As we approached the gate, the guards stopped us, asking for entry id's. In order to enter the city, you had to have an id paper or plaque. Plaques were permanent and often issued to people of high standing, whereas papers needed to be updated every few years. Children under the age of 15 were not required to carry papers if they had a parent with them.
My father opened a small compartment which held his paperbook, and pulled out his certificates for entry and vending. "These monsters of yours won't be making any trouble, will they?" Asked a guard "No Sir, trained them real well for almost 20 years now". One of the two guards was quite nervous, grasping the hilt of his sword as if ready to pull it out, and gazing intently at Fo. Fo blew air from his nostrils at the guards face, surprising him enough that he fell backwards and tripped. "What are you doing newbie?" Asked a disembodied voice. We turned to the direction of the voice, where a tall, slender man stood, adorned with quite lavish clothing for a civilian. He had both a wand holster on his belly, and a sword scabbard on his hip. He appeared only around his late 40's except for his balding gray hair. He would look quite intimidating if not for his friendly smile, an appearance seemingly shocking to the guards present. My father unlocked the door to the wagon and stepped out, greeting the man. "It's good to see you, old friend" My father said, grasping hold of his hand and pulling in for a short hug. The man said "Who are you calling old? I'm only 45!" he laughed "Maybe the stress of the job is getting to me. Hey, let these guys through already, you're blocking the way!" he said, signalling the guards, who lifted the gate, letting us in. May and Fo moved the wagon into a space just behind the wall and we parked. There's a small trough nearby that they both could get a well deserved drink of water from. My father and the man walked over to us, and I got out of the wagon, immediately falling down after not walking in a day. I got up immediately and went to greet the man. "Hello mister, you know my Dad?" I asked "Well, yes I do, Klay, and I know you too" he said in a chuckle "I'm your godfather after all. You can call me Uncle Chuck, but the lazy staff around here call me Warden. I run this side of the wall, but I used to be an adventurer. In fact, I trained and adventured with your mom and dad when they were youngins". I marveled at the man. I have never met another adventurer besides my parents and the man standing before me reminded me of heros I'd read about in books. I wanted to ask him so many questions but- "Warden, you're needed at the gate" said a guard. Uncle Chuck looked to me and said "Why don't we catch up later, okay Klay?" I replied "Okay Uncle!" before he slapped my dad on the back and walked away to the gate. My dad walked over to me, rubbing his back "So what'd you think of your Uncle Chuck?" he asked. "He's so cool! He acts just like you even though he looks like the village's elders." my father laughed hard at my response before telling me "Alright son, let's go find an inn and get settled in." we climbed into the wagon, then set off down the street to the market district. It was full of so many vendors selling so many goods from all over the world. "Dad, can I go look at the vendors?" I asked. "Later boy, we'll be setting up our own soon enough". As we passed by the vendors, we reached the business district. My dad turned down an alley, then took a left to a small shop that hides in the shade of the buildings around it. He parked the wagon on the side of the road and got out. "Wait here" he said "I won't be much more than 5 minutes". I waited in the wagon for a while until he came out with a key attached to a wood block and said to May and Fo "Alright guys, we're staying in number 4 this year" and they us to the back of the building where there was a set of pens for animals with hay feeders and water troughs inside. My dad unlocked the door to the pen and unhooked the harness on each of them, leading them into the pen. He locked the pen once they were in and said "Behave, alright? Not that I have to tell you guys. It's the boy I'm more worried about" He hugged both May and Fo, leading his head in and saying bye to both of them. We headed inside the building, where there was a bar with many tables and booths, all holding shady looking characters. the bartender was a stout woman who seemed quite strong with her hair tied back and a bandana covering the top of her head. She looked at us and said "Is this your boy, Markus? He's a sprout, just like you". She said with a snort. "Hey there little guy, come up and sit at the bar here". I did as she instructed. She poured a glass of cream, honey, and fruit, mixed it really well, then cast a spell upon the fluid, causing it to slowly freeze as she mixed it. "Here you are boy, it's on the house" she said, handing me a spoon. I had never eaten something so tasty. I gobbled it down, enjoying the creamy texture and sweet taste until.. "Agh, it hurts! Why does the dessert hate me?!". She laughed at me experiencing my first brain freeze and said "Don't eat it so fast next time. Put your thumb up against the roof of your mouth." I did so, and the pain slowly went away. Of course, I went right back in for more, and immediately got my brain freeze again. After