The Author's POV

KOOOONG—!

Entering the gates, the grandiose door soon closed shut behind us.

"Me name be Elluid Brickpike, an' I'll lead ye ta tha first level."

Following the dwarf from before whose name was Elluid, we walked through a narrow tunnel, that was lit up by multiple bioluminescent plants planted by the side of the walls.

"There be four different levels ta tha city, with each level differentiating by depth. At tha moment we're currently going towards tha first level, where tha main city be located."

Listening to Elluid speak as I looked around, I understood somewhat what he was saying despite his accent.

In short, there were four levels to Henolur.

Each level dwelling more deeply into the mountain.

Currently, we were headed to the first level, around 50 meters below the mountain and where the central city was located.

"From tha second level onwards, everything be aff limits. That be if ye value your lives. "

Below the second level, were where the vault, and working facilities were. Simply put, the temperature below was far too hot for regular beings to go.

Therefore, unless you wore special gear, it was off-limits.

Most of the stuff Elluid was saying, I knew. However, I still paid close attention to what he said as I didn't want to make any mistakes.

If there was one thing I've learned, it was that it was always best to have as much information as possible regarding a new location.

As such, opening my mouth I asked.

"Is that so, by the way, I've been meaning to ask, is there anything I need to be wary of when going to the city? Like the areas I'm not supposed to go, and how I should behave myself?"

"huh? good question."

Elluid's footsteps halted.

Stroking his long ginger beard, Elluid mused before shaking his head.

"Nae, in general, if ye dinna go below tha second level, there will be nae trouble."

—Smack!

Smacking the palm of his hand, Elluid suddenly remembered.

"Ah, right, it's best ta nae wonder too much outside o' tha city, as those pesky tunnelling monsters will give ye a hard time."

Monsters?

'I guess he must be referring to the beasts.'

Just because Henolur was underground, it didn't mean that it was safe from the threat of beasts.

As long as I was in the city, there shouldn't be any problems though.

"...actually there be something else, but it's best if ye dinna know too much."

"Hm?"

Elluid's next statement caused my brows to furrow. Didn't this sound a little too ominous?

Turning around, Elluid's tone became a bit graver.

"Human, it's nae that I dinna want ta tell ye, but it's best if ye dinna know since yer nae strong enough ta know. Had ye been stronger, I might've helped ye."

"...alright, I won't ask."

Squinting, I eventually nodded my head. Elluid smiled in response as he raised his hand and forcefully patted me on the back.

"Great, I'm liking ye more an' more human. "

Or at least tried to, but in the end, he ended up patting my ass.

"Hur, I like dealing with people that understand their limits."

"T-that so."

My mouth twitched, and I took a step forward.

As I stepped forward, I suddenly heard weird noises coming from behind me.

"Pfttt."

Turning around, much to my depression, I found the others holding onto their mouth's with red faces.

Evidently trying their best to suppress their laughter.

"...you guys."

"Hehe."

Then, Elluid who was next to me chuckled and eyed me with a teasing look.

"Sorry there, does yer arse 'urt?

'This bastard did it on purpose, didn't he?'

I instantly shot a glare at Elluid, who burst out laughing and twirled his bulky hand in the air, nudging me to follow along.

"Hahaha, follow me; we're almost there."

"...I won't forget this."

Glaring at the others behind me, I followed Elluid deeper into the tunnel.

Before long, as we neared the ending of the tunnel, I could see the light coming from the distance.

Squinting my eyes and passing through the end of the tunnel, a bright light instantly clouded my vision, prompting me to cover my face with my hand.

Once my eyes adjusted to the light, staring at the scenery presented before me, I was left in awe.

"Woah."

I wasn't the only one that felt that way as the others, too, had amazed looks on their faces as they looked at the city below them.

Built inside the mountain, with small metallic pipes on the top of the hill to allow fresh air and light to seep through to the city below, a vast and bustling city appeared before my view.

In the middle of the city, a great waterfall dropped through a hole at the top of the mountain, forming into a pool in the central square where a massive statue of a dwarf was erected.

Besides the statue, were many uniquely shaped infrastructures that ranged in sizes. However, though they were all different, the infrastructures brought me this strange sense of awe.

From afar, they all looked like structural masterpieces as each infrastructure was built to the most delicate of details, showcasing the dwarves masterful craftsmanship.

"This be as far as I can bring ye."

Halting his steps. Elluid proudly looked at the city from above.

Then, turning around, he slapped my thigh and laughed.

"If ye manage ta trade successfully, with tha money ye make, bring me ta have a drink. harhar"

"...Sure."

I wrily replied as I massaged my thigh.

Though he was small, his slap sure packed a punch.

"Alright, best o' luck, human."

"Thank you."

Staring at Elluid's figure disappear back into the tunnel, I let out a sigh before looking at the others.

"Had enough fun? Let's go."

Was me getting slapped in the ass and thigh really that funny? I couldn't tell.

Walking down a spiral of stones steps, we soon stepped into the city. The moment we set foot into the city, it was as though we stepped foot into a whole different world.

