Chapter 34 : Tragic Backstories are required

The room they rented for them was modest, but it had four solid walls and an actual roof. A stone fireplace was built into the side of the wall with a massive chimney that swept all the smoke skyward. When Oz shamelessly peeked in before her bath, she saw a whirling fan within the chimney, sucking up the extra smoke to keep it from returning to the room. She poked at the small grates drilled into the fireplace walls, plenty of hooks that would support kettles, washing basins to simple bed warming stones that would keep sleeper's toes toasty warm.

There was only one bed across from the fire, leaving enough space for one of the low tables atop a thick monster's pelt. It was hard the size of the mattress to tell due to the amount of furs and blankets thrown atop it. Despite the warmth from the fire, it was still uncomfortably cold for Oz's unadapted human body. 

"Are you sure this is okay? I could easily go back with the others. I hate for you guys to waste money." Oz said, her teeth chattering as Selene frantically helped her dry off by the fireplace. The towels were rough and scratchy, thick fibers that hungrily absorbed any lingering water from her skin.

"Nonsense Saint. You need to rest somewhere warm tonight. Everyone agreed you should stay in the city before we leave. The hunting party have taken up their own rooms or returned to the huts tonight. Right, brother?" Selene spoke with a smile, her own hair pulled into a messy bun with just the tips of her bangs still damp yet unbothered by the cold. Oz peered over to where Nahern sat, cross legged with his back to both the fire and them. The prince had the day's spoils before him, piles of leather bags full of sparkling powders, stones, and a substance that reminded her of wet sand. When Selene pushed her right to the shared bathroom, Nahern immediately started sorting out his purchases.

"Still…" Oz sighed as she shook her hair out. A few droplets still lingered. Instead of allowing Selene to return with the scratchy towel, she ran her hands through her hair. The warmth of mana through her veins allowed her to warm the air just enough to act as a hair dryer. She finger combed her hair into a sleeping braid as Selene helped tie up the borrowed sleeping shift. 

Nahern peered over his shoulder, "Good you're decent."

Oz stuck her tongue out at him before sitting across from the elf, purposely keeping her face to the fire. She could always blame her warmed cheeks on the heat and not her confused emotions. 

"Did you get what you needed today?" Oz asked, casually picking up one of the mugs on the table. Nahern made himself quite comfortable with her inventory, already brewing a perfect pot of lemony tea from the storage. She tasted a hint of honey and a flowery afternote she wasn't used to. Peering into the cup, she couldn't help but use it as an excuse to look at the source of her confusion. Gone was Nahern's usual tunic or princely cloak, he simply wore his loose undershirt unlaced and what appeared to be half pants that left his scarred calves exposed to the air. Seeing his well defined muscles, pectorals and the deep groove of his collarbones shadowed by the flickering fireplace made Oz quick to gulp down the hot tea.

'What is going on with me! I've never been attracted to anyone in my life.' Oz mentally panicked.

It was true. It was a well known fact that some hunters developed apathetic natures to dampen the mental strain caused by their lives. It wasn't entirely common, but not so uncommon it was unheard of. Oz was one of the unlucky few that had hunter's apathy, which was perhaps why she survived the hateful life of her step-family.

It would do her no good raging out and giving into her more murderous instincts when she could easily overpower a normal human man. Instead the apathy allowed her to keep a cold composure in the face of high strain. Sadly this also added to one's sexual drive. Since hunters awoke through some mysterious way and not through genetics, being sexually active had no reasonable use in a hunter's life. 

Still, looking at Nahern made odd feelings churn in her stomach. Perhaps it was simply due to all the changes in her life. The longer hair, sharper sight, the …ears. 

Oz reached up to her longer ears, pinching a tip in annoyance. Why were her ears longer now! Not nearly as long as the ice elves', the tips nearly reached their shoulders. Almost like a cat's whiskers they moved and wriggled like sensory organs. Her new ears were only pinched at the tips now, tiny and pixie like. But she was worried, if they would grow more, what would she do?

