Chapter 507: Beyond Genius ( 507 )

When they entered the healer unit,

the first thing Javier noticed was the heavy, earthy smell of herbal medicine and polished steel.

And there, sitting on a reinforced wooden bed, arms crossed, thick beard tangled across his broad chest was a real dwarf.

Short, stocky, tough-looking.

His expression was a permanent scowl, like he was ready to punch anyone who annoyed him.

Javier smirked slightly to himself.

“Ah… a real dwarf. Oops,” he muttered under his breath.

The dwarf’s sharp eyes immediately locked onto him.

“Hmm? What do ye want, kid?”

The dwarf barked out bluntly, voice deep and gravelly.

Javier stepped forward casually, hands in his pockets.

“Hmm? I’m Javier”

The dwarf snorted loudly, unimpressed.

“Don’t know ye, lad.”

He leaned back, glaring suspiciously.

Javier chuckled lightly.

“Yeah, you don’t know me.

But surely you know Rasdingen?”

At that name the dwarf’s eyes widened slightly.

His stiff posture loosened a bit.

“Ah…

The Giant Dwarf.”

A rough, amused chuckle escaped the older dwarf’s throat.

“Hard tae forget a big lad like ‘im.

Big as a house.

Hands like steel hammers.

A real craftsman, that one.

He still kickin’?”

Javier smirked.

“Very much alive.

Still hammering, still yelling at apprentices.”

The dwarf let out a loud bark of laughter.

“Hah!

Good tae hear.

If ye know Rasdingen, then ye must be no fool.”

Javier smiled slightly.

Now the real conversation could begin.

“Ah… it’s been so long since I heard that thick accent,”

Javier said, smiling lightly, his arms crossed casually.

The dwarf chuckled roughly.

“Ye mean that big lad didn’t talk like this anymore?”

he said with a crooked grin.

Javier tilted his head slightly.

“Hmm? Ah, no… his accent is thicker.”

The dwarf let out a booming laugh, slapping his knee.

“Hah!

That sounds like ‘im!

No matter how big he got, that tongue o’ his stayed buried deep in the mountains!”

Javier grinned, enjoying the easy atmosphere.

The dwarf’s grin widened proudly.

“Aye… Rasdingen’s not just a blacksmith, ye know.

He’s our Chieftain Gumarak’s cousin.

Same bloodline.

Strong as iron, stubborn as the mountains themselves.”

Javier blinked once, slightly surprised.

“Chieftain’s cousin?”

“Aye, lad.

Born of the same clan.the Stonebreakers.”

The dwarf chuckled, clearly proud of his people.

Javier leaned slightly against the wall, smiling.

Knowing Rasdingen’s bloodline…

and that it tied directly to the dwarven leadership…

meant the Armand family’s connections with the Dwarves were even deeper than most outsiders realized.

It wasn’t just diplomacy.

It was real, old loyalty.

“But I heard your Chieftain is a normal dwarf,”

Javier said casually, tilting his head a little.

The dwarf let out a loud snort, grinning widely.

“Aye, he is.

Gumarak’s normal, lad as dwarves go.

Stocky, tough, not much taller than yer saddle.”

He jabbed a thumb against his chest proudly.

“Only Rasdingen and his brother ended up weird.

Big, bulky freaks the both of ’em.

No one knows why.

Maybe the gods dropped too much stone dust into their cribs.”

The dwarf barked out another rough laugh.

Javier chuckled along, shaking his head lightly.

“Must’ve made family gatherings… interesting.”

“Hah!”

The dwarf laughed again, pounding his knee.

“Ye have no idea.

Try sharing a dinner table with Rasdingen!

We had to build bigger chairs when he visited!”

Buddy, who had been standing quietly behind Javier, gave a soft cuquawk, almost as if laughing along.

Javier smiled slightly, feeling the relaxed air between them.

The dwarf let out a rough, hearty laugh.

Javier chuckled lightly, then added with a small grin,

“Ah, well…

He serves our family now as my father’s personal blacksmith.”

The dwarf’s eyes widened slightly, then softened.

A deep, genuine respect flickered across his face.

“That genius, huh…”

he muttered with a rough chuckle.

“Still kickin’.

Still alive.

Still hammerin’ steel and breakin’ anvils, I’ll bet.”

Javier smiled faintly.

“Still yelling at apprentices too.”

The dwarf barked another short laugh, shaking his head.

