"That's not even the half of it." Duncan laughed. "Look down."
Below was the rest of the city. It looked more traditional, aside from the rivers of lava flowing through it, and the fact that it was underground. The tiny figures of people were going about their business in a perfectly calm and normal manner.
"These people are insane." Shiv pulled his shirt off. "It's ridiculously hot outside, but here with literal lava flowing through their city, it's so, so much hotter."
He kicked his new horse forward after the ugly woman, and his group followed him. They followed a switchback path for almost half an hour before reaching the ground floor and being led to the Inn and Tavern district of the city. There, the warriors were settled down and told to relax while keeping an eye out for a change in plans.
The trio agreed to separate, going to the different parts of the fantastic city to gather information and perhaps spy out some weak points that could be taken advantage of.
Blaze wanted to play in one of the lava rivers with her wolf, so Shiv left the tiny Uriel to watch her while he wandered off in the bottom layer of the city.
'This place is inhabited mostly by folks with an earth affinity.' Shiv observed, and raised an eyebrow at the many signs with carts and lanterns painted on them. 'And most of them are miners.' Curious, Shiv entered a tavern that seemed especially busy and took the last free seat at the crowded bar. The men around him were quiet and tired, with dark bags under their eyes. But all of them were muscular and above average in size. Every once in awhile, a round of coughs would be heard from one or more of them, but nobody seemed to find it strange or a cause for alarm.
Aside from all that, they were completely covered in dirt and soot. Shiv felt very out of place with his very clean, uncovered torso, but pretended he didn't. He wasn't the only shirtless thug, at least. Though you couldn't really tell that anyone else was shirtless because of the dirt.
"What crew are you from?" The bartender asked as he placed a mug in front of Shiv, never having asked what he wanted.
Shiv shrugged, then grabbed the mug and took a swig. 'Hopefully my [Celestial Body] helps deal with alcohol, because I have zero tolerance for this stuff.' He thought when he tasted beer. "I'm a foreigner, actually. Just visiting for a few days."
The bartender raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "What are you doing here, then? This ain't exactly a touristy spot of town."
'This stuff is disgusting.' Shiv took another swig. "I'm looking for information. Specifically on how I should go about taking them," he pointed toward the ceiling, "down to our level."
His bold declaration caused the quiet buzz of conversation to disappear over the next few seconds. 'Gosh, I hope these guys aren't loyalists or something.' Shiv took a drink with an outwardly calm expression as he became the center of attention.
The miner sitting next to Shiv turned and poured Shiv some more beer as he posed a question. "What's a foreigner like you care about them nobles up there?"
"I don't care. That's kinda the point. I want them dead." Shiv frowned at the cup, then pushed it away.
"Why do you want em dead?"
"Divine inspiration." Shiv growled. When all he received were confused and dubious looks, he spoke again. "A deity told me to destroy them."
The answer brought a round of chuckles and a few angry glances. The man next to him, however, asked a question. "Was he wearing a, uh… what was it called… a suit? And drinking tea?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?" Shiv asked with a guarded expression.
The miner ignored him, and abruptly stood up and looked around at everyone else in the room.. "It's the Hero! He's sent a successor!" He turned back to Shiv with a look in his eyes that made Shiv wary. "Do you have any special powers? Any blessings from the Hero?"
Shiv wasn't much of a showman, but sensed that whether or not he would gain their help would depend on what he said and did next. Feeling suddenly nervous, he stood up and knelt on the dirty stone ground. "I hope you don't mind, barkeep… I'll make sure to fix it up again afterward." The barkeep nodded, though Shiv didn't see, as he was too focused on the faces of the men in front of him. He focused a fraction of his power and lava appeared, bubbling in the open spots on the ground. Some of it bubbled up into unnaturally clean geysers and the rest made strange patterns in the ground. When Shiv judged the men to be sufficiently amazed, he let the lava sink back into the earth and fixed the cracks they had bubbled out of. "Aside from that, I can summon a storm inside the cavern if you want me to."
The men all shook their heads and looked at him with awe. Shiv smiled. 'I passed their test. Booyah.'
After his little show, the men crowded around him and told him many things about the state of the Underground City.
The bottom level, which he was currently located on, was the place the commoners and poor folk lived. It was also the hottest place in the city, and everyone who lived down there developed a cough before too long, though the miners didn't know why. They just knew that the rich folk and the nobles who lived on the tops of stalagmites and in the sides of the mountain didn't cough, or have to deal with extreme heat.
The people who lived in the castle in the ceiling miles above were said to be living in paradise.
Shiv absorbed all of this information and more, then informed the miners that he had to leave to talk to his companions. But not before letting them know he planned to show up at the same tavern at around the same time tomorrow.
***
"Shiv! Perfect timing, friend. It's Briggs… he's causing trouble, and I need your help." Duncan accosted Shiv the moment he showed up at the hotel they had rented.
Yes, they rented the entire hotel. They had a lot of money after sacking two cities.
"Where's he at?" Shiv followed the short man through the city to the switchback paths and groaned. "He's up there?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Now, if you didn't weigh anything, I could just fly us up there, but-"
"I have that stupid Air Ability that makes you weightless. I got the useless thing from killing the Hippogre. Now fly us up there."
Shiv activated the skill that made him mad every time he thought of it, remembering when he'd first tried it and ended up being blown around like a leaf, getting scraped and bruised. He probably would have been killed if he hadn't been given [Celestial Body].
The trip upward was quick and nothing short of magical, despite the fact that it was a constant wrestling match between the two men because Duncan wanted to hold Shiv in a princess carry and Shiv refused.
They landed on the island-like stalagmite and quickly put their game faces on when they saw the state Briggs was in.
"It almost doesn't even look like him." Duncan whispered.
Briggs was yelling gibberish in what looked like a town square in the center of the stalagmite. He had an empty mug he was swinging around as he screamed, and was surrounded by a crowd of well-dressed people who were watching him with disapproving stares.
Shiv pushed through the crowd to reach his short ally while Duncan lingered among the people.
"Hey, man. Let's get you back to camp, alright?" Shiv tried to put his arm around him and guide him out of the square, but Briggs shoved him back and pointed an accusatory finger at him. Only he wasn't able to shove the taller man back, so he ended up stumbling back himself.
"Youuu… YOU'RE the REASON!" His words were slurred and his movements were exaggerated from the alcohol.
Shiv grimaced and made a placating gesture. "Let's head back, bro."
"NO! Youuu… yer the MONster…" Briggs' eyes, which had previously been wild, now filled with tears and his face transformed into the purest picture of grief. His eyes dropped to his hands, which he cradled his face with. "And… I'm the monsterrr's… helper."
Shiv's face darkened, and his hands dropped to his sides. "I'm a man with a mission. Call me what you will, but I will get home."
Briggs collapsed to his knees, sobbing. "But the COST! Ohhh the cosssst…"
Shiv took a step forward and knelt, placing his hand on the hurting man's shoulder. "Yes, the cost is high. Please, my… my friend. Please do not add yourself to that cost."