Nobody asked why neither of us had revealed our Titles, which was a relief. I told him how to make it visible and re-introduced him to Treesinger, reminding him about how we were taught not to brag about accomplishments. He looked very surprised and offered Joe a bow just like he had me.
“Shield McDougall, it is an honor. Your party is remarkable. Humans have impressed me very much so far.” He was shaking his head, causing his perfect blonde locks to swirl around like he was in a shampoo ad.
“Thanks,” said Joe awkwardly.
“Joe, Anthony and James gave us a huge advantage,” said Samantha. “Without them we’d probably be dead.”
This led into a discussion of why that was, which led to discussing video games and science fiction and fantasy. At some point, Mandy, Samantha and Mike went in to check on Sheila and the kids. That led to them going to dinner at the dining area, though Samantha and Mike said they’d be glad to come to the supper after they helped Sheila with the kids. Mandy didn’t seem interested, though she didn’t come right out and say it.
Franklin was going to go with them, but I convinced her she could come to supper as part of her supervising duties.
“How do you know we can eat the same food?” she asked.
“It will all be System-derived food,” said Treesinger with a smile. “Almost all sapient beings can eat similar foods under the System.”
I nodded. “It’s in the Guidebook, Deputy. I wish I could have bought you one. I would have if I’d known you were going to be on diplomat duty.” I was tempted to give her one of my spares but I wanted to hang onto them for a while longer.
About that time, Master Stonebender popped out of one of the cabins and wandered over. More introductions were made and Joe flushed dark red when Stonebender praised him for his Title, which apparently was one the dwarves found especially honorable.
“Lots of metal in this bunch,” said Stonebender, obviously enjoying Joe’s discomfort. “Looks like we picked a good spot after all, Treesinger.”
“Indeed,” said the elf. “Humans are much different than we were warned.”
“Don’t take us as normal,” I said. “Even for our country, we’re a small subculture. In other countries even fewer people would be this open to things like the System and real elves and dwarves.”
This led to more discussion of, well, nerd culture, role-playing games, and so forth. For whatever reason none of the other dwarves or elves came to participate, but Treesinger and Stonebender were both fascinated.
Apparently, System Starts only happened once every few generations, and up until now, as far as either of them knew no planet had weathered the transition as well as ours had. They knew that about half of us had died on Day One - and there were more regretful statements - but the people who’d arranged their immigration hadn’t been all that forthcoming with more details than we’d seen in the Announcements about the present state of Humanity.
And, speaking of, who were the people who’d arranged their immigration?
The Trade Centers, it seemed, weren’t just mysterious manifestations of the System. They were owned by groups that were amalgamations of things that, depending on the group, included guilds, noble families, and corporations. And they were most definitely not all owned or controlled by the same entities. Hence, the advertising on the books.
“The Trade Groups,” said Treesinger, using the general term for said groups, “compete with each other fiercely. When a new world undergoes a System Start, they bid for the right to place Trade Centers and gather materials. The massive influx of Mana from a System Start makes such worlds very valuable. New kinds of monsters and plants produce materials no one has ever seen before. New sapient beings added to the System create new ways to exploit Mana. Eventually the Mana evens out and the world is settled, though higher Mana areas usually remain very lightly populated and a source for high-end materials. But humanity has a much larger population, more survivors, and more technology than any System Start world I have ever heard of. I have no idea how that will affect things.”
“You won’t be settling our world,” said Deputy Franklin. “Humans don’t take kindly to invaders.”
“There’s plenty of wild land around here,” I said calmly. “Our new friends will be all right. But I agree that in more heavily populated areas, it might be different.”
“You have not seen truly powerful high-levelers,” said Treesinger. “If some of the richer Trade Groups decide to settle areas of Earth, I mean no insult when I say they will do as they please. The amount of Mana it takes to open the portals to place the Trade Centers is almost beyond comprehension. They will get a return on their investments.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” I said, trying to stop an argument. Franklin looked like she was about ready to challenge the Elf to a fistfight to determine whether or not Earth would back down, and a few of the rest of our party were looking upset. “But we won’t find out tonight. How’s that supper coming, Master Stonebender?”
“Bit longer, lad,” he said cheerfully. “But I think this might be a good time to break out the ale and introduce a few more of us.”
Joe and Anthony looked excited at the mention of dwarven ale, and though I didn’t drink much I had to admit I was curious as well. Stonebender bustled off and a few minutes later some of the adult dwarves came out of the cabins, bearing small kegs of, presumably, ale. They tapped the kegs and started filling ceramic tankards. Stonebender walked over to me with one in each hand.
“You may be the first human to ever drink real ale,” he said, handing me one with a huge grin. Once everybody had a beer, he raised his up. “To our first human friend, Adamant Erickson!”
I raised my tankard - which, fortunately, was more of a big glass with a handle to a human - and said, “To new friends!” Everyone drank with a cheer.
That was some strong stuff.
I was suddenly glad for my new Constitution. Though it didn’t taste half bad, maybe like a Guinness, only much richer. And way more alcoholic. The dwarves, male and female alike - no, the females did not have beards - tossed down their whole tankards. I just took the biggest drink I could manage and hoped it wasn’t rude not to finish it. Treesinger had taken a pretty moderate drink out of his and nobody seemed to mind.
Once the dwarves had refills, Stonebender said, “Before we eat, how about I show you what you asked for, lad?”
I looked at him with astonishment. “It’s done already?”
He just laughed. “It isn’t like you asked for anything complicated.”
“Well, then,” I said, suddenly excited, “Yes, please.”
Stonebender said something in that throat-aching language and one of the otherdwarves ducked into the largest cabin and popped right out again, holding a bag. They handed the bag to Stonebender and he waved me over.
“Here you are, lad. We may be miners but like I said, every dwarf knows their way around a tool or two.” He gave me the bag, which was a lot heavier than he made it look.
“Hey, Joe,” I said, “C’mere. Got something for you.” I opened the bag as Joe walked up, looking both confused and excited.