The ocean's scent wafted gently towards Melvin, carried on the breeze that soared across the land. It bore the tang of salt mingled with the fresh, invigorating aroma of seaweed and brine.
When they began their descent from the hill, his view slowly became dominated by the imposing walls that enveloped the cityscape, stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction, and even the ocean could no longer be seen.
In contrast to the urban expanse before him, in other directions lay vast stretches of verdant meadows and fields, where random trees were scattered about.
As he surveyed the tranquil green landscape, Melvin's gaze wandered to a distant paved road that wound its way along the outskirts of the eastern side of the city. Despite the distance, he could just make out the faint shapes of carts, carriages, people, and tall beasts traversing the roadway.
Seeing such a dense and rich movement of life for the first time in this world, his heartbeat started beating like a drum in a mixture of both nervousness and excitement about what awaited him beyond those walls.
Thinking of walls, he immediately remembered something, and so in an attempt to get some clarification about one of his biggest worries, he turned toward the old man who was busy gazing at the beautiful scenery and asked, "Elder, do you think the guards will give me some trouble because of my clothes?"
Without turning around, the old man was quick to comfort with a lazy voice, "Eh don't worry you're a resident of Nightmond, so you must have a card."
Hearing the word cards, Melvin was about to start panicking, but he decided to ask more, and so with some uncertainty he asked, "I... I left it at home?"
The old man seemed amused by that as his tone carried a hint of enjoyment and asked, "Have you never gone out of the city before? Even if you don't have a card, you must be registered so you'll be fine. However, you'll need to pay a small fee for causing the guards extra work."
As he said that his originally upbeat voice lost some of its previous quality, he could tell that the young man in his cart had nothing, but this only increased his curiosity even more as he could swear he saw him somewhere, and so for the first time he turned around with his hands over the seat and asked, "Brat, what is your name? And where do you live? I've seen you somewhere."
Just as Melvin was busy fretting over how he would be able to get some money because he guessed that the original owner of this body must indeed be a resident of this Nightmond city, another barrage of questions came crashing down, and the old man's piercing eyes made him pause and all of his previously well thought out plans crumbled under his gaze.
Quickly remembering his name he awkwardly uttered, "Jacob elder. As for where I live, ehm... the streets are my home.."
He quickly chided himself for such a shameful performance and he tried to motivate himself, 'I was just insulting the so-called gods themselves a while ago, why am I so afraid of an old man?'
Though he said that, he knew that he wasn't precisely scared of the old man, but it was mostly a combination of everything he had gone through so far that left him somewhat vulnerable, and at the core of everything was none other than the destruction of the path he had put everything in and the tremendous hopes and expectations he had over the new.
In other words, he was terribly afraid of making a mistake. However, he realized that this jittery and anxious state of mind would only quicken his doom, so he slowly breathed out and attempted to compose himself because he was indeed starting to get embarrassed.
It was unbecoming of a grown man of his age to go around acting as such.
The old man's eyes sparkled as if a lantern had been kindled within his mind, and he exclaimed with excitement, "Ah, yes indeed! It is you, one of the young'uns who frequent the beasts' road if I'm not mistaken. Thank the gods, I was on the verge of losing my mind, racking my brain to recall where I had seen you!"
"Ah... You know me, Elder?" Melvin was shocked by the news, and he felt a bit apprehensive about the old man asking him more when in actuality he knew nothing.
"Well, yes. I usually leave Breyt in the rented stables in the beasts' road, and I've seen you a couple of times with some other troublemakers around those parts." The old man seemed to finally lose interest as he sighed in relief after he connected the last piece of the puzzle that bothered him along the way.
Observing this, Melvin also breathed a sigh of relief. The old man appeared disinterested in probing further about him, which suited Melvin just fine. He dreaded the possibility of being exposed as ignorant about everything and being potentially mistaken for a Dark Mage, especially now that he could discern faint armored figures at the end of the brick-paved path.
At the same time, he quietly thought with glee as his lips split into a faint smile, 'It seems like I made some progress in the Quest, this guy used to hang around an area called the beasts' road... I will check it out if I'm still alive that is.'
He was about to ask the old man the exact reason the pit was called The Pit of The Irredeemable, but he figured he'd ask someone else afterward, someone who hadn't seen him rise from the dead.
Moreover, just from the name and the uniforms most corpses wore, he could more or less make an educated guess about its purpose.
It was then that he suddenly thought of something very important that he seemed to miss before, 'I think there is a chance that I was thrown over there by someone else, or maybe it was this same old man but he just forgot my face? Hmm... But then again the moment he saw me he felt that I was familiar so by that logic if he saw my corpse then it would have left a deeper impression, so chances are someone else dropped me there.'
