The Mine

The dwarf blacksmith had taken him on as an apprentice so easily that Chen Jinyang found it surprising. In this society, every craft was a precious secret and a piece of knowledge. Was the one-eyed dwarf simply kindhearted? Did old Sailu have enough pull, or was Chen Jinyang's character just that rock-solid? Chen Jinyang couldn't believe the world offered such a good deal.

The next day, Chen Jinyang told Alos to keep an eye on the several troublesome members of their group. Mishaer was too young and innocent, the Moon Elf girl was too much of a troublemaker, and Phinia knew nothing of the ways of the world. Alos, who had worked as a tavern server, was the only one he could trust to handle them. Chen Jinyang left all his gold coins to cover the four of them's food expenses. His magic pouch held plenty of hardtack and waterskins, along with five of the cheapest pitch-pine torches for lighting.

When Chen Jinyang arrived at the one-eyed dwarf Singers's smithy, the fully armed dwarf had already grown impatient waiting. Wearing a horned helmet and fine-steel scale armor, and carrying a round steel shield and a short-handled warhammer, Singers Macluff roared in displeasure, "Boy! You're far too late! We should've set off before dawn! Now, go pick a weapon that suits you! I hope you've had some combat training! Move!" The old dwarf, so excited he had barely slept all night, pointed his heavy warhammer toward a large wooden chest in the corner of the smithy.

Damn it! Look at the old geezer! Are we going mining or going to war? Chen Jinyang walked over, full of questions, and opened the chest. Inside were several fine-looking weapons: two one-handed swords, a scimitar, a short-handled battleaxe, and even a crossbow made of wood and iron, with a bag of bolts. Chen Jinyang casually picked up the scimitar and swung it a few times. Not bad! It was a fine scimitar, every bit as good as Cui Heizi's ordinary one made of fine steel, and even better balanced. He turned to the somewhat surprised dwarf and asked, "Master Singers! Did you make this blade?"

Surprised by Chen Jinyang's strange way of swinging the blade, the dwarf hurriedly stroked the half of his beard that remained and replied with feigned nonchalance, "Ahem! These are just things I made when I was bored! You haven't seen Singers's finest work yet, ignorant human boy! Now that you've picked your weapon, we should get going!" The proud one-eyed dwarf, clad in heavy armor, clanked toward the room on the next level. An idea flashed through Chen Jinyang's mind. He grabbed the crossbow and bolts, stuffed them into his magic pouch, then followed the dwarf down the stairs.

"Where are we going?" After following the dwarf blacksmith through three levels of rooms, Chen Jinyang asked in confusion.

Singers, leading the way, answered in a hushed voice, "The mine! A mine belonging to the dwarves!"

Chen Jinyang was even more confused. "The mine? Aren't mines outside the city?"

"Who told you mines were outside the city?" The dwarf, excited about the mining expedition about to begin, chattered on. "The city of Mirabar is built over a mineral deposit. You just have to dig down from beneath your feet, and you'll find the finest ore in the world! Thousands of the most skilled dwarves once mined ore and smelted metal here! Furnaces hot as magma, hammers striking louder than thunder! Damn liars! Accursed creatures from beneath the earth! No longer able to work freely and happily! This is the greatest punishment a dwarf could suffer!" Amid Singers's curses, they passed through a long, narrow sloping passage and arrived at a spacious tunnel, two or three people high and about as wide. A two-wheeled cart stood at the entrance to the passage.

The tunnel was extremely dim. Even with Chen Jinyang's exceptional eyesight, it was hard to make out anything more than a few meters away. Singers put his shield in the cart, picked up a strange lantern from inside, lit it, and hung it at the front. Then he slung his warhammer over his back and began pushing the low cart forward.

"Boy! Stay close to me! Don't get lost! Otherwise, you'll be trapped in this vast maze until you die! After centuries of digging, even the smartest dwarves in the world can't remember every tunnel here! Hunger! Loneliness! Monsters! Any one of them could take your life at any moment!" Singers was angry at Chen Jinyang's absent-mindedness, and sternly warned the rookie who had never set foot in the mines before. Chen Jinyang took a few quick steps to catch up, offering a faint, apologetic smile, but the dimness kept the dwarf from noticing.

"Master Singers—"

"Human boy! Just call me Singers! Macluff isn't so old that he can only reminisce about past glories while others show him respect! Singers the dwarf can still swing a hammer, forge, and fight!" The dwarf pushing the cart wasn't pleased with Chen Jinyang's way of addressing him.

"Oh! All right, Singers! Have you often come down here to mine?" Chen Jinyang looked at the long, pitch-black tunnel, feeling uneasy.

"Ah! Of course! I've been down there plenty of times! Hm! Even with only one left eye, Singers is still the best miner and warrior here! Yes! The best warrior! Human boy, you shouldn't doubt what a one-eyed dwarf can do! Damn liars! Old Singers isn't lying!" The one-eyed dwarf reacted strongly to Chen Jinyang's question, answering the human's doubts with a loud bellow, as if trying to hide something.

