Arcane Journey

Chapter 93 The Grumpy Stone Giant
The Blade Bazaar with a wide variety of stalls is named after the most typical product of the duergar, but in fact, almost everything can be bought here.

Brian and Sisaiah strolled in the bustling bazaar, and the dwarf-language-based din could be heard incessantly, even overshadowing the sound of hammers and irons from the city's steel factory in the distance.

Majestic stalactite columns line the sides of the market, and under huge, wrinkled mushroom umbrellas, merchants set up stalls and sell all kinds of items.

Numerous perfumes, fragrant woods, spices, and sweet exotic fruits from the surface world mixed the musty and pungent air with a pleasant fragrance.

For Hesaiah, the strangest thing is that the hostile races who trade here can live in peace. The stone-skinned underground dwarves called "Snebli", black-hearted goblins, made her The disgusting dark elves, as well as humans, all mingled in front of the stalls or passed each other on the street.

"Hey, we went to the Smoky Crystal Cave yesterday. We didn't take this route." She frowned without any trace, reached out to touch Brian's arm, and said to him.

"I know." Brian stopped another Dilo dwarf thief who was trying to get closer to Hesaiah with a look, glanced at her, and said:

"This is the most prosperous trading market in the Underdark. I want to observe how the gray dwarves and merchants here have been corrupted by demons."

"Then what did you notice?"

Hesaiah looked at him helplessly and said absently.

Although the bustling streets are lively, she doesn't like the prosperity that these Underdark's evil races inhabit.

"Don't worry, I've got what I want, let's leave as quickly as possible." Brian knew that the noble lady beside him was a little impatient, and he looked thoughtfully at a woman who was obviously empty by his side. Alone, but the gray dwarf businessman who kept consulting the air unknowingly quickened his pace towards the Smoky Crystal Cave.

Under his careful observation, he indeed discovered many strange phenomena.

For example, a gray dwarf merchant keeps insulting customers who come to sell things, but he is very polite to customers who buy things. Some gray dwarf merchants give different prices for the same goods when buying or selling, and insist on It is said that the other party is changing the price.

A gray dwarf businessman suddenly disappeared in the process of negotiating with the buyer, and continued to communicate with the dumbfounded buyer as if nothing had happened.

There was even a duergar trader holding an adamantine dagger around his neck, threatening his life to bargain, and when the buyer called the duergar patrol over, he held the weapon firmly , denying that he had done these things.

In fact, the gray dwarf's character of strictly abiding by his duties can be seen from his appearance and posture.

Whether as individuals, or as members of families or clans, duergar accept their class status in society.

They will not use intrigue to undermine their opponents like the drow elves, but roll up their sleeves and work hard to improve their prestige through the fruits of their labor.

The honor and integrity they had shown before their compatriots would not be shown in front of foreigners, and they were constantly modifying contracts when dealing with foreign merchants in order to take advantage of them.

They even used various excuses to enslave city visitors who did not seem strong enough, even if they were adventurers.

But at the market at the moment, these gloomy and black-hearted gray dwarf merchants gave Brian the impression that they were middle-aged and funny.

This made him faintly realize that somewhere in the city of Aldus, there must be some kind of evil ritual that intensifies the radiant energy of the earth veins and affects the mind.

"Hey, outlander, please stay."

At this moment, a deep voice came from behind Brian.

Even though the streets were so chaotic, Brian could still feel that the deep underground lingua franca was calling the two of them.

So he motioned for Hesaiah to stop, and looked back at the caller.

He saw a gray dwarf shouting, his whole body was covered by a black cloak except for his gray beard stained with soot and a pair of disturbed dark gray eyes.

"Don't try to guess my identity."

Before he could speak, the gray dwarf in a black cloak approached him, deliberately lowered his voice, and said to him mysteriously, "Actually, I am King Hogar Steel Shadow V, King of the Deep in Aldus City."

"do you know?"

The gray dwarf continued, "Argotus, the 'dragon blacksmith' in the city, has long been possessed by the demon lord. He threatened to destroy my kingdom and eat all the gray dwarf girls in the city. So, I think Spend a lot of money to recruit the two of you to fight against the 'dragon blacksmith' Argotus. If you help me kill this evil dragon, I will make you the general of the Saron spearmen and reward you with ten beauties of gray dwarves. "

Hearing the astonishingly eloquent gray dwarf finished speaking, Brian and Hesaiah looked at each other, his eyes flickered, and suddenly he spoke quickly to remind the gray dwarf who claimed to be the King of the Deep, "Be careful! The patrol team is here to catch you gone."

"Ah? Where? Where?" The gray dwarf looked shocked, his dark gray eyes were full of fear, he turned around quickly, his head turning around like a rattle.

"Let's go, this is a psychopath." After the appraisal, Brian smiled and told Hesaiah his conclusion, then turned and left.

Hesaiah nodded approvingly.

"Guard! Guard! Come here!"

Before Brian took a few steps, a gray dwarf businessman jumped out without warning, pointed at the two of them with the warhammer in his hand, and shouted at the top of his voice:
"The two strangers in front, a man and a woman, stole my ancestral warhammer, don't let them escape, arrest them quickly!"

