Ozzy went from passing out to awake instantly, his eyes and sinuses burning from a horrible smell. The dwarf was back and holding something under his nose. "Ha! Thought that would do it. Shaking you didn't wake you up, had to go get some pungent swamp daisy. Smells horrible, but it will wake you fast. Let’s see how you're doing or if I have to hose you down with pepper juice again. Don't mind me at all."

The dwarf proceeded to poke and prod at Ozzy, feeling along his ribs and prodding his bruises, pulling on stitches and once bending to smell at a wound. "Don't smell any rot and you don't have a fever. Nothing growing inside of you. That's good. We can move on to the fun stuff. I'm going to start taking off the restraints, so try not to take any more swings at me."

As soon as the wooden contraption in his mouth was removed, Ozzy started yelling at the dwarf. "What the fething hell are you doing with me, you bastard? Some kind of dwarven torture?"

Makken just laughed. "Ha! You thought that was bad? You pups and your piss-ant pain tolerance. If I was trying to torture you, you think I'd be taking such good care of you? I swear, you're taking advantage of my benevolent nature again. Think I'll leave those restraints on you for a bit."

"Why the hell for?" Ozzy tested the restraints again, but as before he had no stamina and no mana and they defeated his attempts to get free."

The dwarf pointed at his nose with his good hand. "On account of my broken nose and busted wing. Here I am trying to save your darn life and you go all crazy on me. And maybe you hadn't noticed, you nincompoop, but you’re a bit strong - and I'm a bit short and dainty. You also spit out half the potions, which are not cheap! - and nearly bit off my finger, of which I'm already down a couple. The muzzle keeps you from breaking your teeth or biting off your tongue. Plus, your screaming is hard on my tender dwarven ears. Think of someone else besides yourself for once. You want me to suffer an earache?"

He stopped to catch his breath and take a sip of his beer.

"But if you don't like my medicines, and doctoring, just crawl on out of here and try walking on those legs."

Ozzy considered things for a moment as the dwarf patiently waited for an answer. "Shit, Makken, sorry for the grief, but you should have just let me die. I'm a 'player', we walk back out of death whole and hearty the next day."

Makken lit his pipe and took his time replying. "First off, I'm not up on this 'player' crap people are talking about. How should I know how quickly you can walk back from death? But what I do know is that even a trip through Hades Realm might not get rid of a Horseradish infection. Some things are hard to shake off, it's akin to a death curse, only sneakier.

"What the hell is a death curse? Is that why my stamina and mana are being drained?"

Seeing that Ozzy had calmed down, Makken started undoing the restraints on his arms. "I'm going to push you up a bit and stuff a pillow and a crate behind you so you can sit up." Getting Ozzy situated a bit better, he then pulled out a milky white potion bottle. "Now drink this down, it's another regen potion. It will start getting you back on your feet. HA! As soon as it grows you have some feet. You're missing some toes. Your stamina and mana are helping the potion regrow your missing parts and heal your wounds. That wheel ground you up something fierce and the caustic juices didn't help none. What you had in your system kept trying to kill you even after I got you out from under the wheel and started to patch you up. It was a race to get medicine in you. Had to use some potent stuff."

"As to death curses, not many critters have them. But the ones that do have them are a pain in the ass. This curse can make wounds permanent unless regeneration magic is used, change your outlook on life, saddle you with a geas, or make your ears grow or add a tail. It would have been tough to fix you up if you'd have died. I only noticed because of how you were shrugging off my healing. Had to get out my magnifier and take a look at your wounds. Found a little bit of Root inside of you."

Ozzy grumbled, "Could have explained that to me. Your bedside manner stinks."

Makken just smiled. "Well, next time I'll run get you an elf who will tell you how pretty you are and give you a lollipop. By the time you woke up, I was a bit ticked at you for breaking my beautiful nose. Wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. Had to get those wounds cleaned and chunks of Root out of you so the regen worked right. Let me get some food. You need it. Keep sipping on that potion."

