In some ways, the subterranean Halflings are the most difficult adversaries of the underworld.

Their lives are always full of cunning, and they do things exactly as they please, leaving no

rhyme or reason to be found. It is not because you follow the rules that you can avoid the evil

hands they will play behind your back.

You are safe as long as you are of use to the Drow dark Elves and do not stand in the way of

some clan's gain; You are safe when you can bring in the precious minerals the dwarves love

most, buy their goods and bring them a good profit. You are safe when you are a fool or

possess secrets that the brain suckers desperately want to know. When you have sharp claws

and a strong shell, then you are safe even when you walk in the lair of the clawed.

But you never know how to be safe walking among subterranean halflings.

So even though there was a caravan to go with, Vincent was still worried. Mark sat next to

him. In all the years he had lived in the gnome cave, he had heard a lot about the race. They

weren't always as lively and kind as the halflings on the surface; They do have an amazing

curiosity, but this curiosity is interested in how to destroy the opponent.

So Mark, too, watched warily as the boss of the underground Halfling caravan hung his highspeed crossbow at hand.

Hardy, who knew almost nothing about the underground world, had a good time talking to

the caravan mercenaries. From those who traveled here and there, there were always

interesting stories to be heard -- though most of them were false -- and Hardy did not try

to tell whether they were true, he just wanted to hear them for fun.

Sometimes Vincent wondered to himself where Hardy had come from. When we first met, he

knew the location of the Ridge Mountains and seemed to know it well, far from his "home"

and almost a continent in between. Then he would have had a good idea of Blasares. But

from what he came to show, he had little idea of this "world" : no idea of the dangers of the

Underdark, no idea of the habits of dwarves and halflings, no idea of the various countries on

the continent; But he knew about magicians, he knew about dragons in the sky.

This, combined with the poor common language he used at first, made Vincent suspect that

Hardy had come from another world.

"Well, did you hear about the battle on Earth recently? Moonport City has been breached,

you know!" A young mercenary was bragging to Dero about his "extensive knowledge," as

proudly as if he had taken part in the battle.

"You know, Moonport is the strongest castle north of Holy Greafury, and it is incredible that

it should be taken by giants in a single day. I don't know if the giants are too strong or the

humans on the ground are too weak..."

'What are the giants doing now? Vincent, who was sitting on the lizard's back, suddenly

interjected, making Mark jump next to him.

"Oh... Oh that. The giants should still be in Luna Harbor right now, not out. I suppose they'll

be on the move after this winter." The young mercenary laughed. "It looks like chaos, but it's

a chance for us to make a lot of money. The more chaos there is, the more chance there is!

Boys, how about we go to the surface after this trip?"

Vincent uses his insight to see what is going on behind him without looking back. Looking at

the twisted smiles of the mercenaries, he suddenly felt an unspeakable nausea. Those who

expected chaos to make war money really put him in a bad mood. On the other hand, the

giants did not wreak havoc on the ground, did not raid the villages, but retreated in the Moon

Harbor city, but could greatly reduce the damage inflicted on the holy Greafury.

They just don't know what happened to their companions.

The Halfling leader walks over. After a few days of getting to know him, his name is RielLizard Thorn, and he is a frequent reseller of goods between the Grey Dwarf city of Bribando

and the Dark Elf City of Prudence. Due to the recent attack on the mines of the Grey Dwarves,

he has had to travel a great distance to obtain goods to sell to the Dark Elf cities to sustain

his business. Little did he know that Vincent was the wizard who had solved the mine problem.

Lil walked up to Vincent's mount, his short stature completely obscured by the huge cargo

lizard, and only his voice came up.

"Are you going into Prudence City, Sir, or are you just passing through?"

Vincent frowned, not understanding the halfling's purpose in inquiring: "What does it matter?"

"Well, it doesn't matter if you're just passing through. But if you come into the city, you will

be sold as slaves or killed as spies if you are not marked. '

"So what do you suggest, Lille?" Vincent had heard rumors of this, too, and it seemed that

the Dark Elf City up ahead would be more strictly checked than the other places.

"Well, I happen to have three forms of identification here, and they happen to belong to two

humans and a dwarf. They were all killed on the previous shipment. It's really sad." Vincent

looked through his perspective at the halfling, who was pretending to be weeping, and made

no sign of it.

"Oh, that's right," he said. The Halfling, seeing that his "patron" had said nothing, quickly

changed the subject, "I can give you these three ids, but we had a lot of trouble when we got

them. So..." Leal paused, as if considering exactly what price would be appropriate.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"How about a cargo of three lizards? You can't keep any of your cargo without identification.

