Merriheim
10th Muriel, 1093.
Kashi leaked a smile as he hummed along to the sounds of laughter and music bouncing around the icy dome. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted Lunette dancing in circles with her arm hooked around some random adventurer, their feet desperately trying to match the rapidly increasing beats of several drums donated by Diegel. Once again, Kashi found himself heavily indebted to the beautiful songstress. Her ability to wow crowds had saved him and the Maggots from a sticky situation.
As one would have expected, after being trapped for more than six hours with no way to know how much longer they would have to wait, murmurs of discontent began to arise in droves. With the situation deteriorating exponentially, Kashi's gaze slightly narrowed, his head already calculating the fastest method to take down the opposition when Lunette placed a hand on his arm and shook her head with a smile.
At the time, the daeben had stared dumbly at her, only realizing her intentions after she spoke to the triplets and had them donate any spare instruments they had. Luckily, Diegel was a bit of a hoarder, so there was an abundance of drums that were relatively easy to use instead of the technique-reliant string and wind instruments.
Thirty minutes and a few songs later, the hostile atmosphere had all been destroyed, leaving people laughing and cheering. At some corners, eager men and women had stripped to tops and pants before wrestling with each other, affected by the mood. Some people, drawn by curiosity, had attempted conversation with the reticent dwarves. And although at first, there was no sign of progress, when Lunette personally held a dwarf's hand and clasped it with a young halben, both men found their guards drop a little and engaged in terse conversations. Soon after, the two loudly guffawed while debunking each other's exaggerated adventure tales.
Although Kashi was also affected by the jubilant atmosphere, he quickly found himself an excuse to avoid being called up to join in the festivities. The unholy trinity learned a thing about dancing when Razznik was required to attend a noble's ball as a reward for clearing out a group of devils. At the time, Suzuki was taught formal dancing from Ayumi, but if Kashi dared join these adventurers to dance wildly, he would only end up making a fool of himself.
To avoid this embarrassment, Kashi was guarded by dwarfs as he focused on the almost finished painting before him. It depicted the merry scene before him, with a little exaggeration on his part. Even though Kashi regarded the picture as an experiment, he had still given it everything he had, as he had long since learned that the amount of 'heart' inserted into a painting heavily affected its overall score.
Kashi released a sigh of relief as he finished the final detail on a flying shirt, then raised Rosario. He gazed at the painting, then nodded, satisfied. As if sensing his satisfaction, the system asked for a name. Kashi glanced at the singing crowd, then murmured, "The Mess Hall."
Fine Piece: The Mess Hall
The heart of a jubilant celebration can be found within. Whoever gazes upon this painting will find themselves filled with joy and the vigor of life.
Artistic Value: 120
Requirements Met: Essence of Art can be Applied
Effects
Stamina + 5% for 3 Hours
Agility + 10% for 4 Hours
Effects do not stack with other paintings.
Number of Fine Pieces Created: 135
Kashi glossed over the stats, his gaze only pausing at the Essence of Art prompt. It was as he thought. He had tried a few pieces before this one, but the Essence of Art prompt did not appear, nor did his Dimensional Artist skill proficiency increase. He hesitated, then muttered, "Essence of Art."
Immediately Kashi shut his eyes and had to resist an urge to throw up as he suffered a vast sucking force that seemed like it wished to drain him of his vitality. Luckily it ended after he had lost exactly 3000MP. He then opened his eyes, which sparkled with renewed jubilee as he inspected the improved painting.
The Mess Hall now seemed like a living painting, with the men and women inside it moving and dancing across the entire picture. Unlike the Story Painting of Twilight Wolf, it did not seem to be a short loop, but rather a window into a dimension where these souls were forever partying. What's more, the painting had evolved into a Grand Piece.
Grand Piece: The Mess Hall (Essence of Art)
The heart of a jubilant celebration can be found within. Whoever gazes upon this painting will find themselves filled with joy and the vigor of life.
Artistic Value: 240
Effects
Stamina + 10% for 3 Hours
Agility + 20% for 4 Hours
Effects do not stack with other paintings.
Number of Grand Pieces Created: 3
The effects had doubled! But Kashi was not as interested in that as he was the most important of all, the Dimensional Artist skill finally increased by about twenty-five percent. It seemed he could finally understand why his Dimensional Artist Skill had not activated until now.
It appeared that unlike his ordinary Painting skill, the Dimensional Artist skill only enhanced when paintings had a somewhat supernatural nature. And weirdly enough, despite the dozens of pictures he had made, only three met these requirements: Twilight Wolf, Aygorian Citadel, and The Mess Hall.
