Part 1 - Vaikus

 

In the morning dew a lone figure pushed himself off the ground. Although the guards looked at the massive dwarf strangely they sat at their posts lazily. 

Who wanted to move so early in the morning? It’s such a waste to do so. Thought the dwarfs on guard duty mocking dwarf who kept counting.

“467,468,469… 492… 500… 547...597,598,599, 600!”

When reaching six hundred pushups the dwarf with seaweed hair moved onto his next exercise. Standing up he crouched slightly and placed his hands on his hips and began to raise his leg before stomping down into the ground.

The dwarfs on guard were weirded out by the strange movement that the large dwarf displayed which if Urist was here would know that he was doing sumo stomps. Left, Right, Left, Right for a total of 600 each leg. 

He did a few other exercises before doing stretching and despite his size and muscle mass, he had a very limber body. To the point that the dwarfs watching thought it was a little disgusting how far he could stretch his body.

To finish off his exercise the dwarf ran fifty laps around the perimeter. With each lap ran the guards looked on in bewilderment turned astoundment when the dwarf finished only to be slightly short of breath. 

Monster, an absolute monster. Thought the guards as they watched him eat a slice of dry meat and took a drink from his bamboo bottle. He then crossed his legs near a tree and sat in silence making the guards wonder what he was doing.   

But they didn’t wonder for long as dwarfs started coming out of the cave to begin their work for today. Soon the guards were relieved of their duty and went to enjoy breakfast forgetting about the monstrous display they just saw.

Not long after the fires started turning and food started boiling Urist, Unicy, and Ubel walked out together. They didn’t make their way for the stew and instead made their way towards the lone figure sitting by the tree unmoving. 

The first thought Urist had when he saw Vaikus was how calm and collected the man sat. It almost seemed the man blended into his surroundings despite his massive frame. 

No wonder Ubel said Vaikus has a faint aura if I wasn’t actively looking for him I might walk past him without noticing. 

“Vaikus correct?” Asked Urist.

Tilting his head upwards Vaikus stared through his seaweed hair and replied simply. “Yes. Want?”

“So direct I like it. Ubel recommended you to lead a hunter squad to hunt animals and scout the surrounding area. Are you interested in the job?”

Stroking his chin Vaikus thought for a moment before speaking. “Weapons? Bow. Spear. Men. Fast.”

“We already picked out team members that I think will suit your needs. As for weapons I’ve bought bows and spears on the market. I’ve also gotten another fine bow that I think you’ll like from the disaster we fought before. How does that sound?”

“Meet. First. Decide.”

He really is someone with few words. Well, as long as he gets the job done it’ll be fine.

Getting up from the ground Vaikus followed Urist and co. to a dozen dwarfs sitting around a fire enjoying their breakfast. They had all been called to sit here without much of an explanation and wondered why they were here.

Urist was the one to pull their attention. “Thank you for showing up here. As I’m sure you are wondering why I’ve called you is very simple. After Ubel brought up the subject to me we went to talk with the rest of the table and decided on you people in filling the squad. 

“The squad will be called the hunter squad and it’s man jobs gathering food, scouting, and mapping. We went through who currently live here and choose you twelve to select from. Of you, only six will be joining the hunter squad which will be lead by Vaikus here. Those that don’t think it’s for them don’t need to join, but before you choose those that are able to join will be given the first pick of private rooms when they become available and the best food and drink we can offer.” 

“Food?”

“Drink?”

“My own room? Oh my.”

“What do I need to do to join the squad?”

As Urist expected although dwarfs were usually a lazy bunch as long as there was a good enough award they would go for it. Giving some instinctive would get there blood pump allowing to put all their effort forth.

He felt bad manipulating people with rewards but knew it was necessary. There was no government, no nationality, no religion, there was no reason to live other than to eat, drink, and sleep. The only thing that would move dwarfs or even humans in such a scenario was rewards for better living. 

That was what he had deduced for himself. Although he wouldn’t be heartless and not give warning to those he offered this choice.