And it was this line of thoughts precisely that led him to think of something horrific, 'Won't the person or the group who did that need to pass through the gate and the guards? The same giant gate I am looking at right now... And probably the same guards?'
The moment he thought of that the first thing that came to mind was to run away, and maybe attempt to enter from the other gate to the east of the city.
Unfortunately, he thought of that too late, and the fact that there was no cart other than theirs in the brick-paved path made it so that four of the guards stationed at the gate were already looking at them.
As the cart approached the towering opened gate, Melvin couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the sheer size of it.
Beneath a grand archway, it loomed imposingly, forming a formidable barrier between the outside world and the bustling city beyond. The gate stood at least 15 meters tall, constructed from sturdy wood, and adorned with intricate carvings.
Flanking the gate were two stout stone towers, each housing small chambers at their tops, where Melvin was certain other guards were stationed.
Meanwhile, under the archway, before the wooden gate was a small chamber opened on the right and it bustled with activity, as four armored guards spoke loudly to one another.
Two of the guards, engrossed in conversation, had their backs turned toward the approaching cart. Their voices carried faintly on the breeze, mixing with the sounds of the bustling city beyond, and the rolling wooden cartwheels.
The other two guards stood at attention, their keen eyes trained directly on the cart as it drew nearer.
Melvin faintly noticed some small doors set into the base of the gate that allowed individual humans to pass through, though Melvin couldn't help but feel a pang of apprehension as he realized they would soon be scrutinized by the guards.
It was clear that their arrival had not gone unnoticed, and Melvin braced himself for whatever inquiries lay ahead, his previous speculations only made the situation all the more stressful for him as his hands trembled and started sweating.
When the two finally stopped beside the four guards, Melvin was finally able to glimpse the new magical world within the massive walls which managed to completely capture his and soothe his anxious state of mind.
Beyond the gate lay a bustling hive of activity, where the air thrummed with the sounds of shouting voices and lively conversation. Stone houses lined the wide, bricked road, their chimneys puffing out plumes of smoke that mingled with the aromas of cooking food and burning wood.
The road was spacious enough for four carts to pass abreast, and it was flanked by a myriad of establishments under the residential houses: stores displaying their wares in colorful arrays, taverns overflowing with raucous laughter, and stalls where vendors peddled their goods to eager customers.
Among the throngs of people, fantastical creatures that shocked Melvin to his core roamed freely, adding an air of otherworldly charm to the bustling scene.
Strange monsters with shimmering scales and luminous eyes loitered about, seemingly at home amidst the chaos. Exotic birds flitted through the air, their vibrant plumage contrasting against the muted tones of the cityscape.
As the cart came to a stop beside the four guards, Melvin's anxiety momentarily faded in the face of the captivating world that lay beyond the gate.
'Beautiful.' Is all Melvin could think about that moment, the sense of otherworldliness seemed to descend out of nowhere and hit him like a tidal wave bringing with it intense intrigue and anticipation.
His easily diverted attention was swiftly stolen by another change, a rough low voice spoke from the side, "Old Wendell, who's the young boy?"
Turning around, he saw that all of the armored guards were looking at him with various expressions. They wore breastplates, simple helmets, leg guards, and shoulder guards, indicating their readiness for anything.
Among them, the guard who spoke stood out with his taller stature, a scar running across his cheek, and a more authoritative demeanor.
Just as Melvin was afraid the old man might reveal too many details that wouldn't be to his favor, Wendell waved his hands nonchalantly seemingly unafraid of the authoritative guards, and spoke, "It just a brat I found along the way, but he lives in the city."
The tall guard with the scar running along his face had shoulder-length hair that seemed greasy as it moved with difficulty in response to the momentum generated by his walk, and he stood directly in front of Melvin who was still sitting on the cart, and asked, "What's your name?"
As soon as he spoke, he was already beside the cart, very close to Melvin. His nose immediately wrinkled as the smell from Melvin reached his nostrils, prompting him to comment, "Brat, you smell worse than a month-old trash bag. Where have you been?"
Melvin wasn't afraid in the slightest, because the moment he realized that none of them recognized him he sighed in absolute relief, and he hurriedly explained as he glanced up at the tall guard from his sitting position in the cart, "Sir, yesterday I was strolling around the forest when I passed by the pit of the irredeemable, and I decided to take a look. But when I did, I was already suffering from a heatstroke and I hadn't eaten much so when I caught a whiff of the smell I directly blacked out, and I fell directly into the pit. I was only helped out of there by this kind elder."
As he spoke, he noticed something very curious happening. He couldn't shake the feeling that his words possessed a certain resonance, a quality that didn't quite seem his own. Simultaneously, he noticed a subtle shift in the guards' demeanor—they appeared more attentive, their gazes fixed on him with a newfound interest as they leaned in to listen to his story.
