With a jerk, I opened my eyes as the carriage started to rattle.

Oh, not this again

Fortunately, it wasn't that heavy like in the forest. The surrounding had dramatically changed. The salty smell, also the orange stone was gone. The environmental felt more alive, everywhere, green land. I spotted several farmhouses faraway. It seemed we had already past Hell's canyon.

The carriage headed towards a small hill, and the sun was already on the peak. I assumed it was noon. Warm air filled the carriage. 

How long did I sleep?

"Behind the hills is the magnificent Magnone City," announced the merchant, who noticed that I was awakened. 

He had talked a lot about Magnone City. I was a little excited to see it.

As the carriage reached the top and descended another side, I saw the stunning view. The first thing which my eyes caught wasn't the vast round city with the large white wall. Or the long river, which flooded from north to south with an S-form. It was a large green tree in the centre of the City. From here it looked very breathtaking. It was large enough to cover the whole City. Everything looked like miniatures under the big tree. 

I asked the merchant, and he answered. "It is the 'Tree of wisdom'." I nodded. He had already told me about it. According Brent was the "Tree of wisdom" the largest and oldest library. It had more than ten million items, mostly books, also exclusive artefacts. It seemed it also had a function as a museum. I wasn't a big fan of reading books, but I wouldn't resist visiting this place. 

A puffing sound interrupted my thought. As I turned towards the noise, I saw a white large and long steam, big enough to build a cloud.

A steam train?

I was surprised to see something like this here. Same time the merchant's eyes sparkled. 

"This is our attraction, also our proud. All over the world, people coming here to see this marvel," said he with proud and with more enthusiasm. 

"Ah, really?" I tried to give a surprising look. 

"Yes. Since last year this vehicle runs between the Empire Veritas and the Magnone City. Normally the travel towards the Empire takes two or even three days. With this, you are in 15 hours in the capital Len. Can you believe that? Incredible, just incredible," said he with an astonishing glance. 

He doesn't say, but I assume only rich people can afford this. Apropos rich...

"How much does an adventurer earn per month?" I asked him which interested me more than everything else. 

He shortly thought an and gave his honest opinions "It depends, an adventure at level three earn average fifty thousand per month."

"Is that a lot of money?"

 "Yes. But adventurers also have the most expenses. Potions and gears, also weapon costs a lot. You as human, you don't need any weapons, but still, you need other necessary stuff. But if you want to make a lot of money, you should aim to clear up Dungeons" said he with a smile. 

Dungeons. I am sure that Brent doesn't say it out of selflessness, Dungeon has sure valuable items which he as merchant very interested in trading. Anyway, as long I can make money, it doesn't bother me.

I could already picture my rich life, owning a big villa, living a peaceful life. This City should be the right place for my dream. 

While I was dreaming, we came closer to the City. I caught a glimpse of several barns outside of the City. The street became better also wider, three or four carriages could drive abreast. 

As we came closer to the gate, a line of the carriage was waiting to enter the City. We didn't stop there and past them. 

There was also a second line, only a few carriages, and we stopped behind them. 

On the large gate, the crest of the City flaunted in big gold. Under the symbol was the word engraved "North-East". The train which I saw was heading towards "North-West". Due to six district, the City had six gate. 

Two soldiers in uniform with cat-like ears approached our carriage. I was surprised at how modern and stylish their clothes looked, like modern military clothes, but dull. They wore a distinctive snow-white, ankle-length cloak with the emblem of Republic on the heart side and the backside. Also, in the same colour, they wore their trousers and boots. The waist was tightened with a silver belt, same as the six front buttons. I was sure that my face mirrored on of the polished silver belt.

I honestly didn't expect such thing, and I was rather sure they would wear a helmet or chain mill like in medieval age. Or a heavy armour like the canyon dwarf. 

Brent had explained to me that they were the best soldier of the Republic Magnone, the Defense Shield. A mix of military and police forces which operate inside, also outside of Magnone City. 

One guy looked at me and frowned. I didn't give any regard to him. I observed how the merchant took a credit card size plate and handed it over to the other soldier. While one soldier was reading the plate, the other soldier exterminated the outside also inside of the carriage. After everything was fine, both let us pass the checkpoint. 

We went through the large gate. It was tall enough for a ten meters giant to walk through, without to bump his head against the ceiling. 

The street was built with cobblestone. I saw a lot of three or four stories building. Most of them were built with stone or wooden. This area had more the vibe of the medieval age. 

The carriage came to a stop. Brent gave me the rest of the money. "So. That's the rest. Thanks again, without you, I wouldn't make alive from there ." he said, also he thanked from his bottom of the heart. I could tell he meant it honest. 

He seemed a nice guy; good people were scarce. 

After a little chat, I jumped out of the carriage. 

"Please hand this letter over to Emilia. She is an elf, with long blue hair. I have written everything in this letter" said he before he closed the carriage door. 

I nodded. 

He thanked me again through the window and drove away. 

