I probably shouldn't make it a habit to keep constantly passing out everywhere I go… though, most of the time I really don't have much of a say to that. But, man, does it suck when it happens.

Nonetheless, I eventually reawoke from my slumbers. As I gradually collected my bearings, I very quickly realized the difference in my environment. At first, I had the fleeting thought that I'd still be slumped outside in the snow where I last landed—if not buried several feet under—but I was rather fortunately (?) proven wrong. Instead, I found myself situated inside what appeared to be an ice cave, and a pretty large one too. Furniture of pure ice… wooden shelves stocked with numerous jars, glassware & scrolls… the hundreds of paintings framed on the walls…

… yeah, actually, it was looking like this was more of someone's home than just an ice cave.

But that's as far as my interests went in terms of setting. Instead, I brought all of my undivided attention towards the current state of my body. That is, of course, the very fact that I was quite literally frozen from the neck down inside of one comically large ice cube.

'...the fuck?' Calmly, I silently studied my condition. A few test nudges proved that I was completely immobile, and that I was definitely not hallucinating. So then why, exactly, was I in a fucking ice cube? That was beyond me, but more so was the fact that I couldn't even feel any coldness from this strange situation, which made it even more confusing. No numbness, nor any other symptoms associated with the cold. I was just trapped in a cold-less ice cube… all while being butt-ass naked.

Yes, that too. On top of all of this, I was also completely without my clothes nor anything else I had with me beforehand…

…

…God, what was there to even say at this point? I always keep ending up in these odd situations.

Eventually the sounds of footsteps distracted me from my internal and external conflicts. Bringing my gaze towards the far end of this cave, I saw a shadow expanding on the icy-blue walls, one shaped in a way that I didn't even bother trying to decipher. Some seconds later, the suspense was lifted, and the short form of a blue individual emerged from the corner wall.

The first words that came to my mind were witch, smurf, and gnome, though I was more leaning on the witch part. Standing what I could only assume was less than four feet, this blue witch-looking person wore a frost-blue & white collar dress, which was perfectly paired with the short snow-white fur jacket. Two wrinkly & bumpy blue hands carried a woven basket with a closed top, and the face was masked by the oversized witch's hat that shared a similar color scheme to the clothes. The most interesting feature of this new person, however, was the animated blob of snow that carried a black pot from behind.

At this point, I was certain this was a witch. Though, what type of which was what I was beginning to be concerned about. I'd rather not be eaten alive, if this is where this was heading.

The witch came to the center of the room, but not before noticing me staring at her. With probably widened eyes, she let out a raspy and aged voice, attesting to how ancient she must be.

"Child," she began, her tone almost… joyful, "good to see you're awake."

"... Yeah, uh, hi…" I nodded slowly, carefully picking my words, "and… who am I speaking to?"

"...quite the manners you have, I see," the witch nodded approvingly, placing the woven basket down as the snow blog situated the black pot on top of some rocks I hadn't noticed earlier, "and the nerves as well. Most visitors aren't usually as collected as you are right now, much less do they give a proper greeting. Always screaming about wanting to know where they are before they even bother to ask just who their benefactor is."

"... I was, uh, going to ask that next, actually…"

"Hmph, then I will satisfy your curiosity child," the witch harrumphed, gravitating towards the selves and collecting items, "you may call me Shimo Baba, and only that. I have an image to uphold, thus any nicknames or abbreviations are frowned upon."

I blinked, nodding slowly. "Ok… Shimo Baba…"

"Hm, good. Now, as for where you are, you are currently resting in my abode, the Frost Spire," the now-named Shimo Baba explained as she poured the contents of her items in the pot, "the specific location of this tower is and will always be unknown… I believe that is a sufficient warning to you that you will not leave this place without swearing an oath of silence."

"... s-sure…"

"Good good, you are very cooperative child," Shimo Baba grinned, opening her woven basket. To my mild shock, she removed one of the corpses of the same three-headed bats I was fighting not too long ago, tossing it into the black pot. "And I must also add very helpful, too. Your little bout with these pests have been a blessing in disguise… It's a struggle to get my hands on these slippery rodents."

'... I really am talking to a witch right now, huh…' I exhaled to myself, watching as she continued to do whatever the hell she was doing. Genuinely, I wasn't prepared to encounter a witch of all entities, despite me already having a plethora of expectations being in this world. I just couldn't think of any situation where I would encounter a witch… other than probably through a hostile situation, I guess. So, really, I wasn't actually sure just how to react to this.

