After I won the duel with Zellia, the dwarven kingdom wanted to bury and honor their dead. Amazingly there are only a handful of deaths from the demon invasion, mostly were accidents from the panic and commotion of the attack. The warriors were stripped of their equipment and were able to stay with their families. Once that was done the festivities of celebrating their freedom began. When I learned that dwarves are particularly fond of alcohol, I gave Kline the Unlimited Wine Bottle and let him pour out wine until the dwarves drink wine until they can't stand anymore, drink wine until they puke their guts out and finally until they get passed out drunk. Miraculously there is no recorded alcohol consumption related deaths in the history of the dwarven kingdom ever. The one alcohol related death was only when someone drowned while they were passed out on alcohol and he was celebrated as a hero. It seems that the average dwarf can drink insidious amounts of alcohol and not die. The festivities lasted about 3 days. On the afternoon of the 3rd day I was told that the dwarves in-charge wanted to talk to me.
I was lead again to the same room where I first met Zellia. Inside the room sat 8 dwarves. When I was last here there were only 7 chairs. I asked Zellia about it and she said that she wanted to seat in the middle so she got rid of one. 'Pfft Succubi' Once I entered the room the murmuring dwarves got quiet-and scared. It is hard to see their faces because of their facial hair. At least some of them have brown hair color. I watched them cough, squirm in their seat and throw daggers with their eyes to-
'Of course. Of course.'
"Leave us Zellia" a thought occurred "bring Kline here"
Zellia bowed to me, bowed to them and left. The awkwardness in the room was lessened greatly but not completely.
*cough cough* the dwarf seated on the far left began
"Master Elf, I am the High Priest of Earth Golguid Stormgrog, I lead this kingdom's magics. Please have a seat." After I sat, it is time for introductions.
"Thank you. I'm Jake Valnan. I met Prince Kline on his way over here and he asked me for help."
"Is that so? We thank you then." said another dwarf "I'm Matdrarlig Copperhead. I'm the head of the Merchant's Guild. I have a close relation with the boy, ahh here he is now."
The young prince entered the room and bowed and sat beside me.
"Good Afternoon young man. Thank you for your concern over us."
"Pay it no heed Master Matdrarlig. It was all thanks to Master Valnan."
"Yes him. Who the hell is this elf?"asked a gruff voice
"Master Secretary! Watch your tone, this man saved us." Reproached Master Copperhead.
"It is perfectly understandable Master Cop—" he stopped me
"Please Master Elf, call me Matdrarlig." I nod my head in acknowledgement
"—Master Matdrarlig. After all I defeated the general of the demon's army. I understand your wariness and distrust but you don't have to worry, they won't cause you trouble from now on."
"Yes well, thank you for that but we still have ask how you are able to assure us that?
"Since I defeated Zellia in singles combat, they are now bound to me and they will follow my will."
My response seems to relax them to a degree, which was good. 'That wasn't the whole truth but they didn't need to know that'
"I understand, they are primal creatures like you after all." Said Master Stormgrog. "We have been sidetracked, let me resume the introductions. I am Golguid Stormgrog, the High Priest of Earth. I oversee lead this kingdom of our divine and arcane magic."
Other than his rich brown hair, he is hard to tell him apart from everyone at a first glance especially with them sitting as one can only see their heads. As I watched him though, I noticed that a couple of his hair and his beard are braided and inserted into wooden beads. The beads vary in color and size. Master Stormgrog has white, blue, red and brown beads. As I noticed this I carefully observed the other dwarves.
"I'm Matdrarlig Copperhead. I'm the head of the Merchant's Guild. Other than overseeing the kingdom's trade I'm also in charge of our foreign affairs."
Similar to Master Stormgrog, Master Matdrarlig also beaded his brown hair and beard. He wore gold beads and 2 silver beads; he wore them alternately gold being the first from the top.
"I am Hadgrotrude Hornmaul ,Master Forger. I'm tasked with controlling the quality and quantity of our forged products"
Master Hornmaul has a soothingly slow voice. Unlike the previous Masters, she braided her black beard to fit a golden ring that branched into three braided beards that has black,red,yellow and silver beads.
"Thranmut Oakbranch at your service. I'm the Commander-in-Chief. I'm in charge of the military and security of our kingdom, although in light of recent events I will have to whip my boys into shape."
