"Good morning, Kvalinn. I am Secondary Librarian Luka Pushnov. I was ordered to assist you in your studies today." At the door of my room at the crack of dawn was an older man who embodied the word librarian. With large thick glasses, long white hair, and a clean shaven face, he looked like someone who could glare a group of rowdy highschool kids into silence from across the building.
"Good morning, Luka. One moment please while I gather my writing materials to take notes." I was about to turn to grab my bag when Luka dryly pulled me back with a few words.
"Writing materials will be provided in the library. Please follow me and stop wasting my time." He then turned and started trudging towards the library with his lantern lighting the still dim hallways. After blowing a kiss to the still sleeping Gerde, I hurried to catch up to him.
The librarian walked along in silence, the only sound that barely echoed in the wooden hallways was his cane and our feet. When we arrived at the library, he unlocked the door with a large steel key.
Looking around the library in excitement, I realized that the library was missing the one thing a library should have. Books. There did not appear to be a single book in the entire room no matter where I looked. Just a series of desks that were arranged so that the librarian's station had a clear view of the surface.
"Sit here and do not move. I will be back momentarily with the oldest of the dwarven books." Luka gestured to a desk and then moved to a solid steel door in the back. There he used a half dozen keys to open a complicated lock and only opened it enough so that he could squeeze through the opening before closing it behind him. Evidently they took the security of their books seriously.
After what felt like an eternity of anticipation, Luka returned bearing a large wooden box that was the size of a dinner tray and at least six inches thick. Putting it down on the table, he unlocked the box with yet another key and took out its contents.
The book that had been contained in the box had a cover of solid mithril with three runes on the cover that flickered with ancient magic. From what I could make out, I saw the runes of knowledge, and pain, as well as the rune that was used for Hjerouhrdinn Godforged, the first dwarf created by the gods. Somehow, he had made his own name into a magical rune! Reading the non magical runes, I could see that it was a record made by Hjerouhrdinn to leave to his son, Barirdrolim Chaosshaper, who was setting out on his own at the time of writing. If that was the case, then this book was well over three thousand years old!
"Be careful, young Kvalinn." Luca said from his desk. "That book has rested unopened for many long years. None of my predecessors, nor myself, have ever dared open that book due to the prehistoric magics that are engraved on it. Not even the dwarves on our staff have possessed the courage to open it, or told us what the cover says. If this kills you, then make sure not to damage the book with your corpse."
With that warning in mind, I reached out with trembling hands to open the book. The instant the cover was lifted, I felt a stab of intense pain. As if someone had jabbed a giant syringe into the center of my forehead that was full of neural stimulants and liquid pain. Glancing at the first line, I could somehow hear the powerful voice of Hjerouhrdinn echoing in my head.
"My firstborn son. I write these words so that you will not forget the skills I have taught you over the past five hundred years as you venture out to explore and settle the northern wilderness, where I drove the elves many centuries ago. To ensure that you retain the wisdom contained in these pages, I have added a powerful rune of knowledge to this book. But since this wisdom would be intoxicating to lesser men and dwarves, I have included the rune of pain. Thus, not only will you not be enslaved by the past, as I once was, but only the most dedicated seekers of knowledge will dare even open the cover. If you are one such seeker of knowledge, then be forewarned that this knowledge will attract the attention of the gods, and their machinations will plague you for the rest of your life."
The rest of the book went into great detail on rune smithing and weapon crafting. Describing secrets and techniques that had been lost for thousands of years and telling long tales of how the great ancestor dwarf created them either for the gods or to fight against them. There were also several runes that Elder Thrikrondromm had either not shown me, or were missing from his personal book of runes. It's possible though that they were in his rune book and were just not shown to me due to them being too dangerous or forbidden.
"That's enough." The cover of the book was slammed shut as I was in the middle of learning the rune of lightning. "The library is closing. You can come back tomorrow."
Looking up, I realized that the sun had set hours ago and the candles lighting the room were now just flickering stubs. Luka was standing several feet away, he had closed the book with a long pole due to his fear of the runes and was now waiting by the door for me to leave.
"My apologies, Luka. I appear to have lost track of time. Same time tomorrow?" My friendly smile was met with a tired grunt and Luka walked away silently after locking the door behind us. As I walked towards my rooms, I realized that I hadn't taken a single note all day! Was I doomed to have to reread everything I had read today?! But when I thought over what I had read, I realized that everything was irrevocably seared into my brain, it must have been the result of the rune of knowledge on the cover of the book. With high expectations for the next two weeks, I cheerily walked to my room.