But… eh, I should probably just keep asking questions then. "Uh… could I ask… why I'm… like this?"

"Ah, yes, you must not know, child, though I doubt anyone would other than me," Shimo Baba chuckled, " when I found you, that body of yours was second to that of a popsicle. Frosted over like a wood frog in the heart of winter, I must say. Had I not freezed you with my own ice magic, hyperthermia would've been your untimely end."

"...um, thank you…" I smiled weakly, not entirely comfortable with the fact that I really was on the brink of death… again. Though I already had an idea that the cold would do something to me, hearing about it from someone else's perspective is… yeah. "And how long will I have to be in this… ice cube?"

Shimo Baba didn't answer immediately, her attention focused onto the pot she was stirring while adding different colored powders. Patiently, I didn't prod her, genuinely curious of the witchcraft unfolding before me. As she added a pinch of some sort of white grains, she turned her head over to me. "You've been in there for roughly three days now, so you're more than ready to get out."

Damn, three days? Crazy. "That's… cool to know."

"However, I would hold on just a little longer," Shimo Baba continued, "my ice has a healing property, but it only goes so far. I must examine you to ensure that all your internal vitals are in shape, less you wish to walk about with punctured lungs."

My eyes widened. "Pun—wait, are my lungs ok?"

"Worry not, it was only an example."

"...oh," I sighed, albeit with a little exasperation. Well, I guess it's good to know that I didn't take any seriously fatal injuries from that fight. In fact, looking back, I'd say I actually feel a lot more comfortable with the results compared to all my previous experiences… which aren't many, of course, but still nonetheless pretty shitty experiences.

Though… that does bring up the question as to what really happened at the end of the fight. Did the other dwarves also get knocked out from the bats? I mean, probably not, seeing that they were able to take hits on top of a moving train, but the chances weren't out the window. I just hope it didn't end up as catastrophic as what happened with the wyverns. Would suck really bad for these dwarves to get wiped out within the span of just three days.

As these thoughts danced in my mind, my nose picked up a scent in the air. Curious, I manually sniffed, confirming the scents of spices and fragrances associated with… cooking. The revelation made me pause before my face visibly blanched.

Trying my best to retain normalcy, I gave Shimo Baba a wry smile. "H-Hey… you cooking something over there, by chance?"

My question seemed to brighten her mood, and for the first time I was able to see her face… well, the lower half of her face. With partially fanged teeth, she gave me a pearly wide grin. "Ah, I knew for a fact you'd be one hungry fella! Sharp nose, child, I am making bat stew right now. Some of the best you will ever try, I say!"

"Some of the best, huh…"

"Verily. And worry not, I've plenty of servings to spare for the both of us!"

… will I really get used to this?

The Tailed Warrior of The Unknown Race

Chapter 10

"Is something wrong, child? You haven't touched your bat stew yet."

I blinked from my hazed stare, shaking my head and giving a cringe smile. "Ah, no no, it's fine Shimo Baba. Just… some thinking, is all."

Though doubtful of my own remark, it seemed fine enough to her. "Well then, let the mind contemplate as you replenish your body. The stew will get cold at this rate."

"R-Right," I nodded awkwardly, slowly collecting a spoonful of the brownish red stew. Some minutes ago, Shimo did exactly as she had said with the body examination. Gratefully, I was given my dignity in the form of a waist cloth, and after the short examination resulted in no problems, my clothes and other traveling items were returned. Now, we sat at a table near the corner, with two large wooden bowls of reddish bat stew and a big pot of even more stew on the side.

I lifted the spoon up to my face, critiquing the marbled meat and unknown vegetables. There probably won't ever be any other situation where I'd eat bat meat, but given the circumstances—and the person who made this—I really couldn't be acting selfish right now. I mean, I could, but that'd just be rude, especially after all she has done for me. Quite literally the best hospitality I've received in this world… even better than what the dwarves gave me, in fact. I lucked out here, honestly.

'Well, people do say to try out new things every now and then,' I reasoned to myself, but it really didn't convince me. Yet even then, with a steeled resolve, I eventually opened my mouth and took the first bite. The warm stew was an inviting sensation to my otherwise cold & parched mouth, and as I chewed… my eyes slowly grew. The tastes, savory and spicy, paired perfectly with the buttery texture of the citrusy meat. Soon, I found myself reaching for the third spoonful.

Clearly, I had misjudged this dish; it was fucking delicious.

