The "City Above The Clouds" spanned more than two hundred thousand square meters. The city was not that big, but it was just large enough for all the gods to come together as one.
The city was split into five sections, the north, east, south, and west side. Alongside these four sections was a middle section where all four sections connected.
The five sections are controlled by the five holy houses, The Supreme House, the Spirit House, the House of Valler, the House of Life, and the House of Morningstar. All of the houses represent a certain section in the city and maintain the lifestyle of the gods that lived there.
The Silver Winger Academy was the school that Zomarus and the others attended. As well as that, the Silver Winger Academy is also the most prestigious school on the south side of the city which was occupied in the House of Life.
The House of Life was not the strongest house but it was flourishing with upcoming talent. In the academy alone there were a couple of students that were strong enough to join the Supreme Court and many more on the way.
Alongside these talented people were many talentless and unwanted. Since the south was associated with the poor many around the city gathered to find work and cheap prices.
Zomarus was one of them. He came from a family that didn't want him. And at a young age, he was to take care of himself. Zomarus at an early age realized that he was not as strong as others and had to use his mind to surpass them.
Zomarus would train his body and study his mind any time he was free. After class, he would head to the library and study battle strategies and past battles.
After the beating he took from Lurtar he decided against it. Instead of the library, he headed out of the academy and towards an outside town. Students were not allowed to leave the school grounds, but Zomarus took this trip out every couple of months and thought nothing of it.
Before he exited the school grounds the sun was still only a couple of hours until it set. His trip was a long one but he took it every once and a while for a chance to meet a close friend.
From the academy, he would take a road which led to the closest town, Sugarton. Sugarton was a fairly large town that focused more on trade and entertainment. The town was an hour or two horseback ride, but Zomarus left walking which took him even longer to arrive.
Once he arrived in town it was already sunset. Most of the town was getting ready for the nightlife, but Zomarus was not there for that kind of thing. His journey would have him cross through the town and towards Lake Sugarton that was behind the woods.
Zomarus was now sixteen and seen as a young man in the eyes of the city. Normally he did not have a problem going through the city in past years, but this was different. Most people used to ignore him, however, this time he was getting stopped by beautiful women left and right.
He could not make it out of the street safety this time. Zomarus was stopped by an older woman no older than 30. She was wearing quite revealing clothing and had skin as white as snow. She grabbed Zomarus' arm and held it close to her chest.
"Hey, handsome. I could make you feel good for a while. Normally I do 50 gold an hour, but since you're so cute I'll do it for 40."
Zomarus started to blush but soon came back to reality. He shook his head and eventually got out of the beautiful woman's grasp.
"I'm sorry but I'm meeting a friend soon."
Zomarus looked up at the woman and stared at her bright blue eyes. Soon enough he began to run away from the street and towards the woods.
The woman was not satisfied as she just let a customer leave her grasp. Her arms came together as a sigh echoed around her.
At this point, the sun was nowhere to be seen as the moon came to view. The moon was full and the light coming from it could light up the entire town by itself.
Zomarus finally got through Sugarton and made his way past the forest. After the forest was an enormous lake that filled the ground. The moon shined through the clear water which lit up the lake with beautiful light.
"Looks like I've finally made it," Zomarus said with a sigh as he came closer to the lake.
Zomarus looked around and did not find a single soul around. A little part of him knew not to get too excited, but he thought something would have changed this time.
Zomarus walked around the lake and found himself in front of a tree. The tree was one of the largest near the lake that housed many trees. The trees were quite spaced apart but this tree dominated the land where none came close to it.
The tree looked very old and had a carving on it. Zomarus made his way to the tree and placed his hand on the carving. The carving was old but still visible, "Zo + Ivy".
The words on the tree were surrounded by a large heart. It was something that Zomarus made many years ago with a close friend of his. Now it's just him and the tree, no more Ivy. He was soon on the ground and began to sleep on top of some of the roots.
The next time Zomarus awoke it was morning time. He had slept the entire night underneath the large tree. It seemed like Ivy was never going to show up so Zomarus headed into the town.
Sugarton was now pretty normal with business people walking around. Zomarus had never seen the town in the morning since he would have already traveled back to the academy. The first thing in his mind was food, he had gone all afternoon without eating anything and his stomach was making that clear.
It was quite hard to find anything to eat since the gods did not need food to survive. Food was a thing only rich and powerful people could afford to dabble in. However, Zomarus needed it to survive.
