The third graders of Kiertzche Academy walked through a dense market place, filled to the brim with wild trinkets, scary weapons and even scarier people. Led by Elias Lancer and with their teachers around, the children had nothing to be worried about, but still, the aura of powerful warriors still made for an uncomfortable air for them...well, most of them.
Matthew awed at the sight around him, powerful warriors abound, magical weapons everywhere, all the various trinkets, all the wondrous tools and the stuffed trophies of dead magical beasts took the breath from him. Had he not been here on an excursion, he would have run off immediately.
Elias stood above the crowds, leading them deeper in. "Get a move on, out of the way!" He cleared the path ahead, allowing for smooth travels.
"Calonia is split into three sectors, currently we are in the first half of the first sector, Hearth," Julius explained to the children. "The first sector is filled with market places, restaurants, food vendors and other attractions. As the sectors are like rings, the first sector is also the largest sector. On the other side of Vale is where the Adventurer's Guild is located -look! You can see a great big tree off in the distance!-, so we will have to travel through the second and third sector to get there."
Matthew immediately turned to look.
Elias scoffed, turning to Julius and giving him a toothy smirk. "No way, teacher, I'm not taking you and your brats to the center, we'll make a detour around the iron jungle."
Julius nodded, agreeing with Elias pretty easily.
"Understandable, from what I've heard "the center" is a dangerous place, right?" Julius walked alongside Elias, who gave him an unamused look.
"Stop pretending like you don't already know, old man, I'm sick and tired of your oblivious shtick," Elias glared off towards the distance.
Matthew was now extremely curious, what exactly was this "center"? And why was somebody like Elias reluctant to go near it? Raising a hand, Matthew asked exactly that.
Julius paused for a second, turning around to see Matthew. He continued to walk backwards whilst maintaining his pace. "Well, Matthew, Calonia was originally a mining zone that criminals were sent to, but some criminals broke free and used the iron abundant underground to their advantage. The center is, put simply, a remnant of that time. Its filled with criminals and though takes up a small portion of Calonia, the total population is completely unknown!"
"Huh..." was all Matthew could respond with. "Then why don't the Calonian's just get rid of it?"
Elias scoffed, side eyeing Matthew. "Its not that easy, kid. Its like trying to steal the egg of an O'Aquitaz! Hard, and even if you do it, will bring nothing but trouble."
"...What's an O'Aquitaz?" Matthew tilted his head, making Elias roll his eyes and Julius laugh.
Wiping a single tear out of his eye, Julius returned to walking normally. "You'll find out in due time, young Matthew."
They all continued their trek deeper into Calonia, leaving the wonderous market place behind and entering what the Calonian's called, The Iron Jungle. It was what Matthew had seen on the ride here, the massive pillars of iron that breached the clouds! Looking up, Matthew couldn't even see tip of the buildings, they were that big.
"Matthew! Matthew!" A tiny voice called out a bit further behind him. Turning around, Matthew vaguely saw a girl with long, glossy brown hair.
"June?"
Demitri paused to look at what Matthew was doing, "The month?"
"N-no, no, the person," Matthew awkwardly smiled, turning and shouting back to June. "Over here!"
Zayne, having grown tired of walking, was effortlessly floating above the crowd, being strung along by a rope held by Demitri. Yawning, he looked over to the girl, "June", and went back to napping. "Just a normie."
"A-a normie?! A normie dares approach me?! The great-" Prince stopped mid sentence, punctured by Matthew's gaze.
"June!" Matthew smiled brightly as she finally made it over to where he was.
June giggled, hugging Matthew as she wiped off some sweat off her brow. "Man, this place is hot!" She fanned herself with an electric toy fan. "I finally found you! Who are these guys?"
Demitri extended a hand forward, "Demitrius Fourthbringer, nice to meet you!"
The gears in June's head turned. Matthew could see the process outwardly, suppressing a smile from forming. Finally, it clicked. "Oh! You're from the big three! Aren't they like, super important?"
A thousand miles away, Gordon suddenly got a mysterious headache.
