The Mine Pit

The dwarf blacksmith accepted him as an apprentice so easily that Chen Jinyang found it somewhat unexpected. In this society, any technical skill was considered a precious secret and a form of knowledge. Was the one-eyed dwarf just kind-hearted? Was old Sailu's influence that great, or was his own character just that sterling? Chen Jinyang did not believe such a good thing would happen for no reason.

The next day, Chen Jinyang instructed Alos to look after the few problematic individuals. Mishaer was too young and naive, the Moon Elf girl was too prone to causing trouble, and Phinia was completely ignorant of the ways of the world. Only Alos, who had worked as a tavern waiter, could put his mind at ease. Chen Jinyang left all his gold coins to cover their food expenses. In the magic pouch at his waist, he packed enough hard bread and water skins, along with five of the cheapest pine torches for illumination.

When Chen Jinyang arrived at the forge of the one-eyed dwarf, the fully armed dwarf was already waiting impatiently. Wearing a horned battle helmet, steel scale armor, and carrying a semi-circular steel shield and a short-handled warhammer, Singers Macluff roared with dissatisfaction: "Boy! You're way too late! We should have set off before dawn! Now! Go pick out a weapon you're comfortable with! I hope you've had some combat training! Move!" The old dwarf, who was so excited he had barely slept all night, pointed his heavy warhammer toward a large wooden crate in the corner of the forge.

Damn him! Looking at the old guy's posture, was this a mining trip or a war? Chen Jinyang walked over, full of doubt, and opened the crate. Inside were several decent-looking weapons: two single-handed swords, a scimitar, a short-handled battle axe, and even a crossbow made of a mix of wood and iron, along with a quiver of arrows. Chen Jinyang picked up the scimitar and swung it a few times. Not bad! It was a pretty good blade, not inferior to the ordinary steel scimitar Cui Heizi used, and the balance was even better. He turned back and asked the slightly surprised dwarf: "Master Singers! Did you forge this blade?"

Astonished by Chen Jinyang's strange way of wielding the blade, the dwarf hurriedly stroked the remaining half of his beard and replied with feigned nonchalance: "Ahem! These are just things I made when I was bored! You haven't even seen Singers' best masterpieces yet! Ignorant human boy! Since you've picked your weapon, we should get going!" The proud one-eyed dwarf walked toward the next room, his heavy armor clanking with every step. A thought flashed through Chen Jinyang's mind; he grabbed the crossbow and arrows, stuffed them into his magic pouch, and followed the dwarf down the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Chen Jinyang asked, feeling puzzled as he followed the dwarf blacksmith through three consecutive rooms.

Singers, leading the way, replied in a hushed voice: "The mines! The mines belonging to the dwarves!"

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

"Who told you the mines were outside the city!" the dwarf, excited about the upcoming mining work, shouted incessantly. "The city of Mirabar is built right on top of the ore beds. As long as you dig down from beneath your feet, you can find the highest quality ore in the world! There used to be thousands of the most brilliant dwarves here, digging for ore and forging metal! Furnaces as hot as magma, the sound of hammers striking louder than thunder! Damn liars! Damned underground monsters! We can no longer work freely and happily! This is the greatest punishment for a dwarf!" Amidst Singers' cursing, the two passed through a long, narrow, slanted passage and arrived at an empty tunnel about two or three people high and just as wide. A two-wheeled cart was parked at the entrance of the narrow passage.

The light in the tunnel was extremely dim; even with Chen Jinyang's excellent eyesight, it was a struggle to see things clearly more than a few meters away. Singers placed his shield into the cart, picked up a strange lantern from it, lit it, and hung it on the front of the cart. He slung his warhammer onto his back and began pushing the low cart forward.

"Boy! Keep up with me! Don't you dare get lost! Otherwise, you'll be trapped to death in this massive labyrinth! Centuries of constant digging mean that even the smartest dwarves in the world can't remember every tunnel here! Hunger! Loneliness! Monsters! These things can take your life at any moment!" Singers was annoyed by Chen Jinyang's distraction and gave a stern warning to the rookie stepping foot here for the first time. Chen Jinyang took a few long strides to catch up, offering a slightly apologetic smile, though the dim environment of the tunnel meant the dwarf didn't notice.

"Master Singers—"

"Human boy! Just call me Singers! Macluff isn't so old that he can only reminisce about past glory through the respect of others! The dwarf Singers can still swing a hammer to forge and fight!" The dwarf pushing the cart was dissatisfied with Chen Jinyang's form of address.

"Oh! Alright! Singers! Did you come here to mine often in the past?" Chen Jinyang looked at the dark, winding tunnel, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Ha! Of course! I've certainly been down here many times! Hmph! Even with only one left eye, Singers is still the best miner and warrior here! Yes! The best warrior! You human boy shouldn't doubt the ability of a one-eyed dwarf! Damn liars! Old Singers isn't lying!" The one-eyed dwarf reacted fiercely to Chen Jinyang's question, responding with loud shouting as if trying to hide something.

The wide tunnel was surrounded by almost nothing but hard stone walls, with sturdy pillars built from thick stone slabs only in a few corners where the texture was loose. The polished stone floor beneath their feet extended deep into the earth with a slight incline.

