Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 386: Checking In

The three days it took to get to the capital were spent in fun conversations as well as games.

Max quickly learned that Tanila could defeat most of them in strategy games unless Bob helped him cheat.

Cordellia was talented at using her imagination and creating stories to entertain, while Fowl simply passed gas that could almost kill someone.

As Nalgrun began to come into view, Max got his first real look at the famed dwarven capital.

Giant mountains that seemed to rise up into the clouds appeared on the second day of their trip, and as they were only a few hours out now, his mind struggled to comprehend what he had been told about but now saw.

Carved into the stone was a city that rose up the giant earth formation.

Buildings and roads had been cut into the mountain, creating places for people to live, and a whole underground area had also been built into it. The outer edges of the capital started at the mountain’s base, where a waterfall far to the east had been diverted to water the land at its feet.

Large fields of grains, fruit trees, animals, and more seemed to be set in perfect patterns and well-maintained. Even with the changing of the seasons, there were dwarves everywhere, working and taking care of them.

“How many of you are there?”

Batrire chuckled at Cordellia’s question.

“I don’t have an exact answer, but if you counted every dwarf that lived outside and inside the mountain, we could easily be one hundred thousand.”

“In one place?!”

“You say that like it’s a large number, dear. You and I know that the Mylho Alora has a large elven population. Easily over fifty thousand.”

“Not in such a small area,” their ranger argued. “We’re spread out, easily twenty miles of land and forest to count that may.”

Max sat there listening to the two women argue about how many of each race was living inside the capitals, yet all he could care about was the city he watched get closer.

Can you imagine carving this place? Surely they used a skill like mine? I mean… did Ockrim really help with this?

A thread of consideration came from Bob, and as Max moved his head, trying to scan the area around them, a reply finally came.

I don’t know. So much is still hidden, and yet I feel like I should be able to recall it. Each time I evolve, the previous obstruction that hides things from my memory is gone, and yet another appears.

The fact that some skills have faded out of use or existence after time, like your ability to craft and use those guns, proves that this world had them at one time. Perhaps if I was given time to explore without fear of being found and attacked, I could try to find out more about all this.

Like time with a skill shard? Maybe the one at the Faction house?

That might not be a bad idea, but I’m not certain. The one that Riniya had was different yet similar. It didn’t come from your world.

A shudder ran through Max, and he felt Tanila turn her head from the conversation taking place and look at him.

“You okay?”

He nodded.

“Just considering how these were made.”

“I already told you how,” Fowl muttered. “Ockrim himself came and helped carve our very home upon the creation of our world. He knew we needed a place deep in the mountains.”

Forcing himself to look away from the capital, Max frowned and nodded.

“Just tell me, do you really believe it was him using a pickaxe, a hammer, and chisel or some other tools versus a skill? We both know how impossible something like this would be to make by hand.”

“Not for a god it wouldn’t,” their warrior scoffed. “I mean you already mentioned the power you felt coming off him. Why would this be a problem at all?”

“It’s the skills…” Tanila said slowly. “You’re thinking about the skills that might have been used to create this.”

Bobbing his head, Max held up two fingers.

“The elves live in a place with trees and buildings that are one. You showed me pictures and told me how even your father has a gigantic tree in the castle with rooms that wind through the trunk. To do that requires magic, powerful magic, and I’m not even sure I could do that.”

Tapping the second finger momentarily, he motioned out the window with his head.

“Nalgrun is a city carved inside a mountain, and from what I can see at this distance, the amount of labor isn’t the only problem. Just dealing with the materials that would be left over would be… a small mountain. Yet if one had the ability to simply shift and meld the stone, or turn it into nothing but air, again, not something I can do, then that would allow for a simpler explanation.”

He held out his hand, and the gun he owned appeared in his hand.

“Someone had at one point a skill to craft these. That knowledge is gone. Which makes me wonder what other skills are missing or lost?”