With enormous infrastructures and bright lights illuminating the place, I could hear the raucous laugh of the dwarves in the distance.

An overall joyful and cheerful atmosphere shrouded the city.

Contrary to my expectations, grass and trees grew in the city, making the place look that much more stupefying.

"Ren, where should we go first?"

Smallsnaked tapped on my shoulder and asked.

"Hmm, let's go find a place to settle down for now."

I replied after musing for a bit.

"Sure."

Smallsnake nodded in agreement.

Although it looked like everyone was itching to go around the city to have a look, at the moment, the priority was to settle down and rest.

Also, I needed to better understand the place before deciding anything else.

Thankfully the others were understanding and didn't fuss over my arrangements.

"Wait, is that an elf!?"

"I also see an orc!"

On a side note, much to everyone's surprise, Henolur did not only have dwarves roaming the streets as we could see orcs and elves roaming the place.

I already knew this beforehand; with Henolur being the place where artifacts were sold and crafted, the fact that other races came here wasn't surprising.

Though I did have to admit, the elves were a lot better looking than I had expected. Be it male or female; their appearance made me once again realize just how average I was in this world filled with handsome and beautiful people.

Not that I was ugly.

To make matters worse, I had only myself to blame.

"Guys, wait for me for a bit."

Walking for a further ten minutes, I stopped by a couple of important places and directly sold some of the ores I had brought with me.

I had to have some money after all.

After trading some of the ores I had brought with me, asking the direction of the nearest lodging, we soon arrived in front of a certain building.

"We're here."

[Rusted Hammer Lodgings]

A sizeable metallic sign hung on the wall of the building.

To my surprise, it was written in human language; it was only after a while that I realized that it was actually not.

The sign was in fact an artifact that would automatically display the words based on the language the viewer could speak.

Pretty neat.

"Let's go in."

Taking a step into the building, I urged the others to follow me from behind.

The moment I stepped into the place, I saw a dwarven lady with thick black hair tied into two ponytails, holding onto a broom, and leisurely cleaning the wooden floor.

Once we stepped in, turning her head, the dwarven lady exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh? a human, haven't seen one in a couple o' days."

Putting the broom down, she moved towards the counter.

"Ye here for a room?"

Did she just say that there were other humans in here?

"Did you just say that you saw another human?"

Though I had somewhat expected this, this revelation was a bit shocking.

Leaning on the counter, the dwarven lady pinched her fingers together and nodded her head.

"Was a lovely guy a' tell ye. Even gave me a tip. So, ye here for a room or nae?"

"...Ah, yes."

"How many?"

Looking behind me, the dwarven lady tippie toed and tried counting.

"One, two, t—"

"Six rooms please."

To make things faster, I just told her the rooms.

Technically I only needed five since I wanted Smallsnake to stay with Ryan, but the sixth room was for Angelica.

Though, I wasn't really sure how that would work out.

"Six? Hm that'll be fifty Tansels"

Tansels was the currency used in the dwarven domain, and in general, each Tansel was equivalent to about 1,000 U.

Therefore, the total cost was around 50,000U.

"Fifty Tansels? Isn't that a bit too expensive?"

Although 50,000 U didn't sound like a lot, this was relative to the big things I spent on back in the human domain.

50,000 U was in fact a crap ton.

My reaction was understandable.

Flashing me a look of disdain, the clerk lady flicked her ponytail.

"Nae at all, have ye seen where we be? just tha fact that our place be cooler an' has fresh air makes up for tha price."

"...right."

Though her words had merit, in the end, I didn't want to argue anymore and so just gave up.

Taking out a bunch of coins, I placed them on the counter.

Fortunately, taking Elluid's advice, before coming here, I directly sold a couple in order to get myself some cash.

This was the only reason why I could afford this place.

"Here."

"Alright, please wait a moment."

With a greedy look, scooting her small arm over the counter, the lady took all of the coins.

Then, disappearing into the back, the lady soon came back with a smile on her face and tossed multiple keys in my direction.

"Your rooms be on tha second floor. I've put ye all together on tha same floor. Breakfast be tomorrow morn, 7 A.M human time."

"Thank you."

Thanking the lady, I turned towards the others and gave them each a key.

"You guys understood what the lady said?"

"Breakfast at 7 and our rooms are on the second floor?"

"As expected of the babysitter."

"...hey."

"You'll get used to it."

I patted Smallsnake on the shoulder.

Looking towards the others, my face became serious.

"Enough said, I'm going to go now. Still got things to do, I'll come back in a couple of hours. You guys have a rest in the meantime."

As I've said before, information was key.

Going around this place without knowing the ins and outs was a no go. As the one who brought them here, I had the responsibility of taking care of them.

Couldn't expose them to too much danger.

"Alright, I'm off. I'll see you guys in a bit."

Waving goodbye to the others, I turned around and left the building.

A/N : Sorry if nothing much happened these past few chaps, but you know, have to try to build the world before anything important can happen.