' = Internal dialogue

¨= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-Chapter 54 Start-

I woke up to a blaring alarm, which I promptly punched into oblivion as the clockwork that had been Gelbin's previous improvised lamp now covered the entire room.

'Fucking hell, that scared the living shit out of me...' I thought as I finally could calm myself down. With a sigh, I returned the earth to the pots where the plants had started to die, and as a result, my bed undid itself.

Then, all of a sudden, I heard a laugh coming from the window, "So now you know an inventor's worst nightmare!" The voice said and chuckled as I listened to the front door open while I entered the living room.

Gelbin, with his goggles on his forehead, walked over and promptly sat on the couch while leaning his head backward, "I saw the trogg outside. It seemed to have woken up as its eyes roamed in pure terror. Remind me not to get on your bad side, friend."

I chuckled, "It'll take more to turn a gnome such as you into a living popsicle, don't you worry." I said as the gnome let out a laugh.

Then he pointed toward the table, indicating for me to take a seat. I looked at the gnome with a questionable gaze as the chair he pointed to was too small. He then reached for a small box on his belt and gently threw it toward the indicated seat; as it expanded, a balloon-like seat took shape.

'Neat gadget,' I thought as I walked over and sat down.

Then Gelbin leaned forward, put his elbows down to the table, held his head up thoughtfully, and looked at me as his face became serious, "My council put forward a vote without my presence last night..." He said with slight anger in his voice.

"And? What makes you bring this up with me? I have told you I am no fan of poli-" I was interrupted by him raising his hand, "Yes, yes, I know you are no fan of politics. Still, you need to know matters regarding your presence here." Gelbin said with a sigh.

This made me look at the High Tinker with an odd gaze until he continued, "These last weeks, I have been met by fierce resistance among my people. The people are growing restless and, as a result, making things much harder than they need to be.

Last night, the council attempted to remove you from Gnomeregan under the accusation of being a foreign agent, and having you here in these dire times seemed to be too much of a coincidence for them to ignore, so I ask you, are you here among us for because of an agenda to either hurt the people of Gnomeregan or because you are under the employ of anyone that has any intention to do so?" Gelbin finished saying calmly as he held his wrist and pulled back his long-sleeved shirt where a small blue wristband was visible.

I smiled as I realized what he was doing, "No to all these accusations. I ended up here through sheer coincidence, and I have no ulterior motive for being here in your underground city." I simply said as Gelbin studied his wristband before tapping a button that dimmed the wristband and turned white. Then he turned to me and smiled.

"That's it, my friend. I apologize for having to take these measures, but this was what I had to compromise with them to leave you alone. The wristband here could differentiate lies and truth to a certain extent during our talk. I just sent the recording and the result to the council." He said with a sly smile.

Then he continued, "It relieves me to confirm this, as even I had slight suspicions at your arrival here, though what you did after that council meeting, my friend Sicco seemed to be entirely convinced of you being some sort of agent for another hidden faction."

"Well, it seems to be that you need a new council. If I were to be completely honest, a council that keeps undermining the one in the lead is no council at all." I said with a shrug.

"Hah, well said. If only politics were as easy to deal with by doing things like that, I could have much more time with my inventions and improving my citizens' wellbeing." He said with a chuckle, but it turned hollow toward the end.

Then he rose from his seat and walked toward a large cupboard made of blackened metal with a wooden frame, opened it, then reached inside as the door blocked my vision of him. After a moment, he closed the door and held two large bottles with some kind of blackish liquid inside.

"Would you care to try one of our newest inventions? It is a non-alcoholic drink if you are wary of that kind." Gelbin asked with a smirk.

I shrugged and replied, "Sure." I then received the bottle and opened the aluminum-like cork with my thumb. I took a sip, and it almost came spraying back out, and my mind whirled as I thought, 'Cola?!'

Seeing my reaction, Gelbin grinned, sipped his drink, and sat back on the comfortable couch.

"So, what do you want for the recipe?" I asked eagerly. Gelbin just laughed for a full minute at my eager response, "My friend, consider this a small reward from me and the people you saved. The one who invented this is the mother of the child you carried around like a doll last night.

It was her request to give you this. I met her this morning, and since she could not access this sector, she pleaded with one of the patrolling guards to give it to you as I arrived. She even gave me her address so you could visit her daughter and herself at a later time." Gelbin finished saying while wiggling his eyebrows as he looked me in the eye for a moment until he reached for his belt and pulled out two small notes.

