Chapter 189: Blarock City
‘Who wants to harm me, Delilah, Gianda, or perhaps Traveler’s Respite?’ Anse’s mind raced, reviewing all his actions after entering Traveler’s Respite, but he detected no anomalies.
The Traveler’s Badge had been in the Dragonhide Pouch the entire time, untouched by others, with no opportunity to tamper with the internal teleport coordinates.
During that time, only Delilah had touched him, but even with his Mana Control, he detected no fluctuations, and the dice gave no warning.
‘There might be ambushes and traps.’ He stepped away from the spot, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
This wooden dock was quite unique, half connected to land and half extending into the Void, equipped with many cranes, bustling with people coming and going, very lively.
The city wasn’t large, like a Mountain City; looking out, the terrain gradually rose, with taller buildings the higher up you went.
He avoided the crowds, stepping on the hard stone ground, heading toward the noisy City District, encountering no attacks, though occasionally someone gave him a second glance.
‘There is a gravity plane, an atmosphere, many races…’ He silently observed the surroundings, suspecting he was on the edge planet of some Astral System.
Through the endless Void, he could faintly see the Astral Sea.
After advancing dozens of meters, a City District connected to storage caves appeared to his right front; it finally had some color, with several pots of strange vegetation around the low doorways, trimmed meticulously, and most residents coming and going were Halflings.
Anse turned his steps decisively, entering this City District, while activating Detect Evil and Good.
Halfling settlements were always relatively friendly, a good place to hide temporarily.
After stepping into the street area, gazes fell on him one after another, mostly wary and curious.
An elderly Halfling who had been trimming some climbing flowers at the doorway stopped his work, staring intently at Anse and Mei Fu for a moment, then waved proactively: “Outlander, are you looking for someone?”
He spoke in Common Tongue, with a bit of an accent but understandable.
Anse relaxed, immediately stopping his steps, shrugging: “I’m lost, don’t know where to go.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place.” The Halfling pointed with his shears at the blurry inscription above the stone doorway, saying, “Hole-in-the-Ground Tavern, Blarock City’s friendliest tavern; no one dares cause trouble here.
If you have no money, I can treat you to Assorted Cheese Hotpot; sleeping on a bench can make do for a few nights, you’ll eventually catch a ship. But looking at you, you probably don’t lack money either.”
Anse’s heart jolted; he knew Blarock City.
Blarock City was built on a small asteroid in the Kingdom of the Heavens teardrop zone; the rock planet was very small, no more than a few kilometers long, far from Toril, surrounded by endless starry sky.
It was said that the rock city was originally a sanctuary established by a Island Captain named Blar; as the city grew prosperous, it gradually formed a small kingdom, becoming an extremely important hub city in the Void.
The good news was that Blarock City wasn’t far from home; taking a Magic-Propelled Ship could quickly return to Toril.
“What is Assorted Cheese Hotpot?” he asked feigning curiosity, planning to go to the tavern first to learn about Blarock City.
The probability of the Traveler’s Badge malfunctioning was low; if someone tampered with it, he could likely pinpoint them, so he needed to prepare quickly.
“Haha, Assorted Cheese Hotpot is the essential delicacy of the Halfling carnival festival; you’ll never forget it after one taste…” The Halfling stopped trimming the greenery, pushed open the wooden door, and invited Anse in to sit.
Anse followed with small steps; the doorway wasn’t high, but it wouldn’t hit his head.
Entering led to a downward staircase; after a dozen steps, the two entered a fairly spacious tavern with a bar counter, Wine Cabinet, Wine Barrels, long tables… the style was cozy, but there were few people.
“No wonder it’s called Hole-in-the-Ground Tavern; it’s underground.” He said with a smile.
At this moment, he was immensely grateful for his extraordinary Charisma; even hospitable Halflings were wary of strangers, and ordinary people couldn’t be accepted so quickly.
