July 14, XX17

Dove POV

Swan led us, the Leaders and Vice-Leaders of the top Parties, to a place in the World Map ARF was yet to set foot near. On the far north of Naut City, nearing the edge of the area we can access, we found hills only four or five times a person’s height covering a large area. It was almost a fourth of the size of Naut City.

We scaled the numerous hills towards the center of the hilled area. As we did, the hills grew progressively taller and taller. After half an hour, we arrived near the center of the hilled area. Between the central hills were five chasms leading underground with each a rusty old ladder leading into each chasm. The spaces between each step of the ladder was notably smaller than expected for human use. These chasms were labelled as Safe Zones.

Abandoned Dwarven City of Darmor

Maximum Players: Two on Each Floor

Five Floors, Boss on the Final Floor

Warning: Once entered, no one can leave until the Boss is defeated or all Players in one floor is dead. Each chasm leads to one floor. All floors must be entered to begin the Quest.

“Dwarves?” was my first reaction upon reading the text.

“Obviously, no Player from Naut City has entered the Dungeon yet.”

Hawk approached one of the chasms and swung his sword at the rusty ladder. A digital barrier appeared to block the attack.

As we drew closer, we noticed that some of the rust where definitely stepped on.

“Someone went in.” said Burst stating the obvious.

“But I thought no Player has entered? So, a Character?” asked Blitz.

“Dwarves. At least two judging by the pattern. A human would not take each step on the ladder since a step is too small.” Said Hawk.

Hawk then picked up a rock and threw it into the chasm only to be blocked once again by the digital barrier. “Let’s go.”

We went with our respective Parties and entered all of the holes.

We descended the seemingly endless ladder for minutes before finally arriving at the end.

The fifty feet high underground city was decorated with architectures more beautiful than any seen on Earth. Majestic structures of stone and gems decorated the entire city. Near the ceilings, one could see cable wires with large square containers likely used for transportation. Our inability to see the walls of the city was a testament to its size.

Unlike Goble, all the structure in the city were intact. In fact, not a single sign of damage could be found on anywhere. One thing stood out to me was that none of the structures had any entrances.

“No damage at all. It was abandoned for a non-structure destructive reason.” Said Hawk as we exited the Safe Zone and walked down one of the wide road pavements that were to smooth to be real.

“Assuming every floor has the same height, then we’re on the second deepest floor.”

Without encountering any enemies, we spent a few seconds wandering about when three non-enemy creatures I can only assume to be dwarves ran towards us. The three were pretty much indiscernible from each other aside from the color of their armor. Only half my height, the Dwarves had faces covered almost entirely by the thick curly brown hair. Their bodies were plump but clearly muscular. Even when running, they only matched the pace of a human walking. They were dressed in heavy armor that clanged with each step that they make.

“Finally, we find company in this place.” Stated one of the Dwarves.

“I see. Are they the heroes of legend of that will make this Darmor flourish again?” asked another Dwarf.

“Stop being disrespectful to our potential Allies.” Stated the third Dwarf. “Come this way.” He added. Leading us to one of the structures, he pushed open the door, which was unnoticeable when closed, and led us inside.

With the ceiling only inches away from Hawk’s head, the inside of the structure held the most basic of necessities for survival. Three mattresses, food storage, a fireplace.

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We sat down in a circle as one of the Dwarves began introducing themselves.

“My name in human language would be B0248. I am a Mountain Druid.” Stated the Dwarf with blue armor.

“Mine would be B6001. I am an Axe Thrower.” Stated the Dwarf with yellow armor.

“And mine would be B6555. I am an Axe Wielder.” Stated the Dwarf with green armor.”

“Why numbers?” asked Hawk.

“We are not True Dwarves. We are merely the twelfth-generation clone of the True Dwarves.”

“True Dwarves?” I asked.

“Let’s leave that story for later. For now, we’ll explain your Quest here. We abandoned this city for one reason: it has been by an Earth Wyrm. It is the creature preventing Dwarves from digging to their heart’s desire. We both fear and thank these Earth Wyrms.”

“Dwarves like to dig… Talk about cliché.” Hawk said.

“Yes, we do. We dream nothing except dig further and deeper; we only stop when signs of Earth Wyrms appear. Earth Wyrms are exactly like earthworms except over one hundred feet long and five feet in diameter. Also, they eat the soil and then excrete in back out as healthier soil. They inhabit the undergrounds of Reality and keep the soil healthy. This allows Dwarves to continued digging, as the Earth Wyrms will always make the soil strong enough despite our vast underground networks. Earth Wyrms cannot dig through anything except soil and cannot expose itself in the surface. Dwarven Cities shield the floor, the walls, and the ceiling with stone structures to protect from these creatures. Whenever we explore the underground, we care to note any traces left by Earth Wyrms to not incur their wrath.”

