Liam took in the sight of the core city. It was built within an enormous cave as if the dwarves had hollowed out the entire mountain, taking the shape of a bell.
Buildings were mostly constructed on magically reinforced, broad bridges spanning the entire width of the cave. Many buildings were also ford along the cave's walls.
Most of the city was made from bronze or other tals, shining faintly in the warm light of millions of magical lanterns.
The entire place was extrely busy. It had to be said that in dwarven culture a city was more like a small kingdom, governing a vast territory and functioning as a hub for smaller communities living in the surrounding mountains.
Liam marvelled at the city, which still impressed him despite having seen it so often, as he blended into the crowd. Not far from the teleporters was another busy platform. Cable cars hanging from thick iron wires started here, allowing one to quickly reach the various levels of the city.
Liam cramd into one of them. When the door shut the crowd was pressed uncomfortably close with almost no room to move.
The cable car started at about three thirds of the way towards the top of the city and travelled downwards. Thus, it gradually emptied out as most people usually travelled upwards where the city was the busiest.
When Liam got off there were only four dwarves left who continued to drive deeper. And one of them was even asleep.
Liam quickly left the cable car behind. Its stop was built on a protruding platform. Stepping down one arrived on a broad path directly carved into the rock wall. The floor was extrely smooth as one would expect from the dwarven craftsn.
Lining the path were buildings built into the mountain, mostly made from stone. This part of the city lacked any luxurious decorations, but it would also be wrong to call it run-down.
In fact, the atmosphere was quite nice. The dwarves living here were mostly miners, craftsn of little fa, or lower-rung soldiers. They all seed to know each other, so small groups stopping on the streets for conversation.
But the busiest part of this community were still the taverns, which were unusually brimming with people right now.
As Liam walked past them, he could overhear many dwarves discussing in unhappy voices.
“They actually barred us from entering the mines!”
“Yeah. Just because of so magical... sothing.”
“Which idiot even broke through that wall? What did they hope to find there?!”
“Who cares? I just want to go back to work.”
“Yeah. But the magistrate refuses to send the army. Says this is not our problem.”
“Haha, that's not quite true. I heard he offered to dispatch soldiers but only if the empire paid!”
“Damn, good idea! But it seems they refused.”
The voices gradually got quieter as Liam distanced himself from the tavern. However, similar conversations could be heard in other places, allowing one to gain a general understanding of the situation.
Soon, Liam reached a place where the path branched out into a large tunnel leading to the right. This place looked rather industrious with multiple vehicles parked outside. They hadn't been used in a few days since they were used to transport minerals.
To the left was another platform serving as a stop for cable cars. However, those were a lot bigger than the one Liam ca on, obviously created to transport heavy cargo.
The cable cars didn't stand still. Minerals were brought from other mines to transport. One could constantly perceive the laborious clanging of pickaxes and the rattling of wheels rolling over the stone floor.
As one of the respected mine overseers once said:
'These sounds have been accompanying Deep Bell City since its foundation and will last as long as a single dwarf is left alive.'
From these words one could understand what it ant for the dwarves now that one mine couldn't be entered due to an unexpected danger.
They were obviously incensed putting great pressure on the Rising Basilisk Empire, whom they made out as the perpetrator.
And they weren't wrong. The empire, however, refused to pay the exorbitant amount of money the dwarves demanded as remuneration. They would rather hire others for a smaller reward.
This was the reason why adventurers now gathered at this place deep in the dwarven city.
When Liam arrived, he already found a few players in front of the tunnel, including his friends.
“Finally! What took you so long, expert? Look, several groups have already entered the tunnel!”
Cyclone skipped the greetings and directly addressed Liam. The young woman showed so anxiousness. Although she, like her friends, was not particularly looking forward to the normal mode dungeon, now that they were here, they had to take first clear.
“Ok, ok. We are well prepared. No need to worry.”, said Liam with a confident smile.
“I hope so. But don't we still need to continue that one quest?”
“We can do so later. The quest is only to unlock the hidden boss. I suggest we skip it for now and fight the hidden boss on hard mode.”
Liam's suggestion found much agreent amongst his friends. Thus, they ignored the quest and finally approached the dungeon.
Heavily armoured guards eyed them as they entered the spacious tunnel. The light was dim and the air stuffy. They walked together with a few other players, making their way deeper into the mines.
Occasional the party would have to use so elevators or choose the right direction when the path branched out. Luckily the soldiers along the way marked the correct path or it would be easy to get lost in the maze-like mines.
But even without detours it took the players about ten minutes to finally reach the real entrance.
Players and NPCs gathered in a rather spacious cave. Thick wooden beams stabilized the mine. So tools laid around, leaning against the walls which were perated with white shining ore. So players could even be seen mining while watching the excitent surrounding the dungeon.
Glancing around the party didn't spot any of the guilds they were familiar with, but this didn't an that they were without competition.
A dwarf could be seen surrounded by a large crowd, happily conversing with everyone, not putting on any airs. He was small even for a dwarf but extrely muscular. His heavy armor almost made him look like a walking square.
He had a prominent beard and thick, red hair. His grinding, loud voice echoed in the cave. Cyclone and Balm looked at each other. They instantly recognized this characteristic, slightly unhealthy sounding voice. It belonged to Mountain Lord, another player famous on Falva Star, known for his skill in PvP.
When the party spotted Mountain Lord, the dwarf recognized them as well. His eyes lit up as he waved his hand, beckoning the party with a friendly expression.
Since there was no enmity between them the friends naturally wouldn't ignore him. The crowd opened a path, showing the respect they had for Mountain Lord, curiously looking at the people he invited over.
Imdiately whispers spread as everyone recognized Hotpot, wondering why the group had to run all the way to the eastern mountains.
So teams among the crowd sighed secretly, fearing that the first clear of the dungeon was now unreachable.
The party didn't pay much attention to the crowd as Cyclone took the initiative to address Mountain Lord:
“Mountain Lord! Great to see you! I'm a big fan!”
“Haha, I'm honoured. The great Cyclone holds in such high regard.”
Everyone smiled at Mountain Lord as they introduced each other. A casual but warm conversation comnced until Cyclone asked curiously:
“Where are Strix and the others? Are you waiting for them?”
“Oh no. We have decided to send the second team into the dungeon. I just ca to see them off. The main team has sothing else to do.”, answered the dwarf honestly.
“Your second team? So, you will go for another dungeon?”
“Well, sothing like that. We originally thought we could compete for first clear with our second team, but I didn't expect you to co here.”
Cyclone smiled apologetically, looking sowhat embarrassed. Mountain Lord had a great reputation, and she felt sowhat bad interfering with his plans. She would rather steal a first clear from Star Gazer.
Luckily Mountain Lord didn't get angry. Everyone understood that this was part of the competition.
Still, the atmosphere beca sowhat awkward and the party soon said their goodbyes. They approached a barrier which closed a hole in the wall.
Piles of rubble laid around it, indicating that the hole wasn't opened slowly but stemd from a sudden collapse.
The opening was guarded by multiple soldiers who stole glances at an old man from ti to ti.
The elder wore a thoughtful expression with kind eyes and a small goatee. He was clad in simple, blue mage robes expect for the four brilliant star-shaped brooches adorning his chest, which identified him as a high professor of Svebrial's Magic Academy.
The na Atrol of Belfhill floated above his head.
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