“Remember the cover story,” Blanche said as they neared the village, according to him at least. “You’re the apprentice I took on a week ago, and we’re heading to the capital to get you tested into the Royal Academy.”

”Hm,” Alice made a noncommittal sound. Truthfully, Blanche’s words were barely registering in her mind as her attention was primarily on locating the dwarf village.

Alice lifted and lowered her gaze, scouring the forest for any sight of what a dwarf village could be like. In her head, she was imagining a miniature village with tons of stone hovels, preferably next to a mountain with a mine attached to it.

Wait...hold on a sec…am I basing it on fairy tales? Particularly fairy tales from her village that had already been disproven by the presence of Blanche? Alice grimaced; she really needed to keep her memories and biases from her village separate from the rest of the world.

As Alice berated herself, Blanche halted in his tracks. Noting his footsteps had stopped, Alice looked up and saw that they were in front of a pair of large ferns, which were positioned against each other to cover up an opening. If Alice concentrated and tilted her head towards the fern, the high-pitched joyful screaming of children was lingering in the air behind it.

She directed her gaze to Blanche, whose face was unusually still, like he was actively trying to hide his emotions rather than his usual callous displays. A suspicion began forming in Alice’s mind at Blanche’s odd attitude; was it possible he had a falling out with his village? Perhaps that was why he lived like a hermit out in the forest?

”Are you okay?” Alice asked, raising a hand to pat Blanche’s shoulder before withdrawing it when he glowered at her.

”Yeah, I’m okay. Are you absolutely certain you remember the cover story?” Blanche asked, his glinting eyes promising pain if her answer was anything less than satisfactory.

Alice had thought she did but now that she was placed under pressure, her resolve was quickly dissolving. She ran through the past ten minutes Blanche had spent drilling the cover story into her mind and decided she knew it well enough. “Yep! Totally! I do!”

Blanche’s gaze remained level with hers and for a split second, Alice was worried he had seen through her flimsy defenses. Then he turned and Alice let out a sigh, body sagging as the tension released from her muscles. “I suppose that’s all I can ask from you. When we go into the village, do not stray away from me, no matter what you may encounter,” Blanche said.

Alice’s heart beat against her ribs. Blanche was acting out of the norm, and that didn’t bode well for her. Her head bobbed back and forth, but Blanche was already reaching for a fern, pulling it away from its position. Sunlight streamed in through the sudden gap and the volume of the shrieking drastically increased. Blanche nudged Alice forward with a foot and before she knew it, she was stumbling out into a enormous clearing.

Alice paused, her eyes wide as platters as she tried taking everything in all at once. Rolling fields of grass blew in conjunction with the wind, creating a hypnotizing effect. If Alice squinted, she could spot multiple tiny splotches of colors playing in the after-mentioned grass fields, most in a bundle. However, her gaze soon moved to the main spectacle; nestled in the valley below, spanning wider than her own town, was the village of the dwarfs. There was no doubt in Alice’s mind about it. The moment she laid eyes on the village, an instinctive pull in her stomach told her it was the dwarf village, despite never having seen it before.

The urge to examine the village in more detail overcame Alice, and she took a step forward. She heard Blanche roar something and something yanked at her backpack, pulling her back.

However, it was too late. Much to her disbelief, her first step had found her foot meeting with thin air. For a brief moment, she hung against the hill by the backpack straps, her armpits burning as the leather pulled against her flesh.

Then there was a snap, and she was falling, the world turning round and round in a dizzying play, colors switching rapidly and the feeling of grass against her flesh all contributing to making her nauseous. Alice forced back a gag, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes; when would this torture end?

After what felt like a thousand years, the ground leveled out and Alice slowly rolled to a halt. She remained on the ground, limbs stretched out in a resemblance of a starfish as she tried to catch her breath. Nearby, grass crunched and a shadow eclipsed the soothing sun as Blanche leered over her, his lips puckered in disgust. "What are you doing, laying down? Hurry up, we have much to do."

Alice forced her aching limbs to stand her up, knowing Blanche wasn't going to offer a hand. Dusting off the bushel-load of grass that had attached itself to her, she rubbed her sore back. It was definitely going to bruise tomorrow. Blanche dumped her backpack into her arms and without wasting any more time, set off towards the village.

Since the backpack straps were now useless, Alice had to resort to wrapping her arms around the bottom and slinging it with her as she followed Blanche. Along the way, she noticed that many of the kids were staring at her. Alice tucked her face into the leather cover of the backpack, hoping it would cover up her flaming face.

As they neared the village, Alice realized there weren't any walls here either. Instead, Blanche and Alice simply walked into the village, no guards to stop their advances. When asked, Blanche snorted. "Nobody's stupid enough to go into a dwarf village without permission. Why do we need guards in our home?"

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The dwarf village was vastly different from Alice's. Instead of lean wooden buildings that loomed over people, the primary architecture of the dwarves were huts, constructed from clay. They vastly varied in size and design as well, with some being barely large enough to fit three people while some were larger than any structure in Alice's village. Many of the huts had banners and mats attached to the outside, flapping gently in the wind. The entrance to the huts wasn't covered with doors, but rather tassels that hang from above.

