Book 8: Chapter 42: Kelly’s Adventure |
Publish Time: 2026-06-13 09:23:16
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“The ice wall to the east here probably used to be the skylight of the furnace area!”
“Hmm, it does look quite similar. So, are the extensive tunnels above the furnace area chimneys?”
“Only part of them, I think. Most of the others were likely passages for transporting ore inside the mountain.”
Milleras and Qin Lun discussed quietly nearby. In just over ten minutes, the group had fully explored the entire furnace area. This furnace area of Ironstar Fortress had passages both in front and behind. Due to its vast size, after their exploration, they realized the furnace area was actually a curved zone.
Apart from the twelve giant furnaces that had turned to stone and that broken stone tablet, all other man-made objects here were heavily weathered and had long lost their original shapes. No wonder the ground was covered in a thick layer of dust, leaving clear footprints with every light step.
“Huh, this is…” After about half an hour, Kelly finally appeared at the tunnel entrance where Qin Lun and the others had emerged.
“So, there’s a Dwarf castle here?” Robin and Stark exchanged surprised glances. This was truly an unexpected turn of events.
“Qin Lun, this place isn’t exactly safe. The tunnel we came through has signs left by some giant creature. Should we keep exploring?” Stark’s voice held some hesitation as he spoke softly in the Team Channel.
“What we Apostles do is never without danger!” Qin Lun replied with a smile. “Right now, what your Fortress Team lacks the most is Contribution Points. And among the extra rewards from World Exploration Degree, Contribution Points are usually quite plentiful.”
“Most giant creatures are at the top of the food chain and usually don’t live in groups. Compared to an attack by the Zhentarim, wouldn’t an unknown giant creature here be easier to deal with? Besides, if the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. As long as this creature isn’t intelligent, even if it’s at the Legendary level, I believe a tough woman like Kelly can handle it.”
“That’s true. So, you mean we should explore this Ironstar Fortress?” Stark nodded.
“Ruins, treasure, adventure…” Before Robin and Stark, the leaders of their respective Fortress teams, could reach a final decision, Kelly—who had just learned the whole story from Milleras—was already hopping around like a child who had gotten her favorite toy, her eyes turning starry.
“We have to go now whether we want to or not!” Robin, who knew Kelly’s temperament well, covered her face in frustration.
“Ahem, you guys, after being mercenaries for so long, have you lost all your curiosity?” Kelly pretended to cough lightly, put her hands on her hips, and scolded the Apostles. “This is ruins, ruins, you get it? There’s treasure! Aren’t we mercenaries fighting tooth and nail all for treasure?”
“If we can find some precious antique items here and make a big haul, maybe we won’t even need to do any more hiring missions. Who cares about some damn Elf Prince!” Kelly waved her hand grandly, like a female general commanding thousands of troops.
“Hey, we’re standing right here, you know?” Milleras and a few Elven Rangers immediately had dark lines over their heads.
The Apostles, however, felt stirred by her words. Kelly was right. Setting aside World Exploration Degree, Dwarves themselves were the finest craftsmen. Even though items from thousands of years ago were unlikely to have survived, if they did find something, it was bound to be valuable.
“Let’s go, let’s go… Kelly’s Adventure starts now…”
A short while later, Kelly held up a newly lit torch and marched boldly toward the dark passage on the right side of the furnace area.
“Firal, why choose the right side and not the left? Isn’t there still a stone tablet on the left?” Iristin tugged at Qin Lun’s sleeve and asked softly.
“Either way works. Look at the terrain here!” Qin Lun patted the back of her hand and explained with a smile. “The entire furnace area is a curved zone. Both sides have passages that seem to lead to different areas. But if you think carefully, if the passages on both sides are also curved, what would happen?”
“You mean this area is a ring, and the two passages will eventually meet?” Iristin’s eyes lit up as she immediately grasped the idea.
“Exactly. It’s certain that the two passages will converge eventually. We just don’t know where along the way there might be passages leading to other areas.” Qin Lun nodded, a faint smile appearing as he watched Kelly at the front of the group.
Through Kelly’s behavior, Qin Lun found himself understanding this Female Martial Artist a bit better. After Fortress and Lost merged, Kelly had been rather quiet, rarely interfering with team matters and leaving everything to Robin to handle.
Qin Lun had initially thought Kelly wasn’t good at leading a team. But now it seemed she was just lazy. Perhaps this was her true nature.
