Chapter 192: Mountain Culture.

Moonwash woke up in my arms. We were currently snuggled in the hard beds of the dwarves. I had since learned that they didn’t hate comfort. Rather, these hard and unyielding beds were the most comfortable setup for them, with their own hard and rigid bodies.They weren’t even uncomfortable for me anymore, ever since my evolution.

I still only slept for an hour or so. That was all I needed.

“Haell. We should get up.”

I smirked at the beauty in my arms. “Someone’s excited.”

“I am, yes.”

I chuckled and got up.

We quickly freshened up. I put on my armor, and Moonwash shrugged on her sturdy jumpsuit that I was pretty sure was better than the armor most Gold-Rankers wore.

Moonwash wanted to see more of the joint smithies, as we had only stayed in Toughbolt’s Forges yesterday. We entered the big cavern, which was actually called the Darchild City, and my girlfriend led me along to the other forges. She was quickly welcomed by the other smiths, as word of her had spread among the dwarves. They even asked me to show off a bit of what I could, and naturally, I had to oblige.

I might’ve broken a few pieces by striking them too hard.

Our new friends were not very pleased.

“So why are you all so strong?” I just asked the gold-ranked blacksmith directly. He had his own personal shop, instead of the joint or communal forges. Both kinds were common here, each with their own pros and cons. The amount of gold-rankers too were far more common in this one dwarven city, than in any other society I’d visited. Only the capital cities of either New Granderas could compete.

“We work hard everyday,” Roughnail said. “But you haven’t actually seen us fight. How do you know we’re strong? I don’t think any of us mythrils here are your equal.”

By Mythril, he meant anyone over Level 40. Dwarves associated people’s levels with the kind of metal appropriate for them to craft with and wear.

“I do just mean your Level,” I admitted. “There are a lot of dwarves over Level 40 here. Or well, a lot more than most other cities I’ve been to, at least.”

“I wouldn’t know. All the other Duarchies are like this, but I haven’t visited your nations and empires down below. I’ve heard things about them.”

“Hmmm…” My thinking was that it was probably at least in part because of the Impenetrable Barrier Range itself. I could that the greater magic was thicker here. But maybe their species had something to do with it too. Maybe dwarves just leveled a little easier than others in general. Or maybe, it was just their work ethic. They did seem to work a lot more in general. I wondered if it ever got to them.

I bet it was a mix of all three.

“Haell! Look over here. I have something to show you.” Moonwash suddenly called from behind me, and I ended my conversation with Roughnail here.

I then looked at the and laughed. Why did they even have that here!?

“It’s completely impractical. It will barely protect you from anything even if the actual make of it is good.”

“So you wanted to show me something funny that we definitely shouldn’t buy?” I smirked.

“No. I’m buying it for us. It’s hot.”

I cackled even harder when she admitted that.

“After being sealed for a thousand thousand years,” I spoke with a foreboding tone that quickly grew more positive, “I finally get to smell the fresh air of the world again!”

My arms were spread wide. A big smile was on my face. It was the next day, and the two of us had left the Darchild City to climb up their mountain and meet the harpies.

“Demon Queel Haell Zharignan, and Master Artisan Moonwash Lakerian,” a clear and pristine voice enunciated from above. The harpy woman then landed, and gave us an elegant bow. “I welcome you to the Harfet part of the Harfet-Dargo Duarchy. I am known as Lora Dwin, and I would be honored to serve as your guide today, if it pleases you.”

“It would please me,” I confirmed. “We’re in your care, Lora.”

The harpy woman smiled, and led the way. The smoke cleared further as we left the huge windmills that belched out the endless amount of air pollution hidden inside the mountain. I’d seen similar mills back at the pyramids, but like everything I’d seen of their mountain home so far, everything was made

“These mills take in the smoke and the hot air from below to redirect the smoke and grind spices, among other things,” Lora began to explain. “It’s one of the foundations of how we’ve found an unbreakable bond with the Dargo Dwarves.”

A sudden powerful breeze blew, and she took to the air. The harpy woman flapped her wings, and a countering gust of wind blew the smoke back, where it would’ve otherwise hit me and Moonwash. I saw a bunch of other harpies do the same elsewhere, chasing back the smoke, and then descending back down once the fierce natural event had subsided.

“It isn’t perfect, of course,” Lora admitted, looking at the windmills. “But we have learned to quickly deal with sudden gusts of wind. Only the strongest ones ever require our direct intervention. It only happens around a couple hundred times a day.”

“That sounds like a lot,” I snorted.

“There are a lot of us. And it is good training for our reactions and reflexes.”