When pedestrians heard the words, they all looked sideways at Brian and the two of them. The two gray dwarf guards patrolling nearby also leaned in this direction when they heard the shout.

"Fart, you are a foreigner!"

Just when Brian was about to teach the crazy dwarf a lesson, another dwarf blacksmith ran out from the clanging booth, his burly body bravely stood in front of them, bearded and glared at the accusing gray dwarf :
"This is obviously my brother who has been separated for more than 100 years, and he is not a foreigner. You are fucking blind!"

"The stone is on top, brother, you are finally back, I really miss my brother, go, hurry up and go back with me." After finishing speaking, the gray dwarf blacksmith opened his arms tearfully, and ran towards Brian.

The crowd who looked sideways were stunned by this scene, and even Sisaiah who was on the side was a little dumbfounded.

Brian dodged the gray dwarf who was trying to hug him with a look of disgust, raised his right leg, and kicked his ass, making him eat a dog.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar interrupted the pointing and whispering of Brian in the street.

Then there was a rock-shattering crackling sound, causing the duergars on the street and merchant adventurers from all over the Underdark to turn their heads to look at them at the same time.

The moment Bryan turned around, he just saw a gray-skinned giant swinging a hammer-like fist, smashing through the gate with one blow, and rushing towards the crowded Blade Bazaar roaring wildly.

Accompanied by the sound of tremors from the ground, a stalactite tower was broken by the gray skin giant, causing countless rubble and rocks to scatter around.

Suddenly, the gray-skinned giant that appeared was like a boulder shot from a catapult, and exploded on the crowded street. An ogre screamed in fright, and the crowd on the street rolled and crawled away from the crazy gray-skinned giant. .

The burly giant more than four meters tall roared, jumped into the crowd, reached out and grabbed a gray dwarf soldier, picked him up like a chicken, drew his body in an arc in the air, and fell heavily on the ground On the hard ground, it turned into a puddle of crunching mud.

Immediately afterwards, the gray-skinned giant picked up a stone the size of an ogre's head on the ground, and threw it with one hand.

"boom!"

A whistling boulder fell from the sky, and precisely hit the head of another fleeing gray dwarf soldier, killing him by headshot on the spot.

"Bryan, isn't this the stone giant who stopped us yesterday." Sisaiah, who fled to a safe place, confirmed to Bryan looking at the mad stone giant from afar.

"That's right, it's him." Brian nodded, and his keen eyes noticed that the stone giant's hands had an extra finger at some point.

It made him realize that the big guy had succumbed to some kind of demonic curse.

At this moment, he saw a group of gray dwarf soldiers who were startled by the giant's roar and hurried over.

Among these soldiers, apart from more than a dozen gray dwarf crossbowmen holding heavy crossbows, there were also five warriors in dark red armor holding spears.

Duergar Saron spearmen.

This is another elite force in the city of Odus, apart from the stone guards and Caravo cavalry.

These specially trained gray dwarf soldiers wield the flame spears cast in the city of Aldus as special weapons, and their average challenge level is around 5.

"Stop him!"

The leader of the pikemen immediately gave the order.

After receiving the order, more than a dozen gray dwarf crossbowmen behind him held heavy crossbows, pulled the trigger, and aimed at the stone giant rushing towards them, firing cold and shining crossbow arrows.

——"Stone Skin Technique!"

The stone giant let out a roar, and its burly body was suddenly covered with a layer of marble-like surface.

"Ding Ding Ding"

The dense crossbow bolts shot at his body, like tickling, and they fell to the ground powerlessly.

—— "Earth veins fluctuate!"

Immediately afterwards, the stone giant raised his foot and stomped heavily, and the invisible energy of the earth element surged past.

Ripples appeared on the hard surface, and the splashing ripples were like raging winds, shaking the group of duergar crossbowmen and Saron spearmen upside down.

——"Stone hail technique!"

The berserk stone giant looked at his own achievements, but he didn't stop because of this. With a roar, stones the size of his fist fell rapidly like raindrops.

In the blink of an eye, the dozen or so gray dwarf soldiers were smashed into a pool of mud, and those who survived by chance also scrambled and ran out.

As if the spell had been released, the stone giant rushed towards the five surviving gray dwarf Saron spearmen with shocking steps.

Almost at the moment when the stone giant rushed up.

——"Giant change!"

The five Saron spearmen stood firm and activated their natural abilities at the same time.

In bursts of crackling, their armor, bodies, and weapons all grew in size at a speed visible to the naked eye, until they turned into the size of a 2-meter-high orc.

——"Spray flames!"

Along with the flaming spears held by the five Saron spearmen, strands of fire elemental energy flowed out from the dark red runes one after another.

Like focused flamethrowers, their guns shot out hot cones of flame at the same time, enveloping the Golem's massive bodies in raging flames.

The stone giant roared again and again. Enduring the pain from the flames, he violently rushed out of the sea of ​​flames. With a body like a hill, he mercilessly knocked into the air a Saron spearman who was caught off guard.

