C’mon izix, give us moar Ilis!

Author's note: It's been a year (and 2 days) since I started out being published, my friends. It's already been a goddamn year. How time flies. We are exactly 101 chapters in, all of them published in that one little year. I wanted to say thank you, to you, my readers, my patreons that keep giving me money for doing something I love, and to Des, who started the story and to Dra, who keeps my chapters mostly error free. Let us raise a glass, and have some fun, good things are coming in the near future my friends! On to another year!

Twenty minutes later John and Cynthia arrived at the bar that doubled as an entrance to the dwarven bar where Ilis had her workshop. “And so, Dad wants to meet you one of these days. I hope you don’t mind,” John finished telling her an anecdote about his ‘normal’ life.

“I mean, sure! You met mine. I bet he’s a nice man. He raised you, after all, my sweet geek.” Cynthia winked as they, hand in hand, entered the barrier and found themselves in the Dwarven Vault

They walked past a few tables, the small wooden things surrounded by short folk, just like last time they were playing cards, drinking and talking. After moving past a few of the tables, John spotted Ilis walking away from the bar with a couple of cans in her hands.

“Ilis!” John called after her, causing the small, stacked blonde to turn around and grin.

“John! John’s girlfriend! Come, follow me,” the dwarfette half ordered with a shrug of her shoulder.

Cynthia and John took a few big steps to walk next to her and off they went.

“It’s Cynthia, Cynthia Doukas. You know my parents better, I think, Miranda and Arnold?”

“Aaah, right. I’m sorry for forgetting your name, I know John’s because of Lord Hemet, but yours I heard once and, well, I am not always as clear on those,” Ilis said apologetically as she held out two of the three cans she was carrying. “I was grabbing a few drinks for us, decided to pay off my tab and all that,” Ilis explained.

John inspected the can he was given and it seemed to be old fashioned Doctor Pepper, something that struck John as funny. He wasn’t sure why, but it humored him that the bar served such a normal drink.

The hunter duo, still dressed in their civvies, followed Ilis to her workshop. To John’s surprise, most of the scrap metal bins and the shelves were empty, a few large suitcases stood next to the door while a few more machines were placed here and there. It looked like Ilis was in the middle of cleaning up.

The small busty girl gestured at the large desk in the middle of the room; a sharp looking dagger was put on a small pedestal, missing only one part. The handle. “Have a seat, John, Cynthia.” She looked smug that she managed to remember the name this time.

“First of, your dagger. It’s almost complete. All it needs is the grip. And that is one of the two reasons I brought you here. I think that, if you are going to be using equipment, you should at least be involved in the production of it. Your powers help you with that too. I have been digging through my books and I think I might actually have something that will help you along.” Ilis produced a book called: “Carving, from runes to sculptures” and placed it in front of John. “Uncle Fred told me that you need to practice to learn a new skill. Maybe if you study the techniques you can learn it faster? Might be worth a try, right?”

John’s eyes sparkled as he was basically given free knowledge here. “Thank you, Ilis, really. For the dagger and the book. I’ll get right to it,” he nodded excitedly.

“Hold on. First, I want to discuss the other reason I texted you. And Cynthia, this might be fun for you too. Hemet made an agreement with Artemis. I am going to be moving into the camp, getting my own room in Uncle Fred’s smithy. So I, ehm, well I cancelled my lease and I hoped you two would help me move in an hour or two, when you are done of course.”

Cynthia looked at John who grinned and looked back. “Looks like you will be getting your wish, babe,” John whispered as he kissed her cheek. He then turned to Ilis and gave a resolute nod. “Of course we’ll help you. Cynthia has the hunter’s car out front. We can help you make a few trips and put your suitcases in the car, right, cinnabun?”

Cynthia gave the suitcases a pensive look, doing some calculations in her mind. “Yeah, should fit. I take it all of the stuff around here fit in there?” she asked the dwarf, gesturing at the suitcases near the door.

“About right, yes. I have a few things that we might have to come back for, a bit too big to fit in my suitcase, special machinery, doesn’t play well with spatial enchantments. But, that should be manageable.”

“Well, we will see that when we get to it,” Cynthia said as she nodded.

“Then, how about we have a toast? To a new camp mate, and to new friends?” John asked as he opened his can, Cyn following suit as Ilis smiled gratefully.

“I would like that. John, Cynthia, here is to a fruitful working relationship.” Ilis raised her can, climbing onto the table to actually be able to tap their cans with her own much to the hilarity of Cynthia who was trying her hardest to keep her face straight.

“To a fruitful relationship,” John said with a smile, intentionally leaving the word working out of it which netted him a squeeze to his groin from Cynthia.

“To new friends,” Cynthia added finally. Each of them took a sip and laughed.

“So, Ilis, not to be impatient or anything but I have always had a fascination with carving and the magic associated with it, do you mind if I, you know, get reading?”

Ilis took another sip of the fizzy beverage before she jumped down from the table and looked around a little puzzled. “Of course, now where did I put this… Ah right.” She eyed one of the closets nearby and walked over quickly. She opened a drawer and pulled out a short knife with a simple wooden handle. Then from a pile of wooden scraps, she grabbed a few uneven pieces and, with them in her hands, walked back to the table.

She deposited all of it in front of John, then pulled two pieces of black wood out of one of her pockets. “The black pieces are sawed into shape for your handle. I’d recommend that you try out some of the things on the smaller pieces, then, when you managed to get your skill, set to work on carving your handle.” She then held up the knife. “Carving knife, sorry to say that it’s shite quality, I once got it when buying some toolbox, but I think it should suffice for a beginner.”

“Awesome, thank you so much, you and Hemet are way too good to me,” John replied enthusiastically. John took the knife in his hand, getting a feel for it first, then he opened the book and within moments he was enthralled in its contents.

Ilis and Cynthia talked a bit to the side, emptying their cans before Ilis, a little awkwardly, asked Cyntia.

“So, ehm, Cynthia, I kinda want to ask you a favor. John will be busy for a bit, and well, I could use your help with something.”

Cynthia, not being one to enjoy sitting down and just staring at John reading, nodded without a second doubt. “Sure! I think it will give us time to get to know each other a bit better. You will be part of the camp after all.”

“Thank you! How about we go to the other room, let John work in peace?” Ilis proposed as she crushed her can and tossed it in the direction of one of the machines; a small bubble formed around the crushed can and deposited it in the trash on the other side of the room.

Cynthia got up, patted John’s shoulder and followed the blonde shortstack to an adjacent room. Ilis closed the door after both of them entered.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Cynthia asked curiously, looking around the room that was quite a bit cleaner than the previous one.