After entering the city, the sight of wide and tidy streets, with barely any litter and garbage on the ground, entered Tyrak's eyes. Stone-walled buildings of various sizes lined both sides of the avenues, giving the whole place a solid feel.
Tyrak noticed that most of those buildings housed inns, bars, and shops selling countless goods. Whether it was beast hides, flashy armor, weapons, jewelry, or trendy garments, he caught a glimpse of them within the displays of the various shops. Going by first impressions, Ellwich City was genuinely prosperous.
"Young master! This sword is only five gold coins. It's the best sword for someone of your stature..."
"Young master! Here is the most beautiful ice jade neckless. It would amplify the beauty of your wife by infinite times..."
"Young master! Look at this century-old willow herb. I overcame countless dangers before gathering it from the forests in the north. You can have it for only a single gold coin..."
Tyrak was walking together with Tamara on the paved sidewalk. As he moved further and further away from the gates, countless voices of vendors selling their merchandise along the sides of the streets began to make their way into his ears. The sharp-eyed merchants repeatedly yelled to catch his attention, hoping he would buy their goods.
Tyrak swept his gaze through their wares and caught sight of goods like salt, beast meat, herbs, pearls, and even strange living animals that were so foreign to him. He was a bit surprised by the diverse array of goods on display. But since he wasn't interested in purchasing anything, he still maintained a stoic expression as he advanced along the road with Tamara.
They walked for about forty minutes, passing several streets of differing sizes, until they eventually arrived at a square with many inns. Tamara whispered to Tyrak, and they immediately walked forward and entered an inn called the Hunter's Paradise. On strolling through the wide-open wooden doors, they caught sight of a woman with chubby cheeks behind a glass counter.
"Welcome, dear guests!" The woman said after sliding the glass to create a small gap in the counter. "Do you need a room?"
"We need two rooms," Tyrak replied. "How much?"
The woman behind the counter smiled. "We have ordinary, deluxe, and executive rooms. The 'ordinary' rooms cost fifty silvers, the deluxe ones one gold coin, while the executive ones cost five gold coins per night. Which ones among those would you like?"
"We'll take two executive rooms," Tamara said before Tyrak could reply.
Tyrak glanced at her with a frown for a moment. But she just stared back and flashed him a smile. "Since we might stay here for a while," she said, "it's better we take the best rooms. Don't you think so?"
Tyrak shrugged and turned back to the lady behind the counter. "Two executive rooms, please. We'll book the rooms for a week."
A troubled expression appeared on the lady's face. "I'm sorry dear guests. Only a single executive room remains."
"Oh!" Tyrak said. "What about the deluxe ones."
The lady smiled again. "We still have five deluxe rooms remaining."
"Do they contain water, a bath, and a toilet?" Tyrak asked.
"Yes, of course," the woman replied. "Deluxe rooms are just smaller versions of the executive rooms. They have all the amenities you could possibly require. We'll also provide warm water for bathing in the morning and evening."
"That's great," Tyrak said and relaxed. "I'll take the deluxe, and my friend here can take the executive room..."
"No, no," Tamara hurriedly interrupted. "Now that I think about it, I, too, prefer the deluxe room. Make sure that the two rooms are close. I want to stay near my friend." She stressed the word friend while maintaining a smile.
The woman behind the counter smiled knowingly and said, "Two deluxe rooms for a week. That will be a total sum of fourteen gold for the two of you."
Tyrak felt pained after hearing they had to spend all that money on just a room. But he still hardened his resolve and pushed his hand into his pockets. He stealthily whipped out the fourteen gold coins from his spatial ring before handing them to the lady behind the counter.
The lady's smile became even more resplendent as she received the coins. She hurriedly took two keys from the hooks beside her table and handed them to Tyrak. "Here you go," she said. "Follow the stairs at the far end to the third floor. You will find your room at the furthest end of the corridor there. Your room numbers are 309 and 310."
Tyrak smiled and thanked the lady. Without saying anything else, he stepped away from the counter and headed towards the stairs with Tamara. They ascended the stairs, passing by a few guests, before eventually arriving on the third floor and locating their rooms.
Tyrak had chosen to take room number 310, which was at the very furthest end of the corridor. He stopped before the door and turned to face Tamara, who was quietly watching him. "I haven't had a good rest for a while. So, I'll be saying goodnight to you for now. Let's link up again tomorrow."
