"Mrr. What are you working on, Mochi?" I grimaced at the purring voice coming from the stone rafters of my room. It had been two years since we had met, and the catgirl still couldn't get my name right. "Is it something yummy? Something that's food?"
"For the hundredth time." I grumbled. "My name is Mogrim, not Mochi."
"Mrow, but Mochi's cute. Calling you Mogrim makes you sound boring and dull" The catgirl, now twelve years old, leaped down and landed on the floor on feather feet. "So what are you working on?"
My project wouldn't be making any headway while the blond girl was purring on my shoulder, so I put it down to glare into her innocent amber eyes. "It's a new battery model. I've been using a small mithril plate wrapped in copper wire to store mana power, but since I haven't been able to obtain more mithril since then, I've been limited to a single battery. I'm hoping that demon core powder will work as some sort of substitute."
"Mrr. Sounds boring. I'm just going to nap on your bed." Without further ado, she hopped onto my bed and promptly fell asleep.
I still had no idea how she managed to not only enter the mountain, but get into my room, seeing as every entrance was guarded by dwarven warriors. When she first snuck into my bedroom less than two years ago now, she had nearly given me a heart attack. Now she was here so frequently that she had managed to learn the Durinn language and often marched out the front gates with me. It would be nice if she didn't borrow my clothes, weapons, and armor, then never give them back.
"Hmm." I returned my attention to the project on my desk.
Just like I had told Yuki, I was trying to find some way to make additional batteries. I had come as far as I could with a single battery with several small devices now functioning and I needed some way to manufacture more in order to power larger items.
"So if I use lead as an insulator, maybe ground up copper, demon cores, and sulfur will do the trick?" My hands pressed the button on the mana powered mortar/pestle grinder. Then proceeded to test the combination. "Hmm. Some success in retaining mana power, I need to adjust the ratios."
There was only limited time for me to rest in my room after the most recent surface training before I was called back to the training hall, I intended to productively utilize every second of it. Ten more attempts were made before I saw results from my testing. Just not the results I wanted.
Kaboom!
"Mrow!" Yuki flew into the rafters, her tail ramrod stiff. "Holy Hunting Grounds! What was that?"
"I don't know." I replied as I took stock of the destroyed equipment. "But I think I found something that will help against the demons. I need to do further experiments."
Before I knew it, my door was busted down by an annoyed Elder Wevrik who glowered at me with his hammer in hand. "Mogrim! You're late for training." He glared at Yuki, who was snacking on the meal I had forgotten to eat. "Nekoran. Either leave the hall or join the thane's son for warrior training."
The first time he had seen her in my room, he had stormed and raged as he tried to catch her to forcibly eject her from the mountain. The second through fifth time, he had roared like a cannon until she trained alongside me and the other dwarven children. Now he begrudgingly gave her a choice whenever he saw her.
"Hmm." She gulped down the last of my breakfast and hopped up. "I think I'll train with Mochi this time." I had no idea how Yuki could weather the elder's fierce glare without it affecting her. Was it confidence? Ignorance? Something species specific? Whatever it was, I wanted whatever she had.
"Mogrim!" The elder's shout interrupted my train of thought. "Move!"
We armored up in seconds and rushed out the door. Our fellow warrior students greeted us with silent stares as they were in the midst of a jog in their weighted training armor. A trainer dwarf ran over as the elder gestured.
"Grandfather." He saluted in the Durinn manner.
"Etrig. It seems the surface-dweller has chosen to join the Thane's son again. See to it that the matron of the Stormfall Clan is made aware so that the necessary food and water can be prepared."
"She already knows, grandfather." Etrig, an exceptionally young dwarf in his twenties with a short black beard, replied with a grimace. "I now owe mother two coppers for betting the wazzock wouldn't be here today."
"Wazzock!" Elder Wevrik smacked Etrig over the head. "Never gamble unless you are wagering on a battle. If you survive, you can collect your winnings, if you lose, then you can pay in the Halls of the Ancestors. Now get moving! All three of you."
