A day had passed since he played the game, as Nier was gazing outside the window sitting in a car, it was a beautiful sight as lush green mountains with alpenglow passed his view.
"We have reached your destination, Montown"
Hearing the driver, Nier exited the taxi and gave the driver his fee as he realized they were on the outskirts of the town. They were currently in the middle of a mountain road.
On their right was a plateau range that seemed to extend much further to more mountains and on their left was a gentle slope that rose from their viewpoints and a dirt road which Nier followed with his gaze up towards the horizon and saw short walls.
Looking towards the bank of the road, a banner stood that read 'Welcome to Monlands" and below that "Montown 500 meters up ahead ".
Nier picked up his backpack and glanced towards the driver who stood in silence counting the money.
In Zelrun, while technology was present, it was only for things that the common mages are unable to achieve. for example - while AI existed, no advanced aeroplane did, because people can just rent or capture a flying magic beast with portable cabins tied to them, Not only is that much faster but very user friendly as the beasts can even protect them and they didn't need to do anything.
The same problem existed for cars and taxi drivers, people who can afford mounts or train on their own didn't need them since the mounts were much faster when using their magic and there were countless treasures for travel that needed no drivers anyway.
One can argue that why not blend both? people in fact do that. for example. Electronic systems were set and then run by lightning mages together with the natural resources providing nearly endless electricity. Rockets are built with the help of magic and science.
These are just some examples, but these ideas work because not everyone has fire element to cook food, get light, not everyone has space element or wind element to survive in space and not everyone has achieved godly power and amount of mana that enables them to live without needs like other sources.
In truth, it was only in recent years that mana less technology advanced. It was advertised towards poorer people. Rich also had them but not for business.
But sadly for the Drivers, they are usually weak to capture and train the fast mounts and as result, poor to get resources for powering up. they could still train, collect mana from surroundings and rise in order, but it takes time. Compared to the rich and mighty who used expensive mana crystals as a shortcut and got good training from elders.
This was a cycle in which the weak and poor suffered and only a lucky few left their struggle filled life to achieve the stars.
When he first saw Nier looking for a taxi in the evening. The Driver immediately offered him a ride. But they soon got in an argument as Nier started bargaining....again.
"Look kid, Taxies are already quite cheap and you want to go to Montown, that's 350 kilometres from here, it'll take much more than 3 and a half hours to reach there because of those cliff roads there and that in the night with a dark vision, please try to understand my predicament"
"Don't teach me the problems of poverty now, besides you guys aren't that "poor", most of everyone else is just much more. And if you are taking the deal that way, then you should take any offer I give. I'm also like you, just got to E rank in my guild and then got bullied, my aunt is sick and my sister is missing in Marshkell. I mean look at this! and guess what! I am spending all that money for you" Nier suddenly started shouting about his own 'problems-which-may-or-may-not-be-made-up' guilt-tripping the driver and pulled back the sleeves of his hoodie.
Looking at his uncovered arms, the driver immediately thought of a 'shatter mirror joined together'. It seemed like patches of pale skin holding on to each other as a layer of inner skin held them all.
Soon the driver gave up and lowered his price, Nier entered the cab and didn't sleep throughout the journey being paranoid, ready for any possible problem.
___________End of flashback_____________
The driver was going to ask Nier for more one last time but before he could even say something- Nier suddenly jabbed his neck rendering the man unconscious.
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Montown was a small city built on the mountains in the middle part of the Koral Border Mountain range, which was a range that separated the South-Eastern coast and the mainland of the Maia Kingdom, The Kingdom of Mountains.
It was built on a large open patch of area, there weren't any mighty walls surrounding it since the mountains acted like one but just a short wall.
'So inside that Rockwall is Montown and this whole field is Monland' Nier concluded.
As Nier walked up the gentle slope, he could see the green fields filled with colourful crops and realized they would be cut next month lest some tragedy happens.
For a moment, he stopped walking, lifted a little of his mask, forgot his drowsiness as he took brisk forest air up his lungs and just marvelled at his captivating surroundings as gazed Up-West where the rock wall was located.