Two bowls of 'wimp chili', a plate of cornbread, and a half gallon of beer disappeared when Makken put them in front of Ozzy. After that, he felt better and fell back asleep. When he awoke, Makken helped him roll off the bed onto a blanket. The dwarf then dragged him into another room which was a vast improvement. It looked like a normal bedroom with a large wooden bed, dresser, and washstand. The walls were paneled wood, as was the ceiling. A small hearth threw light and heat from the fire burning in it.

For the next two days, Ozzy ate, drank, downed a potion, and slept, repeating the cycle over and over. His wounds healed and itched like hell. At the end of the second day, he got a system notice.

[You're alive? That's surprising. Most non-dwarves don't survive dwarven 'medicine'. It's rough on other races who don't share their physical and mental toughness. What they call 'Doctoring' the rest of us call 'Torture'.

You have gained the skill: Resist Torture (CON): This is a primary skill that removes 5% of the damage and pain when someone tries to torture you. The % is increased by 5% per rank up to rank 10.

You have gained access to the Enhancement: Acid Resistance. This skill will help you to resist weak and normal acids, allowing you to take less damage and heal faster from acidic damage. Cost: Five Enhancement Points.

What did we say about 'No Pain, No Gain? Good luck gaining experience in those two skills. ]

An hour later, he was feeling hale and hearty as his normal health regeneration took over. He also found that his need to go to the bathroom had returned. With the regen potions no longer using any things he ate to make new legs, his normal functions started back up. He spent an hour sitting in Makken's outhouse cursing vegetables of all types.

The only thing Makken had for him to wear was a kilt and a pair of work boots his cousin Lem had left. This was a bit breezy, but at least he could get home in them. He and Makken had done a little of horse trading and come to an agreement. The dwarf said he'd deliver a dozen barrels of peppers and the bagged-up jumbo-sized horseradish roots to Sedgewick. Ozzy would trade him a barrel of Dragon's Breath Sausages and a dozen barrels of smoke sedgebeast, like what he made for the legion. The dwarf helped him with some ideas for a horseradish rub and which peppers might be best in the sausage. He also seemed to know quite a bit about the pit Ozzy had somehow come to own.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Yep, had a few of them back in my Grandpappy's mountain. Pit Master is a well-respected tradition among dwarven folk. Oh, there have been some that went over to the dark and you had to make sure of what went into their cooking, but overall most of them 'stayed well in the smoke', as they said. Not part of either light or dark. You've got yourself a smoke golem I take it? They can be darn helpful."

Ozzy nodded, "Yep, and seems to know his stuff - helping me improve the pit. That's the reason I came looking for peppers to make sausages. I got some new recipes when I upgraded it."

Makken walked over to a large kitchen drawer and pulled out a heavy box of mechanical parts. "I expect you'll need one of these then. This was my uncle's. Lem brought it over to try his hand at sausages but I already had a better one. That and Lem never did get his own pit done - useless sod. I'll toss in the grinder and you can owe me a favor - like coming back over next month and we'll pull the rest of those weeds out there before they get too big."

That was the last thing Ozzy wanted to do, but he did need a grinder, and next time he'd have the Acid Resistance skill and a better idea of what he was dealing with. "Deal, that will give me time to make a couple of sets of clothes...just in case." Ozzy finally got on his way with just his pack, filled up with peppers, a crock of chili, some sandwiches, and a large chunk of horseradish.

As he was getting ready to leave, Makken mentioned that a chest had appeared in the millrace. The dwarf shut off the water and went to take a look. Makken got a small paper packet of seeds. "Well, that's not bad, this is a variety of Ghostmaker Peppers I've never seen. Have to give them a try, but I bet they spice up my best chili recipe enough that it's inedible. Ozzy touched the chest, which promptly disappeared, leaving a copper armband in his hand. Something like Celtic knotwork circled the band. Makken took out a magnifying glass for Ozzy to use to identify it.

[The Giants Ring.

