Chapter 218: Unease
"Well, I am among the mountains again...."
Ash muttered as his eyes wandered over the vast expanse before him. Endless mountains stretched in every direction, their jagged peaks piercing the clouds and fading into the distant haze, as though the horizon itself had no end.
The wind howled between the cliffs, carrying the faint metallic tang of ore and the earthy scent of stone. Somewhere far below, he could hear the distant rumble of water running through hidden rivers inside the rock.
Like the elves, whose entire continent was swallowed in forests and roots, the dwarves lived deep beneath the ground. This continent of mountains was their foundation — a land rich with endless ore veins and rare minerals.
But unlike the elven lands, it was not the safest of places. The elves would tirelessly clear their dungeons, knowing that if one were left to break, it could devour entire swaths of their forests.
Dwarves, however, had no such sentiment. Though they cleared dungeons when needed, they sometimes left them to fester and break deliberately, letting the chaos spill forth. For them, these outbreaks were not only acceptable but could even serve as a natural defense against invaders.
The dwarves were renowned for their unmatched technology, their skill in forging weapons, and their war machines that could level cities. Their territory was fiercely protected. If anything was spotted flying above their lands without permission, it would be shot down instantly, no matter who it was.
That was why the skies above the Land of Forge were considered a no-flying zone for all outsiders.
But right now, with Absolute Concealment cloaking his presence, Ash appeared in that forbidden sky without a single ripple of disturbance.
The air here smells of metal and earth... heavy and sharp...
He took a deep breath and began teleporting from one mountain peak to another, searching for a checkpoint. The principal had not given him any map, saying it would help him "grow."
More like he just wanted me to waste time wandering through the mountains until I stumbled upon the entrance underground...