“Good.

Would’ve been a damn shame if a craftsman like him faded away quiet-like.

Rasdingen’s the kind who leaves dents in the world, not just in metal.”

The atmosphere settled warmly for a moment.

Javier smiled faintly and sat down casually on the chair beside the dwarf.

At the same moment, a young beastkin lady, approached, carrying a tray with a simple clay mug and a pitcher of water.

She placed it gently in front of him.

But Javier only glanced at the water briefly, then looked up with a small grin.

“Ah…

I want wine.”

The dwarf barked a laugh immediately, pointing at him with a thick finger.

“Oi, lad!

Lookin’ at ye, ye still look like a kid!”

Javier leaned back comfortably, resting one arm across the back of the chair.

“I am,”

he admitted smoothly,

“but I’m drinking.”

The dwarf roared with laughter again, slapping his knee.

“Heh!

Very well then!

If ye’re drinkin’, I want too , a big bottle!”

The beastkin lady blinked nervously.

“Umm… but you’re still recovering…”

she said hesitantly, glancing between the dwarf and Javier.

The dwarf threw her a playful grin.

“Please?

Heheh.”

he chuckled like a mischievous old man trying to escape a lecture.

The beastkin staff sighed softly, clearly used to stubborn patients,

then shook her head with a smile.

“I’ll check with the quartermaster…

Please don’t cause trouble.”

As she walked away, Javier chuckled lightly, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table.

“I’m going to the Dwarven Kingdom after this.”

The dwarf nearly choked on his drink.

He slammed the mug down, wide-eyed.

“What?!

Ye crazy lad?!

The Dwarven Kingdom’s no longer safe!”

he barked out, his heavy voice filled with disbelief.

Javier just shrugged lightly.

“Hmm?

I know.”

he said simply, like he was commenting on the weather.

The dwarf stared at him for a moment, mouth slightly open, then leaned forward, voice lowering.

“Do ye have a deathwish?!”

he asked, half serious, half amazed.

Javier tilted his head, pretending to think about it.

Then he smirked faintly.

“Hmm… not me.

But certain dwarves do.

And certain troops too.”

The dwarf blinked once.

Then again.

And finally, A deep, rough laugh that shook his entire stocky body.

“Hah!

Aye, lad…

Ye’re mad.

But maybe ye’re the kind of mad we need.”

He leaned back heavily in his chair, shaking his head in amusement.

“Heh…

I like ye, lad.

Do as ye wish.”

He leaned back with a heavy sigh.

“I can’t go back for now anyway.”

Javier tilted his head slightly.

“Why?”

The dwarf tapped his left leg.

“Left leg’s buggered up.

Can’t move right yet.

If I go back now, I’d just be dyin’ for free.”

He grumbled lowly, then leaned forward, voice dropping a little.

“But lad…

Let me tell ye somethin’.”

His eyes grew serious. A heavy warning in his tone.

“The ground at night…

it’s a nightmare now.

Those monsters —

they’re bloody hard to kill.

Harder than ye can imagine.”

Javier listened quietly.

Then smirked.

“Hmm?

I know.

That’s exactly what I want.”

He said it simply.

The dwarf’s jaw dropped slightly.

“Oi lad!

Ye crazy!!”

Javier shrugged, that sly grin still playing on his lips.

“Hmm?

I’m not.

Maybe a bit.”

He stood up casually, hand slipping into his magic storage.

“You said Rasdingen’s a genius, right?”

Javier said casually, smiling wider.

The dwarf nodded instinctively.

Then froze.

As Javier smoothly pulled out a gleaming longsword forged entirely from pure White Ore.

It shimmered under the healer room’s faint light, a blade so flawless, so perfectly crafted, it almost looked alive.

Even the air around it seemed lighter, sharper.

The dwarf’s eyes widened instantly, mouth falling slightly open.

His instincts as a smith’s descendant screamed at him, this sword wasn’t just good.

It was better.

Cleaner.

Sharper.

Even finer than anything Rasdingen had ever hammered out during the old golden days.

The dwarf leaned forward, hands gripping the table edge tightly.

“…By the God…”

he muttered hoarsely.

Javier just smiled lightly, resting the blade casually on his shoulder like it weighed nothing.

“Rasdingen’s a genius.

But what do you call the one who builds past a genius?”

The dwarf could only stare.

For once in his rough life, he was speechless.

( End Of Chapter )

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