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  Dawn gave me a cool look and then did a little curtsy. “Nice to meet you, Slaveborn. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  She kind of nodded in that way girls do. Not too deep, not too shallow. The most casual acknowledgement; the type of greeting guys just entering puberty wish they could pull off in front of their highschool crush.

  “Uh, hello.” I said, a little too gruff and a little too awkward.

  Dawn’s expression never changed, nor did she give any sort of reaction. She kind of stared at me like how one might look at a strange creature.

  Maria’s empty laugh broke the strange mood I’d found myself in. “Oh really? Betrothals already? Why, Zenom and Borealis but really like you Salveborn.”

  “...What?” I said out loud.

  Borealis gave a cool look to the Akka Xalud Scion –one day, I was going to have to find out what Maria’s story was. For now, she was an integral part of Clover’s crew and I needed all the information that could provide leverage. So I let Borealis and Maria engage in the verbal banter, trying to glean parts of her story.

  “There’s a saying in Turina,” Borealis said, voice rising a tad for the others to hear. A hint of theatrics entered his voice, not entirely overt but subtle. Just like a politician. “That a tiger only knows how to spot stripes.”

  Maria Akka Xalud audibly growled at Borealis.

  For all her acts, Maria Akka Xalud wasn’t just some common thug. She was part of one of the Great Houses –the Akka Xaluds. Not only that, one couldn’t even compare her standing to someone like Dorocian Kojisan who shared a lot of the thuggish personality traits with Maria. Dorocian was a bastard, she could act like that and get away with it. What’s another bastard with uncouth manners? A common-enough sight.

  But Maria was, as far as I knew, a legitimate Scion. A full blown member of the Great House, carrying the name of the Akka Xalud. A direct heir of the original patriarch who founded this house; who was one of the founding fathers of the Turina Empire. She should have acted like Dawn, not like L’teya or Dorocian.

  That alone told me a lot about Maria Akka Xalud. That she wasn’t like your typical Scion. That she acted in a manner that pleased herself and held herself to a standard that didn’t conform to Turina’s decorum. It also explained a lot of things about why she might be traveling with Arione or Clover, the former being shunned by Turina and persecuted by them in the past.

  “Quiet, Borealis.” Maria’s steps grew silent, all quiet-like. “You wouldn’t want a repeat of the Summer Festival.”

  “That was Jason,” Borealis jibed, “And you are you. Though I should welcome the challenge, should any Akka Xalud step up to it. Even Jason.”

  Maria actually physically took a step towards Borealis, growling.

  Surprisingly, it was L’teya who stopped her.

  “Stop.” The red-haired Barbarian said, looking at the Scion straight in the eye.

  Maria’s eyes smoldered with barely concealed anger. “Barbarian, I told you-”

  “He’s goading you.” L’teya said openly for everyone to hear.

  Maria’s lips parted, a little too wide to be a smile. “I know that.”

  “Then stop.” L’teya broke off eye-contact with Maria and looked to Borealis instead. “And you too, Knight.”

  Borealis maintained eye-contact with L’teya. I could see the gears in his head spinning. Calculating. Borealis might be a knight but like Maria, he was also a Scion. Probably a lot smarter too. Whatever he knew about Maria, he knew how to twist the narrative so that it looked like she lost her cool.

  L’teya had effectively broken the flow of conversation between them. And with it, any chances I had of finding out more of Maria.

  …Was it on purpose?

  “Hate Sssscionssss.” Skaris muttered, as if reading my thoughts.

  Sighing, I turned around to face the expedition party.

  “Enough.” I said finally and to my surprise, everyone gave me their undivided attention. Borealis, his party and even L’teya and Maria.

  Not wanting to miss the moment, I continued. “I don’t care about Turina politics or the drama that follows a Scion around. You two can argue all you like once we get back. But right now, you two will stop this bickering.”

  “Oh-ho…” Dorocian rubbed her chin.

