*Whoosh*
"Hey! Slow down, Gracie is sleeping!" Maeve shouted while being carried by Ace.
"Oh… I am sorry about that…" Ace replied as he slowed down. They both turned to Gracie and saw her sleeping without the care of the world.
"Doesn't she look too tired?" Ace questioned.
"Of course she will be tired, even I feel somewhat dizzy when we came out of that portal. How can she not be tired? I'd be more worried if she wasn't." Maeve answered and Ace nodded with an uncertain look.
'Ahh! Forget it!' He thought inwardly.
"Hey! Look! There is a village there! Let's land" Maeve shouted as she saw a village in front of her.
Ace landed and Maeve jumped from his arms.
"We should ask around and find out if they know anything about any sects here" Maeve suggested to which Ace nodded.
They entered the town and gained a lot of attention. Their looks were otherworldly and the clothes they wore were too extravagant. Even though they wore the worse clothing they had with them, they gained a lot of attention.
"Are they nobles?"
"I have seen many nobles in the city but I have never seen anyone having this grand aura"
"Maybe they are from the capital?"
"But why would they be in our city?"
"Who knows…"
Ace heard everyone talking about them but furrowed his brow when he heard something.
'This is a city?' he thought inwardly.
Ace looked around and called out a random dude.
"Hey! You there!" Ace moved his hand, signaling him to come over here.
The man looked around but others turned their head as if they didn't know him, sighing helplessly, he came forward.
"Is there anything I can help you with, your grace?" He questioned with a bow.
"We are here for a sect but I forgot its name, is there any sect nearby?" Ace questioned.
"Umm… your grace, there are many sects in the inner city, I can't tell which sect are you referring to, please forgive me" He answered as he trembled.
"This is an outer city?" Ace questioned.
The man looked at him with surprise but he answered quickly.
"Your grace, just like every city in our kingdom, our Espade city is also divided into inner and outer city. The mages live in the inner city, and the normal people live in the outer city"
"Ahh… that explains it" Ace muttered as he looked around.
He guessed this was a village because of how it looked like, the people wore very low-quality clothes, the roads were made of mud and were littered, dust was flying all over the place while the stalls on either side of the road had poor conditions.
"Can you tell us how can we enter the inner city?" Ace insisted.
"With pleasure your grace, please, follow me," The dude answered and walked ahead.
Ace and Maeve followed him. It took them 30 minutes of walk before Ace saw a huge door with guards guarding it.
"This is as far as I can take you to, your grace" The dude bowed.
"Oh, thank you" Ace replied and walked towards the door.
The person's face changed and he questioned, "Y-you… are leaving your grace?"
"Well, yeah, is there anything else you want?" Ace questioned.
"Oh… uh… nothing… I will take my leave then" he answered and walked away.
Ace smiled inwardly as he saw his walking figure.
'Well, even I am broke right now, dude. I do have some toys and diapers but there is no way I could give that to you' he thought before he walked towards the gate.
"Hey! Stop you two! You have to pay 3 copper coins to enter the inner city" One of the guards called them out.
"We do-"
"Well, we don't have any money, I am sure you can let us go, right?" Ace tried to answer but Maeve interrupted him and asked with a smile.
"We can let you go this one-time" The guard answered like a robot as his eyes turned dim.
Maeve's smiled while Ace sighed.
They walked into the inner city and Ace spoke with a wry smile.
"You didn't have to use Soul element on him…"
"Well, it saves time" Maeve shrugged while patting Gracie's head who was sleeping calmly.
Ace continued walking while Maeve followed after him.
"Well, at least this looks like a city…"
He muttered as he looked around. The inner city was very clean compared to the outer city, people wore comparably better clothes, the roads were made of cement, while there were no stalls, and there were cement shops that were painted in different colors.
The city didn't look specifically majestic, but it was a lot better than the outer city.
"Which sect should we join?" Ace questioned.
