When he arrived at the indicated location, Alexander introduced himself to the person who had hired the escort service, as well as to the adventurers who had also accepted the same mission, and climbed onto the last carriage of the caravan with Ocean.
Normally Ocean's presence would be contested by some adventurers, as it's hard to relax next to a wolf over 1 meter tall. But since most adventurers on this mission were bronze rank, and the employer was more than happy to get 2 for the price of 1, no one complained directly.
The journey to Twin City was so peaceful that he spent most of the time practicing to increase his proficiency in the skills |Mana Control| and |Energy Control|. But due to the slow traveling speed of the caravan, necessary to preserve the quality of what was being transported, the journey lasted practically 2 whole days.
With his silver rank adventurer identification on his chest, Alexander had no problems entering Twin City. But as soon as he entered, his instinct began to go off, warning him of danger. The number of people stronger than him was frighteningly high, and the disparity between them was even greater.
"This really is a big city," he thought. "The number of people, as well as their power, are on a completely different level."
Since he didn't know the city, Alexander simply followed the other adventurers to the local branch of the adventurer's guild, after all they would have to go there to finalize the mission.
Along the way, he saw an incessant flow of people of a myriad of races and species he had never dreamed could exist.
Seeing his surprised face, the silver rank adventurer leading the escort mission understood his situation and started laughing. "You'll get used to it quickly if you stay here. I was just like you when I visited my first big city."
After walking a bit, the group arrived at the Guild. And to Alexander's surprise, one of the receptionists was Mary.
By choosing her counter and asking why she was there, he found out that, after her recent experiences, she had accepted an offer from this Guild branch and changed professions.
While the group was finalizing the escort mission, Alexander took the opportunity to ask for information and rent a room. But when he did, his pockets almost cried blood, as the daily price for a room for him and Ocean in this city was double that of Phoenix City, 2 small silver coins, in the low season.
After resigning himself to paying the charged amount and concluding the escort mission, he finalized the escort mission in the system and began planning his next steps.
Ding!
[Mission completed]
[You completed the mission: (Escort the caravan). Completion evaluation: {A}]
[You received: (3500 XP Points)]
After settling into his new room with Ocean, Alexander activated the skills |Concealment| and |False Status| to distort and lower his status.
『 False Status 』
Name: Alexander Ocean ♂
Race: Human/Dragonnewt
Age: 14
Condition: Good
Level: 21
Class: Water Mage
HP: 240/240
Ki: 135/135
Mana: 240/240
MP: 245/245
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Attributes:
Vitality: 100
Strength: 80
Defense: 80
Dexterity: 160 (60 + 100)
Agility: 210 (10 + 200)
Intelligence: 100
Charisma: 5
Luck: 10
Free Attribute Points: 1
Equipment:
[Sturdy Iron Dagger] … [Wooden Staff from the Mana Tree]
Proficiency Skill(s):
|Throw (Advanced)| … |Run (Beginner)| … |Mana Control (Advanced)| … |Disassemble (Intermediate)| … |Magical Body Strengthening (Advanced)| … |Energy Control (Intermediate)|
Enhancements:
(Bodily Development) … (Blessing of the Waters)
Titles:
The changes he made to his status were simple: he gave it a certain stylization, to suit his new appearance; changed what needed to be changed; hid what he thought best to hide; and lowered his attributes by at about 20 points on average, so he would still have room for maneuver in case someone thought they saw through him.
"Now I should be able to take Ocean for a walk and familiarize myself with the city without anyone discovering my abnormal Status," pondered Alexander.
With the problem solved, he took Ocean for a walk through the main streets of the city so they could familiarize themselves with them.
Not far from the Guild was the city's commercial area, which was gigantic for a walled city. And looking in any direction it was possible to see stalls and shops selling the most diverse things.
Twin City's market was incredible and full of things he had never seen before. But since he had no intention of buying anything at the moment, he continued on his way after admiring it for a while.
After walking for a while longer, Alexander saw 3 colossal buildings. The 2 simpler ones were large banks, the first belonging to the city lord and the other, surprisingly, to the Black Moon Company. But even these 2 colossi lost their shine compared to the third one, the Black Moon store, because besides its colossal size, it was also adorned with much luxury and refinement.
Having no reason to stay there for long, he just observed for a bit and went back to walking through the city. And continuing his way, he reached a residential area of the city, which was full of houses, inns, lodgings and the like. But since he already had a place to stay, he didn't stay there for long either.
As soon as he completed a little more than ? of the circumference that formed the central area of the city, Alexander spotted, in the distance, a gigantic area that looked more like a small-scale city.
Curious to know what it was, he asked a passing guard, who sighed. "You're not from here, or you couldn't not know... This is the Twin Combats Academy, one of the great glories of our city."
"It is one of the five best combat academies in the Empire," said the guard with pride. "Those who manage to enter have a very promising future ahead of them. But since its exam is quite difficult, few people manage to enter."
Happy to have found one of his objectives, Alexander thanked the guard and began walking along the large side street that led to the academy.
Upon arriving at the academy's entrance, he found the gates closed. And having no other options, he had to ask for information from the person who was on duty guarding the gates.
"Academy enrollments?" asked the person guarding the gates, as if hearing Alexander's doubt. "They have already started... But the exam will only be held next week."
"Can I still enroll?" asked Alexander, a bit anxious at the possibility of having missed the enrollment period.
"Yes," replied the guard. "But the enrollment fee of 1 small gold coin is non-refundable."
Feeling that the guard was not trying to deceive him, Alexander didn't even frown as he took out 1 small gold coin and handed it to the guard.
"Fill out this form with your data," said the guard as he handed him the form, a pen, and a support to hold the form. "But don't forget to come take the exam on the first day of next week, as it is only held on that date and there is no refund if you don't show up."
"Alright," replied Alexander, who after enrolling received a small plate as proof of enrollment.
Satisfied with having managed to register, he returned to the circumference of the central area, as he wanted to complete it and return to his starting point, the adventurer's guild.
Still during his walk, Alexander found an area of artisans in their most varied trades. A sector that seemed to produce a little bit of everything.
Upon returning to his starting point, he resumed his walk through the city, but this time he walked slowly and explored adjacent streets.
When he finally began to familiarize himself with the main streets, night was already beginning to fall over Twin City.
Feeling that this was enough, at least for now, Alexander turned and headed to the Guild dormitory. But as he passed by the street of one of the city gates, he stopped for a moment to observe the great diversity of familiars returning to the city with their masters.
The number of Familiars wasn't very large and most of them didn't seem strong, but it couldn't be said that it was rare to find them.
"As expected of a large adventurer city," thought Alexander while evaluating the people returning to the city. "The number of Demis, adventurers, and familiars is incomparable to that of Phoenix City."
Continuing at a slow pace, it was already dark when he arrived at the Guild. He then greeted Mary, had a quick meal with Ocean, went to bed, and began processing some information while thinking about his situation.
"It seems I'm slowly getting used to this world. Even some feelings are surfacing," thought Alexander. "It's as if I'm adapting to my current situation/world and creating new values."
"The strange thing is that I still remain without any emotion or feeling regarding my memories of Earth... As if I had lost them in exchange for being in this place."
"It's better not to think too much about this," he concluded. "Or I might end up going crazy trying to understand something I have no way of understanding."
"I'll just focus on what I can do at the moment," decided Alexander. "Come to think of it, I still have many things to do before entering the combat academy."
"I still need to obtain more information, new items, and understand the correlation between age and appearance in this world. Not to mention I still have to test if my goblin form can pass for a Demi."
