Chapter 13: A Salty Balin

Chapter 13: A Salty Balin

I yawned and stretched; my arms still sore after yesterday’s intense dive. I turned to my bunk mate and called out. “Mornin! Time ta wake up!” A groan was the only reply as I jumped out of bed and shook myself awake. “Rise and shine! Today’s tha day!” I pulled on my clothes as Balin levered himself out of his bunk bed. Our small tent and bunk bed combo smelled faintly of bad B.O. and vomit. A collection of cloves and fruit in the corner were a gift from Bran after I’d bribed him with a recipe for spiced tarts. The makeshift potpourri only partially helped.

“Yer too damn chippy in tha morning Pete.” Ballin blinked crusty red eyes. “It’s barely tha break o’ day! I dunno how ya roped me inta this.”

I went to the small basin, filled it with water and began combing my beard. “Because Annie got out five months ago and yer desperate. How ya doin?” There had been another Blessing party last night with a plain old cake, this time for a miner named Drawl. I didn’t really know Drawl since I’ve been so busy with ‘The Project’.

“I’m fine. Jus’ give me a moment.”

“Well good morning Fine, I’m Peter, nice ta meet ya!” I gave Balin a chipper grin as I brushed in the last of the beard oil.

“Solen's socks Pete, even after seven months I barely understand ya.” Balin lumbered over and washed his face in the basin.

“Especially this Barck-brained scheme of yers. I still don’t understand what we’re doin.

“You’ll see today.” I pulled on my boots and squared my shoulders. “Meet you at the pens!” Time to see if the last seven months were worth it! As I stepped out of the cabin into the eternal twilight of Minnova I gave my status a glance.

Status: Provided by the Firmament Name: Peter Phillips Samson Age: 48

Conditions: None

Race: Dwarf Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

Blessings: [Strength of All: Self], [Strength of All: Held]

Titles: None

Milestones: [Outworlder], [Power Pick]

Strength 15.1

Vitality 15

Agility 11

Dexterity 11

Wisdom 12

Intelligence 12

Perception 13

Charisma 10

Quest Complete: A Friend in Need You did it! Good job!

Gained: 0.1 Strength

I checked the trough and it was gently steaming with a white crust on top. It looked ready to go! The mixture needed about 7 months or so to ‘ripen’ and we’d been out here weekly or daily mixing and observing. While there was a massive amount of goat-shit here it wasn’t actually going to provide too much saltpeter. Thankfully I only needed to do this once.... I hoped. Balin arrived at this moment with gumboots and a clothespin over his nose.

“Do you have the gloves?” I asked.

“Aye.” He passed me some heavy gloves. Our next few steps were pretty dangerous so we needed to be careful.

Balin and I began to shovel the white crusty top of the trough into a spigotted barrel. It held a good amount, and was only about half full after we were done. We added a bit of straw and then began to fill the barrel with water. Balin and I took turns stirring for the next few hours as other dwarves came and went to the mine, giving us strange looks. They could laugh all they wanted now; soon we’d be unveiling a revolution in mining technology! Eventually we turned the tap and emptied the barrel into a large metal pan which we placed on a fire.

Boil and filter. Boil and filter. Boil and filter. Eventually the only thing left was a clear fluid filled with crystals.

That was when the blue box appeared again.

Through hard work and dedication you have brought forth a hidden material and caught the attention of Tiara! She wishes to grant you her Blessing! If you accept you will receive a title!

Do you accept?

Yes/No

I mentally clicked on ‘No’ and the feeling passed, but Balin began to glow. He closed his eyes, and a feeling of ecstasy passed over his face. He opened his eyes and stared at me.

“Peter! We did it! I got a Blessin for it!”

“Congratulations!” We danced and hugged for a moment before we broke apart in disgust. Both of us were covered in feces and reeked. “We did! It’s not perfect, but it will hopefully be good enough for the next steps!” We danced for joy; seven months of raking through goat poop, and we had been suitably rewarded!

“So, what is this stuff, what did ya call it? Salty Peter? Why’s it named after you, couldn’t we call it Saltbalin?” We both paused and considered that before we shuddered. “Mebbe not.”

“Yup! It’s also called Potassium Nitrate!” I smiled at the result of our months of hard work: A collection of white crystals in a metal pan.

“Ah, Potassium Nitrate! Right right. Wait....” Balin’s eyes grew clouded, and he grabbed my shoulder. “Didja say Potassium Nitrate?” His grip tightened, a far off look in his eyes.

“Yeah? What’s up Balin, that hurts!”

“Follow me, Pete.”

Balin led me a little-ways away from the camp, closer towards the side of the cavern wall. There was a large cave mouth there that was separate from the main mine. He led me inside and we activated the solstones on our ever-present mining helmets. The inside of the cave was FILLED with a white powdery substance on the floors and walls.

“Wow! A saltpeter mine! I can’t believe this is here!” I gaped as I looked around, if there was this much potassium nitrate, we’d be fine for years! We didn’t need to do that stupid trench anymore!

We...

Didn’t...

Need...

I turned to look at Balin, who was advancing on me with murder in his eyes.

“What’s wrong? Are ya... Salty, Balin?” I gulped. Then I ran; eleven agility, don’t fail me now!