"How about the weakest one?" Maeve suggested.
"Why the weakest?" Ace questioned.
"The weaker they are, the less troubling it is for us"
"But what if the other sects tried to bully them?"
"Well, that is true… how about we join a random mediocre sect?"
"Mhm… that sounds good" Ace nodded and they walked towards a random woman.
People in the inner city were bolder than in the outer city. Many gave Maeve a second look, while some even whistled at her.
Ace remained calm every time that happened, but Maeve knew better.
Every single person who whistled at Maeve had the air around them moving weirdly.
She knew that Ace has already done what he wanted. It was like a curse, in few hours, the air around them will move and will act as a barrier to prevent normal air from coming inside.
Those people will die from lack of air and no one will know how they died, not even the targets themselves.
"Hello miss, I am new here. Can you help me out?" Ace questioned in a polite tone.
"Umm… ah… um… yea… w-what do you need?" The woman sputtered, she had a small blush on her cheeks, as she was taken back by Ace's good looks.
"I am searching for a sect, it doesn't have to be any top sect, any mediocre will do. Do you mind telling me if any such sect comes to your mind?" Ace questioned.
"Ah… you must be blessed by heavens as Inferno Sword Sect is taking in disciples today…" The lady answered.
"Can miss tell me where the sect is?" Ace requested.
"I-I can take you there… it won't be a problem…" The lady answered with a flustered look.
"Then I will thank you in advance" Ace replied, the lady nodded and walked after signaling him to follow her.
"So… where are you from handsome brother…?" The lady questioned as they walked.
"*Cough* *Cough*" Maeve coughed in annoyance as she was completely ignored.
"Oh, how impolite of me, let me introduce myself, My name is Ace Vorste, this is my wife, Maeve Vorste and the one sleeping cutely is my daughter, Gracie Vorste. We came from a place far away and I would prefer if we don't talk about it" Ace answered.
"Maya Vorste…. Hehe~" The lady muttered, as she giggled silently.
"Sorry?"
"Oh, I mean, I am Maya Jolte, nice to meet you" She introduced herself.
"Pleasure is all mine" Ace replied.
Maya giggled in response as they walked towards the sect.
Maya was a cheerful type as she talked a lot.
She definitely had above average looks. Her black hair, green eyes, thin eyebrows, small nose, pink lips combined with a blush on her face made her look like an angel. She had a petite body which combined with her cheerful nature made her look especially cute.
"I am a 5th layer water mage and am a disciple of Gracious Flower Sect, one of the top 4 sects" She informed.
"Wait… did you just say you are a 5th layer water mage?" Maeve who was staying silent questioned.
"Hmm? Yeah. Is there any problem?" Maya questioned back.
Maeve looked at Ace who looked as surprised as she was.
5th layer? The elemental Qi in this world wasn't enough to even enter the 3rd layer, how is she at the 5th layer?
"Are you sure?" Ace questioned.
"Yea…? Why are you 2 so surprised? Though there might not be many 5th layer mages of the same age as mine, it isn't something to be that surprised of" She replied.
"If you don't mind, can you show it to us?" Ace requested.
"I don't mind" Maya answered and closed her eyes.
The water Qi in the air turned restless and rushed towards Maya. This was a common way to show your realm. The higher the density of the elemental Qi around the mage, the higher the mage's realm.
Maya opened her eyes and exclaimed, "See? Are you satisfied?"
Maeve and Ace again exchanged looks both having the same thoughts.
This wasn't even the second layer, why is she saying that she reached the 5th layer? But Judging by her expression, it doesn't look like she was lying either.
"Um… I know this might sound weird, but... can you tell me about the elemental basics?" Ace questioned with an awkward look.
"Don't tell me you don't even know the basics. How will you enter the Inferno Sword Sect?" She questioned worriedly.
"Well, the elemental basics here aren't similar to where we hail from…" Ace answered awkwardly.