Man is a life that longs for warmth and loves fire.
The mountains in the south of the Northland are always covered with snow, and today is no exception.
Amidst the howling of the cold wind, the cold wave from the distant sea froze the earth. White snow, gray clouds and black forests are all the colors that people can see here - a monotonous and dark scenery. It wears down the spirit, while the cold and harsh weather tortures the body.
For humans, this vast and desolate land of ice is considered an absolute forbidden area. If you step here without being fully prepared, you will undoubtedly be turned into a pile of bones under the erosion of wind and snow, even recently. Although the temperature has softened slightly, it cannot change the essence of this place.
Of course, not everyone is afraid of this kind of weather.
Starfall 832, February 26, at noon, among the many snow-capped mountains stretching for hundreds of miles in the south of the Great Ajax Mountains, a small group of knights were galloping in the wind and snow with fluttering flags.
The snow-capped mountains in the North are the source of all the surrounding rivers. Winding glaciers drop from the tops of mountains. They flow over cliffs and rocks, pass through dense black forests, and then flow along river valleys into the distance. And here At that time, this group of knights was running rapidly along the slightly flatter path by the river towards their goal - an extremely obvious black smoke that went straight into the sky.
The horses' hooves rose and fell, crushing the ice and snow that had settled for a long time. The horses with dragon blood had terrible endurance, giving them strong strength and physical strength, and would not be hindered by the frost. Not long after, the leader riding the black horse Under his leadership, the group of knights came to a high slope on the top of a certain hill.
They could already see the source of the black smoke.
"It's so spectacular..."
Standing on a high slope, looking into the distance, an unknown voice uttered an admiration from the queue of knights, and this emotion was approved and resonated by everyone.
Right in front of their eyes, in the basin behind the mountains, the vast land changed from its previous crystal white color to a carbon-like blackness. The high temperature distorted the air, carrying bursts of black smoke rising toward the sky. And right in the center of this scorched earth, there is a red-gold lake. The huge lava lake is churning, releasing almost endless heat.
Everyone can already smell the stench of burnt sulfur in the air, and those who are more sensitive can also detect that there is a majestic wave of fire elements condensing in this land of ice and snow, falling in the air under the high temperature of the lava. The flying snow was vaporized into high-heat water vapor, which rose up with the rolling heat waves, and even poked a big hole in the dark clouds covering the sky.
The most famous landmark on the southern side of the Great Ajax Mountains is the surface lava lake.
Here is the residence of the rune dwarves in the North. The black scorched earth around it is dotted with various buildings made of gray rocks, including houses, shops, and even paved roads. The rocky streets and street lights all look like a small town.
Dwarves are not a race in stories or legends. These short but sturdy guys with long beards and strong wills live next to humans and exist as members of human society. In the empire , dwarves enjoy the same power as humans and are citizens in the true sense, and dwarves also nominally submit to the local lord and belong to his leadership - of course, it is not a matter of getting them to obey the leadership sincerely. Simple things.
"The town ahead is our target."
Driving Heilong and walking slowly, Joshua said in a deep voice to the knights behind him: "Be careful. The lava area will occasionally emit high-heat steam from the cracks in the ground. Don't let the horses be frightened or injured."
"yes!"
After a loud response, the team started again.
After walking cautiously and avoiding several steam eruptions, they arrived at the residential area where the dwarves lived on the surface.
The buildings on both sides of the street are not tall. Of course, the dwarves will not build buildings for their homes like they build wonders. What's more, the rune dwarves of the North are not famous for their magnificent buildings. Only the dwarves of the western mountains are famous for their buildings. He is a master at building cities and fortresses. Even the Leyline Dwarves who are good at changing terrain are better than the Rune Dwarves in this regard.
After all, what they are best at is forging weapons and manufacturing various magical instruments. In this regard, even dwarf goblins are not as good as them.
"Is there no one?"
Looking around, Rin, who was riding a gray horse, muttered to himself strangely: "Although I know that dwarves all live underground, since buildings have been built on the surface, why is there no one there?"
"It's not like there's nothing."
Joshua, who was in front of him, shook his head. He turned sideways and explained to the boy: "We have sent a magic communication notification before coming. They should all be waiting for us in the small square in front of us now."
And indeed it is.
Not long after, after turning around a street, everyone saw dozens of dwarves gathered in the small square in front. After seeing the team led by the warriors and the fluttering Sword Hand flag, they all waved to express welcome. .
And there was a person who seemed to be the leader, leading several dwarves in armor or formal clothes, walking towards Joshua and the others, and the warrior and his knights naturally dismounted to greet them.