  “And no more questions about the Dwarves.” I said and started to walk without looking to see if they’d obey. “We can cross that bridge once they’re safely back in the camp. There’s still a dozen things we need to secure before it even gets to talks about smithing.”

  “Ah, wait-” Borealis and Dawn walked up.

  “And Borealis,” I gave him a look which stopped him in his tracks, “We can save the personal introductions for later. For now… just focus on the mission.” I turned to the others. “Get back into expedition formations. If I don’t like your formation, I’m going to change it to my will.”

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  As they got back into formation, I had to wonder.

  If the mere possibility of having Dwarven Smiths on this expedition was enough to send sparks flying, what was going to happen when they found out just how skilled these Dwarven Smiths were?

  At least the beginning signs were good. I didn’t have to kill anyone to make these people listen to me. Might be a low standard but in MSS, that’s as good as it gets sometimes.

  ***

  The rest of the expedition was uneventful.

  We didn’t even need to transverse the tunnels. The Dwarves were already outside of the caves.

  From the vista of a cliff, I saw them. The Dwarves were already outside of the caves.

  Large packs sprouted up, marking their locations. The nervous chatter of Dwarven Smiths were interrupted by the quiet shushing of their women and often broken up by the squeal of their children.

  There were at least two hundred of them. Maybe more.

  “There they are!”

  I didn’t know who said it. I raised a hand, signaling the expedition party to stop.

  “This is going to effectively double the size of the fleet.” Kyrian said, more to himself than anything else. I could imagine that he was already running through the logistics of feeding and carrying such a group in addition to the people we already had.

  “Leave that for Zenom and the other leadership to take care of.” I said bluntly.

  We were adventurers. Not logisticians.

  “Slaveborn!” Borealis came up, separating himself from his party. “Are we all going down there?”

  I thought for a moment. “No, I don’t want to scare them.”

  “Just your party then?” Borealis asked. “If I could-”

  “Not even. Just me.” I replied.

  Just like before, everyone would do whatever they could to ingratiate themselves into the good favor of the Dwarves. Right now, I was it’s sole channel. But the moment I revealed who the leader of the Dwarves were…

  ‘Doror will be bombarded with pressure. Maybe even threats. I need to warn him beforehand.’

  While I was thinking to myself, I saw Arione and Clover whispering in the back of the group; the elven mage pointing at the Dwarven Refugees.

  ‘I swear to god, if he tries something, I’m going to-’ My thoughts were cut short by a familiar voice that called out to me.

  “Slaveborn!”

  Doror Stonehammer hadn’t even given me a chance to greet him. He walked ahead of his people, waving his hands high above. There was a large backpack on his back, much larger than his whole body. That was the Dwarven [Physical] stat at work, one of the things that Dwarves excelled at. Namely, the [Strength] stat, which translated directly to carrying capacity.

  “Go Lock,” Kyrian said, “We can organize things here.” Then he turned around, wading into the gathered expedition parties. I saw him find the other party leaders, quickly explaining what they needed to do with the Carts, Messengers and all the other logistical details that came out of this type of mission.

  One of the many times that I was glad to have Kyrian with us.

  The cliff wasn’t a sheer drop, more of an aggressive slope that curved downwards so steeply that it might as well have been one. If I had been a mere human, I dared not attempt it. But as it were, I simply dropped off the cliff, sliding down the rocky slope as if I were ice skating. Perks of all the [Physical] stats stacked on top of me by my build.

  When I reached Doror, we shook grips. I took the time to take in his new form.

  Doror had not changed much, not in the way that I could see. Yet, it was an undeniable fact that he had changed sometime between now and the last time I’d seen him. It was the subtle things, like in the way that he held himself. He was standing slightly straighter, his eyes no longer clouded by the murkiness of alcohol. There was a newfound strength in his grip and his nails were clean, empty of dirt.

  It wasn’t just him either. All the dwarves behind him had the same look.

