Maybe I should have picked my words with a bit more caution. In any case, the atmosphere got a bit tense after I said all that.

  “Raise your hands and move toward the camp. Do anything else and you will get a bolt right in the middle of your torso.”

  “I would rather not get any bolts on my body. They wouldn’t suit me. Still, I can’t follow your orders since I don’t know what your friends will do with me. I can at least guarantee you all that I am not your enemy. If I were, I would have robbed you guys blind since you left that pce completely unguarded.”

  “Your words have no weight here, not when the empire is plotting against us. Besides, someone insane would trust the words of a vampire.”

  “I am half vampire, but…”

  Something felt off here. The voice of the woman was a bit tense, but I could tell that she wasn’t that guarded… it made me realize that the dwarves didn’t know much about my involvement in this conflict. Aside from hearing that I was found talking with Crice a few times, any information about me should be pretty dubious, given that I remained hidden and disguised when I was helping her.

  “If you guys have any information about me, you should know that the empire doesn’t want me alive and vampires don’t treat each other well, much less a half vampire.”

  “I am not going to tell you again. Move!”

  In the next moment, I turned into mist and then moved backward. Before she had the chance to react, she found herself with my fingers at her throat. I wondered why I was using my hands like that. It wasn’t like I had the same nails as some vampires do. They were pretty normal, in fact.

  “Good, you didn’t pull the trigger. So this means that I don’t have to kill you immediately. Still, you shouldn’t point a crossbow at someone else’s back if you aren’t serious about pulling the trigger.”

  I let go of the dwarf and then Gcien approached me as she turned around. I had seen some of them from a distance, but not from this close, so it was a novel feeling to see another member of another group in this world. What wasn’t novel was the look of disdain on her face when she turned around. I couldn’t help but sigh.

  The red-haired dwarf stood out in her leather armor, a sturdy, well-worn set that clung to her compact frame. Her fiery hair was tied back into a messy braid, with stray strands framing her round face. She had a bit of a chubby look, soft in a way that seemed at odds with the rugged demeanor of other dwarves. Her skin was soft and free of marks that many dwarves normally would have thanks to their forges, but her hands bore the calluses of someone who had spent a lifetime working with weapons and machines.

  In her hand, there was this massive crossbow, with a thick steel frame gleaming faintly in the light. They looked almost oversized for her stature, yet she carried them with ease, as though they weighed no more than a pair of hammers.

  There was an odd bance about her appearance, simultaneously approachable and tough, soft yet unyielding. I wondered if my perception was skewed by my ck of familiarity with dwarves, their unique build and culture making it harder for me to gauge her true nature.

  “I guess I am wasting time, but it doesn’t hurt to try asking. Where can I get a bcksmith css in your territory? If you help me with this, I can leave your nd faster. It will be a win-win for all of us.”

  “... Why would you want that css? Don’t vampires just ensve those who have the skills they want?”

  “I don’t know, but I guess that makes sense. Anyway, if you want me waltzing around for a while longer, you just have to say it.”

  “... Northwest of here… five mountains away.”

  “I see. Better hurry to leave this pce as soon as possible as. Let’s go, girl.”

  “Awoo!”

  Gcien and I left in a hurry and soon used the Shadow Step amulets to gain some extra room for possible pursuers. Dwarves weren’t good at that, but they should have some tools that could help them with it.

  In any case, while we were moving, I found a rge bag behind a tree… we had passed through there earlier and it wasn’t there…

  ‘Was that hers? I didn’t see the others carrying this much luggage… well, not my problem.’

  Shadow Step Lv 39: Instantly teleport a short distance to an enemy’s blind spot, allowing you to strike or evade undetected. This ability also increases your next attack's critical chance. The distance crossed is equal to the level of the skill multiplied by two meters. Cost: 50 mana

  ‘The skill sure has improved a lot. I am not cking in mana cores, so perhaps I should keep using the amulets.’

