There were hundreds of Dwarves...

Each looking at us like we are a sort of disfigured creature.

"Move, Move!" said someone in the crowd.

An old man emerges from the crowd with a surprised face.

"Humans? How have you entered our sacred grounds?" said the old man.

"I don't know; there was a huge gate which pulled us in. We come in peace!" I replied.

I shouldn't try to become their enemies, there seem to be many of them, and I still don't know how strong they are.

"From a gate?" the old man mumbles.

"Kid, you have an enormous killing intent that surrounds you, while the girl does not. How do you expect us to believe what you are saying?" Says the old man.

I have killing intent? I didn't even think of touching them, let alone killing them...

"I can guarantee you, I will not harm you guys," I replied.

"They are human; we must not trust his words," people whisper among the crowd.

"Brother, why don't we kill this man--" an old man tried to speak but was cut off,

"Enough, you can count how many humans have entered our grounds with one hand. They surely aren't normal." said the old man.

I'm guessing the previous generation of challengers had a prejudice against the dwarves?

"My name is Tundrac Flintchest; I am the high elder of the dwarven race." Said the old man.

I replied, "I go by Stephen Wilson; I am an ordinary challenger of the human race. This is--"

Alice then wakes up, confused as ever...

"Alice Blake, my companion." I finish.

"Stephen... Where are we, and why are there very short men...?" Alice worriedly asks.

I sort of knew these were dwarves partly because I watched a little too many tv shows...

"We are in the dwarven kingdom..." I replied.

"On Earth?" Alice asked...

I peered over to the high elder, signaling for an answer...

"Oh, ah, yes, we are on earth; the reason most humans and or challengers don't know our location is that we have a potent illusion barrier blocking us from the outside world. This keeps us protected and hidden away." Said the Tundrac.

"That's the reason everyone is on edge; the barrier is one of the most powerful artifacts we the dwarves have made, and for a human to suddenly appear on our grounds... Was... Well unheard of." Tundrac said.

"Everyone dismiss; there is no problem here. Come you young'uns, let me give you a tour." Tundrac said with excitement.

It was nice, and all that Tundrac was doing this for us... But we have to be back in New York by Sunday night...

"Uhm, mister Tundrac, how far are we from New York... Or the United States at that?" I said.

"We are in the United States, though we are a distance away from New York; it should be around a 40-hour drive from here to New York," said Tundrac

"40 hours?" Alice mumbled.

Since I trained near that big tree, I'm sure I can most likely travel near to the speed of sound... Though I don't know for how long... I need to test it out.

I also need to test this scythe that has been embedded into my body... I once again have to thank Daruma.

"That's fine. Look Tundrac; we can only stay here until tomorrow at 12 P.M; after that, we have to leave and attended something essential." I replied.

"Ho ho, there is no problem with that," Tundrac said.

"Come, let's look at our kingdom." Tundrac happily says.

"There you can see a water mill and a couple of windmills, over here you can see our bakeries, over there you can see our armies, over there is what we are known for, that is our smithery." Tundrac scoots along.

It's quite peaceful here; I can see why the dwarves dislike humans... We are very reckless.

"Smithing? That's what dwarves take pride in? That's cool." I said.

"Indeed, every race knows dwarves are the best smiths." Tundrac remarks.

"Let us go to the central forge; here, the best of best is made and manned by the one and only Garnorra Emberforged, the best smith in existence!" Tundrac smirks.

Is she who the principal was talking about?

Though I no longer need a weapon because of the scythe, it'll still be nice to meet her and maybe get something for Alice.

"Alice, what weapon are you proficient with?" I asked.

"I like light but well-built daggers, why do you ask?" Alice responded.

"Nothing..." I responded.

We made our way to the central forge; as the doors opened, a gust of hot air flew out of the room.

"Garnorra! How is the item coming along?" Tundrac asked.

"Well enough... Who are these two?" Garnorra asked.

"Ah yes, this is Stephen Wilson, and this is Alice Blake; they are humans who stumbled across our lands," Tundrac responded.

"Can we trust them?" Garnorra asked.

"Indeed," Tundrac replied.

It's nice to see Tundrac trusting us, but isn't he being a bit too trustworthy? What if we had ill intent...

"This is the greatest forger in the world; she can make almost anything if you can get the materials and the base blueprint." Tundrac remarks.

"That is great to know; I hope we can be friends in the future," I asked.

As I gaze around the room, I see very high-quality gear all around... So I guess she truly isn't all talk.

"Okay, I have an important meeting to attend; let me show you to your housing for now until you leave," Tundrac said.

We made our way throughout the village and made our way to the residential section.

It was nice and quiet, the sound of kids playing futbol with each other, women gossiping, men sitting around... It was relaxing.

"The the only open room we have left, sadly there is only one room, will that be okay for you both?" Tundrac said.

