Once we entered the city Redline immediately started walking faster, with a more determined gait than before and I had to walk twice as fast to match her pace. Where was she going now? I wasn't even being given a chance to actually look around and take in the new things! I let out a hiss to convey my annoyance and watched, amused, as her tail puffed up again. Though, sadly, that seemed only to make her increase her pace and I was forced to practically jog beside her. 

I only caught glimpses here and there but it seemed that this was only the first layer of the city. The lower class individuals, but they didn't look like it to be honest. The houses all around were all in decent condition, with stone foundations, walls, and slanted roofs to allow the weather and other objects to slide off, if roughly. The walls were still very much an imposing sight even an hour into the city and I only noticed now that there was a second set of walls in the distance. They looked pretty similar to the first ones, but the outside of it glowed with power and seemed to reflect light back to the surrounding darkness. 

It took us a long few hours to get there, even at the speed that Red was rushing at, and I noticed that as we went by there were a few places here and there with stables attached to the sides of the houses with straw for those strange horse creatures to sleep on, and there were also even a few Bovine-like ones here and there, most just roaming around without purpose...just watching  passively as we rushed by. 

The houses also seemed to grow bigger and get slightly more spacious, with more roads leading off into wide alleys and even some empty stalls that were empty and unmanned in the edges of almost every road. This place really was huge, we were still in the first area of the city and already it looked like the commoners and low-class people had better living spaces than I did back on Earth. 

Though that was mostly my choice as I had way too much money and even getting a mansion wouldn't have put a dent in the funds I'd gotten from my parents and grandparents...now that I think of it even my parents, or parent, here had to have been insanely wealthy with such a large pile of riches in that cave I'd been born in. Or maybe they were supposed to be my guardian or something similar? I didn't know, and I didn't really mind that at the moment because I really had no need for money in this life as of yet. 

As we got to the entrance of the gates I noticed that there were four guards at the front this time, guarding a closed gold door adorned with intricate inscriptions and patterns. Some of them were probably magic to keep the doors closed and resist magic or any attempt of force, and I hoped I never had to see the amount of force it took to bring them down. Two of the guards stepped from formation and came towards us as Redline stopped a few feet away, hands on their weapons and eyes looking at her and the surroundings cautiously. 

"You know these gates are closed until morning Red. You come here late every time expecting to come through and every time I get a report of something jumping the wall into the city." The head guard pointed out and Red's ears twitched but she didn't show any reaction aside from that. "You know anything about this?" 

"Nope." She deadpanned and I resisted a snicker, "Could you let me through I have something that is of the utmost importance the Guild master needs to see, possibly even the King..." The guard showed no reaction, as if this was something that was a regular occurrence here. 

"Again, I cannot let you in here until morning Red." He replied curtly, "You know the rules, and I have to follow them to the letter...for the most part, so I can't just let anyone in with a guise of having something important to show a Guild Master." 

"Even if it's something that needed to be brought up with Pops?" She asked and the man froze for a moment, but he still shook his head. 

"No, sorry. Unless you have something that really matters I cannot let you through." He was about to turn away when Redline leaned closer to him and whispered quiet enough for me and him to hear. The other guards in their golden armor remained oblivious to the situation, but got tenser as she did it. 

"Even if its about a (Young) Dragon?" At that the man's expression changed from shock to nervousness, and then fear. 

"Do you have proof of such a discovery?" He whispered back turning to the side as to not let the other three see his mouth. 

"He's right beside me. If you want to know the full story we'll need to go somewhere private, or will I have to find another way in..." 

"Prove it first and I'll see what I can do." The guard captain's eyes were narrowed at her. She hummed, one of her ears turning every which way. 

...What was that? Is that some kind of signal or something? How am I supposed to understand why your ears are wiggling?

I lifted my invisibility on my head and the tip of my tail and waved it in greeting. He froze with a shocked fearful expression, reeking of it and worry. He looked between Redline and me, then back and forth a few more times until I let go of my visibility, that seemed to snap him out of it. 

"I-I'll go and get the captain." He uttered quaintly, "Wait--wait here for a few moments while I have them come over." He then said something quickly to a sort of glowing attachment embedded into his gauntlets and hurried back to his station. 

A few moments later the giant golden doors to reveal a woman with shining golden hair in a golden paladin style armor glowing radiantly in the muted shadows of the city an equally powerful, glowing white sword at her waist and a dangerous aura of power surrounding her. There was a helmet that matched the style of her armor under her arm as she walked past the doors and her expression immediately turned into a scowl upon seeing Red. Was this such a common thing that she knew Red by sight? 

"Redline Crimson what are you doing here?" She asked and I tilted my head, confused. Redline only had one name from what I saw in her status...has it changed.