“This all goes back to what you picked up in the other world?” Cordellia asked. “You’re still trying to figure out the system.”

Max nodded as their archer gave him a weird look.

“Yes, but not for what might seem like obvious reasons. Everything we have faced and will face revolves around the tower. My hope is that we can fight in the tower here—”

“But they don’t let anyone but dwarves fight past the 50th floor,” Fowl interrupted. “Surely you don’t expect them to allow us to do so.”

“Are you planning to tell them we’re fighting on those tower floors? Will they come in with us and make sure that we aren’t fighting on the ones we’re not supposed to?”

Their warrior frowned and then started to chuckle.

“I doubt they would do such a thing. Still… it almost seems like we’re breaking the rules. So count me in!”

A groan came from Batrire, who was shaking her head at her man.

“We’re not even in the capital walls yet, and you’re already preparing on getting us in trouble.”

“Bah, wait till he sees the tower!” Fowl exclaimed, obviously ignoring their healer’s statement. “It’s way better than the one in Peltagow!”

“Yet our tower is even nicer,” Cordellia stated. “The gardens and trees that surround it are unlike anything else.”

“Uh… you mean they’re not like normal trees?’

Their ranger gave Fowl the middle finger as he started to chuckle.

“You two stop acting like children,” Tanila muttered as she motioned out the window and where Max’s gaze was currently focused. “We’re going to be at the main gate and walls.”

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Goosebumps rose up on Max’s skin, and it was hard for him not to show his excitement. Even after having been in a different world, the fact that he was getting to visit Nalgrun was an experience he had never imagined.

Why… I mean I know why because I can read your mind, but why is this so important to you? It’s just a regular city… In comparison to what we saw in Quan Ma, how can this one even compare?

And since you can read my mind and what I’m about to say, you know this is special. I’ve seen drawings and heard stories about this place. We both know I was a… pansy and had no intentions of ever leaving Alundra. So, getting to see this with my own eyes is like reliving one of the stories I heard as a child.

The ones that made you afraid of being an adventurer.

He could sense the sarcasm oozing from what Bob had said through their bond.

Yes… I mean, aren’t there things you want to see or explore?

A silence seemed to stretch on far too long, and Max almost apologized.

I… I do not know how to answer that question. Sometimes, I think I might remember or recall something, and then it is gone, like a gust of wind moving the curtains for just a moment. Part of me has been frustrated at how I feel something is missing. Something very critical and important.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

To be able to be free and find out what it is… I guess that is what I want to learn more than anything.

I’ll do what I can to make that possible. You know that.

Yes, and I am grateful for that.

A finger poked him a second time, and Max turned to see Tanila with her head cocked slightly.

“Lost in another conversation?”

“Yeah, but nothing bad. Simply being made fun of for wanting to live out a childhood dream.”

“Bah… you want a dream worth having?” Fowl asked. “Let me take you to a place for our bachelor party!”

“Fowl Hammerfall, you’ll do no such thing unless you want to find yourself alone on our wedding day!” Batrire exclaimed.

“I jest,” their warrior replied, winking at Max when she wasn’t looking.

“Trust me, I don’t want your fiancée mad at me and neither do you. What if she’s a little too slow on a heal? Then she would get all your money and loot, and they would just call it an accident.”

All the women started to laugh, and Fowl began to frown.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Is that a question or a statement?” Batrire asked, most of her teeth showing as she sported a massive grin.

“Bah, dear Ockrim, what did I get myself into!” Fowl exclaimed as he held his hands upward and looked toward the sky.

***

“We’re still going to need your names and information. Don’t blame me; it’s by order of the king.”

“When did this start?” Batrire asked as she put her thumb on a metal tablet and waited for it to show up her information.

“About two weeks ago,” the guard stated as she scanned the information and then coughed. “Your level… it’s over sixty.”

The other two guards, who were waiting on the results for Cordellia and Tanila, both went wide-eyed as their tablets gave the same results.