Unlike the previous dwarves who kept long but well groomed hair and beard, Master Oakbranch kept his hair and beard relatively short and in disarray. His hair stand out this way and that, his bushy beard is beaded with brown, grey, orange, white beads.
"I'm Vorbaeg Marblerock. Since I am the Director of Food Production I have the misfortune of finding and accommodating food that these miserable people shove down their throat. I curse my title." The other dwarves shake their heads.
"Vorbaeg please not here, we have guests."
"Oh you shut your mouth Rammie. It's your fault my jobs harder. Protein, we need a lot of protein because we fight and train all the time he says. If it were up to me I'd feed your soldiers lizards and toads, that's your protein."
Surly and grumpy, you'd think that the food this man cooks would be as sour as his attitude. However based on the food he cooked on the first day of the festivities, it's not only delicious but healthy as well. His beard is beaded with different shades of white. Based on the hue of the beads, I'm guessing two of the beads represent the tusk of a wild boar and a deer.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." cheh is Master Marblerock's response "I am the Brewmaster, Bhadraebena Snowarm. Thank you for giving us wine for our festivities."
"Please Master Snowarm, no need to thank me. The wine sure is plenty but it is nothing special."
"Be that is may, it is still an important commodity in our community, so thank you."
Master Snowarm's voice is gentle and soft. Her beard braids are bright red, red, dark red and brown. Her twinkling eyes indicated she was smiling.
"I'm Jadrobena Nightforged, the Master of Caves and Mines. I protect and lead our mining industry and resource extraction."
Perhaps due to her power, or perhaps as thanks, her beads are significantly more valuable compared to those of her colleagues. Her beads are consisted of glass, ruby, emerald and amethyst.
"Yadgrod Barbedfury the Cabinet Secretary"
His black hair and beard are interspaced with streaks of white. Unlike the previous dwarves, his beads weren't painted. His beads are consisted of wood, stone, glass and bone.
"It is an honor to meet you Dwarven Councilors. I am Jake Valnan. I am a traveler and a scholar and as such I belong to no tribe. I want to see the world and the bounties it has to offer. In my recent travels I've come across Prince Kline and answered his call for help. Please address me however you like"
"Thank you; it is also an honor to meet you Master Valnan." answered Master Stormgrog."We asked you here so that we can thank you properly for saving us. It may be that Prince Kline brought you here but nevertheless we wanted to show our appreciation. We wanted to offer you a reward of your choosing and it will be yours as long as we can give it."
This is perfect. I need a room to settle down for a while to test a few things.
"I will need a considerably large room. I have to settle down for the foreseeable future to do some research. Like I said, I'm not only a traveler but also a scholar. I mostly make my own equipment and provisions."
"Is that so Master Valnan? Do you make your own potions?"
"Yes Master Oakbranch. I know a little alchemy and pharmacy, enough to make what I need but not enough to improve it."
"Do you also service your own weapons?" asks the Master Forger
"Yes Master Hornmaul. I have never let one of my weapons be in a state of disrepair. My life is on the line after all"
"Does anybody object in lending Master Valnan a room and let him use a few facilities so he can make his own provisions?" Master Stormgrog asks the Council. Nobody objected.
"It is agreed then." I nodded my thanks to Master Stormgrog
I thought the meeting was over and started to get up, however it seems the Councilors have another agenda because Master Stormgrog gestured for me to stop and remain sitting.
"There is another matter Master Valnan. We thought you were one of his prince's men but since you are not can we ask you for help?" ask Master Stormgrog
I nodded and gestured for him to continue
"Since our defeat to the demons, we became painfully aware of our army's inadequacy. Although our bows are superior to other kingdom, our archers are terrible. They weren't even trained, they were just extra soldiers. We grew overconfident because we managed to defend our kingdom with these conditions up until now. We would very much like you to teach us the ways of the bow." Master Stormgrog faces to Prince Kline
"Prince we would like to request your kingdom to send some soldiers here to become sentries for a short time while we train ourselves. We have friendly relations with your kingdom so I hope you can provide defense for us for a while."
"I have no reservations in teaching you how to use a bow but honestly Councilor I have no idea how to teach. No one taught me how to use the bow, when I come to I already knew how to use a bow." 'Technically right' "at the most I can only teach you basics and a few tricks."
"That would be plenty Master Valnan." says Master Stormgrog. He turns to ask Kline.
"Can you help us Prince?"