"Don't rip me off" yelled an old woman front of a booth, holding a crying baby in her arm. The seller, an overweight woman with an apron, shouted "If I reduce the price, dammit, I' m going bankrupt. I paid the twice..."

I moved my glance towards the main street. It was crammed with a lot of booths. Hundred of different people were moving at the same time. Dwarves, elves, and other humanoid with a distinctive ears in variety colours. Some of them also possessed a tail, in a different length, also form. There was even a frog guy with a big head, and his skin was dark green. 

There were two types of living being. The demi-humans, they possessed human characterization, like face, body, finger, but still had their natural body parts, like ears or tail. The Beastmen didn't have human parts, and they looked more like animals. 

"Heeey. You are in the way, human" yelled a male voice behind me. I jumped on the right side and looked on the spot where I had just stood. A guy frowned as he saw me. He had four legs, and his lower body was a horse. A Centaurus. He was accompanied by another Centaurus, which looked more feminine.

"Zack, I want to go to eat the shark house," said the woman with her four legs. "Of course darling, I will do everything for you," said the guy, who switched his voice in a sweet and awkward tone. It seemed they were on a date. They both turned right in another street and vanished behind them.

It looked everything surreal. I had the feeling I was landed in Disneyland. Faraway I could see the big tree. 

Before Brent drove away, he said to me "You have to go to the Center Plaza, where the Tree of Wisdom is. There is also the guild."

He also recommended me to take the sideway to avoid the crowd on the main street. I decided to follow Brent's advise and headed towards the sideway, which he had pointed earlier. As I reach the sideway, I saw an old guy, shouting. 

"Clothes. Cheap clothes. I have every size. Clothes. Cheap clothes. Today a special offer." Front of him was carriage piled with clothes—most in the same colour, dark grey and brown trousers. 

He comes just right

"Do you have cloth in my size?" I asked him. He didn't notice me. I repeated this time with a louder voice so that he could hear me. He exterminated me "human, do you have money?" he asked in a rough voice. 

"Of course," said I with a loud voice. The area was filled with a different noise, from crying children to the rustling of bags. 

The clothes weren't in good quality, but currently, I didn't care about it. 

He took several pair of clothes and handed it over. 

I pulled the leather pouch and put several silver coins. The old man tone also, his face expression changed quickly as he saw my money. 

"Sir human, do want this? This thing is also good. I have a-"

"No! These are enough" I said before he tried to sell me variety useless thing. After I bought several clothes, I left.

I was a little happy; now I have several pair of clothes. I entered the sideway. Also, the big market noise slowly disappeared behind me. 

I turned left, then right, I oriented on the big tree, which overtopped like a skyscraper the whole area. 

After several minutes, I landed in a dead end. The surrounding had massively changed. The house was in a shabby state, also here and several people were laying on the ground.

I was sure, and I was in a slums area. There were several small alleys, and it looked like a maze. I picked up again one of the alleys and ended up in a blind alley.

I sighed, I got lost in this area. 

As I took the next alley, I encountered several children with fluffy ears. Their eyes looked more than death than life, also wearing dirty clothes. These children reminded me of me when I was little. 

I went to a child with long bunny ears. "Hi kid, do you know how I can reach the guild?". He turned towards me. His eyes were dejected, also more skinny than other children. It seemed the poor looked in this world as same like on the earth. There wasn't any different, except this was non-human. 

Before the child could say something, a masculine voice interrupted my conversation behind me. 

"Look! Here is the human who stole my money."

The skinny boy frightened and escaped quickly through a small passage. I turned towards the annoying voice. 

Two filthy guys were standing there, and one was skinny, two head taller than me. He had a scruff, also was grinning. I saw his yellow teeth. His face reminded me of a rat, also had a long rats tail, which was shaking, like he found a prey. 

The other guy was a head lower than me but twice bigger than me. The fat guy was standing behind the first, with an intimidation appearance, like a bodyguard. 

"I saaaw iiit. Giiiive moooney. IIInn Yooouur riiight poocket." said the fat guy.

I looked around, and no one was here. 

"Don't worry if you hand the money over, which you have in your right pocket, we let you go." said the rat guy. 

The second a fat guy spoke like a damaged jukebox. "Yees, I giive, thee mooney froom. Giive iit uuus". 

I didn't say anything. 

The rat guy seemed annoyed and took a dagger from his hip. "Do you know what this is?" while he was approaching me. Now I was able to see his whole yellow teeth. 

I flinched on his rusted dagger, an old thing, maybe ancient and I snarked "A magic wand from Harry Potter?"

He looked confused. "What?" I didn't have time to play with this guy, so I grabbed the rat's head as he was in my range, and crashed it against the wall. With a crank, he flopped on the ground and was knocked out quickly. A bloody little spot was left on the wall. The fat guy looked in surprise. 

"Yoouu daammit huumaan, I aaam gooiing too kiill yoouu" said he and pulled a small knife, good enough to cut an apple. 

He aimed me with full force. I dodged smoothly, and I kicked on his shin, as his massive body past me. He stumbled forward. After that, I brought him with a swift movement out of balance. He plunged on his back. He didn't seem to get used to fighting. I grabbed his right hand with the knife, and redirect on his neck, stopped in front of his dirty skin. With my left foot, I pressed his other hand on the ground.

