The meeting went on for the entire afternoon. After Totrak's density suggestion, Lija explained her spell. She had developed two ways to help during the combat. The first was a stone barrier that would have a sharp point to block the wind spells and move them away from the group. The second was called silk fall and would allow anyone who was falling to move at a slower pace, avoiding any fall damage. Hera had heard about a similar spell, but they called it feather fall. In a place where almost no one knew what a feather was, the name must have changed.
Pyrrick was the last one to talk. His contribution was the most straightforward, being an expert in buffs and debuffs. He explained that most spells made to increase one's capabilities could easily clash with one another. If a spell would increase someone's strength and agility, then another that focused solely on agility was cast. Only the higher of the two effects would be applied. Not just that, but depending on the way the magic was formulated, the second spell could even remove the strength boost given by the first. There was even the slight risk of two spells having such an adverse reaction to one another that part of its effect would change to a debuff. Thus, most buffs were created as something to be used on their own or made with their pairs in mind. This also applied when talking about debuffs. Hence, there was a need for someone specialized in the subject to create spells that would not just work well together but even complement one another. Pyrrick already had developed two spells that could boost five attributes in total, leaving only charisma unaffected and a debuff focusing on agility and strength.
He also was well versed in several different elemental buffs that could increase one's damage. As a trial run, he cast the spells in both Hera and Blue, and their attributes almost doubled. However, such a high increase was only possible for a short amount of time. Those buffs would last only ten minutes before needing to be cast again, and his mana would allow for about a dozen casts. Meaning that each would have, at the most, one hour of this buff. He could tone the effect down so it would last longer, but everyone agreed that it was better to have a massive increase for a short amount of time. Besides, Totrak and Lija would also be able to cast the buffs to help in less dangerous situations.
After the meeting, they all went back home. Sometime later, after taking a shower and resting for a couple of hours, Hera and Silah were walking down the street towards a quaint little house by the lake. At first glance, the building seemed to be made out of wood, but after a closer inspection, Hera saw that they were massive stones shaped as tree logs in reality. The attention to detail was incredible. One could even see the grooves and rings of the makeshift trees. There seemed to be a single floor with four windows in the house and a small chimney on the back. To the side, there was another building. It was round and had a much larger chimney on the side.
"So, this is where Kahala lives?" Hera asked.
"Yeah, she doesn't go out much. People see her maybe once a month in the market," Silah replied.
"Did something happen, or was she always like that?"
"I only know the stories. Apparently, after her husband passed away out of old age, she started to shut off. People said that he was her heart, and she was his mind. He… wasn't exactly the sharpest pick in the mine. Oh, that means he wasn't very smart. But people said he had a big heart."
Hera chuckled, "It's funny that you guys have that expression. We say not the sharpest tool in the shed."
Silah giggled, "Yeah, that one makes sense too. Anyway, Kahala was always moody, but her husband brought her good side to light. When he passed away, she went back to her old grumpy self."
"Maybe she's just lonely," Hera looked at the house.
"I doubt that every week one blacksmith or another comes to ask for her advice. She chases most away, but every now and then, she takes a look at what they are showing and gives them a harsh opinion," the way Silah spoke made it seem like it was from personal experience.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Hera asked.
Silah stared at Hera, surprised that she had figured out, "Do you mind if we don't? If you really want to know, that's ok, but I rather not go into details right now."
"Don't worry, but if you ever want to talk about that, I'm here."
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."
Hera looked back at the house, "What's the plan then? Do we knock and ask right away or stop to get some wine? I brought a chicken sandwich as a bribe just in case."
"What's a bribe?" Silah asked.
"Oh…" Hera stared at Silah's innocent eyes. In a society where everyone had access to food, water, and supplies, bribing someone to get their way must have never crossed their minds, "Nevermind that. This is just a gift. Maybe after a meal, her mood improves."
"So humans call gifts bribes? I'll have to remember that."
For the first time, Hera considered what it meant to expose the dwarves to her society. Humans were greedy, money-driven locusts. When their societies clashed, Silah and the others would be exposed to all kinds of nasty behaviors.
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"Please don't. A bribe is another thing entirely. I'll explain to you later," Hera tried to quickly change the subject.
"Ok… why are you being weird?" Silah asked.
"Don't worry about that. What are we going to do?"
"Well, I hope that seeing you makes her interested. If not, I have your armor here. Maybe seeing the craftsmanship of a different society will perk her up," Silah explained.
They walked up to the house and knocked on the door. After a long time waiting, no one seemed to be home, but Silah knocked again. More time when by before Hera said, "Maybe she's not home?"
"Oh no, she is. We just have to annoy her enough before she shows up. The last time I did this, I spent two hours knocking."
"Two hours? Are we going to be here that long?" Hera gasped.
"I doubt it. It's late, and rumors say that Kahala likes to sleep early since she's so old."
"You people should stop talking about me behind my back!" Kahala slammed the door open, almost hitting Hera and Silah.
