A Soldier's Life - 474 - Good Things Come in Small Packages (edit 10-26-25 +150 words)

Chapter 474: Good Things Come in Small Packages

Maveith joined Kyrenic in butchering the once majestic creature. Heartseeker had pierced the chest and exited out its back, destroying organs and its spine. It was easier to pull the shaft the rest of the way through. I walked over to a stream on the far wall to clean the shaft.

Unicorns were so rare that I didn’t recall any alchemical uses for their parts. The horn was likely an excellent aether conductor and could probably be artificed into a wand, or maybe powdered for potions. Perhaps I should collect some of the blood? Most creatures with powerful abilities had uses for their blood in alchemy. Evie was ignoring the butchering and wandering the room, probably searching for the reward chest, but I had already stored it.

Maybe it was selfish of me to wait until the last room to open the chest myself, but it was common knowledge that the best rewards were always in the final room. Kyrenic pulled out two oiled tarps and laid out the cuts before wrapping them. I wondered if eating a creature with such a strong celestial affinity helped the squires boost their celestial attributes when they consumed essences. If this were the only meat they ate, then there was probably something there.

“What about the horn?” I asked as they finished, walking over. If there were butchering to be done, I would likely find something else important to do. Besides, Maveith had sped up the process with his runic skinning knife. I was actually surprised he hadn’t left it with his father, but then again, he had already given his father his ring of sustenance.

Kyrenic explained as he tied the oiled canvas: “It is fused to the skull, and because the bone is very hard, we usually remove the entire head so the smiths can free it.”

“But I can have it? What uses does it have?” I asked.

“We sell the horns to select artificers mostly. It supports the order’s operations and charities. The material makes an excellent wand or core of an artificed staff,” Kyrenic disclosed.

“What is their value?” I asked as the horn disappeared into my space.

Kyrenic blinked a few times at the hornless unicorn before looking at me and responding. “Sometimes it is for an exchange of services, but a hundred gold is fair, and due to their rarity, you can get upwards of a thousand for a horn in larger cities. The issue is, if we start selling horns in quantity, people will become aware and investigate the source. Therefore, we only deal with a few artificers we trust in the Heptarchy.” I nodded at their caution.

“I can’t find it,” Evie came to us upset, giving up on finding the chest. “I thought every room had a reward chest? Is it inside the unicorn?” She looked at the mangled corpse of the creature, its blood soaking the moss. Evie had seen worse in her time in this world, but still had a wistful look on her face. Perhaps she had been considering using necromancy on the creature before it was butchered.

“No, once the room was cleared, the chest appeared.” I extended my hand, and the small silver chest appeared in my palm.

Kyrenic looked up and nodded in recognition. “You really are Fortuna’s son. That is the smallest reward chest for this room, but the most valuable. We are rewarded with it about once a month. The dungeon likely favors us today. That small silver chest contains about 2 pounds of silver, valuable in itself. It should also contain three gold coins and a ring, and sometimes it will have an apex essence for one of the magic affinities instead of a ring.” I shook it slightly, and that sounded about right. I didn’t get the sense that a sphere was rolling around, so it likely had a ring inside.

“A dungeon artificed ring? What is its function?” I asked, very interested and reaching for the lid.

“Rarely, it is a magical affinity ring. Most of the time, it is a ring to fortify a mental attribute,” he said seriously. “Any ring you find is incredibly valuable. I wear two such rings, one fortifies my reasoning and the other my fortitude.” He removed his gauntlets, showing both gold bands. I didn’t think the knight knew how to lie to friends, so showing proof was unnecessary.

I opened the chest to see three gold coins and a thick gold band inside. Like most dungeon rings, it looked plain and had no visible script. Kyrenic frowned. “It is not a magical affinity ring. Those have a gemstone matching the affinity, so this ring likely fortifies a mental attribute.”

I took out a thermal stone and knelt down as the others gathered around me. I heated the ring, and runic script appeared as I slowly rotated the stone, focusing on it. When I stood up, Kyrenic looked at me expectantly. “The script is too small to read. I will need to meditate on it for the night to figure it out.”

“We have revelation scrolls in the castle,” Kyrenic offered.

“I think I can figure it out on my own.” I handed a small gold coin to Maveith, Baelira, and Evie before closing the chest and sending it, along with the ring, to my space. “Are we done here then? I want to pick some of these flowers before we leave. The violet ones are dreamshade, and the white ones are snowveil mint. I am not sure what the crimson-petaled ones are, but I would like to get some in case they are useful too.”

“We do harvest and dry the dreamshade. But we don’t have uses for the others,” Kyrenic informed me.

I got on my knees and started to work. The mint needed to be cut close to the roots, as it was the stem and leaves that held the juice I would use in my mouthwash recipe. The oil from these dungeon flora would make potent oral hygiene drafts. I could always use more mouthwash. The dreamshade made a potent sleeping draft from the dried flowers. It was an ingredient in oblivion pills as well.

The others soon started helping after I gave them instructions on harvesting. The crimson flowers stained your hands, leaving a powdery residue from the petals. I wore my spider silk gloves, but Evie did not have any protection. Kyrenic assured her that the stain would fade with time. Knowing the petals stained like this should make it easier to look them up in the dreamscape. That had to be a unique trait.

Even with five of us, it took a few hours to pile the flowers on the tarps I provided. I carefully folded the ends and stored the significant harvest. “Thank you for allowing us to use your dungeon. Just like we will keep its existence secret, I hope you will keep our abilities secret, Kyrenic,” I said to the knight. Kyrenic offered his wrist, and we shook, sealing the agreement.

