The wall of the capital snaked into the distance, only stopping once it reached the coastline far away. From what little Valar knew, Rhondell was a coastal city built so that the sea that bordered Leoria’s eastern and southern borders would be in the country’s control. Valar’s main source of excitement was the royal academy, no doubt, but there were other sources of interest.

  He wanted to see the coast. Other kids at the orphanage had talked at length about the sea, its salty air and the endless expanse, and that made Valar want to see it. He was not a water mage and probably would never be one, but he still wanted to understand the sea. Just like he wanted to understand the mighty mountains and starry sky.

  The group was getting closer to one of the city gates, and Valar was starting to regret not reading the Leorian Society during the trip. He didn’t know what he was getting into, and that was becoming a norm. The book would have probably helped with that, but Valar hadn’t had a chance to read after the bandit attack. He would have to be attentive when entering the city, especially in the academy…

  Soon, the caravan reached a line to the gate. The line of people and wagons was… long, to say the least. It reached far out from the massive gate, people and wagons of all walks of life queuing to enter the opulent capital of Leoria. Peasants, merchants, noblemen… Every single person was bound to wait in line, and so was Valar. Maybe he would have time for a quick read after all…

  Leoria had been founded between 300 and 400 years ago when king Leon Aurelius split the area from the empire of Khatesh. According to the record, Aurelius reached diamond rank shortly beforehand, rebelling immediately when he had the chance. The author, a man named Sebastian Morel, also wrote that the king being diamond rank was never confirmed as he hadn’t shown himself to the public for centuries when the book was written.

  Rhondell had been the king’s stronghold from the very start, being the main hub for the Leorian army during the ensuing war with Khatesh. The war had basically been a given because the luminous emperor would never have accepted Leon’s split from his dynasty. It was a grand blow to the empire, more so because of Leon himself than his people.

  The king of Leoria had been a regional commander, that kind of power usually only entrusted to onyx rankers, although weaker countries needed to occasionally rely on gold rank leadership. He had reportedly risen through the ranks explosively, the force mage being more known for his hammer than his magic. The only real note on his powers was that he seemed to hit harder than others thought possible, receiving the title of the Golden Titan.

  It was all conjecture, but the author suggested that the king might have golden hair, as the princes and princesses of the kingdom seemed to share that trait. There were so many royal children that finding any other identifying characteristics was essentially impossible—even the king being already dead was a possibility. The nobles weren’t speaking, so the public didn’t know anything either. The only thing to go on was that a successor hadn’t been chosen yet—at least publicly.

  That was all the book had on the king and the founding. From there, the author went to explain the basic currencies: Copper, silver, gold, and surprisingly onyx. Valar hadn’t even heard of the currency, and reading further he understood why. Onyx broke the normal pattern of silver being 100 times more valuable than copper and gold being 100 times more valuable than silver. One onyx was worth one thousand gold, and was basically only used between companies, provincial taxes and so on.

  According to the author, onyx broke the rules of the earlier currencies because an onyx ranker would be wildly more powerful than a gold ranker. The values reflected the ranks they were tied to, and an onyx ranker was just too powerful to insult with such a low evaluation. There was no diamond rank currency, as quantifying the differences of power at that level was futile. How could you gauge the value of a king?

  Next, the book went on to explain Leoria’s geography. The southern and eastern borders were basically all coastline, Leoria being on the southeastern edge of the continent. It was a mostly good thing, as the nation didn’t have to expect grand assaults from the sea, but being on the continent's edge had its downsides—the main one being the Khatesh empire. It hadn’t stopped being a nuisance ever since the founding, small conflicts or even large scale wars erupting every other decade or so.

  The author suggested that these conflicts were actually pretty useful for the nation, as war was one of the best ways to gain combat experience and accrue mana, but Valar was hesitant to agree. He hadn’t even lived on the western or northern border, Lyndale being an eastern city, but he had still heard horror stories about war and its effects on people. Dying sucked, after all.

  These conflicts never seemed to escalate beyond gold rank soldiers and adventurers though as no onyx or diamond rankers—if they even existed—seemed to join them. That was a blessing, as Valar couldn’t even imagine what a Khateshi soldier at Viktor’s level could do to their troops. He wasn’t the most fervent nationalist, but he hated Khatesh as much as any person. If something had been taught in the orphanage, it was that the empire was bad.

  Leoria was pretty much all forests, notable differences being the wasteland they had just passed, the western desert and a small volcano north of Rosthorn. It had erupted a century ago, fire affinity beasts swarming to attack the city in waves. Everyone hoped that the eruption wouldn’t repeat, and their hopes had been fulfilled to this day. Valar definitely wanted to visit that place someday. It seemed cool!

  Valar put the book down, only partially satisfied with the information he had gotten from it. The history and geography lessons had been full of new knowledge, but that knowledge wasn’t useful to him right now. For example, what would Valar even do with the knowledge of onyx rank coins? Go on a nice shopping trip? Buy a city or two? I’m starting to understand why Viktor said that the book on magic would be more useful short term… I hope that I can keep the books after entering the city though. They are interesting reads.

