The captain brought the ship to the docks that the dwarves had set up. As they approached teams of dwarves arrived to help unload their cargo and greet them. The port was small with only a few active ships within. Following the docks away from the sea led to large open cave entrances and walls. It looked as though the dwarves had removed parts of the cave insides to build up the walls on either side of the port.

A delegation from the dwarven leaders greeted the people coming off the ship as workers helped unload their cargo. Arthur greeted them as well and followed behind the others. They were led through the port area where storage buildings lined the sides of the walls and workers busied themselves. Once they got inside the cave proper the captain, Jarrod, and Sarah were led elsewhere and separated from the group. The cave was lit with grey crystals that were embedded into the walls and mimicked the natural light outside.

The group was brought to a residential section within the cave system. Small housing units had been carved out in preparation for them. The workers that followed them from behind dropped off their luggage in the units and they were allowed to rest within the houses while they waited. Even Arthur was given his own space that had been prepared with taller ceilings to accommodate his frame. He and the others thanked the delegation before they left.

Arthur never got tired or sleepy with the only exception being when he used up too much of his mana and his control over his body dropped. While the others rested from the long trip he focused on what he did best. The room he had been given was just large enough for him to practice his spells. He especially focused on mastering his newer spells, but he went through all of them eventually. Some of the spells he had been unable to cast out at sea like [Earthen Wall] he brushed up on.

After an hour or so food was brought to the others, and they ate it up. Once their plates were cleared they were all gathered up. They followed behind the delegation through the winding tunnels to the meeting room. The dwarf leaders were already seated around the round table in the room, and everyone was shuffled inside. As Arthur entered he felt arms wrap around him in something he had never experienced before. A hug.

“I missed you so much,” said Zoe. She let go and looked up at him and moved to face him directly. “I am so glad you are finally here. I have been so busy. I am sorry I didn’t say goodbye.”

Arthur froze for a moment when he saw her again. He wasn’t sure exactly what to say at first.

“I missed you too,” he said sincerely. “I want to tell you so much about what I did and everything that happened.”

“I know you do. We can discuss it all after this. Come on in and you can hear about one of the things I have worked on,” said Zoe.

Zoe led Arthur into the room and into the seat next to her. The others found seats at the table as well. Once they were all seated one of the dwarves stood up. He had the longest beard of the dwarves around him and had his long hair tied back into an intricate braid.

“I welcome everyone here. Thank you for waiting and for traveling for so long. I am the current High King of the dwarves, leader, and general of my people. We have been preparing for some time while we waited for Ethan Gallagher of the Human’s project to come together,” he turned to Arthur. “Are you ready to fulfill your creators’ wishes?”

Arthur looked around for a moment before responding “Yes I will fulfill the agreement.”

“Good. That is good to hear. Especially so as we have gathered here with the exception of Ethan all of those who have played a major part in crafting you into the person you are now. Torg stands up and introduce yourself. Neither of you has had time to introduce yourself. Now make it quick.”

Torg who was sitting next to the King stood hastily. He turned to address Arthur.

“Hello, Arthur. I am Torg the head blacksmith for many of the dwarf kingdom's projects. I was tasked with creating the outer shell that is your body which was then passed on to Miss Zoe for runic inscription.”

“Thank you Blacksmith Torg. I have wanted to meet you for some time as well. Thank you.”

The King clapped his hands and Torg sat back down.

“With that out of the way can I have the documents passed out.”

One of the diplomats from earlier brought out a stack of papers and passed them around to everyone at the table.

“As everyone should know by now we are here to hunt down the dragon. This beast has terrorized our people for centuries. We have tried hunting it in the past, but it flees easily and the manpower required to take it down has never justified the costs required until now. With your help, we will finally rid ourselves of this dragon. Even though it cost most of our metal reserves to bring Arthur to life it will be worth it to gather the dragon's resources and expand our mines across the rest of our island. With the help of Zoe, we have prepared the Dragon Killer bolts for Mister Lucas and have prepared dwarven armor and artifacts to help you deal with the silver dragon’s abilities. I have also gathered our best trackers to identify where its nest now resides. If you would bring out the new items Torg and present them for us.”

Torg stood up and signaled to the diplomats who waited near the doors. They quickly went to the wall and brought several boxes closer to the table. Everyone turned to see what was waiting for them. Torg opened up the first box which was labeled with the symbol of a bow.

“These first items are for Mister Lucas. Along with a new set of mana-beast tanned leather armor, I have prepared the five Dragon Killer bolts myself for you along with an accompanying bow. This bow has been specially fitted for the arrows and requires you to stab the bottom into the ground to best fire the bow.”

