The sun soon arrived on the world, Colton took a whiff of the disgusting air once again while getting up. The rest started to get up from their slumber as well, stretching before remembering where they were and coughing at the stench before covering their noses.
Colton noticed that the disguise they had donned was now gone, having passed the time limit. Everyone else had also lost their disguises. But his focus moved to something else more surprising.
Outside, they began to hear loud footsteps as a crowd ran through the streets, quickly grabbing their attention.
"Perhaps those people have arrived now." Calliope told everyone, peeking slightly through the door.
Just as she expected, a wave of dirty unkempt people rushed through the streets, heading to the same direction as yesterday. A few carried different things, things the scrolls wanted.
"This is our chance, let's go." With a short delay of bringing back their disguises, the group went outside and quickly joined in with the wave, running to the place from yesterday.
Shouts and yells filled the air along with a sense of excitement. As the deadline of this commission is today, many were joyful. From friends to families to those that carried the commissions.
The crowd quickly stopped at the area the men came from. A pair of guards were stationed near the rope and billboard, fully concealed in elegant but flexible and light leather armor, with only a few parts of their body actually protected by steel.
The crowd slowly turned silent, waiting in painful anticipation for the men to arrive again. Calliope held onto the scroll, taking it from Myo. Her other hand held onto the bundle of flowers.
A noticeable whistle could be heard from the rope as the men quickly arrived with their hooks, jumping down at the last second and dusting themselves off before looking at the crowd. One of the men carried a sack full of hooks. Colton was unsure why he was carrying it but shifted his focus back to the man.
"Today is the deadline of commissions. For this month, you are all fortunate enough to now be eligible to bring up to ten with you due to new housing units in the midst of construction." He walked closer to the crowd with a smile.
"Now, those who have claimed commissions, step forward with those you wish to bring!" He yelled out. All at once, small groups of people stepped forward, including Calliope's group.
Each of them gave their scrolls and items to the man who only briefly looked at each one before letting them pass.
Each of them was followed by either friends, family, or even walking by themselves. The man gave each of them hooks while the guards helped them latch onto the rope.
Once it reached Calliope's team, she handed the scroll and plants with no hesitation. Myo and the others waited behind her, hoping they could finally leave this place and breathe fresh air.
"Medicine plants. Thanks, should help the doctors back at the apothecary mountain. Grab your hooks and hold on tight for the ride." He allowed the team to pass through, speaking with great enthusiasm.
The man handed each of them a hook on the way to the rope. Guards were ready to help them attach the hooks onto the ropes.
Once Colton's hook latched to the rope, it felt like it was glued in place, unable to fall or break off no matter how hard Colton tried to tug.
"Quit trying to pull it off unless you wanna fall while heading to the other mountain. Now grab on tight." The guard cautioned him, making sure the hook was still stuck in place.
Without warning, the hook suddenly propelled forward with great speed, to the shock of the group. Colton grabbed as tight as possible, fearing he might fall any second. The intense cold winds slammed against their clothes while moving.
The rope seemed to go on for a while before Colton could spot another mountain in the distance. The buildings were similar to the ones in the city of the first book world, but taller.
The end of their journey was rapidly coming closer, in front of Colton, he could see his teammates released too late. Many fell face first into the ground. Once it was Colton's turn, he released his grip before the hook slammed into the pole holding the rope.
But his attempt failed as he began rolling on the ground before stopping. He spent a few seconds deeply breathing, feeling his heart pound out of his chest from what just happened.
In front of them, more started to arrive, sticking the landing or hitting the dirt as well. The area began to fill up with more of the lucky ones who completed the commissions along with those they brought with them.
The team got up from the ground, taking a look around where they were. The mountain they were standing on was higher than the one earlier, and looked larger.
"Alright, this place is much better." Celestine took a deep breath of fresh air from their new home. The place smelled faintly of flowers and water. A far better scent compared to the mountain they left.
"Finally, the air here is actually breathable!" Marcus cheered out, happy as he began taking in deep breaths as well.
"I don't see much difference, at least it feels less heavy." Quill joined in their celebrations, not as enthusiastic but still happy.
Once the rest had arrived, the man from earlier returned.
"Congratulations again to you all, you are now official citizens of the middle class rank. You may make your way to the bathhouse and receive new clothes, a home, and a simple bath. If you wish for more money, you may head to the city center's billboard and finish a commission. A reminder though." The man walked ahead of them, stepping onto the path that led to the city.
"The way down from here is far more difficult. Though I doubt it will be much of an issue. Best of luck." Finished, the man left the group and started walking away fast.
The path ahead was cleaner and more well maintained, leading to the inside of the city where people in more formal and clean attire walked around freely.
While standing around, the guards of earlier soon arrived. They ordered everyone to follow them through the path of the city.
Signs hung above doors, selling a variety of goods from medicines to general wares and even food. The guards led them to the bathhouse while passing by many citizens of the city. But not one of them seemed to be disgusted by their presence, some even congratulating them.
After a few minutes, they arrived at a building larger than the rest, with two doors that needed to be pushed to enter inside.
Inside, pools of water lay around, occupied by groups of people with booths on the sides acting as private rooms with a small door leading inside them.
"Take a bath in the rooms, each of them should have enough clothing for all of you." One of the guards ordered in a gruff tone.
Everyone entered inside, some immediately ran to the rooms, wanting to get a good bath for the first time in their lives.
The team found a room for themselves, locking the door behind them. The private room sported a small warm pool in the middle with a few stone chairs stuck to the walls and a light hanging above them.
Small hooks bolted to the wall held clothes meant for them.
"Refreshing, this reminds me of my bathing house back at home." Celestine spoke, admiring the room itself while the others chose to rest around. Calliope thought about what to do next.
With a snap of her fingers, everyone's disguises vanished, quickly changing to outfits of the citizens that were walking around passed them minutes ago.
"Wait, don't we need to keep our old disguises for now?" Celestine muttered, confused by the sudden action. Calliope cleared her throat before talking.
"We managed to reach a better position. We do not have enough information on this place however. We may need to perform reconnaissance. As for the outfits, we're not here to lounge around and relax, not until we locate the books and have time to settle down." She explained.
Some silently groaned, sensing that they needed to leave this place of relaxation again and go out to finish a new task.
But at this point Colton grew numb to the constant new tasks Calliope brings, reminding himself of his duties to the king and people, as well as the wish that he could help bring strength to the kingdom
"We will detach from the guards and the group, and instead begin exploring the general area. Our main target is places of interest that may carry books, or perhaps those ropes that take you to other mountains, if there are more here that is." Calliope pondered for a second before returning to giving her orders.
"Though, given the amount of stress that may have been exerted on our way here, i may permit that we rest here. For around ten minutes before we leave." The team breathed a sigh of relief at her words, with many starting to slouch around and let the warmth of the bath envelope them.
"Maybe tagging along with you guys wasn't so bad after all." Myo lounged back and relaxed in the pool, in his new disguise.
Some sat near or in the pool itself, taking in the warmth of it. Colton and Calliope sat on the chairs, quietly pondering to themselves of the plan and the situation they're now in.