Reincarnated as a Dwarf

First classes

At the end of the break time, Elder Rongrim stood to address the class. “Break time is over. Follow the assistant teacher to your next class. Physical Education and Combat Training.”

One of the students from the scholar clan raised his hand. “Honored Elder, why is combat training necessary for those who aren’t part of the warrior clan?” 

Elder Rongrim glared sharply at the student for a minute before replying in a low growl. “When goblins tunnel through the city floors, or humans attack the walls with towers and battering rams, will you join your fellow dwarves in defending your family? Or will you cower under your desk like a weak beardless halfling?”

More than a little intimidated by the Elder’s answer, and embarrassed by his friend's teasing looks, the student withdrew the question and followed the group in cowed silence to the training room. 

The classroom we were taken to, resembled the training area from the youth center, with both practice and regular weapons of all shapes and sizes lining the walls, and shields ranging in weight, from usable to absurdly heavy, were stacked in the corner. 

Our teacher for this class was barely old enough to be called an Elder. His beard was still mostly black with just a sprinkling of gray hairs. He also appeared to be much more fit than any Elder I’d seen so far with bulging muscles that could be outlined through his clothes, but what really caught your attention were his eyes. They were cold and calculating, seemingly evaluating how much of a danger each one of us presented in the blink of an eye, and the fastest way to kill us. 

“Greetings, young recruits. I am Elder Dworhick Stoneshield of the warrior clan. In this classroom you will be taught how to hold the line of the defense, even when confronted with hulking monsters many times your size. You will be taught how to fight, how to kill the enemy trying to kill you, and how to stay calm, even when your comrades die beside you. But remember this always, dwarven blood is precious, and not to be wasted in fights that you cannot win.”

Elder Dworhick’s introduction was given in a challenging tone, just waiting for a student to speak out of line. But his voice remained as cold as his eyes. He assessed the threat of each student with a single glance, and dismissed each of them as harmless. 

“Just like in Elder Rongrim’s class, you will introduce yourselves. But after providing your name and clan, you will then use your hammer and take a single swing at me so that I can assess your abilities.” 

The Elder’s statement caught all of us students off guard. So far we had only used practice hammers and weapons at the youth center for training, using the hammers we used for work or ceremonial greetings felt dangerous to us. Elder Dworhick just scoffed at our hesitant and questioning side glances.

“I’ve taken blows from goblins, trolls, human champions and giants. Beardless children are of no danger to me. So give me your best blow! Starting with you.” Elder Dworhick pointed at one of the students on one side of the room with his hammer, and the introductions began.

As per his instructions, after giving their name and clan, and presenting him with a gift, each student took their hammer that was normally used only for the traditional greetings and swung at the Elder. He took each blow on his shield and grunted notes on the students strength to an assistant who took notes for later. 

When it was Bekhi’s turn, she delivered a blow that caused Elder Dworhick’s brow to twitch in surprise. “Well done for a surface dwarf. I am starting to understand your admittance to this school a bit more. I look forward to seeing what you can do after a decade of my tutelage, Bekhi Mubrimssdottir.” 

Bekhi bowed respectfully, but I could see that she was still annoyed at the label of surface dwarf. Although it was clear that the Elder didn’t seem to mean it with disrespect in mind. 

After giving my own greeting, I swung my hammer with all the strength I had accumulated over years of working at the forge. It did not provoke the same reaction from the Elder though. 

“Kvalinn Ekgorsson. You are slightly stronger than your peers, but attack like you are in front of your anvil. Your opponent will not patiently stand still while waiting for you to strike. You need to learn flexibility.”

As I returned to the group, Bekhi leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I can teach you how to fight if you want.” I grinned in acceptance, but before I could thank her, she shyly continued. “But only if you make the weapons for the fight. I bet if you custom make each weapon for me, I’ll be able to fight better than ever!”

Once the introductions were over. Elder Dworhick gave us some time for lunch before ending the school day. Since we were just first year students, our education was going to be very basic, and all the advanced classes would only become available once we were fifth years, or ten years old. 

Over lunch I chatted with Bekhi about her hometown, much to Zikruk’s annoyance and dismay. He was still doing his best to give her the cold shoulder and was trying to convince me to do the same, just because she was a ‘surface dwarf’. 

“So, Bekhi. What’s it like living on the surface? Do you have any machinery to help you survive up there?” I was hoping that there might be something technologically advanced on the surface of this world to satisfy my tech cravings. Heck, at this point I would have settled for a simple Franklin Stove. 

“Machinery?” Bekhi cocked her head at the unfamiliar word, and unintentionally dashed my hopes to pieces. “I’m not sure what you mean by that, since none of the engineers guild lives in Vesturhildrun. But life up there is very fun. My mom makes delicious foods from fresh meats and produce from the fields, and my dad goes out hunting for monsters to keep the town safe. He taught me everything I know about fighting!”

