The last gate to visit, dubbed the Night Forest by Seth, in his mind. Beyond the gate, they could see a view of big trees trapped in eternal twilight. At least they had yet to witness the sun rising on the other side of the hell gate.
Depending on how Monique’s mission at the surface of Cave World would go, this was actually their last and most promising chance to strike a deal with a group of demons of the abyss. Of course, the question had come up of how could there be crops growing in perpetual darkness?
To that, the resounding answer was: If there is a forest growing in perpetual darkness, it’s not that weird for there to be crops growing under the same conditions, right? With that in mind, the two stepped through the gate.
After passing the gate, the two walked for a while through the calm forest, that was covered by the crown of the Guardian Tree sapling, that hung far above them in the sky. Obviously, they wouldn’t be able to meet anyone in the area of the tree.
The forest was bigger than an average one, but not gigantic. Trees of up to 50 or 60 meters tall, with ink-black leaves were swaying in a gentle breeze. Their crowns were rustling in the wind. Seth, who was a known opponent of going into the forest since his various experiences, had to admit that the scene was quite serene.
"This is kind of refreshing," the blacksmith commented when a cool breeze touched his face. The twilight was not dark, but rather the kind of calm, dim blue just after the sun vanished over the horizon. Stars and three moons could be seen in the sky above, reminding him that this was not Urth.
At first, Seth had suspected that this place may be the territory of shades, the same kinds of demons that had put a spell of darkness over part of the demon district in Delta. But this all seemed too natural and coherent, to be compared to the demonic spell in Delta.
"Hmm, yeah, if we were alone, I would be in the mood for a picnic and camping out," the sorceress agreed with him, hinting at the group of people hiding in the trees, surrounding the gate. Seth had already seen them as silhouettes thanks to <Life Detection>, but he thought they might feel awkward if he simply called them out.
"Al, you can’t just call them out like that. You should have allowed them to reveal themselves when they are ready," the bard reminded her jokingly, feeling slightly nervous about the morning after if he actually decided to stay the night out with the spicy sorceress. He was as intrigued as he was scared.
Despite the bard advocating in their favor, they didn’t reveal themselves or step out of the bushes. Were they pretending that they didn’t hear the conversation or were they just shy? Were they really too embarrassed to show themselves now, after they were found out?
"Ermm, could we speak to your leader or something? We come in peace, I guess?" the tower Master was not too sure himself. Considering what they did in other abyss worlds, they may not consider them peaceful, but their reception in those places was the blame for that.
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They waited for a moment before a figure stepped out from the shadow of the trees. Well, they still stood mostly in the darkness, not that it could bother Seth, who was able to see clearly with <Night Vision>. Explore more at freewebnovel
Now he was sure that these were not shades. The figure standing in the shadows looked very human, except for the pointy ears. Seth identified him as a night elf, wearing tight leather armor and a dark gray cloak.
The blacksmith had only heard of Night Elfs so far. Unlike Dark Elfs who were actually related to elfs, Night Elfs were a race of demons that only looked like elfs. What differentiated them was their ashen gray skin color. This one’s high cheekbones and the gem crafted to the skin on his forehead made him look even more exotic.
"Humans." The figure spoke with a deep, bass voice and paused for a moment. "Are you from Chrona or Spatia? What do the empires want from the Abyss?" they asked. Seth was a little confused because he said it as if there was no other option for their origin but one of the two big empires.
"We aren’t from either. What makes you think we are from Chrona or Spatia?" the bard asked a little confused.
"You dare to lie after using their technology?" he asked, holding up a broken golem eye. "...and who else would be able to use such a monstrosity to block our hell gate," he added and pointed at the giant tree towering some distance behind Seth and Al., the hell gate in question, embedded in the trunk of the sapling like a decorative jewel.
"it’s not their technology! That’s an original product!" Seth argued indignantly. Sure he had copied the overall design. Maybe he had also stolen most of the magic circuits meant for communication and information transmission, BUT it was controlled by Seth’s much better golem ego. So it was way better than the totally separate developments of Chrona or Spatia.
The elf halted momentarily. The bard cleared his throat when he realized that this was going the wrong way. This was their last chance to enter negotiations with the demons of the Abyss and these guys actually had the potential to own stuff they would want to trade.
"I am the Tower Master of Minas Mar and this is Al’Zalsar. We came to see if the demons of the Abyss were open to trade," Seth said poised in demon language, using the <Voice of Seth> to have his intentions understood.
He craftily didn’t mention his own name, because names happened to have power in the hands of demons. There was magic and curses that could be cast knowing the name of the target. he mentioned Al’s name because... let’s be honest, he was looking forward to someone shooting himself in the foot, trying to curse the legendary sorceress with a passion for revenge.
Unexpectedly, the silence in the forest suddenly became palpable. Was it that weird of an objective to approach demons for trade? They stayed in awkward silence as the Night Elf tried to formulate an answer. When Seth was about to say something, the demon finally spoke up.
"Follow me, our leader wishes to meet you," he said emotionlessly. They followed the demon, while the figures hidden in the surrounding brush followed, keeping them carefully surrounded by roughly 50 people.
They didn’t go very far. They walked at normal speed for about 30 minutes. The elf who had revealed himself led them through the dense forest until, in a small clearing, a structure came into view.
It was a small metal pavilion in the middle of the forest. Seth thought it looked a little like a big vintage elevator, and he was quickly proven right when the elf ushered them into the pavilion and closed the doors.
Once Seth, Al and the elf entered the pavilion descended underground, with a quick rumble. Hidden below the moist forest earth was a shaft of polished marble, that was revealed as they traveled along on their way down.
Although it looked vintage, the smooth operation suggested it was magical. The elf that was with them stayed silent, as he had been on the way here, Seth even started yearning for the stupid elevator melody to break the silence.
On the other hand, he was glad that things proceeded quickly. Unlike the previous worlds, where demons still dwelt, it seemed that the demon had yet to move the birthing pools far away. On the contrary, they had even stayed around to observe the tree.
With a ting, the elevator came to a halt a few minutes after their descent began. The doors slid to the sides with a rattle and gave a view of a clean marble corridor.
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"This way," the elf said and led the way again.