Ball of Nothing

It wasn't difficult to travel across the rocky mountain path with the royal guards guiding Truen. The journey took almost two weeks to get to the borders of Rocket Mountain and the archer didn't know why the master crafter would choose to flee to the borders near Mystic meadows. It was all the way the other side of Magnus Hilda and hardly anybody settled here apart from adventurers brave enough to go to Mystic Meadows for a quest.

The town that Dorgon was hiding in was a small one called Geode Town. many fees and mystical creatures with mixed dwarven blood resided there. The size was slightly bigger than Little Stone town because of the inn and adventurer's outpost. There were also a few marketplaces for local farmers to sell rations and travelling merchants to set up shop. Truen took a look around the moment they arrived and found out that this town was rather similar to Half Moon Village with the exception that none of the villagers were wanted criminals.

Geode Town was very peaceful and Truen can understand why Dorgon chose to run to such a quiet place. Other than the occasional talks about adventurers, there was hardly any news about the capital here.

The archer heard a few things from the royal guard commander on the way here. King Darius, the chancellor and Dorgon were actually childhood friends. That would explain why King Darius looked slightly guilty when they first mentioned that they were looking for Dorgon Flintstock. The chancellor and the king also had a slightly unusual relationship for a king and his subject. Their past relationship explained everything and Truen wondered what kind of character Dorgon Flintstock was. King Darius did not punish the royal craftsman even after he deserted his post and quit without notice. The King didn't even give a chase or order a manhunt. That made the archer very interested to know the dynamics of their relationship.

Perhaps Dorgon Flintstock was the one with the most influence among the three dwarves which was why the chancellor didn't stop Dorgon from leaving. It was either that or the chancellor pulled strings behind the scene to keep King Darius in place so that Dorgon could make his exit smoothly. From what the royal guards summarised, Dorgon was a lover of women and wine with a straightforward personality. If he liked something or someone, he would treat them well. If he disagreed with something, he would speak his mind. Despite being a down-to-earth character, the guards cautioned Truen about the master crafter's blunt use of words.

"He's very insensitive, it's why his ex-wife left him for another man. He gets the job done well but outside of that, Dorgon's not an easy man to be friends with."

Truen thanked the guards for their information. Most of the guards that accompanied Truen chose to camp outside in the wilderness near the town. Only Truen and the royal guard commander went into town to book an inn so that they could stay for the night and ask around for information about Dorgon's location.

According to the royal guard commander, Dorgon got many of his inspirations from pretty females of all kinds. "It might have been easier to persuade him to return to the capital if your sister was here."

Hearing that, Truen felt a strange sense of anger wash over him even if Zero wasn't really a girl or his sister. Hearing that Dorgon would have been easily persuaded to use Zero as a model for his artistic inspiration made the archer's blood boil. Nobody was getting anywhere near Zero, especially not those with impure intentions.

It wasn't difficult to find out where the master crafter went to the small town. In fact, the people of Geode Town didn't seem surprised that the King had sent someone to find Dorgon. Truen guessed that this wasn't the first time Dorgon had escaped to Geode Town after a fight with King Darius. In fact, when Truen heard that Dorgon had a house here, he was convinced that Dorgon was more than just a subject of the kingdom for the chancellor and King Darius.

When Truen got to the tavern, the first thing he saw was a stocky dwarf with a long red beard harassing the pretty fae waitress. The dwarf was obviously drunk but didn't want to go back even if it was only in the middle of the day. Truen looked at the royal guard commander who nodded in confirmation. Indeed, this was the man they were looking for.

With a sigh inwardly, Truen braced himself for a tough conversation and an even tougher few days to convince the drunken dwarf who looked like he was here to escape worldly problems by drowning in alcohol.

Funny enough, Truen could understand this man's feelings and sympathise with his frustrations. Sometimes the best way to deal with too many problems piling up when you didn't know where to start was to take a step back. According to the gossip of dwarves in the capital, Dorgon left when he had an argument with the King about compulsory dieting. The chancellor took a neutral side so Dorgon stormed off in anger.

"Hic! Waitress... more beer!" Dorgon slurred and almost fell out of his chair. Truen was there to catch him in time before the drunken dwarf hit the ground.

With a frown, the dwarf looked up to the tall stranger with a hood and squinted. "Wh'r ya? Whaddya wan'?"

The royal guard commander stepped out from behind Truen's shadow and looked at Dorgon, waiting patiently for the master crafter to recognise him. It took a while but Dorgon sobered a little when he knew who that dwarf was. Instead of being happy at seeing someone familiar, Dorgon became angry.

"Pah! He sent someone at last? Must have starved the whole damned capital to death doing it before he realised what's wrong! That fool... tell me honestly. Was it Darius or Montley?"

Truen raised a brow. Montley?

The royal guard commander bowed. "The chancellor arranged it but King Darius also agreed. He is Truen Zheng, an envoy from Magnus Hilda sent by Queen Rosalind."

Truen bowed to the crafter who was stunned. "An envoy?"

"I'm sure you know that Magnus Hilda had been plagued for the last few years. My sister and I are nomads who travel around to help others in exchange for some food supplies and money when we chanced upon the land of giants and heard about it. Zero is a healer and with the power of the Goddess Freya watching over Magnus Hilda, the plague was cured. However, the land needs the protection of Goddess Freya and a new statue for worship needs to be introduced to the giants. Hence, we are looking for the crafter who was blessed by the God of Art to help us craft a divine statue of Goddess Freya for the people in Magnus Hilda."

Instead of causing trouble, Dorgon sighed. "I understand the situation and it isn't that I don't want to help the giants. However, I cannot create a divine statue worthy of worship for the giants. You have to know that giants are at least fifteen metres in height on average and we're very small people as dwarves. If I were to craft such a huge statue, I will need some tools or equipment."

Truen nodded. "We can help you get whatever you need if you agree to come with us. Of course, you will be duly compensated for the work. Also, to set your mind at ease, my sister has convinced King Darius to stop starving the people and is treating the princess as we speak."

Dorgon looked at the wood elf with wonder. "Your sister must be really pretty and capable."

Hearing that, Truen's expression became dark and the crafter immediately laughed and passed it off as a joke to calm the archer down. "It's not difficult for me to go back with you but I would have to trouble you to help me make a trip to Derby Desert and look for a good technician. You see, I have this mobile crafting suit used to help me work on huge projects. I'm sure you've seen the huge fortress and doors to the capital. That was made by me with the help of my Crafter's Suit. Unfortunately, after so many years, the rickety thing finally broke down and we dwarves aren't good with bolts and nuts like the gnomes are. Unless that suit can be repaired, it's just going to be as good as scrap iron and I can't help you with the divine statue."

Hearing that, Truen nodded. "I understand. If we can get the Crafter's Suit fixed, will you come with us to Magnus Hilda to build Goddess Freya's statue at the temple?"

Dorgon grinned. "Anything for the giants. I need to request to see the temple where the statue is going to be built as well as the material it is going to be carved out of so that I can get the workshop to make the necessary preparations. You need to help me convince Motley the sly fox to let me go and not increase my workload from the time I went missing! That chancellor might as well be the evil in his previous life... I swear he doesn't have a shred of kindness in him at all!"

Convincing Dorgon was easier than Truen thought it would be and to make the dwarf happy, the archer accompanied him for a few drinks while listening to old stories about his childhood friends and some of the more interesting dwarven gossips that he couldn't wait to share with Zero.