This place is beyond my exceptions.
I have never seen an architecture this good at the north. Massive walls, proudly standing their ground even after ages, magnificent pillars stretching from floor to the roof, holding the cave system.
Four towers each placed in one corner of the city, covered in shining blue crystals.
Collapsed buildings and infrastructure, scattered around the scene combined with giant tree roots coming out from everywhere.
"Yes, it is magnificent, but don't let that confuse you. Mud Crawlers, Undead, Giant Worms, carnivorous bats large as humans, and many more now occupy there. One wrong step, and you'll be dead."
"Then I will increase my odds." I grabbed my anti-magic collar and began forcing it to break.
"Stop it, you idiot!" A prisoner shouted. "Do you want to die?"
"There aren't any wardens around here, am I wrong? Then why not break off from this collar and use some magic?"
"If not opened with its key, the collar will kill you!" He grabbed my arm. "I know you are new in here, so let me tell you the basics of how this collar works."
He put his finger into the keyhole of the collar. "Longs as you don't have the right thing to fit this hole, you can't remove the collar, and even if you get your hands on the keys, you'll still need someone who knows the spell to charge the keys."
"And is there anyone fitting into that term?" I asked the dwarf.
"Only one, manager of this place. The Grand Executor."
"Isn't that name is a bit exaggerated."
"He probably killed more man than twice your age and ordered ten times more to be killed." He answered me.
It isn't weird assuming how fucked up this place is. You will either do heavy labor, be a sandbag for the sadistic wardens, or die painfully.
What type of creatures can be heartless enough to do something like that to other beings.
I smiled. "Now, thinking it tingles something similar."
"Similar what?" Dwarf asked me.
"Nothing, I just think out loud for a second, forget what I said before." I turned towards the other prisoners sent with me. "Learning each other's name wouldn't be a bad start for our little suicide mission."
A dwarf with a silver beard stood forward and shook my hand. "Names Grumps."
I grabbed his hand. "Nice to meet you, name's Erwin. Considering how white your beard is, I suppose you are one of the older dwarfs living in this mountain, is that right?"
"I don't remember my age exactly, but I was at the start of my adulthood when Throne Breaker killed twelve dwarf kings, and humans invaded our forges. It makes me at least 170 years old." He answered me.
"If we survive, could you tell me the story of the battle with the lich king and murder of twelve dwarven kings? I never had much of a chance to learn this by myself, and I am rather curious about these topics?" I grabbed his hand.
"With pleasure." His eyes were shining.
"I am glad to hear that. Now for you three, can I learn your names?" I asked them with a kind voice.
A bulky human grabbed my arm. "Name Brick. I will only work with you people to increase my odds of survival. Do something that risks my life, and you are dead. Got it?"
Like almost every human in this place, he is a bit of an asshole, well his strength might be helpful, but he will be hard to kill. I should use monsters in this place to kill him after we finish our job.
Brick released my hand and moved away from me. "Okay, we are not very friendly as I see. Well, next one."
"Don't act like we are on a lovely field trip. Some monsters can gut you in seconds out there, and our team doesn't even have ten arms work together.
He looks like a petty thief, so I should keep my eyes open. Maybe I should kill him at the first chance. I want to increase my chance of survival by eliminating any types of threats.
"Good to hear we have an optimist among us, don't do something stupid."
And let's look at the last one, a dwarven that I assume is not very old. I cause any problems because I am pretty sure that Brick and Optimist will cause some.
"My name is Yotun. As you see, I am a dwarven who was born and raised in fortresses as a slave. There arent many unlucky around like me."
"I can see that, and I am glad to have young blood in our group." No, I am not. I doubt if any dwarf younger than hundred years knows how to use a weapon.
"If our small meeting is over, let's move towards the city and finish this quickly." Optimist began moving towards the dwarven city.
He will be the first one to die, and I can bet my left arm for that.
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"So Grumps, what kind of monsters occupies the part of the dwarven city we are going to explore. Do you know anything about that?"
He began playing with his beard. "We might encounter anything from a Mud Walker to a Hollow."
"And what exactly are these things?" I need more details.
"A Hollow is nothing but a walking corpse, or combination of walking corpses as a Hollow will wander around to find pieces for its body, while Mud Walkers are just big bugs."
"What kind of bugs?" A big bug could mean lots of things. I need details!
"Something with eight legs and a long tail, it has claws for hands. Their lower body looks like a lobster, but their upper body is humanoid, but they don't have skins, rather they are covered with chitin shells."
A lobster monster similar to a centaur, weird. "That's enough for now, thank you."
"You don't need to thank me, but I want you to keep your eyes open we are about to see something magnificent." He pointed his finger in a direction.
Minutes later, we saw the thing he implied. A giant statue shaped as a dwarf carrying a pillar connected to the top of the mountain.
It is at least a hundred meters long, standing with all of his might.
"I saw those pillars from far, but it looks much better right now." I am surprised how a race with the ability to build things like that is slaved by humans.
"This is the statute of our great hero, Bommonlim Stormchest. He is a descendant of a dwarven demigod, who found this city and the person who killed the famous Half-Breed."
So, this guy is the murderer of Leia, but I won't big because I don't know what corruption did to Leia and what she did while being under the control of it.
"And who is that Half-Breed you are talking about?"
"So, you don't know the Winged Queen Of Death." Grumps looked with eyes calling me pathetic. "But don't worry, I will gladly tell you her story."
"Please, I want to hear it."
"Ahem." Grumps cleared his throat. "Leia, or Half-Breedy, was a unique lich amongst every single of them. Unlike many before, she was kind, cheerful, and good."
"Then why did you add, was, into your sentence."
"Because one day, she turned into mad, and used her powers into attacking to all living beings. She flew to the grave of thousand dragons and raised an army from them. An army killed more than any lich before her."
"But in the end, heroes killed her, right?"
Grumps smiled. "That's where everything changes. Heroes gave a good fight, but it was the Bommonlim Stormchest who did the last blow, that why she is unique, the first lich to be killed by a dwarf and not a hero."
"That is, I don't know, an inspiring story that shows even without heroes, creatures of this world are strong enough to handle threats to themselves."
"I know, right!" Grumps was cheerful.
But I am not.
I wonder how he will react when he learns I am the next lich king, or will he live long enough to see that. Time will tell.
