[Luna POV]

The place that we arrived at was the entrance to the mine where Cerberus was.  From there we trekked towards the city which could be seen even from far away.  Though it wasn’t really that noticeable the first time since we were running so fast and not paying too much attention to it, the mine and a small area around it were situated on a small plateau inside the cavern.  When we reached the edge and looked out over the scenery that spread between here and the city, I was astonished.

 

“This is actually very pretty.  I wouldn’t say it’s breathtaking, but it has its own beauty that is hard to find on the surface.” (Luna)

 

“Yeah.  And are those trees over there?  It’s kind of hard to tell from this distance, but whatever those are look like trees.” (Soleil)

 

“Yeah, that side of the cavern is a forested area with special trees that can only be found here.  Though last time I was here, not counting the other day, the whole cavern minus the city was covered in trees like that.  I don’t know what happened here to force the dwarves to remove so much of that forest, but it’s quite a shame.” (Skadi)

 

“I’m also interested to see what those glowing blue stream looking things are.  I can tell it’s not water flowing through it, but I’m not too sure what it actually is from here.” (Velvet)

 

We started making our way down from the plateau.  After reaching the bottom and walking for a bit, we finally reached one of the glowing blue streams.  As we approached it, I could feel immense heat coming from it and immediately figured out what it was.

 

“Magma huh.  Though I’ve never seen it blue before.” (Luna)

 

I appraised it to see if I could gleam any additional information.

 

“I see.  So, it’s a mix of magma and mana.  Though the mana is almost double the amount of the magma in the mix.  Interesting.” (Luna)

 

“Mmmmm.  So warm.” (Ophidia)

 

“You said that last time we passed through here too.  Is it really that enjoyable?” (Skadi)

 

“Yes.  Though I’m different from most snakes since the cold doesn’t bother me, master going all out aside, I still prefer warm or hot places to cold ones.  Right here, while enjoyable at the moment, will get annoyingly uncomfortable after a while.” (Ophidia)

 

“It’s so hard to remember you’re a snake, Ophidia nya.” (Mio)

 

Ophidia chuckled at Mio’s words and stuck out her tongue which she had turned into a snake’s tongue.  Everyone else laughed at this after which we decided to move on again.  We passed several other streams of blue magma, some of which had special bridges built over them due to their width.

 

“You know, now I’m curious as well.  Skadi said this place used to be completely forested, but now it’s almost a wasteland.  Sure there are a few weird plants growing here and there, but it’s pretty much just stone, dirt, sand, and clay.” (Velvet)

 

“Guess we can try to find out when we’re in the city.” (Luna)

 

A while later we approached the wall of the dwarven capital.  Aside from the usual sight of people lined up at the gate and the noise that accompanied them, I could also hear various sounds of pressure being released from pipes, fast moving liquids and gasses, and other sounds that you would expect from somewhere powered by steam.

 

“This noise nya, I don’t like it nya.” (Mio)

 

““My sentiments exactly.”” (Luna and Soleil)

 

Soleil and I looked at one another and started laughing.

 

“This is such a weird wall.  Don’t the pipes coming in and out of it make it weaker in those places?  How would a city reliably use this to defend itself.  Magic aside, it’s just dumb to do that.” (Velvet)

 

“I got nothing.” (Luna)

 

“Those pipes, from what I can tell, are the defenses.  If what Luna said earlier was true and water so hot its practically steam is running through them, then it’d be enough to deter many things with a sense of pain.  It might not make a difference to things above a certain level, but weak things that are actually stupid enough to attack a city’s walls normally aren’t too high level.  Exceptions not counted.” (Skadi)

 

“Still seems shabby to me, but what do I know.” (Velvet)

 

Once we made it to the front of the line and into the city, many feelings began to manifest inside me.  Nostalgia, annoyance, curiosity, mischievousness, I could go on.

 

{Luna, please don’t turn the wheels that obviously shouldn’t be turned.  I know you are better than that.}

 

‘It was only a brief temptation.  I obviously wouldn’t do that…much.’

 

{That much is what worries me.  Who knows how much collateral damage you would cause if you did something and it blew up?}

 

‘Fufufu.  I find it funny that the first thing that worries you is the collateral damage.’

 

{If I’ve learned anything from living as long as I have, it’s that mortals take that seriously inside their cities.  Do you know how many times I’ve had Atmos and Grey over just to listen almost endlessly about how these adventurers kept destroying the caravan they were supposed to be protecting when they fought the bandits that attacked them or how some villages crops took more damage from the party that was getting rid of whatever was ruining them than the actual creature?  It won’t look good on you if you have a history of breaking things mortals think of as important when you ascend.  Common sense aside.}

 

‘You’re really laying it on thick this time.  I promise I will absolutely not touch anything that might lead to some catastrophe down the line unless absolutely necessary.  Is that better?’