"Say, child, you've yet to tell me how you ended up in that predicament," Shimo Baba eventually spoke up, distracting me from my food frenzy, "it's understandable that you had to fend yourself against those nyctris, though I wonder why you'd be so far out here in the first place. Perhaps you were hiking along those tracks?"

I swallowed my mouthful of stew, running my tongue over my teeth. "Uh, not, not exactly. I was on a train ride before those bats attacked…one of them knocked me off while we were fighting."

"Ho, 'we' you say? So you have an alliance with the dwarves then?"

"Err, I guess? I think we're just cool with each other… I worked for them for a bit and we kinda fought together not too long ago, too, so…"

Shimo Baba hummed with acknowledgement, seemingly impressed by something I said. "Well, that's reasonable. The dwarves are a greatly reserved community. Most interactions with outside species are commonly done through business settings, and even then they are short and as shallow as a dried creek. However, saying that you've fought together with them is quite intriguing. You'd never hear a dwarf battling with anyone but another dwarf. It could even be considered taboo in most extreme cases."

'…that's… oddly different from the usual stuff,' I thought to myself. In most fantasy stories, dwarves are pretty inclusive about many things, or in other words are just laid-back and open-minded people. Hell, I could vouch about that with the dwarves I've met so far. It's usually elves or some ancient tribe that are that reserved, but… I guess by what this witch is saying, dwarves are included in that list as well.

I… I'll take it with a grain of salt. Could just be a different perspective here.

"Though, that just brings the question," Shimo Baba continued, "child… just what exactly are you?"

Her question genuinely threw me off. "Sorry?"

"Your species, child. I've never seen it before, and trust me when I say that I've documented many encounters throughout my elongated existence. You're a first."

…ah, right, this question again. I keep forgetting that it'll be a recurring thing… looks like I'm going back to my good old crutch again. "I'm just a monkey boy."

She didn't seem all that impressed by my response. "There is no need to simplify things for me, child. Tell me the true name of your species."

"Seriously, I'm just a monkey boy," I insisted, absentmindedly stirring the bowl of soup, "I don't really have a special or ancient name to my species or whatever. That's as far as I know, really."

"..." Shimo Baba narrowed her eyes, unsurprisingly unconvinced from my reasoning. However she eventually conceded, giving a huff of exasperation. "Very well, if that is what you say, then so be it. For a moment, I was under the impression that a warrior such as yourself would have a more… refined term to your people's name. That's usually how it is for most warrior races I know… though, I suppose some communities tend to lean towards simplicity."

…

…huh?

I paused, placing down my spoon and curling a brow at the blue witch. "You… think I'm a warrior…?"

"Indeed, I do."

'...huh…' Awkwardly, I rubbed the side of my neck, unsure of how to respond. This would be the first time someone was directly calling me a warrior of anything… and it's a bit embarrassing. Nonetheless, I gave a sheepish smile as a form of gratitude. "Uh, thank you, but... sorry, Mis—uh, Shimo Baba, I'm not a warrior. I don't really have much experience to even be called one. I'm just a normal dude… with a few little tricks and moves, I guess. I don't have that sort of finesse."

"Well, I beg to differ, child. Your anatomical structure is undoubtedly befitted for battle, no matter how you perceive yourself," Shimo Baba retorted, a boney finger defiantly pointed towards me, "your body harbors great levels of vitality, which partially contributed to your accelerated healing. And above all else, my examination proved to show that your muscles are more than adequate for high-level stress environments. Resilience and stamina is what constitutes your physique. In other words, your body is the perfect vessel for a fighter—a brawler, specifically—and thus categorizes you as part of a warrior race."

…

…

…wow, uh…

…that is… very revealing news…

So… I'm… no, this body is supposedly a part of some warrior race. I mean, if I were to take what she just said as truth, then… yeah… that isn't too far-fetched of an idea. I've never been oblivious to how resilient this body could be, if any of my past experiences have taught me anything. But… I never really thought the reason for that would be something as fundamental as the very anatomical structure or whatever she was saying…

"…" I silently stared down at my hand, absentmindedly noticing the callouses that had accumulated. My memory probably wasn't the best, but I could tell that my forearms looked more swollen than what I last remember. And… even more, my body right now just felt… lighter. More energized… as if it were more than ready for some heavy work…

…

… Have I really been thinking things wrong this whole time?

