Chapter 508 S - Meet the Dwarf (Patreon)

Knowing exactly what kind of person Agran was, It was not too hard for Shaily to answer his questions well and get accepted into Vasperia, at which point she was in known territory. There she enrolled as a mercenary, helping the Vampires with population control on the lower-level pests in their territory which very few Vampires saw any interest in dealing with themselves. This gave Shaily plenty of time to get more information on the Sirens, help Pareth level up, work on her skill levels and begin to learn to wild cast [Armor of Bones].

After having escaped for three months, the first part of the trial was officially completed, and it gave Shaily the choice to stay for the bonus task or to leave right then and there. Choosing to stay meant that the only ways to leave the trial were to complete the bonus task or to wait out the fifteen months timer, but Shaily saw that as more of an opportunity than anything else.

With only a few months left on the timer, she eventually got a teleport to Couvauz, thereon going to the dwarven isles by boat.

“Sixty days left…” Shaily sighed, swirling the last drops of dwarven ale in her mug.

There had been a critical flaw in her plans, which had put a brutal stop to her trial’s progress. She had funds, all the knowledge she needed on Siren Queens, and was relatively confident she could kill one if the conditions were right. The issue, however, was that the dwarven hunting vessels that regularly roamed the seas to harvest precious materials from sea monsters did not accept women among them. Let alone a human one.

Even if Shaily was strong enough, it was mostly a question of culture, and not allowing females on male ships as well as the other way around.

There were talks of an all-female hunting ship, but they had left the main port of Daragleigh eight months prior and not given any sign of life since. Shaily was staying at the inn they used as a home base, but considered trying to hire a high-level mercenary to help her with the task and be done with it.

The inn’s bartender was a nice and quite rotund dwarven lady in her fifties, she waddled over to Shaily and refilled her mug with a smile. “This one’s on me. Come on, get that smile up. I’m sure they’ll be back any day. I’ll even put in a good word for ya, trust me, you’ll be faring the sea like a real dwarf in no time.”

“Thanks, Gita. Sorry for ruining the mood.”

“Oh don’t ya worry about a thing. Compared to the average dwarf you humans are really easy to be around let me tell ya. You haven’t even broken a single chair or table yet,” the large lady answered with a laugh, sitting on the chair opposite Shaily. There was no one else in the inn’s tavern at the moment, as it was still quite early in the morning, and dwarves were forbidden by law from drinking between 6 and 12 am. 

“Ahah… It was quite a shock to see how things go here, when the only dwarf I used to know before coming here was just a really sweet and silent guy.”

Gita laughed again and the table shook, “Everyone’s different ay, our current royal couple might be the best example, King Zargdess might just be the loudest man alive and somehow our Queen is as gentle and meek as a domesticated Soguva. I honestly don't know how she can live with him.”

Shaily had to agree, nodding as she sipped on her ale, she hadn’t seen the Queen but the dwarf King was hard to miss, she had only been in the capital for a few weeks and news about the King doing this or that crazy thing around the streets was almost a daily occurrence.

The doors of the tavern flew open, kicked-in by a muscular dwarf as large as he was tall.

“Yo better watch how you speak ‘bout mah brother’s wife, Gita!” he warned the fat bartender as he walked in.

Gita rolled her eyes, “It’s not even drinking hour yet, Grud, the fuck are you doing here?”

The big dwarf clicked his tongue, “Your crew’s on their way to the port, seen em from the palace. Am here to make sure they don’t torch half the district this time,” he explained, disgruntled.

“They’re back?!” Gita exclaimed, standing up. She gave Shaily a slap on the back that felt like getting hit by a bear, “You’re in luck, see, I told ya!”

The following night, after being introduced by Gita, Shaily ended up in a private room of the Inn having a one-on-one conversation with the captain of the all-female dwarven hunter crew, Camilla.

