Levi wasn't certain whether it was beneficial for a newborn dragon that hadn't experienced any complex situations to face separation so early in life.
Although for a dragon with an unlimited lifespan, separation would certainly be commonplace in the days ahead, Little Pink was still quite young after all.
"Never mind, it'll happen sooner or later."
Letting Little Pink continue playing with its canine companion, Levi returned to the castle, spread out a detailed map across his desk, and began planning his next journey with careful consideration.
Lothlórien.
With a clear destination, there had to be a practical travel route.
A line was thus drawn from Roadside Fort to Moria, then to the exit on Moria's eastern side. Not far from this exit lay that legendary golden forest. The two places were almost adjacent territories.
Looking at these two locations, Levi felt somewhat emotional about their intertwined history.
In days past, dwarves and elves had once shared genuine friendship. They had eagerly helped the elves during times of crisis. Unfortunately, in the end the dwarves were still harmed by their increasingly deep greed and stubborn nature.
The rings Sauron gave to the dwarves made them as greedy as evil dragons, despising all who attempted to take their treasures. But their legendary stubbornness prevented them from yielding to darkness or being controlled by Sauron.
After receiving the rings, the dwarves of Khazad-dûm still mobilized their armies under the leadership of their contemporary king, Durin III, to fully assist the elves in resisting Sauron's forces. It was with their crucial help that Elrond was able to retreat successfully.
This was why Elrond could be so tolerant of Thorin's company in Rivendell. They all benefited from their ancestors' glory.
That battle's local defeat so enraged Sauron that he directly ordered orcs to be eternal enemies of the dwarves, targeting them everywhere with relentless hatred.
From then on, the two races would fight fiercely whenever they met, with a degree of bloodshed and hatred far exceeding all other conflicts.
"I'll go this way then."
Moria.
This autumn, Levi set out from Roadside Fort, traveling south across varied terrain, crossing the rushing Loudwater, descending through the ancient ruins of Eregion, passing through numerous crumbling structures, and finally arriving at a dark lake beneath the imposing Misty Mountains.
This was where Moria's west gate was located.
Under the star-filled night sky, Levi gazed at his reflection in the still lake and reached out to touch the water's edge.
Ripples spread outward to the distance, disturbing whatever lay within the depths.
When the ripples subsided, the lake remained deathly silent.
"Hey, is anyone there!?"
Levi shouted into the lake and threw a stone with a splash.
However, the expected commotion didn't occur as anticipated.
Of course, Levi wasn't being reckless. He was only trying to summon the unspeakable, formless "Watcher" with giant tentacles from the water.
However, though the Watcher in the water didn't respond to Levi's provocation, another sound appeared from the mountainside.
Roar!
A warg climbed up the peak, revealing its fierce and terrifying head. Those crimson eyes stared fixedly at the human who had seemingly delivered himself to their territory.
You must understand that this place was now called Moria, not Khazad-dûm. As long as the former name wasn't removed, it meant the place remained full of darkness, crawling with orcs, wargs, trolls, and various beasts.
"A warg, just one?"
Just as Levi was thinking this, another wolf head emerged from the other side of that first warg.
Then, countless red dots appeared from atop the peak like stars.
A warg pack.
Levi licked his lips and drew his long sword.
Whoosh.
Under the moonlight, Nemesis gleamed with cold light. But that light seemed like needles to the wargs' eyes, making them retreat continuously.
When Levi stepped forward two paces, exposing his face and form in the moonlight, the lead warg suddenly howled and turned to flee down the mountain.
The other wargs beside it also seemed to suddenly wake up, following the lead warg without looking back.
For a moment, this area became quiet again.
"..."
Levi silently sheathed his sword and turned to look at the place he was seeking.
Close to this deep lake was a vertical, smooth rock wall that looked as if it had been cut by some enormous blade.
As Levi gradually approached, several patterns lit up in the middle of this smooth rock wall.
This was a hard, magical door combining elven and dwarven craftsmanship. Even Sauron's armies at their peak couldn't break through it and could only be blocked outside.
To open it required a password.
"Mellon."
Levi spoke that syllable, which meant "friend" in Elvish.
Whoosh.
The magical door opened automatically.
A dwarven kingdom's door that required Elvish to unlock and open. This was sufficient proof of the friendship that had once existed between the two races.
In fact, this door itself was a symbol of their friendship. When Eregion hadn't been destroyed, it remained constantly open.
However, at this time, it was better to keep it closed.
As the door closed, the only light source disappeared, leaving only pitch darkness inside where nothing could be seen.
Levi didn't pull out a torch but drank a night vision potion instead.
His vision immediately broadened.
Levi opened his eyes wide.
He saw two thick stone pillars dozens of meters high standing in the huge cavity, guarding the wide passage leading to the interior in the middle.
There were also small doors on both sides of the pillars.
Without rushing forward, Levi investigated.
Creak.
One of the small doors beside the pillars was pushed open.
What met his eyes was a room that wasn't particularly large, with several straw-woven beds placed against the inner wall near a fireplace. On one wall in front of the beds hung some empty weapon racks, and in front of the weapon racks was a small table with dust-covered plates and cups.
"Guard post?"
Levi came up with a word to describe this place.
Obviously, no one had been here for a long time. Of course, after the fall, such places wouldn't have much use either.
After checking both guard posts and rummaging through everything without finding anything valuable, Levi rubbed his hands together.
His explorer's looting instincts were acting up. Going to ruins without finding some good stuff was uncomfortable.
After closing the guard post doors, Levi walked toward the wide passage between the pillars, traveling inward until he reached a dangerous narrow path.
With the night vision effect, Levi could see the full outline of the terrain here.
The small path hugged the rock wall, with a bottomless chasm below. Something seemed to be moving in the extreme depths. It looked like orcs, but they hadn't noticed anyone above.
Looking up, Levi discovered this path connected to three directions: up, middle, and down. The topmost one connected to a passage with dwarven style, while the other two led to unknown places.
Levi went up without hesitation.
Facts proved this choice was correct.
Before long, a spacious great hall appeared before him.
As always, it was in the dwarves' magnificent style: high and wide, supported by multiple stone pillars. If not for the walking height left by an upward staircase being really too low, people would believe giants lived here.
All around was quiet and silent, seemingly without any abnormalities.
Levi walked along this path for a long time, so long that he finished all the night vision potions in his backpack and had to pull out a brewing stand and various materials from his ender chest to brew some on the spot.
This tedious journey continued for several days, filled with various detours and barriers that were impossible to navigate. Sometimes he'd walk only to reach a dead end, sometimes he'd wind around only to end up in some unknown room.
This inevitably reminded Levi of a rumor: all of Moria itself was a giant maze.
After getting lost for several days straight, Levi became impatient.
He directly pulled out his pickaxe.
"Forgive me, Thorin. Your ancestral home is too difficult to navigate. I'll help you modify it a bit."