  One of excitement. Hope. Newfound beginnings.

  Adventure.

  He studied the caravan on top of the cliff, “Those the Turinans?”

  “Some. Not all.” I motioned at the caravan buzzing like a beehive, laying out huge tarps and some of the auxiliary forces summoning lesser monsters with Summoning-type Cores, meant to serve as our pack animals.

  He gave me a look, some parts scared and some parts reaching out with uncertainty.

  “Did I make the right choice? In trusting ye, lad?”

  No bullshit. No beating around the bush. None of that coy political crap that the Turinans enjoy. Just a straight question.

  “You did.” My brain responded, without missing a beat.

  “Aye… I reckon I did.” He shook his head. “Bah, what does matter now. Forget I asked the thing. Going senile, I am.”

  Behind Doror was Futir Stonehammer. I shook his hand as well.

  “Glad to see you’re doing well, boy”

  “Mmmm.” I frowned. “Haven’t I done enough to be called something other than lad or boy?”

  Doror and Futir shared a look, like I just said something outrageous.

  “Humans.” Doror spat on the ground. “Ah, I have your Shield and your friend’s spear.” He handed me a Dimension Ring.

  The Lunar Shield and Strange Antler. My party’s Legendary Items.

  With shaking hands, I reached out and took the Dimension Ring from him, which contained basically the two most precious loot out of everything my party owned. I didn’t want to ask in case someone was eavesdropping, but Doror had already handed it over. Someone probably saw. Besides, my gamer’s curiosity got the best of me. “What’d you do to it?”

  “You adventurers are an arrogant lot,” He said, smiling, “Yes, all of ye are strong. But I tell you, with the right equipment, ye could be stronger.”

  My eye twitched. “I had the wrong equipment?”

  “The wrong kind of equipment.” The Dwarven Master Smith replied. “No matter how sharp a blade might be, if the balance is wrong, it’s not a good of a sword as it could be, aye? Or the forge forbid, if ye had a shield that didn’t fit your fighting style at all, aye?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “True… and you’re the best judge of that?”

  He stepped closer to me. “I think you know the answer to that.”

  I snorted, looking away.

  “Slaveborn?”

  “Yes?”

  His eyes met mine, straight on.

  “Whatever happens, I won’t forget what ye tried to do for my people. My hammer is yours, now and always. Both mine and all of the Stonehammer clan.”

  And then…

  He bowed his head.

  And following suit, all the rest of the Dwarves.

  I turned back, to see all the adventurers seeing this sight.

  They didn’t know Doror Stonehammer was a Master Smith. But they knew one thing.

  Dwarves have a long history of grudges with humans. A hate relationship, centuries of loathing and grudges, born of racist discrimination, full-on genocide and only the gods of MSS knows what else. The adventurers behind me had no context for why Doror had bowed his head to me, nor why all of his people had.

  All they knew was that he did.

  And in their eyes lurked the natural hunger and greed of adventurers knowing an opportunity when they saw one. Not the uncertain jabs they had prodded me with on the way here, trying to glean how much control I’d have over the Dwarves. But the certainty of a predator knowing that in the bushes lay their prey, ripe for the taking.

  And all that stood between the two… was me.

  No, not just me.

  Me and my party. I kept forgetting that.

  I flashed a smile. “I’ll use it well.” I bowed my head, just a fraction of an inch. “My thanks.”

  Doror smiled back. Then he turned around, “Alright you lot! These adventurers are going to be our escorts! Get yer hands ready! All of you! Git!”

  “Ah, Doror. One more thing.”

  “What?”

  In all my plans, I had forgotten to be certain of one thing. Oh, I had been reasonably sure. But… just in case, just in case, I had to ask.

  “Do you know how to build ships?”

  He looked at me like I was the stupidest animal he’d ever seen.

  “Eh? Lad, what kind of Smith needs to know how to build a ship?”

  Oh shit.