Mikhail stepped out of the building, the entrance akin to a castle wall's gate. Only, there was no drawbridge to open and close, and one could walk in and out as they pleased.
Before him was a staircase split into three paths, with the main one cutting down into the ground and leading to a very large circular clearing down below, with pale-yellow rocky walls on either side of it.
Meanwhile, the other two sections of the staircase — both of which with a meager four steps down — led to some sort of garden. It contained a plethora of plants, and upon stepping down to take a look, saw that it extended all the way around the large front face of the building, and seemed to go past it to the other sides too.
He recognized some of the plants from his excursion with the orcs through the Shagar Jungle. And there were others which he did not recognize at all. One such plant was a flower with petals that curved downwards.
It looked like a lily, but its lovely petals seemed to be made out of ice.
It was an intriguing sight, and all around that flower was a noticeable, glittering cyan mist.
'That's pretty neat…' he thought before turning his attention to the main staircase, and making his way downwards.
The contents of his crate shook around, letting out noise like a maraca as he quickly descended.
On his way down, a primarily white blur shot past him, almost making him fall.
"Watch it!"
He said instinctively, using Shagar.
But the blur was gone by the time he turned to say that.
"How rude…"
He shook his head and sighed before continuing onwards, finding himself standing on arid pale-yellow soil after about three minutes.
'Ugh… I hate this heat,' he said before wiping the sweat off his forehead.
The clearing he found himself was quite large, with its edges surrounded by buildings that all seemed to be at least fifteen minutes of walking away.
'What the hell is this area used for?' he thought as he scanned it from one side to the other, seeing a few cacti and random sedges populating the empty field.
It certainly wasn't farming…
'You know what, I have better things to do than stand around like a fool.'
And with that, he began walking forward. He singled out one of the larger paths cutting into the encirclement of buildings, going towards the north. It was an uneventful walk, but it seemed the Spirit Suppression Pills even affected his perception of boredom.
Such a silent and bland walk would have driven him nuts ordinarily, but he found himself rather calm and unbothered by it. And about halfway through his walk, he began being able to hear the faint sounds of a bustling community
And a little while later, he was able to see the cobbled sandstone street of the pathway slowly blending into the ground beneath his feet. He was almost on the pathway, and he could now clearly hear the hustle and bustle of the scene.
There were heaps of children running about, giggling as they chased one another, their little bare feet slapping into the cobbled sandstone walkways. And that was just one of the many plethora of sounds blending into the harmonious melody of that proper community.
There were teenagers jumping from rooftop to rooftop. There were adults sitting on stone stools and wooden chairs here and there, chatting with other adults. There were merchants sitting behind stalls displaying wares like spices, fruits, clothes, and other such things.
And of course, there were the people perusing through the stalls. Interested customers. Disinterested customers. Friends and family stopping by for a quick chat.
Such a tight-knit and happy community was something he had never experienced before, only getting a fraction of such an experience when he was in college.
It felt chaotic, yet harmonious…
Or rather, it just felt right, despite the chaos of it all.
However, Mikhail could only watch on in fascination.
And while the emotional stifling was certainly part of the problem… There was another reason he couldn't feel much of anything in regards to what was going on.
It was all an incoherent and unintelligible mess to him.
As charming as it all was, Mikhail couldn't help but feel alienated due to his inability to properly understand what they were up to. He couldn't just go over and introduce himself. Or have a nice chat.
Not unless they spoke Shagar, anyway. And, he knew that was very unlikely.
Yagnar had once told him, seemingly forever ago, that most people didn't learn their second language until after they had become adults, mostly because there was no reason to, unless they were a part of a tribe's merchant organization.
And even then, there were a total of six different languages. The chance of him running into an adult who knew Shagar was definitely feasible, but he didn't even know who was and wasn't an adult.
His definition of adult, after all, had nothing to do with this world's definition of adult. Looks could be very deceiving here…
'...Just got to study Manakel once I reach the edge of the tribe and try to set up a tent. After that, I can join you wonderful schmucks…'
He shook his head to himself, sighing as he took his first steps onto the paved path.
'Just a matter of time…'
Everyone was busy and didn't really notice him as he began moving through the bustling street, but that didn't last long.
"{Hey there! Haven't seen… Your face… Before…}"
A man lazing on a reclining wooden chair waved over to him with a cheery smile, his eyes closed. Yet when he opened them, his speech slowed down and his eyes went wide.
"{Oh shit… A} Scourgeborn!"
The man's words were unfamiliar, up until he called Mikhail a Scourgeborn.
The chaos of the crowd died down as they began looking around, before spotting Mikhail and also going wide eyed.