[Supporter - Lv. 250+]

Camilla was, if Shaily had to describe her, basically Sofia’s friend Alith, but with slightly darker tanned skin, fiery-red hair, a fuller chest, and a whole bunch of tattoos covering her body. She also dressed in a very similar way, with only a strip of cloth covering her chest and large baggy pants. Her long hair tied in a ponytail exposed the usually quite hidden small and stubby pointy ears of the dwarves. She sat relaxed slouching in her seat, her crossed legs resting on the room’s low table.

“To hunt a Siren queen, huh? Don’t ya think you’re a bit weak for that?” she questioned with a faint air of ridicule.

Shaily was unabated, “That’s precisely why I need your help. Though I do believe I could handle a Siren queen myself, if she was alone and I had a proper boat.”

Camilla smirked, “Big talk. But they never come alone now, do they? Why’d ya even want to hunt one of those things to begin with? They’re not worth much, just winged pests of the sea.”

“Mind if I use some magic here to explain?”

“Is Gita you need to worry about if ya break stuff, not me,” Camilla answered with a shrug.

“I don't plan on breaking anything,” Shaily said before she summoned a bundle of shimmering lights with a wave of her hand.

That got the dwarf to sit up straight in her seat so she could observe from closer, “Sprites? Neat. Water sprites are a sign of good luck on the sea. You got quite a variety there. How’d that relate to the singing fishbirds tho?”

“I’m hoping that by hunting every element of Siren queen out there I can get a multi-element specialization for my sprites out of the first trial,” Shaily explained.

“Huh, not a terrible plan, honestly. Assuming ya can even get a specialization to begin with,” Camilla answered, slouching back into her seat.

“That’s for me to worry about.”

“True that. Bein honest, we wouldn’t even have to go outa our way to find ya Sirens, the fuckers are everywhere. Hard to go a month without finding some… But what’d we get in return?” Camilla asked, rubbing her thumb and index together.

“Do you want gold?” Shaily asked back, but Camilla looked wholly uninterested.

Crap… This might be the hardest part.

 “I can teach you a few spells, like the one I use to summon sprites, if that interests you…” Shaily tried next, failing to elicit any response from the dwarf for a second time.

Think… What else… Can I exchange my storage ring? No… That’s too suspicious, no one would give up theirs if they don’t have a replacement…

Oh! The thing I helped Guerand with!

“If we have the proper ingredients, I can teach you how to make Exidian liquor…” Shaily tried, uncertain of the worth of her suggestion.

Camilla suddenly stopped moving in her seat.

Did I piss her off with my bad offers?!

Camilla then jumped out of her seat, landing near the door, she looked back at Shaily, “Welcome aboard, sailor, we’re leaving in a week, I’ll come fetch ya here. Ya got until then to get ‘the proper ingredients’, your recipe better be genuine!” she ordered before she left, leaving the door open and giving Shaily no time to answer. Shaily was left stunned while she could hear the clacking of Camilla’s boots going down the inn’s long corridor.

I should have offered that from the start… Dwarves…

With someone at her level on the ship, the bonus task is as good as done. As long as we do find a Siren.

Well… I should relax when it’s actually completed.

I made random shit up about specializations but… It might actually be a genuinely good idea? I still have two months left, so we’ll be sailing for fifty four days. If I’m lucky…

Will I even get a specialization though? Didn’t Sofia say she killed a level 250 to get hers? That might be a bit much…

How’d she even do that?

She hasn’t lied about anything else, not that I know of at least, so that would be a weird thing to lie about.

Shaily’s inner monologue was interrupted by Gita barging into the room, “Howd’ it go? Isn’t my daughter so cute and precious? She’s grown so fast!”

“Camilla is your daughter?!”

Gita laughed out loud, “Looks just like her old ma’ don’t she?” Then she came closer and whispered, “If ya could introduce her to a tall, strong, an’ sea-loving human guy, I’m sure ya can even get her to help you a lot more,” she finished with a wink.