The wide tunnel was lined almost entirely with hard stone walls. Only in a few spots where the rock was loose had sturdy pillars been built from thick, rectangular stone slabs. The smooth stone floor sloped gently downward, stretching deep into the earth.

Darkness, silence, loneliness, oppression! Only the cart's wheels creaking and the clatter of footsteps echoed through the empty tunnel. After the previous question, the dwarf had stopped chattering. As the light from the swaying Bullseye Lantern danced over the path, the two pressed on in silence. But the uneasy Singers kept glancing back at Chen Jinyang, as if afraid the tall human might suddenly disappear.

They had gone only a few hundred meters when Singers could no longer bear the oppressive silence. He angrily set down the cart, tilted his head up, and shouted at Chen Jinyang, "All right, all right! Damn it, boy! Old Singers admits he hasn't been down there mining in several years! Damn it! The marquis actually believed those liars and cut the number of dwarf miners, while sending more dwarves to join the Axe of Mirabar! Damn bastards! I only lost sight in my right eye, but that little rascal Torg still left me out! I'm the Stone Warrior, the one even evil Orcs couldn't knock down! Singers Macluff, the fearless! And now I'm supposed to be like some crippled gnome, unable to mine the fascinating ore or fight with honor! Hm, hm, hm! They're insulting the character of the great Singers Macluff! Trampling on his honor! Hm, hm, hm—"

Damn you! You old bastard! You don't dare risk going down there alone, so you tricked an ignorant human boy into accompanying you to the depths of this lightless mine. This is nothing but outright deception, mockery, and murder! Is there any justice? Any rights? Any law?

After complaining himself hoarse, the dwarf looked despairingly at Chen Jinyang's expressionless face. He lowered his ugly head and muttered dejectedly, "If you don't want to go, then let's head back!" Chen Jinyang sighed softly and shook his head helplessly. What an exasperating old child! Without a word, he kept walking.

The dwarf stared at his tall back in confusion, then realized what was happening. Singers wiped the snot from his face, grabbed the cart, and hurried after him, his two thick, short legs pumping rapidly. The wheels rattled along at a furious pace. "Wait for me! Wait for me! Ha! I knew you were a good lad! Ha! Your name's William, isn't it? I knew you were a great William! Ha! You know what? You know what? I'm an expert miner! I can just sniff the air and tell where the best ore deposits are! As for my eye, I once killed five evil Orcs! Every one of them was as tall as you! The strongest one blinded my right eye! He had a magic axe! Damn it! It even chopped off half my beard! But brave as ore, Singers Macluff smashed his toes with a warhammer, broke his thigh, and finally pounded that damned Orc into mincemeat! Ha!"

The tunnel once again filled with the dwarf's incessant chatter: some dangerous battle, a strange scar, former mining companions, a special piece of ore, or curses directed at metallurgists and alchemists. The gloomy tunnel almost felt like a lively outing. Chen Jinyang had never met anyone so talkative. He regretted coming along—he was practically tempted to strangle the old geezer.

"I'd bet we'll reach the best mining area in another hundred meters! Otherwise, let my other half of my beard disappear!" Singers declared after they passed a bend.

"If you could make good on that bet, even a hundred beards wouldn't be enough to disappear!" Chen Jinyang, nearly driven mad, mercilessly mocked the one-eyed dwarf.

After several hours of trekking, they had traveled nearly ten miles without finding a suitable place to dig. As they entered a branching passage, a sudden noise came from the darkness ahead. Singers hurriedly fell silent and stopped, then took up his warhammer and the steel shield from the cart and assumed a defensive stance. Seeing this, Chen Jinyang drew his scimitar and lifted the Bullseye Lantern from the cart with his other hand. The two slowly advanced, cautiously exploring ahead.

"Thud!" "Clatter!" "Thud! Thud! Clatter!" A series of dull knocks against rock. Someone was mining! Singers exclaimed excitedly, "I told you! I told you! Ore! An ore deposit! Ha!" The one-eyed dwarf hurried back to push the cart, his armor clanking loudly.

As the two approached the area where the mining sounds had come from, the noise suddenly stopped. The old dwarf was blinded by excitement, and Chen Jinyang was confident in his abilities, so they rushed without hesitation to the spot where the sounds had been coming from. No one was there! There was nothing at all! Chen Jinyang lit a pitch-pine torch to illuminate the surroundings. It was the end of a tunnel, with piles of rubble below the jagged stone walls—clearly knocked loose by something. But there were no people or tools nearby.

Chen Jinyang and Singers stared at each other for a long moment. The old dwarf steeled himself and said loudly, "Time to get to work! Even a dragon won't stop old Singers from doing his job!" He picked up a pickaxe from the cart and started working. Chen Jinyang stuck a torch into a notch in the wall; it looked as though someone had carved it specifically for that purpose. He took the crossbow out of his magic pouch, loaded a bolt, and set his scimitar within easy reach before picking up a pickaxe from the cart.

Chen Jinyang stared at the pickaxe in utter disbelief. It was shorter than his forearm. He turned and called to the dwarf, who was greedily stroking the stone wall, "Hey, old Singers! This is the mining tool you prepared for me?"