I'm only saying this for your own good." The Halfling waited for Vincent's reply, but for a

moment there was nothing. "Sir, most of your goods are just supplies, but the three lizards

are worth something..."

Vincent thought for a moment, and with a wave of his right hand, Lil was lifted up by a floating

dish created by the wizard out of thin air. The subterranean halfling hurriedly grabs the belt

on the back of the cargo lizard and lies down beside Vincent. What he really didn't expect

was that this man, who had always been quiet, turned out to be a mage.

"You can have the three lizards, but I want you to answer some questions." Vincent took a

few diamonds from his bag, spread them in his hand, and put them in front of Lil's eyes. "For

every two questions you answer, I will give you a stone."

The halfling's eyes listened to the glowing diamonds, nodding his head as fast as he could.

"What's so interesting about Prudence City?

"It has one of the finest bazaars in the Underdark, where you can buy almost anything you

want..." Looking at the mages in front of him who seemed uninterested in this kind of trade,

Riel changed the subject immediately. "There is also a magical academy there, yes, the most

famous magical academy in the underworld, and they are said to have fought with the mages'

guild on the surface and ended up on a 50/50 basis. The most famous of the schools is their

Black Crystal Tower, which is the heart of the city of Prudence."

Vincent placed a small diamond in Lille's hand. The halfling asks puzzled, "I just answered a

question?"

"Because you answered it well." Vincent picked up another diamond and made him dance it

between his fingers. "Tell me more about the Black Crystal Tower." In any case, they had found

enough jewels in the ice tower to know their potential opponents in advance and to prepare

for them, which was worth far more than a few diamonds.

'Yes, yes, generous Sir. There is a story about the Black Crystal Tower... '

The Black Crystal Tower was built together when this dark elf city was founded. When the

whole land was in war, they moved here and built this great tower of magical power.

According to legend, it was built to ward off the demons of hell, and inside the tower, all kinds

of magic -- both divine and arcane -- would become more powerful than ever. Relying on

this tower, the dark elves have successfully driven off countless enemies and become the

overlords of this place.

But the story of the Black Crystal Tower is far from simple -- it is a master tower after all,

which is enough to become a reason for various families to fight over it and trigger countless

civil wars.

There was once a powerful Dark Elf mage -- his name is not recorded in any Drow books --

who was the tower's last owner. At first he was a Drow commoner, that is, he was better off

than the slaves, but he was nothing before the lords, he had no status.

But his sense of magic was superior to all others. It is said that he makes many of his own

magical objects and powerful war golem (Vincent frowns, remembering that the third ancient

magic scroll records the making of the golem). For a long time, the nobles of his family treated

him with indifference and contempt, and the female dark elves were always a head above the

male ones -- even if they were far less powerful than some of the men.

Finally, something stirred the Drow wizard to challenge the dark elf's maternal power. The

entire city of Prudence is at war. But he was in the wrong mind to think that the male Drow

would side with him against the supposed tyranny. So when the entire city of dark elves turned

on him, he became disillusioned and mad.

By the power of magic, the whole city of Prudence was almost completely cleansed of the old

aristocracy. Hundreds of Drow priests were killed, several families uprooted, and countless

slaves and common warriors were slaughtered. He stood at the top of the Black Crystal Tower,

laughing at the city beneath him, and the Drow beneath the tower. Now, in his eyes, they

were like ants.

But he died in the Black Crystal Tower. No one knows exactly how he was killed, but most of

the Drow believe they took it upon themselves to destroy the heresy after acquiring the spider

God.

After this incident, however, the Drow family became more careful about the cultivation of

mages, and male mages did not rank as low as the rest of their countrymen. This history, er,

or legend, was not written down and was slowly lost in the course of history.

As for the black Crystal Tower, it's still working, providing a steady stream of magical power

to the city. But any fellow who claimed to be the master of that sorcerer's tower, without

exception, disappeared...

Vincent put a diamond into Lil's hand, "The three lizards are yours. Come and get the rest of

the stones when I call you."

"That's a good story, but give me the stones..."

At the head of the line came a voice that Vincent knew well. Just ahead, in the path, lay the

bodies of nearly ten petrified lizards, all of them decapitated. A silver-haired, white-skinned

young woman with a long red sword stood over the dead lizards, grinning at the oncoming

caravan.

"Shelley, it was you..."