"I'm sorry Master Stormgrog but we can't send you soldiers. The Beastmen kingdom are going to attack us soon and we need to prepare. I'm so sorry Councilors." Prince tries to get up and bow his head but I stop him.
"I can help you. I can lend you my army."
The Councilors gets surprised and they squirm a little in their seats.
"I understand your uneasiness Councilors. I will give Master Oakbranch command so you don't have to worry."
"But will they listen to me?" asks Master Oakbranch
"I will order them to do so. If anyone disobeys you tell me immediately so I can kill them so insubordination will be avoided."
The Councilor's eyes get wide and they were left speechless for a while.
"I-is that so Master Valnan? Alright the—
"What about their food? Who will feed them?" ask Master Marblerock
"They don't need to eat as often as you and me and when they get hungry they will hunt at the forest. Most of them don't need meat, they are self sustaining so they will not add to your burdens Master Marblerock."
"Does anyone have any other concern?" Master Stormgrog asks the Council. When no one raised any questions he continued "We will accept your offer then Master Valnan."
"Now then, what are you going to offer me in exchange for my services?"
"What do you need Master Valnan?"
"Although I can do many things, I don't know how to make weapons. That's what I would like in exchange for my services, your finest weapons and armor. I have a Dwarven Smith who is an exceptional rune smith. How about it Master Hornmaul, will you make me something magnificent?"
"The art of Rune Smithing has gone a little stale. It is true that it would be faster if someone just enchants a weapon of engraving it with runes but runes last forever while enchantments have durations. I have read a book that referenced a legendary Runesmith who can engrave legendary runes that enchanters can't beat or even replicate."
"Very well then, I accept your payment. We will discuss the finer points in another time but for now let us celebrate and join the festivities."
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When the festivities finally died down and everyone went home to sleep, I went to my room in the city. The Dwarven Council offered me 3 residences; 2 rooms inside the Royal Palace and 1 room inside the dwarven city. I chose the room in the city because it is closer to the blacksmithing workshop. The room was slightly small, I can reach the roof if I stand on tiptoes but I guess to a dwarf this would be a spacious room. I settled in my comfortable room and thought about the things I wanted to create. 'I need a way to replenish my potion stock. I noticed that their potion has a blue color and has incredibly slow healing abilities. There's a recipe for minor up to greater healing potion but I have to look for the ingredients and test if I can make it here. In YGGDRASIL all you have to do is find the ingredients and go to the potion station and it will be complete but here there will be a process to it. I need to find out what that is. I wonder if I can improve my skills here. I have hit the level cap in YGGDRASIL and I probably won't level up anymore but skills on the other hand maybe I can be better in them. I hope that is the case. I also nee—' my train of thought was interrupted by a knock on my door.
"Come in the door is open."
Kline and Niles came inside. Outside I can see that the rest of their team is waiting there.
"Good evening Prince Kline what can I do for you?"
"Good evening Master Valnan. We are here to ask a favor of you. I told my team that you would teach the dwarven army while you were here and we were wondering if you would also teach us. Niles here is specially excited to learn from you."
As I look at the two of them I can see hope and determination in their eyes. Hope that maybe they can grow strong and determination to make that happen. I smile at them and said
"Very well, you can join in. You can be my star students however—" I raised a finger "Don't assume that will stay forever, If I see someone better than you then you will be replaced. I value talent greatly and I will nurture them and help them grow."
"Thank you very much Master Valnan or that would be Sir Valnan from now on." Chimed both Kline and Niles. I smiled at them 'Did they practice that?'
"Go on then, I need to sleep as I have much to do tomorrow. You guys sleep too, this is my first lesson then. Take care of your body, rest when you need to. Don't take your body for granted or it will betray you."
"When are you going to teach Sir Valnan?" asks Niles
"I don't know yet, I have to coordinate the schedule with Master Oakbranch but at the very least tomorrow I'm going to be free. Why do you ask?"
"We are going back to the kingdom tomorrow. At the very least the journey will take a couple of days."
"Why not use the flying demons to help you travel. They won't be able to fly you the whole way but they will at least be able to shave a considerable amount of journey time. Call Zellia for me so that I can give the order. Oh and will you take Buster with you, I might be too busy to accommodate him. This way he will be fed and he will get plenty of exercise."
