Once the earring was done, the Thrae took it and examined it closely. As he looked as it, Ylvis explained about his plans to further improve it.

“I will cover this part as well”, he said, tracing his finger over the gem that now filled the inside of the earring, “Put some protective enchantments on it as well”.

Giving a nod, the fox allowed Aldryn to take over, wishing to examine for itself to see that nothing was wrong.

“It seems that everything is all right” the blonde then said with a nod after a few minutes.

'"l also like it" the fox nodded at the back of him mind.

The priest of Earth then took the earring and went back into the smithy, this time being followed by Aldryn who had to be in close proximity with the stone. It was a rather big room, one that Ylvis tended to keep closed and locked. There were very few times when the blonde actually had the chance to venture inside. His eyes quickly scanned the shelves that contained various tools that stood near a wall. The multiple wooden cupboards that were packed with materials and gems of all kinds, some of which were locked with a key that hung from the oracle’s belt.

'It's so messy' the blond thought as he looked around it, 'but it's also cosy' he then smiled.

There was a table with two chairs tucked in a corner, where the blonde decided to sit down. It, just like the rest of the room, seemed chaotic, yet organized at the same time. It was littered with papers that contained sketches of weapons and jewellery. On top of them all, stood a page with an earring drawn on it. Upon closer inspection, Aldryn quickly realized that it was the same one that the other man was working on at that very moment. It made him wonder if it was something that Ylvis quickly drew that day, or if he anticipated such a issues to arise with the Thrae.

"It doesn't look like a new drawing" the fox suddenly commented.

"Do you think he knew then... that the necklace would break?" Aldryn asked it.

"No... rather... It was designed to be a simple earing. Look... See? It doesn't have the empty space for the stone" the Thrae pointed out.

"Huh... It really doesn't" the blonde agreed, noticing it as well.

It could not have taken longer than half an hour for Ylvis to return with the earring clutched in his hand. He handed it over to the younger apostle, who gently took it and turned it around to see it from all sides. It was beautiful before, but now that it was finished, Aldryn could not help but anticipate being able to wear it.

'I will never take this off' he beamed.

"Let's hope that you will never have to" the Thrae simply chuckled after hearing the thought.

“The Kenman”, the blonde then suddenly begun, drawing the other oracle's attention from the earring to his face, “How is he managing here?”

“Rather well I would say”, Ylvis nodded wiping some soot from his face, “When he first came here... it seemed as if a sickness plagued him" he said with a frown, "He was my guest and stayed in my home, but then he left.”

“Gilton”, Aldryn gave a nod himself.

"Ahh... My origin story" the Thrae suddenly remembered, "I should thank that Kenman one day for helping you find me."

"Help? Yeah right... He just told me vague information and I had to look through the whole castle like... 5 times only for Ildurin to remember about a hidden room" the blonde recalled the events and his face soured.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Gilton”, the oracle of Earth confirmed, “Then he returned. He seemed haunted, so I let him stay. I was still wary that he will go off again to cause some troubles, but he looked different. If he looked plagued by a sickness when he first came to the mines, the second time, he simply looked tired. So I thought, he never caused harm to my people and whatever grudge he had with humans was none of my concern”, the older man said, as if trying to justify his choices.

'Tired huh?' the blonde thought and his eyes dropped to the ground.

"After everything that he must have lived through... Can't say that I don't understand him" the fox mentioned offhanded, its voice wavering a bit, which Aldryn didn't fail to notice.

“He built himself quite a nice house here. I always wondered how he managed it”, the blonde then said, unsure what it could tell the Thrae.

'I can't do the same as the Kenman... I can't just go live somewhere peacefully' the oracle sighed and his eyes dulled a bit.

"Don't think about useless stuff" the fox then suddenly snapped at him.

"Ah... Did you hear my thoughts? I was sure that I wasn't sharing them with you" he asked it.

"Didn't have to" it just grumbled back.

“You know the Monias” Ylvi's voice brought the two out of their conversation, “They love to built. And the idea of that garden of his made them quite excited. They rarely have the chance to see grass and trees, so what the Kenman had in mind was a first here. His schematics also seemed doable. So they all helped him in their free time, with the promise that if the plants survived and his garden prospered, he would allow their children to play there and help them design another one, a park of a sort.”