I took the notes from his hand and quickly put them into my soulbound bag, which was in my only remaining pocket.

"If you don't mind me asking, Mr Medan, what have you been up to lately as the state of your clothes and what I would like to believe had been armor seems to be in... a state of disrepair?" Gelbin asked curiously.

"Oh, Now that is a can of worms I feel like opening today." My reply made Gelbin look at me weirdly as I continued, "Well, interdimensional space travel and fighting against enemies that seek to destroy the world, and the most crazy of dragons that wanted nothing else than to control the magic of the whole planet."

Gelbin started laughing until he finally looked at my face. Then his laughter became weaker and weaker until he weakly asked, "You...your... not... joking, are you?"

My grin widened, and I shook my head, 'Finally, someone getting a headache except me.' I thought with amusement.

"Thank the imaginary god of invention that Sicco left when he did..." Gelbin said, relieved, then added, "Remind me never to get on your bad side, friend. I have enough madness to deal with as is." He said as he chugged the rest of his bottle of sugary goodness, and I did the same.

"There should be some extra clothing in one of the cabinets over there." Gelbin suddenly said and pointed to a corner where a small chest stood, and continued, "I have let a few humans stay here during important talks, some even forgot that they had brought additional clothing for the meetings."

I nodded in appreciation as my current state of armor and clothing left me looking like a hobo.

"So, ready to hear what the trogg has to say? I think we have left the barely thinking-creature alone for long enough. It might forget what it promised you." Gelbin said with a weak smile as he was reminded that the trogg threat was still his highest priority. After hearing the trogg speak last night, we did not look forward to the coming days.

"Sure." I said simply as I rose to my feet and smacked my head into the ceiling before grumbling as we both made our way outside. I had to go out through what I realized was Gelbin's garage.

As I stepped out of the building, I saw Gelbin's gaze directed at the trogg, who could only move his eyes inside the icy grave. The trogg looked absolutely horrified where it had been placed, as its eyes darted all around until it landed on me. Then, I could practically feel its fear as its already pale skin paled even further inside the ice.

I only noticed now that the trogg was the same height as I was, two meters and thirty-eight centimeters tall, in his hunched state, proving that this specimen of the trogg was enormous.

As Gelbin and I stood before the terrified trogg, I removed the ice covering its head. In that instant, the trogg wailed in terror until Gelbin reached for his belt and pulled out something akin to a baton as it extended. He swung it toward the trogg's head, and with a loud *Thwack*, the trogg's wail intensified before the baton whirled with electricity. It grew silent as its head spasmed, and it somewhat calmed down.

Then Gelbin spoke gruffly after coughing into his palm, "Kozrol did othok Nighi mugdor kin? ekran nakhum ov Kavir followth!"

The trogg recoiled in fear as it frantically shouted, "Da Karaad eyes! da oneth Nir angor! ihonlor da oneth ruk give salamandrumm ruk mugdoruo Yoth nad gnometh female Nar tiny oneth Nir onaturn!"

{Translation at the end (experimental LOTC translator)}

Then the trogg started speaking again, but this time, it mumbled frantically as Gelbin began to pale. He then managed to calm himself and looked thoughtful for a moment, "Can you silence the creature? I have gotten what I needed out of it..." He explained as he stared into the distant sector.

I obliged and froze the trogg again, but this time only with one breathing hole in the ice around his nose.

"So, what did it tell you?" I asked casually. Gelbin massaged his forehead as he replied, "Apparently, they are trading my people for their native mounts. This is the good news, and it relieves me to know that I am perhaps not too late in safely bringing them back to the city."

Then he sighed and looked at me momentarily before continuing, "Bad news is that the ones they are trading my people with... they are most likely the dark iron dwarves that usually keep to themselves around their mountain, yet it seems they had arrived in an abandoned outpost in the Badlands, after recent reports of the dwarven embassy before we had to evacuate them from the premises this confirms it, that news is relatively fresh, as it has been only a few weeks since the dwarves traveled back to Ironforge..."

Then his eyes turned cold, and all emotion drained from his face. He said in a rigid tone, "My friend Sicco had put forth an application to welcome a dark iron ambassador for weeks now. This is too much of a coincidence... as when we started to see them kidnapping our people during the breaches was when Sicco has been pressing the council... and me to welcome the dark iron's help in dealing with the trogg threat..."