The sloping plain seemed to become less and less tilted the further he looked towards the South and saw a flushed forest in the horizon and further behind which were large beautiful Mountains.
It was the same for the North, and down towards the East was the road and the straight Plateau range behind it, on top of which was a forest and the mountains on the horizon. He felt like it created a sort of D where the | part are the plateaus and curve part the mountains and he was in between.
On both sides of the road were crops that seemed to fill the green grassy plain with a variety of colours, a bucolic landscape. It was just breathtaking to him...soon a captivating peaceful smile came upon his face which would shock everyone who knew him...everyone alive who knew him except some.
'The Mountains are great as ever, I have finally seen the beautiful scenery of Monlands.....guys" Nier muttered particularly to no one while the expression on his face was unreadable.
Nier was someone who experienced yūgen in every beautiful scenery he saw, he was someone who loved such sceneries especially the skies filled with stars in a clear night.
After taking in the air for some time he reached the city gates which were open and guarded.
"Show a token of entrance" the city guard demanded in a monotone voice.
The "token" was something he was given when they reached the start of the mountain ranges on a narrow valley floor. The mountains acted as a natural wall for most of the kingdom and were constantly monitored by the Maiaricorn army in case of an invasion.
Security checks were thus done before someone can even enter inside, the tokens were then given as proof, if someone entered any public place or met some official before they reached borders of the 'Guardian's Lair' and did not show a token, they'd be captured.
Nier took out a paper while activating his ability and gave it to the guard who suddenly conjured fire in his palm and burned the paper away, Nier wasn't surprised having already seen the guard condensing mana in his hand with his ability but was still shocked-
"So what now? I thought I'll have to show this in every other town for entrance? why did the system change? while this is my first time entering from outside, my guardian told me once that the tokens were used as I mentioned"
"That's confidential information you need not know, you can go inside" the guard replied indifferently to which Nier didn't react but concluded various scenarios in his mind.
Entering the city, Nier saw that it was a rather quiet place and few people wearing wandered on the streets, it was a really small town, a lot of stalls were set and stone houses were built with tilted roofs on the sides of the road which seemed to reach a large mansion.
He went to a bystander and asked "Is there a good place to stay here, for some hours?"
The women pointed to a building. Nier reached it, immediately rented a room and jumped on the bed to take a nap as he got a dream...
When he opened his eyes, he was leaning against a tree in an open grassy plain looking at the clouds when-
"BIG BROOOO! HELP ME!" a redhead girl came running to him
"What happened Lina? why are running?"
"Big bro Traicion is trying to catch me and Big brother Llenar is going to beat me, please stop him"
"And why? are you causing trouble now that we are going on a trip?"
"Hic....it wasn't my faul..hic"
"Elder Brother Traicion won't do anything to you, don't worry... he's a nice guy, As for Llenar, don't worry...because I'm here"
The redhead girl's tears slowed as hugged the boy hearing his comforting words-
"NIER! LINA! come here, we are getting late!" A beautiful woman called out to them as she came and took Lina in her carry and rubbed her back while using sweet words for calming her down completely.
She then beckoned Nier to follow her. Following her young Nier soon reached a place crowded with children and then-
"WHOA!!!" Sparkles came in his and Lina's eyes as they saw a giant bird whose each wing in the full spread was 35 meters long eating food.
"Are we going on that!?" he asked with excitement
"Yes," Deena answered happily seeing their smile.
An ecstatic smile came on Nier's face as he imagined the thrill. They reached the little crowd of kids, some kids were crying afraid of the scary red bird, some did not even know they were going for a trip and just wanted toffees, some had smiles on their face but all of them got sparkles in their eyes when they saw Nier and ran to him.
After some talking, they entered the carriage on the back of the bird and after a thrilling ride, they reached a town on a mountain top and all of them exited the carriage not before being forced to wear appropriate clothing considering the weather.
They were told to get in proper line and started entering the city gates not before a middle-aged man gave a handful of coins and a token to the city guards.
"Renz, what is that token?" Nier asked curious about the token.
"Oh Nier, it's a token one must always have if they are in the mountains" Renley answered with a smile
After they entered the town, they started exploring it, playing games with each other and sleeping when they were tired and then left for camping leaving luggage behind.
