One guard left to go get a special cart that I could lie down on.
"There is no other way?" I asked Gnomish Councilor of External Relations Baldeenk Zickleseckle.
"Unfortunately, no. It is a completely closed off series of chambers."
He explained that they had made all entry and exit points gno-sized. I carefully laid down on the cart in the opening I had made.
Ozy was riding in his own cart right behind . There was a slight risk he would get squished if he were on .
Borwass Spryclick was staying behind to fix the hole I had made in their tunnel system while the guards and Baldeenk were going with to their settlent.
"Breathe out, close your eyes. It will be rougher for you, since you are bigger."
Baldeenk pulled a small lever, and we quickly began to move. My Spatial Sense and stomach were going crazy.
After ten minutes I felt ill as we ca to a stop. Opening my eyes, there were lots of gnos looking at .
I dragged myself off the long cart and stood up. Ozy flew up to land on my shoulders. He used Cure on to help steady myself.
"How are you feeling?" Baldeenk asked as I looked around at what could only be called a warehouse.
There were multiple cart tracks above us. There were small wooden crates everywhere.
"A bit roughed up, but okay."
"The cart system is unpleasant, but we went through several layers."
"Wait, we went through layers without a passage?"
"Yes. We don't even know on which layer our settlent is. Now, co. The doorways are small, so mind your head. Crawl through the ones that are industrial scale."
At least it was completely cramped since the gnos liked high ceilings.
"This is our key transportation hub through the dungeon. We can have six operational cart lines at any ti. Our brave gnomish adventurers go out, get supplies and return. We rotate through thousands of rail lines and make new ones if we connect to a portion of the dungeon that we haven't connected to before."
"Wait, these connections move? How do you control that?"
We eased through the major transportation hub, which was also a warehouse.
"We anchor this location to the neighboring locations. Sotis locations break apart, and a gno gets lost, but it rarely happens. We have a 97.8% safety standard, which is quite good."
"So, every 100 trips, you lose two or three gnos?" I could say the word now, apparently. A location-based skill, another interesting facet of this secretive society.
"On an incident. Encountering you would count as an incident. In about a tenth of those incidents, we lose a gno. So, for every 1,000 trips, we lose two to three gnos. But the trips are long, about a year. And we run about 20 per year. So not that bad of a safety percentage."
We made our way through an extensive set of doors into a dimly lit chamber. The buildings were quite tall, and it reminded of Undercraft to a certain extent. Only here did the buildings go all the way from floor to ceiling. The gnos had clearly maximized their space as much as possible.
"It is nightti, which is why the lighting is on dim. Also, it will give everyone so ti to adapt to you and you to adapt to us. I am your official liaison while you are here as the Gnomish Councilor of External Relations."
"I am guessing you get little work."
"Nope. Which is why this is so exciting. While gnos are right to be so secretive, it also makes any kind of cultural exchange incredibly difficult. We have a guest building for larger individuals over here. Three rooms, but everything should be your size. I will have to ask your pet to stay here."
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"I wasn't told that."
"We won't enter or bother your pet, but a monster would disturb the populace."
"What of my equipnt?"
"You are welco to keep it, and you can check back. But I will give you my word that your living space will not be disturbed. I know you are trusting us quite a bit, but we are doing the sa."
"I understand," I lied. I understood nothing that was going on. Our Soul Link would tell if Ozy was threatened. While everything might have seed like it was moving quickly, it was because I wasn't objecting or fighting back. If I had, things would have turned nasty quickly.
The building that was going to be my ho was near their transportation hub and was two gno stories tall. That made the accommodations have more than enough room for to stand up easily. I checked everything, and there didn't appear to be any traps or spying thods.
The building used the standard enchanted lighting and fixtures I had grown up with so it felt very comfortable. The warm neutral colors were inviting, and it was clear they had gone all out to make guests feel welco.
"What do you think?" Baldeenk asked .
"It is very nice, thank you."
Ozy flew over to land on a human-sized chair, claiming it for his own, and Baldeenk nodded at him. I also noted that the guards who had initially co with him hadn't followed us.
