The gates of Arcanis towered above him like walls in a foreign world.
Closer still, the stone was even more incredible, a cliff wall of smooth grey rock inscribed with runes that glowed with a warm, gentle light in the sunlight. The blue-lit symbols pulsed with a slow, hypnotic beat, as if a great, sleeping heart. It seemed that the city itself was breathing living mana through its walls. Kai stretched his neck, wide-eyed, his own forest troubles forgotten. He was as small as dust gazing up at a mountain.
"Move out of the way, boy. You're hindering me."
A wheezing voice at his shoulder, a portly merchant, snapped Kai out of his trance. He blinked and stepped forward, his cheeks aflame with embarrassment. The queue behind him was a sinuous river of bodies—merchants steering weary, six-legged pack animals, a group of boisterous, armoured adventurers laughing as they shove one another, and family groups with tumbrils full of produce. He was little and superintensely dislocated, standing there in nothing but his worn, tattered travel clothes and his own two fists, which he kept in habit of curling up into fists to conceal the trace, flickering Mana Coating that he could hardly keep up. At the gates, two guards screened out each visitor with indifferent professional gazes. Their silver armor glowed, and their long spears were tipped with crystals that hummed with a soft, muted power. They looked robust, well-drilled. Kai felt that one misstep, one flicker of alarm, and they might very well skewer a man before he could blink. His heart began to beat a nervous rhythm against his chest as it was his turn.
"Name?" the guard snarled, his eyes raking Kai from the crown of his head to the tip of his toes, taking in the frayed attire and fatigue carved on his features.
"K-Kai," he croaked, his voice rasping like an arid twig.
"City business?"
Raw fear coursed through him for a second. His head was blank. What was he doing here? He couldn't really say, 'I was left on this planet with a screwy system in my head and now I'm chasing this mysterious, über-powered woman who might just be my only hope for survival.' He wanted a genuine answer, and he needed it quick.
"Elara," he began before he could cut himself off. "She… she told me to meet her here."
The guard's surliness flashed, for a moment. Recognition gleamed in his eyes. His whole attitude changed, brusqueness in his voice transmuted into something almost like respect. "Ah. The Frostblade." The guard quickly wrote down something in his logbook and then, with less ceremony than that, waved Kai on through. "Mind your manners, lad."
Kai didn't know if he should feel relieved or more perplexed. Frostblade? That was her name? The name had been icy, cutting, and lethal—it was fitting enough for her. There wasn't time to sit on it. The massive gates groaned open, and in he went.
As soon as he was through them, the tumult smacked him like a fist.
It was a cacophony of sound, a madhouse music of life. There were the yelling peddlers who cried their goods from colored stalls, the clanging sound of a blacksmith's hammer on metal, and the shrill laughter of children who darted in and out of the crowds of legs. The air was heavy with a thousand competing smells—the meaty aroma of roasting food from one of the street stalls, the slightly cool aroma of hot bread from the bakery on the corner, and the bitter, off-color aroma of spices he didn't know how to name.
The streets were a sea of faces from all conceivable walks of life. Simple-tunic humans hurried past beastkin with fuzzy ears and wagging tails. Muscular bearded dwarves pulled packs half their size, their faces set in mulish grins. Occasionally, fine-robed individuals with eyes that glimmered dimly with mana walked confidently through the crowds, the crowd parting before them as if on reflex.
Kai stood there, his senses utterly flooded. This was lovely, awful weather compared to the dark, threatening stillness of the woods. And it was relentlessly alive.
He dodged to one side, almost trampled by a cartload of bizarre, purple fruit. The merchant cursed at him, but Kai hardly noticed. His eyes were wide with the struggle to ingest every impossible detail. Towers curled up like stone and glass spears, their piercing points extending so high that they seemed to skim the clouds. Colored streamer banners symbolizing guilds and noble families streamed in the wind. Adventurers marched along in shining, rune-engraved armor, big swords and axes slung over their backs as if they were tools.
Instinctively, hugging the only comfort that made sense to him, he mentally scrolled through his stats.
[Level: 5] [Health: 6000/6000] [Stamina: 2400/2400] [Mana: 2000/2000]
There was a small flash of pride. Tough enough to survive a beast. Tough enough to fight his way in. But when he looked at the crowds streaming past him, his special skill faltered and new silhouettes sprang weakly over their heads.
[Merchant – Level 12] [Beastkin Traveler – Level 18] [City Guard – Level 35] [Robed Mage – Level 41]
Kai's gut had fallen out of his body. The pride he had just moments before was gone, replaced by a cold, humility-giving fear. His "strength" didn't apply here. He was a boy among giants.