“I didn’t get a chance to do anything,” Baelira grumbled good-naturedly as we walked back to the exit.

“I can’t wait to tell Lexi that I conquered a dungeon and saw a unicorn,” Evie said excitedly. Evie didn’t talk much about her best friend anymore, but we should be returning to Gramney in a few months. I would have given her the horn for proof, but it was 15 inches long and too long to fit in her small space.

When we exited the dungeon, it was midday, and the squires and knights had already eaten. The horses had gotten sufficient rest, so we left after eating leftovers. Evie surprisingly didn’t shy away from eating the stew even though she knew it was likely unicorn meat. Alhar came and sat with us. “How was the dungeon? Any surprises?” he inquired casually.

Kyrenic answered for the group. His eyes locked on the elf. “Slightly better rewards than normal, but no problems, Alhar. Did you want to go commune with the dungeon before we left?”

All eyes turned to Alhar, who casually poured himself some warm ale. He sipped it slowly. “No need. I already did so.”

“I am aware,” Kyrenic said, to which Alhar arched his brow in surprise. “Knight Leontes observed you entering the dungeon, though he was not sure how you passed the gate with it locked. You didn’t spend long inside.”

I found it quite amusing to see how Alhar was cornered, even though he tried to hide his reaction and act unaffected. He calmly replied, “The dungeon was not in a talking mood,” dismissing the situation as if it didn’t matter. “Some believe our blood lets us talk openly with dungeons, but mostly, we just sense impressions and intentions. Only the oldest and largest dungeons can force words into our minds, and those moments can be quite—disconcerting.”

“Have you talked with a lot of dungeons?” Evie said, leaning forward.

Alhar smiled at her eagerness. With an ominous tone, he answered her. “In my youth, child. Sometimes when a dungeon realizes it can communicate with you, it tries harder to kill you.” Evie’s eyes widened in shock.

“You should take Eryk with you when that is the case. He has a habit of frustrating a dungeon’s attempt to kill you,” Maveith said, patting me on the back and making a cough when I swallowed wrong. I gave Maveith a look to show I didn’t need support, and I didn’t know how much Realia had told Alhar about our time in the Shimmering Labyrinth.

“Get the horses saddled and ready,” I said, standing. I have something to do before we leave.

I headed to the general privy and sat down while producing the dreamscape amulet. If the ring was useful, I wanted to know now. I first checked on the flower and found it quickly among my collection. The flower was called Crimson Tears. The only alchemy recipe I had that mentioned them was an amnesia potion. It made the imbiber forget the last twenty-four hours. The other ingredients were not difficult to source, but with the flower being aether-saturated in a dungeon, the potion might even be more potent.

I moved on to the artifact. I created a large replica of the ring to study the runes. My studies in Sanctuary had been thorough, and I didn’t even need to review the reference books to understand the ring’s function. It strengthens the wearer’s intellect. How much, I couldn’t be sure, but intelligence was heavily tied to memory and would make learning spells easier.

I exited the dreamscape, finished what I had started in the privy, and copied the amnesia potion recipe. When I rejoined the others in the courtyard, I gave the recipe to Kyrenic and explained what it was. The alchemy recipe was from the Sanctuary Repository and likely very old. Kyrenic left briefly to hand it off, relaying thanks from his commander on his return. The order didn’t need extra income, as Kyrenic described their income from the dungeon as being significant.

We kept the mountains to our right as we headed north. There were very few roads in the eastern part of the Brightmantle Kingdom we were traveling in. The only settlements were mining towns at the base of the mountain, and those appeared every dozen miles or so.

As we rode, I decided that I didn’t need the ring of intellect, since I had the amulet of clarity. I was torn between giving it to Baelira, Evie, or Raelia and saving it for my son when he grew up. Whoever received it would have an easier time memorizing spell forms for true casting. Evie had the strongest potential of the group, but she was young and I dotted on her a lot. When Baelira and I rode at the rear together, I produced the ring.

“This was the reward from the chest in the last room. I think you can make the best use of it,” I said, extending my arm. Ginger had turned her head, expecting an apple, and snorted in displeasure when she didn't find one.

The elf woman seemed uncertain about the gift. Among the Sentinels, rings didn’t symbolize an engagement, so I didn’t understand her hesitation. Her hand finally closed around it, and she took her time. “Thank you. What does it do?”

I guessed she had never worn an artifact ring before. Only dungeons could artifice the runes that small, so it made sense they were rare in Sanctuary. “Push aether onto it as you slide it onto your finger. It will resize as it goes on. It will take a week or two to acclimate to you, but you should notice a gradual improvement in clarity of thought and recall.” She offered a grateful smile as it fitted to her right hand, and I called for a rotation in riding partners.

The next three nights, we stayed in dwarven towns. These resilient dwarves were very welcoming to our group, especially since a knight of the Wardens of People rode with us. The knights helped patrol the towns along the mountains as the frequency of threats from the mountains was increasing.

It was on our fourth day of travel from the Sanctum of People’s Blade when we saw smoke in the distance. One of the dwarven mining towns was on fire. Kyrenic almost rode ahead without us but turned to me at the last second. “What is our strategy?”

My spyglass was in my hand as I spoke. “Baelira and Evie will stay here. The rest of us can investigate.” I spotted the smoke in the sky and tracked it to the ground, focusing on the threat. When it came into view, I reconsidered seeing the danger of the creature occupying the town. “I don’t think anyone is left alive,” I said with anger.

“What is it?” Kyrenic asked, his horse dancing as it sensed the knight’s eagerness to rush ahead.

When I had focused in, I had seen one of the monstrosities chewing on the body of a dwarf. “Hill giants,” I replied.

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