Chapter 173 - Gnome Colony

Peeking through the doorway, Oliver spotted a few people talking. However, what surprised him was that these people weren't typical humans.

'Are those..?'

Oliver's eyes squinted as he tried to figure out who or what these people were.

They were short, much shorter than any average human. The heights of these creatures were that of a growing child. But, instead of having appearances that carried childlike wonder, these creatures had fully grown beards and robust-looking expressions.

Whatever these things were, they weren't anything Oliver had seen before. Although, he could take a little guess.

Based on their appearance, Oliver could take a guess and an accurate one at that. These creatures were living underground and carried pickaxes to mine for stone. And, not only that, but these creatures had smaller physiques compared to that of the dwarves.

All of those characteristics could only lead to one conclusion. These things were gnomes.

As these creatures hurriedly spoke in an unknown language, Oliver watched as the gnomes proceeded to go about their business. They didn't notice Oliver's presence at all as he continued to monitor these creatures for suspicious movements.

Although, it is rather unfortunate that Oliver couldn't understand what they were saying. However, judging by their actions, they were after some ore. Mining and swinging their pickaxes away, Oliver felt as though he was watching some medieval fantasy movie.

However, as he paid close attention to their movements, Oliver thought that nothing was out of the ordinary. He doubted his earlier suspicions as the gnomes seem to be minding their own business.

Oliver continued to observe for the next few seconds and noticed a few more things.

For one, the gnomes seemed to be discarding regular stone and were mining for something a lot harder. When their pickaxes struck this particular type of stone, it sparked. Not only that, but Oliver spotted that these gnomes loaded their minerals onto a cart.

That being said, Oliver found it odd for these creatures to be so organized. But then again, there was typically a hierarchy to these things.

'Where does that lead to..?'

Observing the direction those tracks headed, Oliver thought he might find the answers he needed there. So, with that, Oliver used this time to find out.

With Forceful Dusk still active, Oliver was very well hidden. So long as he slightly distracted the gnomes, Oliver would be able to get to his destination with relative ease. And, naturally, he did just that.

Dagger in hand, Oliver tapped the weapon onto a nearby wall, resulting in a sound coming from outside the room the gnomes were in. And, instinctively, the gnomes went outside of their workspace to check on the sudden noise. In doing so, Oliver was able to sneak past the creatures without a hitch.

The room now clear of any gnomes, Oliver swiftly ran inside and followed the tracks laid on the ground. The tunnels he was moving through were lit by torches on the walls. It was as though Oliver was thrown back in time as modernity was nowhere to be seen.

Still, he kept his focus.

With each step forward, Oliver paid great attention to whatever may come. The tunnels were empty, sure, but Oliver wasn't one to be careless.

'Where does this head to..?'

As he kept going, the duration for Forceful Dusk ended. Now, much more visible than before, Oliver's cautiousness increased as he moved forward from this point. And, soon enough, Oliver finally reached the very end of the tunnel without alarming anybody of his presence.

Unfortunately, that was all about to change as he saw where the tunnel led to.

'The hell is that?'

Caught off-guard, Oliver stared at the very centerpiece of the cave where the tunnel had ended. No matter what, nobody would have expected to see something like this so deep underground.

And, even then, it would be the sight a person could remember throughout their lifetime.

Mouth wide open, Oliver stood perfectly still as he witnessed a magnificent stone statue. It was carved out in a figure, unlike anything Oliver had ever seen before. That's because the figure the statue was modeled after wasn't anything sensible.

The statue had the head of a noble lion. In fact, it had been so beautifully chiseled which, by itself, it would already be considered a masterpiece.

Unfortunately, the upper body of the statue wasn't as delicate.

Diminishing the magnificence of the headpiece, the upper body of the statue was... ugly. That was because this part of the statue was heavily disfigured.

The limbs were weirdly unbalanced as one side had a human arm and a claw, while the other side had a foreleg of an insect. What was even more strange was the varying size of the limbs.

For one thing, the human arm was extremely misproportioned as the palm of the hand was several sizes larger than of its fingers. Then, the claw was oddly small as well, so much so it resembled that of a tyrannosaurus rex. And, finally, there was the foreleg. Somehow, it was larger than the other two limbs combined.

Oliver had no idea what he was looking at. Because not only were the limbs weird, the abdomen itself was also strange.

Its abdomen resembled that of a monkey. Volumes of hair around the creature's entire upper body except for the center chest and stomach. However, unlike that of a monkey, the center was covered in reptilian scales.

As the amalgamation of horrors rolled up into one terrifying creature, the statue did not stop at the abdomen.

Lowering his head slightly, Oliver saw that the statue was held up with numerous legs. Although, with a closer look, no sane person would ever call those things "legs."

