Overwhelming Firepower

Lucen woke up and opened his eyes. The very second he opened his eyes, someone’s face was close to his. Lucen was surprised and was about to attack, but he stopped himself as he quickly realized who the other person was.

”What is it, Robert?” Lucen pushed Robert aside as he tried to sit on the bed.

His mind lagged behind his body, thoughts slow and unfocused, as if someone had wrapped his consciousness in wool. A dull ache pulsed behind his eyes, not sharp enough to incapacitate him, but persistent enough to make every movement feel a half-step delayed.

Robert, unaware or simply not caring about Lucen’s current conditions, spoke out. ”It’s first light already. Shouldn’t we go and meet that dwarf already? We need to learn more about the rune engravings that dwarves use. How was he able to-”

Robert’s voice trailed off in Lucen’s ears as the other party kept on going on and on about rune engravings and dwarves’ racial ability of sensing minerals.

Lucen raised a hand, cutting Robert off mid-sentence.

”Robert,” he said, voice rougher than he expected. ”Slow down.”

Robert blinked, finally noticing something was off. ”Huh? Did you not sleep well? Were you too excited as well to meet the dwarf?”

Seeing the excited look on Robert’s face, Lucen couldn’t help but sigh. Lucen then looked out the window, and as Robert said, it was indeed first light, but that was too early to visit.

”We can’t go now, it’s too early. The dwarf might still be asleep.”

”That’s fine, let’s just head to his place and wait there instead. We won’t bother him while he’s sleeping, and it will also show how serious we are about speaking with him.”

Lucen was quite surprised by the sensible plan Robert said. He was even about to praise Robert, but Robert then said something more.

”Not to mention, we can look around his place and see if he has placed rune engravings on his house. I wonder if I use an earth based spell will be able to sense it as I use it?”

Hearing those words, Lucen once again sighed. ”Everything you said before was good, but what you said after is worrying.”

”Huh? Why is it worrying? It’s not like I’ll touch anything, I’ll just be looking... Probably.”

”We don’t know much about dwarven culture, so we can’t be sure if arriving early is good or bad, or if what you want to do is rude or not.”

Lucen answered that way, but he did have some inkling about the dwarven culture from the game, but he couldn’t fully trust that information.

In the game, it was possible to just save, and if you made a wrong choice in the conversation, you could just reload, but here in reality, that can’t happen.

Robert clicked his tongue in annoyance, ”Tsk, then I’ll just go ahead on my own.”

”Sure, you could do that, but what if you offend the dwarf and he wouldn’t answer any of your questions. Worse yet, he might tell other dwarves that you’re someone not to be trusted. Then you would never be able to talk to any dwarf near our kingdom.”

Robert froze mid-step. He then looked at Lucen. ”Do you think that would really happen?”

Lucen met his gaze steadily. ”Dwarves are a rather proud race. Reputation matters to them more than coin. Offend one, and word spreads through the others, and you’ll become someone they will actively avoid.”

Robert grimaced. He didn’t like hearing that, but he couldn’t dismiss it either. Slowly, he scratched the back of his head.

”Fine, I get it...” He muttered. ”I guess I will have no choice but to wait.” Robert then sat down in the chair in the room.

”Can you wait in your room?”

”No, that would be inefficient. To receive the news of when we move the fastest way would be to stay close to the person who decides when we leave, which is you.”

Lucen looked at Robert, who had already sat down in the chair. He almost sighed again, but he held himself back and instead simply shook his head.

”Fine, since we’re already awake, how about we have some breakfast. I’m sure Sir Thalos and Bram are already awake as well.”

”I don’t know about Bram, but Sir Thalos got up long ago. He said that he would be training nearby.”

When Lucen heard what Robert said, he noticed something and asked. ”Have you slept?”

”Not a wink,” Robert answered immediately. Lucen already expected that answer, but hearing it was another thing.

’Well, what can I expect from someone like him? It’s like me back then, when a game I’ve been waiting for was announced to be released, I stayed awake to buy it and then play it for hours after.’

