Chương 264: 164, 2/2

The Northern Tribulations were a land of ice and snow, with mountain peaks that rose to within ten kilometers of the Edge of the Script, and valleys that were so deep that the larger rocks floated among the ever present shadows. With a height and depth of well over a hundred and fifty vertical kilometers in some places, it was easy to get lost in this land.

Civilization was barely present, and the lights in some of the deeper shadows were not from people, braving the depths, but from monsters pretending to be people, to lure in other beasts for food and for the pleasure of a kill. It was easy to tell where the people actually were, though. They were in the only valley that was filled with light, like someone had taken a sliver of the sun and shoved it into the grey depths, and then deeper, cracking open the world below.

Light poured out from that crack in the ground like a true welcome mat; far brighter than the false lights in the mountains. And now our sight dips down, into that bright space. Turning back briefly, looking up from that space below, is like gazing at a twilight rent in the sky. That entrance is well guarded with spells and people aplenty, but a well-guided [Scry] eye can get through most screening. And down here, in this bright space, mountains floated.

Upon floating kilometers-wide platforms of stone and black metal rested the city of Enduring Forge; the home of the Adamantine Smiths. Civilization thrived upon those stabilized platforms, that themselves floated above monster-filled lands that were choked in shadows and riddled with tunnels and unknown depths. The majority of the tenants of this place lived upon the second-to-lowest platform; the largest platform. It was three kilometers wide and mostly circular and chock full of buildings of all kinds.

A middling-sized platform floated below that one; it was the brightest land, and the lowest land, where the main defenses of the city actively pushed back the dark that lurked even further below. The soldiers emplaced there worked in tandem with miners based out of that same platform, where the two forces together pulled metals out from the Underworld. Above that protected space, above the main land, existed three smaller lands, chained in place above the rest. The Smithy was one of three smaller platforms.

It shared 'airspace' with the noble district, and with city hall, both of which had their own floating platforms. All together, Enduring Forge was a city of a good hundred and thirty thousand people, and though they had experienced hardships like everyone on Veird, the Adamantine Smiths protected this land from all forces, including the occasional thieving archmage, and dragon fight, and Underworld monster surge.

Their powers could not be discounted, for they had a way with metal unlike any other people on Veird, save for possibly the wrought. Their power was on clear display, too, for the entire city stayed in place in the center of that cavern due to dozens of massive chains of sparkling black metal, extending out from the edges of each platform to anchor each landmass into the cavern walls and to each other. Even more dark metal held the cavern itself stable, ensuring that the walls remained where they were.

Each chain link was as big as a small house, at least ten meters from one side of the oval to the other, and they had to be adamantium. No other metal was that dark and that strong. Erick was almost 100% positive that someone used [Duplicate] at the city's founding for them to have that much adamantium. He and his people were a good three mountains away from the actual city, having arrived in an [Obscuring Redoubt] that Erick had prepared ahead of time.

They were deep under the snow and frozen stone, while all around them hung Screens, showing their destination from several different angles. [Heating Ward]s kept the place warm, but there was no furniture. From what Erick had already seen, they probably wouldn't be staying here for long. They'd probably just go to the city, itself. Erick said, "So as you can see, that's Enduring Forge, the home of the Adamantine Smiths." Jane rubbed her arms together, looking around. She went to study the Viewing Screens.

Teressa breathed out a huff of fog as her eyes glazed over as she looked to the future. Erick recast the [Heating Ward], banishing the cold. Nirzir took a moment to eye the Screens, to study them alongside Jane. Tendrils of thought peeled away from Poi as he reconnected to the collective, or collected thoughts; Erick wasn't quite sure. Erick continued, "I doubt we'll be staying in this specific location long.

But it'll be long enough for a discussion of everything that had just happened with Ordoonarati, now that we're probably outside of the dragon's range." Jane whipped around to face her father.

