Sitting in his bar with another fuming brew in the early hours of the morning, Topal grumbled in annoyance.

He had an inkling as to who was behind the meddlesome event of the dungeon seeding so close to his home. But he really didn’t want to pull on the strings of fate anymore than he had to, least that little chit of a girl Fate starts asking him for favors.

He hated owing favors, but he hated people messing about near his home even more. Especially if it’s a silly goddess who’s not even half his age.

The old Dwarf sighed to himself before quaffing his drink.

Touching his forefinger of his left hand to his thumb, the Dwarf completed the needed configuration of eldritch geometric runes that would unhinge the the mind of lesser beings just for witnessing it.

Then with the glow of his runic tattoos that quickly cast a spherical corona that enveloped him, the Dwarf was teleported away and left his stool empty but for the smell of ozone.

….

The green lady stood in the middle of her ethereal glade with small motes of her skin drifting away from her ever burning scar as a flash of blue light invaded the shadowy reality.

“Took you long enough.. Outworlder,” she greeted the Dwarf to the sound of animals waking from hibernation, as she turned to face her new guest and causing her green dress to flutter. But instead of drifting down normally, it fluttered down slowly like a feather underwater whilst shimmering in different shades of green.

The Dwarf with his fading tattoos only grumbled under his breath in reply.

“What? Not going to say hello my dear? After all this time Toneikin Palzat? Or would you prefer Topal now?” asked the green lady along with a snarling throng of feline predators. The plants and trees in the glade slowly began to sway as the lady prepared herself for whatever the Dwarf had to say. For even if he was a hermit who secluded himself from the stage, he was still puissant beyond measure.

The Dwarf was unperturbed by the use of his true name and only shrugged in reply. He came here to ask questions and he wasn’t going to be goaded by some wispy woman, goddess or not.

“Grumble grumble mumble mumble?” he asked pointedly, cutting to the chase.

A look of surprise came upon the face of the green lady, with her burn flaring a fraction more brightly. But it was but a passing moment, before she settled back to a neutral expression along with her hands to her hips.

“After all this time, after all the things you’ve seen and choosen to do nothing about, you only meddle when it comes to your student and your home?” she asked to the sound of bugs flitting in the sunshine as she cocked her head to the side. For the goddess was truly puzzled by this enigmatic Dwarf.

The Dwarf only shrugged his shoulders before mumbling under his breath in reply.

His answer truly irked the green lady as the wind slowly begun to pick up in the glade.

“You could’ve helped when I was unfairly imprisoned! You could’ve helped when he came to rescue ME!” the goddess questioned him with, her anger raising as her beautiful voice started to reverberated with a legion of others as she pointed a accusatory finger at the Dwarf.

The trees in the glade started to quickly grow, with the crowns reaching to meet in the darkened sky above as nature bent to her will.

The Dwarf still unperturbed, only spat on the ground before mumbling incoherently as a few of his tattoos started to emit a weak blue light that seared through the shadowy realm and revealed the true reality beneath. But after a quick moment, he mumbled quietly before his shoulders deflated as he looked on at the heartbroken goddess.

Hearing his confession, the Willder Queen too slowly deflated even if her burn scar still smoldered angrily. The trees and plants that had grown angrily as they responded to their master also slowly wilting back to their normal state.

“Even IF, what you say it’s true.. it doesn’t excuse you for not having tried,” she pointed out with the sound of waves slowly washing away, back to sea.

The Dwarf had nothing to say in reply so he only stood there, waiting for the goddess to answer the question he had asked earlier. It was only fair considering he had answered hers.

The Willder Queen only sighed as she waited and got nothing, for she knew she wasn’t going to be able to pry anymore secrets today.

“Here, take this as a favor,” she declared to the sound of songbirds as she clicked her fingers.

Magically a small brown and lumpy seed begun to slowly drift slowly in a pillar of green motes before the Dwarf, who opened his his stout tattooed hand to attest its fall.

“Grumble mumble grumble?” asked the Dwarf suspiciously.

“Pfft its nothing.. but only the seed of the most potent fruit I can make, that you can turn into one of your favored drinks. I only ask you to watch over my trail and not meddle too much with my new champion as a favor in turn,” stated the green lady to the sound of thawing ice as she waved him away.

The Dwarf nodded with a small gleam in his eye as he accepted the gift.

Then between the two figures a tiny scroll unfurled to the sound of a majestic trumpeting fanfare.

The Dwarf only sighed, before grumbling as he asked another question.

“I do have a tiny inkling as to which two individuals would be perfect for this amusing little quest,” spoke the green lady with a tiny smile, along with the sound of the chittering laughter of wisps.

Understanding quickly dawned on the Dwarf before he flashed away in another sphere of blue light.

The green lady was left alone in her glade and softly laughed to herself as she saw the updated Quest rewards on the scroll before it too, vanished from her sight.

“It’s been a while,” she spoke to herself along with the sound of waking trees in spring.

Legendary World Quest: Brew the strongest drink in the world

Help this divine seed reach it’s full potential, to become the most potent drink ever made on Delmathar

Rewards

Experience AND The gratitude of a Dwarf