"I need some food and need it fast."
Zomarus made his way around the market to find anything to eat. The market held many things but food was not one of those. It was until Zomarus could smell something delicious, it was not top-grade but it was enough for now.
He followed his nose to a little shop in the corner of the street. He opened the shop and noticed no one inside beside an old man behind the counter in.
"Do you serve food here?" Zomarus asked as he made himself towards the counter.
"Yes, we do. We also have some of the best prices above the clouds."
The older man looked very nice. He looked like someone's grandfather who gave them birthday money.
"What do you recommend here?"
"I personally love our grilled veggies. It comes with grilled carrots, peppers, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. You should have some, it's our best-seller."
Based on the look of the shop it looked like it was going to be their only seller. After hearing him out Zomarus finally understood why it was the cheapest in the city. Because it was only vegetables on the menu.
Zomarus hated to eat vegetables every day but it was the only thing he could afford. Things like meat, chicken, and fisher were expensive, especially for low tier gods.
"Sure. I'll have that."
"Coming right up! My daughter will come with a glass of water for you."
"Thanks!"
Zomarus held a fake smile until he left into the kitchen. Afterward, he let out a sigh as his stomach was about to start eating itself.
The shop was very quiet, so quiet he was scared to make a noise. The shop was very large so it surprised him to see it so empty, but then again no one would spend money on grilled vegetables. Only someone like Zomarus would do such a thing.
"Here's your water sir."
Zomarus took the water in his hand and started to thank the waitress.
"Thank you for the water."
He held the water up in the air and took a little sip from the cup.
"You… YOU'RE HIM!" The waitress said as she pointed a finger at Zomarus.
Zomarus was surprised at the loud waitress until he turned to face her. Then he would come back with an equally loud yell.
"What are you doing here!!"
The waitress was the same woman who took Zomarus' arm the night before. Her outfit was different but Zomarus could tell who she was based on her white skin and blue eyes.
Both of their screams were loud enough to be heard from all around the shop. This made the old man run back from the kitchen to check out the situation.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" The old man asked with a concerned look on his face.
"It's okay. I was just surprised since I met your daughter last night…" However, before Zomarus could finish his sentence he could see the woman shaking her head begging not to speak about the night before.
"I-I mean I met your daughter while taking a jog last night. I just couldn't believe that she would be here right now." Zomarus calmed himself and wink at his daughter.
It seemed silent after Zomarus last talked. It was almost like the old man knew what had happened. Why did she not want to say anything, maybe it was something she hadn't told her father about.
Soon the man spoke and eased up the tension. "That's wonderful. I was beginning to think Bella had no friends and was going to be alone forever." The old man had a smile on his face as he left towards the kitchen.
The awkwardness came back as Zomarus and Bella were the only ones left at the counter. Zomarus looked up at her and shook his head and took a drink from his cup.
"Why didn't you say anything to your father?"
"I plan to, but just not now," Bella said as she took a seat next to Zomarus.
"It's just that this shop isn't doing too well, and my dad just can't see it. We've needed some money for quite some time so I decided to sell myself last night, but someone didn't want to."
Zomarus looked around a little and just nodded, "Yeah, I could tell. Not a lot of people are going to come in here hoping for some veggies."
He took a little sigh before continuing, "I'm sorry to hear about your situation, but don't you think you're a little too old? I mean people might want someone younger."
At that moment Zomarus had made a mistake and had not known it yet. Bella's eyes were filled with anger as she took her hand and slapped it across Zomarus' face.
"Who are you calling old? For your information, I only just turned 25. Plus others tell me that I don't look a day over 20." Bella turned her body away from Zomarus trying not to face the little rascal.
"Wow. Must have been some blind people."
"Why you little."
But before Bella could hit Zomarus again her father had come back with a plate of grilled foods. The veggies smelled delicious, especially for something that did not contain any kind of meat.
Zomarus started to gobble down the delicious food as her father began to tell stories of his past. This was the first time that Zomarus had sat down and had a proper meal with people.
After finishing his meal he grabbed his coin bag and placed three gold coin on the counter. "Thank you very much for the food. It was delicious."
"Wait Zomarus! This is too much, the food is only 30 Silver coins."
"Don't worry about it. Just keep the change." Zomarus exited the shop with a big smile on his face as he waved back at the two.