I shiver at the freezing temperatures. This last dungeon we’re mining in is an icy wasteland that we only came to in order to gather up the last of the higher-tier coal Maria needs. Just like the desert, I’m not losing HP from being here, but it absolutely sucks being this cold for this long. I think my Vigor is having to work overtime just to keep my hands from going numb or freezing solid at that rate, but I’d rather just hurry up and get out as soon as I can.
I hide a groan from Maria. If the cold was my only problem, I think I’d be able to push through, but I think something about my new skill makes whatever I’m learning from my party members stick a little better, or maybe it’s just the Intelligence increase that I’ve gotten, but for whatever the reason may be, I know more than I’d ever really hoped to about the metals that go into smithing a good weapon, and countless other items for that matter. Once she was done with her introductory lesson on that, she started describing how some metals work better with specific Runes for enchants, and unfortunately I was able to handle learning most of it.
My head is full to bursting with new knowledge, and my Intelligence has increased by fifty-one thanks to Maria’s lessons and a Level I was able to get in the Orc dungeon we mined the higher-tier iron in. The bag Maria brought to lug the ores around in is almost full as well. At least that’s what she says. One of the things she’d tried to explain to me was the pocket dimensions that make the ‘Bags of Holding’ work, but unfortunately, that was after explaining everything else, and I wasn’t able to fully grasp it.
Maybe I didn’t manage to hide my groan that well, as Maria says, “If you want to go and try and fight the boss, I can handle finishing up here. It should be a Level forty-five or so [Snow Golem]. Should be relatively manageable for you. I’ll head there in a bit just in case it’s more than you can handle, but it should most likely be a piece of cake.”
I try not to let out a sigh of relief and say, “Are you sure? I can keep helping if you need.”
“I’ve got it. You made a job that usually would have taken two or three days on my own and helped me get it done in one, and even beyond all the ores I was able to get, I increased a lot of stats by a decent bit too. Go on and get out of here.”
That’s all I needed to hear. Without having her say it a third time, I head off searching for the shimmering portal that signifies the boss room.
After fifteen minutes of searching in the blistering cold, I squint my eyes against the icy winds as I make out what looks like a soft green portal in the distance. I march up to it, not really feeling the same unease that I usually feel when looking at a portal. I’m not sure if it’s the strength I’ve gained giving me confidence or if it’s something else I don’t understand, but the portal doesn’t feel as ominous as they usually do. It almost feels inviting, friendly even.
More than a little bit perplexed at my sudden surge of confidence, I sling my weapon over my shoulder and enter the portal. Instead of the rushing cold winds and dark icy wasteland I expect to find on the other side of the portal, I’m surprised to find warmth and soft flickering light emanating from a fireplace. I look around at the cozy cottage I find myself in and see the frozen tundra through a frosted windowpane. More confused than before, I unsling my weapon and take a few steps further into the cottage when I hear a soft humming that reminds me of a song my grandmother would hum when she baked.
I level my hammer at the sound and am surprised when a very small, stout woman opens a door from what I can barely make out is a kitchen beyond the door and walks over to a rocking chair with a steaming mug. I’m completely out of my element. What’s going on here? She’s almost completely ignoring me, barely acknowledging my direction as she sets her mug down after taking a sip and picks up a set of needles.
I crouch down slightly expecting some sort of attack, but once again, she does the opposite of what I’d expect and begins knitting. I set the head of the hammer on the floor and scratch the back of my head in confusion. “Careful of the floors, dear,” she says as I do.
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As I’m wondering if Maria’s Rune explanations somehow caused some sort of psychotic break in my brain, she speaks again, “Feel free to have a seat on the couch; it’s cold out there, and I’d imagine you took the effects of it pretty hard without any cold resistance or armor to protect you. It’s interesting; I’d expected the human that might visit me to be wearing some armor if they were strong enough to get here, but you are a curious one indeed.”
I raise my hammer and, in more of a panic than I would’ve been against a typical boss monster, say, “So you aren’t human? What are you then? Is this not the boss room? Where are we? Are we supposed to fight? What’s going on here?”
“My my, so many questions, and you didn’t even give me a chance to answer them all. The youth these days. Did your mother not teach you manners? Allow me to refresh them for you. Hello, welcome to my humble abode; my name is Dalia Hearthhands, and you are?” She says with a slight chuckle.
