As I passed through the rotary door leading outside from the museum floor, my nose was instantly bombarded with the unforgettable smell of a festival. Making my way down several flights of stairs and ramps before reaching the main street that ran all the way to the outside of the enormous city.
Stalls lined each side of the street. Food, games and entertainment started today, with a large celebration occurring tonight to usher in the New Year.
This year would be a little different, thanks to the 'Marksmen Festival' delay. Normally this would follow Heroes Giving, with a few weeks rest until New Years afterwards, and the arrival of the season of Rise.
Luckily, thanks to the new coat, the cool weather is no longer something I have to worry about.
The same could not be said for the rest of my 'clothes', consisting of weighted training gear on my knees, ankles, elbows and wrists. Master Naji insisted on me wearing them until the night before the Marksman qualifiers began, which starts three full days before the full tournament kicks off in a week.
From bards to brew stands, distinguishing a conversation next became increasingly hard the further I traveled down the sloped road. Looking around, it was obvious I wouldn't be able to use magic and speed up my journey through the crowded street.
"Touji! Hey Touji! Over here!"
A loud feminine voice rang out above a deafening miasma of feasting drunks from a small park in a clearing between houses on my left. Almost tumbling over while swimming through the mass of bodies, a strange sight blessed my eyes.
Baby monsters, not even up to my knee, roamed around a fenced off area, with young kids off all races, walking around, patting or feeding them. From baby Drakes, Mini-Dragons and small Slimes, all monsters used in day to day life for menial tasks.
"Is this even safe?"
As if he was waiting for me to arrive, an older man of the Roamit Beast-kin race, started to strum his guitar while he sat on a strange wooden contraption in the middle of the small animal sanctuary. It reminded me of a T-shaped bird perch, with reinforced supply boxes designed for stability.
Slowly, as he played his guitar, the park outside the fence became a beer garden with the drunken day drinkers chanting a song. I expected the old man to be enjoying himself, yet he looked at me through his green eyes in a frustrated manner.
He wore a puffy gray coat, striped maroon shirt underneath, brown slip on shoes and belted dark brown pants.
All I could do was stand there and look around for the sound of the voice through an annoying barrage of chanting and music. The baby monsters looked mesmerized, drawing close and sitting around the music, it was then I realized what he was doing, and pulled out my relic.
A figure landed from above and yanked his guitar from his hands.
"Pa! I told you not to do that!"
"What type of kid isn't affected by that? Who the hell is he"
"He is my teammate, the one I told you about, we train together with that Oni and Lars!"
"Boy! Come over here! *cough-cough*"
After quickly stuffing my relic into an inner coat pocket and hopping over the picket fence and waved at Aoife, who wore much different clothes then I had normally seen her in. Wearing short brown pants with a belt and black leggings underneath, a gray shirt with sleeves rolled up and suspenders.
Although petite, she commanded a sense of authority and far more confidence than I saw when I first met her. Not to mention, her dark green face mask added a bit of mystery, but I knew the reason behind it and couldn't help but feel bad for her.
"I thought you'd be training?"
"I have been, more or less. Besides, family comes first, and... ahhh, I don't have to worry about the qualifiers anyway..."
"Name yourself child"
"You don't? Why not?"
"I was put on the medical staff ahead of time, mainly for... you know-"
"-Hey! *Cough* Don't you ignore me! Show some respect!"
The old man annoyed me, not for his attitude, but his attempt to use a Bard's technique to charm me.
"Respect? Why shouldn't I break your guitar instead?"
"Whoa Touji, relax! He's just... who he is"
I was calm before, but now I'm getting frustrated.
All I could do was rub my head in response to express my disappointment, feeling misunderstood hurt me more than the old man.
"Look, I don't have time- Hey, stop that!"
The old man had started to poke and examine me.
"What the hell is a thirty year old doing in such a young body near my granddaughter?"
"What are you on about? I think he's gone senile"
"If I told you he's the only person Enda has seen correctly guess her age would you still say that?"