Out of those three, Twilight Wolf seemed to lack enough 'something' to activate the Dimensional Artist skill. At least he now had the Essence of Art skill. Until he made his paintings possess a supernatural nature by will, he would have to rely on that skill to level the Dimensional Artist skill.
Satisfied, Kashi hummed a pleasant tune as he placed the painting in his inventory. Since he had fulfilled his goal, he decided to join the dwarf Otto for a more in-depth chat on their future aspirations. He had only stood up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Accompanying that hand was a laugh that sent shivers down the daeben's spine. "Hahaha! I really should book an appointment for the future. Elsewhen you get famous, I would have to wait in line for a painting."
Kashi's smile froze as he turned to see Aygor beaming at him. To his surprise—Ah, no, it wasn't a surprise, was it. The old man was a god after all—no one else in the room seemed to notice the dwarf god's presence. "Ah, Esteemed Senior, you should not make such jokes," Kashi weakly laughed. "One such as you would never have to wait in line for anything."
"Such confidence!" Aygor's grin widened as he clapped Kashi's shoulders. "You truly believe you will one day have a painting worthy of my attention."
Perhaps due to Aygor's demeanor, Kashi found himself relaxing. Even though he did not fear Aygor, he was still not sure how exactly to handle himself in front of a being whose sneeze could wipe all his cells to oblivion. With increasing bravado, Kashi returned a grin of his own, "Naturally. Not only shall you enjoy it, I dare say Lord Ferulic himself will one day marvel at my paintings."
"Perhaps," Aygor muttered with a brief sigh. However, his gaze soon brightened as he teased, "But father needs to be freed first before he can call your work 'trash'."
Kashi revealed an arrogant smirk. "I originally planned on doing that anyway, but now I'll do it just so your jaw drops when your father calls me Sensei." If anyone else heard this conversation, they would probably wet themselves from fright.
Aygor's eyes flashed with disbelief before he threw his head back in exaggerated laughter. "HAHAHAHA! Okay then! We shall bet on it! If you can get my father to praise your work, I'll gift you three things. However, if my father calls your work trash, you have to gift me thirty paintings of minimum Divine Quality. I bet even Suvron would be jealous of that."
"Fine, I accept," Kashi declared and held out his hand.
Aygor once more released loud laughter as he took Kashi's hand in a firm handshake. "To think a god would share a handshake with a mortal..." He paused after Kashi released his grip, a conflicted look in his eyes. Finally, he harrumphed as a book appeared in his hand. I will probably be punished for this, but I have never found a more worthy individual. A little favoritism is only normal.
"Here, this is for you," Aygor handed the book over to the confused daeben. "You do not deserve it right now, but at this rate, your progress will be too slow. A word of warning, however: Do not get complacent. Unlike the other tome, for the sake of fairness, I am forced to divide this tome into several volumes and share them across the world in dungeons and special venues. As such, you shall only have a few months' headstart before the rest of the world catches up. I suggest you use it wisely."
Kashi registered Aygor's warning with a grave expression, as the book's prompt showed the severity of the situation.
Runes of Creation [Unique Divine Tome]
Remnants of the first civilization, runes are the physical representations of the language of the gods, used since ancient times to channel power and affect the world in similar ways to the days of creation. Within this tome are all the runes known to man and god.
Warning: Ensure Runemaster Level is sufficient before attempting to inscribe a rune. Failures have a high chance of damaging the user.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Universal Skills unlocked
Aygor, the god of Crafts, has split the Runes of Creations into thousands of volumes and pages, now spread across the world. Try your luck, brave warriors, and find these pages.
Kashi frowned. While the first prompt was private, the second was a public announcement from the system to all Summoned. He could imagine the guild leaders right now placing these as a priority to be found at all costs.
Since L.N.E launched, Artificer classes suffered a deep decline in popularity compared to the previous game. This was due to the severe lack of runes needed to advance and practice the class.
Artificers without runes were like blacksmiths without ores.
Fortunately, now that the runes were back, it would not be too long before eager artisans smelled the profit and started making runestones for mages' staffs.
Well, it was no real problem.
While the rest of the guilds floundered about, the Hopeful Maggots would study the runes in this tome and see how much they could advance. Yeah, Kashi could recognize the enormous advantage Aygor had given him. Which was why he stared at the dwarf god with an incredulous gaze, "Are you sure about this?"
Aygor snorted. "Hmph, do you want me to take it back?"
The tome immediately disappeared into Kashi's inventory. The daeben murmured with a sheepish smile, "Uh... I was just asking out of curiosity."
