Two hours after he stepped onto the fifth floor, he came to a few conclusions. For one, dwarves really knew how to eat. He didn’t know if the food in here was real, but it certainly tasted real. His taste buds had never been so overwhelmed and excited.
The food wasn’t fancy by any means. It was unpretentious and humble food, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t delicious. Even a bowl of dubious-looking braised meat was ridiculously tasty. There were so many spices and interesting textures that he couldn’t help but go crazy.
He visited more than ten different places to get food. He even tried something that looked like a giant rat on a stick, but somehow it tasted better than some of the fancy places he’d visited in the capital.
He also found out that they were big drinkers. Everyone, and he meant everyone, had some kind of alcoholic drink. He even saw what looked like a toddler holding a mug of ale while the rest of their family stuffed their faces and washed it down with ale of their own. However, truth be told, he didn't know if that was even a toddler. He could have sworn he spotted some facial hair on the toddler's face.
He got quite a few dark looks from other dwarves, but he suspected that this was more because he was the only human in sight than for any other reason. But funnily enough, the stares started to ease up after they saw him devour plate after plate of food. It would appear even grumpy dwarves appreciated someone with a healthy appetite.
He even partook in drinking some alcohol. Not that it really affected him that much. His metabolism and healing skills pretty much made him immune to poisons, and that included alcohol. Though it must have been some strong stuff because he felt a little wobbly when he stood.
Even after all of that, he still had ten hours until the trial would begin. That wasn’t all, either. He wasn’t able to leave the district of the city he was in. Whenever he tried to leave, he was blocked by the same barrier from the previous floors.
“Why can’t I leave?” he asked toward the barrier. Shockingly, he didn’t receive a response.
He even attempted to teleport past it, and it worked.
For a minute or two, before he felt himself get teleported again and found himself back where he was. Understanding that he was basically being told to wait, he decided to relax and focus on other things.
For one, he thought this would be a great time to improve his crafting skills. He’d always heard stuff about dwarves being amazing craftsmen, and so he thought he might be able to find someone in the city to help him.
Unfortunately, that was much easier said than done. Another thing he learned about dwarves was their unyielding stubbornness and pride in their craft. He entered what must have been almost fifteen craftsmen's shops in the next three hours, but not a single one was willing to teach him.
In fact, all but two of them physically kicked him out. And the reason one of the two who chose not to do so was simply because he didn’t have any legs.
Julius trudged down the road with his head down after his latest rejection. When he looked up, he suddenly realized that the sky looked exactly the same as it did several hours before. Not only that, but many shops were still open, which was weird for it being so late. Either dwarves did business late, or something else was going on.
And to be honest, he was leaning towards the latter.
Feeling depressed about his failures, he walked over to one of the few shops in the district he was allowed to enter. He’d been saving this last shop for last, partly because it was only half a shop. The entire front of the store looked as if it had just survived a firebomb attack. Though upon closer inspection, he realized that the windows, while dirty and covered in soot, were not broken. In fact, all of the enchantments were in place.
Feeling a bit more optimistic, he opened the door and immediately had to duck behind a shelf when a wrench was thrown at his head.
“Get out!”
Julius tentatively poked his head over the shelf and saw a stumbling dwarf coming around the counter, another wrench in his hand. The dwarf was wearing a burnt-up apron and stained pants.
“Hello,” he said with a soft wave.
The dwarf paused and chose not to throw the dangerous weapon at him. “What do you want, little boy?” the man asked drunkenly.
“I wanted to ask if you happen to give lessons for crafting. I’m an aspiring craftsman and wish to learn from the best,” Julius said with his best salesperson impersonation.
“The best?” the man asked with a scoff.
“Yeah, the best.”
“How many others have you gone before me?”
“Fifteen,” Julius answered instantly.
The dwarf grunted. “Well, at least you’re honest.”
“So that means you’ll accept?” Julius asked excitedly.
“Fuck no. Get out of here,” the dwarf said, and this time he actually decided to throw the wrench at him. Though the wrench missed Julius by so much that he didn’t even think it was aimed at him, simply that the dwarf didn’t want to hold onto it anymore. Or maybe he was just so drunk that his aim was actually that bad.
Julius did take note that when the wrench crashed into a nearby glass case, it didn’t break anything. The case looked pretty sturdy despite being covered with a whole inch of dirt and dust.
“What if I pay you?” Julius asked while the man stumbled back to his counter.
“I said fuck off, you brat.”
Julius ignored the man’s insult and followed him toward the back. “Come on, there must be something you want. I have plenty of really cool items that you might want to inspect.”
The dwarf couldn’t help but perk up when he heard this. Julius noticed a small spike of interest in his aura. But it was quickly snuffed out.
“No means no.”
“But what about something that creates the most delicious food and heals you?” Julius offered, taking out his lunchbox from his soul space.