“I know you are all eager to join but you need to know the dangers of the occupation. You will be going outside the walls and hunting for food. You will be scouting the land for expansion of our borders. This will be a very important job that affects everyone's lives here and we don’t know the dangers that exist outside. 

So there is a chance that you might lose your lives outside if you are not confident in your abilities. I want you all to think carefully about what you are agreeing to when joining the hunter squad.”

Petting her large white tiger Rex Reaver lazily rolled her eyes. “What can’t me and my little ones not handle. I scouted with you before and can handle myself. This time I won’t run in disgrace.”

Scratching his beard a man in earth robes replied, “Although I’m new here I wish to be of help.”

Acar shrugged his shoulders, “Beats sitting at home all the time not much for a frost mage for me to do. From the meeting, you already got my support. Besides I got to look after my disciple if he joins, isn’t that right Rytar?”

“Um. I might be inexperienced but I’ll try my best!” 

One by one the dwarfs gave their thoughts and firmly kept sitting down not moving an inch having made their decision to stay.  

Urist nodded inwardly pleased at their response. “Good. Since everyone has shone there resolve I’ll leave it to Vaikus to choose who among you will become hunters. Vaikus if you please would test them.”

“Half. Hour. Spear. Meet. Gate. Prepare.”

With simple words, Vaikus left the bewildered Urist, Unicy and most of the potential hunter squad members in awkward silence as he left. Only Ubel and one person inside the hunter squad recruits didn’t mind the attitude. 

Even with the questioning stares coming from the dwarfs, Urist managed them with ease.“You heard the man have you spears and gear ready in a half-hour. Whatever you need, talk to Unicy to acquire the items from the armory. You’re all dismissed, Ubel follow me.”

Urist didn’t have the look to see the betrayed look in Unicy’s face as he and Ubel left the awkward air.

Instead, he gave Ubel a question when they walked away far enough. “Are you sure he’s a good fit?”

And with a shit-eating grin, Ubel replied, “Trust me he's the most worthy. And don’t worry about communication leave that to his brother Blink.”

“Blink?” 

 

Part 2 - Hunter Candidates

 

After harassing Military leader Unicy for supplies the dwarfs thought they needed the twelve dwarfs headed to the gated entranceway. Along the way Reaver and Wind mage Emu talked with both of them equally bewildered.

“I wonder what the boss sees in the kind of man. He seems pretty simple-minded. Do you think he made the wrong choice?” Said Emu as he moved as he tested out his new shoes.

Flanked by her four tigers Reaver casually twirled her finger in her hair that had grown more wild-like of late. “I don’t think he would do something like that. We haven’t yet seen him put someone foolish in charge so we can assume that this man is of some skill.  Although his communication seems to be pretty terrible, he should have great hunting skills to teach us.”

“Don’t worry about that. After a bit of time, you will get used to big bros talking mannerism. Instead, what you should be worried about is what's about to happen. I don’t know if you frail ladies can keep up."

“Oh?” Reaver turned to the person who interrupted her discussion with Emu in displeasure.

Picking up on their masters' mood the four lazy tigers turned and growled at the skinny dwarf who seemed unfazed by the hostility.

“Um, I don’t know who you are but I’m actually a man…” Said with a blank stare from Emu.

It was that statement that threw off the skinny dwarf, “Eh? Sorry, you just looked too girly to be a man my mistake. Names Blink I’m a hunter what about you lioness and... windy.”

Petting her largest tiger Rama Reaver looked the young hunter in the eyes, “My name is Reaver and I’m a Magic Tamer. My good friend here is Emu, a wind mage. So Blink, what do you know about this Vaikus fellow?”

Hearing the conversation of the three the other nine listened intently carious about what Blinks response would be.

Putting his fingers on his chin Blick put on a thoughtful face before answering. “Well if I remember correctly we belonged to a village and I was an orphan. My real parents were eaten by the wendigo and it was Vaikus and his mother who took me in and showed me how to earn my keep. Although he lacks speech don’t let that fool you, my big brother is smart. Really smart. I won’t say anymore since I don’t want to spoil the fun, but I’m pretty excited to run through a gauntlet just like old times.”

