Arriving at the Capital

Just as Talon had promised the rest of the journey was through plains with small hills and long grass as far as the eye could see.

In the far-off distance the first thing Caxon saw was a massive tower he could also see the outline of something slowly flying around it.

"So that is the legendary Arbren Dragon."

Talon called out as the whole group could see the tower at the same time. Seeing how far they were from the tower the size of whatever was creating the outline must have been massive. As the group was looking whatever was creating it flew into the top of the tower and disappeared and it did not come out again.

"Yes, that is Aeziol, the dragon of Xarhan, the Archmage and headmaster of Arbren Royal Academy, it is rare for it to ever leave its nest at the top of the tower so it seems we are quite lucky."

After traveling a bit further they could then see the massive walls of the city still in the distance. The group continued traveling until they stopped moving a distance from the city. The reason they stopped was because they had arrived at a large line of people, carts and carriages waiting to enter the city.

Just as the adventures sighed since they would have to wait a long time for them to actually get to the city gates, Alarat got out of the cart.

"Don't worry you have accompanied me all the way here I will be sure to get you the rest of the way."

After he said this Alarat lead the group to the side of the line as he walked to the front, as he approached the gate the guards approached him.

"Sir you will have to go the back of the line and wait like everyone else."

He quickly pulled out a metal medallion and threw it at the guards. After looking at it the guard quickly bowed as he started sweating.

"PLEASE FORGIVE ME MY LORD. Co... come this way Master Stormbreeze."

After seeing Alarat's identification as a high-class noble the guards moved aside and opened the gates for him and his group without any hassle.

"Well, this will be where we depart take this letter and give it to the guild and they will give you the reward for the escort mission, have a good day everyone."

Alarat gave each of the adventures a sealed letter and nodded before he turned and left the group.

Caxon left the other adventurers as he walked further into the massive city.

All around he saw large building touching the others with almost no space, only narrow alleyways separated the buildings other than huge crossroads with horses and people taking up all available space.

Everywhere he looked he could see multiple people crowding the streets entering and leaving the nearby buildings. The space reminded him a lot of large cities from earth, except there were no sky scrapers and the buildings were made of mostly wood with some iron fittings which gave it a medieval look that he enjoyed.

Caxon simply wondered around taking in the new sights and sounds of the big city.

There were performers using elementary magic to perform spectacular shows on the streets hoping for donations and money from their audience. Food stands on the side of the road selling meat made from beasts and ordinary animals alike.

As he kept walking he soon found himself in a large market place surrounded by shops, and stands selling their wares, there were even people who laid out a sheet with their items on top with prices trying to sell all sorts of odds and ends.

One whole side of the square that made up this marketing section was taken up by one massive building. A large sign over the massive doors read "Golden Grass Auction House".

Caxon also saw a building that was labeled as the adventures guild. As he walked in he saw that the layout was almost identical to the one in Small Star except this branch was more than twice as big.

He ignored everything as he waited in line before turning in Alarat's letter and getting his reward. He did not bother with anything else as he simply walked out of the adventures guild and continued to explore.

He soon looked around so he could find someone to give him directions to the Acadamy's entrance exams. It didn't take long to find a guard who seemed to be patrolling nearby.

"Can you help me find the Arbren Royal Academy?"

The guard looked at Caxon before he started laughing.

"YOU? YOU want to know where the ROYAL academy is? No friend you are looking for the NATIONAL academy. I suppose it doesn't matter because they are in the same place but if you say that to the wrong person you will get yourself killed."

After giving Caxon a warning he did not understand the guard gave him directions to where the academy's exams should be.

Following the directions, it took him nearly 30 minutes of walking to find the Academy in this massive city. He soon found that the academy and saw that it was blocked by a massive fence made of thick bars with a large gate that was currently locked.

As he looked at the gate, he could vaguely sense the formations used to strengthen the fence and he guessed that the fence was much sturdier than it looked. Looking between the bars he could see what was inside of the fence.

Most of the Academy looked like a college campus, there was green beautiful grass with flowers planted in any of the grass areas. The road that the gate opened up to seemed to be the main road as it extended all the way to the huge tower Caxon had seen from outside the city.

On either side of the main road there was another smaller fence that seemed to separate the left and the right side. These fences did not separate the entire campus as they ended at a large square in front of the tower that had large buildings with many people entering and going about business while some seemed to just be enjoying some time off.

The left side that was fenced off had large plots of grass with trees and flowers that were perfectly maintained and beautiful walkways to each of the luxurious building that were scattered around. Caxon could also see students in the academy's uniform walking around with different colored sashes, all of these students also had a golden star on their chest.

The right side of the academy was very different in comparison. Although the right side was still well maintained it lacked the beauty of the left side. There were no grass in-between the roads as the buildings were very close together and everything was in a dull gray color that seemed to suck out the color of everything around them.

The students on this side were much more numerous but they still wore the same uniform and sashes as the left side however none of them had a golden star on their chest.

The difference between the right and the left side was vast but Caxon could tell that both of the side were still made of high quality material and looking past the visual attraction seemed to be similar.

After he had been standing in front of the gate and looking at everything beyond it for a moment one of the guards standing nearby defending the gate decided to say something.

"The entrance exams are tomorrow kid come back then."

After hearing the guard's words Caxon bowed and thanked him before he walked away to find a place to stay until tomorrow.

It did not take long before he was able to find a tavern since there were plenty all around the city. As he walked through the door he found himself in a large dining area with stairs that lead to the rooms of the tavern.

As he looked at the tables and the bar area that made up the room he was in, he saw that almost every customer was someone his age or just a little older. As he looked around his eyes fell on a table full of young men wearing very high-end clothes with different colors.

One of the people at this table noticed Caxon looking at them, as the man pointed at him the table soon started laughing at him.

He didn't not care about their childish behavior as he ignored them and rented one of the last rooms available according to the bar keeper. He paid the man behind the bar took his key and directly went to his room to sleep and get ready for whatever he was going to face the next day.