Through the gates of the city, Leon could see the houses that were made out of giant monster skulls. There was some constructions around the skulls to make it more habitable but it was definitely anything but inviting. Why would a place filled with such a dangerous scenery force the players to be level 1? He had no idea.
As he came closer, the soldiers guarding the gates began to stare at him. Leon did the same toward them as he tried to analyze the situation. They were wearing leather armors with rough looking bone weapons, there seemed to be a strange obsession with bones here yet with the way they used bricks they should at least be able to make weapons out of metal.
" Halt, you are at the capital of the Ogan kingdom, state your name, your occupation and your business here."
The older looking guard came forward to question Leon, probably because he was wearing a clean magician robe that didn't seem to fit with this world's fashion. Considering the place Leon decided to try and make himself a bit more intimidating.
" Lionheart, a wizard in search of the remain of a dragon."
The picture of the tale showed a dragon-like mountain so by mentioning those powerful beasts he was hoping to impress them and if it didn't work there was a chance that he would get some information about the mountain.
" A wizard? Yeah, right and my mother can transform dirt into gold. You might have heard a few too many fairy tales, sir Lionheart."
The guard was clearly unimpressed. Leon looked around at the houses, some of the skulls were clearly from mythical creatures so it wouldn't be too weird for a dragon to exist here and without magic there was no way they could have killed monsters that big.
For now he decided to show that he wasn't lying as he turned around to activate earth manipulation. A small window with a chant appeared in front of him, under the chant was a small explanation.
If he tried to chant the magic out loud the pronunciation didn't matter too much as long as he had the intent to activate the magic but if he tried to chant it in his mind it would require a more precise chanting that couldn't be interrupted. Leon took a deep breath to focus before trying to chant the magic in his mind.
' oh bountiful earth, heed my call and obey my command.'
As soon as he finished the simple chant a 3 feet cube of dirt started floating, listening to Leon's intent perfectly. He moved it a bit while trying to form a small wall however after 4 seconds he lost all control over it. He turned around to look at the guard.
" This should be enough to prove that I am a wizard, right?"
The guard's mouth was wide open, as if his world had just been shattered. The younger guard that was behind had a similar reaction but he recovered faster as he rushed toward Leon with a pleading gaze.
" Sir, I implore you, you have to meet duchess Lamfest. She is the only hope for us commoners and she has been desperately looking for a mage to help her."
It was at that moment that the older guard recovered to slap his colleague behind the head.
" Idiot, if the wrong person heard you your head would already be rolling."
The older guard looked at Leon, clearly warry that he would report those words to someone else.
" I don't mind helping the duchess, for a price."
While money was important this was simply to make sure he wouldn't look even more suspicious.
" Yes, of course! The duchess is, well, a duchess so she has no lack of fund. You will be pleased to meet her, it's not everyday that you get to see a noble of that rank."
The younger soldier seemed a bit simple minded so Leon took everything he said with a grain of salt.
" Right. And where can I meet duchess Lamfest?"
The innocent guard took a moment to think of how to explain things.
" You go right then on the third road you turn left and continue until you find the inn, from there you have to turn right again then turn left at the jewelry store then right at the second street… immediately left…a right at…"
He clearly was going through a very specific route in his mind as he just kept giving a giant list of directions. It took him over three minutes to finish his explanation.
" Idiot, there is no way anybody can remember all that."
" What? But I made sure to give a lot of well known landmarks, there is no way to get lost."
The older guard took a moment to think before nodding in agreement. Leon smiled a bit at their simple mindedness, he had managed to remember everything the guard said but it was still a funny scene for him.
" I should be able to find my way there. Can I enter the city?"
The two guards turned at him with questioning gazes.
" Yes? You always could. Every foreigner is welcome inside of our kingdom."
" Didn't you stop me before I could enter?"
The guard nodded before letting out a silly laugh.
" Eheheh, I looked cool doing it, didn't I?"
Leon gave him an uncertain nod as he made his way inside, the guards clearly lightened the heavy atmosphere that was around this place.
" Oh, and be careful around any knights or noble. There have been a lot of… well, just be careful."
This time the guard looked a bit more serious. Leon had no idea what to think of them but he followed the directions he was given, nearly walking through the entire city before reaching the manor of the duchess.
' I have been walking for an hour of in-game time already, luckily 3 hours in here is only 1 hour in the real world so I have around 5 hours left to deal with a high rank noble.'
He looked at the manor in front of him, feeling a bit exasperated at the path he had to take. Each buildings had the same theme of a skull being transformed into a house however the citizens all looked incredibly normal, weak even. He wanted to look at the city a bit more but he didn't know how long his talk with the duchess would take.
He walked up to the gate where someone that looked like a knight stood guard. He was wearing something that looked like a heavy armor made of bones while the gate behind him was clearly made of metal. It was a weird sight, especially for the knight of a high ranking noble, but he didn't question it.
" Greeting sir, I am Lionheart, a wizard. I was told that the duchess has been looking for one."
The knight gave him a hard stare, clearly not believing him.
" Magic, huh? There is some fairy tales talking about it but do you have a way of proving that you are a wizard?"
The ground inside of the city was a bit more organized with the road being made of rock. Earth manipulation could only move loose earth however even if he could he wouldn't have made a giant 3 feet wide hole in a road. He decided to rely on light trick, it's main use was to create light inside of dark caves but he could also create a small light show with it.
To some degree it could be called an illusion but it could only create light so if he made a box it would be a bright, flashing brown. For now he just made a simple ball of light, practicing his mind chanting.
' Oh beautiful light, please grace my sight with your presence.'
With a bright flash, a ball of light appeared on top of Leon's finger. The knight immediately jumped backward, clearly scared of whatever just happened.
" Are you alright?"
Leon made the light disappear before offering a helping hand to the man but it only scared him even more. Still, the man was a knight so he forcefully controlled his fear as he stood up, gripping his weapon tightly.
" I- I have confirmed that you are indeed a wizard. Come wi- I mean, please come with me inside. Since it is an unexpected visit it might take the duchess a while to prepare… I hope you are fine with that?"
The knight was clearly scared of Leon as he forgot all of the etiquette he had learned to be in this position.
" I am sorry to intrude so suddenly. I don't mind waiting however I have another appointment in 5 hours so if the duchess cannot be ready before then I would have to come back at another time."
Leon was a bit surprised by the words that came out of his mouth, he was used to being polite but he had never considered himself to be eloquent. He didn't think himself able to say a sentence like that.
' Does this have anything to do with the elixir I drank?'
This was the only thing he could think of, charisma was more than just pure look after all. Before he could think of something else the knight interrupted his train of thoughts.
" Yes, of course I will inform my lady of your schedule, it shouldn't take too long to confirm if she can meet you today or not."
The knight brought him inside of the giant mansion. Fitting with the rest of the city, the building was made out of giant bones held together with rocks to form something that looked like a villain's fortress. The inside, however, was completely different.
Decorated like a typical noble's house, it was filled with luxurious paintings and shiny decorations of all type. The room that the knight brought Leon in had a giant bed that looked quite fluffy along with a soft-looking red couch that was placed in front of a expertly crafted wood table.
For the first time since coming in this tale, Leon felt comfortable. He sat on the couch without hesitation as the soft feeling was fully replicated. He had never been on anything as comfortable as this in his entire life.