He entered a marketplace, attracted by the boisterous chaos. Booths stocked with things he never would have imagined—glowing potions in storm color, humming swords vibrating with a sonorous, magical power, and wizardly baubles that glowed with a soft, inner light.
There was one trader who truly excelled. A hulking, muscular dwarf with a genuinely astounding, braided beard reclined behind a stand of blades in every possible shape and size, each with a soft aura of radiance from runes placed within them.
"Oi, lad!" the dwarf growled, flapping a fat, calloused hand. "You look like one who's looking for quality steel. Come on up, eh? I'll give ye a buck one."
Kai halted, then moved forward, his gaze sweeping the lovely, lethal swords. He reached out to a slender, beautiful sword that seemed to vibrate with a life of their own, but the dwarf swatted at his hand in swift surprise.
"Her fiend's charmed with a rune of swiftness. Gold enough to see you in a lifetime and more, I'd warrant. Take the rubbish in the corner if you wish to have a bargain."
Kai's face burned with shame. "I. I don't have gold," he said softly.
The dwarf snorted harshly, a mocking laugh. "Then ye've got no place here, do ye?" He spun on his heel without so much as a backward glance, already hollering to another potential client. Kai stepped back, the sting of being so easily dismissed searing in his chest. But the experience was also a bitter reminder—power in this city wasn't so much about levels and stats. It was about resources, allies, and information. And he had none of them.
As the day went on, Kai strolled towards an enormous, fortress-like building in the middle of the city. A roughly hewn, weathered sign over the door said:
Adventurers' Guild.
All ranks of adventurers filtered through and out, their armor clanking, their words exchanging stories of perilous missions and perils. Kai stood in the doorway, a combination of wonder and reverence keeping him from entering. The room was spacious, lined with gigantic wooden tables and blazing fires. A massive board on the wall was covered in strips of parchment—missions, bounties, and contracts. He crept closer, his eyes scanning the postings.
[Culling Request: Clear the Goblin Nest within the Whisperwood – Reward: 50 Gold Coins]
[Escort Needed: Escort the Merchant Caravan to Windmere town – Reward: 120 Gold Coins]
[Beast Hunt: Slay the Stonehide Lizard that's terrorizing the quarries in the south – Reward: 200 Gold Coins]
His fingers went cold. These were chances. Means to make some cash, to learn. But staring down at the fine print at the bottom of every poster, his breast fell.
Minimum Level Requirement: 10.
He gritted his teeth, a sour taste welling up in his throat. Too weak. Too little. Always too little.
"Hey, kid!"
He. A stout-looking adventurer with a cocky smile from a scar hunched over his shoulder, chuckling. "First time in a Guild hall?"
Kai could do no more than nod.
The. man laughed, a deep rumble. "Don't worry. We all begin small. Hang around long enough, and you'll be a legend or you'll be dying in an alleyway like the rest of us. Good luck either way."
He shook Kai vigorously on the shoulder and strutted off, chuckling, and Kai fumed there even more than before.
During the evening, Kai ventured out of the guild and roamed along the city streets once more. The city glittered at night with magical lanterns, their golden light spilling along the cobblestone streets. Street performers juggled fireballs, children tag-team-plaid among the crowds, and couples hand in hand took strolls.
But amidst the klutzy din, Kai sensed it again—that cold, stinging feeling, as if a thousand needles at the base of his neck. Eyes on him.
He spun around sharply. Nothing. Just the sea of unknown faces. But if he allowed his stat-seeing gift to flicker, briefly only, he sensed it—
[??? – Level: ???]
It was a lack at the periphery of his awareness. No numbers, no name, but an empty, heart-shaking lack where the stats would be. The figure disappeared into an alley before he could get a solid image.
Kai's blood turned cold.
They're following you again, Iris said, her tone deep and insistent in his head. And this time it is not Elara they are following. It is you.
His heart pounded against his ribcage. He spun round and round, desperately looking at faces, for a hooded cloak, a covered face, anything. But the shadow had vanished. Swept up by the city.
By the time he managed to find a quiet corner to sit in, fatigue had begun to slow his muscles. He sat on the icy stone edge of a fountain, gazing down at his reflection in the water. His face was drawn and white, but his eyes blazed with something hot and fiery—determination.
He had been left there by Elara, but not left behind. She had set him off in a direction. The Academy. What he was to do was known.
But the presence of the shadow with no data looming over him sent a chill of icy fear down his spine. If an individual could manage to keep their data from his system, that made them dangerous. Very, very dangerous. And somehow, they wanted to assist him.
"I need to get stronger," he panted at his reflection. "Whatever is within possibility."
High in the sky, the twin moons ascended high, their silver light illuminating the spires of Arcanis. Somewhere past those mighty walls, Elara lingered. Somewhere in the dark, his foes plotted.
And all the while, Kai's real mission was only just beginning.
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