"Goblin's grog, Kvalinn! You look horrible!" Bekhi caught me when I half fell out of the sled that had brought me back to the winter hall. "What happened over there? Is Gerde safe?!"
"Tomas! What happened!? You promised me he would be safe!" Newman let his hand drift toward his sword when he saw Tomas getting out behind me. Tomas raised his hands in a protestation of innocence.
"Kvalinn was very well treated by both the staff and the nobility. His condition is entirely of his own doing." Both Newman and Bekhi looked at him in suspicion, so he proceeded to explain further. "After being granted access to the university library, he has spent the past two weeks holed up there. Barely eating and only sleeping when forced out of the library. None of us have ever seen a dwarf so dedicated to the wisdom of his ancestors. But more importantly, is the forge prepared for Kvalinn to work? He promised several weapons to the Tzar and the nobility in exchange for access to the library."
Newman and Bekhi glared daggers at me. Silently asking what the heck I had gotten myself into. Truthfully, I wasn't sure myself, but I was excited to test out all the runes I had learned over the past two weeks.
"The forge is ready." Newman said hesitantly. "But Kvalinn looks like he needs rest before he can begin work."
"No, I'm ready to work. Show me to the forge." I tried shaking off Bekhi's supporting arm but I was stuck in her iron grip.
"Kvalinn. Hand Gerde over to Newman." Bekhi's voice was colder than the temperature, and I handed Gerde over without knowing why I was doing it. Then with a swift jerk, I was thrown off Bekhi's shoulder and she knocked me out with her hammer. "You need sleep, Kvalinn. I'll watch Gerde until you wake up."
That was the last thing as I drifted off into unconsciousness. I woke up the next morning after around twenty hours of sleep. Evidently I needed the rest more than I had thought.
"Good morning, Kvalinn." I looked over to see Bekhi maintaining her weapons while using her foot to rock Gerde who was in the crib from the university. "The princess sent this over for us to use while we're here. So what happened at the university? Also, how did you end up promising weapons to the monarchy and nobility!? Talk. Now."
I could see that Bekhi was more than a little annoyed by my antics and just a bit worried about me. So I quickly summed up what had happened. That Gerde had gotten a little sick on the second day, I took her place, and studied the ancient rune books of the first dwarf Hjerouhrdinn Godforged.
"Ancestor's beard, Kvalinn!" Bekhi yelled while gripping her weapon with whitened knuckles. "Why would you reveal your runes to the humans!? They could have locked us up to force you to work for their kingdom!"
"I heard that they had a library full of books to read so I used the only thing I had to bargain for access. And I'd say the trade was well worth it. In the past two weeks, I've learned techniques that were lost thousands of years ago and runes that were previously only known to Hjerouhrdinn alone. I can make gadgets of unparalleled power with these runes! Also, I can make you weapons of incomprehensible destruction-"
"No!" Bekhi cut me off. "No to both those ideas. Newman, Tomas, and I were discussing it while you were asleep. The nobility here are now looking at you with extremely greedy eyes, and if you make stuff like you are describing. Then the Tzar will have no choice but to keep you here as a national resource for their kingdom at large. And you said it yourself, this is not the ideal place to set down roots. So just make weapons that are just a little better than normal while your here so that everyone forgets about you."
I sighed in annoyance, but I had no choice to agree with that assessment. I really hated feudal cultures where the nobility had way too much power and the nail that sticks up gets hammered down. But I'd go all out on the weapons of our party though, that would be my compromise.
"You're finally awake." Richard walked up to where we were talking with a relaxed grin. "Whatever you did at the university really got the guild going at the forge building. I've heard they've stored up a bunch of coal, iron, steel, and even a little mithril, for you to use in your weapon making. Newman and the other party leaders are starting to get anxious for you to get to work. Especially since a bunch of letters with fancy crests are piling up for you."
"Alright, let me just get something to eat and I'll get started." I slowly got out of my hammock, and after eating a large but plain meal, I got to work.
The forge area that the adventurers guild owned was built with humans in mind, so everything was too high for me to use. But since they knew I'd be working there this year, they had installed iron platforms in front of everything of importance. So with Newman's help as a translator, I opened the first letter from the Tzar and got to work on the requested weapons.
"Phew. I'm finally done with the last noble weapon." I handed a slightly decorated but powerfully magical spear over to Newman who in turn passed it off to a messenger service hired by the guild to deliver all the weapons. "Who's first on my list of adventurer's to make weapons for?"