The armorsmith was a bit shorter than Silah, not that it made too much of a difference for Hera. All dwarves were short, and unless they were right next to each other, she couldn't tell who was taller. Kahala was wearing what looked like her pajamas, a long-sleeved shirt stained and beaten up, and a pair of wool pants. Her hair was mostly white and oily, as if it hadn't been washed in weeks, and her face was bony and wrinkled. Silah had told her that the armorsmith was 280 years old, but she looked much older than Risli, who was getting very close to her 300.
"No one is talking about you. I just knew that you would complain about that, you old hag."
"Bah, it had to be the so-called genius blacksmith. Have you figured out how to melt iron yet?" Kahala scoffed.
Silah was about to say something back, but she stopped and took a deep breath, "I'm not here to talk about me. This is Hera, one of the humans who arrived in the city a while ago. I'm sure you know about that."
"Yeah, yeah. I heard about you. Where is your friend with blue hair? I heard you two practically wore the same pair of pants," Kahala took a long look at Hera, "You're tall. Unnecessarily tall."
"And you are old. Unnecessarily old," Silah replied.
Kahala turned back to the dwarf, "I know why you are here, and the answer is no. I don't care for who it is. I'm not making a set of armor."
"Then help me fix the one they have. It's made by humans, and I'm not sure how they did it," Silah pulled Hera's armor from the basket she was carrying.
Kahala glanced at the armor without interest, but that quickly changed. She pulled the armor and started analyzing the scales. Without saying a thing, she walked inside her house with the scale mail still in her hand. Hera got a bit worried about losing her armor, but Silah walked inside with a satisfied expression.
"Come in. She's interested," Silah smiled.
The house wasn't that tall, and Hera had to bend down a bit or risk getting a neck sprain. It was a small place with a single bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and living room. The furniture was also very simple, just some chairs and a desk, no decorations or anything like that. However, there were piles and piles of ores and ingots spread around the entire place. In the corner of the living room, behind the couch, a massive pile of gold ores was going halfway to the ceiling. Hera half expected a small dragon to appear from it. Doing a closer inspection, all the rubble and metal on the floor had a thick layer of dust and dirt covering them. It looked like they were there for a long time.
"This is a mess," Hera mumbled, thanking her height for being far away from the dust.
"Bothered by a little dust human?" Kahala scoffed, but her eyes were still glued to the armor.
"A little? No, but this is more than I can take."
"Humans seem to be really weak, maybe you should…" Kahala stopped talking to sneeze and cleaned her nose with an old grey rag, "… should spend less time prancing about and make sure you have strong bodies."
Hera stared at the dwarf, "You just sneezed. You do realize that all this dust is making it worse, right?"
"Dirt won't make me sneeze. I've been in the mines for longer than you breathe air," Kahala scoffed.
"Not dirt. Dust," Hera passed her finger through one of the ingots close by, removing a layer of dust, "This! I know you depend a lot on healing spells, but basic hygiene is still a thing you know. If you clean this place up, you will stop sneezing, I guarantee it."
"I'll get Ogryn to clean this up later. He's been bugging me to do that for months. Now can you stop complaining about my house and sit down," for the first time, Kahala moved her attention away from the armor.
"Sorry," Hera moved over and sat on a chair by the table where her armor was on display.
"How did you do this?" Kahala asked, pointing at one of the scales.
"I don't know. I wasn't the one who made it."
"Bah, you are no help."
"What's so interesting about this Kahala? I mean, the craftsmanship is not that amazing," Silah asked.
"That's why you are no genius. Look at these scales. What do you see?"
Silah inspected the scales for a moment but couldn't grasp anything out of the ordinary, "Nothing special. They are all the same."
"Exactly the same."
"So?"
"By the mountain, child. Can you not be dense for five minutes? How can someone make two identical scales? It doesn't matter how you forge it. There will always be slight differences, places where the swing of the hammer was a fraction too strong or where the metal cooled off a bit too much. I could understand if one or two scales looked very similar, but all of them are the same," Kahala showed the armor again.
"You… you are right! How is this even possible?" Silah gasped.
"Oh, he probably cast those scales," Hera said.
"He used a spell? Is that why the enchantment in this armor is such a mess?" Kahala asked.
"No, not a spell. He used a mold to make the scales."
"Stop talking nonsense and explain properly, Heka," Kahala slammed her hands on the table.
"Listen, lady. I'm trying to be polite with you, but you only complained ever since we got here, and I even brought you a chicken sandwich. That's meat from the Sky Rulers," Hera tossed the sandwich on the table, "But I'm sick of people with some power treating me like crap, asking me to do this and that but still can't remember my damn name. I'm fine with explaining what casting is, but one, stop giving me attitude, two, if you don't understand something I said, ask about it nicely, and three, call me by my name. It's Hera."
That reaction caught even Hera off guard. She didn't know that she had all that bubbling up under the surface. Hera glanced at Silah, who stared back with wide eyes and then towards Kahala, who started laughing after a moment.
"Now that I like. I'm tired of people kissing my ass all the time. I see a little of me in you now, the anger, bravery, and stupidity of talking like that with someone who can snap you like a twig," Kahala picked up the sandwich and took a bite, "Start from the beginning. What is that casting thing, and why are fungus involved?"
Hera sighed, "It's not fungus. Molds are like… hollow shapes. Do you have an apple or something? It's easier if I show you."