As Aumo and LisiA arrived at the gates, a guard at the gate asked for an ID to get through. When they registered as adventurers, Aumo and LisiA were both issued a pass with their name on it. With an ID, it was possible to get into cities quicker and easier.

 

Aumo and LisiA showed their ID’s to the guard and were allowed to pass. They quickly made their way to the guild.

 

It was still around the afternoon, but it was usually around this time that the people that have taken the easier quests return. A somewhat long line was formed for the left side of the reception desk. 

 

As Aumo and LisiA got on the line, they discussed what they should check out in the city.

 

“Since we are exploring the city after this, where should we go?” asked Aumo.

 

“We should ask for a map,” replied LisiA, “Neither I nor you know what is in this city.”

 

“Good point,” replied Aumo.

 

They have taken note of what buildings they passed by to get to the guild, but none of the buildings were of interest as most of them were houses. There were some stores that sold cheap weapons and groceries, but it wasn’t something that they needed right now.

 

After a couple minutes, it was Aumo and LisiA’s turn to turn in their request. It went by without much trouble, and they got their reward. 

 

“Could we also have a map of the city?” asked LisiA after receiving the reward money.

 

“That would be 10 copper,” replied the receptionist.

 

LisiA took out a silver coin from the reward and gave it to the receptionist.

 

“Here’s your change and the map,” said the receptionist as they handed over a map and 90 copper coins.

 

“Thank you,” said LisiA as she took the change and the map and left the reception desk, “Guilds really have improved.” 

 

“From all those years ago?” asked Aumo.

 

“There actually used to be a ranking system, but many of the higher ranks bullied the lower ranks,” explained LisiA, “Only humans were allowed in the guilds too.”

 

“I think I saw some beastkins and dwarves in the line before,” said Aumo.

 

“There were also a few androids. They look much more human than before but their eyes still glowed,” added LisiA.

 

There were improvements to androids after so many years, but it seems that they still couldn’t get to the level of making them indistinguishable from humans. Their core no longer glowed through the body, which was still considered a huge improvement compared to before.

 

After discussing their findings, Aumo and LisiA walked out of the guild. LisiA stored away the money that she just got.

 

“Now, what should we check out,” asked LisiA as she opened up the map.

 

It was a decently big map, a square that was half a meter in length.

 

“Woah it’s in color,” said Aumo.

 

Although printing was already a thing back then, researchers couldn’t figure out how to make a printer print out the same colors every time with precision. After a hundred years, they would eventually make many breakthroughs and achieve color printing.

 

“Seems like all the maps are printed. No wonder they were rather cheap,” said LisiA.

 

As the two looked at the map for a while, they learned that the guild was really close to the center of the city, and that many of the stores were built near the guild. The city was in the shape of a square, which was surrounded by walls. 

 

The building that caught their eye on the map was a giant building that was labeled “The Mall”. It was much bigger than the guild building, and looked extremely different compared to the surrounding buildings on the map.

 

“Let’s go to this place,” said Aumo as she pointed at the Mall on the map.

 

“Alright,” said LisiA.

 

The two then slowly made their way to the Mall.

 

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After a few minutes of walking, Aumo and LisiA saw a giant building that looked extremely out of place in the city. The normal buildings, such as stores and houses didn’t change much in design throughout the 100 years. However, the factories that were built back then looked extremely out of place as they were designed by the robots that arrived in this world. That was exactly the feeling that the Mall gave off, its design was similar in design to the factories back then.

 

“This looks like something designed by a robot,” said Aumo as she looked at the Mall. The exterior was completely white, which was the color that all robot designs used.

 

“We haven’t met a single robot so far,” said LisiA.

 

Robots, unlike automatons and androids, looked nothing like any of the races. They also looked nothing like the golems that were monsters that could be found in mines, or created with monster cores. Robots seemed to have their own will like androids, but at the same time it felt as if they were acting on orders of some type.

 

Although the outside of the mall only had some people, when Aumo and LisiA went in, they saw that the mall was filled with people and shops. There were also multiple floors with more shops on every floor.

 

“I knew that it was big, but seriously this is crazy!” exclaimed Aumo as she looked around.

 

“A mall is a giant collection of shops, I see,” said LisiA after looking around for a bit.

 

There were rows of stores for weaponry and armor, along with stores for clothes, magitools,  groceries; even bakeries and cafes could be seen. There were multiple stores of each type, each selling their own items listed at different prices.

 

Some store owners could be seen fighting over whose store had better prices and quality, others seemed to get along well despite selling the same thing.

 

“This is almost like another world,” said Aumo. 

 

Malls were actually a proposed idea in Furad, as many robots lived there, but it was difficult to reform a large part of a giant city to build a giant building for just stores, especially as the construction would take a lot of time.

 

Suddenly, someone called out towards the two, “Hey, you two finished the quest?”

 

It was Guardon who was walking out of a bakery with a paper bag in his hand.

 

“Oh, hello Guardon,” said LisiA, “Are you on a break?”

 

“Yes, the bread in this bakery is really good. After you two left I had to do so much paperwork to prepare for a possible attack. A break is always a good thing,” replied Guardon.

 

Being the head guard of the city, Guardon has to do a lot of work regarding the safety of the merchants and citizens of the city. He also has to sometimes patrol the forest as many of the guards aren’t well trained enough to survive the slightly stronger monsters in the forest.

“Was this Mall built by robots?” asked Aumo, “We came from a place isolated from the world for a long time.”

 

“That would explain why you were in the forest,” said Guardon, “They say that nobody lives on the other side of the forest, seems like some people still do.”

 

“Would we be troubling you if we ask you about what we don’t know?” asked LisiA.

 

“If it weren’t for you two, I wouldn’t even be standing here right now,” said Guardon, “I’ll fill you in on everything you need to know.”

 

“Thank you,” said LisiA.

 

“No need for thanks, I have some spare time since I finished the paperwork I had to do,” said Guardon, “Now then, standing here would be awkward, let’s go to a cafe and talk.”

 

Guardon led the two to a Cafe within the mall. After they were seated, Guardon started explaining everything he knew to them.

Status:

 

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Name: Aumo

Core Level:4

XP: 30/75

Status: Normal

HP: 2100/2100

MP: 1070/1070 

MP Stored: 0

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Skills: Mana Manipulation, Mana Sight, Mana Sense, Mana Analysis, Levitation, Mana Vibration, Small Fireball, Ice Throw, Air Slash

Upgrades: None

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