Chapter 16: Beast Cores and Violence

Chapter 16: Beast Cores and Violence

Landar

Half way through carving the neck off the matriarch, I found a round glowing ball covered in a thin pink membrane. I knew what it was. I had read its description several dozen times in more than a few of the books from the temples small library.

It was a beast core.

I pocketed it and then went back to decapitating the massive monster.

It took nearly two hours to carve down to where I could see the dwarf. I found his feet near where the neck and head were now severed. He had been hiding in a small rock outcropping. It saved him from being crushed by the wolf when it died.

Pulling on the dwarves legs did nothing but make him cuss at me in a language I didnt understand. When I stopped, he yelled at me and I had to strain to hear his muffled voice.

My leg is broken, boy! Stop pulling on it!

I sighed. Id have to carve the wolf up more. I had wanted to save the pelt, but at least part of it was going to be a complete loss.

By the time I had carved down the underside length of the wolf and created enough space for me to pull him out, I was spent. My arms were shaking, legs were weak, and my knees felt numb.

I didnt have the energy to gently do anything, and the wolf was going to crush him if I didnt do something. So I just grabbed one leg, hoping it wasnt the injured one, and pulled.

GAAAH!

I had chosen wrong.

I felt and heard a popping noise as the leg relocated back into its socket. Apparently, it hadnt been broken after all.

I collapsed and my eyes closed as the dwarf stood over me, tenderly testing his leg. He was clothed in thick, but shredded padding that protected from chafing under heavy armor. The armor itself was nowhere to be seen.

You did good, lad. He lifted my hatchet with one hand. Dont you worry. Ill handle things from here.

I closed my eyes, unable to keep them open any longer.

***

I woke up near the entrance to the cave, covered in a thick blanket of sun-dried wolf hide. Blood still seeped from it in places. I gagged and nearly puked from the smell as I extracted myself.

Oh, youre awake. Good. The dwarf pointed to the hide. Sorry about that. You were shivering something fierce. Got you some water and put you under them. Best I knew how to do. But youre awake, so it seems I did fine. The dwarf was bent over the fire pit, which had a distinctly smaller fire at its heart now. Though one that spewed more smoke into the air than the one I had made.

The wood smoke should tell people where we are, while keeping the bugs away. At least for a little bit. Are you good to walk, boy? I tested my legs and body, walking around a bit.Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

Yes sir, I think so. Just exhausted is all.

Yeah, that makes sense. I can tell youre not used to this kind of work. Though the forge calluses on your hands and knuckles confused me. Were you sick recently, then? I nodded. Well good, you lived to save me. Thank you for that, by the way. Names Gragon, of the Woodburner clan. I can walk too, but Ill be slow, even for my folk. He pointed towards the sky. The sun was nearly down.

If we moved fast, wed be able to get back before sunset. But wed need to practically sprint to get there. There was no way the dwarf could keep up, and honestly, I wasnt sure if I had the energy either.

I dont think its wise to stay here tonight. The smell of blood will attract scavengers.

Already did. The dwarf pointed towards a small dog shaped frame over in one corner. It was a coyote, but one the size of a Great Dane. This little ax of yours is useful, even if its primitive craftsmanship. He pulled my hatchet up and held it up to the light of the fire. Has some magic in it, but like most of you, humans work its brute force. Very little finesse. No runes of shaping, or sigal of control. No real enchantment at all, really, just raw magic shoved in and told to stay and what to do. Crude, but I cant say its not effective.

My aching head spun from the back-handed compliment, and the double, or was it triple? Negative he had used to describe my hatchets effectiveness.

You talk more than I thought dwarves did. He looked over at me with hurt in his eyes.

What? You think were all stodgy stone wardens? Who only speak when spoken to? And communicate with our own secret language of grunts of feet shuffling? Poppycock. Im a dwarf, damn it, from a merchant clan. Sure Im a guard, but Im damn good at it, and damn proud of my clan and what we do.