Bekhi then launched into long and slightly rambling tales about her life and family. They were more than a little childish, but considering we were both five that was understandable. It was still nice to hear that this world had a sun that shone brightly over fields of dark green grass, with normal sounding streams and trees. Although she did mention several monsters that sounded both dangerous and very unpleasant that only existed above the surface. 

After a very fun and enjoyable lunch of chatting, Elders Rongrim and Dworhick dismissed the students and sent most of them home. The ones who had messed up their greetings or had given inferior work to the Elders were taken charge of by Elder Dworhick. As for myself, Elder Rongrim bellowed out to me.

“Kvalinn Ekgorsson! Follow me.” I had to half jog to keep up with the Elder’s rapid pace as he led me through several halls lined with classrooms full of older students working with their teachers. “Several of the Elders are still teaching their classes, and since you are the most exciting thing to occur in this town for centuries they all want to see you at work. So we will be waiting in the staff break room until they are finished. I’ll continue to assist you to memorize the forge song until then.”

Eventually we reached what Elder Rongrim had called a ‘staff break room,’ although to me it looked more like a feast hall. With giant casks of ale lining the walls, and a long table piled high with empty plates from this morning that servants were still cleaning up despite it being after lunch time. 

We found a clean portion of table and Elder Rongrim produced the parchment with the forge song from a metal case. The next several hours were spent in mind numbing memorization of the minutiae involved in crafting a rune of sharpness. 

“Elder Rongrim.” A loud voice called out from the entrance. Turning to see who it was, I saw a dwarf who must have been older than Elder Rongrim by several centuries judging by the beard length and thickness, but was somehow more sprightly and alive. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I was helping my latest assistant get to the physicians hall.”

“Greetings Elder Thrikrondromm.” Elder Rongrim got up and bowed politely. “Is the student alright? If this keeps up, then the Thane may be forced to cancel your class due to lack of participants.”

“It’s just a simple fractured wrist, and not even on his primary hand.” Elder Thrikrondromm remarked dismissively. “Hogrid should be able to return to classes tomorrow.”

Elder Thrikrondromm then caught sight of me respectfully bowing and partially hiding behind Elder Rongrim. “Is that the youth who managed to create the new magic rune?”

Moving to the side to fully reveal me, Elder Rongrim nodded and pushed me forward to introduce myself. I was more than a little nervous about meeting a dwarf who was so old and respected that even the Elders bowed before him, but there was no escape for me. 

I took out my hammer to give the traditional greeting. “Greetings honored Elder. I am Kvalinn Ekgorsson of the weapon clan. May the ancestors see fit to bless our meeting today.”

“Hmph, this generation of students is polite so far. Elder Rongrim, is he ready to attempt crafting the rune?” Elder Thrikrondromm only acknowledged my greeting with a dismissive grunt. As a beardless child, that was more attention than would normally be paid to me by an Elder of his age and distinction, so I wasn’t offended by him ignoring me.

Hopefully I never accidentally offend him. He looks strong enough to flip this stone table and walk away with it.

“Yes, Elder Thrikrondromm. I believe Kvalinn has the forge song memorized, however, since a youth of his age has never been asked to craft a rune before I cannot say if he will be successful.” 

“He better be.” Elder Thrikrondromm grumbled. “Nearly every teacher will be attending the rune crafting, and if he fails, all the Elders here will hold a grudge against him for wasting their time.” 

The two Elders then began discussing school matters, leaving me to continue memorizing the verses. After hearing what the Elders expected of me, I worked with renewed vigor to make sure I didn’t mess this up. Having all my teachers hold a grudge against me for the next ten years did not sound like the best school experience, so I was going to do my best to avoid that fate. 

Over the next few hours, the rest of the teachers of the school entered the break room in groups or one by one, bowing respectfully to Elder Thrikrondromm before joining the conversation. So far as I could tell, he was the oldest dwarf in the school and highest on the pecking order among the teachers. 

Eventually Elder Dworhick entered the break room, and since he was the last teacher who would be attending, Elder Rongrim banged his beer mug on the table to attract everyone's attention.

“Elder Dworhick, will any other Elders be attending?” When the muscular Elder silently shook his head, he continued. “Very well. If everyone would follow me to the rune forge. Kvalinn, come over here.”

I quickly ducked between the Elders, and after dodging beards and beer bellies bigger than I was, I managed to make it to the side of Elder Rongrim. Once he confirmed I was next to him, he began walking through the hallways and down several flights of steps. 

With each flight of stairs we went down, the temperature got hotter and the amount of doors lining the halls grew fewer. Until we finally reached a large door with several warnings to not enter, both written and drawn out in elaborate pictograms. 