“Huh.” I changed my tone to something more approving. “That makes perfect sense. It’s a good idea.”

“Thank you.”

Lora led us further up the mountain. We walked across patches of tall grass and perfectly healthy trees. This was when I began to feel that something was different here. There was no wild sense of lurking danger anywhere, and not just because I was too strong to be threatened. The wildlife was different, even from the many varying mountains of the Impenetrable Barrier Range I’d visited. It was safe, a little stale, downright welcoming.

Rabbits and other similar critters walked along the ground and climbed the trees without worry.

“This is…” I grabbed Moonwash and flew up. I laughed, solid and loud, when I saw the whole mountain face for what it was. A winding river that twisted and turned more than any other. Trees and grassland that alternated beautifully. Stripes of settlements that circled all the way around the mountain. It was almost one whole artwork, painted on the largest canvas…

“It’s a garden! A fucking garden the size of a fucking mountain!”

Not exactly. Not entirely. It was maintained by… softer methods, compared to regular farms and gardens. Countless harpies flew across the whole mountain, hunting rabbits and other critters, some of which I was sure wasn’t endemic to this region at all. Most of the big predators had died out, but nature persisted for the harpies were the new top of the food chain, and its caretaker. They directly tended to the trees and other plantlife, trimming branches, harvesting fruit, and sometimes using outright nature magic.

The natural chaos was replaced by unnatural order, and it remained…

“Beautiful.”

“It is,” Moonwash confirmed. “I want to paint this someday.”

“I’m sure you will,” I smiled gently.

“Can you carry me up here while I do?”

“You want… to paint, while I’m carrying you?”

“Yes.”

I thought about it.

“Okay!”

I got to help my girlfriend out, and train my flight stability in a unique and possibly very effective way. What’s not to like?

We made plans for when to do it as I dropped the two of us back to the ground.

“This is something that you did back in the pyramids too, right?” I asked Lora. “Open air farming. Harpies managing the ecosystem. The works.”

“I believe that we do, Demon Queen. However, from what I’ve seen, the harpies in your lands still have a long way to go to reach the level of sophistication in our home mountains.”

“No kidding,” I gestured forwards. “Shall we continue?”

“As you wish.”

We made it to Harfetite City. It was the settlement closest to the base of the mountain, and the ring of tower-like buildings circled all the way around the mountain. Harpies in colorful clothes flew above the rooftops as the loops and rods built atop them made for a good obstacle course. Plenty of cliques gathered along clusters of perches, gossiping about whatever it was that they liked. Businesses thrived, as harpies entered the buildings from above, while the visitors came from below.

I and Moonwash weren’t the only outsiders that came with this caravan. New Grandera had sent plenty of their people too. This was a regular thing.

“If you want to buy something, then this is the place. The stores are almost as good as the city at the peak,” Lora explained. There were actually a good number of dwarves present here, as opposed to the abysmal presence of the harpies below. “Half of it might not be as important to you, however, seeing as you’re able to stay in Dargonis City below without a problem. That is part of why we usually do most of the selling for our dwarven allies. Most people cannot survive for long in the conditions below.”

“They need to put more spirit into it. Spirit!” I joked. “But well, I’m sure we’ll enjoy what you have to offer anyway.

I picked Moonwash up, and flew for the first building that caught my eye. It was colorful and painted with cute cartoonish illustrations of food and monsters. I landed on the stone balcony, when the few harpies who had converged on us finally caught up.

“Greetings, Demon Queen Haell Zharignan,” one said, as they all bowed. Those wings really made for some elegant movements.

“We couldn’t help but spot your unique appearance from afar, and wanted to say hello.”

“Well, hello,” I waved.

“Hello…” they waved back.

I snickered and entered the building.

They actually followed.

“Please wait! We were curious about you and what you do. Could you spare us a moment of your time?”

“Hmmm…” I observed my surroundings and found that we were actually in some sort of variety store. A mall, but small. There were several floors of eateries, common areas, and more, with an open center where I could see it all, and where the harpies could easily fly between floors. “If you want to talk, then why don’t we have a meal over… .”

“Thank you.”

“I would love to.”

“Polus Maws? It’s a good meal if I’m in a hurry.”

“We would be honored.”

“Wow.”

“That is marvelous.”

“Thank you for telling us such a wonderful story.”

I waved them off after I was done

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” I ordered more plates from the waiter. I hadn’t tried… their veggie nuggets yet. “Now how about you tell me about life here.”

“And that's how we use nature magic to increase yield, without straining the tree long term,” the beautiful harpy man finished explaining.

“It's all about balance,” the handsome harpy woman added, as a treat.