I peered over to Alice, looking for a signal... She nods.

"Yes, that will be enough; thanks for all your help," I replied.

We sat down, and the Elder left.

"It's really nice here... If only we didn't have to go back, I would've loved to stay here," Alice said.

I pat Alice's shoulders and get up.

"You aren't wrong about that one. I'll be right back; I'm going to look at something." I said.

I look back and see Alices face bright red... is she sick, or maybe homesick?

I made my way towards the central forge to meet Garnorra once more.

"Hey, it's me, Stephen, the human," I said.

"Let me guess you want me to make you a weapon?" Garnorra asked.

"Yes and no, I want you to make a weapon, but for Alice and not me," I responded.

"Huh, a human who isn't selfish. What do you want me to make?" Garnorra said.

"A dagger, Light but sturdy. I don't have any materials on me but this orb; if you can sponsor me a weapon, ill give you one favor, or I can pay you back in a bit with interest." I asked.

When that being died from Daruma, there was an orb of pure mana in my pockets; I'm guessing that dropped from that thing. I'll give this to Alice because I feel bad that she had to experience that.

"Hmm... Okay, instead of paying me back, I'll ask for a favor. I don't know what it will be but ill call you when I need it. If you can get an orb of this power, you definitely are a bit capable." Garnorra said.

"It'll be done by the morning of tomorrow," Garnorra said.

"Thank you. Also, you got something wrong; I'm not selfless; I'm actually very selfish," I say while leaving.

I made my way back to the housing.

When I entered, I saw Alice scratching her head...

"Stephen... What happened in the expert zone... and how did we end up here?" Alice said worriedly.

"When we made our way to the ark, there was a giant beast that tried to kill us, but then out of nowhere, a master came and killed it. The death of the beast opened a gate, which we got sucked into and ended up here." I said.

I had to sugarcoat some of my words... I couldn't say an old master in my body came out and killed it.

"Did you see the master?" Alice asked.

"No, their battle was far beyond my level; it was too fast for me to see. But, honestly, I'm still wondering what truly happened and why we ended up here of all places." I replied.

"I wasn't expecting this when we were going out for a training session... Anyways we are leaving tomorrow, but we are really far from New York." Alice said.

"Don't worry about it; I'll take care of it. Just relax and absorb some of the energy here; it is really potent here. I'm going outside to train a bit." I said.

Alice nods her head while I walked away.

I went to a secluded area in the sacred lands; there was no one here in the 500-meter radius... This should be enough so that no one will notice.

I wanted to pull the scythe out by imagining it... though nothing happened. So I tried again and again for 20-30 minutes to no avail.

I decided to empower my body and then imagine the scythe; this time, the image was apparent in my mind, but I still couldn't formulate it. So I once again went on for another 10 minutes trying to envision the weapon.

This time I focused only all my power into my right hand, where I remembered the tattoo was. It was hard because this level of control was way out of my league, but I persisted...

Only after 5 minutes of flowing all my energy to my right arm did the weapon appear.

It was a large scythe with dual blades, but it wasn't as I saw it on the ground. The one in my hand had none of the red glowing cracks on it, the end of the scythe wasn't emitting smoke... It was just a regular-looking scythe.

Though it was cumbersome, it felt extremely well built.

After looking at the scything for a bit, many people were surrounding me...

"Stephen, is that you?" Tundrac says while gasping for air.

Did they run all the way here?

"Yes, what happened?" I asked.

"Why are you releasing that ungodly amount of killing intent?" Tundrac said.

Killing intent? After looking around, I saw everyone was scared.

I quickly peered over to my scythe and quickly dispersed it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even realize I was releasing killing intent... I was just training." I quickly responded.

"It's okay... thank god, I thought that was directed at us..." Tundrac sighed in relief.

Alice running towards me,

"Stephen, are you okay? They were saying you released a lot of intent to kill." Alice said while furiously patting my body down.

"Yeah, it's okay, it was a misunderstanding... I was just training..." I responded.

Alice calming down and leans her head against my chest...

"I thought you were in a fight..." Alice said.

I truly am a lucky man, huh...

The crowd slowly dispersed, Alice and I made our way back to our home.

Was the scythe the one giving off the killing intent? Or was it me?

I guess I have to be more conservative when I use it?

Daylight was leaving fast; it was near "Lights Out" for the dwarves... This meant they would stop everything and head home to sleep.

"You can sleep in the bed; I'll sleep on the floor," I said to Alice.

As I made my way to the corner of the room, Alice tugged on my sleeve,

"The floor is cold; the bed isn't," Alice said with a shy expression.

It was a bit awkward... but Alice and I shared the same bed... This really isn't how I expected the day to end.

Actually... I didn't even expect the day to go the way it did. But, I hope it will be more forgiving tomorrow.