"You met him when I wasn't looking? Is that why you told us to go on alert?" Teressa came back, saying, "Seems like we're in a safe spot— Oh. You met the dragon?" Nirzir waited with bated breath." I did." Erick said, "Through an intermediary, anyway. Apparently…" Erick conjured some chairs as he spoke, telling everyone most of what went down with Ordoonarati.

He didn't speak much of Wizardry, though, except to say that he had set that lure of 'possibly finding some future Wizard for trade', and Ordoonarati had gone for it pretty hard. When he was done, Teressa scowled, saying, "I don't like this Wizardry business."" But Goldie said that dragons only truly care about Wizards, and this explains that rather well." Jane said, "I don't believe Ordoonarati was a hundred percent truthful, but a lot of stuff you said lines up with other stuff.

It explains Wyrm Season better than how the Dragon Stalkers explain Wyrm Season. I'd like to know why they can't just birth the dragons in the Vision, though." Erick guessed, "Maybe that would disrupt the place."" Likely," Nirzir said. As Jane said, "Seems like; yeah." Teressa looked to Poi, saying, "Last I heard, Treehome was prepared for Wyrm Season. They're still prepared, right?" Poi said, "There's another two months before Wyrm Season truly begins.

I'm sure Erick could return and annihilate them all if we need to."" I agree, but that gives us an end-date for this vacation of mine." Erick said, "Or at least another stopover. Which means I want to be done with the Adamantine Smiths rather fast. I've noticed posters in the city which say the tournament that Nirzir spoke of is fifteen days away, so I won't be staying for that, but if you want to, Jane, you can." Jane waved him off.

"I don't really care about that."" You might care about it when you see the prizes." Erick shrugged.

"Or maybe they can make some custom stuff for us, which brings me to the next news: they're ready for me. There are people at the Teleport Square checking out all [Familiar]s." Ophiel cooed. Erick added, "They're doing more than the usual Underworld city protocols, too. Truthstones in abundance and Sin Seekers at every official entrance and exit of the city, but also people in high-ranking military garb, each of which carries papers with Ophiel's image on them." Ophiel cooed again, this time a bit sad.

Erick patted him. Teressa frowned.

"Danger?"" Don't think so." Erick said, "More like a welcoming committee of the 'actually welcoming' kind, if what I'm seeing is what is actually happening." Teressa smirked.

"Would be nice." Nirzir said, "The Adamantine Smiths are usually very welcoming for an Underworld city, but they are an Underworld city, with all that entails. We could try to sneak in but there's a high chance they would find us, and they won't appreciate the attempt at subterfuge."" I agree." Erick said, "I had planned on going incognito, but that seems impossible." Jane studied the Screens hanging up around the room, as she said, "They are rather militaristic, aren't they. I see people in armor everywhere.""

That's pretty normal for Underworld cities. Some of them survive through military prowess. Others through prognostication. Some through Beastmasters. Anti-magic runes. Looks like Enduring Forge does a lot of runework in addition to everything else." Teressa looked to Nirzir, and then to Poi, asking, "That's what Adamantine Smiths do, right? I think it's runes?" Nirzir said, "I think there's a split in their clan. But every Adamantine Smith learns to do runework, too, or else they aren't certified by their people.

Or something like that."" That coincides with what I see," Erick said. Poi looked to an empty spot of the room, his thought tendrils multiplying from ten to twenty four, as he said, "They know we're somewhere nearby, but not exactly where. They're sending out a politely worded request for an audience. We can come into the city in the normal way at the main platform, or we can [Teleport] in at city hall." Teressa looked away, her eyes glazing over again with grey light. Erick frowned.

"Did they see Ophiel?" Poi said, "I believe they have prognostication capabilities, too. Or perhaps the runework on the buildings allows them an easier time seeing various types of spells." He added, "I don't know, and I can still speculate while I don't know, so there's my speculation." Erick nodded.

