The world blurred around him, and he found himself floating overtop the volcano. Bright orange light shone from below. A rush of hot air warmed his legs and started drying his damp hair and clothes. The water on his skin practically evaporated from the heat. However, Mash realized that it wasn’t a steady heat. The air around him was rushing upwards as if it were being released. His head swung down, but he didn’t see the lava he expected. There was no molten rock bubbling on the surface. Instead, he saw what looked like sheets of metal. They somewhat overlapped one another but were set at an angle. The hot air was being pushed from between the metal. Now that he was in the light, he could see that it came from within the mountain.

It took a second for his mind to accept what he saw. This was a manmade construction, not some natural volcano. He realized his mistake. In his study of the north, he assumed a mountain city would be built on a mountain. But that was wrong, the city was within the mountain. It was literally a mountain kingdom. He could practically feel the excitement building in his chest. He was already trying to what the metal things were for and slowly dropped from the air.

“Stop!”

Red shouted from above, and Mash halted his descent. He frowned up at her, and just gestured with his hands. He waved them frantically, somehow managing to express every word without saying anything. How are you not following? She rolled her eyes.

“This is not an entrance. Are you planning on sneaking into the kingdom? They would probably assume as to be spies or thieves, and, I would say, justifiably at that.”

The fact that Red didn’t change her tone made the comment worse. There was no doubt that she was right, but Mash still weighed the options in his head. How bad would it be to just enter from here? He let the question dangle, but he was already flying back up to join them. His thoughts were mostly for himself. Even he wouldn’t ignore a reasonable argument when given to him so plainly.

“Fine, let's find the normal entrance.”

Mash sounded like a petulant child, though he made sure to sound sarcastic. They flew down bickering over what the metal thing at the top was. They didn’t really have a good idea, but it was fun to speculate. For his part, his first thought had been to think it was used to collect water. However, Luke pointed out that it was too hot for that. Their skin had dried up from the hot air, and the snow evaporated when it touched the metal. Luke believed it was used to control the temperature within the mountain. Red agreed and explained that the metal could probably be moved to allow more or less hot air out.

Mash could somewhat understand that line of thinking, but something about it still felt wrong. If it was just to adjust for the temperature, then they could’ve set it up differently. Plus, it was made of metal which made him think there had to be more to it. He stared up at it, wishing he had gotten close enough to see if it was enchanted. He almost flew back up, but Red had spotted what looked like a proper entrance. Well, it didn’t actually look like a real entrance, but she spotted a metal door inlaid into one of the walls. It was just embedded into the mountainside, and it was large. Easily as big as any city’s grand entrance. It was entirely made of smooth metal, but it would be hard to spot from a distance.

The metal was white like the snow, and the only thing that made it stand out was its unusual smoothness of it. He wondered if they had missed other doors. Yeah, that was likely. They would have missed this one if not for the night revealing the strange glow at the peak. Even then he had just assumed it to be a volcano. It was all very stealthy, but he didn’t know why. The door was impressive, but it was closed. Ice had started growing along the creases. The door probably hadn’t been opened in a while.

“I don’t think this is the main entrance.”

Luke gazed at the ice and snow that had built up along the bottom. Mash’s head bobbed as he agreed, but he didn’t really want to look for another entrance. It wasn’t that he was cold or tired, he just wanted to explore the city. Although, he began thinking that it might not even be a city. It was certainly a building of some kind, but that didn’t automatically make it a city. Its sneaky design and metal parts made him think that it was a fort. Mash was going to turn around, but Jill teleported beside the door and knocked.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She slammed the door with the side of her fist. It shouldn’t have done much, but her stats made her stronger. Even if she wasn’t as physically imposing as Mash or Luke, she was significantly stronger than most. So, her knocks were loud. It even shook some of the snow free. If it was a fort, then someone would have definitely heard that. Mash had been backing away but stopped and dropped from the sky. He fell and landed in a small explosion of snow beside Jill. he started retracting his wings. It was far more efficient for him to use his transformations than his wooden creations. Although, he knew that a man having the wings of a wyvern wouldn’t exactly come off as friendly or approachable.

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Mash walked up to the door, hoping that his domain would let him peak into the building. It did, but not by as much as he had hoped. He didn’t press himself against the door, but he did get close enough to lay his hands on it. The doors were thick though, and the other side revealed nothing but a long empty hallway. There was nothing living within his domain, but he did notice some magical constructs along the walls. It wasn’t something fancy. Just simple light crystals, he had seen enough to recognize them instantly.