The ocean's scent wafted gently towards Melvin, carried on the breeze that soared across the land. It bore the tang of salt mingled with the fresh, invigorating aroma of seaweed and brine.
When they began their descent from the hill, his view slowly became dominated by the imposing walls that enveloped the cityscape, stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction, and even the ocean could no longer be seen.
In contrast to the urban expanse before him, in other directions lay vast stretches of verdant meadows and fields, where random trees were scattered about.
As he surveyed the tranquil green landscape, Melvin's gaze wandered to a distant paved road that wound its way along the outskirts of the eastern side of the city. Despite the distance, he could just make out the faint shapes of carts, carriages, people, and tall beasts traversing the roadway.
Seeing such a dense and rich movement of life for the first time in this world, his heartbeat started beating like a drum in a mixture of both nervousness and excitement about what awaited him beyond those walls.
Thinking of walls, he immediately remembered something, and so in an attempt to get some clarification about one of his biggest worries, he turned toward the old man who was busy gazing at the beautiful scenery and asked, "Elder, do you think the guards will give me some trouble because of my clothes?"
Without turning around, the old man was quick to comfort with a lazy voice, "Eh don't worry you're a resident of Nightmond, so you must have a card."
Hearing the word cards, Melvin was about to start panicking, but he decided to ask more, and so with some uncertainty he asked, "I... I left it at home?"
The old man seemed amused by that as his tone carried a hint of enjoyment and asked, "Have you never gone out of the city before? Even if you don't have a card, you must be registered so you'll be fine. However, you'll need to pay a small fee for causing the guards extra work."
As he said that his originally upbeat voice lost some of its previous quality, he could tell that the young man in his cart had nothing, but this only increased his curiosity even more as he could swear he saw him somewhere, and so for the first time he turned around with his hands over the seat and asked, "Brat, what is your name? And where do you live? I've seen you somewhere."
Just as Melvin was busy fretting over how he would be able to get some money because he guessed that the original owner of this body must indeed be a resident of this Nightmond city, another barrage of questions came crashing down, and the old man's piercing eyes made him pause and all of his previously well thought out plans crumbled under his gaze.
Quickly remembering his name he awkwardly uttered, "Jacob elder. As for where I live, ehm... the streets are my home.."
He quickly chided himself for such a shameful performance and he tried to motivate himself, 'I was just insulting the so-called gods themselves a while ago, why am I so afraid of an old man?'
Though he said that, he knew that he wasn't precisely scared of the old man, but it was mostly a combination of everything he had gone through so far that left him somewhat vulnerable, and at the core of everything was none other than the destruction of the path he had put everything in and the tremendous hopes and expectations he had over the new.
In other words, he was terribly afraid of making a mistake. However, he realized that this jittery and anxious state of mind would only quicken his doom, so he slowly breathed out and attempted to compose himself because he was indeed starting to get embarrassed.
It was unbecoming of a grown man of his age to go around acting as such.
The old man's eyes sparkled as if a lantern had been kindled within his mind, and he exclaimed with excitement, "Ah, yes indeed! It is you, one of the young'uns who frequent the beasts' road if I'm not mistaken. Thank the gods, I was on the verge of losing my mind, racking my brain to recall where I had seen you!"
"Ah... You know me, Elder?" Melvin was shocked by the news, and he felt a bit apprehensive about the old man asking him more when in actuality he knew nothing.
"Well, yes. I usually leave Breyt in the rented stables in the beasts' road, and I've seen you a couple of times with some other troublemakers around those parts." The old man seemed to finally lose interest as he sighed in relief after he connected the last piece of the puzzle that bothered him along the way.
Observing this, Melvin also breathed a sigh of relief. The old man appeared disinterested in probing further about him, which suited Melvin just fine. He dreaded the possibility of being exposed as ignorant about everything and being potentially mistaken for a Dark Mage, especially now that he could discern faint armored figures at the end of the brick-paved path.
At the same time, he quietly thought with glee as his lips split into a faint smile, 'It seems like I made some progress in the Quest, this guy used to hang around an area called the beasts' road... I will check it out if I'm still alive that is.'
He was about to ask the old man the exact reason the pit was called The Pit of The Irredeemable, but he figured he'd ask someone else afterward, someone who hadn't seen him rise from the dead.
Moreover, just from the name and the uniforms most corpses wore, he could more or less make an educated guess about its purpose.
It was then that he suddenly thought of something very important that he seemed to miss before, 'I think there is a chance that I was thrown over there by someone else, or maybe it was this same old man but he just forgot my face? Hmm... But then again the moment he saw me he felt that I was familiar so by that logic if he saw my corpse then it would have left a deeper impression, so chances are someone else dropped me there.'
