Arcane Journey

Chapter 85 The Dark Lake
The dark lake sounds like it's just some kind of underground lake.

In fact, however, the dark lake is a huge labyrinth, which includes countless lakes, waterways, canals, and various caves, large and small.

The lakes formed by some of these huge caves are not only unfathomable, but when sailing on the lake, the light cannot even reach the high cave tops.

Others are unusually narrow, with only a few feet between the ceiling and the water.

Some even dive directly underwater, and unless they can breathe underwater, they can only take a detour.

It is said that a long time ago, the duergar engineers expanded the connection range of the dark lake waterway, and built water locks everywhere to facilitate the passage of ships through different underground levels.

Because of this, many travel routes have been developed.

With no starry sky to navigate, navigation on the Dark Lake relies on memories of cave networks, passages, and currents, as well as ancient duergar runes.

Although almost all of these 'signposts' have been worn out and are illegible, experienced dark lake boatmen can still use them to identify directions on the dark lake.

In fact, this technique is not simple, and only those boatmen who have spent decades traversing the dark lake can accumulate the necessary experience and knowledge.

It wasn't until this moment that Brian realized how powerful the "Sharp Mind" specialty he had obtained in the Dark Forest was in the current situation.

With his "sharp mind", he can easily find the route to the city of Odus without worrying about getting lost.

"You're wrong again." He leaned on the keel boat guardrail, and listened to the gray dwarf beside him explaining things about the city of Aldus to himself, and refuted him with a smile:

"The black-handled agents of your Aldus King City are psychic agents of the Deep King's secret army. Their main purpose is to follow the gray dwarf merchants to travel around, to carry out supervisory and secret agent work. I have never heard that they also work part-time. A killer's job."

"."

Weitz, the gray dwarf whose lies were exposed, widened his eyes in surprise and looked at the surface people in front of him, not knowing how to answer.

"Not only do I know Agent Blackhandle." Brian ignored the other's gaze, and said in a slightly cold tone, "I also know about Empty Sheath Killer."

"what?!"

The gray dwarf lost his composure all of a sudden. He raised his head, looked at the smiling surface man in disbelief, blew his beard and stared and said, "How on earth do you know? You must be in the city of Aldus!" You may have heard the legends."

"It's not wrong to say that the 'Empty Sheath Killer' organization is a legend in the city of Aldus." Brian nodded slightly and said to him:

"Because they are a well-disciplined repertoire of psychic assassins, they operate in such secrecy that even the shrewdest derro and the brightest priests cannot keep track of their whereabouts. However, in fact, they are not fictional stories, and the business of these assassins has been have been in business for hundreds of years, and their operations have never been exposed."

"The most important thing is that the empty scabbard killers are all gray dwarf spirit blades. They wander around the city of Aldus, looking for children with spiritual talents, and then kidnap them and train them."

Bryan added: "They also keep an eye on valuable 'Karashabak' and offer them the opportunity to join the organization as a way of getting revenge on those who exiled them."

"Your Excellency, who are you?"

The gray dwarf took a deep look at Brian, and said in a very solemn tone, "What is your purpose in coming to our city of Aldus? Don't tell me that it's just to return to the surface."

From the moment he heard 'Karashabak' from this surface man, he instantly understood that the fact that he was saved from the gallows by the goblin copper block was not some inexplicable kindness from the surface man. More like a long-planned plan.

"In fact, getting back to the surface is the most important thing for me right now."

Brian said calmly, "But you have witnessed what happened in the small town of Slobudor of the Kuo Tao fish people, so I don't think your Odus King City will be spared."

"You mean?" The gray dwarf was startled, touched his bald head, and looked nervously at Brian.

"There is a proverb in my hometown: Chaos does not necessarily lead to the abyss, it may also lead to the ladder."

There was a smile on Brian's face, but his gaze towards the gray dwarf was as cold as ice, "I've told you so many things, to be fair, Weitz Firehand from the Furnace clan, I think you should also answer me A few questions, who exactly are you serving?"

"Needless to say, of course it is the ruler of Aldus King City, King Holga Steel Shadow VI of the Deep Earth." The gray dwarf said without hesitation.

"If there are no accidents in the voyage, we can arrive at the city of Aldus tomorrow." Brian left the guardrail leaning on, turned his back to the gray dwarf, and said the last sentence, "I will give you a day to think carefully, I hope Do not let me down."