The dwarf didn’t even bother to look and instead picked up a mug of ale. He tried to drink out of it, but only a couple of drops of ale trickled out of it, and the dwarf grumbled unhappily before slamming the mug into the counter several times, frustratedly. Julius thought the mug would break, but then he felt a pulse of mana from the mug, and to his surprise, he felt something filling up the mug.
With a more mild grunt, the dwarf tipped the now full mug of ale into his mouth, slamming the entire thing down with one gulp, wiping the foam from his beard when he was finished.
“You’re still here?” he asked with a glance at him.
“Yeah,” Julius nodded with a curious expression toward that mug of his. Was it being filled with ale from a separate space, and was it being transferred with spatial magic? Or was he creating the ale independently?
“I got a proposition for you then.”
Julius took a step closer with excitement. “Yes?”
“You said you wanted me to help you learn crafting, yes?”
Julius nodded urgently.
“Then how about this? You cut off both of your arms and one of your legs, and I will teach you.”
Julius frowned and leaned back, though not out of disgust or because he was insulted; rather, he was confused.
“Why only one leg?” he asked with a squint.
“Because I still need you to get out of here afterward, and I’m not about to drag your tall ass out on my own,” the dwarf said with a sharp chuckle as if his joke amused him greatly.
“Deal,” Julius said with a bright smile.
“Haha, deal!” The dwarf doubled over and laughed.
Julius smiled. “Okay, so when do we start?”
The dwarf snapped his head up, his drunken eyes filled with bewilderment. “What are you flapping your lips on about?”
“You said we have a deal. Now, do you have a particular care or need for which leg?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, do you want my right or my left leg?” Julius clarified.
“You humans are all fucking insane. Now just get out, you’re wasting my time.”
Julius shook his head, and with zero hesitation, he created a sharpened blade of mana and severed his left arm from the shoulder down. The limb plopped down onto the floor, the blood pooling right beneath it.
He stared at the dumbfounded dwarf and smiled. “We made a deal,” he said, and quickly controlled the blade to remove his other arm. The limb dropped to the floor right next to the other one.
“And I hope you are the type of person to honor your deals,” Julius said and removed his left leg. The man hadn’t clarified his desire for which limb, so he was making an executive decision.
The dwarf looked simultaneously stunned and disgusted. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asked while staring at the pile of severed limbs.
“You said you would teach me if I cut off both arms and one leg,” he said and hopped over to the pile of limbs, nudging them with his toe. “Well, here they are.”
“I didn’t actually mean for you to cut them off, you crazy little shit!” the dwarf said with a disgusted shout.
“Then why else would you offer such terms?”
“Because I wanted you to leave. I didn’t think you’d actually cut them off.”
“Oh. Well, I guess it's too late for that. I suppose that means you’re going to have to keep up with your end of the bargain now,” Julius said with an assured nod to himself.
The dwarf seemed to have a thousand thoughts running through his mind, but ultimately, he must have come to a decision and quickly threw back another full mug of ale down his gullet.
“Fine, you maniac. I’ll teach you, just stop cutting off your limbs, okay?” he said with a disgusted glance at the bleeding limbs, but then leaned down to pick them up. “Now get over to the table and lie down. If we’re quick enough, we can hopefully reattach them before it’s too late.”
Julius shook his head. “Don’t worry about that,” he reassured the man and quickly used his healing skill, letting the healing magic run through his limbs, and in a burst of red flames, his limbs were soon regenerated in a matter of a few seconds.
However, instead of being impressed or surprised, the dwarf looked at him with what looked like the first sober expression Julius had seen from him so far.
“What are you?”
Julius rolled his eyes. “Rude.”
“Are you an evolved beast? Some kind of enlightened troll?”
“Christ almighty, is healing myself that frightening to you?” he asked, throwing his hands in the air.
“I’ve only seen beasts or monsters who heal like that,” the dwarf said with a disgusted scrunch of his nose.
“Thank you!” Julius said with a smile.
It might have sounded like an insult to some, but to him it was sort of a compliment. He was trying to mimic a phoenix, and his skill was called [Phoenix Incarnate] after all.
“You’re a weird one.” Although Julius noticed that he wasn’t looking disgusted anymore. Rather, he was looking at Julius with more of a curious expression.
“But you’re still going to teach me, right?”
“Sure, I’ll teach you. I’m worried about what you’ll do to yourself if I don’t,” the dwarf mumbled.
“Wonderful! What’s your name, by the way? My name is Julius,” he said with a shallow bow.
“It’s Thorik.” The man replied reluctantly.
“Well, Thorik, what do you want to get started on first?” Julius asked with an eager smile.
“The first thing you are going to get started on is cleaning up that blood over there before it stains the wood,” Thorik said with a scowl.
Julius looked around at the thrashed store but didn’t mention anything. He didn’t think it necessary at that moment to compare the blood to the floor's already stained and smelly state. Instead, he kept quiet and bent down to clean up his mess. He had finally found someone to teach him, and he wasn't about to ruin it.