"But perhaps there's more to you than what I've noticed," Shimo Baba pondered, appearing to be giving me a look over, "a great majority of the nyctris suffered wounds from ranged attacks, and I can be assured that none of those dwarves could inflict such clean injuries with just their arrows. It must've been from you, no doubt… do you perhaps follow a certain discipline of magic?"

Her question distracted me from my new self-discovery, and I gave a brief so-so gesture. "W-Well, uhm… I've been told it isn't magic, but… I dunno. Here, I think you should just take a look for yourself if it helps."

Extending my free hand, I opened my palm and produced a simple energy sphere, about the size of a softball. My action caused Shimo Baba to express some brief shock, though it quickly morphed into a look of awe and understanding.

"...pretty cool, right?" I said, unable to hold back a small grin. "I still don't have a definite term for it, but I just call it energy for convenience."

"Indeed… so you are a user of lifeforce, I see," Shim Baba hummed, studying the sphere intently, "and of such mastery, too. I've only ever encountered a couple of individuals who could perform such refined structure of their ki… now I must include you as well. Very impressive, child."

"... uh, thanks…" I thanked for the compliment, though halfheartedly. Yet again, I was completely caught off guard with another fact check. First it was that I'm some sort of warrior, and now I'm apparently a user of lifeforce…

…

… but, I mean, the more I think about it… the more I realise that she, again, isn't wrong.

Lifeforce and energy… the two aren't all that different from each other in definition. A user of energy just sounds about the same as a user of lifeforce, and I could go on and further say that lifeforce is a form of energy, so…

…

Suddenly, like a light switch, it all clicked to me. Any lingering doubts I had began to dispatch, and… I began to feel an overwhelming sense of disappointment.

'Man… what the fuck Sean…' I failed poorly to hide my frown, which I directed to myself. All this time… all this time I was in this small dilemma about what exactly my powers were… when the answer was quite literally there in front of my fucking face from the very start! The exhaustion from overextending my attacks, the boost of energy when I produce an aura… it was all there, yet… it all went over my head…

…

…holy fuck… I just might be a dumbass.

'So I really have been thinking things wrong all this time… I didn't think I could be this oblivious,' I dispatched the energy sphere, drumming my fingers on my knee. No, I shouldn't even call it an energy sphere. It's a ki sphere, and I should know that. I do know that. It's not like I don't know anything about lifeforce. Ki, chi, chakra… I've read plenty of eastern books back home to get a good sense of how spiritual powers work. It's exactly as Shimo Baba said; I'm a user of life force, a user of ki, a user of chakra… I'm quite literally a spiritual user.

Just… just how did I not consider this beforehand? Honestly… the fact that I was still even considering my powers to be some sort of hidden form of magic… it's actually starting to be a bit embarrassing now.

…

… well, stupid as I feel right now, I'm glad I learnt about this… preferably should've learnt this much sooner, though. Yet another example that I need to get into contact to whatever deity, system, or whoever the fuck threw me in this world. I'm no different from a lost duckling right now.

Perhaps noticing my shift in demeanor, Shimo Baba nodded towards my bowl. "Would you like another serving, child?"

"... Y-Yeah, sure," I nodded, blinking myself out of my thoughts. For now, I guess I shouldn't really beat myself up so much about it. It's good that I'm learning a lot about… well, everything. This old witch sure is one hell of a gold mine for data, that's for sure.

"Just follow the red tags on the trees, they'll guide you to a small path," Shimo Baba explained, pointing her boney finger towards her right-side, "once you return back to the train tracks, travel due east, and they'll lead you to Pyrestone."

"Alright," I nodded, adjusting the straps of my travel bag over my shoulder. Despite how nice this witch has been, my hospitality could only go so far. I had places to be, and she had things to tend to herself, so we were coming close to our farewells. Fortunately, the weather was nice enough for me to get a head start. At this rate, she estimated I could get there within a day or two if I really pushed myself.

The cold breeze brushing against my face, I smiled gratefully at Shimo Baba. "Once again, thanks Shimo Baba. You did much more than what I could ask for."

"Bah, think nothing of it, child," Shimo Baba waved at me dismissively, "see of it as repayment for your little skirmish with those nyctris. I must once again remind you that they're quite the difficult pests to take down, and you've gone ahead and hunted almost half a decade worth of them!"

… I decided to not question the realism of that last statement. "Yeah, that was sort of unavoidable… but glad it turned out good for somebody."

"Indeed… and, truthfully speaking, it's been a while since I've had visitors around here," Shimo Baba sighed, her gaze going to the horizon over the tree canopy, "I've protected this portion of the forest from intruders for many years, and even then this spire of mine has its own separate enchanted safeguards. Thus, it is rather impossible to get some nice company these days."

