Shima and I slept between some trees and another day passed by. I was tired from all the walking but using [Heal] got rid of the fatigue... until the effects wore off. Today, my mana was at 175, so I had been slowly getting better. I realized that my mana probably increased with the rest of my stats when Shima attached to me.
"Alright Shima, we only have a little bit more walking before we make it to Zyphilia... let's hurry this up!" I chanted. Shima motioned upwards as if she was celebrating as well.
It was only about two hours of walking before we ended up near the entrance. The town, like Gaia, didn't have very sturdy walls like Sieve did. I also took more time to understand the layout of the city, considering I would be here for a long time.
The entrance was a simple gate with a ton of flowery meadows in between roads. They were so beautiful... white, blue, and black flowers that grew in bountiful amounts across the entirety of the circular shape the city was encased in. The weirdest part about it was watching children step on them in the fields, only for them to rise right back up to their previous standings. I almost wanted to carry one around with me.
"Oh, greetings! I see you don't have a registration band... and neither does your friend on your shoulder. Are you looking to become a recognized citizen in Zyphilia?" A man asked me. He almost reminded me of Yggdrasil in a way, but he looked a lot nicer. He wore a black suit, just like the people on Earth did if they were a part of an important business meeting.
"Uh... I plan to stay here for a while, what do you recommend?" I asked the nice man. He put his finger against his cheek and pulled up a piece of paper from the small, colorful stand he was sitting at. The stone pathway around here was a lot nicer and more colorful. It seemed to have a theme of being 'hot' colors like red, orange, and yellow.
The paper explained how the citizenship there worked. It would be a small band that could shrink into your wrist, but appear visible to everybody else who wanted to know if you were a citizen or not. I agreed to his terms and spent a little bit of the money Henry gave me to become a citizen. The man in the suit also gave on to Shima free of charge. I taught Shima to bow her head or squish her body to say thank you, and we officially walked into the city.
No matter how many times I recited it in my head, it was weird knowing that I used to think of these people as Demons. They really were just Humans, I can't believe I ignorantly looked past that.
I followed the red, orange, and yellow pathway to meet the entrance of the city. Split into two long pathways, one of 'hot' colors, and one of 'cold' colors like green, blue, and purple, all of the buildings followed that same style. The buildings looked medieval with a hint of modernity. The houses weren't simple squares but had intricate designs just like Sieve did, only these were a lot more colorful.
Small monsters above my head floated around harmlessly and they looked like an imitation of fireflies, lighting up the city when it turned to night, I assume. I love the way it looked here and almost considered permanently staying here. With such an upbeat town, it was hard to be upset at anything. There was no trash on the floors, colored houses, and roads, tons of flourishing wildlife and flowers... what a paradise!
Even if it was beautiful, I had a reason I was here. I stopped the person closest to me and asked my main question.
"Hi, I'm here to learn some alchemy or material crafting... do you know any places where I could do that?" I asked a young couple and the man offered to draw me a map with a piece of paper in the girl's backpack. I thanked them and even offered money, but they simply refused it no matter what I gave them.
He had nice drawing skills for going so fast, intricately drawing out the town's layout from our exact position to a shop on the corner of the road about two blocks away. He even drew the little meadows stuck between the two hot and cold pathways we were walking on. I complimented his talent and he got all bashful. His girlfriend seemed to be on my side about this one though. I felt bad for the guy that I was embarrassing him like that.
"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds to it. We have our destination Shima, let's get going!" I said to everybody. The girl was petting Shima as the guy was drawing the map, so she had a pre-established connection with Shima than the guy did. When walking away, Shima reacted more to her than the guy.
The couple seemed embarrassed after I called them lovebirds and I turned the corner with Shima. Almost every single person on the streets had one or more children with them. Seeing a city as exciting and upbeat as this one was a completely different take than it was on Earth. I was glad to see so many people happy after seeing everybody so distressed on Earth. Back on my original planet, it seemed like everybody was waiting to die... here, it seemed like everybody was living.
I made it to the building on the corner after walking and observing the city for a little longer and saw the door closed. If this was a shop, it would be weird to knock... so do I just walk in?
I peeked through the blinds, but even those were closed. Did I pick a bad day?...
What day is it?
I looked in the opposite direction of the door, squinting my way through the sunlight when an arm pulled me into the store.
I fell with Shima onto the floor and an old lady triumphantly smiled as I looked up at her. The store looked like a trinket store... it was a bunch of useless-looking stuff and potions on the shelves... oh my God! Was this an Astrology Shop he led me to?!
"Hello there young man! It is I! The great Alchemist Lolofaruba! Have you come to visit me to buy some items?!" She asked me with a raised voice. I don't know what I was feeling... but this was already throwing me off from the rest of the vibe of the city.