 

{Much.  The same goes for all of you as well.  I know Luna and Mio are probably the ones that are the most prone to doing something like that, but this is a warning for all of you.}

 

‘I’m nyot that bad nya!’ (Mio)

 

“Yeah, Mio isn’t that bad!” (Fenrir)

 

‘Fen nya, that was too loud nya.  My ears nya.” (Mio)

 

I shook my head at our antics and healed Mio’s ears.  Aside from the tempting wheels that were on a majority of pipes, the streets were pretty normal.  Smaller and more cramped, sure, but that’s been the norm in this country since the crystal city, so it wasn’t too bad.  A lot of the bronze pipework was situated above us crossing between buildings, underneath the streets from the sound of it, and in some places, behind large bronze grates.  The things behind the grates were mostly moving parts like gears and other kinds of industrial stuff that I had long forgotten the name of.  We could also see the steam powered elevators that went to the surface.  Most of them were closer to the center of the city, though there were some here and there in other parts that I assumed were places where a lot of people frequented.

 

As for the people, they were for the most part normal.  I could see a lot of dwarves, as to be expected, and a lot of humans and demons.  There was an elf here and there, but not as many as you’d see in other cities in other countries.  Even less though, were beastkin, which made perfect sense to me as most beastkin had enhanced hearing and the constant noise of steam and moving metal was grating on the nerves.

 

“I expected more blacksmith type places.” (Soleil)

 

“Well, we’re still in the entrance of the city.” (Luna)

 

“True.” (Soleil)

 

The further we walked into the city, I started to notice a sort of pattern.  While some streets we passed had numerous pipes and other stuff of the like, others were more…natural.  Barely any bronze, just stonework, and much quieter.  Other places were filled with the sounds of hammers hitting metal and other sounds you’d expect from dwarves.  After a while, we turned down one of the quieter streets to check it out.  It was lined with several things that looked like massive forges and they all led to a giant building.  As we approached I heard what sounded like chains that had been allowed to release tension and then the sound of two giant masses of metal hitting each other shortly after.  The ground and buildings also visibly shook with the impact.

 

“What was that?” (Ophidia)

 

“Some old style dwarven blacksmithing.  That’s the old method of shaping orichalcum.  They would have two giant hammers hanging from the roof of a building and they would use chains to lift them to the sides, heat up the orichalcum, then let the hammers loose.  I don’t really get how it works since, to me, it seems like it’d just crush the metal, but they somehow make it work.” (Skadi)

 

We all nodded along to Skadi’s trivia as we moved on.  Soon enough we arrived in a circular plaza where a lot of people were.  It was the usual kind of sight you’d see in every city.  The guild was on one side, several inns and restaurants scattered around, some general goods shops here and there.  What made it stand out here though, was that in the center of this plaza was an amphitheater with a large stage in the center of it.

 

“Nya?  I wonder why something like that is there nya?” (Mio)

 

“It’s for performances, obviously.  Though I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these in a place like this.” (Velvet)

 

“Dwarf country, remember?  The night here is always more busy than the day.” (Skadi)

 

“Ah.  You’re right.” (Velvet)

 

“This place might be more fun than I thought it would be.  I kind on want to see a performance here now.” (Luna)

 

“Same.” (Ophidia)

 

“Well, it did take us a while to get here, so how about we find an inn and we can see if something is going to happen here some time soon.” (Soleil)

 

We all agreed with Soleil’s words and went to see if one of the many inns around here had any free rooms.

 

Chaos Realm:
Oh, how fun.

Order: What is?

Luna and the others are in for a treat.  One of the most famous dwarven jazz bands is going to perform there later.

Order: That does sound fun.

Atmos: You know, it's kind of a shame that music style hasn't really spread from that country much.  It very good.

Give it enough time and it will, as most things like that do.  It is still a fairly recent thing for this world after all.

Atmos: Yeah.  It just feels painfully slow.

Yeah.  It makes me feel bad for Crate since a lot of the time, things like this end up dying out before they get a chance to spread.  I mean, he is the God of Creation, so any kind of creativity made by the mortals of this world that falls into obscurity does a number on his mood.

Atmos: Yeah.  I remember the time that he was particularly interested in one thing the mortals made and when that civilization fell and that thing with it, he was so sad that you actually had to step in to cheer him up.

Order: What was it that made him that sad?

I don't recall.  There have been too many instances where that same thing happened that they all kind of just blend together now.

Atmos: And even then, he cheered up again after Payto told him that those things would be rediscovered again in time and stuff.  Now that I think about it, did you have anything to do with that?

Not entirely.  I may have preserved one or two things, but the one that actually did the most to get those things rediscovered was Gear.

Order: Heh.  So he really does like his brother.

Yep.  He may not show it, but he is actually a lot like Crate.  But you didn't hear this from me.

Order: Not at all.  Now if you excuse me, I think Astraea just woke up from her nap.