The City of Magic was the oldest and largest city in the world, many times the size of the great Pace City. And it has been continuing to develop since a long time and up to the present time.
The City of Magic didn't care whether the mage was good or bad, weak or strong, poor or rich, if you wanted to enter there was nothing stopping you even if you were the weakest mage in the world, and you could be assured that your safety would be guaranteed as long as you were inside.
Of course, you will sometimes find some light quarrels like anywhere else, but it will not reach a point that cannot be resolved, such as killing, for example.
All this was possible due to a certain rule. That Magic City should always be under the rule of the strongest mage on the continent at that time, so a strength test was conducted every ten years to determine who would be the next master of the city. Sometimes if the master remains the strongest even after ten years, he will remain in charge as well.
Therefore, it was rare for Magic City to be attacked or rioted. Who would dare to provoke the wrath of the strongest mage on the continent?
At this time, Kotaro, Akina, and Ryota stood outside the city a few meters away from the giant gate. Above it, were the two words in a great handwriting 'Magic City'.
They had prepared themselves morally but were shocked when they saw the shape of the city before their eyes.
The three stared for a long time, and only the gate was enough to receive twenty or more chariots, not to mention the surrounding wall, which was dozens of meters high and exuded the aura of ancient wars and battles.
There were four gates to Magic City, each gate looking towards one of the four main directions, from which the three were about to enter was the eastern gate.
At the gate, 15 guards with a silver shield lined up. Seven on each side, none of them hid their level and they were all at Elementary B level and their leader was at the Higher B level.
The three walked and entered the city with the influx of people and chariots. They suppressed their level and moved forward after paying a fee of five silver coins each. This was a bit too much amount that most beginner mages would not bear, and from this it could be expected that the requirements for living within the city were big.
After crossing the gate, the first thing to look for was a source of information to help understand the structure of the city more, and fortunately the first building on the right was selling a map of Magic City and a guide for direction, and it ridiculously cost them two silver coins which left them with only one silver coin and a few dozen copper coins.
"Akina, give me the map for a moment, I'll try to analyze it and then copy it with my magic," Ryota asked and unleash his magic: "Archive magic, 'dimensional analysis'." a yellow cube appeared in front of him and from its center a digital grid spread over the map in his hands and the analysis process began.
When he finished, the yellow cube lit up with an alarm light and disappeared from the spot.
"It's over, with that we can find the fastest path to go anywhere we want," that was Ryota's goal in doing it.
"Let's walk around the city for a bit, and then we'll decide where we're going," Kotaro said as he chose a random direction and the two followed back in kind.
Just walking down the street, the three of them were discovering little by little the manifestations of Magic City and the nature of the people who lived here. The street they were on was a bit big and this was just one of many inside the city and yet it was noisy and lively the whole time.
The buildings were of varying size, from tall to large, intended for one person or many individuals. Although the character of the civilization was not as advanced as Pace City, it was also unique. Each building is distinguished in a smooth and beautiful way, forming a wonderful urban formation, with roads paved with smooth stones and trees with white flowers.
The thing that interested the three more was that most people were using their magic without restrictions and freely but provided that no one infringes on the other. There was a chef who used the magic of fire to adjust the temperature of the oven he used to cook food. Another player was performing some acrobatics with the help of wind magic, and beside him someone was drawing paintings for the visitors with his ink magic.
Each took advantage of his power to do his work in the most glamorous way to attract other people and customers, and this made the streets within the city more prosperous.
Another thing that the three of them noticed was the commercial carriages that were being pulled by strange beasts like the ones they saw in the beast forest. It seems that they were better than horses to be replaced by them.
Kotaro and the others came out of the first street after rounding around the hostels and several street vendors, and entered another. The area here was for eating only. Restaurants lined the road and the sweet smell of coal steam and fresh food drew in every passerby.
The three's stomachs made a hungry sound when they smelled the aroma of grilled meat and couldn't resist. They chose a restaurant that looked cheap and decided to eat a little to fill their stomachs, but as soon as they looked at the menu, their eyes almost popped out of their hordes. The prices were very high and the cheapest food in the shop was red squid soup with three silver coins, a little more than they had left.
"Oh...what are we going to do now? We have nothing left to eat..." Akina was groaning and hungry.
At this time, as they left the shop in disappointment, the three heard an outside voice: "You seem new here."
"Who are you?" Kotaro quickly turned toward the voice and answered with a slightly cold look.
"No need for all this caution boy, I'm just someone who wants to do his work," the middle-aged man replied and confirmed his goodwill.
"I was watching you a while ago and it seems you don't know the place well. The food sold here is cooked after picking it from the best and finest sources so you will find it a little more expensive than other places," the anonymous man honestly said, then he continued to speak with a small smile: "If you want a suitable place for how much you have, there is no harm in telling you, but… you will have to give me something in return".
"Just.. One silver coin"
"So it's not like you're a good person or something but you're just a crook bastard looking for an opportunity to rob others," Akina understood and said in annoyance.
"Hehe...Didn't I tell you at first that I wanted to do my job, and then, sweet lady, I'm not forcing you to do anything. If you don't want information, that's your business," the man's words were deceptive as he laughed discreetly.
Although they knew they had been deceived, they still paid to find a place to satisfy their hunger.
...
After eating enough, the three of them set off and this time they came to a large neighbourhood, and here they saw another strange thing that they would not forget for the rest of their lives.
"This is impossible!" The three stared in front of them with shock in their eyes. Akina and Ryota's jaws fell down and Kotaro was dumbfounded as if he had never done before.
"Do you see what I see?!" Akina was in disbelief. She pinched her cheek for too long and realized that this wasn't a dream, which confused her even more.
"What are these beings? Did Uncle Cesar tell you about them before, Kotaro?" Ryota wondered when he clearly saw these people.
"No, this is the first time I've seen something like this," Kotaro quickly replied, still surprised.
In fact, it wasn't just the three of them, everyone else who came to Magic City for the first time wouldn't be able to help themselves from their astonishment.
With animal bodies, talking and walking in two like humans, these were the things that were standing in front of the three. The arena was filled with ordinary mages as well, yet there was no racism between the two and a normal harmony could be seen between them.
Kotaro saw a person in front of him and asked him about these creatures.
"Friend, everyone who comes to Magic City asks the same thing. Those are 'Dobbins', some of them come to Magic City to work or do errands to earn money." The man smiled and said, "Their original home is far from here and none of us knows where it is, and then even if you ask them, you won't know the answer from them even if you kill them."
"Are they that proud of their country?!" Kotaro was slightly impressed.