Giving Kirby a once over the guard turned to Tien. "A new place has appeared huh?"
"Yep, and I've found someone far more talented than reasonable!" Tien said, seeming incredibly proud of himself.
Nodding, the guard called up to a slit in the stone work far above the gate. With a similar holler down the gate shook for a moment before rising.
As it rose it slowly revealed the three robed figures from before. The tallest one stepped forward, handing over an orange sized, metallic orb.
"You did most of the work, you also lost your cart… we couldn't decide which of us did the most so we're giving this to you. Use it to get some food. Sorry about this." The tall man placed his hand on the shoulder of Tien and gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Thank you, I'd turn it down but I'm too poor to be humble. Your sympathy is appreciated. I'll pay you back when the day comes that I can." Tien replied, taking the man's hand off his shoulder and shaking it.
Tien and the robed man nodded to each other, after which both parties immediately departed towards different directions. Tien and Kirby up the main street and the three robed men back up to the wall.
Looking around at the outpost it was shockingly simple in design. The entire place was built on an incline, leaving a canal on the inside of the wall. All the Roofing slanted in the same way as the foundation, giving an oddly pleasing view for what is basic siege countermeasures.
The outpost, by the looks of it, is built entirely from metal and stone. Each one's arches, supports, and accents are all covered in runic scrawling. The entirety of the place managed to look rustic and futuristic at the same time.
Uniform design and an amazing aesthetic is actually the second most remarkable thing about the town. The most intriguing would be the people populating the outpost. Each one was a radically different shape or colour.
A man made from the inner blue cone of a controlled fire. A woman not made from the absence of things. A child suspended an inch above the ground, jogging upside down while walking a collection of screaming knives in the shape of a dog. These were the oddest of the passersby. The rest wore cloaks or looked almost like humans.
"Is this normal?" Asked Kirby, his voice filled with unease.
"Eh, the more dangerous the place the weirder the people. More mages and more crazies." Tien replied while guiding him through the packed streets.
As they walked the slope kept on going. Up and up and up. Until Kirby found himself looking down on the outpost. The duo were at the very top of the town, just barely looking over the walls. Seeing the sun set in the distance Tien walked up behind Kirby.
"What's got you so interested? Seeing the wild dog didn't faze you so why does the sky?"
"It's my first time seeing the sun firsthand. I've heard of it but never seen it personally."
Hearing this Tien was suitably concerned. Such a lifestyle could only be that of a blind man or captive.
"Where did you live before this?" Tien probed, audibly concerned.
"Ah, no, I was taken care of. The air was just so thick you couldn't see the sky. I was safe and healthy, the air just sucked."
They sat there for a while, watching the sun hide behind the outpost's walls.
Once the sun finally dipped out of sight, bells rang throughout the city. The ground and houses glowed, all emanating a soft, blue light from their runic carvings. That light charged the atmosphere, making the water in the air condense in dew drops.
"It's… awesome. Uncomfortable, but awesome." Kirby remarked, trying to dry out his tattered clothes. The droplets had coated his body in a thin, uncomfortable film.
"That describes this place perfectly. It's a very uncomfortable place that looks cool while also the most fortified place in all the current lands. A group of incredibly skilled mages took it upon themselves to ensure that. If I'm correct, they go by the Feng Shui and are the most ridiculous people you'll ever meet."
Hearing the name Kirby was curious. The nature of these other worlds became more and more mysterious with the mixing of earthen culture on foreign worlds.
"Ridiculous? How?"
"Whatever they do, they do it with near infinite pizzaz. They guide the fashion industry of the entirety of the known world."
"Wait, what's the difference between the current lands and the entire world?"
"What do you mean?"
"You said this outpost was the strongest in the current lands, but later referred to those Feng Shui guys as the fashion guides to the entire world. Is there a difference between the current lands and the entire world?"
Tien looked at Kirby quizzically for a moment. Only now was he taking in the absolute state he was in. Bloodied face, rags for clothes, miserable, and damp. But seeming not to care for any of it. The young man sat there, on the ground looking at the for the first time with nothing but piqued interest.
"New worlds arrive in the south, pushing the old worlds further north. The older the world, the more powerful the people. Once a people get far to powerful they stop engaging with the new worlds, those are the residents of the old world. The current world is the people who actively engage and recruit people from the new world. And the new world are the places in which people have no idea about what's going on."
"When do you think I'll know all I need to know about this place Tien?" Asked Kirby, who was beginning to feel daunted by this task.
"Ah, well, you'll never know everything you need. I'd like to know myself but there's always more."
Once they were done talking, Tien walked over to a nearby building, talking to a guard stationed out front. Kirby was still sitting down, unable to react with how fast Tien had entirely switched the situation around.
After pausing for a second he got up as well. He reached Tien just as the conversation had ended. The guard sized up Kirby as he approached and nodded, stepping aside.
As they walked forward into the building Kirby realized that it was just a hallway. A very long hallway. It stretched into the distance, entirely flat but the torches on the wall slowly dipped below the horizon.
"Where are we going?"
"To see the man in charge of all this nonsense." Tien replied, smiling with a giddish glee that was far beyond Kirby's understanding.