Another month of hell went by in the blink of an eye. Being woken with a bucket of ice cold cave water, an hour of jogging, another hour of combat training, a few bites of breakfast that never seemed to be enough, more exercises, then lunch, more running, more combat, dinner with a mug of dwarven beer, finally swinging weighted hammers until we lost consciousness. The cycle repeated until it was time for the next surface expedition.
Yuki managed to survive as she was able to utilize her natural skills to sneak off every so often for naps. One minute I'd be singing a Durinn marching song with her next to me, the next she would have vanished into thin air.
Near the end of the month, just when I was mentally preparing for the 'break' that was the surface training, Elder Wevrik called me over.
"Mogrim." He glared at me, then at my training pack. "Yuki."
I wasn't sure why he was looking at my training pack while saying Yuki's name. He seemed to understand my confusion and reached into my training pack, which was supposed to be filled with stones, and pulled out a half asleep catgirl by her collar.
"Mrow!" She landed on her feet where he dropped her. "I wasn't asleep!"
"By the nine hells you weren't." He growled. "Listen up. Both of you." Elder Wevrik waited until both of us were paying close attention. "Instead of the usual trip with your fellow students, both of you will accompany the Stormfall Clan on a demon hunt."
"A demon hunt?" I frowned. Demons, based on Elder Wevrik's training, were beings to be avoided, not hunted.
"Aye." He replied. "A matter of honor for the clan. There are no outstanding grudges for us to prove our valor to the Warrior's Guild, thus we must hunt demons and present the trophies to the guild to maintain our standing."
"Why are we coming with you?" I asked. "We aren't part of the Stormfall Clan and aren't planning on joining the Warrior's Guild."
A nearly three century old snarl was the initial response. Eventually Elder Wevrik verbally answered. "Over the past two years, Yuki has proven over and over that she can sniff out demons with her beastkin senses. We require her aide to avoid ambushes and find the wazzocks. You're coming because she listens to no one but you."
I'm just the tag-a-long! At least say I'm a promising warrior… Even if I don't want to be.
"Mrmm." Yuki thought for a moment. "Will I get some yummy food?"
"Can you eat stonebread?"
"Bleh!" Not only was stonebread disgusting for non-dwarves, she said it tasted like solid rock, it was also deadly. If you ate enough for a sandwich, it could cause lethal constipation as only Durinn biology could break it down. "Hmm. Can you give Mochi a vacation so he can make me yummy food?"
"Mochi?" Elder Wevrik looked confused. She pointed at me. "Ha! Mochi. If you prove yourself, wazzock, then I'll give 'Mochi' a month off so he can make you whatever you want." The two of them shook on the deal. "Take the next week to prepare supplies for a month or more away and meet me at the entrance of the Stormfall Clan. Dismissed."
"Woohoo!" Yuki cheered. "Naptime!"
"No! We don't have time for naps, we have to prepare carefully. This isn't like a training expedition where the warriors will protect us. We need to make sure we have everything we need to survive."
"Mrmm." The catgirl slowed down and puffed out her cheeks. "Fine. What do we need to do?"
"First you need to stop napping in my pack." I grumbled. "Next, we need to get plenty of food and drink. Finally I need to visit the smiths to get a few items made."
It was time for me to follow the example of my favorite isekai protagonist and utilize the explosive powder I discovered last month for a unique series of devices prevalent in my last life. Just how creative could I get?
Turns out, the only limit to my creativity was my ability to pay for dwarven smiths. Unfortunately, that ability was extremely limited. That is to say, nonexistent.
"Why couldn't they give a small loan to the thane's son." I groused as I manually prepped a few items with scrap metal. "Just a few gold's worth of work and materials."
"Mrmm." Yuki's tail waved about as she napped on my desk. "It'll be fine, Mochi. You've always figured out how to make the stuff you want. Just don't try using that flying plank of wood again. That was a cat-astrophe!"
"It wasn't that bad." I argued on behalf of my experimental hover board. "Just a few head bumps, a broken arm, and a sprained ankle."
"A sprained ankle and broken arm that Elder Wevrik made us train on. Nothing that flies!"