"Yes, yes I would. Nobody that starts charming with music as an introduction, is in their right mind"
"Oh-ho, so that's why you're angry. Tell me, how can you resist it?"
"It doesn't charm people Touji. It just makes them happy. We play that music every now and again to domesticate these monsters. That's what my family does, my cuisines do wine as well, you should come visit some time"
"I really need to go, Rider needs my help, and I'm not thirty, so sorry, goodbye"
"Waitwaitwaitwait, Near Uber Hill right? We can give you a lift"
"No thanks, I'll be fine"
Going anywhere with a strange old man is a line I refused to cross. Even if Enda respected him, for what I'd seen so far left me with disdain.
It really didn't help that Aoife who beamed with excitement for her suggestion, however, that left me even more confused.
"Come on! She'll be here shortly!"
She pulled me up onto the box and T-frame construction as the old man hopped off, then I started to put it all together while she wrapped her arms around the center pole and a shadow quickly loomed over us.
"Uh, ah, I-I'm not sure about this!"
"Grab on, unless you want to fall!"
As I grabbed the log, a dragon swooped by, gripped the horizontal log on the top, and I felt my whole body shift as the supply craft creaked and groaned at the weight, before it was picked up.
"Why didn't I walk away!"
"You'll be fine! Haven't you flown before?"
"No! I don't even know any spells to land!"
Harsh air blew past us as we flew at ridiculous speed and tilted the craft. I was blown away by the view below me, houses, halls, fighting rings, shops, hotels, even possible building I could think of and more spread out below me, with sharing a coloured roof to match their district.
"Ah you'll be right! Hey Ace! Take us to the Orbenfree highway!"
"You sure about that?!"
"Is that Soarhart?!"
"Yes, and yes!"
"Hah, you cheeky devil! Is this some sort of date perhaps! Ha!"
It would have been an embarrassing joke if I wasn't busy fearing for my life, being pulled along by a dragon rider. From my position, I could only see half of her on a saddle just behind the ice blue dragon's head.
It grabbed the craft with its sharp, foreleg claws, which ensured a smoother ride than normal. This dragon had clearly been trained well.
"Nah, he's into Ota!"
"The cursed Oni?! Huh, who knew!"
Cursed? Wait.
"What did you say?!"
"Yeah, how is she cursed?!"
"Don't worry about it! Slip of the tongue!"
Slip of the tongue my ass, you don't call someone cursed on a whim.
"Hold tight! We're gonna land up ahead!"
Although the flight was short, it coved a thirty minute run over the course of a few seconds, and we could see a large group of people slowly making their way down a concrete path next to a flowing river leading all the way to Nala.
"They're wounded..."
"Yeah. Hey! We'll both get off, can you take this back to the Tamers Guild?!"
"Sure! I'll come back after!"
Slowing down to an area devoid of trees, we jumped off. I used wind magic in a reverse vortex from both hands to land safely, while Aoife landed like a spring, bouncing back up as if it was perfectly normal.
"Few… So, there's a Tamers Guild huh?"
"Well yeah, though it's more of a community than anything. I mean, the guilds only exist as like, mini governments for whatever they're for anyway"
"Oh, never thought of it like that"
Ellia pulled out a spyglass as her dragon hovered mid-air before quickly she took off again in the direction across the river, to a few hills in the distance. Some covered in rows of grapes, and other fields of various animals.
We started walking towards the group, and the closer we got, the more we realized exactly what happened.
Men and women, covered in bruises, scars and bloodied bandages. Looks of despair and anger filled their faces.
These people weren't soldiers, nor mercenaries, they're all adventurers.
Aoife started to get to work, healing anyone she could while ripping grass off the ground to use as fuel, while I continued on ahead, weaving through the masses.
It took a few minutes, but I saw her. Dried blood covered half her face and slicked back black hair. Her clothes ripped, her armor dented and held by a few threads. And her arms holding onto a wagon built to be pulled by a monster.
A wagon overflowing corpses.