“You wouldn’t know this, but this place is called Hole-in-the-Ground District; everyone lives in holes…” The Halfling explained volubly, “Right, I’m Aldon, the owner of Hole-in-the-Ground Tavern.
What’s your name, where are you from?”
Anse narrowed his eyes, smiling back: “I’m Fabian, from Faerun.”
“Eh, lots of people from Faerun lately; I hear there’s frequent disasters there, is that right?” Aldon wasn’t too surprised, beckoning Anse to sit by the bar counter, then pouring him a glass of wine.
“Yes, it’s been chaotic lately.” Anse took the Wine Glass, swirling it slightly; a rich wine aroma wafted, full-bodied and complex, but his attention wasn’t on the wine.
The dice spun slightly, popping out a message:
【Aldon, Halfling, 10th-level Rogue（Fey Wanderer）】
‘A tavern owner with this kind of Strength.’ He was secretly surprised.
Aldon saw he wasn’t drinking and didn’t mind, pouring himself a large glass of ale and gulping down a big mouthful: “It’s early now; it’ll get crowded by Evening.”
“New arrival, want to learn about the rock city; can you introduce it to me?” Anse said, taking a fine-quality Gemstone from his Bag of Holding and placing it on the bar counter.
“No need to be polite.” Aldon laughed heartily, grabbing the gemstone with his furry palm, observing it under the light for a moment before pocketing it, “You’ve asked the right person; I’ve lived here for decades…”
Blarock City’s structure was special, divided into top and bottom.
The top was divided into Upper City, Middle City, and Lower City; Upper City held the royal palace Starport Palace and nobles’ residences, Middle City was the financial and commercial center, Lower City was the commoner district, with the Dock and Hole-in-the-Ground District on this level.
The bottom was under the prince’s jurisdiction; non-official personnel were not allowed to reside there, including the most important Farmland and the sea and land Army headquarters.
Blarock City’s resident population was only a few thousand, but magic ships and Adventurers came and went from various worlds every year, with frequent wealth circulation, but also very chaotic.
The rock city had three Magistrates, respectively handling affairs for Lower City, Middle City, and Upper City, but the guard team wouldn’t deploy except when necessary, let alone patrol.
In Aldon’s words, everyone huddled together for warmth, self-policing and self-rescuing, minding their own business.
Anse listened carefully; the information was very general, hard to judge who might be against him.
“I want a safe, quiet Room for Meditation; any recommendations?” He didn’t want to wait passively; he wanted to enter Hollewen as soon as possible.
That Otherworldly Space had Divination Magic protection, which should block positioning and Perception.
“I have two empty rooms here; they used to be my son’s…”
Whether it was the gemstone’s effect or Anse’s high Charisma, Aldon immediately arranged a room for him, located below the tavern.
The Room wasn’t large, but once the Door was closed, it was indeed very quiet.
Anse cast Arcane Lock and Alarm on the Door, then took out the Scepter of Sanctuary and teleported to the Astrolabe Track Formation under the Black Tower.
He meditated with eyes closed, inspecting himself, detecting no suspicious Mana fluctuations or marks; this was normal, as the dice hadn’t detected any checks.
‘It shouldn’t be Delilah; could it be a problem with the gold gems from the Magic Research Society?’
He took out the Traveler’s Badge and re-appraised it; everything was normal.
Then the batch of gems, Star Robe, Arcane Cannon, and two Wheel of Fortune Cards; aside from the Wheel of Fortune Cards only revealing a name, the others had no issues.
‘Meow, some Curios can locate a magical item they’ve touched; the higher the item’s grade, the easier the location. Then during your teleport, they interfere via that…’ Mei Fu squatted nearby, analyzing seriously.
‘Then it must be these two Wheel of Fortune Cards; is someone using them to fish?’ Anse pondered.
At that moment, he sensed his set Alarm being dispelled.
Someone was violently breaking the Door of Hole-in-the-Ground Tavern!
