Beneath the ground there were towering crystal spires. The rocks had purple crystals and metal nodes interspersed. Hikari estimated that the cavern was at least 200 meters high. The place was deep, and on the walls were wooden walkways and people digging. The dwarves had several workstations set up.
Salazar promised the two girls entry before they would leave. The site was quite astonishing to the elf. It was not something that was possible on Earth. Along with the shining purple crystals, the air had a faint purple hue.
The elf activated her detection ability on the mana in the air and widened her eyes in astonishment.
"Master? Is something wrong?"
"It seems that Parallaxes was correct. This place is radiated. The mana doesn’t have a harmful effect if you don’t stay long, but if one were to live down here, it would effect their future offspring over the course of many years."
Salazar whispered to the elf. "Miss Hikari, please keep such thoughts to yourself while you are down here. The dwarves here hold different beliefs." He glanced around nervously and let out a long breath when he saw none of the dwarves listening. "I promised I could get you entry, but I think it will be hard to speak to someone like the sage."
"Right, the crystal sage." Hikari looked off towards the distance, spotting a large crystal tower. It was not hard to guess where that dwarf would be. Normally, Hikari wouldn’t be too willful. However, this time she was curious. The elf grabbed onto her dragon’s hand. "Let’s go up there."
"Hey, you can’t be serious! Did you not hear me?"
"It will be fine. If someone shows up, just keep them distracted. We won’t be long anyway."
Salazar sighed in resignation. "Be careful. I don’t think they would do much if you get caught, but the sage is considered the highest and most important position here."
Hikari nodded. She didn’t draw on her wings, fearing that it would be like a white beacon in this underground. Instead, she used the simple [Fly] spell. It was much slower than her wings could propel her, but it had the advantage of producing no sound.
Kurayami floated up next to her as they started flying towards the tower. "Master, why are you interested in this sage?"
"From listening to people here, the sage must be the most knowledgeable of magic out of all the crystal dwarves. I am curious to learn his perspective about a certain other metal."
"Oh! Master means the Amelium from before!"
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Hikari grinned just as they landed on the tower. The crystal structure was unbelievably hard. At the tip of the tower it was a simple rounded house. Where Hikari landed was a little balcony that circled around. It reminded the elf of those wizard towers she used to read in stories. The thought made her want to sing a certain song glorifying a wizard while walking on a yellow brick road.
She hummed the tune and knocked on the only wooden part of the structure—the door.
An aged and haggard voice came from within. "I already told you not to disturb me today. What are those guards even doing?"
The sound of boots stomping on the floor reached Hikari’s ears. Next were the sound of door latches. From top to bottom, each latch was opened with a click. What followed the final latch was the turning of a large gear. Then, the door cranked open slightly.
"What do you...An elf? How’d you get up here?" He glanced over the two figures outside. His eye shimmered.
Hikari was astonished that the man appeared different from the other crystal dwarves. His skin was completely clear of the formations. However, his eyes had become actual purple crystals.
"Are you the crystal sage?"
The dwarf grunted. "Who else would I be? You flew up this tower so you already knew the answer to your question. I don’t have time for rhetorical questions. I am quite a busy fellow, as you probably are aware." He paused before unlatching the small chain and opening the door. "However, I will make an exception today."
Hikari bowed her head. "Hikari. Thank you for the honor."
"Most people call me Sage," the dwarf said, spreading his arms wide at the room. "This is my humble abode. It’s nothing much, but don’t touch anything. Hikari right? What does a little elf want from this old man?"
Hikari noticed more of his features in the light. His face was sunken and wrinkled. His eyes were bulging crystal structures. The top of his head was bald, but he had a lengthy grey beard. His clothes reminded Hikari of explorers. They were brown leathers with several pouches. With her senses, she could smell several distinct scents.
The room itself held shelves and strange devices. There were a few staves and wands. On another shelf there were tinctures and ladles, making it look like a science class. There was a clear crystal sphere that gyrated and hummed. It rested inside of another glass cube. The man seemed very much unlike his compatriots.
Hikari finally decided to answer with a question of her own. "Why did you let me in so easily?"
The sage raised a grey eyebrow. "You flew up here, right? Otherwise, how would you get past the guards? The base of this tower has a strong enchantment warding off sneak spells. The only way up is flying. There is no safe guard against it."
"Why is that?"
"Flight magic is impossible for most people. And the guards will refuse to let a flying creature inside. If a harpy showed up, they would not be able to enter underground."
The dwarf turned and stirred a chalice with a spoon. He took a swig and then glanced back at the elf. "Also, it’s a rare chance for me to commune with an elf. I might as well use it while I am still alive." The sage pulled out two chairs for Hikari and Kurayami. "More than that, you are not a normal elf."
Hikari and Kurayami took the seats, but the elf didn’t confirm or deny what the sage had said. "You asked before why I came up here. I am curious about some things, but my time is limited."
