Runeblade

The stairs leading to the entrance to the Dusty Stables were wide things that tracked up the side of the building, shading the various pens that were set into the building at street level.

A sign hung over their rise, showing off not just the name of the establishment and its insignia—a crisp painting of a weather-worn stable—but that also stated that all trained and bonded beasts were welcome inside. As long as they were polite, that is.

“Well, I suppose we should make our entrance. Though, let me grab something from our bags first.” he said to Porkchop, before approaching his side and pulling a coin purse from within their dimensional bag.

Sliding their earnings into a spare slot in his potion pouch, Kaius ascended the stairs and entered the tavern.

It smelled…clean and homely - of saddlesoap, clean fur, and well oiled wood. Scents that made him feel more relaxed, far more than any other place in the city at least. He smiled, taking in the interior as Porkchop craned over his shoulder to look in himself.

The space was wide, with a long bar stretching two thirds the length of the room directly across from him. Behind it, a long cabinet of liqueurs was set off just to the side of an entrance to a bustling open kitchen, four men hustling as they cooked and prepared all manner of foods, some of which were decidedly odd. Like the one who was dicing fruit, only to toss it in a bowl of freshly cut grass.

Kaius cocked his eyebrow at the sight.

Perhaps even more befuddling than that was the general furnishings of the establishment. It had the usual trappings: tables, chairs, booths, and padded benches. There were also other, stranger things. Wide, boxy stools set at knee height that were almost big enough for him to lie on, as well as odd backless daybeds scattered around the place.

The purpose for the strange furniture was readily explained by the absolutely massive cat that lounged on one such platform, curled up in front of the roaring fire that dominated the wall to his right.

Hearing their entrance, the cat's ears perked up. Lifting its head from its slumber, it focused on him, but only for a moment before it locked its eyes on Porkchop behind him. Pupils dilated, ears flicking up quickly before the cat gave a large stretch and slunk to its feet.

He tensed, only for Porkchop to butt him in the back of the head with his nose.

“He’s friendly.” his brother assured.

“You’re sure?” Kaius asked with a frown, watching the cat silently pad across the room towards them.

“Honestly, Kaius, I know you’re a little traumatised from the last two cats, but the thing’s fucking purring. Pull yourself together.” Porkchop chuckled.

Looking back at his brother in surprise, Kaius whipped back to the cat and actually listened. Porkchop was right, a deep rumbling resonance was coming from its chest, deep enough that he more felt than heard it. Sighing in relief, Kaius forced his apprehension down. Porkchop was right, he was being ridiculous, and it was likely he could handle the cat if anything happened anyway.

Afterall, he doubted an innkeeper did much delving, and even if non-combat classers could level from working in line with their class, it was mighty slow unless you were some world-leading expert.

Without the slightest care in the world the cat, tall enough to meet his waist, slid right around him to wind its way around Porkchop’s legs. His brother bent his head down to give the cat a curious sniff, who promptly smushed his face with its own. Much to Porkchop’s surprise, judging by the way his ears suddenly flicked.

Kaius chuckled, before a booming laugh drew his attention back to the bar. One of the men who had been in the kitchen, rather tall with dark features, had drifted behind the counter. He was watching Porkchop’s interaction with the cat with an easy smile, resting his weight on the bar.

“Not often Yong takes such an interest in someone, especially not one so much bigger than him.” the man said with a deep and gravelly voice that filled the room. At his words, Yong’s ears perked up, and the cat trotted across the room to join him by the bar.

“Ay, I don’t have any treats for ya, you big fatty.” the innkeeper said affectionately, rubbing Yong’s head as the cat yowled pleadingly. The man's will didn’t last long, as he flicked a scrap of…something out over the counter. Yong chased after it in a mad scramble.

“Ahhh, can never stay stern with him for long. Name’s Hensch, by the way, owner and proprietor of the Dusty Stables.” Hensch gave a small bow.

Kaius smiled at the sight, while at first he had been worried about how accommodating an inn could truly be for a creature of Porkchop’s size, those worries had fled as he watched the man’s interactions with Yong.

“Kaius, and the big lug behind me is Porkchop. Ro pointed me here, said you’re probably my best bet for lodgings.” he said, introducing himself.

Hensch chuckled, lightly slapping the countertop. “Met Ro, did ya? She’s a feisty one, but she’s not wrong. Not many places in this city that would be happy to deal with a warbeast of that big boy’s size, bonded or not.”

“How’d you know he was bonded?” Kaius asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Well, for one, you’re a mite evocative with your body language.” Hench pinched his fingers, exaggerating the motion with a squint of his eyes. “Bit of a give away with bond skills, the link goes both ways after all. For two, I haven’t heard a peep from any of the other customers about an ornery warbeast around town. No way in hells some bear-thing straight from the hells would be so calm if it couldn’t tap directly into your mindstate to know everything was at ease. That, and Porkchop there's got none of the rigid restraint you see from trained beasts, and ye didn’t leave him in the stables.” Hensch explained, ticking the points of his fingers one by one.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Kaius chuckled, reaching up to scratch Porkchop behind the ears. “Well, you’ve got me there, we’re here to get settled. For a week at least, I'm going to be going on a lot of out of town journeys for the Guild.” ȐἈ₦Ȫ𐌱ЁŞ

“Figured, what with Ro’s recommendation and all.” Hensch nodded. “You want him to stay in your room? It’s no trouble, but I'll have to give ya one of the bigger ones which are a little pricier. Depths-silver a night. Comes with feed for ya bonded, in whatever way he needs. If ya end up rushing off, I’ll just credit ye the remaining nights.”