“My name is Michael. Do you know why I’m here?” I say, slightly relaxing my guard. If the woman in front of me wanted to cause me harm, I’m pretty sure she would’ve done so already. It could be a trap, but the warmth in her voice and the way she reminds me of my grandmother are working pretty well to dismiss my unease.
“See, I knew you had it in you. I’m sorry to have caused you any unease, Michael. Technically, I brought you here, but I wasn’t targeting you specifically. I wanted to meet a human and see if they really are as ruthless and murderous as I’ve been told they are. Before I answer some of your other questions, why don’t we exchange information? You ask me a question; I ask you a question. I feel like that’s a fair trade. I gain information about humans and what you know of my kind, and you may ask whatever you desire of me.”
I set my hammer down more softly this time, but make sure it’s still within arms reach, and sit on the couch opposite of her. “I guess that’s fine. Can I ask one more question before I answer anything?”
“Of course, dear, I feel it’s only fair after me playing a trick on you and bringing you here,” she says. “What is it you want to know?”
“When you said, ‘your kind,’ did you mean monsters?” I ask. I’m not sure what kind of answer she’s going to give, but I guess this is as good a way as any to get started. It’ll also be a decent way to figure out how forthcoming she’ll be with the information she’s willing to give.
“Ah, I do recall one of my friends saying that you humans do refer to us as 'monsters’. I suppose that yes, I do qualify as one of your ‘monsters’ as you so eloquently put it, but more accurately, we’re all just individuals that come from a different place than you do. Personally, I am a dwarf, and ironically, my people view yours as the monsters.” She says with a hearty laugh, confirming my suspicions and setting me back on edge.
She lets me sit and think for a moment, digesting this information; the sound of clacking knitting needles is the only sound until she speaks again, “Why have you come here, Michael? I guess more specifically, why do your people enter the portals and attack the so-called ‘monsters’?”
I consider her question for a moment before answering. “Strength usually. The experience and riches we gain by killing monsters are able to push us far beyond what we were capable of before The Collapse. The reason we ever started though, as far as I’m aware, was that mons-” I stop myself. It’s probably not very kind to keep referring to her as a monster in her own home; “creatures started coming out of the portals and killing people across my world. We go into the portals to keep them from coming out.”
She seems to mull my answer over for a second, stopping her knitting and looking up at the ceiling. She sighs and says, “I see. The next question is yours when you’re ready.” When she looks down, she seems to realize she’s almost out of yarn. As I’m thinking of my next question, she pulls an ingot of some dark metal I don’t fully recognize out of a basket to her side and begins tugging at a corner of it. In a bit of confusion, I watch her tug at it a bit more, then gasp slightly as I see a bit of the metal stringing away from the rest, almost like a nice slice of pizza. God, do I miss pizza. Why am I thinking about pizza right now? Damnit Michael, focus on the dwarf in front of you.
I slip back into reality and watch as she continues to pull and pull at the string of metal, wrapping it around her hands, and I realize with a start that she wasn’t ever knitting with yarn. “How strong are you?” slips out of my mouth before I can catch myself in an awed state I find myself in.
"Well, there’s a lot that goes into how strong someone is, Michael. However, I’ll give you a couple of them to go off of. If you’re seeking my Level, it’s 173; if you’re seeking my Strength, it’s 915; but if you’re seeking to understand what I’m doing with the metal, I have an ability that allows me to command materials to work as I desire. It’s a bit harder with higher-tier metals and items, but at my age, most of the materials I work with are persuaded easily enough. Though this Valrum is being a bit stubborn today. Must be the cold.” She answers as she reaches a part of the metal that resists her pull for a few seconds.
If my jaw was dropped before her answer, it’s found its way to the floor. This tiny dwarven woman, who is barely half my height, is over three times my Level and has almost double my Strength even with my abilities and scaling that send it skyrocketing. If she’s telling the truth, then I’m incredibly glad that I didn’t consider attacking her. It would be the equivalent of me fighting the Goblins in my first dungeon.
“Now then, what do you know about the lands that you enter through the portals?” She asks, ignoring the awe she’s inspired in me.
“Lands plural? You mean there’s more than one?” I respond.
She looks down from her knitting and smiles at me. “It looks like you’re probably going to learn more from this than I am.”