman was exactly what he'd needed to set him at ease. Earth hasn't completely gone to shit behind my back. People are still living their lives.
As he watched, a few more humans walked in front of the window. A middle-aged man, a young boy with his mother, and an old woman with a walking cane. The old woman pivoted straight into the burger joint, Rob internally praising her good taste.
"W-well," the head mage stuttered. He paused, cleared his throat, then started anew. "As you can see, the viewing window is imperceptible to those with low Levels of Sense Mana. Naturally, this will not be the case for a portal that can be interacted with from both sides."
"Dangerous," Meyneth commented. "I would advise that you conceal this type of spell for as long as you are able. The viewing window especially."
"Why is that?"
"If this window cannot be sensed by those with low Levels of Sense Mana, then that makes it an ideal tool for spying on non-Mages. In your haste to glimpse into the world of another dimension, you have inadvertently developed a field of magic that puts every nation in Elatra at risk of subterfuge. People have been assassinated for much less."
The mages blanched. "We are nothing more than simple researchers," the head mage protested, in a faltering voice. "Who besides a madwoman like the Dragon Queen would stoop so low as to threaten noncombatants?"
Keira averted her eyes, pointedly examining the floor.
"We can discuss matters of life and death at a later time," Duran interjected. He gestured to the viewing window with the demeanor of a child in a toy story. "There's a world of discoveries to explore! Take a look at those structures the Earth Humans have built – they resemble the buildings within Human territory, yet small differences set them apart."
Duran ooooh'd as another person walked past the viewing window. "So many humans are ambling about despite the late hour. Is this area a well-traveled location in your home city, Rob?"
"This is around the level of street traffic you should expect for early evening. If it were daytime, you'd see a hundred people per minute."
Duran aaaah'd. Before he could launch into a series of questions, Zamira beat him to it. "Pardon me if this comes across as an insult," she began, hesitantly. "But Earth Humans appear marginally...uncoordinated. It is hard for me to describe the notion, yet when I watch them move, they appear as if they're liable to fall over at any moment."
They look normal to me, Rob almost said, before remembering that Earth's normal wasn't Elatra's normal. "That's called being permanently Level 1." He shrugged. "They've all got crap stats. Except athletes, I guess."
Zamira stared at the human passerby with obvious sympathy. "My condolences."
Does Earth seem like a world of cripples to her? Rob wondered. Even Utility Class users have the option to put a couple points into Dexterity and Perception. That's not counting the natural stat boosts they gain as they grow up, either. And when combined with Vitality and healing magic, it means that people in Elatra tend to age gracefully.
Rob tried to think of the last time he'd seen an Elatran with the same frailty as that old human woman with her walking cane. The oldest person he'd met so far was the Fiend High Soulseer, and in spite of being positively ancient – and blind – the dude could get around fine. Elder Duran was having health problems, but that was only after suffering from severe Corruption poisoning for weeks on end. An incident like that would've landed an Earth human in long-term hospice care.
Actually, no, that was wrong. It would've just killed them.
"We should switch to the next location," Rob said, preempting any further questions. "There's still two more left." Maybe I can see...no. Keep your expectations in check.
He was right to do so. Rob's heart sank as the viewing window solidified once again, revealing battered, empty streets. Half the buildings had collapsed to rubble, as if visited by a wrecking crew with an axe to grind. He recognized this spot as the street leading up to his favorite movie theater on the other side of the city. There'd been good times here, as well.
Although not anymore. The theater's roof had caved in, and half the letters in its ostentatious PRIME CINEMA logo were missing. It would take years to rebuild – assuming someone was willing to invest millions of dollars into what was essentially a ghost town.
"This..." He ran his hand down his face, aware of everyone gazing at him with pity. "As you can probably infer, this isn't normal. In the past–"
Bang.
Rob practically jumped out of his skin at the abrupt sound of gunfire. At first he thought the shot had come from outside, but no, it was both too distant and too close for that. The noise also sounded different from the rifles that the Dwarven Thunder Rod wielders employed.
A series of repeated bangs swept his thoughts away. Everyone watched in astonishment as a crew of Earth military soldiers ran into view from a side street, desperately fleeing the eight-legged Blightspawn that was hot on their tails. The abomination was more of an amalgamation of flesh and limbs than anything resembling a living creature, and the way it skittered made Rob reconsider if spiders were really that bad in comparison.
"Keep firing!" one of the men commanded, his voice sounding like it was coming from the bottom of a lake. The soldiers blasted their assault rifles in a retreating offensive, peppering the abomination with a hailstorm of bullets. Their response was swift, their aim was true, and it did not matter. The Blightspawn bulldozed through the rain of bullets as if it was a light drizzle, the creature's five cavernous mouths wailing for blood and sustenance.