“I see." Moonwash jotted everything down.

She had actually ended up asking them a lot more things than me, but that was fine. I found it to be very interesting too. Apparently they usually made those colorful anklets as their magical apparatus for elements other than wind. They had a more formal school system, whereas the dwarves relied more on apprenticeships. The servings of food they offered here were a little bigger here, because they did have to use their feet–TALONS (not feet!) for precision work.

I decided to just not think about that. The food was good enough. They were especially good in their use of spices. Most of their dishes were still somehow quite mild, despite how I could see the amount of herbs that covered them!

I flew through a ring of wood. My tail helped me snake across pillars of the same make. My body shifted, and my arms swam through the air, as I traveled through the wind.

I came to a stop, and so did the harpies I was playing with.

“Impressive.”

“So that’s how a demon flies.”

“I’ve heard that you can travel far faster than that, however. Is that not true?”

“It is,” I answered a little too quickly. “But, I’ll admit that my control would suffer. Any faster, and I’d probably smash through your obstacles here. And with my power and weight, I’d probably break your obstacle courses.”

“I see.”

“That would be unfortunate.”

“But it’s not a massive problem.”

“Oh?” I raised a brow.

“We’ll ask that you don’t injure anyone, but the course often gets replaced and repaired.”

“The course changes, which is fun!”

“Ah.” I smiled. “Maybe I’ll give it a go, then.”

But first, I waited for Moonwash, who was clumsily wobbling on her glider. I saw a moment of judgement pass through the eyes of the harpies, which made me grit my teeth. She was trying her best! Humans couldn’t naturally fly! If anything, it’s impressive that Moonwash could be in the air at all!

But, the harpies steadied my girlfriend, helped her, and even gave their genuine best to teach her. They didn’t say a single unkind word. Some unkind thoughts just passed through their mind. And for that, I could not fault them. Their mindscape must be a pristine lake of endless rainbows compared to my own. I’d thought worse of my own partner. If mere thoughts were guilt and crime, then I would be a bigger villain than the Angelic God who had crushed so many worlds under his boot.

“All right! Here I go!” I put on my best smile, and went super sonic. I blasted through a series of obstacles that no one else was currently using. Splinters of wood littered the rooftops and the air around them, by the time I’d finished.

I looked back and saw that I’d traveled quite far from the group with that one quick flight. It wouldn’t have taken the harpies long to catch up, had they not been escorting Moonwash.

My smile brightened, and I waved at them. “HEY! SORRY ABOUT THAT! YOU SAID IT WAS FINE!”

“IT IS!” they reassured back. “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!”

“OKAY!” I made a big thumbs up out of cursed mist.

Harfet City. The largest settlement at the very peak. With a massively tall tower that pierces into the sky. It was main settlement of the Harfet Harpies, but it was hard to call it a capital when they only occupied such a small territory. Then again, they did still farm and hunt along the surrounding mountains to an extent. But it was them who did not call this place their harpy capital. Other bigger Duarchies cared about the distinction, but they did not.

I landed with Moonwash under the glow of the rising sun. We explored the city, which was all-in-all a grander version of Harfetite City. Less outright outsiders, a decent number of the dwarves, and goods more geared towards luxury and true power.

I and Moonwash started the day by eating a full course meal made only with Level 40 ingredients and above. We met the harpies of the place, and flew with them across the city. We went shopping for more Materials, or outright finished products. Things were generally more expensive here, as the dwarves just set a price and did not haggle at all, while harpies could be more merchant-like.

We had another meal, then decided to finally fly to our destination come afternoon.

At the center of the city. At the very top of Aneuscara’s tower. We had been invited.

I picked Moonwash up, and ascended carefully up the jade construction. There were a multitude of harpies here in the air, gliding peacefully in near-meditation. I made sure not to disturb them until I finally arrived on the very top floor, the roof of this whole construction.

Someone opened a gap through the dome of wind that covered it, and let us through.

Here I saw many harpies drifting through the air, but one stood above all others. Correction: above all others.

The Wind Oracle. She who was (allegedly) closest to Aneuscara. A Level 80 powerhouse unlike any I’d yet to meet upon this mountain.

She landed from where she was flying at the highest point of the dome.

“Thank you for coming, Demon Queen Haell Zharignan. And master artisan, Moonwash Lakerian.”

She gave a curt nod to each of us in turn, which we returned.

“Likewise. It’s a pleasure.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I am Jascara, the Wind Oracle of Harfet, one of the 2 rulers of this place. How have you found our Harfet-Dargo Duarchy so far?”