"...maybe you could try dropping your defenses for a day?" I suggested. "I bet someone might come across your place."

Shimo Baba simply chuckled. "Ho, child, I could never do such a thing. It is as they say these days… you can never be caught lacking with the opps."

"…?"

True to her words, Shimo Baba's secret path through the trees led right back to the train tracks of the dwarves, which hadn't really changed much besides maybe a few snowflakes here and there. Though initially trekking the place cautiously, I didn't see nor hear any traces of more three-headed bats or whatever monstrosities I've yet to encounter, and thus safely entered into the open. And so, with the magical ice witch tower behind me and my main route back in focus, my journey resumed… albeit slower than compared to the train.

The idle traveling gave me time to reflect. Once again, I must say that I had not been expecting myself to encounter a witch anytime soon, much less a benevolent witch such as Shimo Baba. It felt almost like a facade, really; from all the recollections and stories I've read, meeting a witch in the wilderness all by yourself would usually result in some pretty nasty outcomes. Under that analogy, I probably should've been the one to fall into that black pot of hers instead of the bats. However, not once did I ever feel like my life was threatened around that witch, nor did I feel anything off about her in the first place. She really must've just been a nice witch, and it only further attested to just how lucky I've been.

I guess… I guess that's probably life's way of compensating for all the bad luck I've also had in this world. Though… I'd rather not belittle my previous traumas to something as simplistic as that.

Nonetheless, it's not like I didn't like this encounter. I've learnt a lot about myself just from talking to that ice witch, and it really set in stone just how oblivious I've been about this world. If anything, it's shown that I couldn't afford to resist any source of information. I should soak in everything, deceptive or not, and make my own interpretation on it. I feel like that should be my foundation as I keep going… it'll help a lot.

…

…

…

…this was going to be one boring trip.

After what felt like hours of running, the sun had finally set into the horizon. The world became several times dimmer, and it was beginning to be difficult to see anywhere past a couple of feet. Yet that didn't bother me, because within just a few miles from where I stood, I could see the warm orange hue of light pollution between two colossal mountains, whose summits went far above the dense clouds that were collecting above—a sign that a storm might be coming soon.

The sight alone was a miracle to my sore legs. With glee, I made a mad sprint, ignoring the prolonged numbness in my legs. Like a bullet I zoomed across the curvaceous land, taking shortcuts through foliage and rocky hills, before very quickly seeing the sight of a large stone wall where the train tracks led to. The wall was tall and dense, which made sense for the purpose of letting trains in and out. Torches decorated the chiseled stone, illuminated the gravel-covered terrain. The center of the wall had iron-bar gates, enabling me to see just what was beyond this checkpoint. Unsurprisingly, it led to more mountainous terrain and train tracks, which curved and disappeared behind the two large mountains

I slowed down into a less alarming speed, though my haggard breaths didn't change. Eventually, two dwarven guards came into sight, who seemed to have already noticed me by how their stances looked to be ones for battle. They wore armor of bronze and gold, completely different to what the guards of the previous dwarven town were wearing. Must be an indication of the wealth of this place.

"... State your purpose here, creature," one of the guards barked out, corking his spear towards my direction.

Completely ignoring the hostile gesture and plagued with exhaustion, I came to a stop a few feet away and placed my hands on my knees, taking in deep breaths. "Just… just one moment…"

In response the guards merely curled brows at me, their defenses never wavering. After a few moments, I managed to collect myself to the point where I could have a somewhat normal conversation.

"... Ok, phew, my bad, I'm alright now," I said, standing and stretching, "uh, there was a train that came in not that long ago. Like… three days? I was on it but got knocked off."

"... do you take us as fools, creature," the same guard's eyes narrowed, his tone several times more hostile, "such a lie won't deceive us. Leave at once!"

… sheesh… I'm starting to see some truth to what Shimo Baba said about dwarven exclusion. Or maybe it's just these guys doing their job that has to do with that harsh attitude. Eh, I'm not really bothered by it. "I'm for real, though. The train had some casualties from a fight in the mines. South mines, if I remember correctly."

When I had mentioned casualties, I noticed both of the guards flinching, though it was just barely noticeable. Both of them looked at each other for a moment before one wordlessly entered into a hidden door at the edge of the gate. The other one gave me a curious look; a complete one-eighty from the sharp demeanor just seconds ago. "Hold it there, lad… are you by chance the Tailed Warrior?"

