Infiltration
When dawn appeared, Derrick was ready to leave.
His preparations were done, and he had given various duties to his retainers. It was time to explore the world.
His destination was one that he had quickly glossed over on the map, and one that, he hoped, would solve most of his problems.
Its name was Terra.
He had asked Lacha if she had any information about it, but to no avail. The only thing she did know were vague memories from her childhood, which Derrick immediately discarded.
He decided to go with a cautious approach and figured he'd learn on the go.
Improvisation was, after all, one of his strong suits.
***
After hours and hours of only seeing woodlands, Derrick started to wonder if Lacha's map was accurate.
He rarely lost his temper, but if he got lost and couldn't even go back to Akata, he would become irrationally angry.
As he was about to rain curses on her, he finally saw a change in the landscape below.
He asked Io to hover closer to the clouds, thus granting them decent cover. If he was spotted before even getting there, it'd be tragic.
As soon as their view improved, he was shocked.
There were gigantic farms spreading as far as he could see, with an ocean of small moving figures laboring the fields.
Back in his small village, he had cultivated a bit to sustain himself, and he was proud of his accomplishment, but what he was seeing right now put him to shame.
It was as if the world's entire food production was laid in front of his eyes.
Once the shock lessened, Derrick ordered Io to get back to his original altitude, still scared that he would be seen.
His estimates had been completely wrong, and he now wondered how many people were residing in the main city.
Later and following another hour of flight, he finally saw the walls, and their sight was simply astounding.
He was still pretty far away, but he could tell that they were at least 100 meters tall while also being tens of kilometers long.
They circled the entirety of the city's boundaries, and on it were towers equipped with giant ballistas that could tear across the skies.
Derrick had never felt this awed in his entire life. The defensive measures of a border city were truly nothing to scoff at.
But it didn't end there.
Behind these impressive trinkets were a magnificent city that made the impressive walls pale in comparison.
The buildings, made of white granite, had been built in a neat order. Their height also kept increasing the more you went towards the center of the city.
It was basically a small, living mountain. Such a monster probably had way more than 100 000 denizens...
His expectations had skyrocketed, but so had his worries. One of his most important priorities was to keep a low profile, meaning he'd have to take more precautions.
On top of this, there was another, more pressing matter he had to address : where the hell was he supposed to discreetly land!?
As soon as he arrived, he asked Io to circle around, with no luck.
He couldn't land where he was, as they would be immediately apprehended, and he couldn't land further away because walking would take too much time.
Suddenly, a sly smile creeped on Derricks' face. He knew it was a gamble, but with his body, he was pretty sure he would survive.
He told Io to go fly above a lake that was a kilometer north of the walls, which he considered a reasonable walking distance.
Since they were above the cloud ceiling, they were still invisible to the people below. Derrick told Io to scan the lake's depth, and once that worry was taken care of, he was ready.
"I never thought I'd be this crazy..."
After tightly strapping his weapons and gold pouch on his back, Derrick jumped from Io's back and dove from the sky.
Just like a meteor, the air engulfed Derrick's body and his eyes started tearing up from the insane speed that somehow kept on increasing.
Mere seconds later, and he had already breached the cloud layers, which completely soaked him, before continuing his mad descent.
With squinting eyes, he tried evaluating the distance at which he would have to spread his entire body to slow his ridiculous fall.
Meanwhile, some farmers who were working below saw the incredulous phenomenon, rubbing their eyes and wondering if they had gone insane.
Was this a man? FALLING FROM THE SKY?!
They stopped looking at it and instead observed its trajectory.
It was unequivocal : it was the small lake.
They instantly stopped their activities and ran in its direction. If it wasn't a person, but an object, they might be able to make a fortune from it.
While greed began clouding the minds of the common folk below, Derrick had already fallen 1000 meters, and he figured it was now time to slow down his fall.
He changed his form to a star and maximized the overall drag of his body.
That's when Derrick realized he had messed up...
In a thunderous splash, he landed on the water's surface like a flat rock, causing him to lose consciousness for a brief instant.
While sinking underwater, he howled in pain and cursed his retarded brain. How the hell had he forgotten such a basic thing?!
In a pain that would make gods wince, he slowly swam ashore before rolling on the ground.
Even Io, who had dissolved and returned to Derricks' shadow, snickered at his master. This day truly couldn't get any worse.
That's when Derrick turned his head and saw that a small crowd of farmers was running in his direction.
WHAT THE FUCK!!!
He had to evade their questions no matter what, and so he painfully got up, straightened his armor, and ran on a dirt road that, he presumed, lead to the walls.
Luckily for him, the farmers' eyes couldn't get off of the lake and as soon as they arrived, they jumped in without a care in the world.
They had heard the splatter, making them all certain that something had fallen in there.
What they had failed to notice, however, was the tall man staggering away...
***
Derrick had been right.
If anyone without his body had jumped, they would have been minced meat at the bottom of the lake.
Fortunately for him, not only had this not happened, but he had also managed to keep all of his belongings.
While walking, he had received a lot of unwanted attention due to his appearance, leading him to find a small clothing stall on the side of the road and buy a cloak.
The merchant's greed had also confirmed Derrick's decision to be more careful.
As he got closer and closer to the wall, he couldn't be more amazed.
He had really underestimated the walls' grandeur. The entrance was masterfully carved and took half of the walls' height while sporting a robust iron gate that'd shut the path of any invader.
The entry lines were tidy and organized, with merchant carriages and people separated in different lines.
To enter, everyone had to state their purpose and intention, which made Derrick worry. He was wondering if he should lie or tell the truth, but he ultimately decided to go with the latter.
When it was his turn, the guard, who wore a shining iron armor, advanced.
"Business or casual?"
"Business"
"What type?"
"Selling weaponry"
Derrick pointed to his back, where lied his newly made spears. They looked gorgeous and appeared to be the work of a master.
When the guard saw them, a malicious glint appeared in his eyes, and he made a signal to his colleagues.
Derrick was no idiot, and he quickly realized what was about to come : it was a shakedown.
With a sigh, he reached for his gold pouch and told himself it'd be a minor loss in the long run.
But as his hand delved into, he suddenly heard a loud and harsh voice behind him.
"How dare you treat my guest with such poor manners?! Explain yourselves!"
Derrick was surprised and, frankly, confused.
The voice was not directed at him, but at the guards in front of him, and it came from a large, burly man who was in a carriage a few meters away from him.
The new party appeared to be a merchant, and a great one to boot. He wore stylish clothes and held a neatly carved crystal glass filled with wine.
As for his carriage, it was the definition of opulence.
It was gold minted and had wheels that were delicately built, to the point that he didn't know how they were holding on. Its windows were also crystal clear, which exposed its luxurious interior.
When the guard saw the merchant, his face paled, with his expression transforming into a weird grimace.
"Sir Brigand, is this man with you?"
The guard's voice was shaky, making Derrick wonder about the man's status.
"Of course he is! Why would I vouch for him if he was not?!"
Brigand's tone bordered on anger, and when the guard heard it, he instantly moved aside to let Derrick pass.
"Thank you for your kindness, Sir"
Although thankful for the unexpected help, the necromancer still had no intentions of attracting more attention than he already had, which was why he slightly bowed towards the person named Brigand before turning around and starting to walk away.
"Wait! You're here to sell weapons, right?"