"Hoofff... hooofff... hooofff..."

I struggled to catch my breath, as I rested my right arm on a nearby house.

It was so exhausting, trying to get from Tasha's cottage to the centre of the World Tree.

I mean... it's not too far, but still...

Without alerting anyone at night, I had successfully reached the World Tree.

In the first place, I was here to look for the Master Craftsman of this village.

I had begun experiencing painful migraines that seem to never stop hurting, and I became very desperate for answers.

Answers? ...What answer was I looking for?

More like... she felt like an earthling to me, from the descriptions. So I wanted to meet someone in the same plight as me. 

Making this much equipment that resembled things on Earth...? That's painfully suspicious... 

Especially the part about how she's mute...

If she's mute, that would give me an assumption that she couldn't speak the Elves' tongue...

...Either way, whether or not my theories are a far-stretch or not, really doesn't matter at this point.

I need to get clues about how to return home...

Either that or if she really can make anything, maybe she could make something that could curb my headaches...

That would sound like the job of an alchemist, not a craftsman though... but I'll grab whatever that I can get...!

And my best bet, is this place where everyone is telling me not to go.

I looked around the World Tree.

Looks normal to me. There's nothing out of the ordinary about this tree.

Well, except the crystals that are forming around the trunk, and growing on the upside down roots hanging from the top of this tree...

If I was someone who would hide myself, where would I live...

Thinking to myself that, I began to inspect some inconspicuous places.

The mood felt like a treasure hunt all of a sudden.

"Found it!" I whispered to myself excitedly. 

I had assumed that she had holed up within the trunk of the tree, that's why I was looking around the tree but not the floor.

And after searching for abit, I found a similar cellar door like the one in the kitchen.

It was hidden pretty well under the soil, but I found it when I noticed a gap on the ground sticking out weirdly by luck.

Dusting off the soil, I opened the cellar door slowly.

CRRREEEAAAKKK!!!

The rust on this door was very apparent as well, as it made a very loud creak.

Startled, I quickly lowered my pace of opening and entered when there was just enough room for me to fit in.

As I had just let go of the door, it suddenly snapped shut.

"Wait-!"

The door closed quickly when my hands were no longer supporting it, since it opened outwardly.

"Don't tell me... I'm stuck here?"

Shaking away these thoughts, I quickly looked around.

Similarly like last time, there was a flight of stairs that led to the underground.

 There were also stones emitting a bright orange light along the walls.

Since I could no longer go up, I headed down the stairs slowly and cautiously.

...

...

There's no smell? I thought it'd stink more than this down here...

And back then as well, is my nose not as sensitive anymore or do they have some kind of magic that can remove smells?

The amount of light decreased like before, as I descended.

Finally, I arrived at the bottom.

There was not much here, except for stones and more stones. Some of them had traces and marks of being struck by pickaxes.

[https://em.wattpad.com/1aab3206f13de231c212d02e364852d7ffdc05a8/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6e30517452506c657667397141413d3d2d3539313933393834322e313534643730653965633663646237383131343436383734353535312e6a7067]

Is this ... an abandoned mine? There are several shovels and pickaxes here. There's some carts around as well...

I felt one of the surfaces of the cart.

So much dust. As expected, this must have been the discontinued mine ever since the crystals came into existence...

Walking even further in, I could feel a presence holding a torch suddenly.

...?! Did they see me?!

I heard footsteps, as it came pacing towards me quickly.

I quickly found a couple of giant rocks and hid behind them.

Holding my breath, I waited for the unseen danger to pass.

...

...

They're gone...

"I seriously thought I was going to get found out-"

Just as I heaved a sigh of relief, I felt a tap at my right shoulder, which scared the living daylights out of me.

"A-?!"

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The person immediately covered my mouth, trying to stop me from yelling.

"!!!!"

But I was panicking, I was muffling some screams while trying to break free of the person's hand.

At first, I was afraid of her flailing left arm that wasn't covering my mouth. I thought the person was trying to do something to me with that hand.

!!!... ... ...?!

But I soon realized that the person was doing half of a sign language.

Sign language? This person...

I immediately stopped yelling and calmed down, as I squinted my eyes in the darkness to make out the outline of the person I just encountered.

She looked like a girl with the signature pointy ears... An elf?

Although I appreciate the fact that she's trying to communicate with me, what would happen with someone else other than me who had actually learnt sign language?

I immediately replied with sign language as well.

The elf girl immediately brightened up her expression when she realized I knew sign language.

Bingo!

Coming to a quick conclusion, her facial expression turned pale.

Before I could complete my sign language, the girl stopped me, and did her own.

A secret...? Wha-what is this girl saying...

Realizing that words wouldn't get through my head, the girl continued.

I nodded my head.

I was here to find out what she did in the first place. It was very probable that she was the exact Master Craftsman I was looking for since she is using sign language instead of talking normally.

If she's going to bring me deeper in to see how she makes her equipment, it may very well give me a clue to get back home.

With her as the guide, we ventured deeper into the mining site directly under the World Tree, where close to no light paved the way to our destination.