"Kat." Newman said in a dry tone. "She's been fuming for the past several months about how long you've been taking to finish with the nobles' weapons. I'll go get her and send her here."
Struggling to open the door against the howling winds, Newman left me alone in the blacksmiths area. It was now the middle of winter, and the temperatures outside were well below freezing, possibly even below zero. As I waited for Kat, I remembered that back in Zaihan, Kat had had a beef with the nobility there, or at least I thought she did since she had always been quietly swearing at them in her native language, and since she probably didn't like the nobility here either I would need to make her a really good weapon as an apology for taking so long.
"Kvalinn." Kat burst through the door with a bang. "Are you finally done with the weapons for the nobility?" She put special emphasis on the word 'nobility' as if it were a word that tasted vile and burned with acid upon the tongue.
"Yes, just sent the last one out. So you mentioned back in Handel that you wanted a custom weapon, what did you have in mind?" Kat reached into her bag and pulled out what looked like a small wheat sickle that was meant to be held in one hand.
"I want you to make this into a weapon."
Picking up the weapon, I looked it over carefully. It was made out of very badly made steel, and there were several knicks and dents along the edge that no amount of sharpening could get out. In short, it was the worst possible thing to add runes to or make into a weapon.
"Are you sure-"
"Yes." Kat cut me off before I could offer to make her a new weapon. Seeing my skepticism over making a sickle into a weapon, she closed her eyes and told me her backstory.
Kat had grown up in a small family of freemen in Zaihan. Freemen in feudal society were one step up from slaves, and could not be bought and sold, but they still lived and died at the whims of their lords. They couldn't change jobs, move to another district, or marry, without his say so, they were barely allowed to die without their lord's permission. Like many other families living in Zaihan, they had been ground down under ever increasing taxes and levies from both their lord and passing knights. One day, when the fields lay barren, and the barns were empty, a passing band of adventuring knights stopped by the house and demanded to be fed. Gesturing to the empty field with his sickle, her father had asked what he was supposed to feed the knights. Instead of understanding that there was no food to be had and moving on, one of the men at arms had taken the sickle and stabbed her father through the heart for talking back.
"After my father was killed. The knights reported our family to our lord, and he burned our cottage to the ground to soothe their egos. My mother and sisters were locked in his dungeon and doubtless died there, and my brothers were fed to his hounds. I only escaped because one of the knights thought it would be fun to use me for a hunt." Her knuckles tightened on the handle of the sickle as she dug through the painful memories. "I want to avenge my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and everyone who has suffered and died by the cursed noble hands. I want them to feel the same fear at the sight of my fathers sickle as every commoner feels at the appearance of a noble."
I took a second look at the sickle. Trying to figure out a way to get this hunk of junk into a noble slaying weapon. But unfortunately, this thing was barely good enough to cut wheat, let alone slice through armor, even with the help of runes.
"I'm sorry, but as it is currently. There is no way for me to turn this into a weapon. But, I can create an exact duplicate of it using much better materials and add some runes to it. Just promise me that you won't kill anyone innocent with it." Kat looked between me and the sickle in my hands, weighing up the pros and cons. It was evident that she was really attached to the idea of exacting vengeance with the tool used to kill her father, but she eventually agreed to my terms and told me to go ahead. But I stopped her when she went to take back her father's sickle so that I could make an exact copy.
"Do not break it." Kat warned. "If you do, then not even the deepest and darkest caves will be enough to keep you safe."
Promising numerous times to keep it safe, I ushered her out the door and got to work. I could finally go all out and use the knowledge I had learned from the ancient books.
First, I got the basic sickle shape from high quality steel and sharpened it to a razor's edge. Then, I added a powerful rune of sharpness so that it could slice and dice armor. Now here's where things get interesting. In the ancient wisdom of Hjerouhrdinn, he had included instructions for adding secondary and tertiary runes to an object. Needless to say, this was very difficult, and very, very dangerous. To put it one way, if you put an engine in a car then it can go up to forty miles and hour and kill someone easily, but if you add a second or a third engine to that same care then it can now kill someone else a lot easier, but the chances of killing the driver as well go up dramatically if the engineer isn't careful.
"Let's see, I think I'll go with some of the forbidden runes Hjerouhrdinn mentioned. How bad could the forbidden section be?" I said to myself. The books I had read had numerous runes described that were labeled as 'FORBIDDEN' in dark and angry runes, but they had still gone into great detail on how to create them. So I figured now would be a good time to use them. I made the secondary rune on the sickle the rune of revenge, and the third rune the rune of the berserker. These two runes, combined with the rune of sharpness, should allow Kat to fight off a whole horde of nobles before dying.