Kaius blinked at the price. One silver would have been enough to house him for a month in Three Fields, though he supposed for an inn that catered to delvers with beast companions, it made sense. After all, silver was cheap when a single delve could pull enough artefacts to drown you in the stuff.

“Put us down for a week for now, though no doubt we’ll be here regularly for the next while.” Kaius said, crossing the room as he pulled the required coinage from his purse. It was a moderate dent in their loose silver, but he suspected between selling off some artefacts and taking jobs for the guild, it would be a negligible expense.

“Thank ye kindly.” Hensch said with a nod. “You’ll meet the other patrons tomorrow, I imagine, most have already retired, and a few are still out on business. Now, what’s your boy eat?”

Kaius coughed. “Erm. Human food, mostly, as long as it's rich in meat and vegetables. Spices are fine, as long as they are not too pungent.” he finished. After so long cooking with the dwarven spices they’d found that anything too hot or intense had a tendency to leave Porkchop a sneezing, drooling mess.

Hensch laughed, slapping his thigh with mirth. “Shoulda known you’d coddle the beastie, what with a name like Porkchop,” he said with a smile. “That’s fine lad, I can work with that. Give me a chance to wash me hands and I'll show you to your room.”

Hurrying into the kitchen to direct his workers for a moment, Hensch washed up and quickly returned, swiping a key from under the counter.

He led them up the wide stairs, which didn’t even creak under Porkchop’s weight. Kaius was impressed, especially when he noticed discrete lines of what must have been a reinforcing formation scribed into the wood under the lip of each step.

Walking up two flights, Hensch led them to the end of a wide wooden corridor, decorated in intricate panelling that was beautifully carved with scenes of nature. Kaius didn’t miss that a solid two-thirds of the scenes involved cats, the man’s loyalties well displayed. It seemed that even if he charged an extravagant price, those earnings had been well reinvested into the Dusty Stables.

Stopping at a door at the end of the hall, the innkeep unlocked it, before passing him back the key. The door was a broad thing, easily half his height again and twice the width of a normal door. More than large enough for Porkchop to enter.

“Well, here ya go. I’ll knock later and leave some food outside your door. I know how you delver types like your privacy after a long time on the road.” Hensch said with a wink, before he sauntered off down the hall, humming a little tune to himself.

Entering the room was a wondrous thing. Well equipped with a wide and low bed, a desk and chair, wardrobe, and a fireplace with rug, it was more than large enough for him and Porkchop to just exist without feeling cramped. Somehow, the fire was already lit, though Kaius quickly spotted an explanation as he saw a control glyph on the mantelpiece.

An inscribed fire, extravagant, but not unappreciated.

Porkchop dived for the rug, settling onto its plush surface with a groan as he rolled onto his back to soak up the heat. It seemed the whole building had been built to the same specs as the stairs, because Kaius caught nary a creak from the floorboards as his brother did so.

“Well, we’ve got a place to stay. Shall we decide on what to sell and our plans for tomorrow before we go to bed?” Kaius said, sliding onto the carpet next to Porkchop.

Porkchop groaned, but rolled onto his front. “What are you thinking of getting rid of, anyways? Old barding, and blink-knives, but is there anything else?”

“Those, plus maybe my helmet if we don’t get enough for what we need. It’s a bit mediocre, and pretty heavy, so we might find something a bit better. Armour is a keep for now, though I imagine my vambraces will quickly become less useful as we level up. Even against the irontusk I noticed it wasn’t as useful as it was against the others, I barely made it through even with my full weight behind the swing.” Kaius said, leaning back on his hands as he stared into the fire. It was odd, seeing the flickering tongues emanating directly from inscribed stone.

“That makes sense. What of purchases? Will we have enough to replace them with something better?”

Slumping his head back, Kaius hummed as he thought about it. There were a few things they could use, some far cheaper than others. At the very least they had to get Porkchop’s barding inscribed with self-repair. It was strong enough that going without was a total waste, especially because it would be far more costly to keep getting it repaired at leatherworkers in the long run.

“Barding is the priority, otherwise I think some form of refilling water source would be up there in terms of our needs. They’re popular, and cheap for artefacts, and it would mean far more security as we roamed the wilds and the Depths both. I don’t want to burn through all of our coin, so I think it might be best to save until we can source a suitable armour set for me. The Serellian scale hasn’t been holding up all that well, for all its magic resistance is useful.” Kaius said after considering the issue. “Is there anything else you’ll need?”

Porkchop paused, his head cocking slightly as he thought on the question. “I don’t think so?” he said finally.

“Well, in that case, the only other things we have to do tomorrow is check out the Guild’s mission board and hope that the situation isn’t as dire for missions rated for a team of two as Ro made it sound. If it is…I guess we pay a visit to the caravaneers association and see if Ianmus has departed?” Kaius said. While he was not so selfish as to hope that the half-elf’s plans had been totally derailed, it would serve as an easy solution to the problem of their team size.

While he did not match up to them in strength, Ianmus was capable, and kept a cool head in combat. Plus, he was a solar mage, which was an affinity well renowned for its split between restorative effects, scorching spells, and healing abilities. A perfect backline for them.

Especially as he suspected the man to have a Rare class. If the man truly was valedictorian, he had most likely gained a handful of legacy skills, and might have had one or two more besides. That, plus the effort it would have taken to achieve that standing in the first place, was likely enough to do that much at least.

He could only hope that if they were in need of his assistance, Ianmus would be both available and amenable to delving work.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!