The rest of their hike up the volcano was rather uneventful. They were attacked by two more of the dive-bombing bird monsters, but now that they knew what to look out for, they managed to dispatch each one with relative ease.

  They did find some old, non-dwarven remains halfway up the volcano, but the body was so picked clean at this point and enough bones were missing that none of them could make heads or tails of what the person’s race was.

  Though based on the giant hole shattered straight through their chest it wasn’t hard to guess what had killed them.

  Vin could only shake his head and move on, sending the Gods a silent prayer that the person had at least died quickly. It wasn’t like this random person was the first death he’d encountered out in the wilderness after all. But it just went to show how different this world was.

  The dwarven brothers… Samtha’s team of warriors… Even those people from the desert fragment that were shot down by the wall guards of the holy citadel… Leaving your fragment and exploring Edregon truly is a dangerous thing to do.

  All this time a part of Vin had wondered why they didn’t end up encountering more people like himself or Forpurt during their travels. People wandering around the amazing new world the Gods had created just for the sake of seeing what was out there. So far, most people seemed more than content to stay within their own little sliver of familiarity, and few dared to venture out into any adjacent fragments.

  It was easy to forget why that was.

  After leaving the body behind them, it wasn’t long before they hit the top of the volcano. Stepping up onto the rim, Vin took a few steps forward and froze, staring down in awe at the hidden civilization.

  Down in the caldera of the volcano was a large town bustling with activity. Vin could make out at least a couple hundred finely built houses lined up along the outer edge of the volcano, forming a large ring around the center.

  Which made a lot of sense, seeing as the center was one giant vat of molten lava.

  Vin could only look on in wonder at the town built around the slowly churning sea of fire. It looked like the lava was lazily moving in a slow circle, never quite stopping but never threatening to flow up and consume the few buildings someone had put up dangerously close.

  While he was admiring the beautiful sight of the swirling lava, Alka stepped up beside him, her glowing eyes narrowing.

  “Is that a dwarf standing within the big pool of liquid fire?”

  Vin started, quickly following Alka’s finger. Sure enough, from all the way up here he could just barely make out the lone figure submerged up to his waist in the center of the flowing lava. Based on the faint ringing he could just barely make out and the man’s jerky movements, Vin could only assume he was one of the master smiths they’d read about in Turmal’s journal.

  “That has to be the one master smith that ended up surviving the Great Reset,” Vin said, squinting and trying to get a better look at him. “Seeing as he’s smithing within the lava again, I guess he got his levels back rather quickly.”

  “That is crazy,” Shia said, finally cresting the rim and spotting the master smith for herself. “What sort of passives would one even need to do something like that? Some sort of Flame Resistance I guess? Unmeltable Skin?”

  “It might just be a high-level skill,” Vin shrugged, thinking of his own Resistance skill that was rapidly nearing a possible evolution. Naturally, due to the System’s preference of not giving them any sort of information to work with, he had no idea of the actual details for his particular skill. But after all this time, he was beginning to suspect there were most likely more specific Resistance skills you could pick up, and his was basically a weaker version of pretty much every other Resistance skill all rolled up into one.

  “That One is beautiful.”

  Vin nearly tumbled off the rim of the volcano at the voice projected into his mind. He’d forgotten about the trogum entirely at the sight of the dwarven town. Glancing at their tag along, he couldn’t help but smile as the being’s already large eyes widened even further, staring directly into the heart of the flowing lava.

  “Don’t worry, The One That Paints In Red, I’m sure they’ll let you get as close to the lava as you can physically stand,” Vin said, gently clapping the frail being on the back and admiring the lone dwarf a few moments longer.

  Once he’d had his fill, Vin looked around for some sort of way to actually enter the town other than just rolling down the steep incline. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before he spotted a set of stairs carved into the inner side of the volcano. As they began making their way down he spotted a handful of dwarves start pointing up at them, and he decided now was as good a time as any to go over the plan once more.

  “Remember, we’re here for three things,” he said, already starting to sweat from the rising temperature that seemed to increase the farther down they descended into the volcano. “Get Alka a new weapon, return Turmal’s journal and explain what happened to the brothers, and hand off the trogum.”

  “What if they don’t… want him?” Shia asked quietly, shooting a concerned glance at the strange being. Despite silently following along behind them, the trogum hadn’t taken its eyes off the lava a single time since cresting the volcano’s rim. Hell, Vin was pretty certain the being hadn’t even blinked in the last five minutes.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “I mean… I guess that’s their problem?” Vin shrugged. They certainly weren’t about to lead the trogum back to its original fragment where the divine warrior was busy killing his people, that was for sure.

  “You guys don’t have to whisper, I don’t think he’s paying attention to you in the slightest,” Scule called out from Alka’s shoulder, squinting at the town as they got closer. “Hey, is it just me, or does that look like one particularly lethal welcoming party?”

  Following the petian’s gaze, Vin sighed as he spotted the crowd of warriors heading toward the bottom of the stairs. Unlike Sakis, where they’d been greeted by a team of six elite warriors, it looked like there had to be at least a few dozen heavily armed dwarves moving to intercept them.