Emu became bewildered, “Gauntlet? What do you mean?”

With a smile Blink broke away from the two he was speaking with and walked faster. “You’ll see”, were the words he left behind as he exited the gate to see Vaikus standing with a spear in hand and a short bow and closed quiver on his back.

Without turning around Vaikus waited for everyone to stop before giving his order. “Follow. Rely upon. Self.”

And just like that Vaikus started jogging barefoot into the thick brush causing the flustered dwarfs to sprint a bit to catch up. Through the bushwork, the dwarfs moved in difficult and bumpy terrain by using animal trails. They jogged northward further and further away from home, following right behind him Reaver became amazed at how nimble the large dwarf could move in the thick brush. That and how little noise he made through the forest while her footsteps were clunky even with her forest walk skill to help her.

How does he shift his weight around like that?

Her curiosity peaked she started watching how he placed his feet down on the ground and which areas and tried to mimic them. Although she made mistakes here and there and almost fell into the muddy ground she was making progress.

Through as a bit of time passed another thought came to her mind. 

How long are we going for exactly? 

…

One hour later.

Hmmm. Those fellows did pick out some good ones for me. Keeping up with this unreasonable jog. Only two dropped out and headed back to camp. Time to switch gears this should be a good spot for the next phase of the examination. I’ll give them a five-minute break before starting.

Was what Vaikus assessed as he gave a glance back seeing the exhausted and heavily breathing dwarfs. 

Stopping his movement Vaikus turned around and waited for his would-be scouts to come into the clearing. 

He was quite surprised by what he saw in a few of them. The frost mage Acar had used his magic to control his temperature and wasn’t that out of breath. He also noticed as she came in that Reaver had copied some of his footwork and hadn’t relied on riding a tiger who lazily kept up. The others weren’t that exceptional as he already knew that Blink would keep up.

“Five. Minutes. Wait. Hunt. Food. Next. Meet. Back. Here.”

Without another word, Vaikus sat down in the middle of the clearing and closed his eyes to rest. Leaving the slightly irritated dwarfs catching their breaths except for one who couldn’t handle Vaikus’s lackluster words. 

In irritation, a peasant pointed his spear at Vaikus. “Hey. I’m getting tired of how you speak. Why don’t you talk like a normal person like the rest of us.”

Without opening his eyes or moving Vaikus simply replied. “Failure. Leave.”

Vaikus response had agitated the peasant dwarf and in anger swung the butt of his spear at the sitting dwarf. 

Some of the dwarfs watching the display were shocked, others were a little happy to see the silent dwarf about to get his face smashed in. 

Only Blink shook his head and headed out into the forest with a whisper. “What an idiot.”

Reaching out with one of his hands Vaikus grabbed the butt of the spear and pulled the angry peasant towards him. With his other hand, he grabbed the peasants throat and pushed the unbalanced dwarf forward with arm strength alone. In a few quick motions, he had mounted the angry dwarf who was quickly growing confused.

Letting go of the angry dwarf's throat Vaikus pulled back his hand and made a fist. Coldness flashed in his eyes as he sent his fist smashing straight towards the dwarf who new felt fear.

Death.

That’s what flashed through his mind. He was going to die from the bloodlust directed at him by this behemoth of a dwarf.

Is he for real?! We’re of the same race is he going to murder me? I don’t want to die like this!

He tried to dodge but it was too late to move as the fist smashed next to his head deep into the ground causing it to crack.

“No. Second. Chance. Leave. Or. Die.”

 

Part 3 - Hunt

 

Getting up from the ground Vaikus let up the peasant from the ground. Eyes cold as ice, his spear ready for any hint of aggression. 

Well, that shortens my selection a bit. Still. What kind of idiot doesn’t study his opponent? Should have killed him. Whatever I’ll spare his life only to give face to Urist and Ubel. Next time though I’m gonna kill him, now where was I? Oh the hunting, now that those greenhorns are out for the next few hours. I guess I’ll do a little hunting to shake off the rust.