"I know. You are part of that merchant group, right?"
"How did you know?"
The dwarf chuckled. "It’s because I am the great sage! That’s a lie, of course. You think they wouldn’t tell me about a whole band showing up and causing trouble?"
Hikari scratched her cheek awkwardly. "I suppose that’s true."
"Since you are low on time, I will answer three of your questions." He held up three fingers and gestured around the room. "You are free to seek any secrets, but I want something in return. Either give me something interesting, or answer one of my questions."
Hikari nodded. "That’s reasonable. I will start then." The elf pulled out one of her many Amelium ore fragments. "What do you think about the origin of this place?"
The dwarf laughed as he took the fragment. "You pay such a big price for such a simple question. I knew you’d have something of value. Was that storage magic?" At Hikari’s silence, the dwarf continued. "You’re no fun. It must be the wisdom of elves. Though you look like an urchin, you’re probably older than me right? At least the wisdom shows on this old man’s face."
The sage ran a hand through his grey beard. "Right, what do I think? I do believe that this place was a collapsed dungeon. However, it’s not so simple. I read that Parallaxes book. While that guy pisses me off, there is some substance to his radiation theory."
He pointed to the vials on one of his workstations. Next to it, there seemed to be some purple liquid underneath a microscope. "I actually examined the blood of a crystal mole down here. Unlike us dwarves, their blood has even turned purple. I compared it against a normal mole."
"What did you find?"
The sage grinned. "Is that your next question?"
"Tch, you cheeky old man. I won’t give you anything. This time you can ask me."
The dwarf appeared thoughtful for a moment. However, his face lit up like a light bulb, yet he asked the most basic of questions. Something often shared at simple introductions.
"Where are you from?"
"Master…"
"It’s okay," Hikari said before looking back at the dwarf. "Do you believe in other worlds?"
The sage’s eyes widened. "You mean…"
"That’s right. I came from another world."
The dwarf stroked his beard and looked down. "That explains some things…As for your question, the purple blood had magic crystals forming even inside of the cells. The interesting thing is the magical circuits are completely different. It’s like the two beings are completely unrelated to each other. In that sense, if the dwarves here became the same, we would not even be cousins to the original dwarves anymore."
Hikari pondered her own magic circuits. If her body was like the crystal dwarves, she’d be far removed from normal elves. If that was the case, then gods were completely different in structure on the inside. Even though the thought seemed so obvious, it was good to confirm.
"I gave you that Amelium earlier," Hikari said and pulled out her own staff. "Do you think it would be possible to smelt a weapon similar to this?"
The dwarf’s eyes glanced over the staff. There was a gleam to the purple crystals as he seemed to confirm something.
What he found stunned him. The man stood up quick as his chair scraped against the floor. He took a few deep breaths attempting to compose himself, but Hikari could see the fire in his eyes.
"Miss! Do you understand the value of this thing!? Don’t play around with me. My eyes can’t even read this. This...this…"
"Alright! Calm down. I just want to know if we can smelt the Amelium to make another staff."
The dwarf sat back down and sighed. "You’re not an elf. You’re one of the divine aren’t you?"
"That’s more or less correct. But, it would be a big problem if people learned."
"NO! What is a big problem is thinking we were equals to begin with! If you had said that from the beginning…"
"This is exactly the problem. You think I want to walk everywhere and have everyone obey me? This is not the kind of life I wish for."
The dwarf frowned. "I don’t even understand how you can walk down here. If you came here...I don’t know what calamity may befall us. Why did you leave your divine realm? I heard there was an order…"
Hikari was genuinely surprised. "You even know about that? It doesn’t matter. I am almost out of time. Tell me if I can make it or not."
"Are you testing me? I don’t see how it would even be a problem for you! Aren’t you aligned with light? You could easily mold it!"
Hikari’s eyes widened. Why hadn’t she thought of something so simple? The Amelium was like a faith metal in itself. The reason nobody could mold it before was they were using the wrong methods. These people were trying to smelt it or bend it like it was a normal metal. But that didn’t explain another point. Hikari had learned that dwarves were behind the making of the mountain city, yet this dwarf knew that it could be molded with light magic.
Seeing that the dwarf kept mumbling something to himself, Hikari decided it was best to leave it here. "Well, I will be heading out then. Please don’t tell anyone about this experience."
The dwarven sage shook his head. "I would never do that! If I spilled the secret of a divine so easily, I would be the biggest fool of all the dwarves." He stopped briefly before finishing. "A word of caution. I can’t really tell you what to do, but I would advise against giving away this secret. It’s like a dwarf saying they’re going to walk with the ants. The ants have no choice but to bend down and hide."
Hikari shook her head before activating her flight spell. "That’s not entirely right. Thousands or millions of ants could kill a dwarf."