Lorenz stopped a few yards from the entrance of the beginner village. He eyed the people milling around, noisily gossiping. He exchanged a confused look with June.
"I'll go ask," June said before disappearing into the crowd.
Lorenz waited patiently. The crowd was slowly growing as he watched, the newcomers adding to the increasing noise. Glancing to the side, he could see the two guards at the village's entrance watching the crowd as well, though their eyes were vigilant as if searching for someone.
"You would never believe it," June said, gasping as she reappeared at his side. She was looking back at the crowd with large, slightly panicked eyes.
"So?" Lorenz prodded.
"Two councilmen are dead," June whispered to him. "When the guards went to investigate, they found that they were closet mages which is suspicious."
Lorenz was bewildered.
"Why is that suspicious?" He asked, instinctively taking a step back from the crowd and gate.
"Because mages run libraries and research, and these two did neither. Rather, they were councilmen and responsible for registering citizens and organizing the town's trade." June shivered, tugging at Lorenz's sleeve to get him to walk with her.
"They said that they were killed by an ancient poison that doesn't exist anymore," June continued.
Lorenz felt his heart start beating faster.
"An old poison?" He asked, walking a bit faster.
He and June acted as if they were going to circle to another town gate. Halfway around, out of the view of the crowd, they instead entered the forest, angling back towards the road.
"I don't know what poison, but ancient poison?" June shrugged her shoulders.
"It's fishy," Lorenz agreed. "Anything else?"
"They're looking for the girl who lived with one and was taught by the other." June hunched her shoulders. "They said her name was Meghan."
*****
They decided to go their own ways. June was supposed to find people smuggling all sorts of complicated sounding items, and he needed to find a library. June had helpfully pointed him towards the largest concentration of mages that she knew of, the so-called City of Mages, Maraca.
It had taken him five game days to get here. He'd leveled up a few times from adventurer guild requests he'd gotten in villages along the way. He'd even learned more information about mages. They were truly immersed in research and only came out when they needed experience and gold to buy new research materials.
The adventurer guilds were mobbed at the mere rumor that one was going to show up. Mages were the best damage dealers when they applied themselves. That had been the best consolation Lorenz could give himself as he skirted all the offers to 'give him a profession.'
Lorenz looked up at the entrance to the city of Maraca. The gate was wide and carved out of a gleaming white stone. It looked to be all of one piece. Standing on either side were guards, yawning in the afternoon light.
Despite the immensity of the city, there were few people entering. Lorenz found that suspicious. Most of the villages and towns he'd passed through had had lines of people waiting to enter, even if you were just passing through.
"Are you entering or not?" One of the guards called to him.
"Why aren't there more people entering?" Lorenz countered.
"Past time for the suppliers, isn't it?" The guard exchanged a knowing look with his compatriot. "Just the wanderers and hopefuls now, right?"
"Suppliers?" Lorenz echoed.
Looking closely at the road that led through the gate, some minor wear could be seen. If he thought about it, the distance did seem to match what he'd seen of farm wagons on his journey. It was just that he hadn't thought that a city would have a lot of wagons heading into it.
"City needs supplies," the guard shrugged. "Can't get it all by boat since there's no river. So, wagons."
"I see," Lorenz said with a nod, though he was still feeling a bit clueless. Upon further thought, it was feasible. Even NPCs needed to eat.
"Just enter, lad; just enter," the other guard said with a laugh.
Lorenz strode forward, feeling a brief resistance as he entered the city. Behind him, he heard a shocked exclamation from the chatty guard and a 'I knew it' from the other.
He stopped and turned back, looking at the gate. He caught the flash that was dying down. Lorenz frowned thoughtfully before turning towards the rest of the city.
This was supposed to be a city of libraries. He couldn't imagine a better place to be.
*****
Cora trudged to a stop in front of the barrier to Wildeven. She eyed the moire of colors that whirled in front of her eyes. With a sigh, she walked forward. It was like walking through a soap bubble without the eye irritation.
"You're finally back," Blue said.
