< Ding! >
< CAUTION! >
< Strange toxin detected within your system! >
< You have acquired the skill [Analyse] >
[ ANALYSE ]
[ Status: Passive ]
[ Description:- Examines a thing or person to ascertain the elements or nature of the thing or person even without prior knowledge ]
[ Analysing… ]
< Ding! >
[ Result of analysis shows that this toxin affects your nervous system, causing you to lose orientation and voluntary control of your body. ]
[ Creating antitoxin… ]
[ Antitoxin creation complete! ]
< System will now begin the detoxification process immediately >
[ Detoxification status: 0%... 43%... 72%... 100% ]
[ Detoxification process completed! ]
[ Detoxification status: successful ]
< You have acquired a new skill >
[ Skill: Alcohol Immunity ]
[ Status: Passive ]
[ Description:- You are immune to the effects of alcohol of any kind, quantity and quality ]
< You have acquired a new skill >
[ Skill: Toxin Resistance ]
[ Status: Passive ]
[ Description:- Your body develops a strong resistance to poisons and toxic substances. However, you have no absolute immunity to them as there is still a small window to be affected ]
Despite this array of screens popping up in front of him, Rey acted naturally without breaking a sweat or reacting uniquely to this milestone that he just achieved.
It was not because he was not impressed or happy. He really was, since this was the first significant thing he had achieved with the system.
However, Rey had learned over weeks how to remain calm whenever he wanted to deal with the system so people don't think him crazy like Uncas' father almost did the first time.
He saw what the system was telling him, and he noted it, but this ceremony was not the place for him to jump and punch the air in jubilation.
Rey was also surprised at how easily he had achieved this, especially with something he never intended — drinking ale.
He would never have thought that three mugs of ale would awaken the skills of [ Alcohol Immunity ] and [ Toxin Resistance ] just like that.
Rey closed his eyes for a second, expressing his excitement in his mind and heart.
'I will just have to check what these skills are capable of later on,' he thought.
"You sure have a wide gullet in your guts, elf. Hahaha! To think that I underestimated you? By Durin and Dvalin, you are something else!"
Malindar laughed carefreely, having been shocked to the bones by Rey's drinking skills.
Uncas, on the other hand, rubbed his eyes to be sure that his vision was clear. He looked at the three large mugs in front of Rey and then back at the elf.
He couldn't believe it, or at least, he would have never thought that Rey was that much of a drunk.
Perhaps, he had also formed false assumptions of who Rey was inside his head.
"By the Twin Gods, my friend… you never cease to amaze me!"
Rey giggled sheepishly, his cheeks reddening as the duo went on to praise him.
"Well, I learned a lot of drinking skills I know from the best drinker I know…"
Rey's face dimmed slightly but not without the pair around him noticing.
"And who's that lad?" Malindar asked, curious to know who would have taught the elf.
"Lad?" Rey chucked. "It's my father."
There was a tinge of sadness laced in Rey's voice even though he tried to hide it from the two of them; it was obvious, especially since his face changed.
Uncas immediately reacted to lighten the mood again, taking it back to how cheerful it was when they arrived as he raised his mug in the air.
"To your father, friend…!" he toasted.
"Oops…!" Uncas soon realised that Rey was without ale and immediately passed him his third mug while they both laughed. "To your father…! And to the wide gullet in your guts!"
They clinked their mugs together, spilling foams and a quarter of their ale on the floor while laughing hard at their silliness.
"And to the Brownbeards!" Rey added, feeling the need to do so since they were his saviours.
"Ah, yes! To us, the Brownbeard Dwarves! Children of the Twin Dwarven Gods!"
*********
"I hereby make a toast to the Twin Gods, Durin and Dvalin…!"
"Hyaaaah! To the Twin Gods!" the crowd cheered, raising their mugs in the air and spilling ale everywhere.
The man who stood on the stage, making the toast, smiled as he raised his mug a second time.
"To us, the Great Children of the Twin Gods! To the Brownbeard Clan!"
"To the Brownbeard Clan! Hyaaaahhh!"
"Yessss! To our great clan!
Rey could only laugh as he stood amid the crowd with Uncas by his side.
He loved how carefree the dwarves of the Brownbeard Clan were and it somewhat reminded him of his time with his father, Eragon Avalon.
Thanks to the little moment he shared with Uncas and Malindar, the memories of his father, at this moment, was not a thing of sadness.
Instead, Rey felt a sense of appreciation and respect toward his father for everything Eragon had done for him.
"Long live, King Albedo…!"
"All hail, King Albedo!"
"Long live, King Albedo!"
The crowd cheered the name of their king as he stood on the stage.
Seeing that his voice had been dumbed by his people's praises of him, King Albedo smiled and kept his mug of ale up in the air as they continued to cheer.
By his side was a familiar figure, one of the two faces that had been etched in Rey's memory since he arrived at the Brownbeard Clan — Uncas' father.
He had come in a bit later and Rey took notice of how he walked up to the stage and had a seat by the right hand of the king.
This made Rey wonder who exactly this dwarf was in the clan or what position he had.
Uncas was the one person he could ask without feeling weird or intrusive, but he was too drunk to make anything coherent, so Rey decided to wait it out.
Soon or later, it would reveal itself. It was not as if he needed that piece of information right now.
King Albedo raised his left arm, demanding utter silence from his people and it was instantly given to him.
That was how much respect and love they had for King Albedo, especially in these trying times of the world in which he had proven himself countless.
"Great Brownbeards!"
"Aahhhooooo! Ahhoo! Ahoooo!" they chorused in tandem with the thundering sound of drums.
King Albedo stroked his massively thick brown beards that were laced into four large braided strands.
"I'm sure we all know why we are here…"
The Brownbeards prepared to shout but the King hushed them with a raise of his hand.
"We are here to welcome another like us. Another reject… another anomaly as the humans named us!"
King Albedo then stretched his left hand toward the crowd as if beckoning on someone in their midst.
"...Can Eyes Always Shut join me on this stage?"