“GJA MIKK FARURM, THO OLVJORJE TIKUND!” The dwarf screamed at me.
I sighed and carried on waiting for my mana to regenerate. The dwarf was floating in the air, courtesy of [Force Lord]. He’d long since tossed his sword at me, which already laid buried beside my impromptu seat against a nearby tree.
Despite the furious swinging of the dwarf at the air, which was ridiculously fast and powerful due to his rank S race and mythic rarity, I managed to keep him floating in midair without too much trouble. As a force elemental, all I had to do was release force mana and will it to counteract any movements he made with his flailing.
Naturally, the dwarf was only getting angrier and angrier as time went on.
“GJA FARURM AVOR MIKK URGRITH MJU THO VLJAEZ AVOR SKIRTH, ETHR JEG'LL DWOPA ZGNI JOTH UDOV OZ SHOVE DATH OBBI JOTH EZOL!”
Language Learning Process – Neo-Dwarven 47.06%
While I couldn’t understand what the dwarf was saying, it couldn’t be anything kind.
‘Still, it’s best to let him rant until I learn his language. No sense in letting them now about teaching them a surface language – let alone about the surface itself.’ I thought.
***
Language Learning Process – Neo-Dwarven 100%
Neo-Dwarven Language Learning Complete; You can now speak, read, and write in Neo-Dwarven!
“-WEAR, IF YOU ELF BITCH DON’T LET ME GO RIGHT THIS INSTANT, I’LL TAKE MY SWORD AND SHOVE IT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS I’LL TURN YOU INTO A FUCKING SHISH KEBAB!”
I supressed my urge to wince at the dwarf’s vulgarity and stood up, dusting off my rear as I slowly approached him.
“Hi, Mr. Dwarf. I just finished learning Neo-Dwarven. There’s much for me to talk about with you, but we can’t do that if you insist on attacking me. If I let you down, will you promise to sit down and talk?”
“YOU CAN TAKE YOUR TALK AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!” he yelled.
This time, my brow twitched.
“I’ve only understood two sentences you’ve said so far, and both of them mentioned shoving things up my rear. That’s not polite, is it?” I said, trying my best to remain diplomatic.
“Hah! You elves have always been pansies! Shoving things up your ass is a long honoured Dwarven tradition!”
The Dwarf clutched his stomach and laughed heartily as my friendly and diplomatic face completely fell apart.
“…”
Once again, I sighed in defeat.
“Look, Dwarf, whatever your and your peoples’… passions happen to be, let’s leave that aside for now. Instead, let’s start with names. My name is Kiara. Do you mind telling me yours?”
The dwarf settled down and harrumphed at me.
“Normally, I wouldn’t share my name with an uppity Elf like you, but you have me at a disadvantage. The name’s Nedror Duskstone. And none of that ‘mister’ crap, you hear?! I’d sooner dig my own grave and shove the shovel up my-”
“A pleasure to meet you, Nedror.” I interrupted more than a little forcefully.
“In any case, would you mind telling me why you attacked me? If I don’t know what provoked you, then there’s nothing preventing me from accidentally doing it again.”
Nedror blinked at me.
“You’re an elf.”
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“Uh huh. And…?” I responded, receiving a mere blank stare in response.
“That’s it?! You attacked me just because I am an Elf?!” I yelled incredulously.
“What do you mean ‘that’s it?!’ We’ve been at total war for centuries!” he yelled back.
I put a hand to my face and shook my head.
“Fine. Tell me more about this centuries-old war.” I said, and Nedror grinned.
“It all started when you elves betrayed us at the battle of Val Moldur…”
***
“…and that’s why we Dwarves have the right to kill every last elf, you vermin are out to kill us all from Hirturum to Nolkhuldor!”
Fifteen minutes later, Nedror finally finished his rant, and I’d long lost him on that trail of thought.
“Right… Anyway, so does any of that history mean you can’t speak amicably to me personally?” I asked.
“Of course not. As long as you’re an elf, there can be no peace between us.” Nedror scoffed.
I sighed.
“Well, what if I am not an elf?”
This time, it was Nedror who looked at me dumbfounded.
“Taurus dung, what do you mean ‘If I am not an elf?!’” he yelled.
I rolled my eyes.