Cora looked up to find the leopard lounging on a half-destroyed wall. One leg was outstretched, showing off rosettes of white and grey in the late morning sun. Blue yawned, showing off an impressive set of fangs.
"You didn't tell me that it was one way!" Cora finally said.
"I thought that was obvious," Blue shot back. She blinked sleepy copper eyes. "You're not even level 10 yet. Why would you think the restrictions were going to be lifted?"
Cora paused. Her mind cast back to the moments before she used the teleportation circle. She could vaguely remember Blue saying something about a level restriction in place.
"Usually, it doesn't matter because the mayor has never been so low leveled before. It's a protection so someone can't just waltz in and strongarm you out of your position," Blue explained. "Not that that's even possible," she muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Cora asked, snapping out of her reverie.
"Nothing, nothing," Blue assured her as it stood up and stretched, muscles shifting under her blue coat. "So, did you find anything interesting in your little jaunt?"
"I found inhabitants," Cora said, walking past the wall Blue was standing on.
"That's strange. Are they invisible inhabitants? Because I'm seeing a distinct lack of intelligent beings following you," Blue asked, jumping down and following after Cora.
"I found dryads, and I'm carrying them," Cora informed her.
She stopped at the edge of the plaza, staring at the expanse of brick and grass. If she cocked her head just so, the vague impressions of pathways would appear amongst the bricks.
"I was sure that dryads were extinct. You know, you can use their blood for a variety of things," Blue said as it caught up to her. Her tail swung in annoyance. "It's nearly as bad as sky leopards."
"Sky leopards are extinct? But you're here?" Cora glanced at Blue who looked away and yawned again.
"Unlike dryads, sky leopards have teeth and fangs and an affinity for magic and aren't averse to using them to hunt down wayward mages and alchemists…and their families," Blue remarked. She stood up and sauntered to the edge of a clearing set in the middle of one end of the plaza, furthest from City Hall.
"This is where you would want to put your imaginary dryads. It's set for a grove of some sort, after all." Blue glanced back at Cora who was still blinking in shock.
"Oh, right," Cora said, hastily moving forward. She stared at the empty circle for a long moment.
It was edged with brick, those these bricks were thicker than the usual ones that edged plaza's boundaries. The ground inside was devoid of any plant life. Even weeds disdained to grow there. Cora eyed the dried ground skeptically. There didn't even seem to be a water source anywhere close.
"Just put the seeds there, and they'll grow," Blue said, sitting down next to her.
Cora sighed and pulled out the sphere that held the dryad village and the Great Treant from her inventory. She'd managed to wedge it in there after much thought. Cora didn't want to risk losing it or damaging it on her way back. The sack was still full of the plants she'd bought and harvested on her way back.
She'd been surprised to see that she'd gained a 'Harvesting' skill during her journey. Cora had expected that it would be the same as when she harvested the crops from her little field, but it turned out that gathering wild plants was an entirely different skill set.
Cora glanced at the basketball sized orb in her hand and then at the clearing. Then with a shrug, she bent down and rolled it into the clearing.
"A ball? Are you sure that what you found were dryads?" Blue asked, watching as it came to a stop in the middle of the clearing. "Then again, it did make it to the center on its own."
Cora nodded. Then they both flinched as a blast of green light burst from the globe. When they looked back, it was expanding fast until its edges met the boundary of the clearing. Then it stopped, waves of green pulsing over its surface. A timer appeared over it, showing 23:59.
"That is not a dryad," Blue remarked.
"It's an entire little village," Cora admitted. "They needed a place to hide, and we have a barrier."
Blue nodded. She stood up and walked away, her tail lazily swaying from side to side. Cora watched as she disappeared in the direction of her field…and Blue's favorite lounging tree.
Then her face changed. She'd forgotten that she'd planted some crops before leaving. Cora couldn't even remember what she'd planted. She had just wanted to leave something growing so that the time wouldn't be wasted.
She grabbed her sack and hurried after Blue. Cora cast one last look back. The timer had ticked down to 23:57.