As Gelbin kept talking to himself loudly while analyzing the information he had just received, he reached a conclusion. Still, his emotionless face now strained into an analytical and pondering look as he gazed down at the cold steel floor below for a full minute before turning utterly silent. I could see his shoulders shake briefly before his entire body deflated slightly.

Then he looked up toward me with a wry and forced smile and said, "Can I ask for you to meet me at sector thirteen in..." He then checked his watch, pushed a small button, and continued, "Five hours, I... need to put up some sort of failsafe... just in case my initial conclusion is correct..."

Looking at the sad and frustrated gnome, I nodded calmly and replied, "Yes, I'll be there. Can I assume that you want to attempt to find your people as soon as possible?"

Gelbin nodded, "Yes, I will be preparing for us to travel through the tunnel the troggs breached the sector from yesterday.

The opening seemed to have been prepared in advance, and the tunnel seemed secure from what I could glimpse before you sealed it shut." he replied.

"Alright then, I'll be there. Before you leave, though, what do we do about this guy?" I calmly asked as I pointed toward the trogg that seemed to realize that this moment would decide if he would continue breathing the next seconds.

"...We will use the creature to guide us through the tunnels." Gelbin stated calmly. What went unsaid, though, was that when the trogg were no longer useful, he would not be alive shortly afterward.

I nodded, "Alright, I'll go do my own thing. See you later." I said and waved as we both went our separate ways after exiting the sector exit.

—

[5 Hours Later]

—

As I leaned into the wall that had been breached and then reinforced by magic shortly after, the trogg on my side, who still had his legs frozen solid, I watched as it kept scratching at where the arm were the other day, trying to break through the thin layer of ice that acted as a bandaid, I sighed.

I had spent these five hours walking around Gnomeregan. Still, before I left, I went over to the box Gelbin told me that the humans had left some clothing and looked over what was inside. Soon after, I found one piece of clothing that fit. I ended up equipping myself with black leather pants while wearing the cloak around my chest and back. The remains of my helmet had now turned into a makeshift scarf I would later use as a bandana if need be.

The pants were the only fitting pair as humans were shorter than me, and any shirt I tried on tore at the seams the moment I tried to wear them.

I also visited the mother and the daughter who had given me the recipe for the carbonated drink. I could honestly understand half of the materials on the note, which she had explained over and over again, trying almost desperately to teach me the words as if educating a child.

'Damn gnomes and their heightened intelligence and supernatural grasp of technology...' I thought as I was lectured for several hours. All the while, her daughter giggled as she swung back and forth around my neck.

It was quite a comical sight.

The little girl surprisingly had the name Tina. To my amusement, she had earned the nickname "Tiny Tina" as she was very small for her age. Her father worked as a demolitionist. Her mother was mostly a stay-at-home mom who previously worked as an inventor of explosives. Still, she later changed her job into something less volatile after they had a child.

All this information made me laugh out loud as I left their house, no doubt making the neighbors quite terrified as a giant man walked through the sector laughing like a madman.

{4th wall breaking (Borderlands 3 Vibes}

I then returned and picked up the trogg, which I lifted above my head and walked toward sector thirteen.

This made many gnomes look at me with wide eyes. At the same time, the trogg garnered so much hatred during the walk that I was wondering when it would suddenly be gunned down by one of the mechs some workers had been using to repair the damage inside the sector.

Suddenly, I heard a pair of very heavy footsteps making their way toward the sector door. As the door opened, I saw a three-meter-tall bronze golem with a gold and green logo on its chest. It had the same pattern as the Tinkerer's insignia. The arms seemed like some sort of multi-tool.

In the place where the golem's head would usually be was Gelbin Mekkatorque, seated comfortably with a stick in each hand as he made his way toward where I stood.

'Warcraft's Ironman...' I thought with some humor as I smirked while he stood before me.

"Nice mech." I said with a smile, which he reciprocated and replied, "It's the Sky Golem-MK-1. This mechanical wonder is currently only available to me, as in recent years, many inventors have had their work stolen. So I had to isolate the schematics for this one in particular, considering its potential for destruction." Then, one of its arms turned into a sharp saw while the other turned into what would have resembled a claw.

I nodded, "Understandable, if someone got their hands on a creation like that... It would be dangerous, especially so in the wrong hands..."

This turned Gelbin's mood slightly sour as if reminded of something.

