XKARNATION

This chapter is dedicated to a_apple thanks for the 5 star review!

Sunlight snakes its way through my dusty curtains, onto my closed eyelids. “Ugh” I open my tired eyes and look around my darkroom. “I should really clean this place up” I mumble to try to motivate myself.

Finally, after a while, the hunger pains get the best of me and I roll myself out of bed. The cold marble floor greets my feet and I wince a little at the cool sensation. I would put a rug on the floor but this cold helps to wake my tired mind.

Opening the dusty curtains with a dramatic motion and sending a plume of dust into the air, causing me to sneeze. The harsh sunlight enters my room causing me to squint to avoid the pain.

Looking out from the top floor of the magic tower gives me a breathtaking view of Eden. I have been living here for a few weeks now, although I am still alone here in the magic tower. More people are moving here every day from the Frostlands or people like me who escaped either Eshnar or the Empire.

From my observations, I would say around 20% of the houses are now occupied. The merchants square which I can see most of from this vantage point is truly massive and mostly empty.

I'm sure that will change once this place opens up. I can only imagine how popular a location in the middle of three countries that also serves food that gives EXP will be.

I pick up my blue card from the nightstand and hold it in my hand. [Summon Food: Carrot] I say and a carrot pops out of the card. Although I can’t store items inside of the card like the storage ring that Alice uses, instead I can use this card to teleport food from somewhere else.

I personally have no idea where the food comes from but I don’t ask questions, it's convenient after all. Probably best not to know…

Looking in the mirror I am greeted with a pretty messy looking boy, wavy brown hair sticking in random directions, a pair of slightly damaged glasses on my face, and pale white skin as if I had never seen the sun.

There are even stains on my t-shirt from attempts at cooking food here in the lab. I can only summon raw ingredients with my card so I sometimes try to cook myself meals but since the cooking was always done by servants for me, my attempt was a disaster. 

I usually just go down to the merchants square to eat at a restaurant for food. I wouldn’t say their cooking skills are that great but considering the food is free I can’t really complain. I'm sure they will get better with time, similar to how I have gotten better as a magic scholar.

Throwing on a cloak and brushing my hair down I proceed to leave my little room in the magic tower. It really is just a single room with a small bed in the corner and tables with experiments sitting on them on the other side of the room.

I sometimes go home to my parents to have a bath and be taken care of by Sebastian for a bit but I enjoy living on my own.

Walking outside I check the artificial sun's position in the sky. “Darn it's around 4pm already, I really need to fix my sleep schedule”.

While promising myself to become less of a degenerate, I stroll through the quiet streets towards the merchant's square. This city is truly beautiful though, with no litter on the street or foul smell from poor sewage systems. No annoying drunkards or homeless people begging for food.

Just nice and quiet.

I do pass by another person on the occasion and we nod to each other. Everyone in Eden is one big family in my eyes. In my opinion, we all share a sense of comradery, as we all had to go through the test for the blue cards after all. I shudder slightly from the memory.

Finally arriving in the merchants square after a 10 minute walk, I beeline straight towards my favorite restaurant. It's owned by a cute girl from the Frostlands who has a black card. They serve simple comfort food which I thoroughly enjoy. I always hated the overly fancy food I ate as a noble, so to be able to eat more simple ‘commoner’ food was a new and refreshing experience for me.

As I enter the cozy little restaurant and the bell above the door rings I see the girl walkout from the kitchen to greet the guest. “H-heyy Calvin, Welcome back~~” she says cheerfully. “Just the usual please” I reply, trying not to fall for her flirting “Bacon, Eggs, and toast- Coming righttt upp~~”.

Ugh, she is so energetic so early in the day… oh wait I guess it is 4pm.

I take my usual seat next to the window, basking in some rare sunlight for me. The restaurant is surprisingly busy, there are around 10 other people in here. Two men on the table next to mine are having a rather loud conversation over some alcohol so I listen in while closing my eyes.

“Oi Greg, did you hear the rumors?”

“Nay mate I haven't, care to share?”

“Right so old George says that Alice and David are heading to the Empire soon!”

“Nah way in hell mate, are they going there to destroy it haha”

“I don’t think so, although Alice does give me the chills of a murderer with that smile of hers…” The man leans in looking serious and whispers “I think they are going to finally open the gates!”

Astonishment can be seen on the other man's face

“No fucking way, I hope not, I was enjoying the peace and quiet.”

I simply ignore them, personally, I look forward to the gates opening. Maybe some magic scholars would move in so I finally have someone to debate my theories with.

Most of the people living in Eden right now contribute to the more ‘simple’ jobs like running restaurants, inns, bars/clubs, even brothels. The brothels are a little unique here since the ladies are doing it for free so can therefore deny to service someone. Really it's just being used by horny women to find a date then a brothel's usual business.

Anyways, I'm getting off track. In conclusion, Eden mainly has people from the Frostlands here that are ex-miners so they don’t have a high level of education. Therefore jobs like magic scholar are in the minority for now.

But if the rumors I'm hearing are true, and Eden really is going to open up soon, then things will start to get more interesting around here...

XKARNATION

A more slow-paced chapter showing the daily life of an Eden resident. Hope you all enjoyed even though it's slightly different from my normal chapters.