Sea Salt City
The sun slowly started to rise in the sky. It shone upon a vast grassland where a city was located. The city had stone walls that towered over 100 feet tall. A giant metal gate had a stream of people entering and leaving the city.
A few dozen yards away from the city was a large man sleeping on the grassland. He occasionally made a creepy laugh while he slept, "kekeke".
*splat!*
The sleeping man felt something slam into his face! He jumped up in panic screaming, "Lumi! I didn't run away! I just went ahead to wait for you is all! Honest! I swear! Eh? There's nobody here?"
The sleeping man was James in his common soldier uniform disguise! James reached up to feel his face. It was slightly wet. He removed his hand and looked at it. "Bird shit! Really?! Why couldn't the damn city gates be open last night? At least Lumi hasn't caught up. Actually, if that bird poop didn't wake me up…" James shivered in fear when he thought of not waking up and Lumi catching up to him. James laughed, "Haha, the Russians were right! Bird poop is clearly good luck! This is a sign! A sign!! All will continue uphill from here! Bwhahaha!"
James wiped off the bird poop and headed into the city through the city gates. The city was large. Much bigger than James had expected. James muttered "I had been expecting cheap medieval wood buildings, but this…" Everywhere James looked there were high rise buildings made completely from stone. Most buildings were nearly as tall as the city walls of 100 feet. Some were even taller! James felt like he was in a big city back on Earth!
"Hey mister!" A high-pitched voice ran out. A boy ran over. He was dressed like a beggar and appeared to be around 11 years old. The boy smiled, "Need a guide mister? I can lead you around the city and tell you anything you need to know! Only 1 silver coin! Ain't nobody know these streets better than I!"
James thought for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. He had a single gold coin and 3 silver coins from the pouch he stole from Lumi. He could use this chance to gather some information before he returned to his original appearance to blend in.
The boy happily started yammering away, "Okay mister. You can pay me at the end. You can call me Scuttle!"
"How did you get a name like Scuttle?" James questioned.
Scuttle chuckled, "My dad was a coal miner. When I was born he used to carry me around in a coal scuttle, so my parents named me Scuttle!"
James nodded. He had never heard of a coal scuttle, but he figured it was probably some kind of basket. Scuttle started walking and introducing the town to him, "This here is the biggest city in the Drake Kingdom! Even bigger than the capital! We're a port city so we do a lot of trade with neighboring kingdoms."
They kept walking and eventually entered a big public market. Stalls were lined up on both sides of the street for as far as the eyes could see. Men and woman sat behind the stalls in all sorts of unusual outfits. Some wore full-plate armor. Some wore fancy robes. Others dressed like they couldn't afford their next meal despite having fairly valuable items displayed in their stalls.
James slowly browsed the stalls while walking. He saw swords, spears, staffs, rings, furs, herbs, and more. There were so many things it was overwhelming. *Roar!* *Squawk!* All sorts of beasts were making noises as well. Some were being sold. Others were pets kept by stall owners or travelers visiting the market.
James asked the boy, "Why are some of those sellers dressed so poorly despite having expensive goods for sale?" The boy laughed in response, "Those are pirates of course! We're a port city after all!"
James responded in confusion, "Pirates? Why doesn't the city chase them out? Or the Drake Kingdom?" The boy smiled, "How would they dare to do so? The city lord is weaker than some of the pirate captains. If the Drake Kingdom higher-ups get involved, then the pirates will just call for reinforcements. If they lose then they'll just flee into the wide-open seas and return for revenge another day. Besides, the pirates bring a lot of goods into the city which attracts foreign merchants. The pirates themselves pay taxes on goods sold. They also spend tons of gold in the local pubs and brothels! If anything, they're a good thing for the city since they won't dare to raid such a large city."
James nodded in agreement. What the boy said made perfect sense. He could hardly believe it was coming from such a young kid. James spoke, "You're pretty smart kid. Plan on becoming a pirate some day?"
Scuttle laughed, "Haha, no way! I'm going to become Sea Salt City's greatest merchant! I'll be the biggest name in town! I'll drown in so much gold that even the king will be jealous of me!"
James smirked at the boy's big dreams. He couldn't help but think about what he dreamed of when he was the boys age, "What did I want more than anything in middle school? An Oscar? No. A girlfriend? No, not that either. There was only one thing I truly dreamed of obtaining in middle school. A partyhat in RuneScape! Ahhh, good memories…"
(Note from author: If you never played RuneScape, it's a MMORPG. Partyhat was at the time an extremely rare/expensive cosmetic item.)
The duo exited the market. They could see the sea off in the distance. Ships were bobbing up and down in the sea. On the right side of the port they could see all types of ships. Most looked like caravels and galleys, but there were also many odd ships. James saw what looked like a Viking longboat. He even saw a ship made completely from beast bones! On the left side of the port the ships were more uniform. Each flew a red flag with a black drake on it.
Scuttle noticed James staring and spoke, "That's the Drake Kingdom Navy. As this is the only port city in the Drake Kingdom the entire fleet is based here. It's a smaller fleet than most other countries but the ships are of high quality and the forces are well trained. Few would dare to attack them."
James nodded, and they continued walking. They walked for a while longer before Scuttle spoke again, "Those are the main points of interest for Sea Salt City. Anything else you wanted to see specifically?"