  He put the books in his backpack, filling up the thing almost to its capacity. He didn’t have anything else to carry so it was okay, but the pack was starting to weigh quite a lot on the fresh iron ranker’s shoulders. Being recently awakened, Valar didn’t really have any of the benefits of an iron ranker. After all, most of the physical and magical power came from learned runes and mana gathered by killing enemies at your rank or higher.

  Valar hopped off the wagon, heading for the adventurer party at the front of the caravan. They were standing around listlessly, each adventurer alleviating their boredom in their own ways. Carla was reading a book, the blue covers suggesting it was about ice or water magic. She seemed to be highly focused, so he decided to not bother her. Ciel was reading too, her book colored in different shades of purple and black.

  Arthur wasn’t reading a book. The blonde haired man was flipping a coin relentlessly, small curses coming from his mouth with each flip. His yellow eyes had a manic glint, so Valar decided to not bother him either…

  Viktor and Alyssa were still unavailable as they talked atop the first wagon. That left him with Rodrick. Viktor had even set up some kind of dome around them, muddling the sound and sight for those trying to sneak a peek. So… just me. Probably.

  The big warrior was oiling his axe, wiping it with a greased cloth. He seemed like the most reasonable person to approach at that moment, so Valar went to stand next to him.

  “How long do you think we’ll have to wait? I didn’t notice anything like this in Lyndale.”

  Rodrick glanced at him, his gaze returning to his axe after a brief moment. He didn’t have to think for long before answering.

  “It’ll take at least an hour… I hate this part of the process, but it’s an age-old tradition at the gates of Rhondell.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Age-old tradition? This kind of line is normal at these gates?”

  “Oh yes it is! Believe it or not, this is kind of a slow day. Usually travelers need to wait for at least two hours before entering the city, and the northern gate is even worse!” Rodrick laughed. “The southern side would probably be less crowded, but getting there would take so much time that it wouldn't be worth it.”

  “Why is the south gate less crowded?”

  “Less towns and less adventuring to do, I guess. Lyndale isn’t the only city or town to the west, and the northern gate is basically all Thornton’s caravans. If you want to get to the city fast, never go to the northern gate!”

  “Fucking shit!” Arthur yelled, throwing his copper coin to the ground.

  “Language, Arthur! There could be children around,” Rodrick grunted. “What are you even yelling about?”

  “IT JUST LANDS ON TAILS!,” Arthur yelled. “ONE HUNDRED THROWS, LET ME LAND ON HEADS FOR ONCE GODS DAMNIT!”

  The archer’s yelling prompted a quick “Shut up!” from Carla and Ciel, the group continuing their slow queuing—Arthur just sulking instead of throwing his coin anymore. As Valar walked forward, he threw a glance at the ground where Arthur had thrown the unlucky coin. It had landed on tails, apparently like the hundred earlier throws before it. Unlike the archer, Valar was not going to waste a good copper coin. He picked it up quickly, putting it into his pants pocket. Maybe I can buy some of that candy with this…

  They continued their slow queuing, Valar just looking at the people in front and behind their caravan. The group behind them was quite a normal looking caravan, consisting of two wagons just like theirs. They had two adventurer groups instead of one, some of the adventurers shouting friendly greetings when they noticed Valar looking.

  They seemed like nice people, most of them showing bronze rank auras when Valar identified them. Both of the groups had one iron rank intern, and one of the groups had a rogue that hid his aura. Valar still guessed that he was at bronze rank, but some people liked to not show their auras openly, be it for one reason or another.

  The group in front of them was more interesting, only having a single wagon but still guarded by more people than the caravan behind Valar’s group. Some of the guards were even silver rankers, meaning that the wagon held someone important enough to have silver rank protection. Valar could have guessed that from the wagon’s look alone though, lots of gold and red silk decorating the finely crafted wooden body. Each of the guards also had a coat-of-arms on their armor, depicting a badger protecting its hollow.

  “That’s a wagon of the Wendir house,” Rodrick said. “Big house in the capital, lots of seats on the nations council… If I remember correctly, your healer was one of them! I think his name was Ian, but my memory is bad with these things.”

  Rodrick turned to Carla, asking the young mage if Valar’s healer had been one of the Wendirs. The mage didn’t react, prompting the big man to poke her shoulder lightly. Carla jumped, fumbling around with her book, just barely managing to keep it in her arms. She glared angrily at Rodrick.

  “What?”

  “I was trying to ask you if Valar was healed by one of the Wendirs. Am I right or has my memory failed me?”

  “Yeah, his name was Ian Wendir. Silver rank healer,” she nodded to herself. “Are you asking because of the wagon in front of us?”

  “Yeah, we were looking at them with Valar. I wonder who is in that wagon.”

  “I was healed by one of their family? Would one of them be able to convey my thanks to my healer then?” Valar asked.

