The Human From a Dungeon

Nash Alta

Adventurer Level: 9

Orc - Nulevan

"Fuck off!" I shouted as I landed a kick into Nick's gut.

Our training sessions have been getting more intense as Nick becomes more familiar with swordplay. My strength, speed, and experience are all still superior to his, but now I'm actually counting on them in our sparring matches. The little shit almost landed that last strike. Thankfully for my pride, he'd let his guard down.

"Let's take a break," I grumbled as Nick doubled over and wheezed.

"Y-yeah, okay," he breathlessly replied.

I snatched the wooden training sword from his grip as I walked past and placed the swords back on their racks. Being a sword-fighting instructor doesn't seem to be my calling. Most teachers would be thrilled at the rapid progress of their students, but Nick's progress rubs me the wrong way. I can't even nail down exactly why, which just add further frustration to the mix.

Am I jealous of how easily he learns what I teach him? A little, but not enough to cause these feelings. Do I think it's unfair that he has Ten to lean on? Absolutely, but it is what it is. Plus, that isn't really his fault. Is the speed in which he picks up foreign concepts unnatural and abhorrent? Yes, but I'm used to working with freaks. Yulk, for instance.

The silent jab at my brother brought a small smile to my face. We've been here for three days, and during that time Nick and Yulk have been running around doing various things. Nick's been having to work as a translator when Regent Oakmor is busy, and Yulk has been spending a lot of time with his former mentor. Presumably researching, but if it were anyone other than Yulk I'd have my doubts.

This has left me to hang out with Renv, who has been awaiting his uncle's return. I glanced at the dwarf, who was currently playing with the blades of grass that surround the training ring. He'd been watching our training sessions, mostly so that he could keep me company when Nick had to run off. I've learned a lot about this part of Bolisir thanks to him.

"I almost got you that time," Nick said, grievously misunderstanding my expression.

"And?" I asked, my smile instantly dissipating. "You feel good about that? Nothing fills a grave quicker than 'almost'. If I had been trying to kill you, you would be dead."

"Maybe, but Ten would have probably interfered if things went that far."

"Yeah, and I'm sure that comes free of consequence," I rolled my eyes and spat in the grass. "You and I both know better than that. Nothing is free, and you need to be especially wary when the cost is a mystery."

"Yeah," he sighed. "You're right."

"You're making good progress," I said, adjusting my tone a tad. "Actually, you've made the fastest leap in progress that I've ever seen. But winning a race is far more important than running it, so you shouldn't be content with just making progress. Being content leads to being complacent, and complacency is Death's most commonly received invitation. You've almost met your end already, and if you die, you're never going to see Cass again."

My lecture was met with silence as Renv stood up and started walking over to us. Nick's expression was dark, and for a moment I thought I had gone too far. His jaw was set and his fists were clenched, but after a moment he relaxed a bit.

"What if..." he said softly.

"What if what?" I asked.

"Well... I'm pretty sure that when I died in my world, I came here. What if when I die here, I go back to my world?"

Our eyes met, and his expression was completely sincere. I stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. His sincerity turned to shock.

"W-what?" he asked. "What's funny?"

"How in the hells does a moron like you manage to wield a blade without slicing your foot off?" I laughed.

"What do you mean? How am I a moron?"

"And a dumbass, on top of it all," I said as I managed to get my laughter under control. "You don't even know that you actually died in your world! And even if you did, why would dying here bring you back to your world, anyway? Why wouldn't it take you to a completely different world instead?"

"I..."

"Talk about jumping to conclusions," I cut him off with a chuckle. "More like leaping, in your case."

"What's funny?" Renv asked.

"Nothing," Nick answered with an angry tone.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," I said. "So what's today's plan for when Nick goes to work, Renv?"

"Well, my uncle should have gotten back this morning so I was thinking we'd go visit him. I'd have liked to have Yulk along, but..."

"Yeah, he's busy," I laughed. "We'd have to drag him kicking and screaming. Since we'd be getting between him and knowledge, he might even put up a real fight."

"Best to avoid that, then. What do you think, should we head out now?"

"Yeah, we might as well. Best get going before the Regent summons Nick.

I nodded, and Renv took the lead. He told one of the guards where Nick was going, and we proceeded to leave the training pit. I'm actually going to miss this training area when we move on. It's a far sight better than the one we have in Nuleva. Hells, it's even better than the one that the Adventurer's Guild uses in Kirkena.