And it was this line of thoughts precisely that led him to think of something horrific, 'Won't the person or the group who did that need to pass through the gate and the guards? The same giant gate I am looking at right now... And probably the same guards?'
The moment he thought of that the first thing that came to mind was to run away, and maybe attempt to enter from the other gate to the east of the city.
Unfortunately, he thought of that too late, and the fact that there was no cart other than theirs in the brick-paved path made it so that four of the guards stationed at the gate were already looking at them.
As the cart approached the towering opened gate, Melvin couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the sheer size of it.
Beneath a grand archway, it loomed imposingly, forming a formidable barrier between the outside world and the bustling city beyond. The gate stood at least 15 meters tall, constructed from sturdy wood, and adorned with intricate carvings.
Flanking the gate were two stout stone towers, each housing small chambers at their tops, where Melvin was certain other guards were stationed.
Meanwhile, under the archway, before the wooden gate was a small chamber opened on the right and it bustled with activity, as four armored guards spoke loudly to one another.
Two of the guards, engrossed in conversation, had their backs turned toward the approaching cart. Their voices carried faintly on the breeze, mixing with the sounds of the bustling city beyond, and the rolling wooden cartwheels.
The other two guards stood at attention, their keen eyes trained directly on the cart as it drew nearer.
Melvin faintly noticed some small doors set into the base of the gate that allowed individual humans to pass through, though Melvin couldn't help but feel a pang of apprehension as he realized they would soon be scrutinized by the guards.
It was clear that their arrival had not gone unnoticed, and Melvin braced himself for whatever inquiries lay ahead, his previous speculations only made the situation all the more stressful for him as his hands trembled and started sweating.
When the two finally stopped beside the four guards, Melvin was finally able to glimpse the new magical world within the massive walls which managed to completely capture his and soothe his anxious state of mind.
Beyond the gate lay a bustling hive of activity, where the air thrummed with the sounds of shouting voices and lively conversation. Stone houses lined the wide, bricked road, their chimneys puffing out plumes of smoke that mingled with the aromas of cooking food and burning wood.
The road was spacious enough for four carts to pass abreast, and it was flanked by a myriad of establishments under the residential houses: stores displaying their wares in colorful arrays, taverns overflowing with raucous laughter, and stalls where vendors peddled their goods to eager customers.
Among the throngs of people, fantastical creatures that shocked Melvin to his core roamed freely, adding an air of otherworldly charm to the bustling scene.
Strange monsters with shimmering scales and luminous eyes loitered about, seemingly at home amidst the chaos. Exotic birds flitted through the air, their vibrant plumage contrasting against the muted tones of the cityscape.
As the cart came to a stop beside the four guards, Melvin's anxiety momentarily faded in the face of the captivating world that lay beyond the gate.
'Beautiful.' Is all Melvin could think about that moment, the sense of otherworldliness seemed to descend out of nowhere and hit him like a tidal wave bringing with it intense intrigue and anticipation.
His easily diverted attention was swiftly stolen by another change, a rough low voice spoke from the side, "Old Wendell, who's the young boy?"
Turning around, he saw that all of the armored guards were looking at him with various expressions. They wore breastplates, simple helmets, leg guards, and shoulder guards, indicating their readiness for anything.
Among them, the guard who spoke stood out with his taller stature, a scar running across his cheek, and a more authoritative demeanor.
Just as Melvin was afraid the old man might reveal too many details that wouldn't be to his favor, Wendell waved his hands nonchalantly seemingly unafraid of the authoritative guards, and spoke, "It just a brat I found along the way, but he lives in the city."
The tall guard with the scar running along his face had shoulder-length hair that seemed greasy as it moved with difficulty in response to the momentum generated by his walk, and he stood directly in front of Melvin who was still sitting on the cart, and asked, "What's your name?"
As soon as he spoke, he was already beside the cart, very close to Melvin. His nose immediately wrinkled as the smell from Melvin reached his nostrils, prompting him to comment, "Brat, you smell worse than a month-old trash bag. Where have you been?"
Melvin wasn't afraid in the slightest, because the moment he realized that none of them recognized him he sighed in absolute relief, and he hurriedly explained as he glanced up at the tall guard from his sitting position in the cart, "Sir, yesterday I was strolling around the forest when I passed by the pit of the irredeemable, and I decided to take a look. But when I did, I was already suffering from a heatstroke and I hadn't eaten much so when I caught a whiff of the smell I directly blacked out, and I fell directly into the pit. I was only helped out of there by this kind elder."
As he spoke, he noticed something very curious happening. He couldn't shake the feeling that his words possessed a certain resonance, a quality that didn't quite seem his own. Simultaneously, he noticed a subtle shift in the guards' demeanor—they appeared more attentive, their gazes fixed on him with a newfound interest as they leaned in to listen to his story.
