Chương 426: (419) 6.33. Must Have Been The Wind

Up until this point, most of Vin's experience with dwarves had consisted of the armor-wearing, heat-resistant ones found within the heart of the Crater. They were steady, tough, enjoyed munching on metal flakes as snacks, and looked like they could take a cannonball to the chest without so much as flinching. The dwarves of this hilly fragment couldn't have been more different.

Hearshal scampered up and down the wavy, uncertain terrain, never once looking unsteady or concerned about his footing as Vin followed after him. He felt like he was chasing after a goat, as Hearshal didn't even bother to look down when he was running around, somehow always seeming to just know precisely where to plant his feet in order to remain stable. In contrast, Vin felt as though he was a drunken sailor trying to stumble his way home.

The random divots and jutting bumps made any attempt at running practically impossible, and he found himself using his hands nearly as much as his feet for getting around.

"Exactly how much farther do we have to go in order to reach your Burrow?" Vin asked after fifteen minutes of desperate scrambling, not wanting the dwarf to get tired of waiting for him as he was forced to stop every few seconds.

"We're nearly there! We make a point of keeping access tunnels that extend far past the length of the Burrow itself. Back before Edregon, when the monsters were getting particularly bad, a quick escape was the only answer we had to survival. My people are pretty decent shots with a bow, but we're not all that great at close-range combat."

"How interesting," Vin muttered, wanting more than anything to bring one of Hearshal's people over to the Crater and directly compare the two different types of dwarves. This wasn't the first time by any means that he'd encountered different 'subspecies' of races, as the librarian put it so kindly when she scanned Shia with her artifact.

The elves of the Sacred Forest and the elves of the Citadel couldn't be more different, and the humans of the ranker fragment were just as different as the humans from anywhere else he'd been to, seeing as they'd managed to intermix with various other races on their own world to such an extent.

"Here we are! Careful, it's a bit of a drop," Hearshal warned, hopping down into a divot that looked identical to the thousand other ones they'd crossed through to get here. Before Vin could even ask how he knew this was the right one, Hearshal slipped his fingers into the ground, popping off the fake cap that was actually a good few inches of hardened dirt covered in grass.

"You can go first, that way I can seal it once we're through." Peering into the hole, Vin cast a quick Sense Air, noting that the drop went down about twenty feet. He could easily handle that with his attributes even without the aid of magic, so he nodded, stepping forward and dropping into the hole. Landing on the firm, packed dirt below, he blinked as he realized he was at the end of a long, winding tunnel.

Tiny pieces of glowing stones were laid in the walls and ceilings every couple of feet, keeping the light level low, but enough that he could see where he was going.

"Look out below!" Hearshal called from above him, and Vin hopped to the side just in time to avoid the dwarf landing on him. Hitting the ground with a lot less force than Vin had, Hearshal grinned up at him, gesturing with the dead bird in his hands toward the tunnel.

"We're about a mile from the main Burrow. Wanna race?"

"So long as you're not a sore loser," Vin said, realizing he was matching the dwarf's grin without even thinking.

"Nah, my people are excellent sports. In fact—" Hearshal took off at a dead run, laughing all the while as Vin just stood there in shock. The dwarf wasn't quite as fast as he'd expected, but he could definitely move. Chuckling to himself, Vin took off after him, debating just how badly he should beat his newfound acquaintance. If he cheated first… He brought this upon himself, right? Silently casting Enhance Gravity, Vin watched as the dwarf began to flag as the gravity around him doubled.

Keeping the spell centered on a moving target wasn't easy, but the mana expenditure was more than worth it as he quickly caught up and threw the dwarf a concerned look as he ran beside him.

"Are you alright? Need me to carry that bird for you?"

"Sure, thanks!" Hearshal laughed, before throwing the bird directly in his face. While Vin recoiled and tried to catch it, the dwarf took off once more, revealing he hadn't been nearly as bothered by Vin's spell as he'd been letting on and that he was actually far faster than Vin thought. By the time the two of them reached the end of the tunnel, Vin had gone through Stone Wall, Vibrate, Redirect Gravity, and even Mage Hand, all with the intention of tripping Hearshal up and beating him in a footrace.

He supposed it made sense that a race of people who were so nimble and good at getting around had high dexterity attributes, and he had to humbly admit he'd actually lost the race despite all his blatant cheating. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Not bad," Hearshal panted as he waited for Vin to jog the last leg of the tunnel and join him at the exit.

"We'll have to go back and deal with that half-wall you summoned later, but for now, a consolation prize. Welcome to the Burrow!" Taking a small amount of solace in the fact that he wasn't winded in the slightest, Vin looked around in awe at the underground town. He'd thought the tunnel they were racing through had felt as though it were angled down slightly, and the sight before him confirmed that without a doubt.