The dwarven god snorted again, humored by the daeben's shamelessness. "Well, good then." He clapped his hand, causing teleportation circles to appear under all the adventurers. Before they could utter sounds of shock, their bodies were drowned in a burst of gold light then disappeared from the dome.
Next, a section of the dome gave way to reveal magnificent double doors, with a mural of a certain daeben trampling upon another man, a drawn bow trained at the latter's forehead.
Aygor chuckled at Kashi's funny look as he handed him a rolled-up map. "You should go see your new city."
Kashi realized this was Aygor's way of dismissing him. He thought of everything the god had done for him in this short period and bowed deeply to express his thanks. "I do not know any fancy words, which will be enough to show my gratitude. So, it is with great shame that I must simply say, Thank you for all you have done."
Aygor revealed a pleased smile as he patted the daeben's shoulders and made him rise. "Some men bow a thousand times and never mean it; some believe themselves too great to bow to others, and only a select few know the true virtue behind a bow. Neither servile nor overbearing, displaying true gratitude regardless of station, high or low. To have received a true bow from a proud man such as thyself, I can be said to have obtained the rarest of treasures." The dwarven god nodded briefly as his body began to dissolve into particles of light. "Grow strong Kashi of the Daeben, and know that this god is watching over your progress."
Kashi watched the particles dissipate with a solemn look, then turned around to face the dwarfs who could only now see him. It seemed Aygor had purposely allowed them to see and hear their final exchange, which made the dwarfs' gazes contain a hint of awe and worship.
Kashi coughed to hide his awkwardness, unable to deal with all the attention, and so decided to push their attention elsewhere. He walked over to King Xafier and handed him the map. "You should show your people around their new home."
King Xafier's eyes widened with realization as he flashed Kashi an appreciative grin. Turning to face his people, he raised the map high and shouted, "Long have we suffered! Long have endured! But today, with the aid of our friends, we have not only freed ourselves from oppression but have been given a chance to start afresh in a new home bestowed by our god Aygor himself! I henceforth declare: No longer shall we hide from the world! Just as our god has blessed us, so shall we spread his name across the continent. That with every strike of our hammer, the sparks of our sweat shall blossom into a torrent of flames, baptizing this world in the name of Aygor! And as long as these embers fly, we shall not be oppressed, nor shall we oppress. Our names will be heard across the lands! Long shall the people flock to our lands to seek our expertise! Our coffers will burst with gold, and our bellies with mead. Today, we usher in a New World!"
"HUOOOAAAAA!!!!"
Kashi watched, incredulous, as the dwarfs roared with one voice, their collective emotions causing the dome to tremble as if afraid.
Filled with confidence, King Xafier made his way towards the massive double doors, but suddenly paused midway, an awkward expression on his face. He turned to Kashi and said with a fishy smile, "It is only right the savior of our people do the honors."
Kashi, although weirded out, did not overthink it and made his way to the door. Gazing at the almost eight-meter door, he admired the exquisite hard work that went into this one door.
Kashi placed his hand on the door and was about to push when he suddenly felt something leaving his body. Since he had felt a similar occurrence not too long ago, he knew it was the door sucking in some of his mana.
Just as Kashi wondered what the hell that was, he got his answer in the form of a prompt.
Bloodline Test Confirmed
Kashi of the Daeben
Exit Permitted
Kashi immediately understood. It seemed like Aygor had gifted him with a private zone within the dwarven city. He had probably warned Xafier to prevent him from making a fool of himself immediately after a rousing speech. Chuckling inwardly, Kashi took a step back as the doors swung inwards to reveal a beautiful bronze passage on the other side, with murals on the walls depicting different stages of a fight between a hooded daeben and a lightning infused man.
Kashi rained several curses at Aygor as he realized the murals continued for the length of the corridor, which rose to a flight of stairs equal distances from each other. He waited for King Xafier to lead the way and was then forced to bury his head in his hands as Kira and Syèl teased him over becoming a celebrity.
The Hopeful Maggots had fun at their leader's expense as they followed the procession of dwarfs along the bronze corridors, each marveling at Aygor's handiwork. The dwarf god had certainly chosen bronze as the theme of the city. The reflective walls, floors, and massive support pillars gave off an earthy atmosphere from the torches that lined the corridors.
Typical of a dwarven settlement, occasional channels of lava flowed from one outlet to another. At some points, there were even lava waterfalls that fell right next to passages hewn into the walls, protected by transparent materials with abnormally high melting points. Kashi could easily see the dwarven city pull in steady revenue on tourist money alone.
Eventually, Xafier and the entourage passed by the residential area. This section was designed to have buildings similar to apartment houses in the real world. Kashi created these to provide ample space for all dwarfs regardless of station. There were open spaces where the dwarfs could place anything they wanted, including playgrounds for the young'uns.
