After the pervious argument, we continued our conversation. This time in a much friendlier atmosphere.
“So you are a white elf, is that it… Tell me, what is the difference between the rest of your kind and white elves, then?”
Figures… Now that they are more inclined to believe me, they want to know more about my race… Lucky for me, their lack of other information source gives me the full control of the information I want to show them. And I am going to take full advantage of it. It’s not like they will run into other white elves to prove me wrong. I chuckled to myself.
“Well… first of all, you were wrong when you assumed me to be a child. I will say this only once. I am an adult elf, and we do not have the tradition of a hundred years to be called an adult. It’s actually fifty years…” — I was rudely interrupted by Emrum.
“Drop the act, kid. One only needs to look at you closely to see the baby fat on your cheeks.”
I glared at him and said with absolute certainty. Even if I didn’t once saw my mirror image since coming to this world and having this new body.
“There is no baby fa-…“ — Then again, I was interrupted by Balgrun, this time.
“Stop antagonizing her, Emrum. We should give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Emrum made a grimace, as he said under his beard.
“Says the one who just freaked out because of the possibility of her being a wood elf…”
The commander purposefully pretended not to hear that snide comment. Or maybe he actually didn’t hear it and it was my elven hearing doing the heavy lifting again. I couldn’t be sure anymore. What was certain was that he continued with his words.
“So in case if I accept that you are indeed a grown woman, what does that mean, a difference in stature?” — He questioned aloud. Emrum adding his own two cents from the side. — “And a difference in curves no doubt…” — An act that earned two pairs of furious glances to himself.
I turned back to the boss dwarf, nodded and said firmly.
“That is indeed the case. White elves are smaller in stature. However, it is also true that my body is yet to reach its full potential.” — Emrum snorted at that.
“Meaning that you basically admit that you are not an adult.” — He asked.
“Yes… no! Wait, I thought you are going to say not a child!” — Emrum laughed, again. After that, however, he forced himself to turn serious.
“Look… Selora, if you really want us to treat you like a grownup, you don’t have to make such elaborate lies.”
I stopped, looked at him, confused… as the question popped out of my mouth.
“I don’t?” — You can’t really blame me for that since they were giving me quite a different vibe until this very moment. Unfortunately, the next words reaching my ears weren’t what I expected.
“Got you… kid, you need another hundred years before you can trick me.” — Emrum stated, a wide smirk spreading across his face. Eyes filled with raw glee.
My chin dropped to the ground, my eyes comically round, as I realized that I had just admitted I was trying to trick them.
This seemed to cause Balgrun to lose the rest of his patience with both of us. He hit the table once again and shouted at us in a demanding tone.
“Selora…” — I squeaked a yes, hearing the ominous tone. — “If you don’t stop wasting my time, I am going to teach you the manners your parents clearly failed to do.” — I gulped loudly, imagining being slapped by those log like arms.
I conceded in front of superior arms. Quite literally, so to speak.
“… Yes, commander… The only actual difference I know of is the length of our natural lifespan…”
He seemed thoughtful at that, stroking his beard slowly, then asking.
“Which is?”
I gulped, not comfortable sharing this kind of information but, seeing the twitching eyebrows of the man in front of me made me reconsider.
Fuck it, I might not like being treated as a kid, but compared to people who live three hundred years and above, on average I might as well be a child…
“It’s just that… sir, that we don’t really… die… ever… at least not without receiving grave injuries or some type of sickness.”
Now both of the dwarfs gave me a long look, unsure what to do with that information. The commander sighed and slowly began to stand up.
My eyes widened, raising my hands in front of me in a calming manner.
“Hey… hey! Stop! Listen, I-I swear on my magic that is the truth…“
Emrum looked at me and asked.
“You mean to say your kind is immortal?”
I nodded frantically, half an eye focused on the commander’s frozen form.
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“Yes, that’s it, but only to natural death… it doesn’t mean we can’t get sick or die from injuries…like anyone else.”
The dwarfs exchanged a meaningful look, then nodded to each other, seemingly accepting my claim quite easily.
The commander sat down back into his chair which was placed next to the stone table. And I could feel relieved at last.
Balgrun began to speak after a few seconds of silence.
“I see now. There were ancient tales of an elven race that had the gift of immortality, but the name of the race was mostly lost to the time by now. Only a precious few aside from the long-lived elves know detailed knowledge of them by now. So they were called white elves. How unimaginative.”
“Sir, maybe there are records in the Royal library?” — Emrum added from the side and the commander nodded to that.
“There are, most certainly. We might look for them when we get back home, after we finish our tasks here.” — The commander stated. Then turned back to me.
“So what do you say, white elf Selora? Will you help our cause so we could help you find information about your race and possibly a way to get home? Of course, only if you have no better way to do that… how did you call it, teleportation?” — He smiled meaningfully at me.
I shook my head vehemently.
“No, I won’t ever try that spell again… I could have ended up in a rock wall…”
He chuckled at that, saying like a smart ass.
“Maybe you should think about that before you cast the spell next time.” — I looked at him unimpressed, which made his smile grow wider. — “Are your other spells similarly volatile?”
“They are not. I was only in the learning phase of the long distance teleportation.”
