Desmond crested a small hill as his gaze fell upon a massive city wall. The walls had to be over 20 meters tall but even then, Desmond could see several buildings inside the city towering over them. Earth magic allowed people to simply build bigger. The walls extend far off into the distance to Desmond’s right and left. It was a truly massive city containing over a million citizens and heralded as the second biggest in the Empire.

The area around the walls was vacant as it was cleared of all trees and obstructions. The city was located in the Deadlands so there were no people working the land around the city. This was Gateway City, the Empire's only city located in the Expanse.

The Deadlands was an interesting area of the Expanse that incorporated most of the tier 2 zones. In tier 1 zones where things like goblins and wolves showed up, a farmer could still make a living as long as he was part of a community and careful. But in a tier 2 zone where things like orcs and dire wolves were common, subsistence agriculture was no longer possible. The average dark would need something like city walls to protect them.

Desmond looked back at the small party of hunters that were following him. It had taken almost 2 weeks to travel back to the city. They had met up with Deacon and Chloe on their way, as well as several other hunters who mostly served to just slow them down. They had checked up on several other Lodge outposts on their way back, but all had been cleared out. It looked like the Lodge was calling every hunter associated with the Empire back to Gateway City.

“Well, we finally made it back to civilization,” Riki said with some exhaustion in her voice. Desmond knew the exhaustion was not from the travel but because a few of the hunters they joined up with were the annoying type. “What’s the first thing you are going to do when you back, Dez?”

“I have to find Garrick and report what we found,” Desmond replied. “See what it all means.”

“All business,” Riki said. “This is the big city. Reporting can wait for a day or two.”

“Well, maybe I’ll stop for some real food first,” Desmond said to Riki. He then moved off to address the larger group.

“Good job everyone! We have finally made it back to Gateway City. Please remember to report back to the Lodge. I’m going to be going on ahead from here.” As Desmond was the highest-ranked hunter in the group, he had a leadership role to fulfill. A role he was happy to leave behind now that the gates of Gateway City were in sight.

Desmond made sure to say his goodbyes to Deacon and Chloe before he and Riki quickly made their way towards the main gate.

“We are going to run into a problem,” Riki said when they were away from the larger group.

“Oh, and what would that be?” Desmond asked. He could see a lot of problems in their future but didn’t know which one in particular she was referring to.

“If the Lodge called back all the hunters, then where are we going to stay?” Riki asked as a rhetorical question. “The inns will all be full and even the Lodge accommodation will be taken already. The city was simply not made to hold this many hunters. I would rather not have to camp out on the mustering grounds right when we get back to the big city.”

“I imagine you wouldn’t be bringing this up if you didn’t already have a solution?”

“That’s easy! You just have to buy a house in the city,” Riki replied as they approached the gates. “Prices might be a little high right now, but I guarantee you I can find a good deal.”

That did sound nice. Gateway City was always like a second home to him, so having an actual home here couldn’t hurt. If he just wanted a room, he had many acquaintances he could crash within the city. But now that he was rich, there was no need.

“How much would a house cost in the city?” Desmond asked as they got into a rather short line to enter the city. This gate pointed towards the Expanse so only hunters would use it.

“I’d say around 100K gold would get you a nice place in the city.”

“In LP?” Desmond asked.

“Ahhh, around 10 of those silver plates would do it,” Riki replied as she showed her lodge badge to the guard at the gate and was let through.

Desmond followed suit and entered the city behind Riki.

“Alright, sounds good to me,” Desmond said as he took out 10 of the silver bank notes and handed them to Riki.

“Great,” Riki said with a smile. “I should have everything warped up in a few hours, and then will come find you.” Riki then moved off into the crowd of people around the gate.

Desmond stood there for a moment hoping that his idea of a nice house and her idea of a nice house were the same thing. Maybe he should have gone with her? Well, there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Desmond moved off down the main crowded street by the gate. The city was far more boisterous than he remembered, but it was undercut by a clear sense of tension in the air. It would seem all the hunters returning wasn’t going unnoticed by the common populace.

The buildings inside the city were paced close together and had a Victorian-era look to them. They were 2 to 3 stories tall and made of brick or wood with glass windows. Along the main street, most buildings had a shop on the main floor with living quarters above that. Near this particular gate, all the shops were directed towards hunters. There were equipment workshops, supply stores, clothes sellers, and of course, bars. All of them looked busy as this was as crowded as Desmond had ever seen the city. With people walking basically shoulder to shoulder down the whole street.

Desmond traveled a few blocks and came across the place he was looking for, Nick’s Inn. Despite it still being relatively early in the morning the place looked packed. The first level of the Inn doubled as a bar and one where you could get the strengthened drinks made for high-level hunters at.