The streets were also far more active, with a steady stream of dwarves filling up the road. Alice found that she was near the same height as most adult dwarves, allowing her to look over the heads of the dwarves nearest to her and see more of the village. Further down the line was what appeared to be a market of sorts, with merchants having set up temporary shops on the side of the roads and yelling out offers. The smell of spices lingered in the air, drifting into Alice's nose and making her lightheaded.

Alice caught a glimpse of a large duck waddling among the crowd, but when she looked again, it was gone. She rubbed her eyes, figuring some dirt had gotten into them. There was no way a duck would be here, after all.

"In here," Blanche grunted, making a swift turn into one of the larger huts. Alice was quick to follow; right before she pushed through tassels, she glanced up and spotted a sign in archaic language. Before she could stop to study it more, somebody bumped into her from behind and she was through the doorway.

The hut she was in seemed to be a pharmacy. Boxes and herbs lined the shelves that were stacked against the wall, and a long desk at the far side of the hut served as a cashier. There was a second floor tucked just out of view, with a ladder leading up to it. Next to the ladder was an entrance to another room, covered by tassels just like all the others. Blanche called out something Alice couldn't begin to comprehend and somebody emerged from the other room, filling up the cashier desk.

He had even longer black hair than Blanche did, trailing on the floor as he approached Blanche. As the two of them hugged, Blanche wearing a very reluctant expression on his face, Alice noted the scar splicing the left eyebrow of the other man. Leaning in, Alice was able to see numerous small scars and incisions speckling the man's face and–was that a piece of his shoulder torn off?!

She attempted to get a closer look but then the man pulled away from the hug, forcing Alice to abort and act like she had been examining one of the herbs hanging from the ceiling. As Blanche and his friend conversed in their own language, Alice gently lowered the backpack onto the ground. Rubbing her shoulder, Alice stood there awkwardly, wondering if she should leave.

Finally, the man clapped Blanche on his back one last time and turned to face Alice. She stiffened under his gaze, dully noticing his alarmingly electric blue eyes. His lips pursed together and for a split second, Alice was filled with fear–then his face broke out into a large smile and he scooped her up into a hug.

Stunned, Alice remained stiff while he rocked her back and forth, feeling her bones beginning to creak. He dropped her onto the floor and just like with Blanche, clapped a hand against her back. Unlike Blanche however, Alice couldn't handle it and face planted against the floor. Picking herself up and spitting out some dirt that they had probably tracked in, Alice forced a wavery smile at the man's repeated apologies. There was no way she was going to get mad at somebody who picked her up with one hand.

//Passive Skill [Perseverance] activated. Damage reduced by 9%.

Alice’s eyebrows shot up. He was so strong that he inadvertently activated her [Perseverance] Skill?! Alice shivered; were all dwarves this strong? If he actually tried punching her, Alice didn't think she’d survive even with [Perseverance] on!

"Well, well, well! Imagine my surprise when my wayward son comes back after, how long? 9, 10 years? And with him, he brings an apprentice! Huzaah!" the man cheered, lifting a fist.

Alice spluttered. "S-son?" Her eyes darted back and forth between the two dwarves. Now that she was looking for it, she could kind of tell the genetic similarities....long, black hair, sharp face structure, same nose…but their personalities were as far apart as the North and South Pole. Not to mention, with his beard, Blanche actually looked older than his own father!

"Call me Jorgen! It's a delight to meet you! And Blanche, you made it just in time for the Juggarntorn!" Jorgen said.

Alice looked at Blanche. 'Juggarntorn?' she mouthed.

Blanche merely shook his head. "Jorgen, I didn't come back to participate in the Juggarntorn."

Jorgen scoffed, waving a meaty hand around. "Of course not, that would be foolish." Alice tapped her chin, trying to decipher what this 'Juggarntorn' could be by its name. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't realize Jorgen had come behind her until he gripped her shoulders. "Your apprentice should participate!"

"Ehhhhh?!" Alice cried, wringing her neck backward to peer at Jorgen's beaming face. She couldn't partake in a tournament she didn't have a clue about, especially if it was with other dwarves who could demonstrate as much strength as Jorgen!

Much to her relief, Blanche seemed even more apprehensive about letting her partake in Juggarntorn. "Alice isn't ready for it. She has potential, but we haven't gotten to work on harnessing it. She barely knows the fundamentals about the magic system." Alice nodded energetically, hoping his son's words would reach Jorgen.

Jorgen clicked his tongue. "I thought I would finally have a scion participate in the tournament," he murmured sourly. Nonetheless, he released Alice and she stumbled forward, rotating her arm. If this kept up, by the time they left this village, Alice would have dislocated arms. However, a word in Jorgen's sentence caught Alice's attention.

"Scion?" Alice asked as Jorgen stomped back to his place behind the desk.

"If we take an apprentice, it's similar to adopting them into our family. It's why most masters are very picky about who they choose, so they don't bring dishonor," Blanche explained without taking his eyes off Jorgen. Alice gulped, the word suddenly having newfound weight.

Blanche trusted her that much?! No, no, of course not. It was merely a cover story. Remembering that, Alice's heartbeat settled down again. But why did she feel a little disappointed?

Jorgen rested his arms on the counter. "Well, I hope you were planning on staying the night because you don't have much of a choice anymore."

Alice could almost feel Blanche stiffen, even without touching him. "What. Have. You. Done?"

Jorgen smiled, and for the first time since Alice met him, it looked sinister. "Your sister is coming."