They reached a good spot and Renley, stopped and took out a cube from his jacket. The cube then expanded and he took out a tent from it and set it up. They also set a fire and sat near as the night approached.
On a cliff near the camp, 7 kids were sitting and watching the glowing night sky filled with countless stars, it was beautiful and mystifying, they were not able to describe just how beautiful it was.
"That's so beautiful" a black-haired kid muttered as he saw the sky.
"Yeah, there are so many stars...are they all our grannies and grandpas"? Lina asked innocently as she saw the stars
"Nah, it's the space between them, that's beautiful" the black-haired - Llenar argued
"No, GRANNYS ARE THE BEST!" Lina shouted, apparently they had got in a strife.
"Stop it kids" A red-haired youth - Traicion tried to calm them but failed ultimately.
"Let me tell you a fun fact, the stars we see might have already exploded, we merely see the light they project and their explosion is called a supernova, I'll name my surname around that" Nier flaunted his knowledge with a grin.
"WHAT!? you mean all my ancestors have exploded!?" Lina shouted absolutely horrified.
Their banter continued before Traicion ultimately calmed them down
"Still this is beautiful isn't it?" Lina asked and everyone nodded.
"Then, when we grow up...we'll go and travel the world together! that's a promise"
all of the kids nodded with a smile
"Yeah!" Nier also smiled ready for his adventures in the future
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"B̸͚͖͉̍̍̊u̵̪͎̠̔͑͘t̵͈̗̤̅ ̸̧̪͕͛͗i̴̧̇̆t̶̢̻̗̆͛'̶͉̊͌͝s̵̡̫̲̆̏̕ ̷̥̎͑͘a̴̲̒̍̆ ̴̧͙͇͊͑p̷̟͙͆̄ĩ̵̩t̴͙͗̇͝y̶̳̖̟̅͂͊,̶̧͂͝ ̶̥͎̬͑ĩ̵̺͈̙ś̸̩̙̩͝n̵̹̭̎̔͝ͅ'̷͖̲̘̈͊t̸̖̜̯̕ ̷͓͓̈́i̶̼͝ţ̶̠͒͠?̴͓͛̆̔"
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Suddenly as Nier blinked, he realized he was no longer on the cliff but in a red pool as he heard distorted voices mixed together-