“Just watch me.” I said, using [Shapeshift] to transform into a Kobold.
Nedror’s eyes widened in surprise and horror. Once my transformation was done, I finally looked again to Nedror.
“How about now? Can we talk?” I asked hopefully.
“You’re a filthy Kobold mutt?!”
“…”
“I knew something was off about you! Elves are treacherous bastards but far too snobby to even consider talking to the other races! How did I never realize you were a mangy Kobold!”
I took in a deep breath to calm down.
“Why do you have a problem with the Kobolds, too?” I asked exasperatedly.
“That goes back to the Kobold massacre 379 years ago at-”
“Okay, fine, stop!” I yelled, desperate to stop him from going on another unhinged rant on what was probably conveniently recorded history.
“Is there any race on the entire layer you don’t take issue with?!”
Nedror opened his mouth then closed it and began rubbing his beard. Eventually, he came to an answer.
“No.” he said.
“If I told you I was a dwarf with a shapeshifting spell, would you sit down to talk to me?!” I yelled.
Nedror’s eyes widened once more.
“You’re one of the Jade-Hand Dwarves! I knew it!” Nedror said and glared at me.
“URRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I clutched my head in despair.
***
“…What do you mean, outside? There is no outside. There’s only the 25th layer. Unless you’re a demon from another dimension…” Nedror narrowed his eyes at me.
Before he could narrow his eyes in further, I raised my hands in defeat.
“Look, Nedror, I don’t care who or what you think I am, but can you settle down and talk about literally anything else?! It should be obvious I am not trying to pick a fight with you, you stubborn bastard!”
Hearing that, Nedror laughed.
“Why didn’t you say so, lass?! Sure, why not?”
It took every last shred of willpower I had to keep my hands off Nedror’s neck and wringing it with my bare hands. I had no idea whether or not he was messing with me, but it was driving me crazy.
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before I finally addressed the infuriating dwarf.
“Nedror, why do you assume there is nothing beyond the 25th layer? Why not a 24th layer or a 26th layer?”
Nedror shrugged.
“…I don’t know, everyone else seems to think so. They can’t all be wrong, can they?”
I nodded.
“Alright, let’s move on to another question. How come every creature on this layer is a mythic rank S creature of the mythic rarity, while their classes are common or uncommon at best?” I asked.
“…Come again?” Nedrir asked.
“I said, how come-”
“No, no, no. I meant what you called the rarity of our species, what did you say it was?” He said, stifling what seemed to be a cough.
“Uhh, mythic rarity?”
“…Mythic rarity. Pfft-”
Nedror laughed.
He laughed so hard his eyes began tearing up.
He laughed so hard, he nearly choked on his own saliva.
“Mythic rarity, oh my goodness! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Nedror wiped off his tears only to laugh even harder.
“What else… Ohohoho, what else do you call the other rarities?” he asked as he caught his breath while laughing.
“…Below the mythic rarity,” I said, to the revived laughter of the dwarf, “comes the legendary rarity.”
“Piss-yellow is now legendary… Oh my ores!” Nedror guffawed.
Grinding my teeth, I continued.
“Below that comes blue, which is rare.”
“You managed to make bruise-blue sound special, well-done lass!”
***
By the time I got Nedror to settle down, we’d gone through the rarities. Apparently, the names the dwarves had for the rarities were theirs alone, since they didn’t communicate with the other races.
Also, I realized a little too late that there was no point in trying to pry any information out of Nedror. I would sooner go bald with stress than get what I wanted from him.
“So, Nedror, I really don’t want to be wearing inferior Elven gear, as you would know. I, of course, would like to purchase superior Dwarven ones instead. Do you mind taking me to the nearest Dwarven settlement so I could rectify that?” I asked.
“Why, of course I would! I would never forgive myself for condemning anyone to that fate!” he said, suddenly looking offended.
I nodded and set him down gently on the ground. Nedror than took his sword from the ground and sheathed it.
“Follow me, the closest town to this place is Nonyuhr.” He said, already turning around to head away from the forest.
I quickly caught up and tapped his shoulder.
“That’s good to hear and everything, Nedror, but how long of a walk should I expect until we get there?” I asked.
“Why, it’s a very short trip, I say! Merely a nine days’ walk!”