Chapter 30

I shaded my eyes from the blazing sun. The weather was warm but not unbearably slow and there was a cool gentle breeze that brought the fragrant scent of fresh grass. After a second to get my eyes adjusted, I lowered my hand and looked around. It was the same sight I saw through the spider's eyes. I was standing in a large open field with rolling hills in all directions but behind me where there was a thin line of trees. Something I failed to notice before was a small amount of smoke floating into the air from behind the trees.

"Oh wow. This place is beautiful." Ella said stepping out of the vortex behind me. I looked around again at her words. I guess it was nice, but I didn't feel any particular draw of emotions from the surroundings. Maybe it was just too bright for my taste.

"Yeah," I said lazily simply agreeing with her. "Although I wonder if that is a village." I pointed out toward the smoke behind the trees. It had occurred to me that this place could be another home of the elves or even my previous world.

"Should we go over there?" She asked looking closely in the direction I was pointing.

"Im curious. There doesn't seem to be anything dangerous around here at the moment so I don't see why not. Although, I doubt that my appearance would be welcome anywhere."

"If you want I can go. I'll tell you what is there." I had been thinking the same thing for a while anyways.

"I'll go with you are far as I can and wait for you to come back." We agreed and headed off with the surveillance spider on my shoulder once again. I commanded the other spiders that were slowly filing through the gate to stick around the area and not get into any unnecessary fights. It didn't take long for us for the cause of the smoke to come into view. We were still in the cover of the trees but could see the outlines of a medium-sized house next to a small stream. The house was a simple wooden structure with a second building closer to the stream which is where the smoke was coming from. A water wheel was attached to the building spinning with the power of the stream. A dull sound of metal striking metal reached us as we approached closer.

"Only. I'll let you head up there. If you need anything yell and I'll come running." I whispered to Ella.

"Alright. I'll see you soon." She said and pushed the rest of the way through the trees. She walked up to the house looking around cautiously. I watched closely waiting for any sign of danger. She jumped a little as the familiar sound of an unidentifiable language hit my ears. She looked over at the small building with the smoke and waved speaking back in the unfamiliar language. This exchange went on for a little before she walked inside. I sat there curious and bored for a few minutes before she came outside and beckoned at me to come toward her.

I cautiously exited the woods and walked in her direction. The voice from inside the house didn't come into view as I reached the edge of the building.

"What's going on Ella?"

"Well this here is Grop, a dwarf and he lives here. I told him about you and he agreed to meet you. He says that he has dealt with some monsters in the past that could talk." I was rather curious at the thought of meeting a dwarf and stepped around to the front of the building. The dwarf screamed something that I assumed was a curse and hopped back in fear.

"I assume that wasn't a greeting?" I said slightly amused. The dwarf was only about 3 feet tall with a long beard. He was wearing overalls and carrying a small hammer in one gloved hand. I simply towered over him.

"No not a greeting." She said with a chuckle and spoke again to the dwarf. I winced at the screeching sounds that happened when people spoke. They exchanged words as I did my best to look around and ignore the pain. The building he was in looked like an old-timey blacksmith. There was a large furnace at the back end with a bag being inflated and deflated providing fuel to the hot flames powered by the stream. Along the wall, there was an assortment of swords and axes. The craftsmanship on them was beautiful.

"He wants to express his apologies to you for his reaction. I guess I didn't describe you well enough to him and he was shocked by your, um, size." She hesitated on that last part making me believe it was more than my height that bothered him. Not that it mattered, I was now more intrigued with the blacksmith's skill more than anything else.

"Tell him that it's fine, no harm no foul." She relayed the message and he nodded his head toward me. "Has he told you anything else?"

"Well he is a blacksmith, and I'm the first elf he has seen before."

"How were you able to understand him?"

"We had dwarves back in my world. The language is a little different but similar enough that I can have some basic conversation. This world is called Farglo and it's a world of mostly dwarves and werewolves. He left the big city about 40 years ago and has lived here every sense. His wife went to the city to sell his work."

"Wait, werewolves?"

"Yeah. I was a little shocked as well, but apparently, they dont mess with each other very often but they have been at odds for years now" We went over a few more things, the biggest thing was that the werewolves were regular wolves during the day, but at night turned more humanoid and walked around like the creatures from my myths.

The closest city was about 2 days away, it was a large city called Turf that was big on adventurers that often hunted and traded monster parts for money. After we talked for a little and I asked a few questions about the area the dwarf got more comfortable and talkative toward me, which gave me an excruciating headache but I let it slide.

"Hey. Do you think it would be possible to get a sword and shield made for me?"

"It's possible. I have the materials to make it for you. It would take time to make a mold large enough to be useful to you though and it would be pretty expansive." Ella translated the exchange.

"Well, I don't have any money. Is there something else you are interested in?" After A short pause and more painful words between the two Ella looked back at me.

"He says that since we come from a dungeon then he could trade mana crystals for the work." I thought about it for a second. Getting some equipment that was more durable and sharper than a rock hammer was very intriguing to me.

"Okay, how much for all of the work?" I asked using my hands to indicate size. After Ella asked the question and after a little bit of pondering he held his fingers up indicating about 3 inches in length. I nodded and he asked some more questions about size and material type. After we came to an agreement I asked him to add a sharpening stone and to make me a solid club for a price of course. We shook hands and he went back into his shop to work.

"He is really excited to make this. He says that he has never made a sword that long before." I laughed at the fact he was making a sword bigger than his body. I headed back to the dungeon to get his payment.