When Vultressant awoke, it was the next morning, and the room was lit with the soft glow of the lantern resting on the table instead of the trunk, where their belongings should be kept. Vanya had already left, prompting him to dress and seek out the rest of the party. All of the hallways and large rooms were lit by the strange blue fire.

He stopped a passing Dwarf to inquire about finding his friends or a meal. Though the Dwarf didn't know the whereabouts of his group, he readily offered directions to what amounted to a mess hall. Inside, rows of tables stretched out, and a line formed leading to the buffet-style food service. Spotting Maroftis with a heaping plate, likely just the first round for the sizable Korak, Vultressant chuckled inwardly, wondering if it might already be round two. Scanning the room, he failed to spot anyone else he recognized amidst the dining hall's bustle.

When he finally made it to the food, Vultressant only took a bowl of what looked like grits and a small steak. The only beverage available was ale, so he grabbed a mug and went to sit by Maroftis. “Did you just get here too?” he asked when he sat down.

Maroftis finished chewing and replied, “No, this is my third helping.”

Well, off by one. “Of course, it is,” Vultressant said dryly. “Any sign of the others?”

“Everyone but Isla has already eaten; she’s such a lightweight. I think she’s sleeping it off.” Maroftis shook his head. “Man, these Dwarves really know how to party! The beer is phenomenal—you missed a great night.”

Reflecting on the previous night, he couldn’t help but smile. When Maroftis gave him a suspicious glance, he quickly quipped, “I can’t handle even half of what Isla can.” He gestured with his hands to emphasize his diminished stature. “Maybe Dwarves have enough Vitality points to burn off the alcohol, but I’m only at 20, and I lost just over a foot of height.”

“Really?” Maroftis asked. “I thought that you lost more than that.”

“My bio says my height is four and a half feet tall.”

“Huh? Well, you look smaller than that.”

“Says the guy the size of Andre the Giant.”

Maroftis nodded grudgingly. “Fair point. You all look tiny except Taloc. He might have gained an inch or two, and he was over 6 feet to begin with. Wait, If I’m Andre the Giant, then are you the Sicilian from Princess Bride? I mean, you kinda look like him now.”

Vultressant simply shook his head. He focused on his creamy and buttery grits. As he sampled the steak, which boasted a unique gamy flavor, he couldn't help but wonder about its source, given the modest portion size. “Do you happen to know what these little steaks are from?”

“Big ass rats,” was the reply. “I caught some of them in Ildul. They’re much better raw.”

They tasted fine cooked, but Vultressant decided to pass on the raw meat option. Being a total carnivore, Maroftis’ culinary standards were quite different. “Well, I’m finished. Are you coming with me to find the others, or are you going in for fourths?”

Maroftis eyed his now mostly empty plate and then turned his attention to the buffet. He quickly cleaned his plate and stood up. “I don’t like to pass up free food, but I’ll go with you.”

Maroftis had finally acquired enough knowledge of Common to be fairly fluent in the language, though he still sounded like a non-native speaker, and his accent was reminiscent of a German’s. However, Vultressant was accustomed to interacting with people from diverse backgrounds in online games, and he found such accents commonplace. “What’s your rank in Common?” he inquired.

“I made it to seven,” Maroftis replied, “so no more stupid lessons.”

He held up his hands defensively. “I was just curious. Relax; I think that you sound fine. We just needed to be able to communicate with you, so you got the full immersion treatment.”

“Yeah,” Maroftis said, sounding as if he were pouting, “all that language stuff sucked. It’s a good thing that Common is the easiest of the languages to learn.”

“Well, you’ll continue to improve, albeit more slowly without the lessons. If you want the Intellect bump, then just let me know, and I’ll be happy to give you lessons until you max out the language.”

“I’m not investing in an Intellect build, so I won’t need the boost.”

“What if you end up with a sword that’s intelligent?” Vultressant countered. “You’d want to be at least as smart as your weapon, right?”

“Is the Intellect build making you any smarter?”

“Not really,” Vultressant admitted. “I mean, I can process things a bit more quickly than before, but it’s mostly the same. The stat gives me mana and boosts spell damage, but that’s about it.”

“You’ve always been quick to grasp things, at least when logic is involved.”

The implicit reminder that his social skills lagged behind his intellect caused his face to flush. “We should go find the others,” he suggested, rising to his feet.