"Ready to delve into the unknown?" I asked casually after realizing the mood was turning to the worse.

And with a tired smile, he nodded and pulled the green goggles over his eyes as I tore down a part of the wall that led us directly toward the excavated tunnel made by the troggs.

The trogg in question was beyond terrified by the giant mech after seeing its sharp saw-like blade.

I unfroze the creature as I led it in front of us. "Lead uth da sirk, Kolun othok crosth uth othok var die E brutlin Kavir" Gelbin said with a rough edge in his tone.

Then I asked Gelbin, "What was that about?" The gnome smiled and answered, "Just a normal threat of a brutal death if he dares to do anything except lead us to where we want to go."

I then closed the hole in the wall we had just gone through as the light in the tunnel now turned entirely dark. Just as I was going to light a flame in my hand, I heard Gelbin key something into a panel on his golem as a compartment in its back opened up. An intense ray of light lit up the tunnel ahead within a few seconds, like a ninety-thousand Lumen flashlight.

The trogg screamed in terror as its eyes seemed to burn from the sudden influx of light entering his eyes.

Gelbin only snorted at the reaction and pushed its back to get the trogg moving again. This turned out to do wonders as the creature now walked before us without daring to look back.

—

Around five hours later, we had encountered dozens of patrolling troggs in the tunnel thus far. Each and every one of them was swiftly dispatched and had their bodies now thoroughly buried within the dark passage through the subterranean tunnels.

Gelbin's Sky Golem turned out to have a built-in camouflage, which was basically just a thick layer of fabric that shot up in the air and enveloped the mech. The fabric fit the environment around it, whether it was a rock, brown dirt, or blood-stained ground.

The trogg escorting us did not even dare to utter a sound as its brethren were slaughtered like they were worth nothing more than the trash they left behind in their tunnels.

I simply used my earth attunement to swiftly dispatch the runners by burying them alive without any ability to move or breathe.

It was a brutal ordeal, sure, but considering the primitive trogg race and what they had been up to regarding the gnome's home invasion, I did not have any sympathy for the trogg's cause or consequent suffering.

As we kept walking, I reached toward my pocket and took out the bag, then I reached into it and picked out the small blue disc-looking object that I had taken from Malygos's corpse.

Then I channeled mana into it as it lit up. A sphere-like ball appeared above it, showing the already explored tunnel we had been making our way through. Still, something made the small sphere glitch out to a certain degree further ahead.

This made me realize we were close to our destination, or at least I hoped so after walking through this poorly dug-out tunnel system.

I had not noticed Gelbin's gaze at the object as he was practically gaping at the magical construct made by a titan.

"What... is that!?" He practically shouted.

"Oh, this? Loot, I guess, ended up defeating a dragon who was pumped full of magical steroids. A titan wanted me to have it after slaying said dragon." I said nonchalantly, it was honestly not something I had use for as of yet, and I treated it as a mini-map at best.

Gelbin's mech suddenly stopped, and I looked back to see what was the matter. Still, his eyes practically begged me to accept whatever he asked next, "Please, when we return, may I borrow that artifact and thoroughly analyze it? It may lead to a technological breakthrough! If we can integrate its tracking system into Gnomeregan's defenses. In that case, we can solve the entire threat of ever being invaded ever again!" Gelbin asked pleadingly as he explained his thought process.

"Not to crash your enthusiasm to bits, but this item is not safe in anyone's hands but mine, but as long as I am there when you do it, sure, do you have anything to trade in case this becomes the solution you need?"

The High Tinker started moving again but was deep in thought. After a few minutes, he answered, "Yes, that is acceptable. I bet we can work out a deal if this works." He smiled with genuine relief at my reply.

"Alright, let's resume this talk when we return. I want to get out of this goddamn tunnel already." I said as Gelbin nodded.

—

Soon, we reached an area where light was coming through the wall ahead. I could see the brown and orange dirt within as we approached the wall. The trogg, however, seemed to want to go through this exact spot as it just took its first step through the wall. However, I had to pull it back by grasping its neck as a giant sword swung down and crashed with a *BANG* into a solid rock where the trogg stood moments ago.

"SHITE! Dis' is a big 'un! Prepare for battle, lads!" A gruff voice speaking in common shouted out to what would seem like his companions.

Just as the speaker of the voice finished shouting, Gelbin stepped forward with his giant battle golem and spoke directly into the panel, "Cease your hostilities, or else you will be met with deadly force!"

