A Grand Entrance

After about 2 hours of lesiurely travel we started to seem some farm buildings here and there slowly growing in number, as too did the farmers traveling into the city.

On the side of the road we saw a few trade caravans slowly packing up after a night of rest preparing to enter the big city.

Upon arriving at the gate itself i saw exactly why this was considered a main city, to the southwest was a wide, slow flowing river with a large dock feature, it had lower walls than the main city the went into the water, the design of which looked more like a wall of mud had been formed and hardened instead of the standard brick formation of the main outter wall. The main outter wall was fairly tall, standing at what i guessed was 15 feet in height, adorned with battlements and a few bastilas scattered here and there.

Behind it i could see a higher wall surronding the main keep on one of the two hills, the other having a tower that looked like a mages tower from games, but a lot wider, maybe 100 feet in diameter.

There was a line in front of the gate and we took our spot and slowly inched forward as the guards checked the travelers entering the city.

After an hour of waiting the line paused as a commotion happened at the gate. Guards began collecting on the walls with bows at the ready, arrows notched but not drawn. I could hear shouting and yelling up ahead, looking i saw maybe 50 people ahead of us and at the front was a large person, they had orange skin and large horns at the side of their head, maybe 8 feet tall.

I looked at kleek and she shook her head no but i wanted the line to keep moving. "Hold our spot, ill be back."

I stepped away without waiting for a reply heading for the large being.

"Sorry but you can not enter, your people are at war with the elves our allies and they have requested we deny entry to all members of your kind who are not already established here. Theres nothing we can do." A guard wearing a crimson undercloak with plate armour carefully set on top, an emblem on his chest of a large black eagle surrounded by gold trim stood out against the silver plate armour.

"What do you mean not established? I been servin as porter to yer adventurers for many moons ya daft fumthar. I left for a merr month to go work at a mine fer some reagles and yee gunna treat me like this???" The orange skinned man argued back.

Speaking up i stated, "you want entry but they don't want to let you in unless you've established yourself here in the city. You claim to have been here before working in the city. Who can you call upon to verify you have been here before? Is there a specific person?"

The orange man looked stunned before swiftly truning to reach for my neck. In a split second the guard moved to stop him but i was faster, catching his hand and twisting it so fast he lost balance and started to fall over as a cracking sound was heard from his breaking forearm. His cry of pain was muffled as i grabbed his neck and hoisted him onto his knees before me, just barely looking down as he was that much taller than me.

"What is the truth. Have you truly been here before?"

The guard looked at me with slight anxiety, hand on his sword ready to draw it on me at a moments notice.

A loud voice called out from inside the gate, looking to see its origins i saw a man in forest green robes, a hood covering his head casting a shadow over his face. "We've been waiting for you jack. You and your companion kleek must enter at once and follow me. I have seen your spell casting ability, and for knowing nothing about magic, it is indeed impressive. As far as weather the oru-koosh he is a thief and a half liar. He has been here before and arrested for attempted thievery of the bank. He spent 2 months in jail before being banished from the city, a death penalty to ensue should he return. Jack, his fate is in your hands, do as you will. Spare him and let him go elsewhere, or kill him and be done with it. One way follows the laws enforced in this city, the other shows compassion and kindness. Your choice will be accounted for and noted in your records our school holds. It may affect your progression with us should you so choose to study here at the reagles academy."

I looked back at the orange man, supposedly an oru-koosh as a new quest popped into the systems alerts.

"Decide the fate of the alleged thief. Rewards are based upon your choice.

Spare the thief: in the darkness shall lay a friend to assist you against a foe, oweing a blood debt to you.

Kill the thief: power comes at a cost. Is it a price worth paying?"

'Two interesting rewards, one promising future help, which going off how strong some of the enemies i had faced already and knowing that they might not be the hardest enemies i will face, and that would definately be nice. Even my last fight was not the easiest, i won in the end but it was still very difficult and had i not had the gear i do… the temptation of power was also there. What power would i gain by taking this mans life?'

His eyes showed pure sorrow and fear. Knowing his life was about to end, or at least believing it, because why would some stranger spare his life when the law calls for his death.

But in that sorrow i saw something deeper. Regret. The same regret i once held deep in my heart for the one thing i never got over. How i had betrayed someones trust all because i felt it was right.

I tightend my grip slightly and the man closed his eyes before i tossed him to the side of the road away from the gate.

"Leave. I care not for what youve done in the past but i don't not kill unless my enemy is trying and able to kill me. You are niether my enemy nor able to kill me so i offer you yet another chance. Should i hear of you coming back here though, i will seek you out and destroy you, as this will be your last warning. You shall never return. Is that clear?" I kept a calm and plain face, no expression as if i was willing to take his life then and there should he decide to argue.

Seeing this he nodded his head as he grasped his broken arm and slowly stood up. At first he took a few slow steps away from the gate while watching me before turning tail and running away.

I saw that kleek had stepped out if line and approached as well, being ready to assist me should i have needed it.

"Guard let the two of them through, i need them now."

With a shaky nod he waved us through the large open gates and nervously began screening the line again.

We followed the robbed person to the tower, and upon arriving at the base we saw a grand entry way. Around the base of the tower was a large courtyard, in it there were what appeared to be sparing pits for swordsmen, a range for archers, and a garden full of various flowers and benches for relaxation.

"Welcome to the academy. Here you can train your skills in any of the aspects of life, weather you desire to be a mage, warrior, archer, healer, paladin, geomancer, or ranger. Each of them have their strengths and weaknesses. You may already know them but should you not, we have plenty of books on the 6 classes we teach here, though if you wish to multiclass that is also an option but your workload would double."

I looked at the person blankly for a moment. "Only double? Even if i want to train in each class you offer?"

The robed person slowly removed their hood, revealing a rainbow scalled face, and snake like eyes. Two tiny straight horns protruded from her forehead as long black hair was tied neatly in a braid running behind her head. The look of confusion and shock on her face obvious. "A-a-all cl-classes….?"

I nodded my head in acknowledgement…

*A/N apologies for not releasing a chapter in a while, life has gotten a little crazy for me recently and my time has been cut a little short. I will try to write a few more chapters in the nearby future and hopefully i can slam out at least 6-10 new chapters before the end of the weekend.*