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"T̸̢̨̨̧̛͉̯͖̱̜͖̘̠̯̖̜̘̱̪̰̪̖̫͔̹̬͍͈̺̘͈̟͙͎̤̩̣̼͎̓͂̿̓̑̌͌̾̔̔̃͛̒͋̊̀̑̃̎̑́̈́̑̄̈̀̈̓̉͑̊̅̕̕͝͠ͅH̷̢̨̛̛̪̱͔͓̙̥̤͓͓̞͚̦͈͉̬͇͚̩̜͙̭̭̹̰͖̖͉͓͇̘͕̖͈̱̦͓̼̋̾̈́̌̊͋͒̅̀̑̂̏̓́̋̂͐̿̂̋͗͐́̃͂̊̋̔͌̾̒̿̀̈́͐͛̔̐̚̕͘̕̕͠͝͝͠ͅͅÄ̴̢̨̛̛̛̫͓̝̙̹͖̤͉͇̞͈̤̻̝̣͚̬̣͔̳̮̲͙̼͙̦̙͔̩͖̘̫͍́̃͂̈́̃̐̄͂̓̍̊̍̐̊̋̈́̎̈́̐̀͗͒́͆̃̾͐̍͊͛̂̚̕͘̚̚͝͠͝͝Ţ̷̥͕̮̉̈́͋̔̏̄͋̆̿͌͛͌̇̈́̒̄̈́͋̒́͗̚͝͠ ̴̢̛̝̥͛͊̐̒̈́̈́͊̐̄͗̽̿͑͑̉̓͝͠͠Y̶̢̡̧̡̨̛̼͙̖̜͔̰͓̭̤̦̖̙̱̰̺̺͍̭͎̪̙͓̲͉̪̯̜̮̭͈̣̥̝̮͋́̽͜͜ͅͅO̷̧̢̨̫̗͈̹̼͕̥̭͔̲̮͚̝͗̅̃͜Ư̷̢̧͕̦̝̱͓̯͈̜͙̣̈́̉̌̀́̇͛̔̃́͛̊̈͝͝ ̷̨̡̧̛̛̰̼̮̰̳̖̦̭̠̥̳̹̪̻͚͍̹̱̮̦̹̟́̋͒̃̔̒̊̈́̊̍̽̐̿͗̌͒́̒͊̄̾͊̑͗̈̊̒̏̓̈́̒̏̈͊͒̎͒̉̚͝͝ͅḴ̵̢̢̡̢̧̛̘̺̩̮̳͖͎͇̩͔̯̼̟̱̬͈̫̲̫͙͕̳̜̖̱̦͖̥̤͚̖̤̖̩̱͔̰̩͎̝͍̐͗̉̈̄̈́͌̂́̀̀͑͐͆̀̈́͆̍̇͑͛̌̈́̒̈́̀̀̓̎̽̔̀̇͋́̽̚̚͠͠͝ͅͅͅI̸̢̡̡̢̨̨̨̛͈̟̰̞͉̟̟̠̬̻̮̜͉̹͓̙̮̦͔͆͌̆͑̆̌͋̎͊̽͂͂̍̑͛̓̊͒̀͌͑͐̀̒̉̈́̉̊̎̈́͒͐̾͐̈́́͗͐͘̚̕͜͜͝͝ͅĻ̵̢̨̧̨̡̧̡͓͖͇̠̘̪̬̬͈̣̳͉̼̼̗̰̗̰̮͙͓̙̗̣̳̭̱̮͚̩̫̤̱̰͙̣̏̐̊́͊͐̈́̐͆̌͌̏͜͝ͅͅĻ̸̛̛̱̭̳̩̙̪̬̺̩͇͈̻̱̩̲̮̩̰̤̮̩̺̗̗̱͖̈́̈́̄̒̏̍̔̎̉̉̎̐̿̋̂̾̉̈́̐̍͋́̏̌͊̓͌̕͘͜͝͠͠ͅẼ̷̢̧̧̡̡̛̗̙̙̻̹͔̗̫̟̤̟̹͈̳̳̗̞̰̜̭͖͕̘͉͇̺͌͛͊̽͆̉͗͂͒̓͗̈́͋̂̈́̅̆̍̂̑͑̈́͑̾͗̕D̵̛̺̽̎́͐̀̈́̾̈́̔͂̃͊̇̋̃̃̎́̒̑̋̀̒̒̑̽͒̑͒̈̕̚͘͝͝ ̵̧̨̢̨̢̡̧̛̺͙̪͚̩̤̟͍͍̭͈̣̫͇̺̖̟̫̖̜͈̤̭͓͇̗͎͇̱͕͕͖̺͚̯̹͎̺͕̾̿̄͛̉̀̄̃́͛͗̀͗͂̓̆̀͑̒̔̍̈̄̋͗̈̂̽̿͑̏̾͆͆̿̀̿̋͊́͘̚̕̕͠͠͝Ứ̴̡̢̡̛͍͉̖̝̞̠̮̹͉͚̲̬̤̣̼͍̗̘̯̣͖̜̤̻̺̩̬͙̪̯̠͍͉͖͔̙̙̭̭̗̻͑̊̉͑͐͂̃̓̇̒͋͗̓̅̚̕͜͠͝ͅS̶̡̡̧̛̟̤̱̪̱̭̫͈͚͚̟̲͚̟͕̠̗͎̘͙̫̥̤̾̓̇͐͊̊̅̀̊̐͌̀̎͋̀̏̆̄̀̉͆̍͂̀̀͆̕͘̚̚͜͜͝͠͝͠ͅͅ"
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"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!".
(A/N: sorry for the info dump in this, I wanted to inform you a little about the technological advancement of the Kingdom. I know a lot of things are unanswered and I waste time, but please don't get angry...I'm making situations where such info comes naturally. So later on, it would be a little faster paced, I'm just a noob and I'll try my best to make it more efficient...you can ask any questions and I'll try to answer them and tell me your thoughts on your experience:))