The fox-masked guard had led Mana and Fluffy to a blue door on the inside of their bridge facility, that heavily resembled the one back in Parnt.
"We have created an underground tunnel system to safely transport travelers to the closes city upon arrival. There, we will give the answers you gave us to their officials in the civilian guild; that way you don't have to redo that process." She informed Mana as they made their way down a long, metal hall; their shoes tapping against the metal in almost a rhythm.
Even though they were encased inside a long tin can, Mana was in awe. Her country, or that she knew of, had no type of safety measure such as this.
Just as she was getting comfortable, however, a long creaking sound rang out from further down the hall as lights flickered simultaneously. Mana halted, but the fox did not.
"Come, come," she urged as she barely even slowed down to let Mana register that it was nothing to worry about. "Our walls are completely safe from these monsters, no matter what size they are. Not only have we made them out of our strongest materials, but we have a couple of high leveled mages that help create a barrier around it at all times."
Mana clenched her fists angerly. Why was she angry at their safety? She thought to herself, beginning to worry. Normally she would be ecstatic; protection from monsters is what she has set off to do, but the thought of impenetrable facilities was making her blood boil.
Then she heard a faint whisper inside her head. She couldn't make out what it said, but she knew who it was.
"Has this always been here?" Mana questioned, trying to distract herself from her sister who was slowly waking up from her long slumber, though it wasn't working.
"Glad to see you're alive without my help," she heard her sister remark, followed by a sly giggle. Mana ignored her, though her eyebrows twitched slightly at her voice.
"Only for the past 100 years," the fox proudly boasted. "We have had less attacks down here, than we have had on the actual bridge, but we aren't allowed to use magic on a shared structure."
"Since you are able to protect things like this, do you have vehicles then?"
She huffed at the thought, "not one country in this world has managed to make any type of vehicle work. The only reason boats are a thing is because certain areas must be passed using boats only." She got quiet for a moment, as if sadness began to take over, but she quickly recovered. "Boats are one of the most dangerous ways to travel, seeing as how Rotted Water Monsters are impossible to kill unless they reach the surface for any reason; so they often go the longest without being exterminated, and end up mutating beyond recognition."
Karkello was the only country that touched many bodies of water but was also the only country that wasn't near the large open areas of them. Therefore, whenever sea monsters swam through the passages nearby, they would often get attacked by those trying to protect their country. This in turn angered them, and over the years, they had collectively learned to focus on Karkello to attack when passing, ignoring the other countries that surrounded it. Sea Monsters hated them.
"Some mutate and grow legs, and when that happens, they charge cities and villages, eating any living or dead thing in their path; They just want revenge on us." The fox looked at Mana, "I suppose it's their sick way of trying to be the dominate species; The World of Valowre was created by a sick creator, wasn't it? Whoever that may be."
"I suppose," Mana said, having to think about it. "Sure, I've has had atrociously bad luck, but I've also been gifted with things that were beyond anyone's ability to get, turning my bad luck to good...or so I've been told," she said sheepishly.
The fox looked at her weapons, "are you not aware of how you got those?"
"Not entirely," she finally admitted.
"I'm only somewhat familiar with your situation, being as you're a newer addition, but for someone to get a mytho-tiered weapon or spell, some dark, twisted events must occur." She paused, halting her walk, despite being only a few inches from the door. Mana stopped walking as well, her attention fully on what she was about to tell her.
"To get a mytho-tiered spell or weapon, the person must kill the rotted version of someone that they had a deep connection to or witness such a tragedy that no person should have to experience." She pointed to Mana's sheathed weapons, "in your case, your sister was considered rotted, and you destroyed her heart as your first rotted kill, as well as witnessing her death to begin with; Your weapons may be the strongest of them all."
Mana looked at her bracelets, "I want to destroy what created these," she muttered.
"Which is very heroic of you. Had you not had those weapons, I would've denied you entrance. A mission like that mixed with even just a mystic-tiered weapon wouldn't be plausible. You have to fight the world, and to fight the world you have to be god-like."
Mana, despite her raging sister slowly taking over her mind, felt a rush of satisfaction. A satisfaction in knowing she had the potential to save the world.
"I was told those with these weapons and spells are all known by name....?" Mana asked her.
"Yes. Until you appeared, there were only 6 in the world; 3 weapons and 3 spells," she informed her.
"Zera Jett of Midflora, Dahlia Frau of Agora, Duke Shaw of Darelli, Mary Sweeney of Payo Island, Baro Xin of Dragon Claw Island, and Pip Nani of Crescent Island." She placed her hand on the door before opening it to a large open, grassy area surrounded by a tall chain-link fence. On the inside of the fence, just outside the door Mana was emerging from, was where other travelers were preparing to either leave or were just arriving. They were getting inspected once more to be sure they didn't have anything on them that could cause trouble before being sent on their way, or into the city.
"Just know; those locations are only their last known. Most are good, like you, but some, like Baro and Mary are considered extremely dangerous." Once outside of the metal corridor, the friendly guard gave her one last warning before separating herself to go back. "Be careful outside of the walls, there are things out there that we still can't explain."