It wasn't until late at night that I finished them, so I gave the weapons to Kat the next day. She first inspected her father's sickle for damage, making sure that I hadn't hurt it in any way before moving on to her new weapon. I took the opportunity to explain the runes.
"This is the rune of sharpness, it should allow this sickle slice through just about anything. This is the rune of revenge and the rune of the berserker. If they detect that you are fighting in service of vengeance, then they should grant you additional strength and will cancel any pain until you kill your target, or die from blood loss." I mumbled the last few words, but Kat still seemed to hear, and nodded as she swung the sickle about.
"Good." She said in a determined tone. "I'll pay you when we finish this job."
"Yeah yeah, now what are you gonna make for me, kid?" Richard pushed forward with an eager look in his eyes. "I need at least a hundred arrow heads before spring. Not all of them need magic though, since a lot of times I can't retrieve my arrows."
"Alright, I'll make you two dozen arrows of varying effects. Just make sure you shoot them far away from yourself if you want to live." There was a round of chuckles at my supposed joke that all died off when they realized I wasn't joking. I returned to the forge with a plan to test out several more of the forbidden runes and several of the ones that weren't forbidden but were far from safe.
The next day, I returned with a bag full of arrowheads. "This one should make whoever gets hit by it feel like they were struck by lightning." To test it, Richard threw it at Peter, who went down like he had been hit by a taser. He was alright though, just a little fried. "This one should explode. Don't test it indoors." I put it back on the table as I saw Richard reaching for it. "This one should freeze people solid. This one will cause them to burst into flames. This one…" I went down the list of arrowheads that I may have stolen the ideas for from a certain bow wielding superhero. With each one, Newman's face grew paler and everyone else started backing away.
"Nice job, Kvalinn." Richard said with a grin. "I'll fix these onto shafts before spring. Hopefully they don't kill us."
"Me next! Me next!" Peter said as he woke up from being tased. "What are you gonna make for me, Kvalinn? I can't use a sword or a bow, so a knife would probably be best. Something I can use in emergencies when my magic fails."
Smiling, I took out Peter's weapon. For this weapon, I had decided to experiment with my engineering skills that had gone unused since leaving the mountain, and had made a weapon from a popular video game in my previous life.
"What's this, Kvalinn? I thought you were going to make me a weapon?" Peter took the gauntlet I handed him with confusion.
"Put it on and then press this button." I made sure that Peter had his hand clear before pressing the button.
"Gandolf's gonads! Where did that blade come from!?" Peter's jaw dropped in shock as a blade emerged from the top of the gauntlet. I smiled in satisfaction as the blade worked exactly as it had in the video games about assassin's who had a creed.
"I didn't add anything too powerful to the blade since if you accidentally cut yourself on it then it could be fatal. So I just added a rune of unbreaking to it since it's just a thin blade. If an enemy gets too close to you then you can hit the button and use it as a last line of defense."
"Well done, Kvalinn." Newman patted me halfheartedly on the shoulder as he looked at all the extremely dangerous weapons that I had handed out. "We've drawn lots to determine whose team will get weapons made by you next, they're waiting over there."
The rest of the winter was spent making weapons for every single adventurer in the building and for some not in the building. Most of them paid me on the spot, while others wrote me IOU's for when they got paid. Overall, I made several gold coins worth of profit since I didn't have to pay for any of the materials. As the winter was nearing its end though, Richard burst into the forge with a panicked look.
"Kvalinn! Newman says to get washed up and to bring Gerde with you. A bunch of royal knights are calling for you!" I nearly dropped my hammer in surprise. Did I mess up on the weapon I sent to the Tzar? I mentally reviewed the weapon I had made while I collected Gerde from the play pen I had created for her in the corner. Outside, I found a heavily armed group of knights guarding a highly decorated carriage.
"You are the dwarf Kvalinn and the beastkin Gerde, correct?" I nodded wordlessly at the towering hussar. "Good. Get in. Tzar Vitomir would like to meet with you."
The coachman pulled a lever and the door of the carriage opened up for me. I was about to ask if I could get cleaned up first, but the guards did not look like the type to wait patiently so I jumped in while still sweaty from the forge.
I had barely taken a seat before the door slammed and locked behind me and the carriage started moving with a jerk. The roads were extremely muddy from the melting snow, and the carriage was of a primitive design, making this a very bumpy ride.