Although the dwarfs would have liked to settle down, no one rested until Xafier reached the place most important to dwarfs: The Forge!
Once they passed through the bronze gate, Kashi swallowed hard as he stared at the behemoth-like hall in front of him. Kashi felt like he was at a Boeing 797 assembly line, judging by the massive moving cauldrons that carried and transported vats of lava from one point to another, before pouring it down. From what he could make out, there was a particular sector dedicated to only making ingots from smelted ore. At the moment, bronze ores were melted in cauldrons carrying a select amount of lava.
The molten mass was then carried over to a board where several ingot casts were placed. The molten mass was poured into the casts before the cauldron left for another pass. The casts, after a few minutes, was dunked into cold water, the molten ore within rapidly cooling into the form of ingots. The casts then carelessly tossed these ingots to the floor then awaited the next batch.
Kashi and the dwarfs released shouts of exhilaration as they ran from one mechanical marvel to another, disbelief, awe, and greed all over their faces. The daeben, drawing inspiration from the Hobbit movies, and several RPG games, had roughly designed a massive forge into his plans. But never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Aygor would produce something as practical as this!
More than the products this forge could make, Kashi's mind was blown away by the imagined excessive speed at which the dwarfs would advance in their crafts and ingenuity after studying such advanced works.
Otto Knutsen grabbed Kashi and gripped him in a tight bear hug, tears, and snot matting the old dwarf's beard. "Ah! AH! AH! This old man will forever remember this day!"
Kashi could understand the old man's exaggerated behavior and responded with a pat on his back. There was a bright gleam in his eyes as he took in the forge. Yes, with this, not just one, but a few dozen of that might be possible.
Although also overwhelmed, Xafier, as a king, had to comport himself with grace. After allowing his people around thirty minutes to inspect the forge, he called for them to continue their tour. They passed many new structures, including the refurbished throne room and arena, both of which filled the dwarfs with colossal pride.
They eventually made their way to a set of small weird doors with buttons by the side.
Xafier frowned when he saw what it said on the map. "This thing is called an elevator. It is supposed to carry people to any floor they wish to visit. However, the capacity is only about ten dwarfs per ride. We don't have time now, so we shall take the stairs."
The dwarfs murmured among themselves but eventually followed Xafier up a flight of stairs to the side. They ultimately reached a locked door, which opened after absorbing a bit of Xafier's mana.
The door opened to another set of corridors. Only, this one looked far grander than the previous ones, adorned with beautiful gold and silver linings crisscrossing each other like a set of waves. The gold and silver waves grew thicker as they walked the lower floors of this building and ascended. They passed several small gardens, rooms, and halls as they went even higher, the bronze walls further eaten away by the gold and silver waves.
By the time they reached the throne room on the first floor, the bronze walls had disappeared, to reveal a palace made entirely of gold and silver, as if to profess the dwarfs’ opulence. The 'surface' dwarven throne was wholly made of gold, to match the floor and pillars.
By this point, Kashi had begun to wonder whether he had overdone it a little. After all, imagination and reality were two entirely different things. A castle of gold in a painting is far different from seeing the same in real life! Of course, there was the possibility Aygor only coated the surface with gold, but somehow the daeben doubted that was the case.
Kashi's internal battle lasted only until they exited the palace. At which he point, he wryly smiled and came to a definite verdict. He overdid it!!!
Two forty-meter dwarven statues stood at both sides of the two hundred steps leading up to the castle entrance, their massive mallets crossing each other above the palace entrance. But these could only serve as backdrops to the truly astonishing sight!
Across vast swathes of empty earth, a massive wall, over a hundred meters in height stood imposingly at the far distance, its menacing height a blatant provocation to the world. "Come, Come attack me if you dare!" As if one of these bad boys was not enough, several kilometers ahead, was a second, and then a third!
Kashi had never seen anything so unreasonable in this world before and could not help but release a dry cough in embarrassment. Christ, if the dwarfs every chose to close their gates, then the only course of attack would be by air. Forget siege towers and catapults. He doubted any of those would prove useful on a wall that was around ten meters thick.
Gazing at the far walls, Kashi felt a sense of relief wash through him. After he left, he would not need to fear the dwarfs getting attacked by other guilds or players for a good while. Satisfied with the results of the tour, Kashi refrained from joining the celebrities and instead made his way back to the icy dome, or 'Hall of Heroes', as Xafier would choose to call it in the future.
He closed the door behind him, then shut his eyes.
Kashi had been in the world too long. It was time for Suzuki to come out and play...