"Dear Lord Joshua, welcome to Black Steel Town."
First of all, he bowed respectfully. The dwarf was the first to express his welcome and apology: "My name is Iron Body Tania. Lord, please forgive me. There are not many people welcoming you. This is because most of the residents live in underground."
He is about 1.4 meters tall, with tough skin that is slightly black, and a long dark yellow beard on his chin. There are rings made of various metals hanging on it, and each ring has very obvious text inscriptions on it - This is the custom of dwarves. When a dwarf reaches adulthood, he can put a ring on his beard to show glory after he achieves an amazing achievement.
If you want to distinguish the status of two strange dwarves, you don't need to think about anything else. You only need to look at the number of rings on their beards. The dwarf in front of you has at least thirteen upward rings on his beard. Not counting the things that might be hidden under the beard, from Joshua's experience, he was already considered to be of high status.
"Nothing. In fact, I was surprised enough to see such a large group of dwarves on the surface."
Of course, Joshua would not have any thoughts about such insignificant things. A warrior never cares about pomp and circumstance. As long as someone leads him, it is enough. However, after hearing the other party's name, Joshua couldn't help but feel a little interested. , he said directly: "Mr. Tania, let me call you this. Your name seems to be the same as Master Moria."
"That's right."
Putting her hand on the center of her chest, Tania bowed slightly to the side, as if paying tribute to someone who was not here: "Iron Moria is my father... Lord, if you don't mind, you can take the horse Leave it to my assistants, and I will take you underground, where my father is waiting for you in the underground forging area."
After handing over the horses to the dwarves in the square, the warrior and his knights followed Tania on.
Behind an arch at the back of the square is a corridor leading underground. Under the leadership of Joshua, everyone followed Tania and several young dwarves into it. After walking through several aisles illuminated by pyroxene lamps, what appeared before everyone's eyes was a huge underground world.
One bright corridor after another leads to all directions. They are like spider webs, complex and regular, linking various important areas. The four walls of the corridor are made of some kind of alchemical product specially made by the dwarves. In the previous life, Joshua Other players habitually call it Dwarf Cement, but no one remembers its real name.
On both sides of the corridor, you can see some exquisite statues and heroic murals from time to time. There are even some stone pillars that seem to be made of raw metal ore erected in the center of the corridor. This is also the custom of the dwarves when digging underground passages. , encountering raw metal ore means luck, and they will not destroy these stone pillars.
Joshua is well-informed and has seen a lot. He has been to the underground fortresses of the dwarves countless times in his previous life and is very familiar with their architectural styles and customs. However, the knights following him are completely different. .
Passing through another corridor, we came to a huge naturally formed cavity. At the dome, countless red crystals condensed by fire elements shone brightly like a forest. Not to mention Claire, who had been silent from the beginning until now, Rin, who followed the warrior on one side, opened his eyes wide, held his breath, and looked at everything around him quietly, while the other knights couldn't help but Slowing down the pace, I was immersed in the shock of this huge underground world.
Tania, who was leading the way, naturally noticed everyone's secret exclamations and admirations. While he was secretly proud in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a little admiration for the soldier's calmness.
"He is truly worthy of being our nominal lord."
The dwarf thought in his heart: "This calm temperament is different from other people."
Time was spent observing the underground world. After a period of time, Joshua and others had gradually penetrated deep underground. Under the deep rock formations, the heat of the earth increased again, and everyone could even hear the pulse of magma. The sound, but surprisingly, no one felt very hot. All the heat seemed to be absorbed by the light gray dwarf cement.
Joshua modeled the corridors he walked through and the caves he saw in his mind. He squinted his eyes and made a rough estimate. He found that he had just passed through at least three layers of underground defense lines and made four turns. Moreover, the dwarves dug The corridors are densely packed and extend in all directions, almost like a maze. Ordinary intruders do not need to do anything themselves, and they will probably die of hunger and confusion in the complicated corridors.
"Quite cautious. Even if you call me lord, you actually don't want me to know the correct path."
The soldier thought this in his heart, but he didn't take it seriously. This kind of thinking is human nature, he can understand it, and he doesn't think it's a big deal.
You can't hide it from him anyway.
But even after taking many detours, we are almost reaching our destination. After the leader Tania said "We're here," Joshua and his group stopped.
They finally arrived at the underground living area of the rune dwarves.
****Can the automatic update of Qidian be improved? *XX's garbage background!
There will be another chapter soon
(End of chapter)