Chapter 160: 160. ONWARD
Noah spent a few hours touring the city with his female volunteer.
She remained polite while they did this. And he; for the first time in a while, experienced exploring with someone who didn’t like talking much.
Emillia stayed silent for most of the tour, only voicing out explanations whenever they came across something she considered not known by those living outside of developed environments.
The city was so large that there were provisions for moving around. Similar to cabs or public busses on Earth, only that the transports were magical-beast-drawn carriages, and their destinations were announced by the carriage rider or riders.
Noah also learnt the role of the inscriptions running along the roads surface. They were to control traffic, surprisingly.
There were multiple roads into multiple districts of the city, and thousands of Individuals living there. Without such, there would only be chaos.
The traffic regulators, as Noah would call them, sat inside a floating black box which had hundreds of inscriptions running converging below it, keeping it suspended.
Whenever the traffic regulators raised their hands, the inscriptions on the road would turn red, Instructing the moving carriages to stop. And whenever they lowered their hands, the inscriptions would return to their blue colour allowing the carriages to resume their journey.
The regulators seemed to have motion sensing remotes or something similar, since one Individual could control the traffic of three roads, each road having two lanes.
Surprisingly, the regulators had power in tier 3, none being more than the lower-stage.
The city felt like earth, only its unique energy and architecture being far different from the planets’.
Emillia had taken Noah to a stadium, and Noah felt the highest shock he had ever felt since he arrived to Creagar; seeing a soccer pitch!
Apparently they didn’t call it soccer or football, instead naming it Kemari.
The sport resembled the beloved soccer in every way, apart from the players.
There were 22 players on the pitch, and just one ball. But watching them play sent shivers down his spine.
What the players of the sport did on the field would be considered extreme on earth, even impossible.
Noah watched the player cast spells on themselves as they moved to score a goal!
The actual spells were placed on the heavily inscribed ball itself. As Noah even witnessed the ball light up with orange flames while it barreled towards the opposing teams net. Each defending player activating their defensive spells to stop that attack.
This scene got etched into his very soul.
Explosions occurred multiple times, but the stadium being fortified by hundreds to thousands of inscriptions stood strong withstanding tens of tier 2 spells.
The duo spent only a few minutes there, but Noah felt he had seen enough. It satisfied him to see the people of Cregar participating in sports.
There were a few other sporting activities going on in the stadium, but they didn’t have time to sit and watch all of them.
The city held a great number of buildings and one of the more popular ones according to Emillia, was the Keriele library.
The building itself stood on around 40 acres of land, according to Earth’s measurements. Which made for its wide hall.
The architectural style of the building also didn’t look too complicated. Its cubical shape gave it a modern feel, while its glass and metallic build made it look solid and expensive.
The glass windows were separated by pairs of rectangular metal panels, that spanned for the entirety of the buildings height, which was around 200ft.
They could only stay for a few minutes, but Noah had experienced enough of the exquisite feel the fifth largest library in Cusk had.
He also felt poor.
They eventually spent the next hour exploring more of the city. Apparently Emillia wasn’t obligated to inform her group of her whereabouts, which made for the time she could spare for Noah.
“I guess that is all for now,” Noah announced gazing at a glowing pond right in the middle of a downhill street.
Nodding at Noah’s words, Emillia played with the blue liquid, her mouth opening to speak.
“What will you do now?,” She asked, glancing at Noah; who was quick to reply.
“I still have a place I want to visit. But I’ll definitely be back here,” He explained, keeping his plan vague.
Emillia could only nod at that point, the young man wasn’t letting anyone close, even after two hours, he hadn’t lowered his guard once.
She had failed her mission, and decided to stay as quiet as possible. Something she normally did.
A sense of embarrassment still filled her mind when she recalled her earlier boldness.
The gods knew she wasn’t nearly like that. She found herself constantly wondering how she achieved that feat with her shy nature.
“I presume you do not own a communication amulet,” Emillia spoke after a few minutes of silence.
“Yes,” Noah answered blankly. He had only heard of its existence a few times. And he didn’t see the need for it. For now at least.
“Is there something wrong with that,” He continued.
“No,” She replied, her focus still on the mana-filled liquid.
No words were spoken between the two, each individual thinking their own thoughts.
Noah soon felt it was time to move. According to his calculations, getting to Vonol would take him a bit more than a day.
He sensed the need to get more serious with his life, but he wanted to check up on Jesse first.
“How exactly do I leave the city?,” Noah voiced a question.
“It depends on where you want to go,” Emillia replied, her focus now on him.
A series of thoughts filled Noah’s mind at those words, he didn’t see a way out without telling her his destination. She had played her card well.
“Vonol,” Noah announced, “I wish to visit Vonol.”
“The fifth gate would lead you on the path. But you’ll encounter a plain,” Emillia explained, her expression unreadable.
“Where is the fifth gate,” another question left Noah’s lips.
“I’ll take you there,” She quickly replied.
The duo spent the next half hour boarding carriages till they arrived at a large black gate.
Actually, throughout the tour Noah had been the one paying for their rides. She had been his guide but he funded the whole thing.
Soon he saw his purse hit 99 silver coins, leaving him with what he considered barely enough. The city was expensive, too expensive.
Focusing on the 10 inch thick gate, Noah swept his gaze on the multiple tier 3 guards patrolling it. He felt a tinge of nervousness, nothing more.
“You’ll need to pay an exit fee,” Emillia spoke, her gaze also on the guards, “They never ask for ID’s, only money,” She continued.
“Why?,” Noah felt compelled to ask.
“Because they have the chance to,” Emillia responded, “There are a few issues ongoing with the powers of our nation. The rulers of such large cities do not have time for such small details,” She paused.
“It’s a chance for the guards to garner as much as they can before bad things happen,” She explained.
“How do you know all this, and shouldn’t you as a patriot do something,” Noah spoke in a mocking tone.
“Everyone knows this, why do you think things are so expensive. I also do not want to get into unnecessary trouble. My family doesn’t need more,” She explained not minding his tone. Her experesion filled with the reluctance to say anything more.
Noah nodded in response, his eyes falling on the gates again, ‘What mess have i been thrown into,’ he thought, walking towards the gate.
A short queue lay before him and when his time came, he paid the fee of 1 small silver. Something he considered outrageous, but could only agree with, for now.
‘I wonder if I can run on walls,’ He mused exiting the city’s walls, ‘That sure would be convenient,’ a smile broke on his face.
‘I definitely should be fast enough, but I lack the confidence. For now,’ He glanced at the walls, before locating an empty spot to sprint from.
Onward to Vonol.
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