The rest of the hallway was unimpressive. Sone floors with walls that perfectly fit the size of the door. All in all, it was a lot simpler than he had hoped. After seeing those large metal sheets that covered what could’ve been a volcano, he expected more here.

“Well, can you see anyone?”

Jill patted Mash’s shoulder, and he shook his head slightly.

“Nope. Honestly, I don’t even think it’s a city anymore. It might be an abandoned fort or something.”

Jill’s shoulders fell slightly, disappointment flashed across her face. Mash felt much the same. He had been hoping to visit a grand kingdom and meet people.

“We don’t need a city. Considering the heat from earlier, I would assume the building is still somewhat operational. It will be warmer than out here.”

There was no arguing with that, and Red’s logical argument managed to raise Jill’s mood. Mash didn’t really care all that much about the cold, and he could help the others deal with it if it bothered them. Or in Jill’s case, gave up on dealing with it herself. She was adamant in trying to use her spatial manipulation to deal with the cold. It hadn’t worked yet, and he didn’t think she would continue after a day or two. He looked at the pure metal door for a moment longer.

“Well, I guess I can break it.”

Mash stepped forward, speaking as he raised a hand to strike the door. His dragon form could probably smash through any metal.

“Don’t go smashing my door. Who are you pieces-“

Mash flinched a little when he heard a voice creep out from beside the door, but it wasn’t a big motion. He was getting used to people speaking remotely. The voice was rough and deep, but very unclear. It sounded like someone trying to speak with their mouth full, and whoever it was never got to finish their question. Mash’s domain wasn’t enough to reach the edges of the doors, and he swung his head to the right. The voice had come from somewhere there. There was probably a rune or something on the door frame.

Mash noticed Red open her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. Another voice came from the door frame and never gave her the chance.

“I apologize for my companion’s language. He is rather irritated as it is very late, and we had not been informed of anyone coming to access this gate. As you are not permitted for entry, I will need you to identify yourselves, and indicate the reason for your visit to Delhome.”

This voice was nowhere near as difficult to understand, though it felt stiff. It sounded rehearsed. A routine built on a history of identical situations. Although, Mash hoped for their sake that people didn’t come and try and break their doors down. He glanced at the others not exactly sure how to respond. The first introduction that came to mind would stay in his mind.

Hello, I’m Mash and I might bring destruction to your city. But I’m just here to visit though.

Thankfully, Red knew better than he did. She pulled out the silver badge of an adventurer. An item that Mash had but did not carry. He didn’t even know if it would work here. Red spoke as if it mattered though.

“We are adventurers authorized by the guilds. Our team’s name is Conatum. I am Red, and these are my teammates. We are traveling north to meet with a friend and help him. As you mentioned though, it has gotten late, and we were looking for a warm place to rest. We did not know that this was Delhome. In fact, this is our first time in the northern continent.”

Red’s introduction was way better than what Mash had thought of. The mention of the team’s name surprised him. He didn’t know when he last used it. Or even brought it up for that matter. Red used it like she expected them to hear of it, and Mash wondered if anyone would recognize the name.

“Please give me a few minutes to authenticate your claims. Thank you for being cooperative.”

After the hidden man’s succinct reply, they were left with a long pause. A few minutes ended up being an understatement. It took almost half an hour before someone came back to reply. Jill was tempted to just break in, but Red stopped her.

“These things take time. Just think about it. We are four individuals over level 100. They can’t just let people like that into their city.”

Red was on point with her arguments today. She had used solid reasoning all day, and Mash knew that there was no real point in arguing. Jill still did though.

“I don’t care. We have been flying in the cold for hours. Can’t we at least get something hot to eat or drink?”

Red snapped back quickly.

“That was your own fault. I believe you wanted to test your skills and refused to get any help from Mash or Luke. Both of whom could’ve easily dealt with the cold.”

Mash felt the fight building. Jill glared at Red. Her gaze drilled into Red as she replied.

“What’s got you so riled up? Nobody cares for stupid logic. If you want to be an ass to do it to someone else.”

Jill sounded genuinely angry. The space around her seemed to vibrate with her fury, and Mash grew concerned. No that wasn’t it. He was confused. Jill and Red looked like they hated each other, but he had heard them say the same things while laughing. Mash and Luke stared at the two of them and couldn’t decide if they should get involved or not.