“Dear Ockrim, they’re the same!”

Max and Fowl moved up, and held out their thumbs.

“You, by chance, wouldn’t mind sharing yer stats, would you?”

The sound of metal on metal came as one of the male dwarves smacked the guard who had just asked that question in the helmet.

“Bah, don’t do that! You know how bad that is!”

“But…”

Max almost chuckled as the one who had smacked the other raised his hands again.

“Don’t make me tell the captain.”

“Forgive him,” the guard who had been helping Batrire said. “He’s new, and you five are apparently going to be his first party, so we can’t see your information besides name and level.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Batrire stated as she moved back and let her man go next. “No one in the tower likes to share that information.”

“Yer tower climbers?!”

Once again, the sound of being struck in the back of the head rang out.

“Conazul, go tell the captain I sent you. If yer smart, you’ll tell him why before I do.”

“But—”

The older male guard held up a hand and pointed toward a building near the gate on the outside of the wall.

“Imagine being that naive,” Fowl declared as he winked at the woman when she saw his level.

Batrire shook her head and gave him a dirty look.

“Take these and make sure to wear them anytime you go inside the mountain or want to use these gates,” the older dwarf said as he held out five bracelets, each a royal red color. “I’m sure with your sharp eyes, you might have noticed the different colored ones on some of the others.”

Fowl spun and grunted as he finally appeared to notice what all the others had.

“With these, you’ll have access to the inner city and be left alone. I expect you all are aware that any potential problems caused by anyone in your party would lead to a guard or two coming to investigate. Upon seeing your red bracelet, they would give you more leeway than the others who are not as strong or just average citizens.

“You five would find a member or two of the King’s Guard coming to speak with you. Do I need to explain how bad it would be if you decided not to follow their orders?”

They shook their heads as they slipped the bands on, watching the metal bracelet shrink to fit almost like a second skin over their armor, clothes or bare skin.

“That makes this next part easier,” the guard said with a slight frown as he looked at Max and the two elves. “Our rules of fighting are different than many others as I’m certain your dwarven friends can tell you. Intent is everything. Dwarves fight because that is just a part of us, but most will never attack with the true intention of killing or maiming. Often it is all about honor or a perceived injustice. If a dwarf does attack you and they do not turn red, be very certain that if you respond in kind that your intentions are only to protect one’s honor.”

“That’s why Jataic didn’t turn red!” Cordellia exclaimed.

“Yes dear,” Batrire informed her. “When he struck Fowl, it was a perceived injustice of taking me away from my family. At no point did he want to kill or maim Fowl. He simply wanted to show his pain from what had happened.”

“And that’s why when Fowl tossed him into the hay it wasn’t an attack either.”

Max started to grin as their ranger put together some of the things he had figured out after that first exchange.

“That is why I moved behind Heldon and was willing to take the blow. He didn’t want to kill Fowl or me, simply to defend his family’s honor.”

Both dwarven guards nodded, and a smile was present for a moment.

“It would appear your friend has taught you well. I’m impressed to find a human who seems to understand our culture so well.”

“Please… don’t compliment him,” Fowl said. “We have a hard enough time getting his head into the carriage as it is.”

Clearing his throat, the older dwarf nodded and held up two stubby fingers.

“Remember, if you want to use the tower, like every other capital, you’ll have to check in with the guards outside it. They will go over its rules with you. Lastly, remember to take care of what you say when children are present. I would prefer to not hear that any of you had to have the King’s Guard called to hold you down while some mother washed your mouth out.”

Fowl started smacking his lips and grimaced.

“Gods, I’ve forgotten how much of a—” He paused and glanced around in each direction for a second. “Pain in a hairy dwarf’s arse this place can be.”

A growl came from Batrire, who held out her hand, and a bar of soap appeared.

Both guards chuckled, and the older one shook his head.

“Well, it appears you are ready. Enjoy Nalgrun, and may our city be a blessing to you.”

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