Name: Redline
Species: Catkin (Shadow-Stalker)
Condition: Normal
(Class B-)
Estimated Rank: A-
Job: Assassin
Personal Level: 67/100
Health: 4140/4140
Constitution: 276 (240) (+15%)
Strength: 557 (480) (+15%)(+5)
Magic: 345 (300) (+15%)
Dexterity: 314 (260) (+15%)(+10)(+5)
Mana: 3450/3450
Stamina: 7850/7850

It did? From what? The name didn't change though, so what was it? Wait, I looked at her before she put on all of her gear on so that's definitely the reason. What did they each actually boost to make such a difference...

Cloak of Subtlety (Rare) - A cloak made by a master in weaving dark, almost imperceptible threads and enchanted by a master of stealth. (Passively makes the wearer harder to notice when worn (Increase of 15% to all stats))

Swift-Swipe Boots (Uncommon) - Boots lined with the pelt of a Swift-Swipe Wildcat, a creature of unmatched speed and ferocity that had earned it's kind a racial title "Swift as the Wind" (Grants +10 (Dexterity)). 

Breastplate of Obscurity (Rare) - A lightweight, pitch black breastplate designed for those that walk a path of the Rouge (Grants +5 (Dexterity) and +5 (Strength)) 

Storage Ring (Epic) - A ring enchanted by a master of Space Magic to hold and store non-living matter for an indefinite amount of time. (Storage Capacity: ----)  

Huh. So that's why...That's insane! Her stats changed so much just from a 15% boost due to her cloak, though to be fair I was still pretty close to her at level 1 in my second evolution so I would likely be as strong as or even stronger than her by my third evolution. Just the thought of reaching another evolution nearly made my excitement drive away the apprehension about my current situation. 

"Red. It's a surprise to see you here so late at night." The lady said and I decided to take a chance and try to look at her stats too. 

Name: Cinder
Species: Advanced Human
(Class ??)
Estimated Rank: ??
Job: High Paladin to The Order of Cleansing
Personal Level: ???/???

As soon as I identified her, her eyes snapped to the spot I stood, her hand tightening on the pommel of her glowing sword and I shivered, slinking behind Redline as the woman scanned the area with a lethal intensity I didn't want to challenge. 

...Maybe doing that wasn't such a good idea...but I was just so curious...I just had to try. A suppressed whimper escaped my chest and her gaze changed to the area I now hid. Thankfully, Redline came to the rescue with a distraction, redirecting the woman's gaze for a moment. 

"I promise that this time I actually have a valid reason to bother you at such a late hour Cinder." She motioned to the still shell-shocked guard standing at attention like the others, lined up next to the other three as Cinder came through the gates. 

"Oh really?" Cinder hummed seemingly forgetting about my mistake curiosity from earlier, "Like that time you dragged a Wyvern head through the city claiming that Pops wanted it for this 'throne room'? Or how about that time you nearly crippled two of my knights because you were late to a sparring match? Oh! How about--" 

Red held up a hand getting Cinder to stop her tirade of accusations, "Just talk to your guard please...I can't really explain out in the open like this." Cinder watched Redline's actions for a moment longer before sighing and turning to the head guard at this station. 

"Report. Is what she claims to bring true?" She asked with a frown, seeing how shaken up the man was. 

"Y-yes ma'am!" He recited.

"Stop calling me that...You're sure that this is something worth my attention soldier." 

"Yes ma'am!" 

"Stop--Alright. At ease" She sighed and the other three soldiers relaxed but though the leading one put his arm down, he was still visibly tense. "Take the night off, I'll have another take over for your station, but I want to see you here tomorrow night rested and fit for duty. Understood?"

"Understood ma'am! Thank you ma'am!" The man stepped back into line and Cinder looked back at us...at Redline. 

"Come with me." She sighed, turning on her heel and walking back through the gates. Redline, and myself, right on her tail--not that she actually had one. We followed her for a good ten minutes and soon a sturdy, two-story building came into view. It was manned by two guards at the foot of an raised platform leading inside. The building itself was one of the best I'd seen in the city so far and I was surprised to see that there were unattended fires lining the various walk-paths throughout the building. 

They burned with a warm light, heating up the place and providing a calming light simultaneously and despite how big it was there were still plenty of people there. Most were sitting on benches along the walls or running around to do various tasks...There was even a dog-kid with droopy black ears and a white tipped back tail racing around with a box full of papers. Most of the soldiers around immediately stopped what they were doing and did their best to salute Cinder as she walked by unfazed. She must've been used to the attention now if the slightest twitch a frown was anything to go by. 

We were lead through various halls, up the stairwell, and through many other halls before finally stopping before a rather plain looking Oak door with a golden insignia of a golden chalice on it's face. I watched as she waved her hand beside a crystal embed into the wall next to the handle and after a moment she stepped inside and held the door for Redline and I to come in. The door was, unfortunately, too narrow for us both to go in at the same time so I had to stay behind a moment as Redline went through first. I wasn't too far behind through as Cinder closed the door quickly, almost trapping my tail in it's frame. 

Though I didn't get the chance to think about that because as soon as the door closed there was a glowing sword pointed at my face. 

Dragons

Updates should stay the same as I keep writing, but they also may slow down as I'm likely going to have to get another job soon due to getting my hours cut to practically nothing...

Patreon