Chapter 30

Tafur

Meanwhile, near the mana crystal deposit, after the violent reactions stopped, frowning Tafur and his two guards examined the rift.

Korag got too close to the edge, his legs slipped and he almost fell. Trag caught him just in time and pulled him back while whispering, "idiot! Watch where you step!"

"Thanks," Korag whispered back and this time was more careful.

"Fuck!" Tafur cursed, half angered and half in awe as he saw the deep rift and the thousands of kilograms of attuned crystals. "We need to go back to the city and report," he ordered.

"What about master Therdreag?" Trag asked.

"No option her'. T'is rift probably leads to the Abyss. Laws're clear," Tafur frowned while conjuring a fiery rune and sending it down. The rune travelled for around 20 metres, then flickered a few times and in the end, disappeared.

"Let's go," he turned back and started jogging back to the portal.

Korag and Trag glanced around the former cavern for the last time, sighed and followed their boss. After a while, Trag whispered," Korag?"

"Yea?"

"We coulda kill the young master and take reward for the report… We coulda say that he fell, which woulda not be a lie," Trag quietly and carefully proposed.

"Now who's idiot hee'. Master Therdreag woulda interrogate us… Ya dinna wanna be in his hands," Korag whispered back, shaking his head.

"But look at the deposit and ya know master Mafur! He gave us order and with this discovery we would rise under him even further. Even if small, the deposit is incredibly ri…"

Of course, the apprentice of the 5th rank runemaster was no one to scoff at and had trained senses beyond normal.

"Swish! Swish!"

Trag was interrupted in the middle of a sentence by two mudballs hitting them squarely at their helmets. Their trained reactions were fast enough to conjure protective runes. Still, the sheer power of impact dazed them.

"Tche!" Tafur spat on the ground and said with a voice brimming with wrath, "loyalty of a rat… Seems like ye two're bribed by mae eldest brother. Fine!"

He conjured another two runes, and two balls of clear liquid materialized before him. A few drops fall on the ground and hisses as it dissolved a few pebbles.

"Fuck! Acid! He's able to conjure fuckin' acid!" Korag exclaimed in surprise and hastily conjured another earthen shield, but as he was still drained from the radiation, it was not too strong.

Trag activated the few engraved runes on his robe he had and a translucent mana shield enveloped him. However, he was dangerously close to his limit too.

"Splash! Splash!"

The two acidic balls landed on the shields and were constantly hissing as the solution ate away the two traitors' protections. They knew that Tafur was one in twenty years genius, but did not expect he had so much mana left after using two double-runes and to be so powerful.

"Ya're 3rd rank apprentice! Why have ya hidden it?!" Korag yelled. He thought Tafur was a mere 2nd rank. He was preparing his last trump rune; a lightning rune.

Trag had difficulty holding up his shield as he pumped every little bit of mana he had left into it.

"Ha! No need to talk traitors, don't ye worry, yer families'll be executed with ye. I'll make sure of it!"

"No! Please!" Trag pleaded, but his shield collapsed and the acid fell on his robe, rapidly melting the fabric. A few uncovered tattooed runes on his body shimmered and disintegrated as they released mana that spread on Trag's body. The acid landed on it and flowed down without damaging Trag.

A crackling echoed as the lightning rune appeared in Korag's hands. The lightning bolt struck Tafur's shield. Fortunately, it held, even though Tafur twitched a few times as electricity bypassed the shield, ravaging his muscles.

"Now, ye shoulda be without mana. Die!" Tafur screamed, his face completely red from anger and pain, veins across his forehead were in the danger of popping.

"Master Tafur! Leave us! Otherwise yar brother'll naet forgive ya!"

"Ha! Die!" Tafur laughed them off and conjured ice spears. They pierced through their chest, struggled a bit against their naturally tough bodies. In the end, the spears won and went right through the hearts and spines.

'Thud, thud'

Two bodies collapsed. Tafur half-sat half-collapsed on the ground as he himself was drained. If he would have to expend any more mana, he would be in danger of death.

"Haaah, fuck… lucky!" He proclaimed, stood and searched the corpses. Each of them had some coins and even one small, translucent mana crystal each in rune-engraved pouches, which were blocking the weak radiation from escaping.

After that, he meditated for a while to regenerate his mana. He conjured a rune that increased his raw strength by 25% and put the two dead dwarfs on his shoulders.

He went back to the rift and dropped them to the darkness while deeply frowning. No one, not even his father could know of what had occurred here. Fortunately, his master did not hold an interest in these struggles.

Then he went back, meeting his returned master. The latter was holding a dead body of a blighted dwarf and bearing a furious expression.

Tafur explained to him the situation, the gate, the shaft, his brother, rift and deposit and how his two guards died in his protection from the violent mana.

"Dornus dammit!" Master Therdreag swore and the whole complex slightly trembled. When he calmed down, he said in a little bit better mood, "let's go, my little apprentice! At least some good news, haaah," he sighed and continued in a grave tone, "I need to report to the Assembly of two runaway blighted dwarfs and you about the rift leading to Abyss," they walked towards the portal that was slowly nearing its limit. He grinned, "and what did you say about the mana crystals deposit?"

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Encyclopaedia Stonia

Abyss – addendum

Where the Abyss starts is arbitrary for every race and government. Dwarfs consider the first layer of Abyss around 50 kilometres underground. Elfs 30 kilometres, Humans don't care much, and Undeads consider Abyss as part of their dominions. Of course, with the severe disagreement of many other races…

Double-rune

An extraordinary technique that the most talented runemasters could master. It's similar to wizards' (and other similar classes) double casting, which allows creating two superimposed runes that enhance themselves. This technique can be trained to higher tiers, allowing it to cast two words. If it's usable for runic sentences, nobody knows.

Runemasters' families

Runemasters are merciless and efficient. The resources are scarce, and only those with the best aptitude can enjoy full treatment (like Tafur). This situation creates sociopathic researchers and brutal fighters which is one of the many reasons why the other nations do not war against dwarven lands. Even if stronger, the losses of troops and resources outweigh the possible benefits.

Ancient laboratories

Left by ancient scientists all over the continent, often underground. They are as rare as mana crystals deposits but valued even more. The labs hold incredible treasures (at least compared to modern technology) and valued research data. Some of the laboratories and fortresses have programmed automatic expansion that slowly gathers ambient mana over the years. How ancient runemasters did it, dwarfs don't know as this art is lost in times and many wars. Of course, it's being furiously researched, but to little reward. Imagine a self-growing castle…