"Wow."
Standing on top of a hill, my mouth opened in amazement. The scenery I've only seen in movies and paintings was currently presented before me.
It was a lot more mesmerizing than I had ever imagined.
I could barely take my eyes away from the sight.
The mountain range revealed nature clearer than anywhere I had ever seen before.
The slight chill in the air was enough to give me a gentle shiver but not enough to find the need to cover up.
Staring into the distance, the gentle breeze coming down from the mountains tickled the trees, making their leaves shake and sway as though they were laughing.
"Is that where we're supposed to go."
Leopold asked as he pointed at the mountain range in the distance.
"It is indeed the place."
Giving a small nod, I replied.
"That over there is Henolur, the dwarven capital, and our destination."
Traversing a thousand kilometres over these past few months, we were finally close to reaching our destination.
Just like usual, we encountered a few beasts during our journey, but in general, nothing out of the norm that would result in our trip being delayed occurred.
The only noticeable delay in our journey was the Monolith incident, but it was now over.
"Huaam, I guess we can finally have a proper night sleep."
Leopold yawned and packed up the camping equipment beside him.
Turning my head, I wryly smiled.
"...not so sure about that."
"What?"
"It'll depend on our luck."
Although Henolur was generally safe and did not block humans from entering the place, that didn't mean that it was completely safe.
It was best to stay alert at all times.
"...seriously? And here I wanted to finally rest."
"Tell me about it."
Constantly watching our backs due to the threat of beasts, apart from Ryan, almost everyone here was running low on sleep.
"Ren!"
"Yes?"
Holding onto a small tablet, Ryan suddenly ran up to me.
"I've found it. I've found the entrance of the place."
"That fast?"
Because the mountain range was massive, finding the exact location of Henolur was a lot harder than originally anticipated.
Fortunately, I had Ryan with me, who could use his drones and equipment to look for the place.
Shoving the tablet in front of my face, Ryan excitedly pinched the screen and pointed towards a specific area in the mountains.
"Yes, check over here. Doesn't this look like a statue?"
"It sure does."
Because the drone was so high up in the sky, to avoid the dwarves detection, I wasn't able to see too much.
However, from what I could make out, by the side of one of the mountain ranges in the distance, there seemed to be some sort of artificial monument.
Sort of like a statue.
Taking my eyes away from the tablet, I patted Ryan's head.
"Good job."
"Hehehe."
Ryan pridefully laughed at my compliment, prompting a smile to appear on my face.
'I guess he's a child at heart'
Even though Ryan was a genius and acted mature at times, he was still a kid after all.
Just a simple praise and he became so excited.
"Guys, pack up; we're going."
Finally, we had arrived at the dwarven domain.
***
At the same time.
Standing not so far from where they were.
Sunlight seeped past the thick canopy of branches, revealing the figures of two elves.
Both elves shared similar features, with fair skin, pointy ears, and stunning faces. However, there was a difference between the two.
Their hair.
Of the two, one of the elve's hair instead of being pure gold, though faint, had a mix of silver in it.
An almost regal aura spread from that elve's body.
"What should we do? Should we follow?"
Squinting, the golden-haired elf asked.
"No, we can't go any deeper."
"...Is it because of the demon's movements?"
"Correct."
The demons were starting to make their move.
The usual skirmishes that occurred between each bordered lengthened and the general rank of each force were increasing.
To the three races, this was a sign that the demons were preparing for war.
As such, the two elves that had been spying on the humans for the past week could no longer continue their observation.
...at least for now.
"So what should we do now? Should we let them go?"
"Mhm."
The silvered-haired elf turned around and disappeared.
"They're bound to leave sooner or later. We might meet them again in the future."
***
As we neared Henolur, the massive stone gates of the city that were attached to the side of the rocky mountains soon appeared in my vision
Built beside the gate were at least several statues depicting dwarves holding onto massive axes and hammers.
Their imposing presence, made me, who standing below them, feel insignificant.
Contrary to when I was looking at the scenery from the drone, it was only now that I was close that I truly understood the sheer size of the 'monument'.
It was massive.
Nearing the gates of Henolur, an earthy and sulfur-like scent invaded my nostrils, prompting my brows to momentarily furrow.
"Uek!"
It seems like I wasn't the only that didn't like the smell as Ryan grimaced and pinched his nose.
"You'll get used to it."
Henolur was the capital of the dwarven domain.
In fact, it was also the only city that existed in the human domain.
Unlike the other races that lived on the earth's surface, dwarves lived underground.