It was nearly upon them when an explosive rocketed in from the opposite side street, knocking the Blightspawn off its many feet. The reprieve was temporary, but it was just long enough for the soldiers to escape unharmed. Unfortunately, the creature was also mostly unharmed, sporting minor injuries despite a direct missile strike to the torso. With a chorus of screams that prickled Rob's ears, the abomination continued its chase, batting away a second missile as it resumed the chase with renewed fervor.
Then it was gone, having left the window's range of sight. Distant sounds of battle grew quieter, the gunshots and explosions becoming more faint as predator and prey ran deeper into the ruined city.
Rob closed his eyes. He said nothing for half a minute, allowing himself time to process what he'd seen.
"Okay." He opened his eyes, nodding. "This is fine."
Keira laid a hand on his shoulder, struggling with what to say. "Rob...you don't need to–"
"Hold it in? Bottle up my emotions?" A wry chuckle escaped his throat. "Honestly, I'm not as affected as I thought I'd be. The Blight dropped one too many cryptic hints for me to be surprised, anyway. At this point I'm just glad that Earth hasn't been completely overrun. Some parts of the city might be fucked up, but not all of it is."
He narrowed his eyes. "The biggest thing I'm worried about is the Blightspawn itself. You saw those weapons the humans were using, right? Think of them as substantially upgraded versions of the Thunder Rods. They should've put a real dent in a fully-grown Blight, let alone one of its spawn."
"Perhaps the creatures have gained a defensive Skill?" Duran theorized. "What we witnessed appears consistent with other damage reduction Skills such as Tough Skin or Heat Resistance. I would surmise that the Blight has learned something akin to – for example – Thunder Rod Resistance."
Rob paused. Elatra didn't have a specified 'Bullet Resistance' Skill, but that was because conventional firearms had been removed from the system for balancing purposes. The Blight wouldn't give two shits about balance. They'd cheerfully grant themselves Bullet Resistance, Missile Resistance, and whatever else tickled their fancy.
And the more Earth fought back, the more resistant they'd become.
"...This doesn't change anything," Rob eventually concluded. "Earth is a big boy planet. It'll figure something out. In the meantime, we'll clean up our problems here and be ready to help if the Blight's still around by then."
"You're sure?" Keira asked. Two words that held so much intent. 'Are you sure you'll be alright? Are you sure Elatra should remain your primary concern? Are you sure you don't want to head home the instant the dimension mages create a working portal?'
Rob gave her a thumbs-up. "I'm sure. And I know you'll worry about me regardless, but I promise I'm feeling fine."
Or maybe he was just numb, and an avalanche of emotions would bury him when he least expected it. The good news was that was a problem for future-Rob to deal with. Present-Rob had one last area to investigate.
I'd be satisfied with seeing my old bedroom intact, he thought, as the dimension mages altered the viewing window for the last time. I have strong memories there, right? It should be a candidate. Those late night Netflix binges were uh...riveting. Yeah.
The window finalized.
Rob felt the strength leave his body.
Some parts of what he was seeing were incongruous. Strange details that he'd need to figure out soon. All of it took a hard backseat to the one sight in the room that truly mattered.
Jason was alive.
He was at his house that Rob had visited so often. Alive. Surrounded by people. Alive. Chatting away. Alive. Gesturing in that exaggerated manner he often used. Alive.
Smiling.
Alive.
A dam broke. Silent tears began streaming down Rob's face. Thoughts cut out, leaving only the realization that his best friend since childhood, the sole person he'd have trusted with his life before meeting Riardin's Rangers, the man whose place he'd taken when the gods picked a new chew toy...
Was alive.
"Hey, man." Rob's smile was the most genuine it had been in a long time. "Been a while."
At that moment, almost as if he could hear him, Jason grinned.
​
--
​
Author's Note:
When I was writing Chapter 199, I was mildly annoyed that Rob didn't reach 200 Vitality on Chapter 200. That would've been hilariously coincidental. But if I had to choose between that chapter or this one for a big milestone...I think I like this better.
Happy Chapter 200, everyone. Thanks for reading and staying on this journey with me.

‼️URGENT‼️
CONDO UNIT FURNISHED FOR RENT!
LF: 1 male replacement from DLSU or CSB (2 roommates are staying with you, both from DLSU) - 20k including association dues (6.6k each for rent for 3 pax) - 2 months deposit and 1 month advance
End of Contract: January 2024
📍 GREEN RESIDENCES
✅ 30th floor ✅ near De La Salle University ✅ Semi Furnished w/ 1 available bunk bed, Sofa set, washing machine, refrigerator, rice cooker, air fryer, microwave, shower heater, air conditioner, closet, vanity table ✅ Spacious ✅ Available for viewing (pm to set a schedule for viewing) ✅ July 16 MOVE IN
Reason for moving out: moving somewhere near CSB
PM for more details!