The torches in the group lit up the passage ahead in a reddish glow. Elongated shadows flickered in the dim corridor, slowly creating a eerie and terrifying atmosphere.
However, Qin Lun keenly noticed that Milleras, Iristin, and the other story Elves remained perfectly calm, not feeling uncomfortable at all. On second thought, he understood. Whether it was Cormanthor Forest or Qiongda’er Forest, both were vast, sky-blocking forests. The Elves had probably long grown accustomed to such dim and eerie environments.
To them, this might just be another stone forest.
The ventilation in the tunnels built by the Sannata Dwarves thousands of years ago was still remarkably good. Although it was chilly inside the passage, the air was dry, much like a long-abandoned cellar.
The group moved at a slow pace, mainly because the torches could only illuminate a limited distance. Everyone looked around the passage with curiosity. If it hadn’t been confirmed that this was Ogrémoch’s “Ironstar Fortress,” no one would have believed this tunnel was built by Dwarves.
The reason was that this passage was simply too large. Even a Titan Giant standing in it might find it overly spacious.
The furnace area was over fifty meters high and covered tens of thousands of square meters, which could be explained by the need to house giant furnaces. But this passage, over thirty meters high and more than twenty meters wide, really didn’t seem built for Dwarves.
The stone walls of the passage weren’t carved directly from the mountain. From the neat seams, it was clear the entire passage was built from massive stone blocks, making the structure extremely sturdy.
There were no decorations on the stone walls, not even a single carving. In the darkness, the sound of their footsteps echoed, stretching deep into the passage. Walking through this huge corridor that no one had trod for thousands of years, a sense of ancientness and timelessness slowly grew in everyone’s hearts.
“Huh, there’s a fork here?” Just as everyone was immersed in this unusual mood, Kelly at the front of the group stopped.
The now eighteen-member team all crowded around Kelly, curiously looking ahead. Fortunately, the passage was so wide that all eighteen people standing together didn’t feel cramped at all.
The fork that stumped Kelly had three paths. Besides the one that might connect to the left passage from the furnace area, there were two more side-by-side forks.
To Kelly’s left, a slightly narrower passage slanted downward, seemingly leading underground. Another to her right spiraled upward at a thirty-degree angle, apparently heading to the upper levels of Ironstar Fortress.
“Milleras, since you recognized this Ironstar Fortress, you must know something about it. Which passage do you think we should take?” Kelly turned to look at the Sun Elf Prince and asked seriously.
“Well…” Milleras frowned slightly. He had seen records about Ironstar Fortress in the Cormanthor Elven Court, but those ancient books didn’t include any maps of the Dwarf castle.
“I suggest we take the upper passage!” Right then, a clear voice came from the group.
“It’s him!” Kelly looked back and saw Qin Lun smiling and nodding at her. A spark of interest appeared in her eyes. “Prince Firal, would you care to explain why?”
“Of course!” Qin Lun gave a slight bow and said calmly, “I once read in an ancient text that the Alamir Mountains were an active volcano ten thousand years ago. The Dwarves built Ironstar Fortress here to use the underground fire for smelting ore.”
“Given that, to make better use of the underground fire resources, the Dwarves would have built the furnace area at the lowest level of the castle. The living quarters and meeting places must be on the upper levels. Below the furnace area can only be the slag and waste area after smelting.”
“An active volcano?” Kelly turned to look at Robin.
“Probably right. The Rogues in our team checked those giant furnaces. Although they were blocked, it’s certain there’s a pipe leading straight underground beneath the furnaces, probably the underground fire vein the Moon Elf Prince mentioned.” Robin quickly replied in the Lost Team Channel.
“Hmm!” Kelly shrugged indifferently and led the way into the upward-sloping passage.
“Kelly, is something wrong?” Robin, who knew Kelly extremely well, watched her actions and suddenly asked in the Team Channel.
“It’s interesting! The moment he speaks, you don’t even feel like arguing and naturally believe his judgment.” Kelly chuckled in the Team Channel. “Robin, don’t you think this Prince Firal gives us a familiar feeling?”
“Now that you mention it… Vice-Leader Morning Star?” Robin raised her beautiful willow-leaf eyebrows slightly.
“Hehe, right, it’s that brat Morning Star!” Kelly’s eyes gleamed sharply as she said calmly, “Of course, this Moon Elf Prince can’t be Morning Star. But I feel like there’s someone else he reminds me of, though I can’t quite recall who at the moment…”
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