Chapter 61 - Dwarfmind Returns

By the time the outpost crew was done, it was late at night. The whole group had been working nonstop for a good ten hours. Sawing, hacking, skinning, carrying. And at the camp the [Artisans] like the cooks and leather workers had worked with the materials.

Now they were all sitting in the cave, tired, absolutely, head-bobbingly, shoulder-slumpingly, eye-lid-droopingly tired. They were just sitting there, anyone barely saying a word to one another. Most of them were idly munching on pieces of meat, since it was best eaten now. The cook girl was still working. She had one of the young boys of Christie’s combat crew helping her, out of most likely personal interests, since Max doubted there were many levels to be gained.

Not that Max cared about any of that at this point. After six hours of almost non-stop Cultivation, he was just as weary if not even more so, than the rest of the crew. But he and Maverick now sported a healthy level 12 in Quartz level (greater). Max was still sure he was crushing whatever leaderboard the ICCB must have. Having Maverick help pull the weight with the pills and focus formation all combined, made Cultivation straining as hell, but manageable. He could only imagine the strain other people had to go through.

After Max finished his meal, it was time to curl up next to a cave wall and do his best to sleep. Tomorrow morning, he would show the outpost the hot springs. Max had kept the place in mind when they had been choosing a place to settle. Unfortunately they couldn’t settle too close to the place, as the towering insect monsters roamed there. That would complicate things, as having to gather water from a mile away wasn’t exactly ideal. At least that would keep the [Laborers] busy and leveling if nothing else.

He should also see what had happened to his [Alter Gravity] spell, now that it had leveled up. Most likely the effect was stronger. But it was necessary to see by how much in action. A part of Max insisted he do it right now, but his exhaustion won.

With thoughts like this in mind, Max drifted away into a limp dreamless sleep.

                                                                  *

Come morning, they ate, as it was important to stuff their faces full from the massive pile of meat they had, while it was still fresh. After that, Max escorted everyone to the hot springs. It was best for everyone to have knowledge of its location. Who knew what shitworm could hit the crew from eating badly cooked meat, with only one or two people on their feet. So far they had been lucky with any sort of infections as a whole. It could be that the Framework had made their body naturally more resistant to those. They had stopped aging too after all. It wasn’t unlikely they were also immune to most if not all pathogens. Probably just most, since Mike did get an infection from the panther claws. But it could have been something else than just infection. It could have been his Health going down and his new body reacting in an unforeseen way. The crux of the matter was, they didn’t know for certain, and it was best to play safe.

They killed two [Foulworms] on the way there. Max made a point of checking all suspicious cave openings. It was well to reduce their population. Who knew when someone was getting chased down by something, only to be caught in the path of a worm’s trap.

When they arrived at the steamy hot springs, the whole crew sighed in an almost pained expression. They didn’t need a suggestion or permission from Max to jump right in the pools and moaning and groaning in a cacophony of happiness and pleasure, as they came into contact with hot water for washing for the first time in weeks.

When she got out of one of the pools, Max couldn’t help but to steal a look of Christie’s lithe and slender flame, as her wet jumpsuit clung to her. She noticed his gaze and gave him the most self-satisfied smile Max might have ever seen. Max blushed and looked away, cursing himself. Last thing he needed to do was to give this woman encouragement.

Aside from that everything went without a hitch, which was a nice change of pace. No giant insect monsters emerged, although their harrowing screeches could be heard in the unknown of the smog. It startled the young ones every time, and Max couldn’t blame them. He had been scared of them too the first time. The sounds still made him uneasy, but by now he was battle hardened and leveled up enough to think he could handle them.

Since the hot springs were so close to the hidden doors of Durum’s kingdom, Max took his leave. He felt a little uneasy for not escorting them back to the cave, but the truth was that he couldn’t handhold them forever. He promised to return to take down another yak later, but that wouldn’t be needed for a while.

When Max arrived at the cave entrance he recognized as the doors to the domain of the obsidian dwarves, he didn’t need to walk far inside to be stopped by two guards pointing spears at his chest. Max bowed to them, and after a brief conversation with their rumbling language, they found an accord as to who Max was and they let him pass.

Max had to admit that he was a little lost when he entered the tall and narrow corridors of the dwarves. It seemed a lot of dwarves he passed recognized him, as they bowed when he walked past them. Max had no time to bow to each of them, so he only gave them courteous nods.

It was not long, until the word had traveled. Fulgrum came up to him, a magical amulet dangling from his thick black neck. Max of course no longer needed it to understand what the dwarves were saying, thanks to the talent he had received at the tribunal.

Of course this was not information he felt was wise to disclose even to Durum. Although Max wondered how long it would stay hidden, given Durum seemed to have a spell with which he could read his mind. Max wondered if he could level up his Resistance or learn a skill or a talent to prevent that.

Well, Durum was an ally, but his greed and sneakiness could not be underestimated. Max liked him, but the king was one hell of a dwarfmind.

Fulgrum bowed to him and greeted him with a rumble of courteous word to which Max replied in kind, focusing on reminiscing the bravery Fulgrum had shown in the Ruins. A flash of dark memories passed on Fulgrum’s face. He looked at Max and nodded at him. Max nodded back. They had both gone through true darkness that day, and that would connect them forever in a way.

“The High-King has been very busy of course,” Fulgrum explained as they walked through the corridors. “But I am sure he will be pleased to see you again.”

Max picked up on that. “I apologize for coming unannounced.”

Fulgrum turned to give him a smile. He was really bad at smiling, but it seemed genuine enough. “I am truly happy to see you. You have been a great beneficiary to our High-King. This is something neither I nor the king will forget. I am sure the High-King will find time for an audience.”

“Let us hope so,” Max said. “I have my own things to take care of too. Just now I’ve brought an expedition of my own here to the Dreadlands.”

Fulgrum regarded the topic with moderate interest, and so they discussed the plight of Max’s new outpost until they arrived at the High-King’s estate. It was an extravagant palace, completely dwarfing Durum’s previous estates in terms of size and ostensibility. Tapestries of scarlet and sky purple were hung here and there with tassels of solid gold and gems studded to the fabric. Black shelled turtles the size of little ponies waddled around slowly, carrying a treasure of gems and gold studded on their hard backs.

Within every corner was some sculpture, some vase or some other sign of stupendous wealth and Max and Fulgrum made their way through the estate. Eventually Fulgrum left him in a room. A beautiful one at that, with all the necessities. Most importantly a king-sized bed. Oh, Max would enjoy the shit out of sleeping in a proper bed again. But before that there were things to discuss. Fulgrum had promised to come back within an hour, either to invite Max to an audience or to tell him that the King was busy.

Maverick was hibernating, but Max decided to pop a pill and work an hour on Cultivation.