"I bet it's the runework." Nirzir nodded. Jane studied one of the Viewing Screens closely, saying, "There is… quite a lot of runework on those black buildings, isn't there?" Teressa came back, saying, "My [Future Sight] hasn't revealed anything too dangerous. No big events, anyway. I say we go?"" Right! Well then." Erick said, "We're going to city hall. Let them know, Poi." - - - - Light unfurled as Erick stepped down onto a large square of white stone. His people appeared behind him.

The black city hall of Enduring Forge rose before them, seeming, in that moment, like something out of a fevered dream shared by an art deco enthusiast and a military commander. It was thick and imposing, with a great many wide and flat surfaces, but also a ton of geometric carvings at the base of the buildings, and at the top of every wall and tower, and absolutely covering the domes. The building had to be adamantium, like the chains that connected the city to the walls of the surrounding cavern.

Though Erick couldn't see them from here, there were two more adamantium buildings similar to the city hall, down below. The building on the main platform was ten times the size of this one, and it was visible from almost anywhere in the main city. From Erick's reconnaissance, he suspected that the monolithic structure was an evacuation point, for though it had room for a hundred thousand people, it was kept empty and well patrolled.

Further down than that, upon the lowest platform of the city, was the main military compound. That building actually punched through the entirety of that platform, forming identical castles on both the top and the underside. On the bottom side, there were quite a few defensible locations which allowed the army to shoot spells at the cavern floor with impunity.

All the other buildings were normal enough affairs of wood and stone, though the great majority of them were built tougher than most any random building you would find on the surface of Veird. A great many of them even had metal walls, or at least metal skeletons. But it was only these three massive buildings that actually looked like they belonged in this brightly lit, dark place, under the surface of the world.

Quite a bit of magic had been imbued into those buildings, all around, anchored to runic inscriptions running along the base of every single structure. None of that spellwork looked too worrisome, for it was almost all defensive. In Ancient Script, all of the stuff Erick read said '[Ward] [Mend] Light no-Shadow'; this repeated all around the base of every solid structure.

The protective measures that the Adamantine Smiths had were quite extensive, but Erick suspected that this spellwork was only a quarter of the true powers hidden in this bright, dark city. He was mostly surprised that the runic inscriptions worked so well, for that stuff usually decayed after a while. The people here either kept renewing the spellwork as needed, or they had some other ways to ensure that the spells stayed active.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Whatever the case, the people here were very skilled against fighting the monsters and dangers of the deeper Underworld. Three of those people stood before Erick right now, alongside several of their guards, though the guards were positioned far back from the Teleport Square, emplaced more as a show of respect and strength, than as an actual danger.

No one had crowded Erick as he had brought himself and his people to this Teleport Square, and that boded well for future relations. The main person to greet Erick was a tall, yet stern, beautiful human woman with brown skin and a shaved head, who wore a warrior's cut robe, with pants. Her eyes were dark as midnight; the same color as the adamantium all around. To her left, stood a man in his 60s who was probably the woman's father, or uncle.

To her right stood an ancient woman, shrunken with age, but with a fierce expression upon her face. Erick had only been present for the last four seconds, but with [Hunter's Instincts] active, those four seconds were more than enough to see that he wasn't in any danger, at all. At once, the guards behind the welcoming committee bowed. On the parapets, more warriors bowed.

On the street where the public stood, many people tried to see what was happening, trying to look beyond the walls of guards lined up across the road. It took them a while to understand, but once they did, they went silent, then they bowed, too. And then the three people in charge bowed, though the older woman only nodded her head. About twenty seconds had passed at that point. Erick was now wholly sure that nothing immediately bad was going to happen.

The lead woman rose, and the rest of her people followed her lead. The woman said, "Welcome to Enduring Forge, Archmage Erick Flatt. I am Arakag Adama. With me are General Barir Adama, and the Old Smith, Grosgrena. We had heard you were coming, and we are thankful for the opportunity to host your self, and your people. In return, we have a few requests." She reached into a fold of her robes and pulled out one of Erick's applications.

"Would you join us for tea in our city hall to discuss this further?" Erick smiled slightly.