  I didn’t have to worry about making a vehicle that would consume mana cores to work, but then again, treating Gcien like some actual horsepower didn’t feel right. She could give me a hand with that, but it was better to be ready for all kinds of possibilities.

  It would be fun to create a boratory and forge inside a carriage, all powered by mana cores. Selling them at the guilds was basically a waste of time, after all. I had better uses for them than for money.

  “Chi, chi, chi!”

  “I know, I know… I will take a nap when we reach the byrinth.”

  A couple of hours ter, we reached the byrinth that the dwarf girl had mentioned. Now that I thought about it, I never considered that she could be lying, but looking at the entrance, I found that hard to believe.

  The entrance of the byrinth was a gaping maw carved into the rock, framed by intricately weathered stone. Surrounding the entrance was an eerie drawing of mineral golems, their towering figures arranged in a perfect circle as if standing guard.

  Each golem was unique, yet uniform in purpose, their forms hewn from shimmering crystals, jagged obsidian, and rough-hewn granite. Their angur limbs glinted faintly, and veins of precious metals, gold, silver, and copper, ran through their bodies like lifeblood. Some bore smooth, polished faces, featureless except for faint glowing lines that hinted at awareness. Others had jagged, crude visages, as though their expressions were frozen mid-roar or grimace.

  Despite their varying appearances, they all faced inward, toward the entrance, their collective stance exuding an oppressive aura of vigince. Their sheer size was imposing; each golem stood at least twice the height of a human, their broad shoulders and thick limbs giving them a sense of immovable power.

  “I guess we will finally have the chance to mine some ores here, girl.”

  “Grrr…”

  “What now?”

  Just when I was getting ready to enter the byrinth, Gcien grabbed my pants by her teeth and then pulled me to a nearby tree. It looked like she was serious about making me get some real rest. To be honest, my eyes had been stinging for a while, so perhaps I was truly reaching my limits here. I could trust Gcien to watch things around me, so I began to rex and soon enough, I fell asleep.

  I couldn’t recall the st time I had a dream… for some reason, it felt like since I was reborn, I didn’t have those. I imagined that it was because I was getting old, almost forty mentally, and I heard that people dreamless and less when they get old.

  Still, it was odd. A less stimuting daily life or reduced focus on dreams may also contribute to fewer memorable dreams. My life was anything but not memorable, with all the troublesome situations that found themselves coming at me.

  I wished that I could have dreamt of something nice, but I dreamt about that home… I didn’t have a single good memory there, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was floating around there seeing everyone ten years ago. Seeing Rayner talking with his wives… I could hear the contents of their words, but given the weird atmosphere, I guessed that it was me who was the focus of the talk.

  Rayner didn’t pass to me to be the type of person who would expin his actions to anyone, but I saw him trying to do that. I quickly realized that this was just a dream, since he wasn’t that kind of guy.

  His wives tried to tell him how much trouble he would be putting the whole family in by keeping me around, but he didn’t fall back on his decision. After several talks like that, nothing changed and soon those talks stopped.

  The continuation of the dream shifted the scene, and I found myself watching as everyone else who was part of the family returned home from their trips. They appeared visibly tired, dragging their feet as if the weight of the world had been pced on their shoulders. Their faces were worn, filled with the frustration of long travels and whatever burdens they’d encountered along the way. But the moment they saw me in the garden, training, their annoyance became even more obvious.

  It was as though my presence, there honing my skills while they returned home exhausted, added insult to injury. They muttered under their breaths, their irritation growing as they exchanged gnces, each of them silently questioning why I was there. The contrast between their fatigue and my focused determination made their discomfort stand out, and I couldn’t help but feel the weight of their judgment in the air. I immediately realized that part of the frustration they got on their trips was thanks to me.

  The same thing happened over and over again while everyone was growing. Until I could see everyone had become an adult and I was still a child being looked down by them. I knew for the duration of the dream that this wasn’t real, but it still made me odd. When I woke up, I felt more annoyed than truly rested.

  WritingMachineGun