“It’s been a very nice trip,” I said honestly. “We learned about your culture. We played in the ways your people liked. And we got to learn about the things that you’ve built.” I elbowed my girlfriend lightly. “Mainly her, but I found it interesting too.”

“That is good. I heard those of our people who have settled your Arisen City have been received well too, so you have our thanks for that.”

“No problem. Everyone’s welcome… so long as they're civil enough.”

She nodded, before gliding across the many soft and gentle currents that filled this place. From the floor, to the various statues that tried to capture the essence of wind itself, everything was enchanted.

I didn’t even bother to try the same thing. I could not glide on a breeze so weak.

“Might I ask what brings you here exactly, then? What does the Demon Queen and the Arisen City State seek from our lands?”

I shrugged. “I’m just here on a social visit. I’ve heard many things about the Harpy-Dwarf Duarchies, so I wanted to see it for myself.”

“Truly?”

“Yes.”

Jascara chuckled. “I thought it might be something like that, but my court told me that it could not be.

“It is why you are the oracle,” one of the many other relaxed harpies around us answered.

“That is true. I am the oracle.” Jascara smiled.

“Since I’m here anyway though,” I interjected. She call for us, “we might as well talk about… military matters, I guess.”

She landed on a flowing construct made of some nigh invisible jewel-glass. “Go ahead. How may our lands a nation apart cooperate?”

“Well, I don’t usually deal with the grand strategy, but what I do have a good stake in is the death of the angels. I’ve heard that you’ve driven off Edengar in the past. How did you do it?”

She paused for a moment. “I see. So you wish for me to teach you?”

“And maybe join us in killing them once and for all, if you’re willing.”

“Insolence!” someone from the gallery of harpies took offense.

“We cannot allow our oracle such a dangerous role!” Okay. They all took offense to that, actually, where they have been unbothered so far.

“She is important to us.”

“You ask for too much, Demon Queen.”

“That is enough,” Jascara said calmly, raising her wing to put a stop to them. “You work under a false pretense, Demon Queen Haell. We never fought Edengar a century ago. Those were the other Duarchies. Our compatriots who are… admittedly larger than us. I’m afraid we might’ve fallen had the empire attacked us then. And likewise, I would have to decline your requests, for I have nothing to teach, and I am too valuable to my people to risk in a war.”

“I see,” I shook my head, and put on a smile. “That’s quite fine then, Wind Oracle Jascara. I just wanted to ask while I’m at it. I’ll just have to bury those angels myself.”

She chuckled. “I’d suggest you try your luck on those larger Harpy-Dwarf Duarchies. They might be able to spare someone of my Level. In the meantime…” she looked out of the wind dome. “I do actually have something to teach you, if you’d let me. I couldn’t help but notice that the way that you fly could yet be improved with training, and I wish to offer that to you.”

“That would be great,” my smile broadened. I liked the harpies, I decided. They talked like the people I didn’t normally get along with, but not once were they annoying about it. It was purely a personal preference to speak like nobles, for this society that didn’t even have that sort of system in place.

A few days later, we found ourselves back at Dargonis City. We did not stay for long but instead descended down one of the many tunnels that led deeper underground. The tunnel widened, and we soon found ourselves in a place similar to the homes of the pyramid-dwelling dwarves, if still several times wider. We went past those too, through tunnels, mines, and small settlements of their own, until the space opened up around us into another massive cavern that made an entire city.

It was the Dargo City. Similar to the other dwarven city we’d visited, if somehow even more beautiful and ornate. The lights were bright and they revealed everything, as Moonwash and I explored it hand in hand.

We eventually stood before the landmark that had made its presence known the moment we entered the city. The palace at the center of it all. It was a massive structure that truly stood out, because of how most of the other homes and establishments were just built into the wall. This colorful palace hewn of different somehow harmonic stone, was one big exception to their usual building principles.

“I’m Moonwash,” my girlfriend simply announced to the guards, and we were welcomed in. This following meeting was something she had arranged, with the massive amount of respect she’d garnered, both in her short time here, but also the many years that preceded it.

We arrived upon the brightly lit and heavily enchanted hallways. I admired the many masterworks of sculpture and smithing displayed across the recessed alcoves. They were surrounded by the beautiful engravings of the enchantments that left just enough gaps for each artwork to remain distinct.

Finally, we made it to the throne room. The sound of hammer striking metal echoed endlessly in the large and imposing hall that greeted us. A small army of dwarves were doing paperwork on the side, while the dwarven woman on the throne was also doing the same.

“Hello!” I tried, when no one spoke.

“Hello,” she answered curtly from her throne.

