[Welcome to the Ash Mountain's Dwarven City of Svartalfheim]!]
[The City of Dwarves is a place funded by the Ancient Dwarves thousands of years ago, now only the small vestige of what used to be an enormous metropolis and empire that stretched through all of the Northern area of the Continent of Verdant, the last surviving Dwarves spend their days mining, crafting, and teaching all those that want to learn their ancient craft.]
[Although relatively peaceful, lately, it is said that the Dwarves have dug too deep, and have awakened an ancient evil that was long ago sealed within the depths of the Ash Mountains…]
[If you desire to learn more about this, find clues within the City.]
Just as we arrived, the System instantly throws me a bit of information about the city. It is quite interesting that this enormous city, filled with people is only the "vestige" of something even larger?! Just how massive did the Empire of Dwarves used to be, I wonder?
I've read in the forums that this Dragon thing has been going around for a while, there's an area in these mountains where there are a lot of Dragon-type monsters, but nobody had actually found the "ancient, sealed evil" yet, so it might be up to us to find that, whatever it is while we are at it.
"Did everyone got the same message?" I wondered.
"Oh yeah, about the ancient evil and stuff?" Rita asked.
"Yeah, that one." I nodded.
"I got it as well." Mark said. "I guess we'll have to do this with a classic approach in mind, we'll have to look around for clues."
"Hmm- Ah, why is everyone looking at us?" Wondered Jenny, quickly jumping off my head and turning into a girl-like form, though still made out of purple gooey liquid.
"I-It's Planta, isn't she?!"
"Yeah, she just uploaded a video just now!"
"Woah, what are those huge monsters she's carrying around?"
"I heard she has an army of super powerful familiars… Looks like it's true."
"I-I'm too nervous to approach her…"
The Players among the crowd quickly noticed my presence and were making a slight fuss over it. Thankfully they were only a couple dozens of people, not hundreds like in Nexus.
"Let's go for now, just ignore their stares, Jenny." I said.
"Geez, you're quite the celebrity around here, huh?" Jenny wondered. "But none of these guys know you IRL, that's our privilege, kekeke."
"Move aside guys, my friend's trying to pass through here." Rita said, pushing people away.
"Please don't take photos or videos, that's a bit rude." Mark said, his intimidating presence and tall stature easily made most people walk back.
We made our way to the city's entrance, where the guards seemed to be making sure no dangerous people entered the area… Seems like large cities always have this type of security.
"Who are you that everyone's so focused on you?" Wondered one of the guards, a dwarf wearing steel armor and holding a long spear. "You aren't sketchy people, right?"
"Is that huge guy your friend, lady?" Asked the second guard, pointing at Mark. "And is this slime your pet, I assume? And those monsters over there won't do anything bad, right?"
"Yes, Mark is my friend, and Jenny is also my friend, those monsters are my familiars, don't worry, they won't hurt anybody." I nodded. "You guys should adjust your size a bit."
"Meehheee!" Belle groaned, quickly becoming much smaller, the size of a young goat.
The rest of the familiars all reduced their sizes, even Mimy, who was so tall she was almost as big as Mark, but now had the size of the dwarves.
"I see…" One of the guards raised an eyebrow. "And you're a Dryad, huh?"
"Wait, Dryad?!" Asked the second dwarf. "Don't tell me you're coming from the Forest of Beginnings, where that hue tree is at?"
"Yeah we are!" I nodded. "Name's Planta, I am actually the owner of that tree, it is an extension of my own body."
"E-Eh? Is that true? Don't lie to us!" Said the first guard.
"Oi, the lie detection tool is not reacting, she's saying the truth…" The second guard was holding a small jewel on his hand. It seemed to react to lies.
"W-Woah, alright then, you can pass…" Sighed the first guard.
"You seem like someone really important; don't you want us to tell the King about your arrival, Lady Planta?" Asked the second guard.
"Oh no, don't worry about it, thanks for your hospitality!" I said. "Oh! By the way, do you know anything about this rumor… About an Ancient Evil being Unsealed recently? It might be related to Dragons, maybe? We've been looking for this, we are afraid it could be something that might endanger the city."
"Hmmm, Ancient Unsealed Evil?" Wondered the first guard, seemingly having no clue. "That sounds really melodramatic! Wasn't the Demon King dealt with already? Though, we've heard there's a nest of Dragon-type monsters in the mountain that was recently dug up."
"I did heard something like that, a friend that works in the Mines said he heard someone saying that in the Dragon Nest, they found something big… and sinister." Sighed the second guard. "It could be what you're looking for? But we aren't as crazy as Players to just step into danger, so the miners probably ran away from there and haven't gone back."
"I see…" I nodded. "Seems like they did knew a bit." I smiled back at my friends.
"Could it be possible to tell us the name of this friend of yours?" Wondered Rita. "Pretty please~? Oh, did I forget to say your beards are really hot and make you look super manly?"
"Hehehe, such flatter won't work on us, lady!"
"Though, we take it kindly anyway, especially from a beautiful lady."
The dwarves laughed while blushing a bit.
"Ahem! Well, my miner friend's named Kestrellius, by now he should be dining with his friends in the Tavern named "Golden Egg" where they serve the best eggs." Said the dwarf. "Just tell him his good friend Nedrug brought you to him. As long as you pay him some beers and snacks, he'll surely talk."