This training pit has multiple open areas where people can spar in different conditions, like sand, gravel, mud, dirt, and even grass. It also has training dummies that have regeneration enchantments, which is something we should look into for Nuleva. Maybe for the wall too, so poor Naomi doesn't have to fix it every time Yulk practices his spells. Though, she might miss the free meals...

"So your uncle owns the business you work at? What about your parents?" Nick asked.

"It's more like a conglomeration of businesses, but yeah. My ma and pop both like working with their hands, so they own and operate a branch of the manufacturing side of the company. Since I like to travel, I work with my uncle more than I work with them," Renv chuckled. "They're much more tolerant of my occupation than they are my brother's, though, that's for sure."

"What does your brother do?"

"He's a quack. Or at least, that's what people call him. He experiments with various chemicals and their effects on health, then tries to hock the finished product," the dwarf sighed. "He doesn't trust healing magic or potions, but they're much faster than any of the products he's been able to produce."

"I think it's a good thing not to rely solely on magic," Nick said. "Though he should be careful when experimenting with painkillers."

"Because they can be addictive and deadly?" Renv asked. "Bit of wisdom from your world, right? Yeah, that already happened here. He made some painkillers out of a plant that people use to get high and convinced a few people to try them. They worked, of course, but his customers got addicted to them. It was a huge mess, and a couple of people died because of them. The court found him guilty of negligence because he didn't do a long-term study before selling the product, and they fined him so heavily that he had to sell his lab. Now he works out of his house."

"I'm sorry, that must have been rough on your family."

"It was rougher on him than on my family. It's pretty well known that he's cut his relations with us, so it didn't harm our reputation. Still, it's not fun to see family fall like that."

The conversation petered out as we continued our trek. Our path avoided the main square, which is where the dragon had been staying. It's just as well, we didn't need to give Regent Oakmor the chance to pull Nick into something. Finally, we approached a large building that was made of small, well-cut stone bricks. Each brick was engraved with a vine-like pattern which was filled with what appeared to be silver.

"Here we are! My uncle's offices," Renv said with a grin. "Follow me."

Renv pushed open one of the solid wooden doors which were about twice his height. I expected to hear the creak of hinges, but the door opened silently and with very little effort. I raised my eyebrows, whoever installed the doors had known what they were doing.

The inside of the building was even more impressive. The floor was hardwood and well polished, and each wall had some form of art on it. Paintings, monster trophies, and even weaponry were well positioned to vie for attention. In the center of the room was an expensive looking desk, and behind the desk was a female gnome wearing well-tailored clothing.

"Hi Sierna!" Renv said with a wave. "Here to see the boss."

"Go on in, sweetie," Sierna said with a warm smile. "He's been worrying about you. He'll be glad to see you're safe."

"Thanks."

Renv led us to the right of the desk and through another well built door, which led to a staircase. We marched up the stairs and found another pair of doors. Renv opened the one on our left and walked inside. Nick and I glanced at each other and followed.

"Uncle! Welcome back!" Renv said, raising his arms in a joyful expression.

"Renv, my boy! Thank the gods! It's so good to see you well," A rotund dwarf stood from his desk and embraced Renv hard enough that I heard bones pop. "I heard about the bandit attack and was worried sick."

"Come now, Uncle," Renv returned the embrace as best he could. "I'm the one who sent word, you needn't have worried."

"You forgot to sign the letter, then," the large dwarf released his hold on Renv. "What happened to your guards?"

"They..." Renv trailed off and gulped. "They didn't make it. Norv, Crakton, and Tel are dead."

"Oh gods, I'm sorry boy. I know you were close. They were good kids, we'll make sure their families are well taken care of."

Renv's uncle put his hand on his nephew's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Then he turned to look at Nick and I.

"So who are these..." he trailed off as he got a good look at Nick. "Wait..."

"Oh yeah, introductions. Uncle, this is Nick Smith and Nash Alta. Nick is the human you've probably heard about."

"The one who woke King Yssinirath?"

"Yep," Renv said as he turned to us. "Nick, Nash, this is my uncle Dohn."

"Dohn Marfix, pleasure to meet you," Dohn said as he grabbed my hand and shook it.

Dohn's grip was surprisingly strong, and I fought the urge to compete. After a couple of shakes, he turned to Nick and did the same.

"It is an immense pleasure to meet you both," Dohn said. "A member of the famed Alta family and the mysterious human everyone's been talking about. How did you manage this, Renv?"

"They're the ones who saved me from the bandits," Renv beamed. "I brought them here because I thought you would want to meet them and give them a reward. There's another one, Yulk Alta, but he's with Olmira right now."

"The Eternal?"