A brand new day awaits.

The sun slowly peeks through the curtains of our room, the light almost directly hitting my eyes; I was forced awake.

Alice was confined into the shade; she was sleeping like a brick.

I slowly get up, trying not to wake Alice up.

I got dressed and made my wake towards the central forge to see the progress made on the blades.

"Up so early?" Garnorra asks.

"Kind of used to it... What is the exact time right about now?" I responded.

"It's 6 A.M.," Garnorra said.

I legit have a built-in alarm clock... I always wake up around this time.

"Thanks, also; how is the progress of the weapon I requested?" I asked.

"Well... I've been up at it all night, and in about 2 hours, it should be done; it's on its cooling phase," Garnorra responded.

That was fast... I thought it would take like 5 to 6 more hours, but 2 hours... That's crazy.

"Thanks a ton! I'll be back in 2 hours to pick it up..." I said.

"Cool, I'll catch you later then," Garnorra said.

"Oh also, don't tell Alice that a dagger is being made for her." I requested.

Garnorra chuckles, "Alright,"

I made my way towards the house, but then tundrac presented himself in front of me.

"Sir Stephen, I have a parting gift, from one friend to another," Tundrac said.

"A gift? No need; you allowing us to lodge here is more than enough." I replied.

"You must accept it! It shows that we are truly friends... It should also prove useful for an adventurer like yourself." Tundrac exclaimed.

I took a closer inspection of the gift, and it's a storage device in a shape of a bracelet... Storage items are beyond expensive. I saw one on the market for like a couple hundred thousand or something along the lines; it was completely ridiculous...

"I can't accept a gift of this magnitude; storage items cost so much!" I said.

Tundrac then pushed the bracelet towards my chest and walked away...

"Well, we seem to have an extra one laying around," Tundrac said.

To think I would get a massive payout from this little excursion.

"I'll be in your debt," I say while walking away.

I made my way towards our room and took a peek at Alice... She was still asleep. She's one heavy sleeper.

I nudge Alice a bit to wake her up.

"Wake up; we need to get going soon," I whisper.

"Five-- Five more minutes..." Alice mumbles.

She's just like my sister...

I laid on the bed, thinking about how unorthodox this adventure was from what I was thinking.

Before I knew it, I was snoozing away next to Alice.

3 hours pass and Garnorra entered the room.

The slight noise of the door opening woke me up... But before I was fully aware of the situation, I noticed it was a goddam body pillow for Alice.

I lightly pushed Alice to the side...

"Hm?" Alice groaned

Garnorra and Tundrac chuckle... "The couple are truly meant for each other."

Alice quickly shot up bright as a cherry... I was still confused.

"Kid, your weapon is ready," Garnorra said.

Alice and I Struggled out of bed and made our way to the central forge.

Garnorra presented us with 2 well-decorated daggers...

I took them to see how they felt. They were light yet heavy, flimsy yet sturdy, beautiful, but sharp.

"They are one of my best works, that beast core you gave really enhanced the quality of those blades," Garnorra said.

I took the blades and placed them into their box; the box, too, was well decorated.

I took the box and handed it to Alice.

"These blades are now yours," I said to Alice.

Tundrac whistles, "That's one gift; it's more expensive than the bracelet I gave you."

Alice, with a beet-red face, "I can't take this; it's way too expensive."

I took Alice's arm out and placed the box in her hands. "It seems as though I have an extra weapon laying around... Oh, look at the time, we must make our way back to New York!" I said.

"Ah yes, about that... Garnorra, is it finally ready?" Tundrac asked.

"We just finished it and ran trails; it worked without a hitch," Garnorra responds.

"Haha, yes! After 3 years of constant forging and construction, the first wide-range teleporter! With this, we can send you guys where ever you need to go; we just need the exact location." Said Tundrac.

"Wait, really? We won't have to take a car all the way over there?" I ask.

"HAHA! No, you don't, young man." Tundrac replies.

I look over to Alice, "Looks like we are saved once again..."

We both express our gratitude.

The first-ever teleporter... It's 2025; you'd think we would've had one by now... but we finally do.

After an hour of exchanging our goodbyes with the locals, we were ready to leave.

"It looks like this is farewell for now, Tundrac," I said.

"Indeed it is. You must come to visit us from time to time." Tundrac said

"Of course, I'll also make sure Alice tags along," I replied.

"You guys have done a lot for Alice and me; if any problems were ever to occur, you know where I live, you can always ask me for help," I said.

"We are in your debt," Alice said.

"Take us to Central Capital, Brooklyn, New York," I asked.

"Your wish is my command," Garnorra said.

There was a bright beam in the sky in front of us...

"Walk in," Garnorra said.

We took a step and instantly felt our body stretch... It was painful at first; then, when the light settled, we were behind the school... Just like that, we were back home.