"Just a bit," Demitri was enjoying June's naivety, "oh, and these two are also from the big three. Come on, introduce yourselves!"
Zayne groaned, flipping over in the air to look at June. "Zayne Ares," he turned back around to continue napping. Annoyed, Demitri yanked on the rope, surprising him.
Lauren glanced at June, systematically assessing her for any kind of worth. Her eyes sparked for a second as she turned and actually walked towards June. Face to face with her, Lauren tilted her head and frowned. "You're weird. You aren't like any of us."
June frowned, unsure how to take this. "Thanks?"
"You aren't an elemental...an aberrant?" Lauren pierced through June with her eyes, staring not at her, but at her mana. "It's chaotic, dirty and not meant to be. Like a monster's."
This got June upset, as her face flushed red and tears were beginning to form. "I'm not a monster!"
"Lauren! Go away before I punch you again!" Matthew scowled at the aloof princess, who didn't know what she did wrong. Deciding to keep the peace, as it was the most logical conclusion, she went to where she was walking before.
Matthew apologized profusely about Lauren's behavior. Obviously, even after all this time, she hadn't changed. Matthew wanted to know why she was the way she was, but it was just so infuriating talking to her that he couldn't be bothered. "Don't take what Lauren says to heart, she's the weirdo! Honestly, I don't think she's a human, I think she's an unfeeling alien from planet zarcrom, sent by her other weirdo family members to infiltrate the school!"
June giggled at Matthew's wild imagination.
"Yeah, I agree with Matthew. Don't take what Lauren says to heart. I don't know what's happened to her, she used to be more normal, but now she's a total machine." Demitri sighed, wishing he didn't have to be friends with the two weirdest people in the school—no, the world.-. "Just ignore her, like you should ignore this lazy idiot!" he yanked on the rope once more, scaring Zayne awake once more.
"Hey!"
June laughed giddily, her previous positivity returning. "Thanks, you two, I appreciate it," she looked off to the side, at a person who had been staying nearby but out of the way. "Who's that?"
"W-well, my presence has finally been noticed!" Prince awkwardly raised his chin high, his nose inflated like a balloon. "It took you long enough, peasan-" he felt a cold stare pierce his back, "-pleasant! Pleasant person!" Prince laughed unevenly, sweat dripping down his brow. "My name is Prince!"
June squinted. 'Really?
"Yes! Really!" Prince tried to smile as charmingly as he could.
"You're funny!" June chuckled at his smile, which, to onlookers, looked like a child who put an orange in their mouth.
Matthew grinned, continuing to converse with all of his friends, including Prince, all the way through the Iron Jungle. He admired the great iron monoliths and the sight of a giant tree in the distance.
Making their way through the deluge of people, Matthew could finally see what he had been waiting for all this time. Now up close and personal, Matthew could see how grand the great oak truly was.
Surrounded by great steel protrusions was a great and massive tree, it's roots penetrating the iron around and its branches reaching high into the sky! It's verdant leaves shimmered in the light of the setting sun, casting dancing shadows all around and creating a mesmerizing sight.
At the base of the tree, two giant doors were opened, revealing a massive open inside filled with even more people.
Elias groaned as he noticed six other people leaning on the tree, eyeing him hard. He cracked his knuckles and approached. He and the intimidating individuals had an intense stare down, the tension as thick as a Krolizic's mucus. The tallest of the men loomed over Elias, swinging his arm down hard and fast, followed by a resounding CLAP.
"What took ya so long, Captain?" The gruff man smiled from ear to ear, shaking Elias' hand and bringing him into a mighty bear hug. "We's almost went and got food without ya!"
Elias patted the man on the back and easily forced himself out of the deathly embrace.
"Easy, Graffar, I took so long cuz I was busy baby sitting," he pointed at the long line of 8 year olds behind him. Turning around to face them, Elias grinned. "Alright you brats, take it all in, you've finally arrived at the Adventurer's Guild."
Matthew was vibrating with excitement, stars bursting in his eyes. 'OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH.'