  “They probably don’t get many visitors, living in the center of an active volcano and what not,” Vin pointed out, fixing a warm smile on his face in preparation. “Just be friendly, and don’t say anything that would get us in trouble. Scule.”

  “What? Why me?!” Scule asked. But before Vin could give him an answer, the five of them hit the bottom of the stairs and suddenly found themselves surrounded by a small mob of armed warriors. While Vin was wondering if he should address them as a crowd, one of the dwarves wearing a full set of plate mail and hefting a deadly looking mace over her shoulder stepped forward.

  “Step no farther unless you want a first-hand taste of dwarven steel,” she said, banging her mace against her shoulder pauldron as if to prove her point. Her voice was gruff, and she stared at them as though they were a group of termites threatening the very foundation of her home. “No foreigners are allowed to set foot in Valdora. What business do you have coming here?”

  Clearing his throat, Vin took a small step forward, raising his hand in what he hoped was a non threatening gesture. Despite his intentions, this simple movement caused a good two dozen weapons to be pointed in his direction.

  “We have a few reasons for coming here,” he began, slowly pulling off his pack and reaching inside, careful not to make any sudden movements. He hadn’t planned on starting with this, but it was clear they needed something to take the edge of the hardened gaze of all these dwarves.

  “During our travels, we encountered the bodies of two of your own, only a few miles away from here. Based on the remnants of the battlefield it looks like they put up one hell of a fight, but were eventually overcome by a swarm of monsters. Dead for a few days by the time we found them. We couldn’t bring their corpses, but we have the journal that belonged to one of them,” Vin said, pulling out the journal and angling it for the dwarf to see better. “Their names were Turmal and Vaghel. We figured you deserved to know what happened to them.”

  The longer he spoke, the more shifting and quiet murmuring he could hear from the crowd of dwarves surrounding them. When he finally spoke the brothers’ names out loud, he even heard a few muffled gasps. Clearly the two dwarves had been well known within the community.

  The woman who had addressed them however hadn’t moved so much as a muscle during his explanation. If anything, her gaze had only grown sharper at the mention of the brothers. Her gauntlet creaked as she tightened her grip on her mace, as if preparing to use it at a moment’s notice.

  “What proof do we have that you didn’t murder Turmal and Vaghel yourselves?” She called out, her eyes fixed coolly on him.

  “Uh… You wouldn’t happen to have any sort of truth detecting magic or anything, would you?” Vin ventured, assuming he already knew the answer.

  Damn, I really need to talk to Madam Trebella about getting one of those bells.

  “Maybe you should read the damn journal before you start swinging that thing around!” Scule called out, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Why else would we bother to hike up your stupidly tall mountain and come down here besides to return the journal and ask for your help? It’s not like it was easy getting here for the record!”

  Damn it Scule, Vin winced, mentally preparing to cast a Stone Wall between them and the mob in order to give them a few seconds to run. He knew getting the Rogue a translation ability was going to bite them in the ass.

  To his surprise however, rather than ordering the crowd to rush them, the dwarf remained still, her eyes flicking over to the rest of Vin’s party.

  “If you are truly here without bad intentions, why do you bring a battle golem with you?”

  Vin blinked, following the dwarf’s gaze back to Alka. Only then did he realize the unnerving figure she struck. Her pure white marble body and glowing green eyes stood out rather fiercely, and the fluttering black cloak he’d lent her was only making her look even more dangerous. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Vin sighed.

  “Look, she’s not a battle golem… It’s a long story, but she’s just a friend that is now trapped in that golem’s body. Alka, could you do something… not, golem-like?”

  “I do not understand. Please repeat the command,” Alka said, standing unerringly still with her voice devoid of any emotion.

  “God damn it Alka, do you really think now is the time?” Vin called angrily over his shoulder. Thankfully, the Slayer could only hold in her amusement for a few seconds, and the golem quickly doubled over laughing.

  Which was an especially strange sight, seeing as her chest didn’t move in the slightest as she laughed.

  Shaking his head, Vin turned back to the dwarf. Unsurprisingly, Alka’s antics had done little to change the woman’s stone-cold gaze.

  “Look, I apologize for my friends, but they have a point. If you read Turmal’s journal, you’ll see he talks about why he and Vaghel left and what ended up killing them,” Vin said, holding out the journal.

  Technically it was a giant swarm of monster spiders that killed them rather than the trogum’s, but close enough I guess.

  They stood like that for a few more seconds as the dwarf seemed to decide what to do with them before finally grunting.

  “Follow me. If you stray more than a dozen feet, the entire town will turn on you in an instant. And give me the journal.”

  Letting out a sigh of relief, Vin wiped the sweat from his brow that was only partially due to the insane temperature down here. Walking forward, he handed off the journal to the warrior, nodding his thanks.

  Taking the journal without a word, the warrior turned and began walking toward the town, the mob of dwarves splitting and letting her through without her having to say anything. Motioning for his friends to follow, Vin cracked his neck, wiping his brow yet again as he fell in behind her.

  It had nearly gotten them attacked, but that was one task accomplished at the very least.

  Only two more to go.

  Patreon

  Discord