Torg brought out the bow for display. The massive bow stood taller than himself and at the bottom was a large stake meant for pounding into the ground for stability. He also displayed one of the ‘Dragon Killer’ bolts which were made of a long metal shaft with a different metal tip that was jagged and curved so that if it was torn out it would bring with it plenty of muscle.

Next, he opened up a box with matching staves. Their bases were made of the same lightweight metal but had different ends with different colored crystals and runes. Kendra’s crystal staff had a red end that seemed to flicker with flames already when moved around by Torg. Aria’s stave held a purple-ish pink crystal that had the effect of moving between solid and gaseous.

“I hope you both enjoy these. I myself had a lot of fun designing these with Miss Zoe. She also brought with her the crystals and did the rune inscriptions herself.”

The twins couldn’t keep their eyes off of the two new weapons and were saddened a bit when Torg ultimately put the staves back in the box.

“Now for you Arthur. I am sure you have changed a lot since Zoe left you and I wish I could have seen some of your battles. Maybe I will visit the other continent another time but that is in the future. I had much difficulty deciding on what to give to you for this battle. You already have a great sword made by decent elven makers. I also don’t think you need a shield. Your body is already a shield for yourself and your teammates. Giving you, one would hinder your fighting ability because you have never used one and it would also your spells which are one of your most important traits, especially as a fighter. So, the King and I settled on this.” Torg opened up the last box and brought out the item. “This has been in our treasury for centuries and had been rarely used. This time it is yours to use during this fight before it returns to the vaults once again.”

In his hands was a crystal ball that swirled with colors. Attached to the ball was a metal glove made with intricate rune designs and interlocking pieces that mimicked scales.

“This glove will adjust to the user's hand and help you focus your spells and more. It will be well suited for your hands. I hope it can bring you the edge in battle and that you can follow the legacy of users that have wielded it in the past. The last user of this item was the King’s great-great-grandfather’s uncle. He used it to establish some of our people’s strongest artifacts and enchant them with great power.”

“I thank you for the gift. I know how much trust this shows by loaning this item to me. I will treat it carefully and use it to the best of my ability,” said Arthur.

“And thank you Torg for that wonderful display,” said the King, “Now onto other business now that those treats have been shared. The silver dragon’s power is unclear because we have not faced off against it in over several centuries and reports and info from that time may have been exaggerated. What we do know is that its powers grow over time as it ages and that its main focus of attack is through ice attacks. I hope Miss Kendra’s magic can help alleviate that somewhat. With the dragon being one of the strongest magic beings we have ever known we have found that it is nearly impervious to many magics. I expect that it will test you all and be the most difficult challenge any of you will ever face in your lives. The battle will not be short so you must be cautious about how you fight.” He turned to face Lucas. “Use the tools we have given to you carefully. You will have much to ponder while you hike the mountains and follow the trail of the dragon. But once it is all over a piece of the dragon's horde will be yours and you will be immortalized as one of only a few dragon killers.”

Discussions continued and the others in the room were able to discuss more freely after the King’s speech.

“How are we going to travel to the dragon?”

“How certain are you of the dragon’s location are you?”

“How long will it take to travel there?”

“What if we can’t find the dragon or it flees?”

“How certain are you of its power level?”

Each of the questions that came up was quickly answered by one of the King’s men also joining him at the table. They went over as much as they could to ensure that Arthur and the others would be confident in success. Their group would leave in the morning and travel by bird to the base of the mountain. From there they would join the trackers and find the dragon wherever they could and hunt it down. The trackers had already spotted several locations that were open enough and suitable for the large-scale battle to occur. Joining with Arthur would be Kendra, Aria, Lucas, and a young dwarven warrior who had been selected by the King to show his worth in battle. The King introduced the warrior and his qualifications. The battle dwarf was named Ronny and was a part of the elite combat school for dwarves. Behind his back, he had a long greatsword.

“I am glad Ronny will be joining you. He is a promising young lad and won’t let you down,” said the King. “It is has been a while and I have started to bore of this meeting so why don’t we end things here unless someone has other topics to bring up.” He paused but no one stepped up to speak. “Well, it is settled then. If the diplomats at the back would lead everyone to the dining hall to begin eating. I am sure all of you are at least a bit hungry after this. I have brought out the best for you all. It will be your second to last meal before your journey begins. Enjoy it well and feast. And tell the chefs to tap the alcohol reserves including the top-shelf stuff. But only two barrels. We don’t want our guests to be too hungover in the morning. It would be a shame if they fell off their rides mid-flight.”

A few of the people chuckled. The King stood up from his chair and everyone else soon followed. The diplomats in the back opened up the doors and started to lead everyone towards the great dining hall.