Desmond entered the inn to a rowdy scene that reminded him of the Lodge. It looked like they had been partying all night and they showed no signs of stopping. Desmond moved through the mob and made his way to the counter, all the while scanning the surroundings. Through the crowd, he caught sight of Anthony’s bald head. It wasn’t who he was looking for, but he would do.

Desmond got two drinks from the bar and made his way towards the man. Anthony currently had his shirt off and was arm-wrestling people at one of the tables. It looked like whoever lost had to drink, or maybe it was whoever won? Hard to tell.

The man had food and drink in his dark orange beard which only served to strengthen Desmond's conviction to never grow one himself. As Desmond approached the table there was a large smash. Anthony had basically thrown his opponent out of the chair and onto the ground.

“You’re a hundred years too early to challenge me,” Anthony said before finishing off his current drink. “Come back when you get some hair on your balls you little shit.” This was followed by a mob of laughter from the people at the table. The young man who had lost managed to stand and stumble his way back to the bar.

Desmond picked up the chair and sat across the table from Anthony. He slid a beer over to the man before holding his hand up for a match. Anthony was initially surprised before a big grin showed up on his face. Anthony’s massive arm met Desmond’s in the middle of the table.

“And here I thought you were dead,” Anthony said while seeming excited that it was not true.

“It will take more than an invasion or two to keep me down,” Desmond replied as their friendly handshake turned into a power grip. “If I win, you have to answer a few questions I got.”

“Sure, but when I win,” Anthony stated. “You got to buy everyone here a round.” This got more than a few people to turn their heads. Hunters were mostly wealthy people but somehow free booze always got their attention. Soon they had a small crowd around their table.

“Bet!”

With that, they both started to put more force into their arms as the crowd cheered. Desmond and Anthony locked eyes across the table as they put in more pressure. The table creaked and groaned but neither hand moved from the starting spot.

It would have looked odd, like they hadn’t even started yet if not for the bulging muscles speaking to the devastating force each man was applying. As the pressure ramped up something was going to have to give. Desmond could see a vein threatening to burst on Anthony's forehead, but the man never stopped smiling.

Suddenly there was a loud crack as the pillar supporting the table broke. This interrupted both men’s concentration and the mana they had been focusing on their hands exploded outwards, all but disintegrating the table and knocking a few people down. This created a moment of silence before the crowd erupted in drunken cheers.

“It looks like this one ends in a draw,” Anthony said. “Does that mean we both win, or lose?”

Desmond spoke up over the sounds of the bar. “Everyone gets one round on me!” This was met by a deafening cheer from the whole bar.

Anthony chuckled. “Alright, what were your questions?”

“What happened at the Lodge?” Desmond asked. He wanted to get this information from the Lodge itself, but he knew that place would be a cluster fuck right now with so many hunters in the city.

“Hmmm, well there is not much to say really,” Anthony said while leaning back. “We were hit by long-range magic artillery. The defensive array went up after the first few strikes, so we didn’t take much in the way of damage. A state of emergency was called, and the portal to Gateway City was opened so all noncombatants could evacuate. The problem was, that we didn’t know how strong the enemy forces were or even where they were. The Lodge didn’t want to commit to an attack that could very well be a trap. The hunters were divided between those who wanted to attack and those
who wanted to evacuate. But with the portal open, we had an easy way to evacuate. So Richard called a general retreat and we all pulled back. Since then, the higher-ups have all been cooped up in the Lodge preparing a response. So, what happened to you?”

That was about what Desmond had expected. The hunter system wasn't exactly set up to fight a general war and certainly not on such short notice. The individuality and freedom given to hunters would have been a detriment to trying to organize a collective response. The fact that the rell didn’t even try to interfere with the portal magic was a good sign that they had never wanted a true fight.

“The Lodge was burned to the ground by the time I got there,” Desmond replied. “Riki killed a few of their scout and we made our way back here the long way.”

This got a laugh out of Anthony. “Damn, and here I thought I had it bad, being forced to sit here and drink for three weeks straight. Richard better get his shit together soon or I’m going to become a drunk.”

Desmond chucked. “I think it’s too late for that. Do you know where I can find Garrick?”

“Yeah, he should be with the rest of those good-for-nothings in the Lodge,” Anthony replied. “No wait, I heard he had a place at Winten that he was staying at.”

That was enough for Desmond to go off of. The Winten Campus was a large university-like complex inside the city that acted like the central hub of the Academia faction within the Empire. If Desmond asked around the residential district within Winten he should be able to find Garrick easily enough.

“Thanks,” Desmond said as he stood up. “I need to speak with him about this invasion.”

“What, not going to stay for a drink?” Anthony said. “You got weeks of catching up to do.”

“I think we both know, there is no rush,” Desmond replied. “With how bureaucratic the Lodge can be. I will have plenty of time to catch up. Next time let’s find a better table.” Desmond laughed as he moved off through the bar to find the barkeep that he no doubt owes a decent sum of gold to now.