The Strongest Spellblade

“I am Lanner Thunderdust,” Lanner introduced himself. I didn’t mention anything about him using his last name. If he was keeping it, that was his choice.

“Wild Tail of the Blood Fox Clan,” the beast kin said. “Um, are all humans so short?”

“I had an accident growing up,” Lanner said, and Wild Tail nodded.

“The sleeping monster is my pet Ozy. Welcome to our little room for the dark season. I got a bed set up for you. One meal a day. If you need to relieve yourself, you can use the bathroom in the other room across the hall. I use the spell skill Clean after dinner,” I said.

“Clean? Huh, no wonder why you both look so nice. I don’t mind,” Wild Tail said.

“May I?” I asked and he nodded. “Clean.”

“Wow, the dirt and grime all gone,” he said while rubbing his hands over his furred arms. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

“What are you planning to do during the dark season? Normally there are other beastkin to have some fun with,” he let out a sigh. “But not anymore.”

“My condolences about your people,” Lanner said.

“It was bound to happen one day. The demons are incredibly dangerous and wouldn’t hesitate to take out a beastkin or an entire settlement if they could,” he replied. He went over to the metal bed and began unpacking what few items he had.

“So, you are a miner?” Lanner asked.

“Exploratory miner. The regular miners were here in the settlement chipping away at the iron ore veins. But me, I was out there in the mountains at my claim, digging up high grade metal and smelting it myself,” he replied.

I nodded at this, since I had noticed crafting skills for smelting ore. He had a spell skill to generate intense focused heat. The metal bars he traded were so small, since he most likely had to invest a sizable amount of Mana into their refinement.

“You didn’t become an adventurer?” Lanner asked.

“I am not a great fighter. You need a certain level of viciousness to do well in the dungeon. I was always better at finding ore and dealing with the cold. That is how I became an exploratory miner. Not a glamorous job, but it pays well. Used to pay well,” he said with a sigh.

“How many fists of food did you normally get per bar?” I asked.

“Around twelve. But with nothing left…well you were generous making a trade. Thank you,” he said.

“No need to thank me for the trade. You aren’t a demon, even if our races have had issues in the past,” I replied.

“I heard the stories, but survival is too hard to worry about such thing. The annoying part is that I will have to give up my claim and check if the Wolf Clan is still around after the dark season,” he said.

“And if they were destroyed as well?” I asked.

“Then the demons are finally wiping us out after all these years. No idea how they would get past the wards, but that isn’t my problem,” he said.

“And if it is wiped out?” I asked.

“I will figure something out. Head for the coast most likely,” he said.

“I am curious, why the name?” I asked.

“I should ask you. What does Justin Burnstock even mean?” he asked back.

“He has you there,” Lanner said.

“Fair. I guess it is just a cultural difference,” I said.

“Most beastkin name their children after a trait they see in their child or hope they have. I know some of the other clans are a bit different in their naming sense, but that is how the fox clans would do things,” he said.

“Well, the dark season is practically starting. You would be the last one to show up here?” I asked.

“Most likely. If the demons got the other exploratory miners, I wouldn’t be surprised. Most don’t like to get too far from the settlement. I went far to find a better vein of metal. Not just iron ore,” he replied.

“How does that work? You tunnel?” Lanner asked.

“Strip mining for the most part. Just split the rock with Stone Shatter and then move it off by hand. I don’t do tunnel. Too much risk of a collapse. Maybe if I was as small as you, tunneling could work. But with my large size, it is easier to break the stone, then move it,” he explained.

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“That has to be a lot stone,” Lanner said. I got up to begin preparing dinner. I would do it for three people. Making the same portion for Wild Tail that I did for myself. Bringing up payment for a meal would be rude.

“Ah, I can’t do much to help with cooking, but let me heat up this place a bit more. Solar Orb,” he said, using up his Mana. A wave of heat pushed away the lingering cold and lit up the room.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You are welcome,” Wild Tail said. Being polite with each other was the best option since we were unfamiliar with each other.

“Ahhh, heat. I can’t stand the cold. This one loves it,” Lanner said.

“I manage. Cold Immunity helps, but it is broken during the night. Even with all my years out there mining, still haven’t gotten Cold Absorption,” he replied.

“How long have you been mining?” Lanner asked.

“About 15 years, ever since I was 8 years old. You?” he replied. He was only slightly older than me. Lanner was around 17 years old. I was about 20 years old. Now this beastkin was 23 years old.

“I am 17,” Lanner said. Wild Tail looked over at me as I was chopping vegetables.

“20,” I answered.

“What? I thought you were older,” he said.

“Don’t underestimate Justin. He has killed two demons in our time together,” Lanner replied.

“You actually killed them? Not just chase them away?” Wild Tail asked.