Darkness, silence, loneliness, oppression! Only the "creak-creak" of the cart wheels and the "clack-clack" of footsteps echoed in the empty tunnel. Because of the previous question, the dwarf had stopped his incessant chatter. Following the flickering light of the bullseye lantern, both remained silent as they moved forward. However, an uneasy Singers kept looking back at Chen Jinyang, as if afraid this tall human might suddenly disappear.

After walking only a few hundred meters, Singers could no longer endure the stifling atmosphere. He angrily set down the cart, tilted his head back, and shouted at Chen Jinyang: "Fine, fine! Damn boy! Old Singers admits he hasn't been down here to mine for several years! Damn it! The Marquis actually listened to the lies of those swindlers and cut the number of dwarf miners! He'd rather draft more dwarves into the Axe of Mirabar! Damn bastards! I only lost my right eye, and that little punk Torg actually excluded me again! A Stone Warrior who couldn't be knocked down even by evil orcs! The fearless Singers Macluff! Forced to be like a crippled gnome, unable to dig for fascinating ore or fight with honor! Waaah! They are insulting the character of the great Singers Macluff! Trampling on his honor! Waaah—"

Damn you! This old bastard! He didn't dare to venture down here alone, so he tricked an ignorant human boy into accompanying him into the depths of the sunless mines. This was nothing but blatant kidnapping, trickery, and murder! Was there any justice? Any human rights? Any law?

The dwarf, ending his rant with snot and tears, looked desperately at the expressionless Chen Jinyang. He lowered his ugly head and said dejectedly: "Since you don't want to go! Then go back!" Chen Jinyang sighed softly and shook his head helplessly. What a speechless old child! He continued walking forward without a word.

The dwarf looked at his tall back in confusion, then reacted. Singers wiped the snot off his face, grabbed the cart, and quickly moved his thick, short legs. The wheels rolled rapidly with a "creak-creak": "Wait for me! Wait for me! Haha! I knew it! You're a good lad! Haha! Your name is William, right? I knew you were a great William! Hahaha! Do you know? Do you know? I'm a master miner! With just one sniff, old Singers knows where the best ore bed is! Speaking of eyes, I once killed five evil orcs! Each one of them was as tall as you! The strongest one among them blinded my right eye! It was a magical axe! Damn it! It even cut off half my beard! But Singers Macluff, as brave as ore, still smashed his toes with a warhammer, broke his thigh, and finally smashed that damned orc into meat paste! Hahaha!"

The tunnel was once again filled with the dwarf's incessant chatter. Some thrilling battle, some strange scar, old mining companions, some special piece of ore, or curses directed at those metallurgists and alchemists—it made the gloomy tunnel feel almost like a lively outing. Chen Jinyang had never met such a talkative guy; he regretted this trip! Chen Jinyang had the urge to strangle the old guy.

"I bet! We'll reach the best mining area in another hundred meters! Otherwise, let my other half of my beard disappear!" Singers shouted after passing a bend.

"If your bet could actually be fulfilled, even a hundred beards wouldn't be enough to disappear!" A nearly insane Chen Jinyang struck back at the one-eyed dwarf without mercy.

After several hours of trekking and covering nearly ten miles, the two still hadn't found a suitable mining area. After entering a fork in the road, a sound suddenly came from the darkness ahead. Singers quickly stopped his mouth and his feet, picked up his warhammer and the steel shield from the cart, and assumed a defensive posture toward the darkness. Seeing this, Chen Jinyang also drew the scimitar from his back, took the bullseye lantern from the cart with his other hand, and the two slowly moved forward to explore.

"Bang!" "Clatter!" "Bang! Bang! Clatter!" A series of dull sounds of rock being struck—someone was mining! Singers shouted excitedly: "I said it! I said it! An ore bed! An ore bed! Haha!" The one-eyed dwarf moved his short legs quickly to go back and push the cart, his armor clanking incessantly.

When the two approached the area where the digging sounds came from, the noise suddenly stopped. The old dwarf had been blinded by excitement, while Chen Jinyang was bold due to his high skill; the two rushed to the location of the sound without hesitation. There was no one here! Nothing at all! Chen Jinyang lit a pine torch to illuminate the surroundings, but it was just the end of a tunnel. A few piles of rubble lay on the jagged stone walls, clearly knocked down by something, but there were no people or tools around.

Chen Jinyang and Singers stared at each other for a long time. The old dwarf steeled his heart and said loudly: "Let's get to work! Even a dragon couldn't stop old Singers from working here!" He picked up a pickaxe from the cart and started working. Chen Jinyang inserted the torch into a crevice in the wall—it seemed to have been chiseled out by someone specifically. He took the crossbow from his magic pouch, loaded it, placed the scimitar in an accessible spot, and then picked up a pickaxe from the cart.

Chen Jinyang looked speechlessly at the pickaxe, which was shorter than his own arm, and turned to shout at the dwarf, who was greedily stroking the stone wall: "Hey! Old Singers! Is this the mining tool you prepared for me?"