I turned around and began looking at the people within the room I was in, from what I could see it was an even split between men and women and they were all dressed in very fancy and expensive clothes that looked right out of a fairy tale. ‘It was like I was dropped in the middle of a gala. Too bad I don’t fit in with this crowd.’ I thought to myself before looking down at my hands and arms, but instead of regular clothes or a mage apparel that I would be expecting to wear I was dressed like I was some sort of royalty.

I was wearing a black and red outfit with a belt at my waist and a thin cloak over my shoulders that connected with my collar, the boots I had on my feet were some of the finest I had ever seen and I wore a pair of thin silk gloves that were partly concealed by my sleeves.

Looking around the room in confusion I only now noticed that there were banners in the same colors as my outfit with an eye like symbol in grey. As I continued looking around practically spinning around in the process I saw more and more things that I was certain weren't there before when I was looking in that direction. Things like tables with food of all sorts and even guards wearing full plate armor standing at the ready near all the entrances.

The last thing that suddenly appeared was also the most important of them all, it was a man dressed similarly to myself, only more ornate in design, sitting on what looked to be a throne chiseled from stone. The man was surrounded by a few others that were dressed very well but distinctly different from the two of us. Without even realizing it I started to walk towards him and I was only standing a few meters from him when he turned to me and spoke.

Now up close I could see the man shared a resemblance with myself, only he had short hair and a beard. “Ah, there you are Arthur. Having fun now are we? Come, come and have a drink with me. Let us celebrate before you go back to your studies.” The man smiled and gestured to a nearby woman who was handing out drinks who then handed me a silver goblet filled with what I assumed was wine.

I wanted to ask the man who he was and where we were, but something stopped me and instead I just smiled and took the goblet and drank along with him before we both broke out in laughter. After that most of my dream was a blur, and soon I awoke back on my bed confused but somewhat happy with what I just experienced.

The first thing I did after walking up was stretch out my arms and then sit up and stand before doing the same for the rest of my body. Then I picked up the clothes I placed nearby and put them on before walking over to the office for my breakfast which like the days before would consist of mushrooms and honey. Though a little worrying I had gone through a good portion of the mushrooms and honey, a little worrying but nothing some trading with Lyra and her mercenaries wouldn’t be able to fix.

Speaking of, I had basically filled most of the floor space within my bedroom with armor and weapons that I found and took with me during my adventures and it was starting to become an issue. Without a proper place to keep it all I just had to put it on the floor, even a spare room with some shelves would have been a major upgrade from my current situation.

‘I guess I can’t put this off any longer now, I am going to need to speak with Lyra and see if we can broker some sort of trade agreement between us. I guess I should bring some of the weapons in my rucksack to try and trade with.’ I thought to myself as I started to eat my breakfast. ‘Spears are something that should be carried in my hands, that leaves clubs, daggers and knives, and the one handed swords that I picked up to bring with me.’

When I was done with my breakfast that consisted of four mushrooms all dipped in honey to counter the taste I stood up and started donning my armor which I kept on the armor stand in this very room. Starting with the padding underneath I slipped on the gambeson and the leg padding before the chainmail went over top of it which was then followed by the actual plate armor that went over top of it as well. The last thing I added with the belt with the sheathe to my sword which went on the left side of my hip.

Picking up my rucksack I filled it with the nearest weapons and even a few spears that I carried in my hands, exiting the door I locked it behind myself and set out on my trip for the main entrance of Dom Badaher. I was nervous on the way upwards, I of course knew these people and spent a lot of time with them, but based on my interaction with Lyra and Aelia’s group they didn’t share any of those memories. I wasn’t particularly worried about what they would do, the worst they could say was they didn’t want to trade, but a small part of me was worried about what they might say to me.

Some time later when I eventually arrived on the top floor I found like I remembered the old traps that were left behind since the second era were exactly as they were then. I could also see two guards each carrying a spear as their main weapon and a short sword on their hip who both immediately turned to me as I appeared within their view. The two waited for me to be within a handful of meters to the doorway before they said anything.

“*Stop! Why are you here stranger?*” The oldest guard who I recognized as a subordinate of Saturio Quintilius said to me in the common language of Eevin which I unfortunately do not understand. Instead of answering with words which I knew they wouldn’t understand I instead held up the spears in my hands to show them what I had. They looked a little surprised at first and almost raised their weapons before they noticed I wasn’t doing anything indicating hostility.

Understanding somewhat of what I wanted to do here, the oldest guard lowered his weapon and gestured his right hand towards the camp where all the others were. “*You may enter stranger, but I recommend you speak with Lyra first. I understand she knows a spell to allow for easier communication between peoples without a common language.*” I didn’t understand most of what he said, but I recognized Lyra’s name and that he was likely telling me to speak with her before doing anything else.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Nodding, I stepped out of the second era dwarven city and towards the camp where all the members of the expedition were either resting, training further, or having something to eat. I saw that Aelia and her group including Cassia and Hambel were all sitting in a circle made from stone furniture that they likely carried up from somewhere in Dom Badaher.