“Yes. They were tough battles, but the demons focused too much on melee combat. Probably from fighting your people. There isn’t a range of legacies or variation in combat styles,” I replied.

“A good sword never fails you. And most only learn a spell skill or two if they are lucky,” Wild Tail said.

“Regardless, the lack of combat options has made the demons predictable or easier to fight than they actually are. If they had kited us and used more long range pressure instead of rushing into melee, they would have been a much greater threat,” I replied.

“Or you are just too strong,” Lanner said. “He is very strong. We ran into an Abnormal down on the 12th layer, and Justin killed it.”

“The…12th layer? And an Abnormal?” Wild Tail was clearly shocked. “But only the strongest go that deep.”

“I don’t consider that deep. Not really. Humans have a permanent outpost or settlement on the 20th layer of the dungeon called the Last Bastion. Well not just humans, elves and dwarves as well,” I replied.

“A permanent settlement? Is that even possible? How would they get food?” Wild Tail asked.

“It is brought down with spatial storage containers. But the Last Bastion has been around for about a thousand years. A lot of legends are based out of that place, so they don’t have to constantly make the trek up and down to the surface,” I said.

“Huh. The number of legends us beastkin have is probably less then thirty. Less now after this settlement has been destroyed,” he let out a sigh.

“That is tough. Well at least we have good food and are warm. Justin is quite good at cooking,” Lanner said.

“You are lucky that I have levels in the necessary skill. Otherwise, I would put you on cooking duty,” I said.

“I provide moral support with Ozy,” Lanner countered.

“Is your…pet okay?” Wild Tail asked.

“Just sleeping since it hate the demon’s monster core. It will be fine after another week or so. They are hard to digest,” I replied.

“Did you come out of the dungeon entrance here?” Wild Tail asked. Lanner looked over at me. Wild Tail just seemed to asking in general. He hadn’t realized that I was using the same food that the beastkin used or knew about terms like ‘fist of food’. His observational skills were clearly lacking.

“No, one by the White Wastes, but the demon destroyed it. We will be finding another one once the dark season is over,” I replied.

“Oh, that is good,” Wild Tail said. He wasn’t a bad beastkin, but he was still one of them. If a fight broke out with a team of beastkin, he was more likely to help them, than to help Lanner and me.

I wouldn’t blame him for that, but I also wouldn’t trust him either. “No offense but your home, is absolutely miserable,” Lanner said.

“No offense taken. I know. What about your home?” Lanner asked.

“The Eldarin continent is mostly controlled by humans. That is due to the humans pushing back the elves and dwarves during the time of the Eldarin Empire, which was around 2,000 to 1,000 years ago. Lots of green and warmer than this place. There are a couple of beastkin as well, that made it over there through the dungeon,” Lanner said.

He was getting good at his cover story. I was glad he took it seriously. He couldn’t tell anyone he was a gnome. “Green. A rare color. And warm, that would nice. You have a way back?” Wild Tail asked

“Yes. Through the dungeon, why?” I asked.

“It might be a lot, but could I go with you. Um. Please,” he said.

“You don’t sound that enthusiastic about getting back to your people after this dark season,” I said.

“The clans don’t have good relations. Entering another clan after the destruction of mine, well it won’t be easy. And the best mining spots are around here. That was why this settlement did a lot of mining. And the demons could attack again,” he replied.

“Do you have anything you could trade?” I asked.

“I don’t have a legacy. I know three spell skills. Solar Orb, Shatter Stone, and Forge Fire. All tier 3. I have some more metal I could trade as well,” he replied.

“I will think about it,” I replied.

“Thank you. Don’t worry, I will behave. You can have all my food back as payment,” Wild Tail said.

“You really don’t want to stick around?” Lanner asked.

“No. I don’t mind if I have to do a menial job for humans or even become a slave. Anything is better than this place, now that the settlement and Fox clan is gone,” he replied.

I wasn’t going to go that far. “Slavery is outlawed on the Eldarin continent,” I replied.

“Oh, that is good. I can get work?” he asked.

“There is always work. You can become a farmer or something,” I answered. There was always a demand for manual labor.

“A farmer. That would be nice. Would have to learn a lot of new skills, but that is fine,” Wild Tail said.

Well, he wasn’t a demon and wouldn’t go around eating people, hopefully. Based on the beastkin that I knew, they adapted fairly well to Eldarin culture. But I was still weary of their race as a whole after what I had seen.

“Why do beastkin eat each other?” I asked.

“Meat is precious. It is seen as a gift to pass on strength to others. Fish from the Cat clan is the only other source of meat and incredibly expensive to trade for,” he replied.

“Hmm, okay,” I said, still not sure what to think of the answer.

“I am guessing that doesn’t happen on the Eldarin continent?” he asked.

“No, it doesn’t,” I said. So not some kind of instinct, but a weird cultural thing. Most likely due to their living conditions. Still, it was disturbing.