These so-called legs had hands of their own. Each one was firmly placed on the ground with their palms facing up. Even though Oliver couldn't count exactly how many legs there were, each one seemed to have five hands, which totaled a number much higher than Oliver was willing to accept.

With these legs having hands for toenails, the leg itself was long and somewhat thin. Judging by its appearance, Oliver made these legs out to be that of a chicken's shank. Furthermore, these shanks numbered thousands by Oliver's estimate. All of which were connected to the body segment of a millipede.

It was... wrong. Just so horribly wrong.

Mouth wide open as he stared, Oliver forgot that he was currently in an unfamiliar environment. And that he was trying to find Strider. However, he was soon to be reminded as something spotted Oliver from a distance.

A loud screech suddenly rang from within the cave, snapping Oliver out of his daze. From there, all the gnomes inside the cave with the statue took notice of him.

There was no way he could hide now. All he could do now was to make a run for it.

However, before he could, a loud stomp stopped the loud screeching. The gnomes immediately fell silent as one of them walked forward.

The gnome was no different than the rest. It had the same height and stature as its fellow brethren. But Oliver could sense something coming out from this one guy.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

'This guy can talk!?'

Not only could this one gnome talk, but its appearance was also significantly more dignified than the rest. Its beard was trim, and its clothes were clean. There were no marks of any physical activity like the other gnomes had.

It was clear that this gnome was a head above the rest.

Not lowering his guard one bit, Oliver held a dagger behind him. He was ready to strike the very moment this one gnome expressed hostility. Then, he answered.

"Oliver. Human."

Thinking it was normal to distinguish his species, Oliver felt weary. That's because the gnome didn't seem to be afraid of this one human who had suddenly appeared.

"Human... Human... I recall a species of that name exists. Although, I do not understand what this 'Oliver' means. However, if you are what you say you are... what is your purpose here?"

The gnome had his tiny hands behind him as if inspecting this strange creature who was much taller than himself. However, the gnome was calm and level-headed in dealing with the situation at hand.

"I'm here because my pet had gone missing. A wolf with silver hair."

Not paying attention to the statue anymore, Oliver slowly approached the gnome as they both intensely stared at each other. One was looking down while the other was looking up.

"A wolf, huh?" the gnome replied as he inspected Oliver with great interest. "I suppose there may or may not have been one that came across here..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The tone of Oliver's voice became harsh as his eyes narrowed slightly. He wasn't in the mood to be messed with, especially not by some creature a quarter of his size.

"Alas, my memory seems to be failing me at this moment. You may have to wait until my memory recovers, dear human. Perhaps... a simple exchange would help pass the time."

'Is it... trying to get a bribe?'

With his expression showing great hostility, Oliver couldn't believe that the creature before him would be so stupid enough to bribe him. There was no way Oliver would willingly give the guy anything. He was less than half his size for crying out loud!

Tightening his grip around his dagger, Oliver activated Shadowing Tread and attempted to threaten this little gnome. Naturally, Oliver would refrain from killing the guy, as it was the only source of information he currently had.

Before he could do anything, however, Oliver's feet were suddenly clamped to the ground.

'What the? Why can't I move?'

As Oliver struggled to pull his feet off the ground, the gnome audibly clicked its tongue multiple times as he shook his head.

"Let me tell you something, human," the gnome suddenly started a monologue. "Us gnomes have often been underestimated. This phenomenon had not been limited to humans but to other creatures as well. Natural predators. Omnipresent Spiritual Beings. Devils. And even by the gods.

"This is why we gnomes were forced underground. For preservation. To survive. We gnomes will do anything to protect ourselves from creatures like you."

Oliver was taken aback.

Not only did this particular gnome know how to talk, it even managed to use Earth magic on Oliver. Furthermore, its short speech seemingly riled up the other gnomes as well. They all looked at Oliver with angry expressions on their faces. It was as if they had reestablished Oliver to be an enemy.

"Alright," Oliver answered with a stern look on his face, "That's great and all. But, what do you want from me, then? What do I need to do to get my wolf back?"

"Information," the gnome answered with dignity and much pride, "I need to learn the current state of the surface world. Then, I would return your pet to you."

Raising a brow in complete suspicion, Oliver wondered as to what the gnome might do with said information. Clearly, this particular gnome was smarter than the average. So, of course, Oliver was more than cautious.

"Fine," Oliver reluctantly agreed while being cautious of what might happen next. "I'll answer your questions, preferably in a more quiet location."

As soon as Oliver finished that sentence, the ground beneath him suddenly started shaking. And, since his legs were trapped in the ground, Oliver felt the trembles much more violently this time around.

From Oliver's perspective, the trembles combined with the tectonic shifts were a bit much for his brain to handle. So much so that it ended up being unbearable as Oliver almost puked.

Fortunately, the shaking soon stopped as Oliver was now in a well-lit room with the gnome. In terms of privacy, the gnome certainly knew what it had to do to achieve it.