"Yeah. He was her student or something, and they're currently catching up... or something."

"Well, it's good to see her getting some company," Dohn chuckled and turned back to Nick and I. "I'd be happy to reward you for your kindness toward my dear nephew. You're adventurers, right?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Good! Camping out under the stars has its own appeal, of course, but there's nothing like a comfortable bed," Dohn walked over to his desk. "So these will be invaluable to you."

He opened one of his desk's drawers and pulled out a piece of paper. He grabbed a pen and began to write. He mumbled to himself for a bit, then gave the paper to Renv. Renv read the paper and nodded.

"You'll need to go to one of our warehouses to pick up the reward, but I think you'll like it."

"Okay," Renv grinned. "Thanks, uncle!"

"Happy to do it. Come see me again sometime!"

Renv nodded, and we followed him out of the room. Sierna waved at us as we left the building. Nick and I remained silent while we walked, seemingly ignoring the obvious question. It almost felt like a competition to see who would ask first. After a few moments, I couldn't wrestle my curiosity any longer and broke the silence.

"So... What's the reward?" I asked.

"I don't know," Renv chuckled. "The paper is an order form, but I don't recognize the product code."

"Damn it," I muttered under my breath.

We continued following Renv until we came upon a building that wasn't nearly as fancy as Dohn's office. It didn't look ramshackle, but it was obvious that very little care was spent towards its appearance. Despite its lack of aesthetic, it was very impressive in size.

I took in the sights as we followed Renv into the building. Large bay doors led to carts that were in the process of being loaded and unloaded, huge stables kept hnarses sheltered, fed, and watered, and there were many people running around tending to various tasks. Our strange looking group got a few curious stares, but nobody stopped us. We walked up a flight of stairs and Renv knocked on one of the doors.

"Come in," a voice shouted from behind the door.

Renv opened the door and led us through. This room seemed like the opposite of Dohn's office. It had no decoration on the walls, the floor was made of cheap wood, and the desk was more like a table. The room was barely lit by a single candelabra in one of the corners. Behind the table masquerading as a desk was an elf who was nearly buried in papers. Her disheveled blonde hair glimmered in the candle light as she peeked over one of the many stacks.

"Oh, hi Renv," the elf said as she ran her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to straighten it. "What's up?"

"Hey Hura, I've got an order form from my uncle," Renv said as he gave her the paper. "These two saved my life, and that's their reward."

"Saved your life?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as she read the form. "Woah, okay. Guess you're not kidding. Wait here, I'll be right back."

Hura stood quickly and practically ran out of the room. Renv looked at us with a grin, but we returned his expression with befuddlement. We stood there waiting awkwardly, and after what felt like an eternity later, Hura returned with three small boxes. She gave Nick one of the boxes and handed me the other two.

"Here you go," she said.

Nick opened his box and pulled out a necklace with a metal tag on it. The necklace's chain was made of gold, and the tag was emblazoned with various jewels. It also had writing on it, which caused Nick and I to share a glance. Neither of us could read the writing.

"Looks fancy," I said. "What is it?"

"This is an identifier that will allow you to stay at any of the Marfix Inns, absolutely free of charge," Hura explained. "Simply show it to the clerk at the front desk, and you will be given a room. Assuming there's one available, of course. This also comes with one free meal per day of your stay, and unlimited access to any available amenities."

"That's awesome!" Renv said. "Uncle really outdid himself."

"Really?" Nick asked. "Are these inns... fancy?"

"Very fancy, yes," Hura answered. "What amenities are available depend on the inn in question, but all of them have the very best of whatever is available. Some people even consider our inns to be vacation spots in their own right."

"Where can we find them?" I asked.

"We have inns located in every capital city on the continent. You simply need to look for a sign with the symbol that's on the back of the necklace to find them."

I watched as Nick turned over the necklace. It was a little hard to make out in the candlelight, but the symbol engraved on the back looked like a dragon wearing a nightcap and sleeping comfortably on a bed. Nick and I shared another glance.

"Thank you," I said. "This will definitely be useful in our travels."

"Now you guys won't have to stay in taverns and stuff," Renv beamed.

"A soft bed sounds good to me," Nick said. "Is there one here?"

"Yes, there is. It's right off the main square," Hura explained. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get back to work. Enjoy!"

Renv once again took the lead as we exited the office and then the building. Once we were outside, Nick put on the necklace and tucked the box into the pouch at his hip. I tucked both boxes into my pouch, not bothering to put the necklace on just yet.

"So what now?" Nick asked.

"What do you mean? Break's over," I grinned. "Let's get back to training."