Skull and crossbones? Seriously? And another picture warnimg with someone on fire. I wonder what they're keeping in here. 

Elder Thrikrondromm took a large key that looked like silver but seemed to gleam in the dull light out from beneath his beard and opened the door. All of us were assaulted by a wave of heat, like a broiling oven had just been opened. If I had still been human then I probably would have sustained first degree burns from the hot air alone.

“Follow me, lad.” Elder Thrikrondromm took the lead into the room, and several of the Elders followed behind us. Those unable or unwilling to withstand the heat waited just outside the door.

The room we entered was similar to the forge waiting for me at home, with a variety of tools hanging on the wall and heaps of fuel in the corner. The main difference though was that there was no fireplace for melting the iron, and the anvil rested on a platform above a giant fire pit that was the source of the heat. 

“Welcome to the rune forge, Kvalinn.” Elder Thrikrondromm proudly stated. “It is the finest one in the mountain of Einangrad. It’s where I craft the powerful runes for Kings and Thanes to defend our homes from both goblin and man. Since you were able to craft that rune of beer with a simple anvil at the youth center, I’m curious to see what you can do with an anvil specifically made for crafting runes. May the ancestors smile upon your efforts.”

After handing me the dagger that I had presented to Elder Rongrim earlier today, Elder Thrikrondromm moved to the side. A couple teaching assistants then entered, one started shoveling fuel, while the other started pumping the bellows, further increasing the already hellish heat in the room. 

When the ambient temperature in the room was at least a hundred and fifty degrees, and the anvil above the fire was glowing red, Elder Thrikrondromm told me to begin. 

Taking a deep breath, I made my way up the stairs to the platform above the fire pit, and started singing the rune song I had learned. It was a bit difficult, maintaining my breathing, keeping the beat with my hammer, and singing the song, all while attempting to survive the inferno below me and ignoring the dozens of Elders staring at me. But I somehow managed it, and to ensure that the rune was created successfully I pushed in quite a bit of magic from my rune of forging. 

With the final hammer blow to the knife, I felt the usual burning sensation along the rune lines on my hand and my magic forced itself into the blade. A rune that I had learned today was the Rune of Sharpness, carved itself into the hot metal. 

Quenching the blade in water, I bowed and handed it over to Elder Thrikrondromm, then I stumbled and nearly collapsed from exhaustion before Elder Rongrim caught me. 

“Well done, Kvalinn. Few children your age would be even able to survive up there, let alone work on a weapon.” Elder Rongrim then handed me to one of the Elders who gave me a cup of cold water. Looking at the bottom of the mug, I saw a rune was keeping the beverage cool. 

Wait, does this mean I can use runes to make my tech dreams come true? Can I make a minifridge and an elecric stove with rune power? 

Elder Thrikrondromm spent several minutes examining the blade with a pair of runed spectacles before mumbling some instructions to an assistant. He then spoke to the Elders. “The blade definitely has magic runes inscribed. However we still need to determine its power and abilities. Elder Dworhick, as the youngest among us, you will be the one to test the knife.”

A few minutes later, the assistant who had left, returned with several other assistants carrying test dummies and extremely large and heavy shields. These shields weren’t ones you would fight with, but resembled blast shields that the bomb squad would use. 

The test dummies were arranged in the forge room, then the assistants hastily retreated up the stairs, while the Elders formed a shield wall at the doorway. Leaving only a few small cracks between the shields for them to peek through. 

Taking a deep breath, Elder Dworhick flexed his fingers around the knife handle before swinging it experimentally a few times. Seemingly satisfied with the feel of the weapon, he began testing it on test dummies who were wearing armor made of different materials. Leather, bone, iron, and steel were all effortlessly pierced, but it failed to scratch the mithril and runed steel armor. 

Once the tests were concluded and the dagger placed in a specially made sheath, Elder Thrikrondromm addressed the Elders in a grave and solemn voice.

“Today, we have witnessed the unthinkable. A young boy, barely past his fifth winter, was able to create a runed weapon. Such a feat has never occurred during my thousand years of life, and I suspect that it has not been done since the gods first forged our ancestors from iron and molten stone. If Kvalinn can do so much at such a young age, then it is our duty to teach him to the best of our abilities so that when the time comes for him to craft celestial grade weapons, he will survive the encounters with the gods.”

There was a series of approving murmurs of agreement from the Elders, interspersed with promises to personally train me if I entered their class. Evidently I had made a good impression on the teachers.

Elder Thrikrondromm turned to me with scrutinizing eyes. “Kvalinn Ekgorsson. Study hard with Elder Rongrim to learn your runes, and once you can read and write in the language handed down to us by the gods, come to my class and I’ll begin teaching you rune crafting several centuries before your apprenticeship would normally begin.”