The next morning, after breakfast, the dwarves broke up their camp, while we casually sat around, relaxing a little before we would move. We had no need to break camp, once the dwarves were ready, I waved my hand for effect while invoking a mix of shatter and diamond-dust runes in my mind, channelling them through my Ice-Magic into the structure, letting it burst into a flurry of snow, that I quickly dispersed in the surrounding area. With that taken care off, the dwarves formed a formation around us and we were off.

As we travelled, I became a little amused at the dwarven behaviour, they acted as if they were protecting us, that we’d need them to guard us from harm. I had stealthily Observed them, training my ability to cast concealed spells, and none of them was above level sixty. A respectable level, at least in comparison to the general populace, if my research on the forum was to be trusted, but compared to us, especially with the massive boost we had received from killing undead in the swamp? No real comparison.

I was not surprised that nothing tried to attack our group, few beasts of the forest were willing to attack a group that size, they’d have to be desperate. It would have been even less likely if Lenore wasn’t relaxing in her Hallow, hiding the powerful aura emanating from her. Just with that aura, no beast would voluntarily attack us, not without some dire need or force in play. Beasts were much more sensible to such auras, at least that was what Sigmir had told me, when I had asked. In practice, it meant that we were almost never bothered by the local wildlife when travelling, a mechanic most likely put into play to prevent high-powered characters getting annoyed by local wildlife and going on a killing-spree in response.

We travelled mostly in silence, the dwarves occupied with their serious task of protecting us poor, weak adventurers, while none of us were in a mood to talk, with strangers present. The months of travelling in a small, contained group had turned all of us a little suspicious of outsiders.

I spent my time conversing with Lenore, mostly telling her about my Ice-Magic, explaining why I did certain things and how I felt they connected. It was rather interesting, the difference between teaching Rai and teaching Lenore. Rai was an attentive student and, in my opinion, quite talented in Darkness-, especially Shadow-, magic but there was always the problem of language. Speaking was simply a lacking tool when it came to conveying magical theory, something grounded in concepts that often took hours or even days to explain in words and even then, something was lost in translation.

On the other hand, the bond between Lenore and me meant that I was able to use those concepts in their full glory, letting her experience my personal understanding and allowing her to draw her own conclusions from there. It was a far superior teaching-technique, to the point that I made a mental note to look into ways to create a telepathic bond using Mind Magic. Such a bond would be a valuable tool, not just for teaching but also when it came to sneaking around, a way to communicate without speaking while retaining the full vocabulary without the need for a dedicated sign-language.

There was some connection between Sigmir and me, not necessarily a mental one but there was one, maybe if I studied it, I would be able to learn more. Even if I only strengthened my connection to Sigmir, it would be time well spent, especially if I could do my studies and experiments while closely snuggled up to her, maybe naked for maximum amount of skin-contact. Yes, that would be a valuable avenue of inquiry indeed.

Our path had been quite level for most of the day until it started climbing in the early afternoon. When I asked Lenore to do some scouting, she told me that we were now quite close to one of the mountain-ridges that formed the large valley in which the swamp had been and were moving into a smaller valley, leading into those mountains. Suddenly, as she was flying, I felt surprise over our link and moments later, she came back.

After landing back on my shoulder, she placed her head against my temple and I felt a memory-stream burst into me, with a clarity unlike any of the memories I had received from her so far. I felt myself flying, in perfect clarity that brought a tear to my eye, above the forest, looking down onto a hill-side, with a city built into it. Small, square houses, partially buried into the hill they were built on, dotted the area, and quite a few figures, most likely dwarves were walking around. Near the top of the hill was a larger building, constructed in the same manner, but more ornate, making me think that it was important. All around the city, stretching from the lowest building to the top of the ridge above was a wall, with stairs allowing for rapid movement around the place. Before I could grasp more information, the memory cut off and I barely managed to keep myself from stumbling, as my consciousness returned to my body.

“It’s an impressive city.” Lenore admitted, her mind comparing it to the other places we had visited and only Kolyug managed to surpass the Hold of Clan Ashenforge. These dwarves seemed to have a solid power-base, the slope making it a nightmare to siege, unless someone managed to fortify the other slope, which would be a major challenge. The only question was if they had ways to grow food inside or, given that they were dwarves, maybe some sort of tunnel-system, leading to other places, places where they had farms.

“I agree. Now I’m even more excited about getting three days to study in their library.” I admitted, smiling at the idea to finally learn more about magic. Looking for my own path was great and all, allowing me to form my magical abilities into something uniquely suited to me but at the same time, I might overlook something, simply because I had no idea about the possibilities. There was so much about magic, so much to learn, that I wondered just how long it would take to master. It was certainly a project for the full release of the game, there was no way to even come close within the limited time of the Beta.

We continued walking on, and soon, I was able to see the Hold with my own eyes, not just through Lenore’s eyes. The dwarves led us out of the forest, up some stairs and then the forest opened up and we could see for ourselves. It was even more impressive seeing it from below, the solid wall seeming like a sheer cliff, impossible to climb. Beyond the wall, the flat roof-tops were barely visible, making me understand that it was even more difficult to attack than I had thought. If the dwarves placed some sort of ranged attackers on those roofs, with bows or something similar, they could shoot down-hill, pelting attackers as they approached.

“There, this is the Hold of Clan Ashenforge. Impressive, isn’t it?” Helmaic said, his voice thick with pride.

“Yes, yes, it is.” I admitted, a sentiment echoed by the others.

“From now on, it’ll be a lot more stairs. I hope you enjoy climbing.” he added, grinning. Looking up, I realised he was right. The Hold was high above us, a distance that reminded me of the high-rises I had seen when I had visited a major city, easily two-hundred meters in vertical height. And there was no elevator, only a lot of stairs.

“Joy. Let’s get to it, We have a report to make.” I grumbled, getting a chuckle from Helmaic.

As we approached, the gates opened for us, or rather for the dwarves with us, and we moved inside. I took a good look at the gates as we walked up the stairs on one side of them and they were, quite frankly, massive. Easily half a meter of solid metal, moving smoothly, without sound, like a well-oiled machine. Atop the gate-houses were more dwarves, keeping a look on things, guarding the gates.

Inside, I was looking around, feeling tall for the first time. Other than the rest of my group, people were roughly my size or smaller, only built a lot more sturdy. As we continued to move on, there was some pointing, making me realise that visitors to this place were rare. Looking around, there were quite a few shops, places I was planning to visit once we got our money. But for now, we had stairs to climb.