The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 886: Theyʼll Need Time

Karl almost felt sorry for Lillyʼs new partner. But what he would get in return for his efforts to please the overly excited Kirin would be well worth the effort.

”Well, that went more smoothly than expected. How about we have a proper meal?” Karl suggested.

Shaman Petros smiled. ”We brought ale, and we have no need to rush right back.”

”Plus, we canʼt go back without Danny and Lilly anyhow.” The Barbarian reminded them.

”So, youʼre staying overnight? Weʼve got plenty of guest rooms.”

The Dwarves chuckled. It was likely to be late at night by the time that those two returned, so they might as well plan to take at least a day off.

Wendy and Loros came out of their rooms, and paused when they heard the Dwarves in the common rooms on the third floor. It was rare to hear anyone up there at all, and even more uncommon for Karl to bring guests upstairs.

But they went down to the kitchen to fetch breakfast, and to send Mara for a trip up the dumb waiter, a game that the little lizardfolk girl loved. It was just a shame that she couldnʼt travel with her cleaning tools all the time.

Someone had to activate the lift from the outside.

The others slowly came out of the Library, which caused great confusion among the gathered Dwarves. They understood architecture on an instinctual level, and there was no way that many people comfortably slept in one room at the corner of the building.

”Itʼs an Illusionary Domain, larger than it appears. They had a ladies night last night, so most of them likely slept in the theatre. The plays are solid illusions, so they are quite realistic, every bit as good as going to a regular theatre run by mages.” Karl explained, as Lotus belatedly tried to smooth her ruffled hair.

”Good morning, Gentlemen. Was there anything more that you needed at the moment? We will be headed down to the Kitchen.” Tessa asked as she followed them out.

”Weʼre quite well for now, thank you. But if you can inform your kitchen that there will be additional guests for the day, and that theyʼre Dwarves, we would appreciate it.” Petros informed them.

A Totem Ranked guest could basically get anything they wanted from most households, so the staff would surely make a meal that was suited to a Dwarven stomach. Meat and potatoes, none of the crunchy green stuff.

While the others ate, Karl thought of a proper gift to give them, in honour of the visit. That was normally what you did when guests with powerful positions came to see you.

[There is a book you can give them. I made copies of the Dwarven Runecrafting book to give to the apprentices, before I knew that only a Dwarf could use them properly.] Remi suggested.

[Brilliant. Thank you, Remi.]

Karl took out one of the four copies of the book and placed it on the low table between the sofas.

”Here, I think that you might know someone who would be able to make good use of that. A present from me to you.” Karl explained as Shaman Petros leaned forward to pick the book up.

The Totem stared at the book in shock, then reverently flipped the cover open and realized that it was a freshly made transcription, not an ancient tome. But the contents were shocking.

”This is Dwarven Runecrafting. Where did you find this? The art has been lost since before the end of the last System Resurgence.” He whispered.

”The dragons had a copy, and they traded it to me. My friend Remi made copies, then realized that only a Dwarf or someone with at least a little Dwarven Lineage, could make use of the contents.

You see, most of it is in Dwarven, and while the standard Runes work for everyone, the Dwarven parts will only work for those deemed worthy.” Karl informed the overwhelmed Shaman.

The book was suddenly pulled from his hands, though Karl noticed that the strike was to Petrosʼ hands, and not the book, which was held with great delicacy by the old Dwarf on his left.

”It really is a Dwarven Tome. A primer, the introduction to the skill, but it contains the start of everything. Who would have thought that there would be such a fundamental instructional tome left, when most of the relics we have are masters notebooks?”

Karl chuckled. ”You know, in the opening pages, the author repeatedly wonders why he is making an introductory tome for things children should know. But he wrote it anyhow, specifically because he worried that one day the Masters might become too exclusive, and a tragedy would cause the basic skills to be lost along with them.”

The old Dwarf smiled. ”It would be funny if it werenʼt so true. You see, I am a Master Smith, and two thirds of what the ancient tomes say a Dwarven Smith should be able to do, I cannot. Because the skills were lost in the ten thousand years without the system.

Now, with this book, there is a chance to recover some of them.

But what is this language? Was ancient Dwarven really that informal? No, he must be writing this for his juniors, so heʼs treating the reader as a brand-new apprentice.”

The others gathered around and chuckled at the nuances that Karl had missed due to his lack of skill with the language.

Shaman Petros chuckled as he watched them get excited. ”You know, itʼs a good thing you chose this as a gift. If you had put it up for sale, Iʼm not sure anyone could have afforded it.”

Karl nodded. ”And thatʼs why it was a gift. Some things should not have price tags put on them. But, you should know that there are sections on Stone Totems, a bit about the Golem Masterʼs profession, and Runic Alchemy in there as well. If one of them is your trade skill, the book could be useful to all of you.”