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The large puppet nodded at the first part but was visibly surprised upon hearing their purpose.

"Life clusters? Can’t you get them from the Mystic Blood Clan? We learned how to make them from them in the first place."

"About that... they disappeared around the same time you did. At least during the time Orna was sleeping."

"He was asleep the whole time?!" The puppet’s voice rang with clear anger. "We all thought he was dead! Fuck!"

The puppet began cursing again, clearly having a short temper after years of isolation, or maybe it had always had a bad temper. Either way, Sol had to wait for it to calm down once more. After a minute, it let out a long sigh and returned to the matter at hand.

"Fine, I should explain my people’s story first. Come, follow me, we can speak in my workshop. Ah, but before we go, give me a moment."

Sol nodded as he watched the large puppet approach the remains of the Chosen Slayer. Through one of the many openings in its outer armor, it reached inside, rummaging around for something. While the puppet searched, Sol reached for his communication gem and tried to contact Lapis. When he didn’t get a response, he called Nataly, who responded instantly.

"Captain! You’re alive!"

"You thought I died? Haha, no, I’m fine." Sol chuckled, reassuring her. But if she could see his current bloody, wounded appearance, she would certainly believe he was on the verge of death, and if it were anyone else, she’d probably be right. Sol’s high vitality and recovery allowed him to continue as normal, though he did feel a constant sting from his rapidly closing wounds.

He continued, "I tried to call Lapis, but she didn’t respond. Is she alright?"

Nataly hummed in confirmation. "Yeah, let me ask her. Lapis! Sol called you."

Sol soon heard Lapis’ voice from the gem. "What’s up?"

"What’s up? Where’s your communication gem? I tried to reach you."

It might not seem like a big issue, but if Sol had been in danger or needed to reach her in an emergency, the lack of response could have been a serious problem.

"Oh, it’s in my spatial ring. I put it there so it wouldn’t weigh me down."

"Huh? It barely weighs anything..."

He didn’t even know how to respond to such a statement. Sure, it could be tedious to carry around but it barely weighed anything. The only issue that could arise from having it in ones pocket instead of their spatial ring was the risk of it breaking during battle, but when she was clearly not fighting it had no reason to be in her ring. He was about to explain the issues to Lapis but paused and shook his head.

"You know what, never mind, we’ll talk about this later. Where are you and the away team?"

As he spoke, Sol noticed the puppet struggling to pull something large from the Chosen Slayer. He sent two magic hands to help out while continuing his conversation.

Lapis replied, "We retreated to the base camp. Should we come back?"

Sol thought about it for a moment, then decided against it. "No, stay there for now. I found someone I can talk to, and hopefully, I’ll get some answers. Check with Rex and Duncan to see if either of them need help."

"Okay."

Sol bade farewell and turned off the communication gem before pocketing it. By then, the puppet was walking back toward him, with his magic hands carrying what appeared to be a large blue metal block.

The puppet nodded appreciatively. "Thanks, my limbs have deteriorated a bit. I need to change them out for new ones. Come, follow me."

Sol followed the puppet through the massive corridors of the castle. After passing through over a hundred doorways, they arrived at its workshop. The workshop was unlike anything Sol had ever seen, filled with tools from all crafting professions and more. Metalworking dominated the space, but there were also tools for artificers, weaving, alchemy, and rune smithing. Among the various objects were consoles with levers and buttons, claw-like metal limbs hanging from the ceiling, and a capsule filled with dark blue liquid.

"Insert that in the core receptor station over there." The puppet said, heading to one of the consoles.

"Umm... where?" Sol looked around, unsure of what it was referring to.

"... Put it in the cube shaped hole in the wall."

With simpler directions, Sol found the hole in the wall and placed the metal block inside. It began to glow as the puppet worked at the console, pressing a button.

"Alright. Now we just have to wait for the results. While it’s working, how about I tell you what happened to my people?"

Sol nodded and sat on one of the empty tables, as there were no chairs in the room.

The puppet remained standing, as it had no need for rest, and began its story. "My people, the Azrem Dwarves, have a long history, long before we made the Orna Mountains our home. We used to live on the surface, but there were constant wars, waged by both gods and mortals, all in a bid for power. Our king at the time, Greyber Durenmade, grew tired of the endless fighting and the pressure to create weapons for powerful forces. He sought a solution. I’m not sure how he did it, as this was before I was born, but it ended with him making a deal with the God of Dragons, Orna, who offered us his protection in exchange for life clusters."

The puppet reached into a drawer and pulled out a dull pink crystal, showing it to Sol.

"It’s deteriorated, but this is what you’re after, right?"

[Life Cluster

Unique

Quality: Bad

Effect: Upon consumption, it reinvigorates the consumer with dense life essence. Permanently increases vitality by 2, with diminishing effects if continually consumed. Temporarily greatly boosts health, spiritual, and mental recovery.]

Even though the life cluster was of poor quality, reading its description made it clear to Sol why Orna would want it.