"Nahern?"

Nahern peered up from his own drink and sighed, "Enough to start. Fix yourself, you look like a child who dressed themselves for the first time." He grumbled at her, another flush to his eartips. 

"Hey your sister dressed me in this, it isn't my fault our sizes don't match up." Oz grumbled right back at him. "I'm decent enough. I can take it off and have my tits out." 

Selene slapped Nahern right up the back of his head, enough he let out a shrill sounding curse. He grabbed the back of his head and glared at his sister, who glared back at him with a snarl to her lips. They traded glares before sighing, Nahern grumbling softly as he looked back.

"No, please. Keep your…tits…covered." He sighed. "I am simply just tired."

"So what did you buy anyway?" Oz peered at the number of leather bags. She gave Selene a thankful nod as the younger elf sat down across from her brother. 

"Fertilizer, ground softener, soil refreshers." He pointed to the bags in turn. "Enough for a few plots but not enough for a proper farm. We need plenty more, more than the markets would sell without someone being inspected."

"Are farms a problem enough for that?"

Nahern nodded, "I'm sure you noticed Saint but this is a tundra."

"Really? No. I never noticed." Oz deadpanned. 

He glared for a moment before coughing. "As I was saying before I was stupidly interrupted. We live in a tundra, the growing seasons are quite short. A few months at best, a week for a few of our more exotic plants. Enough so that the largest farms are controlled by the royal family." 

"Your Uncle?"

Nahern's lip snarled up, "That damn snink of an elf. Hoarding everything to be rationed at his leisure." 

Oz hated how her mind kept whirling, "Perhaps that's why those other settlements teamed up with those mercenaries." She said softly. "They had crates of ready to go meals and grain. We were wondering why they had them…they were trading food."

Nahern's fist tightened around the mug till she worried the clay might shatter. "That skink has doomed our people due to his damnable greed." He growled, running his hand through his loose hair. Selene frowned, "Uncle will pay for his sins, soon brother. Thanks to the Saint we can take his source of power."

"Excuse me, what now?"

"Our Uncle controls a dungeon within a day's march of here." She traced a map out on the low table. "Perhaps the most dangerous dungeon of our world. The Everthorn Mine."

Just as she said those words, Source's box appeared before Oz. The table was covered in the topographical map of shimmering blue and white lights, showing a 100 mile radius of their location. Both siblings stared in awe, both amazed as they touched the shimmering lights.

Oz frowned, she hadn't summoned Source directly.

[Location of Everthorn Mine marked.]

The map zoomed in on a mountain range to the south of the capital, a glowing waypoint atop one of the mines. Oz ran her hand over the glowing lights, zooming in with a pinch of her fingers. Details came into focus, the lines took on the shapes of soaring mountain tops and the deep valleys.

Nahern sucked in a breath, "The Sight of the Dragon, it truly exists. Yes, that is the dungeon controlled by the royal family. Our greatest treasure of all."" 

Oz stared at him for a moment, "Still getting used to this but I think so. So what is it? Gold? Gemstones? Some sort of magical crystal?"

"More precious than all that. Salt." Selene said softly. The hunter stared at the siblings in confusion then eyed the dungeon again. 

"Salt huh?" Oz said, rubbing her ear in worry. Her eyes drifted to the private Source menu that appeared in the line of her eyesight.

[Perhaps overlooked, but worth more than its weight in gold was salt. A simple compound of sodium chloride. Most if not all required a small amount of sodium to conduct nerve impulses, contract and relax muscles, and maintain the proper balance of water and minerals.]

[Even across the dungeon linked worlds, salt was a precious mineral. Wars were waged over much less. Not only due to the biologically needed reaction, salt was crucial in making food taste worth eating. Spices and herbs kept diets fresh and exciting, as well as an immune boost. Salt and sugar added flavor, as well allowed meats to be cured. Preserving the needed proteins for the long winter months.]