“Let’s hope you are right about that. You mentioned that you wanted to practice your spells. Right?”
I nodded, adding a suitable explanation. — “Yes, that’s what I said. Some of those spells I never really used since learning them. I would imagine my abilities became rusty.”
The dwarfs seemed to be satisfied with that explanation.
“So you need a place to practice. That’s what you are saying, right?” — Balgrun asked, and I nodded. — “That’s not much of a problem. We have a separate room for honing our combat skills, along with archery target practice. You can aim at the dummies. Just warn the others on the field beforehand. Oh, and don’t try anything stupid that had the slightest possibility of bringing down the cave on our heads. Because if you do, I will kill you.”
I gulped, then nodded with a strained smile, adding a few innocent words. — “I wouldn’t dare, sir.”
The dwarf boss nodded. — “So back to my initial question. With these measures put in place, are you willing to help us finish our task here?”
I thought about it. I didn’t have much of a choice, really, but I still wanted to make the best of my situation. I smiled back at him, saying.
“I will help with whatever I can, but in exchange, you will have to treat me as an actual member of your company, and give me a suitable payment, too.”
The bald dwarf smirked with a victorious expression. And I felt a small lump forming in my throat all of a sudden. I had an awful premonition about this, then a vague memory swam to the surface of my subconsciousness. Back on Earth, dwarfs were known for their acute sense in trade and barter, along with haggling.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard the endless flow of confident words coming out of the commander’s mouth. And I immediately realized. I was doomed.
“You will receive the same wage as an earthshaper apprentice. They are dwarven mages capable of bending earth and metal to their whims. Unfortunately, I can’t give you the wage of a full-fledged shaper since you would have to go through an official assessment in front of a shaper already holding the title.” — He explained, and I heard an impressed whistle coming from Emrum.
The commander continued his explanation without stopping.
“That means three medium-sized bags of gold coins, yearly. Each containing two hundred gold coins. You can also choose to accept payment in the form of gems or accessories, exchanging the gold with a small bag of gems or exquisitely crafted dwarven accessories equal in worth. Meaning that your monthly wage is fifty gold pieces without deducting the Royal tribute, which is a five percent of every payment for soldiers in service of the allied kingdoms, that in your case means five gold per month, sixty gold a year, by current standards.”
I felt dazed by the amount of precious metal names thrown above my head and hesitantly looked to Emrum for help. He smiled, noticing my plight, and came to my help. I thanked the heavens for that.
“It’s a fair deal, I can assure you, girl. You are going to be rich before you know it. In comparison, I make twelve gold per month, along with most of the company members.” — My eyes bulged slightly, hearing the ridiculous difference in pay. Alas, before I could ask for an explanation. It was already on the way. As Emrum continued his words.
“As you are no doubt aware of it, magic casters are incredibly rare among all the races. Even more so among the dwarfs, to the extent that there are only three accomplished earthshapers and seven apprentices in the entirety of the allied dwarven kingdoms at this given moment.”
“To be considered an apprentice, you have to showcase the ability of successfully using at least one spell. That could be done in front of any official of the kingdom above a certain rank. Since dwarfs have an unusual affinity towards earth, most who strive to become an apprentice try to learn various forms of earth manipulation. Henceforth the title, earthshaper. There had been no dwarf receiving the title of apprentice who wasn’t able to manipulate the earth in our records of history till this very day. Even if casting earth magic isn’t an actual requirement for the title.” — Emrum smiled at me, nodding in a friendly gesture. Trying to signal that I should accept this offer.
I looked to Balgrun, and asked one last question.
“If I accept your offer, will I be bound to the kingdom and unable to leave when I feel like it, because of this contract?”
Balgrun shook his head. — “No, since you are not a citizen of the dwarven kingdoms. If you decide to annul the contract for whatever reason, you will be required to serve until the end of the month or forfeit payment for it, then you will have no legal obligations towards us.”
I nodded, understanding his offer. Which sounded very similar to an actual job interview back on Earth.
“Deal?” — He reached out his arm in a gesture of a handshake.
I grabbed his hand. Mine was soon completely engulfed by his much larger hand.
“Let me officially welcome you to the Bronze Company, Selora.” — Balgrun stated cheerfully, shaking my hand to seal the deal. — “Our agreement will not be in full effect until we sign the required documents. I will have to prepare them first, though. Come back tomorrow around this time and they will be ready. I am overjoyed to welcome you as the eighth shaper apprentice of the dwarven kingdoms.”
“One last thing before you go, I am aware that spellcasters consider their magic as a lifeline therefore, I won’t ask specifics. But could you tell me in general terms what kind of magic you wield? Aside from light creation and healing spells.”
I looked at him and nodded. — “Yes sir, well, to be fair, most of my spells fall into two categories based on the way I use them: destruction and support spells. Aside from that, I can wield all basic elements to a certain degree, be that fire, earth, wind, or water. I think I am quite battle oriented, be that in a defensive or offensive scenario. I guess you can consider me a battle-witch. Not… that I have any actual battle experience… please don’t throw me in front of the… the lions…”
I didn’t like the strange gleam reflected in those dark eyes of the commander. It was too late to realize… I messed up big time… again.