finishing the dessert, I thanked the bartender lady, then traveled upstairs to our room. We opened the room. It was a normal room with a single bed, a dresser, and a small table with 2 chairs. We unpacked our things and immediately left the room to head to the market. We met our Wagon and my dad lifted it, pulling it along as we walked toward the marketplace. We traveled down the market until we found an empty spot, and my dad parked the wagon. He pulled out a large carpet from the wagon and began setting up. "This'll be a while. Why don't you go look at the other vendors? Just stay close!" Upon my father saying this, I took off down the street, looking at all the vendors and their goods. The first vendor I saw was selling icecream, just like the dessert I had at the Inn, but he had a lot of flavours. I passed by and saw a man selling a bunch of fried foods, some of animals I'd never even heard of. "Free samples!" He yelled aloud "Here, boy, take one" he handed me a small stick with some fried meat on the end. It was very tasty, but also rubbery. I bought 2 more larger fried squid from the vendor using some of the pocket money my dad gave me and enjoyed them as I traveled down the market. People sold clothes, weapons, wands, plants, and even monsters. A vendor selling 4 caged, infant monsters was there. As I approached, the merchant said "No, child, don't come any closer. This creatures can be quite violent, and are very expensive. I wouldn't want you getting hurt and having them put down." Frowning, I moved onto the next vendor, which sold magical materials. The vendor was surrounded by people: Noblemen, blacksmiths, commonfolk. I even saw a Dwarven man , which I had never seen before. I looked through the crowd and saw all kinds of materials. There were raw ores, ingots, gems, and wood. All were apparently magical materials which boasted magical properties. I wasn't very interested in rocks and wood, so I moved on to the next vendor that sold nothing, but apparently could teach basic spellcraft. Interested, I approached the lady manning the stand. "Hey there boy, do you wanna learn some magic?" she said, smiling. She was quite a beautiful woman, tall, slender, with light blonde hair and pointed ears. If she was a high human like me, I would've said she was in her 20's. "I've traveled all over the world learning magic and teaching it to people. Come, sit, I'll teach you a spell for free". I sat down on a pillow seat she had prepared. She asked "Do you know any magic yet?". I held out my hand and invoked the spell my father had taught me yesterday, summoning a small flame. "Wow, how impressive for someone your age to know how to cast a spell. Well, that makes things a lot easier." she said. "Now, as you know, you expend internal mana to direct a spell, but if you overdo it or run out of mana, you could end up passing out, which is why you need to increase your internal mana capacity. This is done by incorporating magicules into your body. The easiest way to do this is eating magical foods, but they're very rare and expensive, so the next best thing is breathing in magicules from the air, and directing them into your blood. You've been doing this naturally your whole life, but without doing it consciously, it's very inefficient. Here, grab my hand" She commanded. I grabbed onto her hand "Ptent Uaw" she said aloud, and a sort of dust appeared in my hand, slowly accumulating. "Now breath it in". I did as she said, and began coughing. "Your lungs absorb the magicules and put them in your blood stream. You will feel later tonight a surge of power in your chest. You should only use this spell once a day, otherwise you may damage your lungs."
I talked to the woman for hours on end, or rather, she talked to me. She told me all about magic theory and how to practice magic, the different types of magic, and how creatures and plants use them in nature. "The magicules you absorbed today were inactive. They cannot perform internal magic, only hold onto mana. In order to incorporate active magicules into your body, you need to learn an advanced spell for directing them from the air into your body. The spell I taught you earlier works by essentially breaking the surrounding magicules so you can breath them in. I can teach you this advanced spell, but I'll have to charge you. Perhaps you can come back tomorrow." Before I knew it, the sun had began to set on the city, and I bid a farewell to the magic teacher before running to the wagon. My dad was in the middle of packing up when he saw me "You must have had quite an adventure!" he said "Where've you been all day?" I told him "I met a lady who was teaching magic!". He frowned "You didn't spend all your money on that, did you? I can always teach you spells, Klay". I told him "No, she didn't charge me at all. I think she just wanted someone to talk to. Everyone was distracted by a magical material salesman." Yawning, my dad finished packing up his things and said "Get in the wagon, I'll carry you to the inn. You look tired." I did as he said. By the time we got back to the inn, night had fallen. My dad managed to sell all the perishable goods and some of the pots, pans, and tools. We retired upstairs and got in bed. I passed out almost immediately, and my dad gave me a hug, told me "Goodnight, son" before falling asleep.