"I would be honored." Arakag nodded. Everyone bowed, again. - - - - While the outside of city hall was all dark metal, the inside was too, but all of that was covered up with a layer of off-white marble that was flecked with gold and mica and other shiny impurities. If it weren't for the sound-dampening spells that hid in the upper corners of hallways, this place would be rather loud. It wasn't as quiet as a crypt, but it was rather subdued.

The place smelled of freshly [Cleanse]d air, while it was rather dry, and cool. Soon enough, they reached their destination. In an opulent, bright room at the top of city hall, under one of the larger domes, Erick sat down upon a plush cream-colored chair, across from Arakag, Barir, and Grosgrena. There were no guards in the room, though there were servants in dark livery. One of those servants set down teas and tiny cakes upon a short, round tea table between the small gathering.

Then the servant went to serve Erick's people, who hung out at the back of the room at their own table. The general, Barir, got up and served tea. He did it a bit differently than they did in Songli, though, for first he asked Erick if he wished to cast a [Cleanse], or if he would prefer it if Barir cast the spell. Erick let the man cast the spell himself, since it seemed the proper thing to do. Apparently, it was, for Barir seemed to relax a bit at that. The [Cleanse] failed to produce any thick air.

Erick normally didn't like to notice it, or even remark upon it, but when he was around civilians, and when those people knew who he was, everyone got really, really nervous. Heart rates soared. Sweat dripped. Mouths went dry. Two of the three people before him were both nervous and strong willed, with almost every servant and otherwise being both terrified and calm.

Grosgrena, the old woman, was the only exception right now; she seemed like she had seen it all, and lived through it all, which was probably more true for her than for most other people in the room. Barir sipped the tea followed by everyone else. He took a cookie, and had a small, polite bite, followed by everyone else doing the same for their own small cookie. It tasted better than fine, and Erick decided to say so." Lovely cookie. And tea. The honey is rather nice." Everyone flinched, but rapidly relaxed.

And then Arakag, Barir, and Grosgrena each set down their tea and their cookies. Erick reluctantly did the same; he actually wanted to finish the cookie, now that the taste was in his mouth. Grosgrena eyed him a bit hard, but she was not the one to speak first. Arakag said, "I will be blunt, and ask you your goals in coming here." Erick answered without reservation, "I have come here with several goals in mind. The commissioning of a weapon or four for my people, with one for me.

A suit of armor for my guard who likes to wear metal armor, to replace the one he is currently wearing. And to know of metals, as you know them, but for my own two uses. First: I'm trying to make some precision gears that need to hold up to a lot of long-term variable stress, but my own attempts fall short of the goal. Second: I'm also interested in the use of magical metals for large-scale enchanting.

I expect I'll need to go to the Headmaster to see about getting some [Duplicate]d metals to actually fulfill my needs, but I would like training in using those metals, first. I have come here for this because I have heard you are the best." Arakag sat a bit straighter, while the beating of her heart relaxed. Barir gave a small sigh of relief, as his heart beat hard, and then soft, and then went all the way down to what was likely baseline. Grosgrena had no change at all.

If anything, she might be eyeing Erick a bit more, but that might be his imagination. Grosgrena was the first to speak, her voice a raspy, eager thing, "I'll teach, and we'll go a lot further than precision engineering, but I won't have you calling yourself an Adamantine Master Smith unless you trained and worked at this shit for twenty-five years, at least." She relaxed a little, saying, "But you'll be able to get the basics in under a week if you work hard and—" Barir spoke to his people, "We discussed this.

We can't have—" He was briefly conflicted, and then he just said what he wanted to say, "We cannot take up that much of the archmage's time."" It's a single week! I'm gonna take it." Grosgrena scowled at the man, then said to Erick, "As I was saying: I can teach you personally, but I got other Master Smiths who'd be eager to teach you, too. You might be able to stay awake for a week straight, hunting down the evils of this world, but some of us are old.