An enormous cavern had been dug out of the earth, at least a few hundred feet wide and filled with dwarves of all shapes and sizes going about their days. There were side tunnels and passageways lining the walls all over the place, and even holes in the ground that dwarves were hopping into or climbing out of. This had to be some sort of central hub, and the massive building that appeared to be made from a mixture of hardened clay and wood sat in the dead center of the cavern.

"This is the heart of the Burrow," Hearshal explained, gesturing toward the large building that had caught Vin's eye. There were plenty of smaller ones scattered throughout the cavern, but none of them compared to the central building in size or craftsmanship.

"That's the Haven. It's where the Whisperer and her apprentices live, but it has many other uses as well. The party of Tamers who we're currently hosting are living there at the moment."

"This place is incredible," Vin muttered, watching a yawning dwarf who appeared to be walking what looked like a large mole on a leash go past them and into one of the side tunnels.

"I've only been in one other underground society up until now, and they were nothing like this." Granted, the trogums were basically lobotomized from birth in order to follow the Queen's orders without asking, so that might not be the most fair comparison.

"Well, that's nice to hear we have a leg up on the competition," Hearshal laughed, motioning for him to follow as he started walking toward the Haven.

"Now, there's not really any sort of official rules you need to follow while you're here, but I do have one quick piece of advice for you. If you do end up meeting her, try not to look at the Whisperer like she's crazy. She doesn't mind herself, but her apprentices take great offense, and they're the ones who truly run the Haven. You anger them enough, and they might just kick you out."

"Noted," Vin said, smiling as he watched a dwarven mother scold her young boys for plucking the glowing gemstones off one of the tunnel walls. The cavern had what he could only assume were the original rocks all the tiny flecks had been carved from, because the large rocks embedded overhead gave off more than enough light to illuminate their surroundings.

Strolling straight through the front door of the Haven, Vin followed Hearshal as they entered a small chamber with cubbies lining the sides, many of them filled with different kinds of shoes. Before the open doorway leaving the room was a small stream of water flowing through the earth, slowly trickling past. Vin watched as Hearshal removed his shoes and shoved them in a cubby, before stepping into the stream and standing within the water for about five seconds.

Stepping out of it, he dried his feet on a fluffy rug, before motioning for Vin to do the same.

"I assume I know the answer to this already, but just to double check. The only important thing here is to remove one's shoes and clean their feet, right? Actually placing the shoes in the cubby isn't technically part of the ritual?"

"I mean, I guess you're welcome to carry around your shoes with you if you want, but I can promise you nobody will steal them," Hearshal snorted.

"Your shoe size is probably double the next largest dwarf's."

"It's not that I think your people would, it's just that these boots are a magical artifact, and I try not to let them out of my sight when possible," Vin explained, sitting down and going to remove his boots before freezing in place as something whispered in his ear." You are welcome to keep them on, if you so wish. The nature of your boots purifies them just as the stream would your bare feet." Vin jerked his head back, turning around and confirming that nobody was standing right behind him.

He knew how Whispering Wind worked of course, but whatever that voice was hadn't sounded like it had come from a normal person. The words felt powerful. As though each syllable contained enough will and mana to shape the world as the speaker saw fit. It didn't take a genius to figure out where they had to have come from, knowing who lived within the Haven, and Vin looked up at a questioning Hearshal.

"I, uh… I think the Whisperer just told me I can leave my boots on."

"She did?" Hearshal blinked, scratching at his chin as he looked at Vin more quizzically.

"And you don't feel… how should I put this… like your brain is melting?"" What?" Vin asked, staring at the sheepishly grinning dwarf.

"No, why would I feel like that?"

"Well now, that is rather interesting. I know I told you the Whisperer would enjoy getting the chance to chat with you, but what I really meant was through a proxy. The reason we call her the Whisperer is because it is said if she ever raised her voice louder than a whisper, the entire Burrow would collapse and everyone in earshot would die."

"I feel like that would have been somewhat important information to know before you brought me into her house," Vin pointed out.

"You're not in any danger! The Whisperer hasn't spoken at a regular volume since having the title bestowed upon her nearly thirty years ago," Hearshal hurried to assure him.

"The fact that she's both taken an interest in you and has chosen to speak with you directly rather than through one of her apprentices acting as an intermediary is pretty strange. I've never heard of her making an exception for anyone. I've certainly never spoken directly to her myself, though I'm nobody of any real importance."

"Well then," Vin said, getting to his feet and stepping over the stream of water as he joined Hearshal in the doorway.

"If she's already aware of the fact that I'm here and is watching our every move… I suppose I should probably go introduce myself."