They found all the others, save Isla, in the smelting room. Dwern was giving instructions to about two dozen Dwarves dressed in mining gear, and Taloc, Ewtain, Vanya, and Jallik all wore mining helmets. As they approached, images of naked Elf flesh flashed in Vultressant’s mind. Don’t make this awkward, don’t make this awkward, don’t make this awkward... Vanya noticed the two of them approaching the group, and she flashed a smile. He returned the smile. He thought about waving, but that wouldn’t be natural; a smile was good. A miner came over and gave Vultressant a helmet, but when one was offered to Maroftis, he just waved the Dwarf off. Like it would even fit him.

They followed the miners to the tunnels and proceeded into the depths of the mountain. The tunnel was far larger than Vultressant expected it to be, and the reason became clear shortly after they entered the tunnels. There was a large area that housed enormous pack animals; the things looked like giant donkeys. Some of the Dwarves went to hook up the animals to mining carts as the rest of the Dwarves and their group continued down the tunnel. They heard the animals and equipment following them at a slower pace as they descended into the mountain. They stopped at times for Vanya to access her skill, and each time this was followed by a map consultation. One of the Dwarves had the cartography skill, and he would project a three-dimensional map for all to see. Vultressant’s own map had been logging their progress, and each time they stopped, he filled it in with what he saw from the Dwarf’s map. The new sections were grayed out, but they were there, and as he moved through a section, the gray changed to white. His own cartography skill had gone up two points and was at level 7 when they finally found a spot to start digging.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

They filled up several of the carts with loose rock as they dug in the direction that Vanya had indicated. Once a cart was full, a Dwarf would lead the tethered animal back towards the surface. After approximately two hours of excavation, the Dwarves grew visibly excited. They had struck metals, promptly employing two carts—one for the extracted metal ore and another for the discarded rock debris. While several metals were present in the node, Dwern seemed particularly pleased with the substantial amount of cobalt they had unearthed.

They left a few Dwarves behind to tend to the animals while someone went back for additional personnel, and the main group ventured deeper into the mountain. This time, it took considerably longer before Vanya provided a positive response. After consulting the map, they opted to investigate whether the metal was located closer to another tunnel. They retraced their steps and veered down another branch of the tunnel system. Upon reaching the point opposite to where her detect ore ability had initially pointed, Vanya accessed her ability once more, this time indicating that the metal was much closer.

The miners began digging again, and after about three hours of excavation, a very excited Dwarf came out of the hole with a green metallic substance cradled in both hands. He offered the ore to Dwern, who smiled greedily. He then looked over at Vanya, who took the opportunity to approach. “I think that I would like our 200 pounds to be of that,” she said simply.

Dwern became almost apoplectic, and when he was able to calm himself enough to speak, he asked, “Why this?”

Vanya, to her credit, just shrugged and said, “Well, it’s green, and I am an Elf.”

“There be fine cobalt in the other vein,” Dwern said, nearly pleading. “It is a lovely blue. Would you no like some of that instead?”

She placed a finger to her lips, as if contemplating his offer. After giving the impression of carefully weighing her options, she replied, "No, thank you; I believe I’ll choose the pretty green metal. While I may be persuaded to return and assist in finding more ore, for now, I think it’s best if we stick to our bargain. And if memory serves, I am entitled to choose the metal that I keep.”

Dwern looked as if he had eaten something sour. “Aye, that was the bargain, and 200 pounds will be ready for you tomorrow, provided, of course, we find that much. Thank you for your service, and I hope to do business with you again.” He pointed to a Dwarf holding one of the beasts. “You there! Escort our guests back to the hold and get more carts!”

Taloc held up a hand and said, “Shouldn’t we wait to see if there’s 200 pounds worth there?”

Vanya coughed to suppress a laugh. “Oh, there’s more than just that, but that’s a brilliant idea, Taloc. With all this rock dust around, I think I could use a bath. Would you mind doing the honors?” Taloc nodded, and she turned, heading back in the direction of the hold. As she passed by Vultressant, she flashed him a mischievous smile, prompting two distinct thoughts: One was, She’s incredibly sexy, and the other was, What have I gotten myself into?

Maroftis had opted to remain with Taloc to oversee the Dwarves’ mining project, while the other three returned to the hold, finding Isla in the cafeteria. They briefed her on the metal discovery, but Vanya chose not to disclose that she had known about the node beforehand. Considering the presence of numerous Dwarves in the mess hall, Vultressant deemed it wise to keep quiet about this detail as well. In fact, he resolved not to mention it unless Vanya brought it up first. She had shared that information with him privately, and he wasn’t about to risk breaching her confidence. He had made that mistake in past relationships, and he didn’t want to repeat it. Was this a relationship? Regardless, he saw no reason to take unnecessary risks. If he felt someone else needed to know, he would seek Vanya’s permission before divulging anything.