I saw I had hurt not only his personal sense of dwarfness but also his pride in his clan. How I had done the second confused me, but I let it go.

I apologize. I meant no offense. Youre just not what I expected. Merchants are valued by my family, and more than a few are our closest friends. I bowed in apology.

Gragon smiled from ear to ear. And youre not what I expected from a little human whelpling. You got a silver tongue in your head, when you think to use it. Now, tonight well stay here. Ill protect us from danger while you keep the fire going and scrape the hides clean. Come morning, well make a crude cart and be off back to your little city.

I fear my father might come looking for us. He might be out doing that already.

Whos your father, lad? He asked the question, not out of curiosity but obviously trying to get a kids mind off of the dangers in the coming dark. He was indulging me, and while it would have been fine had I actually been a kid, I found it condescending.

Captain of the southern gatehouse. Tomas Gaudhaus.

Gargons eyebrows went up. Youre the sickly little welp hes always been talking about? He took me in again, examining me from head to toe. Well, I can see your mother in you, thats for sure.

You know my mother?

Aye, my whole caravan and most of my clan does. She fed us what, three years back, when one of our caravans was in a bit of a spot and penniless in the middle of winter. Fed us throughout the deepest snows Ive ever seen. Your father gave us shelter in some outbuildings that winter too, when he learned we were sleeping in the streets. When another caravan arrived that spring to save us and get us home, the clan tried to pay wergild as a thank you, but she turned it down. Said it wouldnt be right to accept money for a gift given in the mother's grace, or something.

They never told me they had dealings with dwarves. I was skeptical of his story. Not because my parents wouldnt do something like that, they most certainly would. But because it sounded kinda far-fetched. A story made up to get me on this guys side and let him take me for a ride for the goods we were going to harvest from the wolves.

"They probably never told you because they do that kind of thing a lot among your people, I hear.

He wasnt wrong. Elsbeth, I had come to understand, was a pillar of our tenement neighborhood. When people had troubles, they came and asked for her advice. If they needed food, they asked her if anyone had any and she arranged it. If they needed shelter, she helped them find places. While Tomas was considered unbelievably wealthy by the standards of the drudges and freemen that made up our neighborhood. The two made, in the context of our poor renters neighborhood, a charitable power couple.

I first thought it was social. Mere excuses for Elsbeths friends to come say hello, leave the confines of their own homes to gossip and visit. Until a few days ago, when an older woman, a widow, had come knocking on our little door just before bed. She had just lost her daughter- and son-in-law to a construction accident earlier that day. They were both drudges. And now she had to raise their three kids. She was far too old to work the way she would need to, to support the kids, and she was already living off charity from the Gray as it was.

Elsbeth had rallied the families in the neighborhood and within an hour, the old woman had offers to adopt from six different families. Including from several of Tomass Freeman Guards.

The children had new homes by the end of the day, and the situation had been handled with Elsbeths eminent and forceful practicality.

I nodded along with his story. It sounded like something they would do. Shelter and food for starving people? Yeah, Id believe that.

But I produce mana. Wont that condense it too?

Eh, dont worry about condensing right now. Youre nowhere near needing to worry about that. I just started myself. Think of the core like a hand crank at a well. Itll let you get more mana. But your mana pool is more like a bucket where you store the water. Or mana, in this case. Its not exactly like that because your pool also makes its own mana. It all gets pretty complicated, kid.

He wasnt saying anything I wasnt already aware of. Most of the info he had given me had either been spelled out in the texts I had read, or was hinted at, and I had guessed already. Except for mana condensing, and the black sludge stuff. Nothing seemed to talk about that, and I wasnt sure exactly why. Maybe the people in this area think its taboo? I put it aside for now and continued listening.

Just know that each core adds to your total mana capacity. But if you have an attuned core? Like, say one of ice or something, you can send mana through that core and attune the mana to that element without having to run it through a spell, or something first. That thing looked like a predator core. One that gave the creature more Life mana, which it used to enhance its body. Life mana is sometimes called chie, but you wont hear that often around here. Not unless you run into someone from the far east. Here they just call it Life mana, and well, youre going to need to be careful with it. It doesnt like to interact with other kinds of mana easily.