…

…the… tailed warrior. That's a first. "I mean… I got a tail, but… I doubt I could call myself a warrior. I'm just Sean… Sean Triton."

The other guard came back just as I said that, this time with a less anxious demeanor. "Let the lad in… it's him."

The guard I was speaking to gave an expression of relief, and what I assumed was a little bit of… joy? Might be pulling a stretch on that last part. Regardless, he gave me a friendly grin. All the previous bark seemingly vanished. "Well then, sorry for the tension lad! We didn't know what you looked like, so we were just doin' our job."

"Uh, nah, you're good," I said, waving dismissively, "so… is it cool that I come in?"

"Bahaha, of course! Welcome to Pyrestone!" the guard laughed, stepping to the side and gesturing me forward. At the same time, the other guard opened a small section of the gate, seemingly meant for only people to pass through. "We appreciate what you did for our brothers in the south mines. You're an honorable man."

"It's no trouble… I was just doing my part at the moment," I said with a small grin. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to get any more attention than what I got back in the mines, but it looks like the dwarves had spread some news about it. And, I mean… not hating or anything, but I hope it doesn't turn me into some celebrity or something. Or… nah, that's just wishful thinking. I doubt it'd get that hectic, especially for some nobody like me.

Seeing that we were cool, I soundly entered through the gate. However, before continuing, I looked back at the guards for confirmation. "So, just follow these tracks, right?"

"Yup, it'll just be a few more minutes before you reach the heart of Pyrestone," one of the guards said, "from there, ask around and you just might get someone to lead you around."

"Right, thanks." With nothing more to say, I gave a departing nod and turned to the path ahead. Despite my body screaming for rest, I pushed my tired legs just a little bit more and resumed the final sprint of my untimely marathon. It'll only be for a few minutes, like they said, and then from there I can take all the rest I need… probably in an inn or something…

…

...shit… I never even bothered thinking about how I'd pay for an inn by myself…

…

… I guess I'll worry about it when I'm there.

In massive swarms, thousands upon thousands of cattle-sized ants crawled erratically across the floor, walls, ceiling, and virtually every surface that could be found within the dark cavern. The sounds of dark green chitin grinding against one another paired together with the animalistic screeches produced by this swarm, creating a distorted symphony of chaos and blind rage.

Despite the disorder and randomness of this swarm, their target was defined. Standing amidst this amalgamation of entomophobia were four individuals, harboring torches that burned brightly and illuminated the darkness. Armored from head to toe, this group persistently fought against the army of ants, using their weapons to the greatest of their efficiency. Although seemingly futile, their efforts were a slow progression, and one that aided in stalling for their final attack.

"... I'm ready!" one of the four shouted. In their hands was a wooden staff, one made of twin spiraling wood that led up to a crescent-shaped head. Dotted with numerous blue gems, the staff had one large blue orb in the center, which began to gradually illuminate to a point even brighter than that of the torches.

"Fire at will!" another shouted, who wielded two curved dagger blades that wildly slashed against the insectoid enemy.

Heeding to their call, the staff wielder released their attack. In a brilliant flash of light, a haze of blue fog washed over the entire area, hitting every entity in its path. The swarm of ants were quick to react to the attack, as many began to falter from their charge or even begin to run the opposite direction. However, there was soon to be no chance to flee; not a second later, the blue haze ignited, and a monstrous furnace of blue flames came to life within the entire cavern. No ant was an exception to the scorching flames, and very quickly did they burn like sugar to a blowtorch.

The flames were but momentarily. As they receded, the swarm had ended, leaving behind nothing more than mountains upon mountains of charred and melted insect corpses. The air was flooded with a stench of burnt flesh, yet the group of four were seemingly unaffected by it, as were they seemingly unaffected by the flames.

"Nice work," the dagger wielder praised, shaking the brownish liquid from his daggers. He then knelt down to the closest corpse and, with blunt force, shoved a hand inside and pulled out a faintly glowing red shard. He studied for a moment before nodding. "This is a good harvest. Start collecting so we can get out of this damn place."

"Yes, sir!" The others responded in unison, resheathing their own weapons and beginning to collect more of the mysterious red shards from the ant's bodies.

"... holy fuck."

