The journey went by fast. They were heading down a main road, as roads to Portal Hubs were quite popular and a readily accessible place.
If you had the coin to travel, then a Portal Hub was your best option. If not, then I hope you liked traveling.
Mara hopped out first. The portal hub was a massive structure resembling a colosseum. The group was made with cobblestone, various different colors, and types of runes inscripted in there to fuel the portals.
As everyone else stepped out of their carriages, they beheld the grandeur of the hub. The structure itself was gray in color, with a large golden door separating them from the inside.
"This looks incredible!" Kyr said, looking up at the structure.
"Indeed, it does." Ulrich chuckled as Termin began to walk forward.
"Follow me. These things are often pretty hard to navigate." He said as everyone followed behind him.
On the inside, the circular structure remained. There were various ascending ramps that led to the upper parts of the floors, portals of various colors producing an ethereal glow.
"These go by alphabetical order." Termin said, walking toward a man dressed in a dark blue robe. "Ten for the Solar Empire."
"Ahh... Are you sure, sir? Tensions have been getting quite high there recently. Honestly, I'd give it a few months max before a war starts." The man said, a sound of concern in his voice.
"Yeah. I'm sure. How much?"
"That'll be around 75 gold pieces for all of you." The man extended his hand.
"Rip-off..." Temrin mumbled as he reluctantly handed over a pouch.
The man measured its weight just to make sure before he nodded. "Alright! Let's go." The man led them up the ramps, leading them to a bright orange portal.
"Here you go! You will be taken to the outskirts of the town of Noonish." The man smiled as everyone stepped inside.
As they exited the portal, everyone but Termin felt slightly disoriented, but that quickly faded once they saw the lush landscape ahead of them.
The town ahead of them had a small stream not too far from it. The architecture actually resembled feudal Japan.
"Huh. Solar Empire, Japanese architecture? I find this ironic." Static said, turning into a crow and landing on Sorra's shoulder.
Termin began to walk away. "Alright. I'm off to go find my own guild hall. I'm going to be there for a while. Have fun."
Mara narrowed her eyes as she watched him walk away in the opposite direction. "I've had a bad feeling about that guy."
Vatel chuckled and patted her shoulder. "Well, you see him leaving now, right? You'll be fine."
Everyone began to walk toward the town. As they entered, everyone gave them strange looks, and some even began to retreat into their houses.
"Yeesh. Not welcomed, eh?" Mareth said as he chuckled.
"Not until you state your purpose." A man dressed in an orange kimono said, narrowing his eyes.
"We've closed this place off to visitors. We're in some rather... tense times." He said, keeping his eyes trained on everyone.
"It's alright; they're with me." Mono said, arriving on a horse as he jumped off.
The man immediately tensed up, bowing profusely. "L-Lord Mono!" The man stared daggers at the group, as if telling them to do the same.
"It's okay, sir." Mono chuckled as he pushed back his bangs with the palm of his hand. His hair was let down now, and it reached his mid-back.
The man nodded and ran away as Mono smiled at the group. "Care for some tea? This town has a nice teahouse."
The group all looked at each other before nodding.
Mono smiled and led them to a nice, simple building. "Did you guys have tea houses back in your own world?"
"Yeah, but not in our country, well... Not as much. Certain countries are known for certain things, y'know?" Ulrich looked around the place.
The floors seemed to be made of a soft kind of wood that had the texture of mesh. When he gave it a little stomp, it hardened. The walls were made out of a thin material that was brown in color.
"Interesting material usage." He said, chuckling.
They came to a room, a singular person sitting down crisscross. "Greetings." The woman bowed, smiling.
"My name is Olivia Flare. I'll be your server for today." The woman wore an orange and blue kimono with intricate flower designs on it. She had short black hair, fair skin, and blue eyes.
"Olivia is not only our tea lady, but she's also the commander of one of our armies.
Commanders are known as Cardinals, and there are 4 of them." Mono bowed back to Olivia, smiling as he took a seat across from her.
"Please, sit." He said, offering up seats.
Everyone took a seat, Mareth and Kyr bowing as well, with everyone else following suit.