Then, he clenched the spear that had stabbed him in the stomach with both hands, and swept away with all his strength, sweeping away all three companions beside the gray dwarf.

The two gray dwarves bumped into each other, as if they were drunk, they staggered and fell to the ground.

The head of another gray dwarf wearing a steel helmet hit the ground first. The helmet collided with the hard ground, making a loud bang, and a large area was sunken.

The stone giant kicked the last Saron spearman away, a stream of earth elemental energy floated by, and he released his magic again.

——"Stone Claw!"

A rock arm as thick as a stone giant's thigh broke out from the hard rock surface suddenly, twisting and locking a flustered Saron spearman like a snake.

The screaming gray dwarf struggled frantically, but the moment the stone giant clenched his fists, his body and armor were crushed flat.

Streams of blood flowed down the rough outline of the rock's arm.

This tragic scene made the melon-eating crowd watching in the distance gasp, and subconsciously moved away from the battlefield.

"Roar!"

The stone giant roared excitedly, and stepped on the duergar whose helmet was severely deformed.

The two gray dwarves who got up from the ground quickly clenched the spears in their hands, and pointed the point of the spears that jumped out of the flames at the stone giant's buttocks.

"Bang! Bang!"

However, to the dumbfounding of the two gray dwarves, the stone giant's "Stone Skin Art" has not disappeared, and their spears seem to be stabbing hard stones.

Fortunately, however, the flames from the spear injured the Golem.

I saw his body tightened suddenly, as if he had been hit in some vital point, he clutched his buttocks, and let out a low growl of pain.

At this moment, a dark purple force field energy appeared out of thin air behind the stone giant's head.

"boom!"

The gleaming purple force field energy turned into a battering ram with a ram's head, and hit the stone giant's hard head fiercely.

The stone giant who was suffering from pain rolled his eyes, his burly and majestic body softened, and he fainted on the ground.

"Kill him!" The captain finally took off the deformed helmet from his head, wiped the blood on his bald head, and gave the command out of breath.

"Wait a moment!"

Brian emerged from the corner, came up to the stone giants, and stopped them.

"Outlander from the surface, thank you for helping us subdue this crazy big guy." The captain of the Saron spearman thanked Brian, and said: "But you have no right to interfere with our execution of the laws of the city of Aldus .”

"I really have no right to interfere with you."

Bryan replied calmly, "However, I know the covenant signed between the stone giants and your gray dwarves. Therefore, according to tradition, you have no right to dispose of this stone giant who has been cursed by the devil."

Petty crimes are rare in Aldus.

The duergar here follow a strict code of honor, so their laws are concise and practical.

All duergar, whether guards or citizens, can remain invisible and observe secretly at any time, which makes any possible crimes and disputes full of uncertainty and danger.

Clan landlords had the power to punish their own criminals.

Crimes committed between clans would be brought to the Landlords' Council for swift and strict rulings.

Since punishments such as humiliation, mutilation, and imprisonment are seen as a waste of resources and creating social weakness, the duergar prefer the direct execution of willful offenders.

If a duergar commits an accidental crime, it is usually offset with money or work.

However, when a derro, slave, or outsider is caught committing a crime, any duergar can execute the verdict on the spot.

The only exception to this is the Stone Giant in the Smoky Crystal Cave.

"I will definitely report today's incident to King Deep."

The gray dwarf captain shouldered his spear, resisting the urge to poke a few transparent holes in the unconscious stone giant, and said angrily, "Let Stone Whisperer Hegram be responsible for the misfortune that happened today. in the end."

"as long as you are happy."

Brian shrugged and gave him a small smile.

Just as he expected, another burly stone giant came to this fair that was gradually restoring order.

"I'm very sorry, Captain Saron." The new stone giant said apologetically to the gray dwarf captain:
"Leewood is a student of Lord Stone Whisperer. When he was 'communicating with the stone' in the Smoke Quartz Cave, he suddenly fell into madness. After growing a finger on each hand, he rushed out violently, in order not to affect the order of the city. , Your Excellency the Stone Whisperer told me to bring him back."

"as long as you are happy."

The gray dwarf captain touched the wound on his bald head, replied impatiently, and said angrily, "I will report today's incident to the King of the Deep, you stupid big stone people, let's go Just wait and see."

After speaking, the gray dwarf captain took the spear and led his men away.

"My friend, thank you for your help and saved my friend's life. His Excellency Stone Whisperer already knows what happened yesterday."

The newly-appeared Stone Giant carried his unconscious companion on his shoulders, looked at the two of Brian with apologetic faces, and said sincerely:
"Under the influence of the devil's curse, Lewood has acted rudely. For this, I sincerely apologize. At the same time, His Excellency the Stone Whisperer sincerely invites you to visit the Smoky Crystal Cave, and is willing to guide you to the 'Land of Dreams'." the way of the land."

"Then trouble Your Excellency, lead the way." Brian nodded and followed the stone giant's footsteps.

(End of this chapter)