True to the guard's words, it only took a few minutes before I began to see the telltale signs of the city. After reaching the first sight of a streetlamp—which from my own recollection looked to be 17th century in origin—I hopped off from the train tracks and sprinted across the new paved stone street. It didn't take me long to find the actual train station, which is where the dwarves I was with had probably made their stop. Conveniently, there was also a wooden board nearby that had a map posted on it. I had half the mind of taking it with me, but decided against attempting to try any form of stealing around here.

Reading… well, using visual cues on the map, I came under the impression that this place was big, but nothing crazy. My first thoughts were somewhere between a tourist town and a metropolis, and I kept that idea as I went deeper and deeper into this maze of a city. As for the aesthetics of the place, it was pretty much the same thing as that previous town I was at. A bunch of half-timbered houses tightly compressed together, with a few generic rocks here and there… which really made traveling through this place all the more confusing, and made me have second thoughts on not stealing that map.

Strangely, I didn't see any dwarves for a while until I finally made a turn into a larger street, where the street lamps were more frequent. I just assumed the reason was because nobody would be at the train station at night and simply left it at that. Nonetheless, at that moment I considered myself to be right in the middle of Pyrestone, and I felt pretty great about it. Despite the lackluster entrance, this was technically my first big city to be in, and of course it felt a lot better than what I've been doing thus far in the wilderness.

With that in mind, I gladly decided to take a little break by resting on the side of an unspecified building. However… just when I had thought I was resting in the heart of Pyrestone, I just so happened to have some idle talk with a nearby shopkeeper who was closing for the night. And it just so happened that, from that conversation, I discovered that I was only at the edge of Pyrestone, and that going into the heart of Pyrestone would take yet another ten minutes.

"But… the guards at the gate… they said I'd be in the middle of this place in a few minutes," I had argued, being just mildly shocked and annoyed by the news. After trekking through the maze of streets, I was beyond sure that I was in the middle of the city. It felt too congested to be otherwise.

"Y'd be wrong 'bout that, lad," the old shopkeeper shook his head, stacking barrels into the small room next to his shop's door, "them guards y' talk'n 'bout ain't nothin' more th'n whistleblowers. Better to get y'own info by y'self."

With that, the shopkeeper left me to my own devices, and with a frown I reflected on what I should do next. If this wasn't the heart of Pyrestone… then does that really make any difference to me? Should I just call it a night here and sleep outside for the next day, or should I… should I try to go even further into this city? Those were the thoughts that ran in my head. Realistically speaking, there really wasn't any need for me to rush and do that… but eventually both curiosity and the disdain of sleeping outside pushed me up to my feet and made me resume my travels.

And all of that leads up to now, where I found myself standing on the edge of a terrace, my exhausted eyes taking in a full view of the entirety of this dwarven capital. To say that I was severely underestimating this place was in itself a massive understatement, because there was simply no way for me to describe just how far off I was from the actual size of Pyrestone. Like, holy fuck, there was too much I didn't even know where to begin…

I guess for one, this place was similar to the goblin civilization I had been in, because this city's infrastructure went down, and I mean down down. The mountains arced around the city for as far as I could see, giving off the shape of a bowl, and dotting across the inside of this bowl shape was what looked like hundreds of thousands of buildings, all that scaled downwards into a seemingly bottomless bottom. And I only say bottomless because there were fucking clouds obscuring most of my vision. Yeah… a city having a secondary atmosphere is enough to show just how stupidly big this place is.

'How… how the fuck am I going to navigate this place,' I thought to myself with a wary expression, despite my complete awe. The previous maze of streets was like dogshit compared to whatever the hell was before me. Like, for goodness sake, the lights of each building look like stars in the night sky… it'd just be stupid for me to even think of entering this mixing bowl of metal, brick, and mortar.

…

… ok, I think I need to just calm down for a second. Maybe take a moment to just admire this sight before me… because I doubt there would be anything close to this in my old world. Nonetheless, I'm all over the place.

For one, I haven't even found an inn to sleep at, and that was a problem that I had pushed off to the side for a while. The clouds above had already obscured the entire sky, and so the only light source was the city itself. Snow was bound to fall, and I had already lucked out with that witch taking me in. I couldn't risk sleeping outside like this again.

I guess… I guess it's always best to just ask around. That's all I have as a reasonable option, really.

Great news. I got an inn to sleep in that night.

Bad news? Well… it's not really bad news, more of an inconvenience, but my point still stands. Just when the snow was starting to fall, I managed to catch a dwarf turning off the lantern in the front of a building—a building that oh so graciously had the simplistic sign of a bed. Instantly I ran up to the dwarf, and although there was some initial tension, I somehow convinced him to let me in and tell him my story. His name was Borgar, a short-bearded young dwarf, and after hearing my situation he was kind enough to offer me a room for the night. Once again, I fucking lucked out.

