July 1st, year 024 Angels Descent
The class, with their teacher in tow, were currently on their way to Vulcan’s Forge. The portal transit had dropped them off on the outskirts of a small town on the very edge of the border to Wrath’s domain. A little place named Last Stop. Where they had hopped onto a passenger carriage to take them the rest of the way to their destination.
“Sir…” Bea began before trailing off as she watched the countryside roll by.
“Hmm?”
“I get that the gates have to be hidden… but why is this one so far away?” Alex looked contemplative for a moment before he responded.
“Because it’s the stolen hills, of course.”
“That doesn’t answer the question. There’s a lot more land between Last Stop and the entrance to Vulcan’s Forge, so why not any closer? If we’re being technical, it’s still with Lust’s domain.”
“Ah, I get what you mean now… the answer, though will still be the same.” The class let out a collective sigh of exasperation at their teacher's answer. Only Gunter seemed to be nodding in agreement with his answer. Seeing this, Alex clapped his hands together to get their attention.
“Ok then, let’s cover this. No time like the present for a history lesson. Now the empire was truly established in its current form after the Great Black Dragon was defeated.”
The class all nodded, as this was common knowledge. Every child born and raised on the Dark Continent knew that the Shadow Empire was fully established after the fall of the terrible dragon.
“Well, in celebration, the Seven Sinful Lords and the Dark Lord Hades himself unified in many great works. One was the Lucid Treasure, a flying ship.”
“I always wanted to see it,” Tasha happily replied.
“Another was the great palace built using the bones of the great dragon. The last great work that combined all the efforts of those founders was the gates.”
“So they built the gates near the end of Hades' reign?” Bea asked.
“Yes, and when he ascended, Yuu’s grandfather took his place.”
“Dark Lord Octoroisis.”
“Yep, he had the hardest time of all the founders.”
“How so? He was the greatest craftsman that ever lived.” Kline asked.
“Simple, he and his fellow dwarves didn’t have a homeland. They were nomadic, as there wasn’t a mountain range for them to settle.”
“But there is?!” Maxwell pointed out.
“Yes, there was one, but it’s infested with dragons. Any homes they tried to make just became dragon palaces. Octoroisis wanted a land his people could live peacefully in.”
“So he settled the Stolen Hills. The fairy tales all speak about him stealing the mountains for his people, right?” Daisy asked, trying to remember what her bedtime stories said.
“Yes, he did exactly that. His first decree as Dark Lord was to demand land from every nation around the world.”
“Pretty bold demand,” Gunter said.
“Very bold indeed; the Dark Continent back then wasn’t as well recognised as the threat it is today. So they dismissed his demands.”
“What did he do?!” Tasha asked, bouncing in her seat, looking like an excited child.
“Well, he walked along the ocean floor to the eastern continent. Using his immense strength, he lifted an entire shelf from the floor and dragged it back to the Dark Continent. Then he slap-banged it right there,” Alex replied, gesturing to the approaching mountain range in the distance.
“Surely it’s apocryphal. Even with immense strength moving an entire mountain range is absurd,” Maxwell said with a chuckle.
“You say that, but it is well recorded that he actually did it. Hell, Elissa, if she could get over her phobia of getting her head underwater, could probably do it. Not to mention Braxis genuinely launched a mountain to the other side of the planet.”
“You mean he actually stole a mountain range?!”
“Well, it is called the Stolen Hills for a reason… Besides, do you know what every nation did after he did this?” The class shook their heads.
“They each sent a cart filled with dirt.”
“Why?”
“He demanded land from every nation. They at first brushed it off as an absurd demand, but seeing a literal mountain range relocated, they responded with the bare minimum. It’s why even now, when a new Dark Lord is crowned, a cart filled with ‘land’ is sent as a gift.”
“It’s especially why Yuu’s gramps is so revered. He went out and gave his people a homeland to live in peace. But it’s also why it’s not connected to the gate network. As the land was slapped on and not naturally part of the land, the leylines the gates use to teleport can’t be linked; thus, Last Stop is the closest it can really be.”
“Impressive,” Maxwell muttered as he looked out towards the mountain range.
“Octoroisis, if all records are to be believed, is a beast of a dwarf. He is the reason why Yuu is so durable.”
“I thought it was because the Big Chief was crafted out of adamantine?” Gunter asked, looking confused.
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“Well, that does help, but there are other children made from the same metal who aren’t as tough. No, it’s because she has Octoroisis in her ancestry. His bloodline gives her such an oomph that we are yet to find a limit to how tough she is. Don’t worry though, me and Yuu will find it one day.”
A thumping came from the driver to let them know they were properly nearing Vulcan's Anvil, the mountain inside which Vulcan’s Forge rested. Poking their heads out the window, all they could see was a mountain with a road leading up to it.
“Doesn’t look all that impressive,” Tasha grumbled.
“Wait till you see the gate, guys,” Gunter assured them, pointing ahead to where they could see a queue to enter.
“I’ve heard it’s a sight to behold,” Alex said as he poked his head out the other window.
“You’ve never been?” Gunter asked, surprised. “I thought for sure you would’ve come here at least once with the Big Chief.”
“You’d think that, but Yuu’s dad very much dislikes me, so I’ve never really been allowed to come here.”
“What did you do?” Daisy asked in an accusatory tone.
“Nothing.” The class all looked at their teacher with clear doubt on their face.
