CHAPTER 1018: SPREADING THE ROOTS (2).

Cain adjusted the sheath on his back and pretended not to notice the way the dwarves were gawking at everything as though they’d just stepped into a different planet. Which, in fairness, wasn’t entirely wrong.

The surrounding area was rather desolate.

After settling the rest of the miners and hunters, Alvi and the man that had been standing beside him had walked forward. Now, it was only them.

Feeling the intensity of Alvi’s stare, Cain cleared his throat,

"Don’t stare at me like that."

Alvi sighed and then smiled wryly,

"It’s just... you truly do have no shortage of surprises under your sleeves."

He paused for a moment then glanced at the Dwarves.

Now that they were exposed to some proper lighting, Cain finally could see them properly.

Their skin was black from all the soot and dust. However, he could see that underneath all that,they had more of a darker, brownish hue to their skin tone.

Like the color of casted bronze.

Sensing the underlying meaning in his tone, Cain sighed and shrugged,

"It’s a long story."

Alvi chuckled,

"Luckily, we have the whole rest of the day for you to tell it."

Cain wanted to protest, but seeing the look in Alvi’s eyes, he figured he owed the old man as much.

"Alright then."

He turned and walked towards the dwarves.

Seeing him approach, Beorstone beckoned his closer.

Curious, Cain stopped down a bit until he was at eye level with the {Black-Hearth Dwarves}.

Beorstone placed his thick fingers on his shoulder and spoke in a rather tense tone,

"Boss Cain..."

Cain immediately senses something was off. These little grubbers had never referred to him with such deference before.

It nearly made his stumble backwards. However, Beorstone’s grip was tight.

"Yer see... We haven’t had anything to stuff down the gullet all day. So we was wonderin’..."

Cain stifled a chuckle.

Luckily, it was just that.

"Let’s get back to Valestorm first. I promised you all a feast, remember?". Beorstone guffawed as he patted Cain’s shoulder,

"I knew I could count on you, kid!"

Cain’s lips trembled,

’No more Boss?’

He sighed then turned towards Alvi with a wry smile,

"I’m sorry to place this all on you..."

Alvi sighed and chuckled,

"It’s alright. If it’s a feast our honored guests want, then it is a feast they shall have."

Beorstone’s grin widened as he laughed even louder,

"Kid, this yer servant’s not so bad as well! Boys, today might just be a darned good day, by Fuji’s beard!"

Alvi’s face fell, but he didn’t say anything else.

Seeing this, Cain couldn’t help but laugh.

A genuine laugh from the depths of his soul.

***

From the mines, there were multiple relay towers all around, each one with a spatial anchor that led to either Gwendolyn, the Redscale Island, or back to Valestorm.

Of course, the one that led to Valestorm was the closest.

The followed a worn dirt road that led to the tower.

As they walked, Cain noticed that he could still see vestiges of the old world laid all around them.

It was the corpse, the remains of what had once been. The buried remains of a rusted car. The remnants of a broken foundation. A rusty pipe or two jutting out of the ground.

A certain mood came over him. One he was very familiar with.

He suppressed a sigh.

"Aye. The wicked scent of disaster. It still lingers ’ere, indeed it does."

Cain raised a brow and turned around.

Behind him the five {Black-Hearth Dwarves} walked.

Despite their short limbs, they walked the other fast. In terms of bulk, they were also much wider than he was.

And yet, they moved with surprising easy.

However, that much was to be expected when they spent most of their days crawling through caves and undergone tunnels.

Gungir glanced right back at him and adjusted his goggles,

"Aye, I’ve heard the tales, but never did I lay eyes on a world like this. One still raw, still marked by the hands of the mystical and the divine. She’s like a suckling babe."

Cain was silent.

"Yer’ll live through it. Unlike what that voice in her head tells you, there’s been a bunch that have lived through it. Those nasty Devils might look scary, but there are far scarier things out there. That’s why there’s so many of the darned monsters." The {Black-Hearth Dwarf} said with a chuckle.

Cain chuckled as well,

"I guess you might be right."

Maybe it was true; the system did have a knack for overinflating things.

They moved quickly along the path, arriving before the tower soon.

The towers had guards, their posts permanently fixed atop the Tower. They glance down briefly and gaze Alvi a brief nodded before resuming their duties in silence.

Besides providing security to the spatial anchors inside, they interacted as little as possible.

Nodding back, Alvi pushed the steel door open and the others followed.

As they entered, Beorstone whispered to Gungir,

"How much of this speaks highlander sorcery?!"

"Boss. This sorcery seems rather different from highlander sorcery. Besides a few matching elements, they are rather different indeed." Gungir whisperer back.

Beorstone grumbled, "Tch! This and that... It’s all the same, I tell ya. All this spells and magic crap makes me skin crawl."

Alvi suddenly clapped, forcing their hushed conversation to come to a halt.

"I am about to activate the magic circle. Please, it would be best not to move around too much. Although these anchors are fairly accurate, fluctuations might give rise to a few unpleasant discrepancies. It is best not to take any chances."

Hearing his words, the {Black-Hearth Dwarves} seemed to straighten up a bit. Cain shook his head, knowing most of what Alvi had just said was complete crap, but he decided to roll with it.

Saying anything more would just be a hassle.

Seeing them comply, a smug look appeared in Alvi’s face.

"Now then. Shall we begin?"

Light flashes between his fingers, and a few glowing stones appeared. They were mana shards.

Flicking them into the air, they fizzled and turned into grey dust before floating away.

At the same time, the ambient mana density shot through the roof for only a moment.

Then, the magic circle beneath their feet lit up.

A second later, there was a bright flash of light.

When it faded, the space within the small Tower was empty...