"Now you rest. A al is being brought over. Feel free to change into sothing comfortable. If you need anything, there is a bell by the door. A gno will assist you. While you are welco to visit our settlent, we will have a tour and introduce you to everyone once they wake up."
"When will that be?" Thɪs chapter is updated by noᴠelfire
"Half a day from now, when the bell tower chis seven tis. Also, they will turn the lighting for the chambers to day settings."
"I will wait patiently."
"Thank you," he replied and then left my new residence.
The Mana density was shifting slightly, and my Depths Sense was being thrown off by this place. If I had to guess, I would say we were sowhere in the 5th layer, but I couldn't be entirely sure.
I took the ti to fully explore the three rooms I had and change into more formal attire. Less armor, more colorful cloth. I also kept my sword and spatial pouch with as well. While the gnos seed trustworthy, I wouldn't make it easy for them to cause trouble.
There were occasional soft chis as I lay down on my bed and waited. When there were seven chis, they were louder, and the environnt outside my window began to brighten quickly.
There was a knock on my door, so I got up. It was a good sign if these gnos were being this polite. I opened the door and Baldeenk was there by himself, no guards.
"Good morning, Justin," he said.
"Good morning, Councilor Baldeenk. Do you want to co inside?"
"For now, yes. I am going to explain what I have planned while we enjoy a stout gnomish breakfast. If anything is not to your sensibilities, let know."
A gnomish woman pushed a cart behind him. There was a table set up with mixed seating heights so we could eat together.
There was fresh bread, butter, and even a small bit of bacon.
"at, how?"
"We have animals down here. We ration them carefully. You are being allocated the rations of two gno adult workers for your stay."
"I appreciate that, but I am wondering how you have animals in the dungeon. The Mana alone would cause issues for them."
"Ah, we maintain a reduced Mana environnt for our animals. We don't want them to be transford into monsters. That, combined with careful breeding, makes everything run like clockwork."
"What about your population? How do you keep things stable?"
"Couples may request child certificates, and we maintain a 3% resource surplus for unexpected situations like your visit. While we have considered spending, our current space utilization is only 74.3% in the last settlent analysis."
"How many gnos live here in this place?"
"There were 128,342 gnos in the last census." I almost choked on the water I was sipping at that amount. "We use four caverns, with three for food and industrial production, and the last one we are in is the primary residence. You seem surprised."
"It is a large number. I wasn't expecting there to be so many gnos."
"Ah, it is our settlent. We have only a 'Y' shaped road through our main settlent area. The settlent builders constructed the rest compactly. There is a large open eting area in the center, but the depth of buildings that you can't see is imnse. We pack in tightly,"
"And you gnos are happy like this?"
"Mostly. It is what allows us to continue as a society. For the more adventurous gnos, they beco cart riders. Checking the tunnel system and occasionally killing a monster if they are lucky."
They couldn't kill monsters properly in the dungeon. They attached themselves to their cart system to get back. If they fought and killing monsters, then they wouldn't be able to return once they left the chamber where they got in and out of their cart system. And even then, it was risky.
Once the gnos left, it was too easy to never return, which ant their levels were terrible. I suspected as much but hadn't checked the gnos beyond the first one I had encountered, Borwass. But with my sensory skills, they seed weak.
For them, inviting here was a sign of trust that I wouldn't go on a murder rampage, killing them all. I felt more at ease now that I understood the situation. I knew they had weapons and skills, but with only crafting experience, they would struggle to get beyond level 20.
Also, with the low risk and no threats to their life, their skills would stagnate as well. There didn't seem to be any pressure in this place. My arrival would likely excite them and cause a flurry of leveling, which probably explained why they invited to liven things up a bit in this insular culture.
They knew I wouldn't stay forever, but it would allow the gnos a controlled way of dealing with the outside while stimulating their populace. There were probably politics as well. So gnos wanted to be more aggressive in dealing with the outside, and letting visit and learn about was probably the compromise position.
"Now, I am curious about yourself. Can you give so highlights?"
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