Chapter 636: Scarwind Camp

After a few more minutes of walking, Lucien and Thoren finally reached the main entrance of Scarwind Camp.

The passage widened abruptly, revealing a massive underground settlement that stretched far beyond what Thoren could see.

Faint yellow light from the glowing stones high above lit the entrance and the surrounding stone structures, while the distant sounds of people moving through the settlement echoed across the enormous cave system.

Several awakeners stood around the entrance, some carrying weapons, others coming and going through the passages connected to the main area.

There was no wall around the camp.

The cave itself served as its natural protection, with countless tunnels and dangerous paths separating the settlement.

Lucien stopped beside the entrance and turned toward Thoren.

"This is the registration area."

Thoren nodded without speaking.

The process was surprisingly simple. There was no examination, no test of strength, and no demand to reveal one’s profession or abilities.

"Name?"

"Thoren."

The registrar lowered his head and wrote it down while in front of Thoren’s name, he added Thoren’s physical appearance. Silver hair, deep blue eyes.

And that was all.

"Come on," Lucien said, gesturing for him to follow. "I’ll show you around before we reach the inn."

As they moved deeper, the true scale of the camp became difficult to grasp. The entrance had shown only a fraction of it.

Caves lined the way in every direction, some small enough to serve as individual homes, others vast chambers that could hold dozens of people.

Winding tunnels connected many of them, and some passages vanished behind huge stone pillars that rose all the way to the ceiling.

People walked between them in groups of two or three, carrying weapons, sacks and beast materials.

A few injured awakeners moved slowly with the help of their companions, while stronger-looking individuals passed by with weapons hanging from their waists.

Despite the danger outside, there was an unusual sense of normalcy within the settlement.

The homes caught Thoren’s attention. Some were simple openings carved into the stone, while others had been extensively modified.

Many entrances had statues beside them, some of armed humans, others of strange beasts he couldn’t recognize.

The larger homes used sliding stones as doors, thick enough to withstand considerable force and polished until relatively smooth.

The people here had clearly spent a long time reshaping the natural cave into something suited to long-term survival.

Lucien noticed his expression and smiled, raising his head slightly with pride. "Impressive, right?"

"It is."

Thoren meant it.

When he first heard about Scarwind Camp, he had imagined little more than holes in the stone where trapped awakeners could sleep.

Instead, people stranded on the third floor of the Abyss had refused to simply survive. They had built a place to live.

"I felt the same way when I first arrived," Lucien said. "I thought we’d be sleeping on bare stone, but people here had already figured out how to make life comfortable." He pointed toward one section of the cave.

"Most of this was done by Earth Mages. If you want to build your own home, you can hire them for a few meats."

Thoren’s brow lifted. "A few meats?"

"Yes." Lucien laughed softly.

They passed a large cave where the clang of metal on metal rang through the surrounding tunnels.

Blacksmiths worked around stone furnaces, sweat-soaked, hammering weapons into shape.

The heat was noticeable even from outside, and swords, axes, spears, and daggers hung along the walls. Thoren glanced in briefly before moving on.

"That one is the alchemist cave," Lucien said as they reached the next, which was filled with strange smells, a few strong enough to sting the nose.

The deeper they went, the more organized the camp became. There were tavern caves where awakeners gathered, and Lucien kept pointing things out as they passed.

"There are also caves for healing, storage, training, and resource processing. Most of them are controlled by the Camp Lord."

Then he nodded toward another section. "And those are the brothel caves."

Their entrances were decorated differently from the rest, and people moved in and out with little concern for hiding their purpose.

Thoren’s gaze lingered for a moment, but Lucien didn’t spend time explaining.

"Further ahead are the inns."

The inn caves were larger than most homes. Some with several entrances, others built into multiple connected chambers meant to house large numbers of people.

The more Thoren saw, the more complete the camp felt. The third floor was supposed to be a place where awakeners struggled just to survive, yet these people had built an entire society beneath the surface.

It was far more developed than anything he had seen on the second floor. The Bleeding Desert had towns and settlements, but they were scattered across the desert and depended heavily on the beastmen race.

However, Scarwind Camp was different. Everything existed within one underground settlement, and every tunnel, cave, and structure served a purpose.

Just then, Lucien’s movement became slower. The buildings became less crowded as they approached a wide open section of the cave street.

At its center stood an enormous stone structure, with a towering statue in front of it.

The figure stood upright with one hand resting on a large weapon, and the whole statue had been carved from the surrounding rock.

Behind it rose the largest cave mansion Thoren had seen so far. Its entrance alone was huge, and the structure climbed several levels upward, with small windows carved into the walls.

Each overlooking a different part of the camp. Stone balconies and narrow paths linked its sections together, making it resemble an underground fortress more than a residence.

Thoren stopped and stared.

"This is where the Camp Lord lives," Lucien said, his voice carrying a noticeable respect.

"It’s also where every major decision about the camp is made." His expression turned slightly more serious.

"The Camp Lord is one of the strongest people here. Anyone who wants to survive on this floor eventually has to deal with the decisions made inside that cave."

Thoren nodded slowly and said "Let’s go."

Lucien smiled and continued walking.

Thoren followed and then turned, his eyes lingering on the mansion for another moment before he finally looked away.