In the distance, the city began to come into view. Or more precisely, the city walls. It was hard to say anything specific about them, other than that they were made of black stone and towered over the people several times over.
Speaking of people, even from a distance of about five hundred paces or so, the massive queue of people and carts at the gates of Polemos was clearly visible.
Three roads led to these gates. We were walking on one, while the other two were situated to our right at distances of two hundred and four hundred paces, respectively.
To our left was the infamous forest, but it was far away, reduced to a thin green line on the horizon. It seemed that our road wasn't straight but gradually veered slightly to the right, causing us to be so far from the forest.
"We're almost there," Jeanne said with joy in her voice, wiping the sweat from her forehead. As soon as the clouds freed the sun, we were struck by the relentless heat, and even the light breeze disappeared.
"This crowd definitely won't let us through," Adele noted without enthusiasm, "they'd rather eat us alive than let us pass."
"You can count on me in this matter," Jeanne declared with a smile.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Uncle Jack said for the first time in a long while.
By this point, the noise and commotion from the city gates began to reach us. We couldn't make out anything specific from what we heard, but I was more than certain that the crowd was complaining about the slow customs process.
As we continued walking forward, my gaze wandered over my companions, often stopping on Adele.
I wanted to kick myself for that awkward confession. What was I thinking? In hindsight, I realize she didn't even appeal to me that much. Yes, she's beautiful and smart, but my feelings were somewhat... exaggerated by alcohol?
Looking at Adele now, I felt only embarrassment and nothing more.
Adele noticed my gaze and looked at me questioningly. "What?"
"I wanted to talk about something," I smiled, pulling a magic book from my shoulder bag. "Can you help me learn magic?"
"Magic for stupid dummies?" Adele asked in surprise.
"Magic for stupid (dummies)!" I declared with full seriousness, pointing to the book. "You have to pause; that's how the author intended it!"
Having read it before the Victory Festival, I appreciated the author's style, his jokes about the reader, his self-deprecation regarding better books out there, and his occasional sincere gratitude for the purchase.
Recalling the rather rough prologue towards the reader, I thought the mockery would only intensify, but no, the author wasn't a heartless bastard after all.
Unfortunately, what I read, while lifting my spirits, certainly didn't give me new knowledge about magic. Maybe I just hadn't gotten to the right part?
"Well, alright?" Adele said, drawing out the vowels. "In any case, it's more of a humorous textbook, not intended for beginners, but rather for advanced mages who can understand the terminology and complex jokes related to magic."
"Ha!" Jeanne snorted into her fist. "I wouldn't call those jokes complex, more like pathetic, just like the entire authorial style. This book won't teach anyone anything ever, even if you had a comprehensive glossary of terms, and it exists solely as a mockery of novice mages."
"Complete lack of culture," I commented with a sigh, then asked, "By the way, is such literature restricted for sale?"
I decided to ask the question that was begging to be asked after purchasing the book. Can anyone buy it? Or are there some restrictions? Plus, Adele mentioned she found her books in a library, does that mean they're sold to anyone?
"It depends on the city's policy; in some cities, these books are sold freely, and in others, they are completely banned," Adele shrugged.
This leads to certain thoughts. It gives the impression that cities have extensive autonomy if not complete independence from the center.
At this point, we had already reached the city gates. The gates were mostly surrounded by merchants with their wagons and draft animals. Mostly, these were mules, horses, and donkeys.
Some people were surrounded by individuals in various types of armor. These were adventurers, and the merchants they accompanied had several dozen wagons of goods, requiring such an escort.
There were only a few like this here, and they were at the front of the line, causing a lengthy inspection of their cargo, much to the dismay of the other merchants behind them, who had at most two wagons of goods.
The area had a very strange smell, a mix of sweat, fragrant fruits, and manure. I hoped it was exclusively from the animals.
"Make way!" Jeanne shouted, causing a moment of silence in the air. "A holy palad-..."
She didn't finish her sentence before the noise of conversations and complaints about the slow inspection resumed.
Jeanne's face showed no emotion, but she blushed. Probably out of anger.
"Move aside!" she yelled again, but the crowd only responded with sideways glances. "They don't care!"
"We could try to go directly to the guards, but they won't let us near them," Adele sighed.
"If I weren't a paladin, I'd force my way through and beat anyone who tried to stop me," Jeanne said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, over here!" a voice suddenly called from our right.
We turned toward the source. It was a young boy. Very young, not older than fifteen.
He stood next to a small wagon with a cloth canopy.
"A britzka," I thought.
The britzka was drawn by two mules, and the driver was an elderly gray-haired man who looked at us with a bored expression.
We approached the boy who called us. He wore black cotton tight-fitting pants and a simple white linen shirt with a blue vest. On his head was a long hat, somewhat reminiscent of a flattened fedora, with a red rose stuck in it. Over his shoulder hung a rather large bag with many pockets with buttons and straps.
His face was white and quite clean, as was his clothing, even though the rest of the people in the line looked unkempt due to sweat and dirt.
The boy had black eyes, and a lock of hair that had escaped from under his hat and fallen onto his forehead was also black. He smiled at us, revealing dimples, with plump lips and cheeks.
I decided to use my Insightful ability on him.
[Name: Xandur Mateush
Age: 15 years
Race: Human
Level: 1
Agility: 8
Stamina: 5
Health: 17
Intellect: 22
Medicine: 15]
The stats were quite low, except for the last three. Strength wasn't even listed, so it was likely 4.