Finally, the carriage came to a stop and the door opened. Taking a few deep breaths of the frigid air to calm my stomach which was churning worse than any car sickness could ever cause, I stepped out to see that we were at the main entrance of the Tzar's castle. A butler stepped forward from the doorway.
"Kvalinn. Please follow me with your daughter. It appears you need to be made presentable before meeting with his majesty." He then led the way through the halls of the castle to a suite of rooms. Once there, servants readied a bath and clothes for both myself and Gerde, and before we knew what was going on, we were both decked out in clothes fit for a noble.
"Good evening, Kvalinn." To my surprise, Tomas stepped through the door wearing his best clothes. "Did the guards tell you why you are here?"
"They only said that the Tzar wanted to speak with me. Do you know what's going on?"
"No. I'm just here as a translator." Tomas said as he shook his head. He then launched into a long lecture on the correct way to act around the Tzar so that I wouldn't cause offense to him or his ministers.
There was a loud knocking at the door, and before I could say to come in, it opened and someone, who I assumed was the Tzar based on his fancy clothing, walked in majestically. Tomas and I both got on one knee before him and bowed our heads. The Tzar said something in Tochkan to Tomas, who informed me we could stand. He then translated the rest of the conversation for me.
As I got up from my knees, I took a look at the Tzar. He appeared to be an older man in his late sixties with a long white beard that was tied up with a gold band as it approached his chest. I also noticed that Princess Yuliana was standing just behind him.
"Greeting, Kvalinn Runecursed. Thank you for coming on such short notice. I'm sure you must be busy with your preparations for spring travels."
"Not at all, your majesty. I am honored to be called upon." I decided it was best not to mention that his guards hadn't exactly asked me nicely to accompany them, and moved onto more important business. "Is there an issue with the weapon I provided you? I'm sure I followed your personal armorer's precise specifications for the handle and balance."
"The sword you crafted is a marvelous addition to my treasury, and I look forward to using it in battle. No, the issue I called you here for is much less serious than that. My daughter described Gerde to me in such loving words that I felt compelled to see her for myself." Gerde was currently struggling to escape my arms so I put her down on the ground where she attempted to walk around. Princess Yuliana knelt down to be at face level with her.
"Hello, Gerde. Do you remember me?" She held out her hand for Gerde to sniff. After assuring herself that the princess was a friend, Gerde toddled over to Princess Yuliana and started playing with the hem of her sleeve.
"So this is the fabled beastkin Gerde." Tzar Vitomir stroked his beard in thought. "Kvalinn, I have a proposition for you. Would you be interested in giving up your career as an adventurer to work for Tochka? The weapons you made for myself and my nobility were quite excellent, and I can promise you a fair wage to work for me."
"I apologize, your majesty, but I still have much to learn. As you may have heard, I am only just past my sixteenth winter, and I still need another century of practice at least before I am worthy of entering into a career with royalty." I also had no desire to learn Russian, but that excuse probably wouldn't fly with the ruler of the country, so I left that reason out and bowed respectfully.
"Well it was worth a try." The Tzar shrugged as if it didn't matter. "My daughter hoped that if you remained here, she would get to see Gerde more often. As it is, I humbly request that you return to visit soon. And that's soon in human terms. I'd like to see her again as well and I won't be around in a century."
The Tzar let out a relaxed chuckle at his own joke which Tomas nervously joined in. Laughing at the demise of your own king, even if he is the one making the joke, is never a safe bet. After that, the Tzar called for food and vodka, and had a relaxed chat with me about Gerde and my travels so far. When the last course was finished, he got up to leave.
"Thank you for your time, Kvalinn. It is nice to meet someone who is not scheming and plotting behind their smallest smile. Please return to Tochka soon. There will always be an open forge for you here."
Once the emperor left, Tomas let out a sigh of relief and threw back the vodka he had been saving all evening. "Kvalinn, please learn some Tochkan before returning. I have no desire to ever again translate your rough country Imperial to his majesty ever again. If even half what you said was accurately translated, then it would have caused great offense due to how unsophisticated your words were. So please, learn some Tochkan or get another translator."
Tomas then left and sent in some servants to return our old clothes. Gerde and I were then taken back to the winter hall.
I went to bed that night wondering if I'd ever come back here, or if I'd ever have a reason to come back. This place didn't seem to have any potential for an industrial revolution and they were barely more open to new ideas than the dwarves. So for now, I'd keep this place on the list of places to visit once I have a shop open, and never think of it again.