Taken from the corpse of a firbolg king by the hero Angus the Red. The ring was so large that Angus wore it upon his bicep. The ring made him proof against the stings of mosquitos and midges. Also handy when he fought the Great Shadow Drake of Mulcovish Pond. The ring provides 20% mitigation against black dragon’s breath and all other caustic substances. This includes damage to your tastebuds from Dwarven Chili.]

"A bit of irony in this thing, but that won't keep me from wearing it. And it's going to save me some pain on my next trip."

Makken nodded. "Aye, it's like the gods laugh at us. Many a hero has wished he could get the treasure first, then fight the dragon. Now get on your way. I have some chili cooking that I need to tend to." Ozzy shook the dwarf’s hand and got on his way.

When he paused to eat on his walk back to the keep, he finally thought to check his system messages. Scrolling back through dozens that dealt with injuries, healing, and curses, he finally found the notification he was looking for.

[Congratulations! You have slain the Mighty Root!!, a level 6 Elite Boss.

(An unorthodox method, but hey, any fight you walk away from is a good one...oh wait...you didn't walk away, did you?)

You have gained the respect of your friend Makken Peppersmith.

You have gained a bonus for essentially fighting a Tier 2 boss solo.

You have gained 1500 Boss Experience to assign to your skills. You may also assign a total of 1500 experience to the skills associated with those stats.

You have gained 17 Enhancement Points.

You have unlocked the skill: Acid Resistance. This is a passive Primary skill. The cost is 5 Enhancement points. Seeing as how Root almost dissolved you in this fight, feel free to buy the skill and assign experience points to the skill. (Highly recommend for pulling weeds.)

You have reached Level 5 as a Contract Worker: Butcher]

[You have completed all requirements for leaving Tier One and entering Tier 2. When ready, you may advance to Tier 2. Alternatively, linger in Tier One to accumulate more Enhancement Points and scars. You will be notified when you reach your limit. Points that is, we'd never limit you on scars.

[Contract Worker - Slaughtermaster

You have slain animals, humans, undead, and monsters with no hesitation. You are adept with both weapons and killing with your bare hands. Bathing in blood and bone puts a smile on your face. This class will give you extra combat options, increase your ability to do violence and take away any bits of guilt you have left about bathing the world in gore. +5 STR, -5 INT. Gain: Bloodfury, Cleaver, Meathook, and Feel No Pain as primary skills.

Contract Worker - Pitboss

You have slain a large number of creatures, denied and frustrated the forces of the light, stolen the accomplishments of a demon, let corruption into your soul, and created your own charnel pit. The class of Contract Worker: Pit Boss is open to you. Dig your pit deeper to hold the souls you reap, or challenge another Butcher for its pit. You're the Boss!!

+3 COR, lose all RAD, +2 STR, +2 CON, Gain: Infernal Contract.

Contract Worker - Pitmaster (apprentice)

You have slaughtered tasty critters and cooked them in your pit, created a smoke golem, and learned to resist the flames. The Pit Master class enhances your skills as a butcher, adding magical skills and recipes that will let you kill a horde of creatures and then cook them up to feed an army.

+2 CHA, +3 free stat points.

Contract Worker - Butcher of Heaven

You have faced a Demon, earned the title of martyr, destroyed an undead necromancer in its lair, denied and frustrated the forces of darkness, and beautified your soul with radiance. When the forces of light go to war, sometimes it isn't pretty. And when it isn't pretty, a lot of the boys with wings and harps don't know what to do! That's where you come in. A Butcher of Heaven doesn't mind getting his hands dirty in the right cause. Whether it's killing a demon posing as a small child, or destroying a wicked city and sowing the land with salt, you can get the job done. And no one will judge you...much.

+3 RAD, lose all COR, +2 STR, +2 CON Gain: Righteous Zealotry and Ends Justify the Means

Contract Worker - Butcher (Apprentice)

Keeps the skills you have honed as a butcher and takes them into tier 2. Adds advanced meat cutting and shopkeeping.

Gain: +2 STR, +3 free stats. Gain: Precision cut, and Rapid Chop]