As much as I wanted to speak with my old companions I pushed my feelings to the side and continued towards Lyra’s tent which was the largest and farthest in the whole camp. As I passed through the camp some gave me confused or surprised looks, but I was left alone and I reached her tent without issue.

Pushing open the flap of the tent I found Lyra seated at a table with several documents strewn about. Hearing the tent flap open Lyra looked up and was surprised to see me carrying various weapons in my hands and rucksack, she put down the documents and stood up to walk up to me casting a spell as she did so.

Touching my chest with her hand I felt some energy touching and expanding across my mind when she spoke. “Hello again Mr. Arthur. What brings you up here to my camp?” I could hear the nervousness in her voice as she spoke, she was worried about the relationship between us. I smirked a little at the realization and responded.

“Just a small matter regarding trading.” I said as I presented one of the spears I was carrying with me. Lyra looked it over and quickly noticed it was goblin made. “I have been collecting all sorts of weapons and armor from the goblins I have been killing over the past several weeks. Unfortunately I don’t have much room left to store anything and I figured it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to try and trade for something that I require.”

Lyra nodded along as I spoke, understanding my reasoning and relaxing as I continued, clearly I removed any worries she had about I and her mercenaries fighting amongst ourselves. “Of course, that makes perfect sense. I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to trade with us in our camp. Is there anything in particular that you might be interested in that we could offer you, such as food? We have plenty of that as of now.”

“Yes, food would definitely be something I am willing to trade for. But I am also interested in a few other things, such as dimensional bags if you have any that you are willing to spare.”

Lyra looked at me a little surprised by my statement regarding dimensional bags. “Well, I suppose I would be willing to trade the spare one I have. But it will not be cheap, and don't think what little you have brought with you today will be enough for me to part ways with it.”

I smiled at that statement recalling how she ended up giving me the bag for free last time, but things were different this time so I just nodded and asked. “How much do you think would be enough? I have a whole room that is littered with weapons and armor from my time travel throughout this ancient city. Perhaps you would like to come and have a look sometime.” Lyra’s eyes widened slightly at my statement and I knew she was interested.

We continued speaking for a few more minutes and discussed the details regarding a potential trade and when we would meet up to do a possible exchange. It would of course happen on the fifteenth floor at my room where all my valuables were located. When we were done with scheduling this exchange I left the tent to allow Lyra to finish up the paperwork she was doing with the intent to trade for some food with the weapons I had with me. Walking towards the wagons where the food was located I looked and found the people that were guarding them.

“Halt, what are you doing here stranger? Everything within these wagons are property of the Flock of War mercenary company, state your reason for being here or leave.” The guard I recognized as one of these employed by Lyra who died in the fight against the demon.

“It's alright, I am just here to do a little bit of trading. I have some weapons here that I took from goblins residing within the city that I was hoping to trade with for some food. I already spoke with Lyra and she said she was more than happy to trade for some food.” I took off my rucksack as I spoke and showed the weapons I had within which seemed to relax the guards on duty.

“Alright then, we have some bags of grounded up grains that we would be all that worried about handing over in exchange for several of those weapons. You lot, bring me some of those bags of grain along with barrels of water.” The guard said to his allies who I presumed he had authority over given how he was speaking with them, while they went to bring the bags of grain he turned to me and continued speaking. “I hope you are able to cook down there, because you are going to need to boil those grains before you eat them. If you don’t you might end up getting sick, and the few healers here are quite expensive if you don’t work for the company like the rest of us do.”

Instead of saying anything I just nodded and smiled while the other two guards brought over two bags of grain and a barrel of water. Each bag was large enough to feed more for around close to a week if I was careful about how much I was eating. I quickly handed over the spears that I had in hand in addition to the ones I carried in my rucksack, the guard was happy with what I gave him and had his allies hand me the barrel and bags of grain.

The first bag I was able to pick up on my own and carry around, the other bag and the barrel of water on the other hand were too much for me to carry on my own at the moment. Thankfully the guard was more than happy to watch over them for me while I carried them back to my room.

********

Around an hour later I was back in my room putting down the barrel of water within the office space alongside the rest of my food while I was breathing heavily. Even though my strength was above average carrying all that grain and then the barrel of water was still very tiring, if my strength was at thirty like before then it might not have been such an issue, but unfortunately I died and somehow came back a little over a year earlier.

Sitting down at my desk I began preparing for my dinner which I decided would be the grounded grains today. The first thing I did to prepare was conjure up a bowl from earth and fill it around halfway with the grounded grains, then collecting some water from the barrel I filled it until all the grain was wet. Holding my hand under the bowl I conjured up a good sized flame and started to cook the wet grains like the guard told