Taking a deep sniff in the air Vaikus took a moment to sort out the scents before deciding on one. Without much hesitation, he began traveling east to the familiar scent of a beast he had the rare chance of hunting.

Without many challenges, he passed by the greenhorns that had just headed out without any notice like a ghost soundlessly running through the forest. Eyes searching, breath leveled, movements natural. As he moved he almost seemed like more of an animal then a dwarf as he tracked his prey.

It didn’t take for him to come to a small hill in the middle of the forest to make him stop and observe. The hill had a walnut tree growing on top of it with a cave on the side. Littering the surrounding area the corpses of picked clean animals littered the area like a barnyard.

Taking another deep sniff of the air the usual calm facade that Vaikus kept slowly crept up into a smile. He could smell, the rot of flesh and the smell of a powerful beast marking its territory with shit. 

How long has it been since I’ve killed one of your kind? How long have i been asleep? How did I die? Questions I don’t have answers for.

But...

Sticking his spear into the ground Valkus pulled out his short bow and knocked back an arrow and held two in his fingertips. 

Receive my challenge beast of brown so that I may feast and live another day.

When that thought ended Valkus let his arrow fly one after another in quick succession shooting one arrow per second. The first arrow agitated the beast, the second brought forth it’s anger, and the final had caused the earth to be unleashed. With a roar that shook the cave, the beast sallied out of its den to devour the intruder who had caused it pain.

Putting his bow back Valkus grabbed his spear and took a deep breath as the large brown animal stood on its hind legs and roared.

You’re a pretty big bastard for a brown bear, aren’t you? I’m gonna enjoy eating your feet and wearing your skin like a coat.

“Kill. KILLLLLLLLL!”

“RAWRRRRRRRR!”

…

As Vaikus challenged a king of the forest the dwarfs were currently trying to meet Vaikus’s vague requirements to the best of their ability. Some of them had chosen to go solo to rely on themselves while others had grouped up.

Reaver had two following her the earth mage Brick and Emu. They decided to group up since Vaikus had never said anything about hunting solo. The team headed north into uncharted lands using Reaver’s tigers to smell the air and with there eyes to track making good ground.

It wasn’t even ten minutes that past that a beast's roar resounded through the forest behind them. 

“Hey, you guys wanna hunt that?”

“I rather kill something more tame.”

“Same, when we get more experience we can do that.”

“OK. Let's just keep going then.”

Making their agreement the three kept moving towards the tracks that seemed to be traveling in a pack. A quarter of an hour later they spotted their quarry which Reaver judged after studying them for a bit to be a pack of water deer.

Although she knew that they weren’t dangerous from the stories the other dwarfs told she heard from Urist that they could run fast and be difficult to catch. It only took her a few moments to come up with a plan of attack.

“Brick when we get close cut off there a path of escape, Emu as we approach I want you to erase our sound and sent. We will then kill three deer and let the rest of the pack run. Is that acceptable”

Brick stroked his beard, "Why not kill more? With our power, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Do you have a way to store or carry that many corpses?”

“No.”

“Then waste not want not. When you guys are ready we attack.”

“Ready any time big sis.”

“Good to go as well.”

Eyes flashing blue fire Reaver walked forward with confidence. “Then let’s go earn our keep.”

…

Breathing softly Vaikus kept dodging the bears swipes as big as his head by mere inches. Although the bear head dozens of spear wounds it had tons of spirit to keep going froth in an attempt to kill the ant that was half its size. 

Ya, a strong bastard aren’t you. But in the end, I’ll kill you the same as your predecessor. Thanks for not being different. 

Without hesitation, he threw away his spear for he knew that such a weakly built spear would not penetrate the fat and thickly muscled bear. This action caused the bear to dash into the new defenseless dwarf thanks to it losing that dastardly pointed weapon.

He would tackle this bastard and tear his throat out. Were the thoughts of the bear.

Vaikus only smiled as the distance closed remembering a memory of his mother.