I will warn you now not to expect to use the weapons and armor you make yourself, for even if you are the Savior of Light, from what I saw down in Ooloraptoor you don't know shit about metal." She relaxed a little, saying, "In exchange for this, you'll pull apart metals for me like I saw you pull apart metal outside of Ooloraptoor. I got a whole junk drawer full of interesting samples and I want to know what they are, exactly."" Deal." Erick asked, "But can you actually teach large scale metal enchanting?

I see the adamantine out there, but I know your city is old, so I want to be upfront about these capabilities." Grosgrena nodded, and said, "Steel can take enchanting just as well as anything else, and that's what I'll use to help you learn large-scale enchanting, but the problem with steel is long term stability. That's where magical metals shine, for they don't rust. That's the only real reason why you see all this gold and deep sky silver and other nonsense in wands and shit.

But adamantium don't rust either, and it's a shit of a lot better than any of that other junk." She added, "Though we can't sell you that much adamantium for we only produce so much of it per year. If you want adamantium in the amounts you see in the chains and black buildings around here, you're gonna need to go to the Headmaster for [Duplicate] services like our ancestors did; get yourself a bargain of trade." Erick nodded.

"Understandable. What else do you need?" He looked to Arakag and Barir. Arakag said nothing— Barir said, "I would have you spread your [Withering]s throughout the entire city and the tunnels beyond. I want every monster in a hundred kilometers dead, and I want you to move around some beneficial monsters so that they can take over the dead monsters' habitats, before something unwanted does."" Easy enough," Erick said.

"And about my desired weapons and armor?" Barir and Grosgrena looked to Arakag, and then Erick did, too. Arakag spoke, "As for your made-to-order weapons and armor, we will create the items for free, but you will pay for the material and the time of our Smiths."" Also agreeable." Erick asked, "Is that all? I expected to be asked to counter-Hunt as well." He added, "I offer this service with no expectation of reward or payment. A bonus, if you want it."

Barir and Grosgrena kept their eyes on Erick, but their attention shifted toward Arakag. Arakag announced, "It is the decision of Enduring Forge's Council of Smiths that your [Cascade Imaging] may not be used by any member of our Council, our Guard, or our people. If you have a need to use your magics for yourself, then we wish you well in finding whatever you wish to find, but we ask you not to allow your magics to be used by anyone from Enduring Forge or nearby lands who may approach you after this meeting.

If anyone does approach you asking for this boon, feel free to make your own decisions regarding if you will assist them or not, but know that our Council has officially decided that none of them will have access to your power."

"… Something of an odd decision, that." Erick asked, "Why?" Arakag nodded once, in recognition of the question, then said, "Because we do not wish you to be involved in our criminal justice system. Our Guard is among the best in the world, for we're always catching people trying to steal our secrets, or our items. We do not need, nor want, your help in matters of security." She added, "In addition, we have no targets for you to search for, anyway. We have found everyone we have ever wished to find.

People do not assault Enduring Forge and live, archmage."

"… Okay." Erick said, "Then I will not offer this service and will instead ask you how you managed to accomplish such a feat! That's pretty amazing. I see the spellwork all around here and I like it a lot. The logistics of such a thing must be a headache and a half." Grosgrena smirked a little. Barir was trying to figure Erick out; was this some sort of probe of Enduring Forge's defenses? Arakag sat briefly stunned, then relaxed in recognition of Erick's genuine curiosity."

Thank you for your understanding, but we do not discuss our defenses with outsiders. I hope you understand."" I do." Erick added, "I suppose it was rude of me to ask after those details." Barir pulled back his concern from high to medium. Arakag nodded, then said, "We have rooms prepared for you, if you wish to room here, in the city." Erick said, "Sure. Let's go."" And then you're mine, first," Grosgrena said, smiling.