“How interesting”, Aldryn could not help but feel fascinated, “What about food? How does he buys it?”

“Well, he mostly offered various schematics”, Ylvis explained, “Never demanded money for them, but all of them were meant to help the Monias have an easier life. So everyone in the city agreed to offer the Kenman whatever he needed without charging him.”

“And its working?” the blonde tried to imagine just how much the Monias respected the man to make such an offer.

“He never takes more than he needs”, Ylvis said with a what-can-you-do gesture, “Some bread, fruits and vegetables every few days, never more. The Monias hardly feel the loss, they even feel like they underpaid him for all the things he offered them”

“What schematics did he offer?” the younger priest then tried, truly curious.

“Except the obvious clocks and the idea of how to successfully grow plants this far underground?”, Ylvis asked back and after receiving a nod, continued.

“Well…he made those tools that can easily cut stone and gems. It helps the Monias create something even if they don’t know the spell that I used earlier on the earring. He says its not very efficient, since he doesn’t have the power source of his people here... Then there is this machine that can lift heavy items, like rocks, which usually took around ten of them to achieve, but now, one of them is more than enough. There are also those.. rails? he called them... Anyway, they are metal paths that you can use to easily drag carts around the mines. He even made the carts move by themselves. Made it easy for them to go to the deepest part of the mountain and bring back more gems than they could carry” he said with a laugh.

Aldryn felt impressed. He knew the Kenman as an excellent warrior, one that he doubted he could defeat. But to know that the man also possessed such extensive knowledge in other fields was amazing. If Aldryn’s guess that he was an original Kenman, he knew that the common rule of their people of being divided based on their talents did not apply to him.

'He doesn't feel like a full Kenman thought... Maybe he was one of the founders?' he shared with the Thrae.

"You mean those people that created the Kenman as a whole new race?" it hummed, "Could be..." it said, unsure of itself.

The blonde then glanced at a door, wondering what Klyran was doing, wondering what happened after he left the garden.

“Have you recently heard about Shyra?” he asked, turned to look back at Ylvis.

“How recent?” he fired back.

“When was the last time you heard of her?” Aldryn then frowned, getting suspicious from the rapid reply.

“She came by a few months ago”, Ylvis shrugged, causing the younger man to nearly jump to his feet.

“What?” the blonde nearly shouted.

“She came to the entrance of Diarum and demanded that I bring the Kenman to her, as if he was a possession”, the older priest said, his eyebrows twitching in annoyance, “Of course I refused.”

“What would she want with him?” Aldryn then wondered, knowing that she was too arrogant to seek him out for advice.

“His blood I presume”, and those simple words made the blonde sick.

“After what happened with the Yakards all those years ago, Zevram grew almost mad in his desire to protect the forest. Even called me out to help him lay all the new enchantments”, Ylvis explained, “Of course I helped him. If something threatened the Monias I had no doubt that I would do the same.”

“What sort of enchantments?” the younger of the two then asked, wondering how he never heard of this before.

“Something similar to the spells that lays upon the mountains. The only reason why Shyra and her lackeys did not try to invade it. Now, they cannot approach the forest as well, in fear of death.”

“So someone with ill intent will be cursed to wander till they die in the forest?” Aldryn asked for a clarification.

“Something of the sort”, Yvlis agreed, “Heavy enchantments will be laid on their minds and make them wander into certain parts of the forest, where the less friendly inhabitants live. And even if they manage to survive, they will either find a way to escape the forest, or walk around its edges forever.”

“So she can no longer touch the Yakards and she decided to go after the Kenman?”, the priest of Light then wondered.

'Just what was she expected would happen? That Ylvis would kick him out once she asked for him?' the blonde wondered, his face going blank.

“Something along those lines I believe. After the events in Gilton, the Kenman left just once, to travel back to his people’s city and bring back some possessions for his new home here underground. From what I heard, on the way back he was ambushed. Shyra tried to kill him.”

“How I wish I could have witnessed that match”, Aldryn then laughed.

"Me too" the fox sighed pitifully.

Then, Ylvis stood up and headed into the living room, being followed by his brother. He kindled the fireplace, making sure his home was warm enough, having heard that the Ryan was often cold. The two of them then sat down in front of the fire to continue talking.