Remember son, many people think that you can’t strangle a bear to death. Most are right that normal humans, elves, and dwarfs just don’t have the power.

With a wild smile plastered across his face, Vaikus charged at the bear headstrong. When the two were about to impact one another he jumped and grabbed the bears head hair, flipping himself on the bears back. Like a snake, he wrapped his arms around the bear's throat at the memory kept playing.

They say only beastkin can do such a feat.

He began to pull hard tightening his stranglehold of the pissed-off bear who kept running who decided to use the trees to kick off the hateful ant. 

But they are wrong, for even if we are dwarven we have the bloodline of him. 

Shifting his weight as not to be impacted by the trees, Valkus kept putting more and more power into his stranglehold, he could feel the bear weakening as time passed on. Feeling death close the bear decided one last-ditch attempt at life. Standing up on its hind legs it became resolute and tried to fall back. With its immense weight if the bear fell on him there would be no doubt that he would break many bones. 

But Valkus snorted at the thought of running, It’s about time I end this.

His arm muscles tightened like iron fibers banded together and with a shift movement with his hands, a loud crack could be heard. Without much suspense, Vaikus let go and moved to the side to watch the towering bear fall to the ground unmoving. His wild smile had become faint as the memory started to fade away.

So go out into the forest and only come back once you brought back a bear choked to death.

Looking towards the testing ground Vaikus began to wonder. I wonder if I’ll see you once again in this world mother. 

If so.

Let’s hunt together once more.

 

Part 4 - Return

 

As he was about to head back with his prize a thought struck Vaikus making him drop the bear. He remembered that Ubel had told him about things called tier one treasure and perhaps that inside the cave there could be such a place.

Vaikus made his way to the cave and looked inside to be faintly surprised to see an old fashioned chest inside. Doing a quick check around for traps before pulling the chest out into the light.

Unlocking the hinges he took a look inside to see it packed with some books, clothes, gems, and a nice looking knife. There were other items inside the chest but he really couldn’t identify them. He equipped the belt with the large knife not really thinking about it. When fastened he could notice strength surging through his body and he felt a little quicker. 

A magic item? Should show it to the smiths and get it appraised. Guess it’s time I return to camp and see how those newbies did.

Using not much effort Vaikus lifted the bear and chest on his back with one arm each and began walking. 

…

“Heh. Reaver your idea went off with a hitch if we had a few more people we could’ve got more.” Praised Brick as he carried a dear on his back with a skip in his step. 

“Ya big sis. Those deer didn’t know what hit them.”

Giving a small chuckle Reaver nodded in agreement, “We did pretty well together. When we get this meat back to the camp I bet we will have a celebration. But I wonder what judgment that man will have.”

“I bet he’ll be shocked by how much we caught I doubt any of the others caught a deer.”

“Hmmm, maybe. The meeting spot isn’t far so we’ll get our answer soon.”

…

Walking into the meeting point the three were amazed to see Vaikus tieing the bear upside down to drain the blood.  A simple couple of pulls had pulled the bear off the ground causing Reaver to stare in bewilderment. 

That thing must weigh like six hundred pounds. Where did he find that creature? And how did he drag it back here? Is he even a dwarf?

Only after tying the rope to another tree did Vaikus pay attention to the awe-stricken dwarfs. He sized up there catch and gave some thought before saying anything.

“Not. bad. Hang. Wait.”

Awkwardly the three did as they were told hanging and slitting the deer's throats before finding a place to sit for the others to come back.

For the next half hour, the remaining six dwarfs came back what they brought back was listed below.

• Blink - A dozen fish, a shirt of mushrooms, and wild onions.
• Rytar - Two Large Land Birds
• Arben - Adult Hog
• Acar - Shirt full of birds and strange Fruit
• Cero - A Giant egg
• Rick - Various poisonous plants, berries, and mushrooms.

Going over each person's catch Vaikus made a mental list in his head where the rankings stood. Right off the bat, he failed the peasant for not bringing anything editable.

