"Sorry, I'm allergic to things that might make me dumber," Aoko apologized sincerely to her teammates. "So I just reflexively struck first…"
"Understandable," Edgin said. "Like how I'd panic if I thought I could never write a hit song again."
Holga rolled her eyes. Edgin might be witty, but she'd never heard any of his songs become popular.
The finishing work was left to Holga and Xenk—not because they were less intelligent, but because they were the only ones proficient in melee and armed with melee weapons.
"Are these things edible?" Holga sniffed the air. "They smell kind of good."
"I wouldn't recommend it," Aoko said earnestly. "Mind flayers are often bred by illithids. Who knows what kind of parasites might be in there…"
At that, Holga shuddered, chopped the last roast brain in half, and hurried back to the group.
"We're still half a day from the helm's hiding place," Xenk said as he sheathed his sword. "Stay close. If you get tired, tell me—we can rest somewhere safe."
Xenk was right. The path he chose, aside from that one mind flayer group, had no hostile creatures—or even non-hostiles.
The group walked on, enjoying the strange scenery. Menzoberranzan receded into the distance, but the vast underground lake beside it still stretched as far as the eye could see.
"Do you think there are aboleths at the bottom of that lake?" Aoko asked suddenly.
"What's an aboleth?" Edgin wondered. "Why do you, an outsider, know more than me?"
"Aboleths are powerful aberrations," Simon explained. "Very intelligent, skilled in psionics and magic, keep many slaves, and have long lifespans with ancestral memory."
"They sound nasty," commented Holga. "Let's hope we don't run into one."
"If we head to the myconid village, we may have to take a boat across that lake," Aoko noted. "But aboleths don't usually attack people in shallow water. As long as we stick to the shallows, we should be fine."
Doric wanted to say that the more you hope to avoid trouble, the more likely it finds you—but saying so might make it come true, so she kept silent.
After another three hours of trekking, the group found a natural cavern to rest in. Aoko set up abjuration and concealment spells to hide the entrance.
"The ruins of the Hanging City of Dolblunde aren't far," Xenk said, sitting on a rock and drinking from his canteen. "Once built by deep gnomes, now abandoned—even the device I used to hide the helm was crafted by gnome artisans."
"Why did the deep gnomes abandon it?" Aoko asked. "Was it attacked by some unstoppable enemy?"
"Orcs," Xenk replied, gazing into the distance. "The deep gnomes were once allies of a human kingdom. During the Year of the Broken Kingdoms, humans and their allies were attacked by orcs. After fierce resistance and heavy losses, the deep gnomes decided to abandon their city and flee."
"Those guys are disgusting, like locusts," Aoko sighed. "They can't create civilization or study knowledge—just killing and looting. They're the pus of the world."
"While I agree with part of your statement," Xenk said, "I'd caution you not to judge an entire race. Even in the most evil groups, there are good individuals."
"Lesson learned," Aoko shrugged, meaning she wasn't insulting Xenk as a Thayan. "But probabilistically, raising your guard around evil-aligned races is reasonable. Being too naïve in this world is a good way to get killed."
"Let's end the history and philosophy lesson here," Edgin said. "We've rested enough—let's keep moving."
"We've barely rested half an hour!" Simon complained. "Miss Aoko even set up spells!"
"The longer we stay, the more danger we're in," Edgin replied. "Let's finish our task and get out before we run into something we can't handle."
—Divider—
After about two more hours, the group finally reached the Hanging City of Dolblunde.
Even though they could see the city, suspended by massive iron chains, reaching its edge still took a lot of time and effort.
Beneath the city, rivers of molten lava flowed—once harnessed by the deep gnomes to power their forges and machines.
"The helm is just across this bridge," Xenk said, stopping. "But this bridge is a huge trap. Only by crossing in the right order can you pass safely—otherwise, the mechanism will collapse the bridge."
Aoko looked at the bridge and saw runes carved on every stone, with the seams showing the marks of interlocking mechanisms. Even by Earth's standards, this would be an engineering marvel.
"I can fly us all over with a mass fly spell," Aoko offered. "Want me to?"
"Best to save spell slots if we can," Xenk replied. "We have a long way to go yet."
"All right, bridge it is," Aoko said.
"So, what's the crossing order?" Simon asked.
"Start from the center stone, step only on the odd-numbered stones, and move forward one step at a time, except on the fifth step, when you must step sideways—either left or right, doesn't matter. Keep going, only stepping on odd stones, until the middle of the bridge. Then switch to even-numbered stones and repeat the same process," Xenk explained rapidly.
Just as he was explaining, a loud crash echoed—the bridge's mechanism triggered as Simon accidentally stepped on the wrong stone. The entire bridge collapsed into the lava below.
"I—I didn't realize the starting point counted as the first stone," Simon said sheepishly. "Should we just use the mass fly spell?"