"Wow, Mareth. You've changed; I remember you always wanting to pick fights." Emopa said as Mareth chuckled a little.
"I must ask that you remain silent during the tea-making process," Mono spoke, "as it is quite a sacred time."
Everyone remained quiet, and Olivia took out ten cups. They were simple. Not too big and not too small.
Static turned back into his normal form, sitting down beside Sorra.
Olivia snapped her fingers, and the kettle she held burst into flames. It was a fierce one, and it was a bright blue.
"Our empire worships two beings. Aurevith, who blesses us with the sun in the sky, and when it rains, that's him leaving for a moment. It helps our crops." She said.
"The second being we worship is a more obscure one. Greater than Aurevith. We don't know his actual name, but we label him The Devouring One. He provides us with fire to end whole nations."
Once the water boiled, she poured it into a bowl, taking some herbs out of another one and placing them inside. She took out a tiny stick and began to stir.
"We're making Tidal Tea today. These herbs were grabbed from the Tonic Ocean west of here. At a depth of about 945 meters, these plants grow by absorbing the oxygen in the water."
They all watched as the tea began to turn a mild blue. "Believe it or not, they don't have any kind of seeds. We believe they were planted by Thalena, The Goddess of Nature."
She poured the tea into each cup, and with a smile on her face, she handed it to them. "Enjoy."
"Thank you." They all said in unison as they began to take a sip of their tea.
"Wow... This tastes really good. I've never been a tea kind of person, but I might come here more often." Emopa said, smiling a little.
"Oh?" Olivia looked toward Emopa, her eyes lighting up a little. "Glad I could make your day, sir!"
"Yeah, I enjoy it as well. Reminds me of the tea my master served." Mareth said, taking small, deliberate sips.
"Never had tea before." Ulrich said, taking a sip. "And now I have. It's very good."
Sorra took her sip, nodding in approval. She didn't say anything, but in her mind, she believed that she could do better.
Fox took a few sips herself. "Are seconds allowed here?"
Olivia nodded, giggling a little. "Of course silly."
Mara, Kyr, Vatel, and Static chose to stay silent, but they seemed to be enjoying it.
Suddenly, the door behind them slid open, a man with short hair and a sort of gruff look to him entering.
"L-Lord Mono!" The man immediately bowed, then shot his head up. "One of our escorts! They've been attacked!"
Mono's eyes widened as he stood up. "Take me to him!"
The man nodded as the two rushed out. Olivia got up as well and swiftly followed suit. The group all looked at each other and followed after them.
They arrived at a large palace, Mono and the man clearing through crowds of people as they entered an infirmary.
Nurses were using a sort of energy different from mana to heal the man while some others carefully took arrows out of his back.
"Who did this?!" Mono said, walking up to the wounded male.
"We don't know, sir; we were ambushed!" Another man spoke. He was on the... bigger side, slightly balding as well.
"They took the Emperor's daughter!" He said, Mono's eyes widening even further.
"Olivia, gather up a small group of soldiers. Warrant a search party. Grab some spies and see if the Lunar Dynasty had anything to do with this." He said, clenching onto his scabbard.
Olivia nodded and left as Mono turned to the group. "Sorry for this. We weren't expecting any casualties."
"I could lead the spies! Or go solo; after all, stalking is what I do best!" Kyr said, smiling happily.
"I can join him!" Static said, shrinking down into his original height. The clothes also shrunk with him, surprisingly.
"Are you two sure? I'm counting on this here. If you find the daughter, report back to me immediately. She's the only one in both nations that has red and blue eyes with hair of the same color." Mono said, wanting confirmation.
"We gotcha!" Static and Kyr said in unison as they both left.
"I'm worried." Sorra said, not really sure about Static going by himself.
"Don't worry, I've seen Static fight. He's a capable kid. Surprisingly, he kills without a second thought." Mareth said, shuddering a little.
"Kyr is small, but he's good at what he does. He's even assassinated entire triple S-ranked heroes with no problem." Mara said, tuning her guitar.
"Alright. You all come with me." Mono said, leaving the room as the rest followed.