James thought to himself for a moment, "I need to find a way to become strong, but I know nothing about this world. If I ask a 11-year-old boy how I can get stronger that would definitely be suspicious. I wonder if the city has a library?"
James spoke, "Is there a library in this city? I need to do some research."
Scuttle nodded, "There is a library, but it's pretty expensive. It's right next to Sea Salt academy. I'll lead you there."
The duo started walking towards their destination. James spoke, "What does Sea Salt academy teach?"
Scuttle appeared shocked at the question, "You must really be from far away! Sea Salt Academy is the biggest school in the Drake Kingdom! Many of the world's best magus and knights graduate from there! It even has a lot of foreign students due to the sea routes making for easy travel. Not even the royal academy at the capital can compare to it!"
James thought to himself, "Knights? Magus? So, it's pretty much as I thought. Knights were obvious enough based on all the people walking around in armor. Lumi glowed a white light so maybe she was a magus? She said she was a priest but maybe they're the same thing? Maybe I can sneak into that school later to learn a few things."
The duo walked for what felt like a really long time. The farther they walked the less buildings there were. Eventually there were no buildings at all. Only a stone road that led off into the distance in the grassy plains. Finally, they saw a building appear in the distance. The building was five stories high. Unlike the stone buildings from earlier this building was actually made of metal and glass! It could have been stuck in any big city on Earth and no one would ever realize it was from another world based on the outside appearance.
The road split in two as they got close to the library. One path led to the library. The other path led off into the distance. Unlike the grassy plains James had become familiar with, that path had many hills and trees along the road. He could even see a vague outline of a mountain off in the distance. There was a wooden sign pointing towards that path. The sign read "Sea Salt Academy".
Scuttle laughed, "That's the place. You really made me work for my pay today haha. Most visitors only want to see the market and port."
James made an awkward smile. He hadn't thought the library would be so far. He was feeling pretty tired just from the walk. James took out his money pouch he stole from Lumi. He handed two silver coins to Scuttle and spoke, "Haha, I really did have you lead me around for a lot longer than I originally planned on. The extra coin is your tip."
Scuttle happily accepted the coins. James put his pouch away and walked towards the library. It was only a few dozen feet from where the road split. The building was constructed like a beautiful work of art. The glass windows were large to allow a lot of light in on each floor. The metal looked like high-quality steel and glimmered in the light. James reached the door that was entirely made of glass. He excitedly grabbed the handle and gave it a pull. *Che-clunk*. The door barely opened an inch before closing again.
James blushed with embarrassment. He put both hands on the door handle and pulled again with all his might. *Che-Clunk!* That time the door managed to open 2 inches before James couldn't handle it anymore and it slammed shut. James felt his face turn completely red from embarrassment. He wasn't super strong on Earth, but he at least worked out!
James tilted his head to the left, then right to crack it. He spit in each hand and rubbed them together. He kicked one foot up against the metal wall that outlined the door. He grabbed the door handle with all his strength and pulled! *Che-Clunk!!!* This time the door opened a whole foot before James let go and fell on the ground. He moaned out loud, "Why is this fucking door so heavy! Damn! Shit! Fuck! Not even Hercules could open this door!"
Scuttle had not yet walked away. He stared in disbelief at James sitting on the ground yelling all kinds of profanity about the door being heavy. "It's just a glass door? How can he not even open it?"
Scuttle walked towards the door and grabbed the handle with one hand. He turned to glance at James. James was so big he looked like a small bear. With his scarred face, tan skin, and soldier uniform James easily looked like he could tear this door off with ease. Yet there he was lying on the ground panting as if he just ran a marathon…
Scuttle opened the door with ease. James stared wide-eyed at what was happening in front of him. He thought to himself, "I guess what Lumi said about even children being able to open 500 lb. doors is true…"
James stood up and laughed awkwardly, "Haha, sorry about that Scuttle. You saw something embarrassing." James smiled bashfully and spoke again, "You see Scuttle… The truth is I was in a tragic accident when I was born. It was a miracle I even survived." James placed one arm on his chest and rose the other hand in the air to create a sense of drama, "My parents were so devastated they couldn't handle the situation. They put me up for adoption and I grew up weak and bullied by my peers. Fortunately, I survived to today, but as you can see I am much weaker than most men. Such is my life, but I shall not give into despair! It did not stop me from traveling to this distant city in my pursuit of knowledge! For what am I if not a man who seeks the truth!"
Scuttle stared wide-eyed as James continued his dramatic monologue. He snickered to himself, "He's obviously lying! How could someone so weak join the Drake Kingdom army? Whateverrr, he paid me, and everyone's got secrets. I'm not one to pry."
Scuttle headed off into the distance. It wasn't until a few minutes later that James finished his dramatic story and realized that Scuttle had already left. James muttered, "Eh? He's gone? I didn't even get to the 2nd act! Alas! Some people just don't appreciate true art!"
James turned to head into the library. He froze for a second before speaking, "Oh… The door closed on its own. Ha. Haha. Bwhahhahahaa. Someone shoot me!"
James sat down near the door and leaned his back against the wall. He closed his eyes to wait. It wasn't until two hours later that a woman showed up. She glanced at James before opening the library door. James heard the door open and quickly tailgated after her through the door. The woman glanced back at James in confusion, but then ignored him and headed deeper into the library. James put his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose and smirked, "Heheh, all according to plan."