Reincarnated as a Lizard

Exhausted after the sparring session with Valerie and seeing how excited she looked thinking about a future battle with Scaly, Verdell found himself silently apologizing to Scaly for placing her on the radar of this battle hungry friend of his before he took the opportunity to slip away before he got dragged into another sparring match by Valerie. Knowing just how to do so from past experience, as he promised her to meet up again tomorrow so they could venture outside the city and hunt down monsters. Slipping away just as one of the unfortunate adventurers stepped inside the training ground and ended up drawing Valeries attention.

"I hope you make it through this safely..." And along with a silent prayer for the unfortunate adventurer who found himself getting dragged into a sparring match with Valerie due to him clearly not being aware of her growing reputation within this branch of the guild, Verdell successfully managed to leave the central guild branch. Not wasting any time searching for an inn or more luxurious hotel to stay at, as he instead made his way towards his uncle’s place.

Part of this was because it would be far easier to stay with this friend of his father that he was already familiar with, while another reason had to do with how he essentially lost every coin on his body after he paid off the temple pillar Scaly had destroyed back in Temple Guard City. Only then did he find out just how expensive those hand carved pillars that he had only ever glanced at a few times were.

Heck, even after handing over every coin on his person at the time and a few valuable monster materials he had yet to sell, he was still in debt with the Holy Light Church. Even worse, given the friendly relationship between the Holy Light Church and the Adventurer Guild, this debt had essentially been tied to his identity. Meaning the guild would help the church enforce this debt.

Practically, this meant that whenever he sold monster materials through the guild, part of the money earned would end up going towards paying off this debt.

Depressed as he was about this kind of situation, he had already decided to just view it as the cost of him reaching the S Rank, as without encountering Scaly, there would have been no way for him to ever reach the S Rank given just how difficult the class advancement quest her received back then had been.

"Haaa... What I do to make myself feel better about that cursed debt..." Silently muttering this to himself as he walked towards a local leather workshop along the way to his uncle’s place, Verdell sold off a few of the monster hides he had managed to pick up during his time travelling together with Scaly, some selling for more than the guild, while others far less than the guild.

No matter, altogether, he ended up with more than if he would have sold through the guild like he normally would, as half his income didn’t end up getting siphoned towards repaying that debt attached to his name.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t plan on repaying this debt, it was just that he needed to at least have some money on hand, or life would become far too difficult. Especially considering how he still had to buy the proper equipment for travelling around the deep snow that surrounded the city and other survival equipment for surviving the northern region.

Sure, his fire magic was great at keeping him warm, but getting proper clothes would allow him to waste far less mana on keeping himself warm, while at the same time also accounting for the simple fact that he didn’t have a dragon to rely on for dealing with the monsters he might run into while moving through the northern region.

After all, while he had been travelling atop Scaly, he didn’t have to worry about any of the monsters they ran into along the way and could focus entirely on keeping himself warm using fire magic, as Scaly dealt with any monster that dared get too close to them.

And so, as he left the leather workshop behind, Verdell decided to shop for the things he needed along the way while at the same time selling off a few things he wouldn’t need any longer. Making sure to load up on all kinds of different spices unique to the northern region. Spending most of the money he managed to obtain on these unique spices.

Only when the sun had already started to set in the distance did he find himself arriving at the blacksmith owned by his uncle. Not because it was far from the Guild Branch at the center of the city, but instead because he had spent his time walking around the city getting familiar with what had changed since his last visit while at the same time also taking the opportunity to buy what he needed along the way.

If anything, his uncle’s blacksmith was in the best place possible within the city along the street leading up to the Guild Branch at the center.

"Oh! Verdell, are you here to visit old Dain?" Because of this, it was only a given with his luck that he ended up running into Valerie as her voice called out to him from behind the second he stepped through the entrance to the shopfront of the blacksmith.

"Yes... Though I’m not here for a weapon, Dain is a friend of my father and is considered an uncle of mine." Still, though he felt a slight shiver run down his spine thinking about how this old friend of his might think he was ready for another sparring session, he calmly answered her question after a short pause.

"Uncle!? Dain is your uncle!?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?" Feeling something off about the way she responded to that answer, Verdell couldn’t help slightly narrowing his eyes as he said this.

"No, you just look so small compared to old Dain, didn’t expect the two of you to be related."

"..."

Okay... That old man does look like a small mountain of muscles, but I’m not that small for a dwarf! If anything, the only reason I fall behind that old fossil is because I’m a mage!

Silently cursing in his head upon hearing what Valerie said, Verdell knew he couldn’t really say anything about it given how this uncle of his truly was in a league of his own.

If not for the fact that he had been given his father’s word that the old man was indeed a dwarf, he would have thought the old man was some kind of unique race of his own...

Thud~!

And speaking of the mountain of muscle that called itself a dwarf, the person in question emerged from the forge in the back.

His towering figure standing close to two meters tall, as his wide shoulders made it impossible to associate him with anything but a local race of mountain ogres. Even Valrie seemed small by comparison despite her own height being slightly above the mountain of muscles that was Dain.

"Oh? If it isn’t that little brat Valerie and who is this? Hm? Adrik’s child, Verdell, was it? Haven’t seen you since you came here for help with some class advancement quest the last time around." And as he stepped into the shop, it didn’t take long for the towering dwarf to spot the two of them, as they already stood out from the everyday adventurers. One being a dwarf that rarely appeared in the northern region while the other would stand out no matter where she appeared.

"Uncle... It has indeed been a long time, I-"

"Old man, is my weapon ready yet?"

Responding to his uncle, Verdell couldn’t stop his lips from twitching in annoyance as the Valerie interrupted him midsentence. "Haha, sure little lady, I have it in the back." Earning a loud laughter from his uncle, who seemed to find the situation rather amusing. Giving him a sly glance before turning around to pick up the weapon mentioned by Valerie.

"So... Old Dain is your uncle...?"

"Yes... A friend of my father and a dwarf, though his appearance doesn’t exactly fit. According to my father, some family members of his theorized he might have some ogre blood flowing through his veins, thus leading to his height surpassing that of other dwarves." Nodding his head as he laid out his relationship with the old man, Verdell also felt like he had to mention this uncle of his was a dwarf and not some local half human half ogre that had decided to set up shop here.

Not for any specific reason but to ensure the achievements of this uncle of his remained tied to the dwarven race, as he was truly an accomplished blacksmith renowned not only in the north where he had set up shop, but also among other dwarven blacksmiths.