What kind of hunter doesn’t bring in food? But his talent for poison items is uncanny he could find a good position as a poison maker. Wonder if that poison mage will take an apprentice.  

Pointing at the peasant he said simply. “Fail. Poison. All. Talent. Join.”

Seeing the confused peasant Vaikus inwardly rolled his eyes and grunted at Blink to explain for him.

Blink chuckled a bit and began talking. “What my big brother is saying is that you brought nothing but poisonous items. In fact, all of them are. He says you fail, but you have talent in poison picking. Maybe try to get an apprenticeship under a poison mage is what he’s saying.”

With a sigh, Rick deflated giving a bitter smile, “Man I wanted to be a hunter. Oh well, at least I have a new path to follow.”

“Head. Home. All.”

Saying those words Vaikus untied his bear from the tree threw it on his back, picked off the chest and started walking.

The three who tied up there deer followed suit and the pack of dwarfs began walking home.

It wasn’t until in the late afternoon did they reach the wall and entered home with their spoils. The dwarfs were exhausted from the round trip and most would have collapsed if Cero didn’t use his blood magic on the corpses to decrease their weight. 

When they got home Vaikus walked up to the pale-faced dwarf and gave a nod to him.

“Passed.”

Then turned his gaze to the others, “Rest. First. Then. Fight. Me. Blink. Rick. Follow.”

Putting his bear down Vaikus headed inside the cave with Blink and Rick in tow to give his report to Urist. When he was gone the dwarfs started swarming the hunter candidate asking questions and handing them bottles of water.

“What is that creature?”

“What is that egg so huge?”

“Why do these birds look so funny?”

Were the types of questions the would-be hunters were bombarded with. But they weren't displeased, in fact, they felt pride at the adoration that there brothers and sisters gave them. 

Is this how it feels to be wanted?

I’ve never had a girl smile at me.

Hunting does have pretty good perks, doesn’t it?

…

As the dwarfs were celebrating Ubel, Urist, Vlad and Valkus were sitting at a table with a chest in the center. 

Shifting his sight from the chest to Vaikus Urist was the first to speak. “So, where did you find this plain-looking chest? Also, how did the test go?

“Bear. Cave. Inside. Test. Almost. Done.”

With his curiosity peaked Urist had to ask, “What happened to the bear?”

“Dead. Cook later. Blood Mage. Useful. Keeping. Explanation?” Said as he looked towards Blink.

“No. I get the gist of why you want him. But why is Rick here?”

Taking a drink from his cup Vaikus replied, “Blink. Explain.”

On cue Blink took a step forth. “Big brother Vaikus has failed this man for bringing nothing poisonous items. Instead, he wishes to put this man talents into being a poison mage as he has an uncanny ability to gather only poison.”

Ignoring the smug look Ubel was giving him Urist nodded. “Noted. I’ll ask Gift to take him under his wing and learn the arts of poison. With all my questions answered let's open up that box and see what's inside shall we?”

“Lets.”

“I’m quite interested in what’s inside.”

“I wonder if there will be anything in this tier one treasure test.”

 

Part 5 - Chest Contents

 

Urist opened the chest under Ubel’s and co. suggestion and started taking out items one by one which started with the books.

• Glass Making 101 with tips and tricks
• Farming 101 and how to do crop rotation
• How to train speed archery
• The Basics of spearmanship
• Knife Combat
• Wood Working
• How to make Canoes
• Construction Basics
• Magic, Physical, And Class Basics
• Magical Forging Theory
• Basic Elemental Golem Theory and Creation

He did a quick search on the market and found that a couple of books here weren't there which were; Magic, Physical, And Class Basics, Magical Forging Theory and Basic Elemental Golem Theory and Creation. Which bewildered him that some items wouldn’t be on the market and he made a note to go actively search for these treasure stashes if that was the case. The most expensive book in the collection was Knife combat which to him felt absurd.

Setting the books aside he moved on to the gems and notice that some of them were shaped oddly. When he pulled one of the strange stones out a cry came from Vlad, “An elemental stone?! What a gift from the heavens.”