After speaking, he didn't even look at the other party, and walked directly to the cabin.

After entering the dimly lit cabin, Brian walked straight to his room.

They have been sailing in the dark lake for about five days, and they will arrive at the city of Aldus tomorrow.

He must rely on his foresight to prepare early and fight for a place in this chaotic duergar city.

Then he sat down on a chair, picked up the quill on the table, and began to write down all the forces of the various factions in the gray dwarf city on the scroll.

The gray dwarves of Aldus King City have a permanent population of about 2. It is a feudal kingdom with the King of the Deep as the absolute monarch, and its throne is passed down from generation to generation by the Gangying clan and its relatives.

Each clan in the kingdom is led by a 'landlord' who controls his territory and directs his clan members to specialize in a particular trade or craft.

In the kingdom's institutions, there is also a priest class called 'Sindar' who presides over all ceremonies and records the legendary history of the deep kingdom.The actual political and religious power is concentrated in the hands of the deep king and the local lords.

He must find the most suitable ally among these intertwined forces, and assist them in gaining the right to rule the city of Aldus.

If it was placed in the past, this would undoubtedly be very difficult.

But it's different now. Apart from an adult red dragon preparing to rebel, and the Dilo dwarves being squeezed by the gray dwarves, even the demon lord has participated in this game.

This undoubtedly provided him with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk"

Just then, Brian heard a knock on the door outside the house.

He put down the quill in his hand and looked up.

There are not many people on this big ship, there are only 6 people in total. Those who come to find me during this time period can know who they are without thinking.

With a thought, the closed door opened automatically.

Sisaiah's figure appeared in front of his eyes. Her long reddish-brown hair was loosely scattered behind her head, and her simple top and trousers outlined her beautiful figure.

When Brian looked at the sword mage's bright silver-gray eyes, he immediately understood the reason, which made him secretly relieved.

"Is there a problem?"

He pushed aside the parchment on the table, motioned her to sit down, and asked.

"I just came to tell you that my magic has been restored." Sisaiah sat on the chair, glanced casually at the sheepskin scroll on the table, and said to Brian.

"Actually, when you entered the room, your eyes had already told me the news." Brian replied with a smile, "Now that you have recovered, I am relieved, after all, we will arrive at Aldus tomorrow. The royal city is gone."

Hesaiah is also the person he trusts the most, so he naturally told her his thoughts and plans in detail.

Now that her strength has recovered, he has nothing to worry about.

"It seems that you know the city of Aldus very well." Hesaiah picked up a sheepskin scroll with great interest, and looked at some gray dwarf clans and Dilo dwarf organizations recorded on it.

When she saw a Dillo dwarf thief organization of 'Grey Ghost', she glanced at Brian in surprise, and asked him suspiciously, "Brian, I've always been curious, you've always called that Dillo named Jeep What is the purpose of bringing the Luo dwarves with you?"

"Although this guy pretends to be enthusiastic about everyone in order to conceal his true identity, but seeing him fighting always reminds me of the soul of a crazy killer."

While checking the contents of the sheepskin scroll, Brian expressed his opinion to her:

"Regardless of whether this conjecture is correct or not, there is no loss for me. If it is really conjectured by me, it should make this chaotic city even more lively."

After listening to Brian's analysis, Hesaiah put the sheepskin scroll back on the table with little interest.

Obviously, she is not interested in this aspect of things.

She looked at his concentration and was silent for a long time, then said softly to him abruptly, "Brian, if we get to the city of Aldus, can we go back to the surface world?"

"Of course." Brian nodded without hesitation, "arriving at Aldus King City means that our fleeing career in the Underdark is over."

"Then if you go back to the surface, what are your plans?" Hesaiah thought for a while, and finally couldn't help asking the question that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time.

"Intend?"

Brian looked up at her, weighed his words in his heart, and then said to her with a serious tone, "Actually, I have set myself the first goal of returning to the surface world. .”

"Target?"

Hisaiah was aroused by Brian's words. She knew that he was definitely not joking with her. She asked nervously, "What is the goal? Is this goal very ambitious?"

"It's not that far-reaching."

Brian shook his head slightly, chuckled, and said to her, "My first goal when I return to the surface world is to conquer the land that was once the ancient Netheril Empire, the Great Desert of Enook."

…………

　Thanks to the boss: 灬一舞一回独, Xuan Ziyi for the reward, thank you for your support! ! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)