The Author's POV

"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.

from the

"Good job."

"Hehehe."

at my compliment, prompting a smile to appear on my

a

though Ryan was a genius and acted mature at times, he was still a

a simple praise and he became so

up;

arrived at the

***

At the same time.

not so far from where

thick canopy of branches, revealing

and stunning faces. However,

Their hair.

being pure gold, though faint, had

regal aura spread from

do?

golden-haired elf

can't go any

of

"Correct."

were starting to make their

each bordered lengthened and the general rank of each force were

a sign that the demons were preparing

the two elves that had been spying on the humans for the past

...at least for now.

we do now? Should

"Mhm."

elf turned

We might meet them again in

***

massive stone gates of the city that were attached to the side of the rocky mountains soon appeared in my

least several statues depicting dwarves holding onto massive axes

imposing presence, made me, who standing below

was looking at the scenery from the drone, it was only now that I was close that I truly understood the sheer size

It was massive.

earthy and sulfur-like scent invaded my nostrils, prompting my brows to momentarily

"Uek!"

like the smell as Ryan grimaced and pinched his

get used

capital of

fact, it was also the only city

that lived on the earth's surface, dwarves lived

down to the fact that the temperature was

coming from the earth's centre, the dwarves

sulfur-like smell probably originated from the natural

the front

tapped on my

Turning around I reassured.

"Yup, don't worry."

races prejudice against humanity had

of the question, plus,

who was now back in her ring form, there was no real need for them to be too

mean, I was pretty much the strongest of the

not like we're

of realization dawned on Smallsnake as he smacked the palm of his

so that's why you spent so much money on

"That's right."

multiple different ores that I had repurchased

was so that I could trade

metal that they went through each day to craft an artifact, ores were definitely a valuable and

to trade with them, we wouldn't

I looked back

follow closely behind me. Let

"Okay."

their heads in unison, prompting me to smile

"Great."

group of small burly creatures holding onto

'Are those guns?'

I stared at the barrels in the dwarves

looked