“Elemental Stone? What’s that?” Asked Urist curiously.

Ubel responded cooly, “Elemental stones are a pretty rare item that is used for many things. Like magic stones, mages used to store mana these stones are used for Magic Item Creation, Elemental Golem Creation, Rituals, Body Tempering, Meditation, Pill forging. Etc. etc. 

“The list goes on and on for the number of uses a stone can be used for depending on its quality, size, and type. All we need is someone with a good identify skill to see the quality; for the type, we can tell by the color. The one you hold in your hand is Scarlet, not Crimson meaning it’s a fire elemental stone not a blood elemental stone.

“Depending on the quality we might be able to use it as a fire source for forging although the con is to have a fire mage poor mana into it occasionally to keep it going. You got any suggestions on how to use this stone or information to add Vlad?”

Vlad nodded his head in approval, “You covered most of the information, but forgot to include that elemental stones can only store their type of elemental mana. They also store more mana and use it more efficiently then there mana stone counterpart of the same grade. 

The theory of why this is is that mana stones even if they have an affinity change the mana to neutral regardless of the source when stored. Although they give off more powerful effects when they change the mana back to the affinity from some sort of reason. In my world, we still haven’t found an explanation of why that is. But the tests we ran have concluded the pro’s and con’s of these two similar items.”

When Vlad finished his explanation Ubel nodded his head with a thoughtful expression. “Oh? I didn’t know that there was such a difference in my world we never made such a conclusion. I wonder if it’s true for this world as well.”

Vlad's eyes gave off a mad glint, “We must experiment to see if the laws are the same.”

Urist interjected before the talks went to another tangent, “Indeed, I’m quite interested as well and we have a good test sample here to figure that out.”

Pulling one elemental stone after another the two sitting at the table eyes grew more at the small hill of stones built up. In total, they had forty stones of various colors and sizes leaving the two gobsmacked and Vlad opening and closing his mouth.

Seeing them acting strange Urist decided to move onto the set of clothes that were a pair of bronze gauntlets, a blue-colored tunic, and feathered leather boots. With everything was taken out of the chest, Urist called for someone to get Saera so they could appraise the items.

As they waited Vaikus remembered the knife that he got from the chest and put it on the table.

“Found. Also. Chest. Magical. Strength. Speed. Helped.”

Seeing Urist confused look Blink explained for his older brother and finally got the gist of what he was saying. Taking a quick look around he saw people expecting something from him in how to treat this.

Since he didn’t feel angry for Vaikus taking the knife to help carry the items and there were no laws he felt at a loss in how to treat this matter. Mulling it over for a bit of time he figured out a response everyone was waiting for.

“Since you found this treasure for the group you may keep this knife and be rewarded what you want within reason. But I like to ask you, Vlad, if items can be cursed.”

“They can indeed be king, some of them can be quite nasty.”

Why is he calling me king, Thought Urist before he kept talking. “Then as a rule from now on, if another chest or an unidentified strange item is found that it’ll be handled with measures to not allow cursing. Until such a time it can be identified and be considered safe for a person to use. I assume that is agreeable with you all and that Vlad has some info on how to protect against curses?”

Everyone noticeably relaxed except for Ubel giving a slight flow and a look that said he only got half points. He would ask him what he messed up but decided to turn his attention to Vaikus.

“So as long as the knife isn't cursed you can have it. But what do you want as an extra reward? A better weapon, wine, an advancement on your private room or something else.”

“All.”

“What?”, Is he a greedy person? Man, why does the first time I reward stuff have to be such a guy? I guess I’ll lay down the law and have him only pick one.

Before Urist could display his displeasure Vaikus noticed he remark and quickly replied. “All. Eight. Hunters.”

Oh. Well, that’s easy enough.

“Consider it done. Let me guess hard to choose?”

Vaikus gave a nod, “Indeed. Hard. Thank. You.”

When they finished talking Saera came into the room. “So you got things you want me to identify?”

books, clothes, gems, and a nice looking knife. There were other items inside the chest but he really couldn’t identify them.