I sat alone at the massive wooden table.
The mess hall was suffocatingly quiet. Just this morning, this place was packed to the brim with a hundred screaming dwarves. The air had been thick with the heavy smell of fried meat, spilled ale, and terrible body odor. It was chaotic, loud, and full of life.
Now, the long wooden benches sat entirely empty. The room just smelled like ale and impending doom. The silence was so absolute it actually made my ears ring, with the only sound left being the faint howling of the evening wind rattling against the reinforced windows.
I took a slow breath, trying to get the slight tremors in anticipation of what was about to come bleed out of my system as I stared at the window, mentally bracing myself for the absolute nightmare about to hit the camp.
And just as I did-
-Ding!
{You have leveled up!}
"Huh...?" I blinked, genuinely confused.
