“Blackrock City is the current main city of the Hill Dwarves.” Silulu pointed at a city on the slope ahead.
Lu Ran looked into the distance.
The city had a medieval style, but it didn’t look ancient overall.
He could vaguely see dwarves entering and exiting the city gates.
But there were no traces of humans.
After all, this was still a forbidden zone. Lu Ran and his group were the first humans to set foot here.
Yet Lu Ran felt a bit puzzled.
“Hill Dwarves are a branch of the dwarf race, also called Cavern Dwarves. But why aren’t they in caves, living in a city above ground instead?” Lu Ran asked curiously.
Before coming, Silulu had introduced some information about the Hill Dwarves.
Liu Xinxin had also mentioned some records about Hill Dwarves she’d seen in ancient texts.
Indeed, both sources said Hill Dwarves, also known as Cavern Dwarves, lived in interconnected caverns beneath the hills. This caused their skin to be much fairer than other dwarf branches, and their stature to be even shorter, which facilitated underground activities.
“They used to live underground, yes. But after the world’s datafication, the global landscape and terrain changed dramatically. The Hill Dwarves were forced to leave the underground and establish a main city on the surface. At the same time, they’re planning to try and reclaim their old caverns,” Silulu explained.
After speaking,
She paused thoughtfully and added, “Based on the patterns of your human task system, the quest triggered by your scroll when you go to Blackrock City will most likely also be related to those former caverns. But what the specific quest will be, I couldn’t say.”
So that’s how it was.
Although Lu Ran still didn’t understand why, if they had the ability to build a city after the terrain changed, they didn’t just re-excavate the caverns and return underground?
But Silulu probably only had a partial understanding herself.
After all, she wasn’t a nature elf, but a degenerated dark elf.
Furthermore.
Even for nature elves, after the world’s datafication, their covenant with the dwarves had become virtually void, and their connection wasn’t close.
Moreover, the Hill Dwarves’ main city was located in the human world, yet the nature elves existed as an independent instance, which also struck Lu Ran as somewhat strange.
“Then let’s go check out the main city first.” Lu Ran said thoughtfully.
After that,
They headed towards Blackrock City.
The moment they reached the city gates.
Ding!
[Quest triggered, please check promptly!]
Lu Ran was startled.
It triggered just like that?
He had originally thought he’d need to enter Blackrock City, or meet the Dwarf Clan Leader or something, to trigger the quest.
He hadn’t expected it to trigger just by approaching Blackrock City.
He stopped in his tracks, took out the scroll, and looked at it.
The scroll had now shed its original weathered and worn appearance; light flowed across its surface, and the map was clearer.
At the same time,
A new quest appeared in the quest system: [The Continuation of the Eternal Flame]
[Quest: The Continuation of the Eternal Flame (Part 1)]
[Objective: Meet the Dwarf King and gain his approval]
[Reward: 5 million experience!]
Lu Ran’s brow furrowed.
The reward was only five million experience?
Although that wasn’t a small amount, considering the danger of venturing into a forbidden zone, five million experience felt a bit meager.
But then he immediately understood.
The quest had “Part 1” written after it, indicating this was a series of quests, not a standalone one.
The current objective was simply to meet the Dwarf King and gain his approval.
That seemed simple enough.
Just meeting the Dwarf King for five million experience was actually pretty good.
Next, Lu Ran told Liu Xinxin and the others about the quest.
“Then it should definitely be a series quest. See, a scroll that lets you go deep into a forbidden zone isn’t ordinary stuff. The rewards for series quests get progressively better, and the total rewards are incredibly generous. Lu Ran, you’re going to make a killing this time,” Liu Xinxin said enviously.
At that moment,
Outside the East Gate of Blackrock City.
The dwarves coming and going all stopped, curiously staring at Lu Ran and his companions.
Among them, you could clearly see dwarf warriors, mages, and other common occupations.
There were also some dwarf merchants, ordinary residents, and the like.
Their height was indeed shorter than regular dwarves.
The tallest didn’t reach Lu Ran’s thigh, and the shortest only came up to his knee.
Taking it all in at a glance felt very strange, as if he had become a giant.
But dwarves weren’t simply humans scaled down proportionally. They had large heads, mature facial features, and short but very thick limbs.
Especially those dwarf berserkers. Although they looked short, they were covered in muscle. One look and you could feel the explosive power contained within!
“These are all dwarves. Most of them are dwarves from after the world’s datafication who have never encountered humans, so they’re very curious, but they mean no harm. Dwarves themselves aren’t warlike. They don’t have close ties with humans, but they don’t hold hostility either,” Silulu explained.
Lu Ran nodded.
But then he suddenly noticed some creatures in the dwarf crowd with green skin and pointed ears, looking like goblins.
Puzzled, he asked, “Are those also dwarves? They look a bit different.”
Silulu shook her head and said, “No, those are goblins. Goblins circulate among all the races, with many merchants among them. Goblin merchant guilds are spread all over the world and have significant influence. There used to be goblin merchant guilds in human territories too. It’s just that after the datafication, you new humans have new main cities, so the goblin guilds haven’t established a presence yet.”
Silulu seemed very knowledgeable about this.
She could answer all of Lu Ran’s questions.
And she was right.
The dwarves didn’t have deep friendships with humans, but they didn’t harbor hostility either.
When Lu Ran and his group entered the city gates, the guards just glanced at them and then ignored them.
The only issue was the group of curious dwarves following them, which made Lu Ran and the others feel a bit awkward, like monkeys being gawked at.
The style inside Blackrock City was very different from human architecture. It wasn’t orderly, and it wasn’t low either; in fact, it was quite tall, with a complex and intricate network of roads.
Lu Ran and his group had no specific target, and didn’t even know where to find the Dwarf King.
They also didn’t know where the Dwarf King’s palace was located in Blackrock City.
“Such short stature, yet their buildings are even more majestic and tall than human ones. It’s just that the roads are rugged, winding, and way too chaotic,” Lu Ran muttered.
Constantly going uphill, downhill, through tunnels, with roads crisscrossing and layered on top of each other.
It was an absolute mess, completely do whatever you want!
“Dwarves are skilled at forging, but not at architecture. They build however is convenient. But the sturdiness of the buildings is definitely not a problem,” Silulu remarked casually.
“What do we do now? Where do we find the Dwarf King? Silulu, do you know?” Lu Ran asked.
This time, the usually all-knowing Silulu also shook her head.
She said, “I don’t know. I only know that Blackrock City was built later by the Hill Dwarves. I’ve never been here before.”
But just then,
Suddenly, a dwarf girl carrying a large hammer appeared in front of them, blocking their path.
She stared at Lu Ran and the others for a while, then called out, “Human friends, what are you here for in Blackrock City? Need any help? We can negotiate the price!”