"I understand Sir Valnan. Well then we will go back to the castle and rest."said Prince Kline
"Goodnight Sir Valnan."said Niles
"Goodnight"
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As soon as I wake up I opened my inventory and got my Encyclopedia; an item from YGGDRASIL that every new adventurer got once they started. The item recorded every quest you finished, every little trivia about the creatures you met, they even kept record of the monsters you defeated although most people only got their name, HP and MP but if you were a max level Ranger you can use [scan] and even the stats, resistances and weakness of the monster will be recorded. If it was a boss monster then most likely a little trivia about it would show up too.
I easiest to create would be minor healing potion so that's where I would start. The ingredients are 1 mushroom, 2 gels and 1 bottle. I also my alchemy kit and was about to test whether I can create minor healing potion when a knock came from the door.
"Who is it?" I ask
"Master Valnan, it's Zellia can I enter?"
"Yes the door is open. Come in."
Zellia came in and bowed to me. Ever since I defeated her in our duel, she stopped wearing the red dress that she wore when I met her. She now wears a practical looking clothes; black long sleeve shirt, brown cotton pants and black boots. The biggest difference I can detect is that she somehow turned off her allure. Before she was radiating it like the sun, you can feel it in your skin but now she almost looks like a regular demon. 'I wonder what happened. Ehh this is better, people around her won't give in to their lust anymore.'
"What is your command Sir Valnan?"
"Zellia I have given the commander-in-chief the right to command my army, of course you are exempted in that. You will be protecting the mountain. I assume most of your army can at least take a humanoid form? Those who can't will be stationed inside the mountain. Those who can will be patrolling outside. If anyone wants to enter the dwarven kingdom then explain to them that you were hired to protect the kingdom and under the command of Master Oakbranch. Don't start aggressive action, you can defend yourselves but don't kill the enemy. You can heavily wound the enemy if he would not back down and not attack you and you will take them as prisoners. He would be your equal. Tell the army to treat him as a general. Any insubordination to him will be viewed as insubordination towards me and will be dealt accordingly. If they have any large complains then they can come to me to voice it otherwise if it is a simple matter then I will leave it to you. Talk to the Master Oakbranch and resolve it yourselves."
"Understood, I will deliver your orders to the army."
"Oh and Zellia tell everyone to not bother me for the day, I will be experimenting for a bit and I don't need distractions. I won't need food either."
"Understood Sir Valnan, I will relay your request."
After Zellia left, I continued my experiment. I took out the alchemy devices out of the alchemy kit. The most important is the alchemy box; an 8x6x10 in metal box that has a reinforced glass at the front and opens up at the top. It has all sorts of buttons and knobs to adjust the settings such as transmute rate, transmutation factor, mana convertion, mana infusion and other settings. Another item in the alchemy kit is the tubes and clamps that you will attach to the side of the alchemy box, clamp into your fingers and infuse mana to your creation. I have 8 tubes and 8 clamps. Different items require different mana infusion rate.
Before i start I took out the Ring of Sustenance and Ring of Mana Regeneration which can only be used when in towns and not in battle. I placed the ingredients inside the alchemy box, adjusted the settings to like the instruction says and started to the process. After a few seconds the process ended and I took out the result. The product looks odd and a bit different to the Minor Healing Potion I'm familiar with. I took out the Ring of Lesser Appraisal and the results is an unknown potion.
' Unknown Potion – a defective potion that will heal for about 5HP and has possible negative side effects which are not affected by resistances.'
It seems the potions here need new alchemical formula. The only way to find out is to try making it until I get it right. After a few tries I finally managed to make an exact Minor Healing Potion which recovers your HP by 50. My total HP is 8,694 which is in the low side compared to other Lv100 characters. I know a heteromorphic tank character that boosted his HP to almost 100,000. Of course with equipment I can boost my HP but that is my bare HP. I got up and went outside the mountain for a breath of fresh air.
It seems that I worked until the whole day. The orange sky indicated that it was twilight. I breathed the air deeply. It is such a relaxing experience I don't think I ever experienced on earth. Natural air is better than what we have back home. I inhaled slowly for a while, held it in and exhaled slowly. I have a lot to do to replenish my potion stock. I also need to find ingredients. The road ahead of me is a long one but I think I'm going to enjoy the feeling of making something. In YGGDRASIL it was over in a flash but here you have to work hard and discover.
I smile, the excitement of the future is exhilarating. I need to find Zellia. I need to use something i haven't used in the last 5 years. It is a good time to be alive