  “Sorry kid, but probably not,” Rodrick said. “Remember, Wendir is a house, not a family.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “Pretty much just the size,” Carla took over. “There are probably hundreds of Wendirs, possibly thousands. Ian seemed like an outer member, residing in Lyndale instead of the capital, and an influential member like this one wouldn’t even know that he existed.”

  That was disappointing. Now that he knew who healed him, Valar would have liked to convey his thanks somehow. It seemed that he would need to wait though, as he was not keen to visit Lyndale very soon, and the Wendir caravan wouldn’t be of likely help.

  After that disappointment, Valar and his group waited. And waited. And waited. At one point, Valar felt so bored that he was almost ready to start ‘experimenting’ with his fire and the line in front of him. Luckily for both the line and Valar, common sense held strong in the face of boredom. Instead of burning the traditional queue, Valar just looked at the people and surrounding farmland, occasionally almost starting to read. He felt lazy, however, so he didn’t bother.

  Against the odds, the queue moved quite quickly. The caravan in front of their group reached the gates in just under two hours, Valar’s group only one spot away from entering the capital after the lengthy wait.

  Three people stepped out of the Wendir caravan, one clearly much younger than the pair on her sides. They all had red hair, the two older adults likely the young woman’s parents. The parents were both wearing mage’s robes, sigils depicting fire pressed to the expensive pieces of clothing. The young woman wasn’t wearing a mage’s robe, but a quick check revealed that she seemed to be an iron rank mage with a fire affinity. Apparently fire ran in their blood...

  More surprising, however, was the rank of the father: Gold. Meeting Viktor just after awakening had somewhat twisted Valar’s perception on rank, the boy getting the picture that high rank people were common, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  If one walked on the streets of Lyndale, checking everyone' s ranks, they would probably find one gold ranker at most. Lyndale was a relatively peaceful city, so they had only five active gold rankers, one of the spots taken by the guild’s branch leader. Seeing a gold ranker was a rare sight, and that meant that the Wendir man was probably well known.

  “Who’s that gold rank guy?” Valar asked, trying to point at the man discreetly.

  “Adrien Wendir. He’s a gold rank fire mage that is based in Kilras, a southwestern coastal city,” Surprisingly the one to answer his question was Viktor, having dismissed the bubble and hopped down from the wagon with Alyssa.

  “Adrien Wendir? Isn’t that the guy who’s called the false phoenix? I’ve heard he’s devastating on the battlefield!” Rodrick said, his voice rising in excitement.

  The man evidently heard Rodrick near shout, turning around with one eyebrow up. That also meant that Valar could see what the man looked like. He was striking to say the least. The red haired man had a well trimmed full beard, matching the color of his hair. More interestingly, his eyes were red too, giving the man a look that told everyone that he was a fire mage—no aura checking necessary. His robe was black, red and silver decorations making the piece look way more extravagant than the normal piece adventurers used.

  “Did I hear wrong or did one of you mention my title?” The man asked. “I really would like to be rid of that title someday, so letting people use it around me wouldn’t help with that, would it?”

  Every single party member of Cookie Sandwich turned traitorous in the face of the gold ranker, aiming their gazes toward Rodrick. To add insult to injury, Arthur even pointed at the big man with a smile on his face. That left the warrior in a tough spot, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly.

  “My apologies, sir Wendir. I didn’t know that you disliked the title.”

  “Oh dear no, that’s not the problem,” Adrien laughed. “It’s just that I feel like a complete charlatan when people call me a false phoenix. Adult phoenixes are at least at onyx rank, so people shouldn’t call me one before I reach that kind of power. I’ll accept being a false phoenix once I can say confidently that I’m stronger than their weakest!”

  That made the party, and especially Rodrick, relax. Insulting a gold ranker could be bad for an adventurer at the start of their career. It didn’t mean that a new adventurer would be killed—unless the insult was a particularly unfortunate one—but one bad word from a gold rank could be disastrous for opportunities like dungeon missions and expedition spots. To Rodrick’s fortune, Adrien seemed to be taking the accidental minor insult in good humor.

  “I’ll be only calling you a phoenix once you reach that rank then, sir. If I may ask, what brings a gold ranker like you to the capital?”

  Adrien smiled ear to ear, his red eyes glinting with mirth. The man proceeded to spin the late teenager, probably his daughter, by the shoulders, causing the girl to yelp in shock.

  “I’m here to bring my daughter Elizabeth here to the academy, of course! Introduce yourself to the kind party, Liz!”

  The young lady wasn’t enthusiastic, glaring at her father angrily, and even tried to throw a punch at the man. He of course dodged easily, prompting a booming laugh from the gold ranker. An iron rank girl wasn’t landing a hit on her gold rank father even if she tried until the end of time. Still, the attempt prompted a scolding from her silver rank mother, the girl eventually turning to the party.

  “Greetings, good men and women of the kingdom. My name is Elizabeth Wendir, and I’m here in the capital to join the royal academy.”