[Ability List:
Active:
Perfect Tool – It's a Scalpel.
Description: You can enchant any cutting item (except scalpels) to make it as sharp as the sharpest scalpel you have ever held.
Consumption: a certain percentage plus a fixed value of health points. Depends on the size of the cutting item and the sharpness of the scalpel.
Cooldown: 1 hour]
An interesting ability, essentially allowing one to cut through anything if the sharpest scalpel was the sharpest in the world, under various buffs.
[Passive:
Reader – you love to read.
Description: passively increases intelligence by +3 points and allows you to find useful books and manuals.
Treasure Sense – If you need something, you will find it.
Description: If there is someone or something nearby that can lead you to treasure (money, information, anything you identify as 'treasure'), you will notice it.
Professional Trance – you enter a state of complete focus when performing operations or under stress.
Description: you fully detach from external distractions to complete an operation or calm down. You can't think; your subconscious and muscle memory take control of your body. If attacked, your subconscious will decide to fight, flee, or freeze.
Traits:
Child – you are still young and weak.
Description: all your stats are reduced by a quarter, but you level up attributes faster.
Curious 2 – you have always sought to know everything about everything, even if it meant getting hurt.
Doctor – you have helped people and animals, giving them treatments and performing operations.
Description: Upon reaching level 3 in this trait, Doctor evolves into the medical profession in which you are most competent. If you continue working in other medical fields, you can also unlock other traits related to medicine, but you will no longer receive the Doctor trait.]
A curious child-doctor? That's something new. At least his abilities match and describe him as a person.
"Hey, are you really a paladin?" the boy asked Jeanne, but without waiting for an answer, continued. "You must have fought different monsters, right? Can you tell me everything you know about them, please?"
The boy was visibly excited, his smile stretching from ear to ear, his eyes wide open and looking at Jeanne.
"Why do you want to know?" the paladin asked in confusion.
"Ahem, I forgot to introduce myself," the boy put his hand to his chest and bowed to us, "my name is Xandur Mateush, I am a student at the University of Polemos, studying at the medical faculty and I am interested in researching monsters, especially undead and incorporeal entities."
I couldn't help but smile, expecting to hear something like that. Perhaps his Treasure Sense ability was at work?
"By the way, as a student, I can get you inside without waiting in line," the boy smiled boldly.
"But the merchants won't let us through," Jeanne protested.
"Are you sure, sister?" the boy asked, lifting his nose. "Hey! Guards! I'm a student!"
At that moment, the crowd of merchants erupted in a chorus of dissatisfied exclamations, and from the gates emerged a man in armor and a helmet.
"Pass," he said, approaching us.
Xandur pulled a folded paper from one of his bag's pockets and handed it to the guard. He looked at it for a few seconds before returning it to the boy and turning back towards the gates.
"You may proceed," was all he said before leaving.
"Come on, get in!" Xandur exclaimed, climbing into his cart.
I didn't want to refuse such an offer and followed right after him. After me, Adele got in first, then Uncle Jack, and in the end, Jeanne climbed in, grunting with displeasure.
***
The city inside the walls looked much better than Surrik. There were paved roads, fountains, and stone and wooden sculptures. Nevertheless, many houses were built so close together that the alleys between them were too narrow even for a single person.
Still, it felt like we had moved from a world of wild medieval times to an age of enlightenment.
"So, please, tell me everything about the anatomy, physiology, and, if you know, the pathology of monsters," the boy looked at Jeanne with a pleading gaze.
"Alright, after all, people should know their enemies," Jeanne sighed, "but monsters is a general term. What specific creatures are you interested in?"
"Hmm," the boy furrowed his brow, thinking about the answer, "how about ghosts?"
"Ghosts are the souls of people who desire to seek revenge against their wrongdoers, do what they couldn't in life, protect their loved ones, or simply those whose burial rituals were performed incorrectly or not at all. They are called Vengeful, Restless, Benevolent, and Wandering ghosts, respectively."
"Depending on the category they belong to, their appearance, abilities, and mental state can change. Vengeful ghosts are irrational, their appearance merely a shadow of their former selves, driven solely by revenge, even if their loved ones suffer or die in the process. They are very aggressive."
"Restless, Benevolent, and Wandering ghosts retain most of their personality, you can talk to them, and their appearance often mirrors their real-life selves, but if you try to hinder their goals or harm their loved ones, they can go mad permanently."
"We, the clergy of any church, are obliged to exorcise all ghosts and spirits, especially in populated areas."
After finishing her speech, Jeanne glanced at the people passing by the cart.
Xandur looked thoughtful, "But why exorcise ghosts that don't want to harm anyone? They were people, and killing them seems... inhumane?"
"Ghosts are susceptible to the influence of necromancers and, unlike nature-created spirits, become corrupted with each passing day. Within a month, they turn into uncontrollable monsters, eager to destroy everything in their path," Jeanne shrugged. "Stop the cart, I'm getting out."
I looked outside. We were passing a church, with the sacred emblem of the Sun above its entrance.
I, on the other hand, didn't fully understand what to do. Reporting anything to the authorities didn't make sense – a squad of knights or paladins had already been sent to Surrik; I had no business in this city either.
The only thing that made sense was trying to find a way back home. After all, if I somehow ended up here after death, there must be some passage between two worlds. Do the inhabitants of this world have any information about other worlds?
I first looked at Adele and then at Xandur; they looked at me questioningly. I wasn't sure if they knew anything that could help me, but I had to at least try, right?
"Do you know anything about the existence of other worlds?"