Chapter 627
-626 Tolin's Dawn
Chapter 627, Section 626: Torin's Dawn
This is quite different from what Master Marco envisioned: a few tribes that had barely managed to come together, haphazardly piling up rough stones and frozen soil and ice blocks, and then shamelessly calling themselves city fortresses.
The group was still several miles away when, during a brief lull in the snow, Master Marco's gaze caught sight of a prominent peak on the horizon. After squinting and examining it closely, Master Marco determined that it was the tip of a tall tower.
Marco was not one of those blacksmith apprentices who only stayed in their master's workshop and had never seen the world.
In his early years, he had also traveled to the border fortresses of human kingdoms, seen the outposts of the elves hidden in the forests, and even helped maintain those ancient and complex defense systems in the dwarven capital.
He recognized it almost immediately as a magic tower.
Moreover, it shouldn't be a standalone magic tower, otherwise there would be no need to build it so tall.
The group continued to follow the guide, chugging along, and after passing a strange forest of petrified mushrooms, the peculiar city that Pollock called Fungus Castle was finally revealed in its entirety before them.
Just as Marco had guessed when he saw the tower, it was indeed not a single magic tower, but the core tower of an entire array of magic towers.
However, Marco no longer had time to marvel at seeing the array of magic towers in the North. Looking at the fungus castle in front of him, he suddenly wondered, "Is this really the North?"
The silhouette of the mushroom castle in the wind and snow resembled a giant beast crouching on the ice field. The towering walls had obviously been enhanced by magic, and Marco could even see some magical runes engraved on the surface of the walls.
The top of the wall was not a flat walkway, but rather had undulating crenellations and observation platforms, where the figures of sentries in leather armor could be vaguely seen, as well as small groups of soldiers patrolling along fixed routes.
What's rather peculiar is that at intervals along the city wall, there are circular holes of the same size at low positions. Through these holes, one can see round, plump little creatures taking neat, uniform steps, closely following behind the patrolling soldiers.
As you approach the city gate, a cacophony of noise, so out of place in the desolate north, hits you.
Outside the city gates, a long queue had formed. This winding queue itself was the best proof of the city's vitality.
What puzzled Master Marco was that although the procession was long, it moved quite quickly, and the soldiers guarding both sides of the city gate did not seem to conduct tedious checks on those entering the city.
There was no inspection of the goods, no careful verification of identification documents; there was only the occasional brief conversation with someone, or a fleeting glance at someone's belongings.
If there's no need for checks, why make everyone line up in a single file and go through one by one?
There's also a slight discomfort.
Although Pollock had mentioned before that there were many demon residents in Fungus Castle, seeing it with one's own eyes was a completely different experience.
Apart from Pollock himself, the other dwarves, seeing the figures in the group with obvious horns and tails, unconsciously tensed up, their hands quietly reaching for their tools or weapons, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.
Just then, from the direction of the city gate, a stocky, short figure came running towards them, waving his arms vigorously.
As the newcomer's figure gradually became clearer, Master Marco's eyes widened even more.
"Torin?!" He couldn't help but call out the other person's name.
Marco had thought it would take a lot of effort to find out about the target, but now she appeared right in front of them, looking so fresh and beautiful!
He couldn't help but think that they could complete their mission by simply taking Torin away without even having to risk entering the city.
However, looking at the mushroom castle in front of him, Marco was less inclined to leave immediately.
The grandeur of the mushroom castle exceeded his expectations. Could the enormous forge that Pollock had described along the way, and even the war puppet technology that Thorin had mentioned in his earlier letter, also be true?
Gollum—
Come here.
Having spent so much time on the journey, going in to take a look is just taking a tiny bit more risk... Tolin, on the other side, clearly recognized this blacksmith master who had a close relationship with the Deepforge clan.
"Master Marco?! It really is you?!" Torin, who had been running towards Pollock, turned and stood in front of Master Marco. He grabbed the master's gloved hand and shook it vigorously, his voice trembling with excitement. "You...you came because you received my letter, didn't you? I knew it! I knew not everyone would think I was talking nonsense! I sent so many letters back to all the masters and craftsmen I remembered...only you, Master Marco, only you were willing to believe me and come here in person!"
His tone carried a sense of grievance and emotion that had been suppressed for a long time and was finally being released; tears were almost rolling down his cheeks.
Master Marco, holding his hand, felt the other's genuine excitement, but his gaze wandered away.
He opened his mouth, his throat felt dry, and the words "I have been entrusted by your brother to come and take you back" rolled on his tongue, but he ultimately couldn't say them.
Just then, Pollock coughed heavily and stepped forward: "Torin, Master Marco was invited by me. I had the honor of meeting him at the Blackrock Tavern and gave him a detailed introduction to our Fungus Castle, which is why he decided to come."
Although my relationship with Torin is fairly good, when it comes to a huge amount of contribution points, there's no reason to be modest.
The flush of excitement on Tolin's face faded slightly. He loosened his grip on Master Marco's hand, took a small step back with a dazed look in his eyes, glanced at Pollock, then at Master Marco, and a clear look of disappointment flashed across his face.
But this disappointment only lasted a short while. Regardless of who invited him, it was good that a master could help him!
He stepped forward again, this time grabbing Master Marco's arm with such force that he almost dragged him forward, his tone impatient: "Master, forget about that! Now that you're here, come quickly! Come with me! I'll show you those battle puppets, I guarantee you'll be interested!"
"Really... there really are war puppets?" Marco didn't even notice that his voice was trembling slightly.
"You still doubt this?" Torin asked incredulously. "Fine, come on, you'll understand everything after you see it!"
Torin tried to pull Master Marco into the city, but they were stopped by several dwarf mercenaries.
Marco is drawn to the potential large forge and war puppet technology within Fungus Keep, which these dwarven mercenaries lack.
They just wanted to take Torin back and report, rather than risk continuing to explore this strange city that was mostly inhabited by demons.
"What do you mean?" With his path blocked by the mercenaries, Torin finally realized something was wrong.
The mercenary captain explained, "Young Master Torlin, your family misses you very much. Your elder brother has entrusted us to take you back."
"Big brother? Go back?" Tolin's expression went from confusion to understanding, and finally to full of resistance. "No, I'm not going back. You guys go back and tell my brother that I'm doing very well now."
The dwarven mercenaries exchanged glances, said nothing more, and immediately lifted Torin up.
"What...what are you doing? Let me go! Let me go!" Torin, who only had the strength of a Silver-level cultivator, was completely unable to defend himself.
Marco stood aside, unsure of what to say, while Pollock looked anxious but didn't know what to do.
Pollock had only spent two months in Fungus Castle and wasn't familiar with the place.
Meanwhile, Tolin, who was familiar with the area, had already sounded the alarm in the mushroom net.
The dwarf mercenaries were still trying to get Torin to give up the struggle—because of Torin's status, they dared not use excessive force.
On the other side, a security team had already poured out of the gate of the mushroom castle. More than a dozen security officers in uniform blue uniforms led hundreds of Puji, who rushed towards this side with a "puji puji puji".
……
Master Marco never imagined that his first day at Mushroom Castle would be spent in prison.
(End of this chapter)