There were multiple reasons for this, but in the end, it all boiled down to the fact that the temperature was the hottest nearer to the earth core.
Using the tremendous heat coming from the earth's centre, the dwarves were able to smelt the ores faster and more efficiently.
The sulfur-like smell probably originated from the natural gasses found in the earth below.
"Ren, are you sure going through the front is the best way to get in..."
Smallsnake asked as he tapped on my right shoulder.
Turning around I reassured.
"Yup, don't worry."
As I've said before, the three races prejudice against humanity had died down a lot.
Going to their places wasn't out of the question, plus, we weren't particularly strong anyways.
Aside from Angelica, who was now back in her ring form, there was no real need for them to be too wary of us.
I mean, I was pretty much the strongest of the group, and even then, I was only <C> ranked.
"Plus, it's not like we're going empty-handed."
A look of realization dawned on Smallsnake as he smacked the palm of his hand.
"Ah! so that's why you spent so much money on those ores."
"That's right."
On my dimensional space were multiple different ores that I had repurchased in the human domain.
The reason I bought them was so that I could trade them with the dwarves.
With the crazy amount of metal that they went through each day to craft an artifact, ores were definitely a valuable and scarce resource to them.
As long as we came to trade with them, we wouldn't be kicked out.
Nearing the enormous gate, I looked back and warned the others.
"Guys, follow closely behind me. Let me do the talking."
"Okay."
Everyone nodded their heads in unison, prompting me to smile in satisfaction.
"Great."
Before long, arriving right below the massive gate, I spotted a group of small burly creatures holding onto large metallic barrels standing beside the gate.
'Are those guns?'
I wondered as I stared at the barrels in the dwarves hands.
They sure looked like guns.
"Halt!"
As if they were waiting for our arrival, a dwarf wearing a thick metallic armour stepped forward.
With a long ginger beard that fell all the way down towards his neck and light wrinkles by the side of his eyes, the dwarf scanned us from top to bottom with a curious look.
Then, opening his mouth, his barky and throaty voice rang out throughout the whole area.
"Human, state yer purpose."
Halting my footsteps, the others also stopped.
Raising my hands, I spoke up.
"We mean no harm, we're here to trade."
"Trade?"
My words instantly piqued the interest of the dwarf.
"Interesting, how much be we talking?"
"A hundred tonne of iron, hundred tonnes of Adenium, seventy-two tonnes of Ronium, fifty-six tonnes of..."
Listing the ores I had brought with me, I felt a slight pang in my heart.
The amount of money I had to spurge out to buy this much stuff made my heart bleed.
I could've probably bought myself an advanced potion with the money I had used to buy this stuff.
"!"
As I was listing the ores that I had brought with me, the dwarf opposite to me was left dumbstruck.
Opening his mouth wide, his burly, loud voice once again rang out.
"Yer nae playing with me be ye?"
"No, I'm being completely serious."
I was honestly having a bit of a difficult time understanding his words, but thanks to his gestures, I understood somewhat what he was trying to imply.
Frantically waving his hand towards my direction, the dwarf said.
"Give me, let me inspect tha goods"
"Sure."
Casually walking towards the dwarf, I took out my dimensional space and tossed it to him, much to the confused reactions of the others behind me.
"It's alright guys. Just trust me."
Dwarves were honest and straightforward people.
They disliked scheming and cautious people the most.
By directly giving him the ring that contained all of the ores inside, I was displaying to him that I was also straightforward.
Acting the way I was, I was trying my best to set a favourable impression, almost like in games with NPC's.
Though it may backfire on me, it was a risk I was willing to take.
"Hur, hur, hur, ye weren't lying."
Fortunately, it didn't seem to have failed.
Playing with the ring in his hand, the dwarf burst out laughing.
"I like yer attitude 'uman."
Tossing the ring back in my direction, the dwarf turned around and faced the gate. Then, twirling his small bulky hand in the air, he shouted.
"Open tha gates."
KOOOONG—!
The moment the dwarves words faded, the ground trembled, and the enormous doors slowly opened up.
Staring at the enormous doors in the distance, I wondered.
'Why are the gates so big?'
The gates were pretty much made for giants, yet, the dwarves which weren't even a quarter of my height were proudly using them.
Perhaps it made them look more imposing? Honestly, I did not know, nor did I care too much about finding out as the doors soon fully opened and a wave of hot air suddenly brushed past me.
Turning around, the dwarf puffed his chest and pridefully smiled.
"Welcome ta Henolur."
