Overwhelming Firepower

After Lucen sent a letter to Evander Judicar regarding Cassandra and the details of her arrest, he once again continued preparing for his trip to the town of Gurbundy. It was a town known for mining, as it was located at the base of a mountain range.

Lucen was actually a little excited to head to Gurbundy, not only because there might be a dwarf there, but also because this was the first time he would head to an area that was not part of the game.

In the game he played, even though it was technically an open-world type game, the hero Alexander was limited to certain areas in Norvaegard.

The North had already fallen near the start of the game, and the only area accessible to Alexander and his party was the ruin Ironhold, as well as the ruins of the First Fortress, where monsters gather.

Lucen couldn’t stop smiling as the nostalgic feeling he had when new areas of the map started opening up could once again be felt.

Back then, new areas meant new quests, new resources, and predictable patterns. Towns followed templates. Danger existed, but it was measured, scaled to the hero’s level.

Lucen could feel his heart beating slightly faster. ’Damn... The Battle-Crazed trait is truly something else. Just the thought of the chance of having a dangerous battle is making me excited. Or is this because I used acting adept too much and my personality had changed drastically?’

Lucen shook his head and sighed. ’Well, nothing I can do now. At least, I’m not as afraid as I was before... Still, getting potions and choosing the party I’m going to bring with me, really makes me feel like the old time when this world was a game.’

That faint thrill in his chest bothered him more than he cared to admit. It wasn’t the excitement of discovery alone. It was anticipation, the quiet hunger for conflict that had crept into him over time.

Once, he would have flinched at the thought of danger beyond his preparation. Now, it felt like standing at the edge of a cliff and wondering how far the fall would be.

Lucen could not help but chuckle at the thought. The party that would accompany him was the usual Robert and Sir Thalos. He wanted to bring Harlik as well, but he needed someone to command Thornefang while he was away.

So instead, he was brought Bram, who, like Liger, had neither aura nor mana, but was able to perform as well as those who have.

Also, unlike Liger, who compensated for his lack of aura and mana with nothing but skill and technique, Bram, on the other hand, had a powerful body that was beyond even those with aura. His superhuman physical abilities compensated for his lack of aura and mana.

This was the group Lucen had chosen to accompany him to Gurbundy.

Robert packed his satchel with alchemical tools and reagents, muttering to himself as he checked and rechecked each vial.

Sir Thalos inspected their equipment one last time, his movements calm and practiced, eyes sharp despite his relaxed demeanor.

Bram stood off to the side, silent and still, looking more like an immovable wall than a man.

It was nighttime when they finished their preparations. Lucen decided to leave at this time to avoid a few prying eyes.

Normally, Vardon, Cael, and Vahn would be here to bid him farewell, but Lucen asked them not to do so this time. Once they were done checking their equipment, the group rode their horses and left Ironhold in the dead of the night.

Robert rode slightly hunched, one hand constantly checking the satchel at his side, fingers twitching as if counting bottles by memory alone. Every so often, he would mutter a correction to himself, rearranging items without slowing the horse.

Sir Thalos maintained a steady pace at Lucen’s flank, gaze never lingering too long in one direction. Even at night, his posture never slackened, as though the road itself were a battlefield.

Bram, meanwhile, looked utterly unbothered. His presence alone seemed to part the darkness ahead of them, his horse adjusting its pace instinctively, as if even the animal understood that this rider did not need vigilance to survive.

***

Gurbundy was a three-day trip from Ironhold if one had horses. Once they passed through a dense forest, Lucen finally arrived in a new area he had never before seen in this life and the last.

The trees thinned gradually, the dense canopy giving way to jagged stone and winding paths carved into the foothills.

The air changed as well, cooler, sharper, carrying the faint scent of iron and damp earth. Lucen straightened in his saddle, eyes scanning the unfamiliar terrain with undisguised interest.

Though the scenery was new, the smell of the furnace was something Lucen had gotten used to already.

The mountain range here was much more vast than the others he had seen. In the distance, he could see a few people carrying wooden buckets with minerals in them.