He looked at me, considering what he was about to say for a long moment. Yeah, youre not going to tell anyone. Look, youre going to need to make mana channels just for your Life mana. Or else when you try to run life mana through your other channels, when you get around to making them, youre going to be in a hell of a lot of pain. Got it?

This was entirely new information, and I couldnt help but just stare at him, hoping hed divulge more information. Or at least give me some kind of context clue.

Look, Im no wizard. Im just saying the stuff that was said to me when I was a kid. Cores are good, okay? Particularly those cores that make Life mana. The more you have of them, the closer you get to gaining a level.

What does a level do for me?

Oh no. Im already in deep shit with your kingdom, just telling you what I have. Youre already near the mid copper stage already, about at the top of level zero to the locals. If you get there, gods forbid, the adventurers guild will be all over you, and they can explain it. Ive taken in six cores in my life, kid, one of which was a complex core. And Im just starting to get close to my second level. If that helps you figure it out. He shrugged again. For now, just focus on learning to use that mana to augment your body. Best thing you can do, really.

Ive already learned to do that with some abilities. Like Dodge. Is it a similar process?

The dwarf just stared at me like I was a monster. Kid. You learned abilities? Already? Do you even have any meridians open? I just stared at him. No, of course not. You cant be older than what, fifteen summers? And youre just actively channeling ability spells through your body, with no channels even yet? Do you know how bloody bonkers that is, kid?

Twelve, I smirked, and the color drained from the dwarves face.

Right. You humans live short lives. I wanted to take offense to that, but with the sheer shock he was experiencing, I let it go. Instead, I showed him so there was no doubt.

I moved the mana into my legs and jumped to one side. Half a second later, my feet dug into the soil, and two deep furrows four inches deep appeared as I skidded to a halt ten feet away.

See?

Boy. Youre going to be a monster yourself one day. The dwarf shook himself. What am I saying? I just taught him how to properly absorb cores. Its a good thing his family are friends of the clan, or Id be strung up for giving one of our neighbors such a powerful asset. He was talking to himself, like he had just given the neighboring country a battalion of Abrams tanks, workable invasion plans, and a tactical nuke.

He sat by the fire, dejected. No, its not so bad. Hes a friend of the clan. But, an ability user, by the age of twelve? He locked eyes with me. Do you know any others, kid?

Nothing flashy like dodge. Just mana writing. I lied. I showed him by using it on the ground to draw a small picture of him and me and the fire with nothing but my finger and the oils on my skin in the dirt. It disappeared a few seconds later. The Dodge thing was a bit of a fluke, too. Ive been pretty sick most of my life, and I was just looking for something to help me get around. I lied again.

Some of the color came back to his face, and he calmed a bit. Okay, that makes some sense, I suppose. Well, dont show anyone that kid. Knowing abilities by your age is something only the most powerful noble families can accomplish.

I didnt think this guy knew exactly how any noble family operated. Heck, I barely understood how some of it worked myself. And my home kingdom didnt feel like a particularly inviting place to foreigners.

I understand, I said solemnly. But I want to use this core to help my dad somehow. Hes in danger far too often. His weapons can barely scratch something like that. I pointed at the rotting carcass of the alpha wolf where the primitive predator core had come from. Had he and his men been forced to come out to kill it without the knights, he would have lost a lot of men. And probably gotten himself killed.

The dwarf nodded, and his beard got dangerously close to the fire. I have an idea about that. But for now, I need you to trust me. Can you do that? He reached a hand out as if asking for the core.

What are you planning?

If I tell you, it might not work. Your human kingdom is pretty stingy with this kind of thing. He touched the ax in my hand. They dont care about non-core magic items. They regard them as trash, no matter the quality of the work. Its why the rune casters of my people so rarely trade weapons with you all. You lot dont seem to have any clue as to the proper value of things when it comes to weapons and magic.