He went for some food, and the meal had a dinner feel to it, which, given that they had been in the mines for several hours, made some sense. He brought back some vegetable stew as well as a slice of a roasted piece of meat. While it looked like it might be from a cow or similar creature, the taste was like no cow he’d ever tasted. This tasted richer, almost like organ meat, but the roast had clearly been from a muscle, and if that muscle were a heart, then he would hate to meet a beast that needed a heart that large. He washed the food down with what else? Ale, of course.

Isla had already finished her meal by the time that they arrived, but Ewtain had opted for a piece of the roast and some green tentacle-looking things. Vanya took some of the stew along with some roasted vegetables. After the meal, they all refilled their drinks and moved to a table in the corner, away from the other diners. “What do we do after this?” Vultressant asked.

Vanya glanced over at him. “Well, I still need that bath, and then I thought I might retire to my room early.” She took a sip of her ale, masking a blooming smile.

“No baths,” Isla interjected, “but they do have these small rooms with a barrel filled with warm water and some sort of soap. You essentially have to ladle the water over yourself, but it gets the job done.” Vanya nodded appreciatively.

Not trusting his voice, Vultressant cleared his throat with a cough before speaking. “Actually, I meant when we return to Ildul. We could also do some exploring before we head back.”

“With the coin and the metal, we should prioritize getting some gear made first,” Vanya replied. “Then we’ll need to find a safe place to level up.”

“I agree,” Ewtain chimed in. “It feels like we’ve faced tough challenges in every encounter since arriving here. Some easier opponents would certainly be a welcome change.”

“Oeister pretty much said that it’s dangerous all over,” Vultressant said, “so I think that our best bet is better equipment and higher stats.” He gestured towards Vanya. “Basically, Vanya’s plan.”

Ewtain held up his mug. “To Vanya’s plan!” The other three held up their mugs and, in near unison, repeated, “To Vanya’s plan!”

They all took a drink, and Isla said, “I still think that I might be more useful in town, getting us some missions, selling loot, or trading for things that we need. I could try that for a while. I did level once when I used persuasion, so while I might not be able to keep up with you guys, I shouldn’t completely stop gaining experience.”

Ewtain pulled his hood back and looked over at Isla, who was taking another drink. He gave her a half smile and said, “Hmm, you just want to lounge around town and then go out with us when we’re tougher so you can be power-leveled.”

Isla wiped a bit of foam from her chin. “Well, yeah,” she admitted, smiling back at Ewtain. Then her expression turned serious. “Honestly, I don’t contribute much to a fight right now. Also, I hate it.”

“None of us likes it, Isla,” Vanya said in an empathetic voice, and Vultressant hurriedly nodded in agreement. He did enjoy casting spells and didn’t even hate the battles, but he wanted to provide a backup for Vanya. He did dislike some of the encounters, so that consoled his ethical dilemma about the deception.

Ewtain had no such concern. “Not true,” he said with enthusiasm. “I enjoy beating down the bastards who try to get in our way. I only wish that I could suck out their delicious essences. You two get to have all of the fun.” He motioned to Vanya and Vultressant for emphasis.

“You know there’s no taste to the essences, right?” Vultressant asked in what he hoped was a not-too-condescending way.

“Thanks, but you don’t have to say that just to make me feel better,” Ewtain remarked, holding up a hand to forestall any response. “I know. I was speaking metaphorically. I forgot that you’re mister literal.”

Vultressant was about to object to that, but Ewtain wasn’t wrong, so instead he said, “Well, one of us likes it then.”

Ewtain let out a laugh. “Ha! You know that Maroftis loves this shit too, and I bet if we asked Taloc, he would be on board as well.”

“Ewt’s right,” Isla said. “I think that Taloc would rather be a caster, but I think that he generally likes the adventure.”

“I’m actually surprised that he didn’t choose some sort of caster type,” Vultressant agreed.

Vanya nodded but added, “Well, none of us initially believed this was real, despite the warning stating otherwise. So, we formed a party that we thought would complement each other best. You had already said that you were choosing a Wizard, and I wanted to be a healer. So, he probably didn’t want to double up on a class.”

“It’s true,” Ewtain agreed. “If we were all Wizards, we would have never made it out of the forest.”

“We would have had to do things differently, but I think that we would have made it,” Vultressant said.

Ewtain smirked. “That was just a bit of hyperbole, but imagine what would have happened against the Gnolls without any frontline protection. If anything made it through the barrage of fire missiles, then there would be at least one or two dead Wizards before the fight was over.” He smiled and pulled his hood back up, shrouding his face in darkness.