The other thing Lucen noticed was the quantity of the forges here in Gurbundy. Unlike in Ironhold, where they built the largest forge in Norvaegard, this place could match that with the quantity of forges.

”So this is the mining town, Gurbundy. It feels more like a blacksmiting town than a mining one.”

Robert leaned forward in his saddle, eyes shining as he took in the sight. The same as Lucen, this was his first time seeing something like a mining town.

”Mining towns often turn into blacksmithing hubs,” he said absently. ”Ore is heavy. Transport is costly. It’s far more efficient to refine and work it on-site.”

”The walls of this town are low; aren’t they afraid of monster or bandit attacks?” Bram, who had been silent most of the trip, asked a question he was most curious about.

”There’s no need to worry about that here.” Sir Thalos answered. ”It is said that not only are the miners and blacksmiths here good in their craft, but they are also quite good in using the weapons they make.”

While they continued talking, once they were near enough, the group got off their horses and walked towards the gates of the town.

There were two guards stationed at the gate. The guards straightened the moment they noticed the group approaching.

Both wore thick leather armor reinforced with metal plates, practical, well-used, and unmistakably locally made. Their weapons weren’t decorative either; the spears in their hands bore careful craftsmanship, balanced and deadly.

”Halt,” one of them said, eyes moving from Lucen to Sir Thalos, then briefly pausing on Bram. ”State your business in Gurbundy.”

”We are here for business,” Lucen answered as she showed the insignia of the Thorneharts. The second the guards saw that insignia, they looked at Lucen.

Silver hair, and ruby-red eyes with an unknown weapon strap on his back. They finally realized who this person was. They quickly knelt on knee and spoke in panic.

”Apologies, we were unable to recognize the young lord.”

”Please, stand up. There’s no need for that. The two of you were just doing your job. So may we pass now?”

”O-of course!” The guards stood up as ordered and signalled the people to open the gates.

The gates creaked open with a low, grinding sound, iron-bound wood sliding aside to reveal the town within.

Heat washed over them the moment they stepped through.

The streets of Gurbundy were wide and worn, the stone beneath their feet darkened by soot and age.

Forges lined both sides of the main road, some open to the street, others tucked into squat stone buildings, with flames roaring openly, sparks flying with every hammer strike.

The ringing of metal on metal formed a constant rhythm, as if the town itself had a beating heart.

Miners moved through the streets in dust-stained clothes, shoulders thick and backs straight, hauling carts heavy with ore.

Blacksmiths worked beside them without pause, their arms corded with muscle, eyes sharp and focused. More than a few carried weapons at their belts, not ceremonial, but well-balanced and well-maintained.

The arms of the people here, from young to old, men or women, looked as thick as thighs. The children, instead of playing, were helping in the forge. Some helped by carrying ores from one place to another.

Lucen had his eyes wide open. If he had seen this scene through the screen, he would only thought that it was a nice-looking town. But here in reality, feeling the energy of the people and seeing the sight of them focused on their work was amazing.

”What are we going to do now, young lord? Do we ask around about the dwarf?” Sir Thalos whispered beside Lucen.

”No, not yet. Seeing how the sun is about to set, how about we find a place to eat? I want to try the local delicacies. We also need a place to rest, so do our horses. We’ve been riding them for nearly a day straight.”

Sir Thalos nodded his head. The group then walked forward through the town. It was quite hard to find a place to stay, seeing as most of the buildings they saw were forges.

As they tried to ask the townspeople, none seemed to have time to talk to them as they continued doing what they were doing, completely ignoring them.

While they continued walking, looking around, Robert stopped and started sniffing. He then spoke. ”I smell something nice, despite all the smoke.”

Robert then strode forward, and the group followed him. They entered one of the alleyways and moved through the maze of a town.

Robert was like a bloodhound as he sniffed around, heading towards the nice smell he got a whiff of. As they continued walking, the others also started to smell something nice.

’It’s like they say, alchemists’ noses are as good as a hound’s.’ Lucen thought to himself.

The group finally arrived at a huge broken-down building that had a sign which had a picture of a badger sprawled on its back, tankard clutched in one paw, tongue lolling out in defeat, and below the picture, the words The Drunken Badger Tavern.