Lucen stopped thinking about it and went out of his room to call for Bram to eat with them. Bram was already awake, cleaning his equipment.

The three headed downstairs, and unlike in the evening, when there were a lot of patrons, now the Tavern was practically empty with only one or two patrons still drinking.

”You lads had a good night’s rest?”

Bromdir stood behind the counter as if he had never left it, broad arms moving with practiced ease as he cleaned mugs that were already spotless.

His smile looked less like politeness and more like a habit, the kind earned from years of greeting people before they were fully awake.

”Yeah, it was pretty good. So what’s for breakfast today?”

Bromdir chuckled, wiping his hands on a rag as he leaned against the counter. ”We got bread that won’t break your teeth, stew that’ll keep you standing, and ale watered down enough that you won’t embarrass yourselves before noon.”

”I guess that’s good enough. Make that for four people, please.”

After they were done ordering, while waiting, Sir Thalos returned after a light exercise, well, light for him.

The food arrived a little later, and despite it being such simple things, the smell they emitted was quite nice.

When Lucen took a bite, the level of the taste was more than just bread that won’t break your teeth, and a simple stew.

The bread was soft and fluffy, and the stew had some spices that were as good as the meat stew that they ate last night.

Once they were done eating, Lucen once again asked for directions towards the dwarf’s place of business.

Bromdir told them the location, which was quite easy to find since it was the only house and forge near the mines.

When Lucen’s group headed out of the Tavern, what greeted them was the bustling town of Gurbundy.

People were already moving around hard at work. The sound of hammers banging on anvils with rhythm echoed throughout the town.

The closer they walked toward the mining district, the denser the sounds became. Metal rang against metal in steady, almost musical rhythms.

Some strikes rang sharp and clean, others dull and heavy, depending on the metal being worked.

Together, they formed a layered soundscape that felt less like noise and more like a language spoken fluently by the town itself.

Hammers rose and fell with practiced precision, not frantic, not rushed, each strike deliberate, as if every smith already knew exactly how much force was needed before the hammer ever descended. The air grew warmer, tinged with the sharp scent of coal smoke and heated iron.

Unlike other towns, where blacksmiths were scattered and workshops were tucked away, Gurbundy’s smithies were clustered together near the mines, forming a rough semicircle around the mountain’s mouth.

The group continued onward, towards the mines were people were coming and going, pushing carts, wheelbarrows, or just holding wooden pails.

Lucen’s group wasn’t actually heading to the mines; instead, they went a different direction, and after a short walk, they finally saw their destination.

The dwarf’s forge was the one closest to the mines. It was half-carved into the stone itself. Thick stone pillars reinforced the entrance, and iron braces ran along the walls.

It was not decorative, but functional. The forge chimney was wider than most, allowing smoke to rise cleanly instead of choking the area.

The second they saw the dwarf’s forge, Robert’s eyes were practically sparkling.

”The entire place has rune engravings. I can only understand a few, most of which are meant for protection from external force. Are those runes near those so that the forge won’t shake? There’s so much.”

Robert started muttering to himself again and was walking faster, seemingly wanting to rush forward, but Lucen grabbed hold of the other party, stopping him.

Robert’s fingers twitched as if itching to trace the runes directly, mana instinctively stirring in response to the patterns carved into the stone.

Lucen then passed Robert’s hand to Sir Thalos, who tightly gripped Robert, making him unable to move closer to the house. Lucen stepped forward before Robert could protest.

”Calm down, first. We need to ease into the conversation before you can ask whatever it is you want to ask him. Or do you want Sir Thalos to knock you out again?”

Hearing what Lucen said, Robert had no other choice but to comply. Lucen then took a step forward and was about to knock on the door.

Before his knuckles could make contact, the heavy metal door shifted. Hinges groaned softly, and the weight of the door alone was enough to suggest the kind of strength required to move it regularly.

The dwarf from last night was now standing before Lucen. The dwarf looked at Lucen’s group and then spoke. ”What do you want?”