“100 feet long. There’s one here, right? Why haven’t we seen it?” asked Hawk.

“At the center of every Dwarven City is the fifty feet deep Pit of Cloning. The Earth Wyrm rests there during the day. At night, it travels the city.

“So we defeat the Earth Wyrm?” I asked.

“No. That is not possible. Earth Wyrms are, for all practical methods, untouchable with attacks. Only the Fire God has enough force to destroy an Earth Wyrm. While the Water and Wind God can “kill” them, they do it through non-destructive means.”

“Then our Quest is to bring the Earth Wyrm out of the City? How did it get in here in the first place?”

“Yes. It was summoned here by the first Earth Jack, but his story is for another day. In any case, we have created an exit for the Earth Wyrm; however, it refuses to leave.”

“Why?” I asked.

“That we do not know. This is why the Dwarven King ordered us to stand guard here and ask for aid on the upcoming Players.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, a Quest appeared before us.

Earth Wyrm Invasion

Quest: Drive the Earth Wyrm out of the city through any means.

Rewards: Unknown

Players Accepted: 4/8

“Looks like the some were ahead of us.”

Hawk stared at suspiciously at the Dwarves before continuing, “You’re hiding an awful lot of details from your stories, but I sense no ill intent from you. We accept. It’s not as if we had a choice since we’re stuck here.”

“Thank you very much.” Replied B0248.

I went to B0248 and said, “That’s it. I’m calling you Biyo.”

“If that’s your desire, then I am honored.” Replied Biyo.

I then pointed at B6001 and said, “You’re Duo.” Pointing at the last dwarf, I added, “Finally, you’re Trigo.”

“What’s up with nicknames?” asked Hawk.

“Numbers are too hard to remember. Besides, aren’t the names way cuter?”

“Fine. Just next time, be careful in naming creatures, it might be against their culture or something.” Hawk explained.

“Okay~” I replied.

“Thank you very much!” replied Biyo, Duo, and Trigo in unison.

We spent the rest of the day familiarizing ourselves with the layout of the city. Nothing was of note except the Pit of Cloning the dwarves mentioned before.

Its entrance was but another of those unseen when closed doors the dwarves so love. The pit had no ceiling nor floor in sight. It definitely encompassed all the floors in this dungeon. Inside was the Earth Wyrm the dwarves warned us of curled up and immobile. Hawk ran back out soon after and stared puking.

“What’s wrong?” I asked Hawk, patting his back.

“I hate worms. I find them extremely disgusting.” He explained.

“It’s sleeping. Or whatever Earth Wyrm’s equivalent of sleeping is.” Said Trigo.

Hawk, trying to calm himself, replied, “I noticed the staircase on both sides. Are they leading to the other floors?”

“Yes. Travel in-between floors is only possible through the Pit of Cloning.”

“Why? Isn’t that an extremely inefficient city layout?” asked Hawk.

“Dwarven hierarchy reasons. Not all dwarves are allowed access to all floors.”

Once dusk was nearing, the dwarves led us back to their hideout.

“We should avoid roaming around at night. The Earth Wyrms senses vibrations and tracks you down immediately.” Said Biyo.

After taking turns washing ourselves, the dwarves were already fast asleep as I was the last one to wash. They huddled together in one mattress to allow us to use the other two, which was still less than half the size of our bed at Naut City combined together. The building was filled by the loud snoring of the dwarves.

Hawk was sitting on the mattress and leaning on the wall. I sat beside him and he said, “I messaged back home that we would spend the night out. Interestingly, I cannot message the other Players in this Quest.”

“I guess it’s to prevent communication? What do you think? Why isn’t the Earth Wyrm leaving?”

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely in the Pit of Cloning. It’s the only place accessible by the Players in every floor. It makes sense as well. The only time we can go there is when the Earth Wyrm leaves at night, but it is dangerous at that time. Sounds like a Quest to me.”

“I see. We’ll go tomorrow night?”

“Yes. I need to familiarize myself with this city a bit more.”

“Aren’t you good at directions?”

“No. It’s just most man-made locations are created logically. This place is made using Dwarven logic, making it difficult for me to find patterns.”

We fell asleep soon after. Occasionally, the shaking of the ground signaled the passage of the Earth Wyrm nearby.