“What? I’m being serious; I have done nothing. He just blames me as the one that corrupted Yuu, is all.”
“And did you?” Daisy pressed.
“No, you have met her. She’s always been her own being. I will admit we are chaotic together, but she was… well, she was Yuu before I even met her. Wrath just conveniently forgets he exiled her as a child long before I ever met her.”
“Guys, we’re at the gate now,” Gunter said, pointing out the window.
Looking out once more, the class and their teacher all looked up in awe. Towering high above them were a pair of statues carved in the likenesses of the first and second Wrath. Standing sentinel against any invaders and defending their people.
“Such masterpieces,” Alex muttered as he looked over the statues like a child on the evening before winter’s gifting.
“Carved from true Luglite,” Gunter explained as he puffed his chest in pride.
“Hard stone to work with, doubly so as it is mana resistant, so it has to be done the old fashioned way,” Gunter explained. If the stories were to be believed, both statues were golems awaiting the need to defend the city.
Passing through the gate into a long tunnel going down at a gentle incline, the class began to notice every ten feet, there was a ring of runes wrapping around the entire tunnel—line after line at perfect separation.
“Sir, are these restriction runes?” Maxwell asked, recognising some of the symbols as they drove past them.
“They are, but they are to stop exiting rather than entry… Angdrast prison had the same kind of runes… how odd, I wonder why they’re here?”
“Chief, they are to stop the theft of unapproved artificer constructs. Anything not approved will destroy itself; all the lines are just to make sure.”
“Destroy constructs?” Kline repeated.
“Yes, there are many inventions that are not permitted to leave Wrath’s mountains.”
“Such as?” Daisy asked.
“You’ll see,” Gunter replied with a knowing smile as he gestured to the light at the end of the tunnel.
The carriage itself pulled out into a massive open cavern. The cavern itself was as bright as if it were outside. Looking up, they could all see the ceiling itself was Manacite which was allowing light from the outside to come in.
In the middle of the cavern were countless buildings, all towering high and the cavern walls were dotted with even more structures. Going off from the centre were four tunnels in various directions. Each tunnel was massive in its own right. Even from this distance, they could see even more structures built into the walls of these tunnels.
“They connect all the towns and cities under the mountain range,” Gunter explained, noticing where their attention was drawn.
“WHAT ARE THOSE?!!!” Tasha asked, pressing her face against the carriage's window.
Looking out the window, the class could see she was pointing to a metal carriage that had smoke puffing out a chimney as it moved free of any animal; to pull it.
“That is a Carmt,” Gunter replied.
“Carmt?” Alex repeated.
“The creator created a steam-powered motor for his carriage and just took the ‘m’ from the motor and shoved it into the word cart.” Gunter looked at the class and his teacher, who had an expression that clearly said, ‘Is that really the best he could do’.
“A lot of people here are bad at naming things,” Gunter explained somewhat defensively.
“Does explain why Yuu sucks at naming things.”
“OH, SWEET MERCIFUL GODS ABOVE!!!!” Daisy cried out as the carriage was suddenly assailed by an overwhelmingly powerful stench. The smell was so strong that Maxwell and Kline, with their enhanced senses, had immediately fainted. The best description the class would’ve given would be if rotten garbage smell had been cooked for several months and had a child with an even worse smell.
“Oh, are those the miner mites?” Alex asked, moving an unconscious Kline out of the way so he could look out the window.
“Miner mites?” Bea asked in a nasal tone around her hand.
“Yuu told me about them; they are large pillbug-like monsters. In one end, they feed raw paydirt and out the other end comes pure metals and an excellent fertiliser.”
“How are you not affected by the smell?!!!” Daisy cried out as all three girls’ eyes began to water.
“I helped spread this onto fields when I was young… almost feels nostalgic. It’s one of the main exports of this place if I remember right,” Gunter nodded to confirm this was the case.
“But yeah, you kids better behave in this city…. See there,” Alex gestured out the window. Following where he was pointing, they were shocked to see men surfacing in waste pits.
“Petty criminals have to remove the lumps of refined ores from the bottom.”
“Aren’t there humane ways to do that?!”
“They use dredging nets in the other pits, but that there is the punishment pit. Yuu told me she spent many a summer in there.” Just as quick as the smell had appeared, it vanished.
“Where’s the stink gone?” Tasha asked as she tried to wipe away the tears from her eyes.
“They have an aroma-trapping field in effect. Our route just took us through it is all,” Gunter explained, gesturing out the window where the still-conscious people in the carriage could see the thin film of what looked like a soap bubble.
“Why didn’t you warn us?” Daisy asked.
“Tradtion,” Gunter replied with a shrug. “Everyone’s first time here, they go through the bubble and learn not to make trouble.”
The carriage continued on through Vulcan’s Forge till it reached the far wall between two tunnels. There, built directly into the wall itself, was Gunter’s family home. It was part workshop and part mansion.
“Gunter, why does the sign say gizmos and mechanised creations? I thought your folks were civil engineers?” Bea asked as she scrambled onto Gunter’s shoulder.
“They are…” Gunter began before lowering his head. “They do lots of engineering like that but only to fund their research.”
“Into what?” Alex asked, his eyes already gleaming.
“Experimental weapons, military vehicles… golem cleaning units with swords stuck to them.”
“I think your folks and me will get along famously.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Gunter muttered under his breath as the class approached the front door while Tasha dragged the still, unconscious werebeast duo behind.