Chapter 15: It's Solson
The carriage became brighter, the air was no longer stuffy, and there was even a hint of coolness, and Vane couldn't help but shiver.
Felder and the others were sitting around the window and looking out, chattering while the dwarves were still sitting in their seats making loud noises or drinking beers. The windows were a little low, and several people had to bend down, which looked a little funny.
Elena walked to the window and was about to withdraw her hand, but she didn't expect Vane's hand to suddenly increase her strength. Elena's face flushed, and she glared back at Vane. Vane looked intently out the window, pretending not to know anything, and she had no choice but to give up and let Wayne take her hand.
The train was already on the ground at some point. The sky and the earth are white, and the high and low peaks in the distance stand tall, but without exception they are wearing white coats. The windows were already frozen, and the wind mixed with snowflakes raged outside the window, and the train seemed to be in the middle of a blizzard.
It was only then that Vane understood why the dwarf was so proud to introduce the "Dreadnought" train. Driving smoothly and quickly in this harsh environment and maintaining the temperature inside the car is hard enough. As for styling or something, probably only dwarves will like it.
"Passengers, we are about to reach our destination, Herbertsel Station. At present, the outside temperature of the train is low......"
The train began to slow down noticeably, and the light quickly dimmed. Vane leaned in front of the window and looked up at the straight mountain in front of him, towering into the sky. The train gradually approached the mountain, like an ant crawling into the mouth of a giant beast on its own.
"It's ......" Vain's eyes widened, and the snow-capped mountain in front of him was simply a miracle of nature. The mountains are carved out of snow and ice, and some of the crystal clear ice blocks are covered with snow.
"This is the Frozen Cliff, young man. Below it is the fiery dungeon of Herbercel......" A bespectacled old dwarven man next to him folded the newspaper in his hand and turned his head to speak.
Suddenly, the whole carriage went dark, and the train entered the cave tunnel, leaving only a few lamps that glowed dimly. After entering the tunnel, the surrounding sound was much quieter, and only the faint sound of wind remained.
Soon, the train stopped.
"Let's go!" Elena pulled out her hand and pinched Vane's waist. She laughed with satisfaction when she saw Vane gasp.
The members of the Black Ghost followed the crowd out of the carriage. Herbsel's station is a typical dwarven architectural style, with a large amount of steel and boulders used for both the walls and ceilings, outlining the rough lines.
The temperature outside the train was much lower, and although the Vane and the others were wearing several layers of clothes, they were still shivering with cold. The dwarves looked much more hardy, and some even wore single clothes as if they were still in Casali.
"It's so cold......"
"I'm starting to miss Casali a little bit!"
“......”
The cold made Vane sneeze, and he wrapped himself in his clothes and walked forward with his neck hunched behind the crowd. The dwarves seem to have a penchant for dim light, and there are yellow lights everywhere along the way, and they are not very bright.
The station did not have the imaginary exit, but several lifts were installed on the walls. Vane and the others waited in front of the entrance to a smaller elevator.
The elevator seemed to be in the process of rising, and there was a sound of gear running-in, and from time to time there was a slight collision sound.
"Is that how you go down underground with this thing? Sure enough, the dwarven technology is still hard to trust. Felder rubbed his chin and looked at the entrance, puzzled—a large, closed iron door. As expected, this sentence also attracted several angry glances from the surroundings.
"Boom!" Soon there was the sound of metal clashing through the door, and a light above the iron door began to flicker.
The elevator seemed to have arrived, and after a few seconds of mechanical turning, the iron door shuddered open, making a harsh sound of metal grinding.
Before the door could be fully opened, the dwarves were already pushing each other and squeezing in, and Simpson and Vane and the others followed suit. The elevator was packed with at least twenty or thirty people, and those who didn't squeeze in had to wait outside for the next ride.
The elevator is actually a large iron cage suspended by multiple metal ropes, rough and rudimentary. Not only did it look very unsafe, but it was shaking slightly, making a sound of metal colliding. The sound traveled down the shaft and gradually disappeared into the depths of the shaft, which made people feel creepy. As the iron door closed, there was silence in the iron cage.
After a few minutes, the crowd finally stood in the Herbertsel dungeon, and no one knew what they had experienced in the few minutes of the elevator ride.
"I swear, I never want to come to Herbersel again in my life, at least not by the lift!" Felder gasped and relieved.
"I think it might be a piece of Thorson's entertainment, after all, the dwarves were laughing so much just now......" Vane smiled bitterly as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I think it's funny......" Simpson scratched his head and smiled.
Elena and Ace turned pale, clutching their chests against the wall next to them, casting a disdainful look at Simpson......
The dungeon of Herbersel was like night, and it was almost impossible to tell the real except that there were no stars. As far as the eye can see, the dense lights show the prosperity of the city, and the air is filled with a strong smell of wine.
Vane looked back at the towering wall behind him, judging by the direction he came, it should be the eastern edge of the dungeon, and according to the estimation of the time of the descent, it was about four hundred to five hundred meters above the ground.
In general, Herbertsel's rugged but crowded place is a small semi-circular square that connects the two roads. Houses made of steel and boulders line the road, rugged but imposing, and tall even for humans.
"Do you need carriage service?" said a big-shouldered, round-waisted dwarf who drove a carriage to the group. The dwarf sits in front of the cart with a whip in hand, his thick limbs and thick beard giving him a natural fit with his surroundings.
In front of the carriage were two Beseca ponies, their necks straightened, and they looked at the crowd with their heads held high, as if they were very concerned about their height. The carriage is even more bizarre, it looks like an old-fashioned minecart, and of course the wheels have been modified.
Felder was dumbfounded and gave a comment: "It's very Solson." What he didn't expect was that the phrase would become a buzzword in the Sorson area.
According to the enthusiastic coachman, the group chose an inn close to the city center - the Iron Heart Hotel.
The houses on both sides were densely packed together, and the heavy steel and boulders turned bronze in the dim light. The houses are basically flat-roofed, square or oblate, and as for why, the reason is probably inseparable from iron furnaces and wine barrels.
Even the seats in the bumpy carriage were made of iron, and there were no shock absorption measures, and several people's butts were numb. The ponies struggled to step on their hooves and pull the wagon slowly towards the depths of the dungeon.