He tried to release, he defied. His eyes were filled with hatred. I pushed more weight on my left leg while I grabbed his right hand tighter. I increased the power so he could feel the difference between him and me. 

He struggled, he gasped, before his face facade broke. Tears dropped from his eyes. Also, his furious face turned slowly in a whining expression. 

Guys like him overestimated their weights, thinking they could quickly bring down every opponent, which were smaller or thinner. 

It seems they both don't know the first rule, never underestimate your opponent. 

"Please., please don't kill me" he winced like a pig.

"So, listen to me carefully, boy. I got lost here. I have to go to the guild. Do you know the way?" I asked him slowly so that he could carve each word in his heart. 

He nodded. "I..I..know..please..don't kill me."

"If you try to pull off something, I won't hesitate to slice you in a hundred pieces and sell you in the next slaughterhouse, do you understand?" I said with an intimate voice. 

He nodded again. His eyes filled with terror. 

That's exactly how it should be.

I slowly loosed the grip and took the foot away. He wheezed like someone who had sprinted a marathon. He slowly stood up and flinched towards his partner, who was still laying on the ground.

"D..Did...Did you kill him?" he asked with an ash grey face, his leg still trembling. 

"Don't worry. I helped him to see his dream girl. You can wake him up later. So guide me to the guild."

He walked like a defeated mouse. 

The fat guy guided me through the maze, turned left, right, two times left. It seemed I got too into slums maze. After several minutes, we reached the Central Plaza. The vast tree greeted me. I couldn't even see the end of the tree. Despite the gigantic shape, the sunshine shone through the huge leaves. Instead of cars or motorcycle, I saw carriages drove the street. I was now in the centre of the City. 

"if...if.. you take this way you come to the guild," the fat guy said and tried to the left."Wai! Take this." I gave him a silver coin, he looked surprised. I warned him "Never try to rub a vagabond, It won't go well." After he caught the silver coin, he ran away. 

I walked a while until an imposing building came to my view. It looked more palace than a building. It looked a smaller version of Palace of Versailles with a flat roof and similar veneer. The building gave here a majesty vibe, also stood out from the surrounding. I wouldn't be surprised if a French dude helped them to build this whopping building. 

A gold iron fenced the guild. Front of the grid was several big posters. I smirked as I read it. 

> Pay attention to the street. Not use your stat window while walking on the street.

As I headed towards the entrance, I encountered two people who were deep in a discussion. A guy and woman, both were wearing the same clothes as the Defense Shield soldier at the gate. But they had a silver belt instead of a black belt. Also, a silver sword was hanging from their hip. 

I flinched to the woman, who had an athletic figure. Although she was attractive, she had several scars on her right side of her stoic face. Also, her right eye was covered in an eye patch. I could see she was an experienced fighter.

On her, both shoulders were tree trips, which showed that she held a higher position within the Defense Shield. 

She emanated a strong and dangerous aura.

I would rather not fight with this woman.

They didn't notice me, so I passed them and entered the dooryard. A path led me direct to stairs of the guild. Both sides of the path was a geometry garden, which looked symmetrical. If I were three years old, I could play here, hide and seek. Different type of green colour dominated the garden.  

As I came close to the building, I discovered several people who seemed to be an adventurer—wearing brown, dark red and black clothes. Each of them was holding a weapon. Some were waiting other were discussion together. And the third part was clicking with their index finger into the air. It seemed they were checking their stat window. 

I passed all of them and climbed the small stairs until I was in front of the big door. It was robust. I suggest two or three guys needed to move this massive door. I slipped into and saw a brown-reddish imposing interior. 

The ground seemed made of marble or something, and I was able to see my ugly face, black hair, brown eyes. The wearing of large clothes made me look a little younger, which I had put with several bandages. 

The place had more glamorous stuff than the summoning place. 

But the familiar blackboard caught my eye. It seemed they also had one of them. My number wasn't anymore there. The list had dropped to 68 heroes. 

I moved my eyes towards the counter. Only four counters were opened, but all of them were occupied. From right, there was a girl, black hair with cat-like ears. Next to her was a blue long hair woman, stunning beauty. On the left side were two guys, seemed on to be a fox another an elf.

On the right wall was a big white bullet board, which was filled with huge papers. I decided to take a closer look until one of them became free. 

The board was divided into two sections. The right was reserved for "Wanted" poster with bounty. 

> "Green shadow" 3.1 mio. Lux

> "Arachne" 2.5 Mio lux

....

And the left area, which took the most space, was for "Quests."

> Clear up: Dungeon #213, south-west

> 100 claws of Lava Kobold 10'000 lux

....

I read through the quests. There were variety quests, from clearing up a dungeon, to become an apprentice. Some quest required some specific skills, like fire-resistance, breathing underwater. Also, they need at least level one or two. 

After I while I noticed that the long blue hair woman became free, I went to her.