I shook my head, confused. What does that have to do with the price of tea in china? I asked before I could stop myself.

What? He looked at me in even more confusion than I felt. What is China? And what does the price of tea have to do with this conversation?

I sat there, still drenched in my own bodies black filthy tar, trying to find a way forward with the conversation. I uh. . . thats kind of the point. Its an expression. It means, I dont understand the connection between what you are saying and what the topic of the conversation is.

Oh. Why didnt you just say that then? Humans are weird, always talking in circles. Well, at least youre not elves. Damn knife ears always speak in riddles and their voices sound like theyre trying to sing you a lullaby every time they open their gab. Anyway, what Im getting at is, Im an apprentice rune smith. Gave it up for a bit a while back when I failed my journeymen test. Been trying to save up for another chance at it, working as a guard in my familys caravan. But Im good at it. Better than you, anyway. If you give me the core, I promise to help your father with it.

Time frame? I demanded, and the dwarf smiled.

I like a client who knows what questions to ask. Good, means youre not a mark. My caravan leaves your little city in a week. Ill have it for you before then. Deal?

And what do you want in return? He looked taken aback for a moment.

Kid. I was already in your familys debt. Your mother and father are friends of my clan. And my clan is deep, deep in their debt. Years ago, they saved a caravan from starvation and getting frozen to death. So we owe a big debt.

Everything until now has been repayment of that kindness. You, he poked me in the chest. You saved my life. I owe you something. Something big. Because of your parents, youre already a Friend of the Clan so I cant give you that. And since youre doing something nice for another Friend of the Clan, helping them survive and all, me helping you with this wont pay that debt entirely either. But I promise itll be good enough to try, whatever it is I come up with.

One of the shorter primers in the library I had been tarring through like a madman the last few weeks was on foreign relations. It wasnt very detailed, but when it discussed other races, it gave little tidbits about their society and their psychology. What it had to say about dwarves had been particularly interesting to me.

Dwarves didnt think of the value of things the same way as humans did. The price of a rune carved knife was based on its quality, not on how much they can get for it. Value wasnt based on speculation. Value was influenced by supply and demand, of course, but it was based in the innate quality of the item or service. Scarcity might make the price of bread go up. But bread would never lose its innate worth because of a flooded market. There was always a minimum, the innate value of the thing based on its usefulness, quality, and some inner sense that dwarves had about such things.

The text had said that this quirk of their psychology, and their long lives compared to the average human, made making long-term trade deals with dwarves extremely valuable. But on the converse, it meant short term speculative purchasing during a flooded market, or even negotiating for a better mutually beneficial arrangement, difficult. Supply and demand influenced prices for dwarves, they did not control it.

In essence, every item owned by a dwarf, including their life, was in economic terms, inelastic. I speculated that a dwarven society would have an extremely hard time creating something like a stock market where speculative trading could take place. They all had the long-term investors mindset. Short-term investment or acquisition was just not something they were interested in.

A dwarven stock market would be a very boring, very stable place.

Given the chaos back on Earth every few years when some dipshit with too much money shorted a stock people relied on, perhaps that wouldnt be so bad.

Deal. I shook his hand by clasping his wrist. His palm wrapped around my arm as if it were a hammers haft. He was strong enough that if he wanted to, he could crush the bones in my arm to dust with just a squeeze.

And this guy had gotten taken by the wolves? I asked myself in awe as we released the gesture.

Now. Take this stone, and scrape those hides. Then try to get some sleep, lad. Ill stand watch.

I took the stone and did as instructed. He had to explain exactly what I was supposed to do three times, but eventually I got it. It took me nearly an hour to go over the underside of the two monster hides with the rough stone. Scraping the meat and viscera off, and turning the leather hard so the morning sun when it came, could do its job.

When it was done, I laid on the warm stones and quickly fell asleep.