Tamara frowned. "Aren't you going to eat dinner?"
"I will," Tyrak replied. "But that will only be after I take a relaxing cold bath."
Tamara smiled and nodded. "Then, let's have dinner together. Knock on my door when you are ready." With that said, she turned her key and opened the door. Before Tyrak could say anything else, she stepped into her room and shut the door behind her.
Tyrak looked at her door for a moment longer before sighing and shaking his head. After spending time traveling together, his vigilance towards her had somehow reduced. That was because she appeared like a person who no longer meant him any harm.
But even then, Tyrak continuously reminded himself to stay wary of her, especially since the experience of her giving him poisoned food and then trying to enslave him was so fresh in his mind. He had to spend more time observing and interacting with her before deciding whether he could completely trust her.
"Well... I guess there's no harm in having dinner together," Tyrak mumbled and stepped into his own room. He was eager to take a relaxing cold bath before rewarding himself with a long-awaited sumptuous dinner.
-----
The following three days went by quickly and peacefully without anything special happening. Tyrak spent most of his time in his room, trying to advance his training progress in the Berserk God Ascension Technique. He had already achieved some accomplishments and pushed his combat power a level higher.
According to the Berserk God Ascension Technique manual, the following phase of Tyrak's training involved refining and opening the eight extraordinary meridians. They included the Conception Vessel, Governor Vessel, Thoroughfare Vessel, Belt Vessel, Yin-Link Vessel, Yang-Link Vessel, Yin-Heel Vessel, and Yang-Heel Vessel. Tyrak had worked tirelessly over the past three days, and by relying on the energy surge that routinely occurred in his body when he introduced a foreign mana particle, he had opened seven of the eight extraordinary meridians. Only the Yang-Heel Vessel remained before he could finish another crucial step in refining his body with the Berserk God Ascension technique.
Over the past three days, Tyrak had also enjoyed plenty of meals with Tamara, and when he had more free time outside of training, he would take a tour and enjoy the incredible sights around Ellwich City. He had already been to the Treasure Pavilion, the Mayor's Manor, the Rangers' Guild, the Warriors Guild, and numerous areas of critical importance around the city. His understanding of the city had deepened, and he had even managed to sell all the beast corpses he had acquired to a shop that dealt in beast materials.
Tyrak had also taken some time to collect some intelligence about the city's situation. He had learned that warriors and rangers were a common sight on the streets of Ellwich. But most were just ordinary combatants at the ranks of ordinary and master rangers and warriors.
Meanwhile, the grandmaster-level powerhouses were rarer and numbered less than a hundred in the city. As for those legends, only three known individuals in the entire populace of Ellwich City were at that level. One was the mayor, the other one the commander of the city guard, and the last one the head of the treasure pavilion. Even though the three appeared much weaker than the fabled warlocks Tyrak had heard about from Tamara, their reputation was still sky-high among the Albrorian citizens. They were all leaders of influential forces in Ellwich City, and only those reckless people were willing to mess with them.
After understanding the peak powers and their distribution around the city, Tyrak finally relaxed and let go of all his tension. According to Tamara, his current combat might with the bow could threaten peak-stage apprentice warlocks. But again, peak-stage apprentice warlocks were much stronger than the legends who stood at the peak in Albroria and the neighboring two empires. Considering all that, Tyrak had already reached the apex of what Tamara often called the primitive islands off the coast of the Northern Continent.
If his assumptions were correct, there should be no one who could threaten his life as long as he chose to remain huddled up in the Albrorian Empire. Moreover, he had a feeling that he could even obtain a very influential position in the capital and gain immense riches if he exposed his power and showed some loyalty to the empire. The reigning emperor would definitely be willing to appoint Tyrak as a commander or minister if he so much as caught wind of the fact that he was already more powerful than a legend-level warrior or ranger.
But was remaining in the Albrorian Empire like a frog at the bottom of the well what Tyrak really wanted? The answer was a big no. He only planned to enter the ruin and fulfill his promise to the mysterious entity. He would retrieve the statue and then head to Albroria, the capital of the Albrorian Empire, to look into the cause of the misfortune that befell his family seven years ago. After getting some answers and hopefully finding the whereabouts of his parents, he would eventually find a way to leave the Albrorian Empire and head to the far-off Northern Continent. And with that, he would finally be able to experience the fabled warlock civilization that Tamara had mentioned many times.
"I should continue practicing..."