After a momentary silence, the voice on the other side, who apparently had hidden himself and gotten ready to swing at the next enemy that entered the room, answered, "Wait! Ye' arn't one of them' ugly ones, are ya'?"

This made Gelbin facepalm at the response; clearly, we weren't dealing with highly intellectual beings.

"...No... no, we are not. We will enter through the passage now; do not attack, or I repeat, you will be met with deadly force." The clearly frustrated voice of Gelbin came from the mech.

"Ay'." The gruff voice replied simply as both Gelbin and I looked at each other and shrugged. Then we entered the room, which was covered in mining supplies and worn-out lamps hanging from shabby-looking pillars that carried way too much weight to actually seem safe.

Then we both turned to our left, where three dwarves stood. All had similar-looking helmets, with pointy extrusions sticking up like horns. One wore a simple-looking sword. One seemed entirely unarmed but was ready to run at any moment as he gazed at the trogg and the mech with evident fear.

The last one stood combat-ready with a buckler and a small axe while gazing at us, almost as if trying to see through our trogg disguise, but out of nowhere, he was smacked on the top of the head by the one I recognized as the speaker from before, "Olaf! Calm yer' self, Eric is almost ready to bolt' cuz of ye.'"

A weak voice from whom I assumed was Eric spoke, "...No... I'm not..." then the one who massaged his head after being smacked replied, "But Baelog! thay kin be trogg's in disguise!"

"Na, 'ave ya' ever heard one speak common?" The dwarf called Baelog spoke confidently, which made the ones named Olaf sheathe his weapon and put the buckler on his back, then he replied, "Na... A'm sorry, Baelog."

To be honest, this entire situation amused me to no end, as I realized who these three dwarves were, the lost dwarves, the ones who had been seeking glory and adventure but ended up in a small part of the Uldaman, all three of them were undoubtingly exceptionally directionally challenged, 'These three are literally the Zoro's of warcraft.'

But I was stirred out of my amusing thoughts as Gelbin started to speak in an annoyed tone, "Who are you three? Why are you waiting directly outside a trogg tunnel system?"

This made the three whisper to one another as Baelog's eyes seemed to light up with joy and pride, "Who are we ye' ask? We-" He was interrupted by Gelbin, who stared directly into the dwarf's eyes through his green goggles and said slowly as he gritted his teeth, " Spare. Me. The. Introductions. Speak. Proper. Common. You. Damn. Fool."

'Apparently, Gelbin REALLY dislike the fact these dwarves were speaking semi-common while using dwarven tongue.'

The one named Olaf was grumbling something along the lines of: "I told you they were troggs, but you wouldn't believe me." But in a very dwarven dialect.

Gelbin was honestly not really mad at the dwarves. He was merely frustrated at the current pace and having no sign of where the gnomes that had been kidnapped during the attacks of the troggs had gone.

As we had been traversing through the tunnels for hours, his patience had been stretched thin.

Or that was until he looked further inside the room, where he recognized some kind of gadget that seemed to be covered by a thin layer of dust.

Just as the dwarf called Baelog was going to reply, as he had a face that had started to turn red in either shame or anger, Gelbin walked directly through the three dumbfounded dwarves as he walked toward the object at the end of the room.

"Now look here, gnome, we have not done anything to offend you, but waltzing directly through our awesome camp like you own the place is rude!" The dwarf named Eric who previously looked to be the most cowardly of the mottley crew shouted with indignation.

'Oh, so at least one of them knows how to properly communicate. Good to know.'

Gelbin ignored the outraged dwarves as he jumped out of the golem and landed beside the item he spotted. He slowly picked it up while his hand shook as he studied the object.

It was a small brown case that he clearly recognized. As he opened the beautifully carved ornament box, it revealed an advanced-looking monocle that had several layers of glass.

It looked like it had layers of magnifying glass with a cog on the side that looked to be something like a tool to configure its intensity.

Gelbin turned to me, visibly distressed, "We need to find them. There is no other option."

—

—Chapter 54 End—

—

—A/N—

—

-Translated words Old dwarven:

Gelbin's first question: Where did you bring my people? speak truth or death follows!

Trogg reply at Gelbin's first question: The Fire eyes! the ones In angor! were the ones to give salamander to mines for small gnomes female and tiny ones In return!

Gelbin before entering the tunnel: Lead us the way, if You cross us You will die A brutal Death.