Chapter 190: Secrets of the Dungeons (1/2)

The blinding flashes of light and expensive treasures rendered Rino motionless for a while, even after the library floor stopped moving. He could hardly compute the level of awesomeness he should place the dwarves at seeing the size of this vault they spent their whole lives guarding.

If Rino thought the grand furnace room was big, this treasure vault was five times bigger than that. The grand furnace room was about the size of his World Tree cavern that was currently filled with overgrown magic tree branches and leaves.

The majority of the dwarven mine was here in this secret vault. Rino knew about the dwarves' love for secret passages, but this took not just the cake but the entire bakery. Rino wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of sneaky elevators, but those usually only took him to the dungeons where they interrogated captured dark magicians to smoke the ring leaders out. Besides, those sneaky elevators were usually small platforms powered by magic behind dumb bookshelves that parted like doors.

Nobody ever made an entire library floor an elevator, and Rino could understand why Mutt did not sense any strange airflow. This vault had no vents leading in or out.

The dwarves must not be able to linger here for too long, and even if they did, Rino bet they wore some breathing equipment. The vault was enormous, and weapons were not the only things Rino found here.

While a fair amount of cobwebs were lying around on useless expensive-looking accessories made from gold, there was a particular section in the vault dedicated to preserving the dwarven masterpieces encased in glass.

Glass was a recent discovery by Kragami in this world. Rino was rather proud of that until he learned that the dwarves already knew how to make them and make them better than Kragami did. Honestly, Rino simply wanted to make Noir Province the production house of many great things like glassware and pottery. The more arty and farty things they were known for, the less likely other regions will call them a countryside pooper.

Now, Rino wondered if there was a need for that. If Noir Province was the art sanctuary, Rino would make Town Zera the iron stronghold in memory of the dwarves he never got to meet. Foundry and craftsmanship had to be Zera's strong point now with the grand windmill, barn and waterwheels.

As Rino walked around the vault, ignoring the mountain of gold bars and precious gems that would make very good mana refiners and spatial magic mediums, he studied the vault's concept.

The dwarves did not choose this place to be the heart of their fortress. There was something in this place that pulsed with life even after the fortress was abandoned. Rino could feel the faint thrumming in the air like a buzz in his ear. It was the sound of a cave breathing if he had to describe the strange sensation, and Rino was getting closer to it.

Living caves often had this, but the ecosystem was the reason for the feeling. The boss of the living cave was responsible for everything that happened in the cave, from intruder killing to internal hierarchy. The dwarven cave did not have such a boss, but the feeling of domination was the same.

What could it be?

Stopping at the centre of the vault, Rino stared at the circle of weapons wrapped in chains and encased in glass. Compared to the other weapons Rino saw earlier, these weapons felt different. Rino could tell because he finally placed a finger on what that familiar feeling was.

That glowing space rock Fronzo discovered falling onto the farm outside his farmhouse in the fields gave a similar buzz. Rino simply used that as a balancer for his World Tree in a cave, not knowing that it was the true master of every dungeon and living cave in this world.

The four weapons wrapped in chains reminded Rino of the elements excluding holy and dark. The dwarves must have discovered something similar in this world through their engineering to derive at the same ancient knowledge that Rino did as an alchemist. Elements were the closest thing they could understand when it came to the origins of the world. Nobody really understood how worlds were created, but researchers have arrived at the same conclusion repeatedly across time.