“...Are you the Creator Smith?” I’d heard that the Creator Smith, their highest leader, was a man, a herokane-rank dwarf, which translated to Level 80 hero-rank for us. Maybe the first thing could be true… and she or he was actually a man? I hadn’t asked.

“No.” She thumbed to a large door behind her… throne desk. “Steelballs is through that door if you have need of him.”

“GAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!”

I started coughing repeatedly. I wheezed so fucking hard. I knew that was his name, but it was as funny now as it was then!

“AHAhahaHAHHAhahAHAHhahA!!!”

I gave myself a moment. Several long moments, in fact. Some of the dwarves in the room ignored me, while others just glanced, confused, if not even a little offended.

“Balls mean something different in their culture,” someone explained.

“What is it?”

“...Testicles.”

“What!? That’s bad!”

“It doesn’t even fit.”

Now I was on the floor, literally rolling. Moonwash was still, but her face had gone red. It was hard to ever get an involuntary indicator from her, but that was how my girlfriend got when something was just that uncontrollably funny.

Finally, after a long long time, I stood back up and we walked into the dark corridor that hid behind the throne.

A bright orange light spilled at the end of the long tunnel. The banging sound of metal grew louder as we drew closer. As did the heat grow unbearable… if you were weak and pathetic. Moonwash was neither of those things, of course! Never. But she sweating heavily just to counter the heat with her human biology.

My anticipation for what we would find upon crossing the light at the end of the tunnel grew and grew.

It was a forge.

That was expected. I was unsurprised. But it was still awesome! From the stocky dwarven man who was only as tall as me, but would surely outmass me several times over, to the sheer power his every strike produced. That would be enough to take me out in one go depending on what weapon he was using. Maybe a barehanded fist would even suffice if I was hit in the right spot.

A furnace was behind him, itself glowing hot enough to quickly kill even me if I were thrown into it. His anvil was clearly a masterwork, as were the many weapons and other things haphazardly displayed on the walls.

I hated to admit it, but the worst of his works here might be almost as good as the best Moonwash could do.

“STEELBALLS!” she called unbothered, and now they had to spend their following conversation with my cackling laughter in the background.

They didn’t actually get to talk amid my chortling, for did not respond until he was done with the… I wanted to say foot-claw equipment? Yeah. That.

“Oh. You!” Steelballs shouted. “Who are you and why are you in my forge?”

“I’m Moonwash, and I’ve been given the go ahead to visit.”

“Moonwash… I remember hearing of you. Very well. What did you come here for?”

“I want to ask you about your forging process, and see you in action. I also wanted to share the things that I’ve worked on.”

“An interesting proposal.” He thought it over. “Very well. I’ll take a look at what you have first.”

Moonwash opened her pack, and naturally managed to impress the Creator Smith.

They then began to chat and work in the great and sweltering environment. I left a few times to get my girlfriend some water and ice, because she was literally sweating buckets. Moonwash had some water and frost wands on her, but not nearly enough mana ready. I eventually just borrowed full repositories for her to use. New Grandera was actually the main source of those elements for the dwarves and harpies because of our fountans. Some of them had even been convinced to move here, or at least with the harpies up above.

I walked in with some food while they were discussing the right condition with which to boil some monster’s eyeball. They talked about the various parts of the forging process, from nerve-wracking heating to the quenching. Steelballs grew interested in Moonwash’s deathmetal, and she shared the method. I asked about the dwarves outside, in the supposed throne room, and the woman on the throne was actually apparently the Creator Minister, and the other people doing officework there was her army of assistants. The Creator Smith was decided based on someone’s ability to create things, but the dwarves had long realized that they could often be terrible at actually leading a whole society. It was rare for a dwarf to want to work in management to begin with. So they gave the job to the few rare dwarves who actually liked it.

“Hmmm…” I hummed as they got back to talking about metal rods. I’d been feeling something very sinister and familiar from one tower shield in the wall since the beginning. I opened my mouth at a lull in their conversation–the two were about to hammer some nails–and spoke. “What’s that?”

Steelballs looked over. “That’s a cursed weapon. Something like your greatsword over there.”

righthas

did

The tower shield turned out to not just be a random cursed piece of equipment, but was rather something that contained the shell of a cursetacean. It was a much tougher alloy that incorporated the carapace without losing too much of its powerful vengeance effects. The reason why I refrained from cursetacean equipment was precisely because it was too brittle for the kinds of fights I regularly got into, but with this alloy I might be able to get the best of worlds!

Steelballs freely shared the formula with Moonwash, and promptly got to live testing.

I couldn’t wait until we got to forge an armor for me with this method back at home!!