Though, as it may already be obvious, he asked for some alternative compensation in replacement for my lack of money. And that, of course, was some manual labor around his inn.

The blizzard was unsurprisingly still blowing hard even to the next day. Even with my current clothing, Borgar gave me an extra coat to wear while I went on to clean up the outside of the inn, as instructed. Personally, I questioned the rationality of cleaning the outside of a building during a storm, but I didn't outwardly ask him and just did as he told me to do. It was probably due to the sheltering of the other buildings around that I managed to clear up all the dirt and grim around the place in just a couple of hours. Gotta love these small episodes of unpaid labor.

Where does that leave me then? Well, I'm still in the inn. There was no way in hell I was going to even try wandering around this colossal civilization, no less in a blizzard. Borgar was a nice enough dwarf, so I've just been asking him as many questions as was deemed normal in my perspective. And I've been learning more and more about these dwarves' lore as the minutes pass.

"... 'nd so, with the nature of the wilderness 'round here, it was 'n still is best we dwarves all cooped up in the same place," Borgar concluded, skillfully peeling potatoes on the kitchen counter, "beats against all the wild critters and violent nations 'round Magniton."

"... that's interesting," I nodded slowly, absent-mindedly eating the sausage I was offered some moments ago, " but if you're all here, how do you even navigate this place?"

"You're supposed to get one of them fancy compasses from the guild, lad. They got them top engineers infusing mana stones into them devices… points you to anywhere with just a thought."

'I see. so they just use a compass in this place? Well… he said mana stones, so it probably just has to do with magic,' I thought to myself. Though, as intriguing as this compass device sounded, the more important part was the guild he mentioned. If I remember correctly, Validus instructed me to go to the guild for more help. This was probably where I needed to go before all anywhere else.

"Hey, uh, Borgar."

"Hm?"

"You mind telling me the directions to that guild you're talking about?"

Author's Note

And that's chapter 10 done!

First of all, happy new years! I hope you enjoyed your time with family, friends, and loved ones! I know I did. I hope this year will turn out to be fruitful and maybe just a little bit less stressful for all of us!

Now, I'd like to consider this tenth chapter to be a milestone for my story, which it technically is. But unfortunately I wasn't entirely happy with how this ended up. I could probably blame it on sleep deprivation, but I don't want to. The layout was haphazard and you might've also noticed the lackluster pacing as well (ending was honestly rushed, btw). Yet even with that, I didn't feel like deleting this entire chapter and starting all over. I don't think it'd be normal for all writing to be perfect at first, so I've just come to terms with what I've written here and publish it. Might edit it in the future.

In any case, I've introduced yet another new character, Shimo Baba, which you may have probably already noticed is inspiration of Fortuneteller Baba in the original DB franchise. She will play a supportive role, mainly because I just needed Sean to have some sort of interaction early on that would make his future encounters and roles makes a little bit more sense (hint, magic battle academy). If you need some visual assistance on what Shimo Baba looks like, try to visualize Fortuneteller Baba fused with Ranni the Witch from Elden Scroll.

I've also dedicated a huge chunk of this chapter to clear up some problems with Sean, mainly him not knowing anything about himself. With my decision on making Sean a complete OC instead of a self-insert, it made it just a little bit frustrating with him not knowing about ki or whatnot. I know there is probably some sort of loophole to what I've written, but I just wanted to get this problem out of the way. From now on, the only real thing he doesn't know about now is his lineage, and that's much more manageable than him not knowing about ki. It should progress my ideas, I hope.

I also hope the scene with the swarm of ants wasn't too confusing. I was just setting up some groundwork for sub-antagonists that Sean will face in this dwarf arc. More info will be given in the coming chapters, but for now know that its sort of like small practice for me to make fight scenes and whatnot. I hope I won't disappoint!

I will take this moment to review, well, the reviews!

~Start~

Cyberpolaris: Thank you for the continued reading! I'm glad to hear that at least someone was surprised with the introduction of Bulma. And yes, the energy power pole was very intentional. Just felt natural when I was drafting that part, lol.

~End~

With that said, I might take a little break from writing this story. It won't be long, though. It is just to give myself a hard reset, and to also bring my focus on other matters, such as preparing my stuff for this next semester in college. So, yeah, until then... happy new years, and have a good day/night!