A Hidden World

They all seem confused for a second. 

Then after a minute of being open it closed itself. 

'A update? Does that mean someone is working on the system or is it working on itself?'

"System." 

Xiaoyi wanted to see if they could view any of their info and to her expectations she could not. The sage green box did not even appear. 

"Klarnok thrurgonok klarnok, grukthok drarok brurzok!"

Xiaoyi looks at Weiyuan as he also looks at her. She remembers that at the very beginning the system also worked as an automatic translator. 

"Oh no! The system is down so we can't understand each other." 

Xiaoyi pointed to her mouth and shook her head to try and show that she could not speak. 

"Grunzak dorzarnok urmazhnok, brorgrim drarnok kulnok?"

The dwarf looked just as confused as Weiyuan and Xiaoyi were when the others were talking. 

The dwarf shrugged and motioned for the two of them to follow. 

Although the two did not know where they were going and what he was saying they knew it would be better than spending a night in the forest. With the system down, who knows what other issues they could get into when they were out and about.

They followed the dwarf through the forest. After a few minutes they came upon a trail through the forest. It was clear that they used this path quite a bit. The dirt path and a couple other smaller paths that spread out between the trees. 

While they were walking they noticed that there were many different trees. Most of them had fruit that the two of them had never seen. Fruit with layers, long tube-like fruit, fruit in the shape of stars and many more. 

"Durndok skorngorok grumzok. Burzok klarnok thrazgurz! Durndok Haiog skorngorok grumzok. Burzok klarnok thrazgurz." 

The dwarf was pointing to the various trees nearby, presumably telling them about what fruit was what. Although they could not understand what he was saying they did enjoy the walk. 

Eventually they saw a couple more dwarfs walking around, collecting either fruit or sap from the trees. 

The ones that were collecting fruit were on a ladder that can extend on its own and would not fall over. Xiaoyi really wanted to get on one of them, however she had no way to ask yet. She was hoping they would still be here when the system was back up. 

Soon the path turned into a stone path with magical flames on the sides of the road. They were floating above black poles that looked very similar to rural street lamps from Earth. 

The dwarfs around them grew. They were giving Xiaoyi and Weiyuan side eyes while talking to each other. 

They still couldn't understand what was being said but it seemed like they were not going to kill them. They soon got to a cave with dozens of minecarts with half of them being filled with fruit. 

It was obvious they also had to make their mine carts longer. Some of them looked aged while others shined beautifully in the light. There were floating flames that did not give off heat every few feet in the cave. 

The dwarf looked at them and did a hand expanding motion while pointing at the rails. The carts not being used still didn't collect to each other from when the place expanded. 

They then walked right past the mine carts. 

"Do you think we are going to walk all the way down the cave?" 

Xiaoyi did not want to be in another cave. She has been in enough caves for a year. 

"I think so." 

However, a few steps later they turned down a hallway to a couple of rooms without a 3rd wall. 

The dwarf motions for them get into the room. Weiyuan and Xiaoyi knew what it was as they walked it. It's basically an elevator but bigger than what they are typically used to. 

Once they go on the dwarf tugs a rope. Not a sound is heard however they start to go down. 

The dwarf looks at them proudly expecting this to be the first time they have been in a contraption like this. Most of the other races use stairs unless it is a magic tower then they have teleportation circles to get to the other floors. 

The two of them put a shocked face on themselves and pretend to be off balance when it goes down. 

The dwarf's face grows even more proudly as he scoffs. 

Suddenly a green box appears. 

'Due to negative reviews we have only returned the translation. Mouth movements will not be modified to match. 

I apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience.'

Once again the system left without coming back. 

"There we go lad. You should be able to understand me now." 

While the dwarf talked, Xiaoyi and Weiyuan hated how his mouth stopped moving before he was done talking. 

"Yes we understand you." Xiaoyi said.

"I hate how your mouth moves. Please dont talk when I'm looking at you." 

The dwarf turned out and faced the wall as they went down. Then the wall disappeared showing an elaborate city built deep under the earth. Rock roads stretched in all sides while massive caves opened to reveal towns or factories. 

Xiaoyi frowned and looked at the surroundings and soon forgot the insult.

There was a giant waterfall of lava constantly falling into a building at the lowest point of the city. The lava then spewed out of the building into a crystal tunnel that was partially see through going back into the cave walk that had the lava falling from above. 

"I guess that is why there was no snow on the top of this mountain. They have a constant flow of lava here." 

Weiyuan watched in amazement that anyone would be able to make such an elaborate place under a mountain. 

"Us dwarfs pride ourselves on being able to use every part of the mountain. The mountain allows us to be here. If we get greedy it can kick us out, or worse get rid of us itself." 

After a 30 elevator ride with no music the three of them got off and continued into the city. 

"Before you decide what to do let me tell you what we offer. First we have better travel routes through the mountains. It is literally through the mountains. Secondly we have beds softer than rocks. Thirdly, we are dwarfs and we have many weapons. All of them are better than that scrap metal you have with you now. Lastly and most importantly we would love to test humans' aptitude to smiting." 

"Why do you want to test humans' aptitude for smithing?" 

Xiaoyi really did not want to do manual labor. She just wanted to sleep and relax, however if she wanted to sleep and relax she had to have a good reason. 

"Well it is rumored that the greatest weapon ever made was thanks to a human for smithing alongside a dwarf." 

He looked proud as though he himself was the one to craft such a weapon. 

The two of them followed the dwarf as he led the way without even letting them decide if they wanted to go or not.