At the end of the week, Yuki and I were fully prepared. She had the food and drink for both of us in her pack, while I carried spare weapons and my equipment. Miasma purifier, mana battery charger, and a book of runes. Both our armor was also enhanced with various runes I had learned in the course of my studies. We were likely ready for anything the Demon Wastes could throw at us.
"Elder Wevrik." We greeted the elder at the front door of the Stormfall Clan on the appointed day. He was dressed in full heavy battle armor. Basically a tank in humanoid form.
"You're late." He said in a grim voice. "Beware tardiness in the future as it could be seen as an affront to a clan's honor. Follow me."
Inside the Stormfall Clan hall were thousands of weapons mounted on the walls. Every square inch had a weapon or shield with a heroic tale inscribed below it. A few hallways in, we met with a familiar face. Etrig stood in his armor as well.
"Grandfather. What are they doing here?" He asked. "They are far too young to even be considered for the honor of fighting alongside the Stormfall Clan. What would the ancestors think of us for letting children sully our ranks?"
"They would say that the next generation shows hope and promise, Etrig. Remember the teachings of Dhutgruman Earthrock. Age matures all equally, but the sooner the work is begun the better. Additionally, do not question your elders until you have more than a few inches in your beard."
"Guh, yes, Elder." Etrig bowed to his grandfather respectfully before giving us a harsh glare for getting him in trouble.
The elder stopped us at a grand hall door that was carved with scenes of battle. "Younglings, stay behind me. Listen very carefully. Do not speak until spoken to. Do exactly as you are ordered. When you are in the training hall, you can say and do what you want without it reflecting poorly on your clan or personal honor, but among the warriors you will be acting as honorable warriors among honorable warriors. Any word or action taken out of turn can begin a grudge that will follow you and your clan for centuries. Do not embarrass me."
"What if I don't have a clan?" Yuki asked, her cat ears perking up like a cat who's about to knock an expensive vase off the counter.
"Then Mogrim and his clan will be forced to take responsibility." His authority crashed down on her like a mountain. "Do not test me, surface-dweller."
"Yes, Elder." Her tail moved between her legs and she shuffled behind me.
"Does everyone understand? Yes? Good. Follow me." The ten foot tall doors were opened single handedly by the elder. Inside were two hundred dwarves, with an especially decorated dwarf standing at the head of the hall behind a podium. He looked directly towards us and thundered an order.
"Elder Wevrik, step forward with the students you have selected for the honor of fighting alongside us on the upcoming foray into the Demon Wastes." As we walked the length of the hall, he gave a long speech extolling our prowess in both the Training Hall and out on the field. Only a few details were exaggerated.
As we reached the end of the hall, one of the older dwarves slammed his mug down in fury. "Clan Leader Gradhogord, surely you do not intend on disgracing our ranks with a beastkin? We are proud dwarves and have no need for external allies."
"Warrior Kormaic," Elder Wevrik rumbled. "This beastkin accompanies the Thane's son. Also, did you not hear of her accomplishments? She has passed every training goal set before her and survived dozens of monster and demon encounters. In every way imaginable, she has earned her right to fight alongside Clan Stormfall. If that does not satisfy my fellow clan members, I personally vouch for her abilities."
"Hmm." The clan leader stroked his beard in thought as if he was weighing both sides of the argument. A bit of a show as he had personally requested Yuki accompany the party. "Beastkin." He barked menacingly. "Do anything to jeopardize a single member of Clan Stormfall and I will strike you down without mercy."
"Nya, you'll have to catch me first, and get past Mochi." Yuki made a funny face at the clan leader as she hid behind me.
"Yuki, please don't make me your shield without asking me. And stop calling me Mochi!"
"Aww, but it's a cute name. Much cuter than Mogrim-"
"Ahem!" Elder Wevrik's grumbling caused both of us to stiffen up instinctively. "My apologies, Gradhogord. She may have the strength and endurance of a dwarf, but she retains the insolence of a beastkin.
"I see." Clan Leader Gradhogord glared at us for a few long minutes before coming to an internal decision. "Clan Stormfall! Let's not keep the demons waiting, move out!"