"I won the coin toss." Barir's frown deepened." Sounds fine to me." Erick said, "But before we move on. Barir. You said you wanted [Withering]s upon the city. You're aware that it will kill anyone with intestinal cores, correct? I would need assurances that you've already done everything you can to ensure that no one has intestinal cores before I would agree to do this [Withering]." Barir said, "I am aware.

This would have been one of the things we would have discussed later, but know that now that you're here, and you've agreed to this, we're going to put signs up about [Withering]. We'll inform our people of the need to visit the Medical Halls, and we'll have Healers go out and talk to every one of our citizens. We won't proceed with [Withering]s for at least five more days, and only after our Guard informs us that every necessary precaution has been taken to ensure the citizenry is safe."

Erick gave a small smile at that. These people were stiff and scared, but they were good people. They looked out for their own, and they did it well. Erick said, "Glad to hear that." - - - - The room was located at the top of an adamantine tower named the Watchman's Roost, located on the north side of city hall and attached to the building. There were no public spaces anywhere near this location, but the Roost did have one of the few entrances and exits to city hall.

That entrance was on the roof, and it would be for Erick's sole use while he was in the city, so he was free to defend his location as he wished. Arakag asked that he not use [Undertow Star], though, for it might harm the spellwork on city hall. Erick agreed. After a smaller discussion with Arakag and Grosgrena about the logistics of moving in the city, and about some places that Erick might want to visit, they left Erick and his people to their temporary residence.

It was a luxury apartment, with plush beds and furniture, all off-white, which complemented the floors, walls, and ceilings. There was quite a bit of decorative goldwork all over the place, though it was kept to thin, decorative accents. This suite was very much reserved for only the most powerful or influential of guests. But, in contrast to how it was in Songli, this place had a well-appointed kitchen filled with fresh foods and all the goods that Erick would need in order to make more food.

Erick smiled as he saw that, and as he checked the recent past through his mana sense. He said, "Looks like they filled this place in a rush as soon as we appeared in the city."" Oh yeah." Teressa agreed, adding, "They've got some good prognosticators." Erick asked, "So anyone want to go on a tour of the city? Or do you want to settle in for a little while? I'm partial to accepting a tour guide from the visitor's center down in city hall and seeing the city."

Jane said, "I'd like to visit the Weapon Smiths and the Beastmasters. Get a feel for the weapon I want and for the monsters of the Underworld." She added, "And I gotta say, this place is much more accommodating than the grass travelers. A lot nicer upfront and— Oh?" She spotted a rack of brochures on the kitchen table and went right to them.

"Visitor pamphlets! Ha." Nirzir said, "I thought Clan Pale Cow turned out rather nice. Waveni taught me a lot about cooking for a lot of people."" Well yeah." Jane said, "They were nice. Just not upfront. They were more honest, too. These people are clearly hiding something."" Ohhh. So negative!" Erick said, "Everyone hides something, but that doesn't mean these people are murdering babies in arcane rituals, or whatever." Jane shrugged." This place is a bit touristy, so they're nicer on the outside than most."

Teressa said, "They get clients from all across the world and the Underworld, so they kinda have to be. But I got a weird feeling and I can't quite place it." Poi said, "It's probably the Underworld itself. I feel odd, too. Like something is watching us."" We are being watched." Erick said, "Even if not directly, then I'm sure we're being watched through our timelines."" Maybe." Teressa said, "I still feel funny. So are you gonna put up the [Prismatic Ward]s and the [Undertow Star]?

You know you can do what you want, right. They asked for no [Undertow Star] but you could still do it." Erick smiled and began having Ophiel layer dense airs inside their new, temporary residence.

"No [Undertow Star], here."" Probably for the best," Poi said." So how about we make our first outing Lunch?" Erick said, "I could eat!"" I could very much eat," Teressa said, patting her flat stomach. Jane held out a pamphlet, smiling as she said, "Let's go here." The pamphlet read, 'Hothalls Chamber of Spice, a dining experience for the strong of heart, stomach, and tongue!'" Uh..." Erick decided to go for it, saying, "Sure."