The City of Betlam

City of Betlam

Kingdom of Chemor

The city guards were diligently guarding the transport gate situated in the city center, along with a group of mages monitoring its operations. The guards stood attentively as the runes along the huge stone gate began to light up, indicating the arrival of someone. The guards knew that whoever came through would be at least a prominent noble because not even a lesser noble had enough resource to casually use a transport gate.

A moment later, the gate flashed and a figure appeared. She was wearing armor that was clearly crafted from the skin of a magic beast, and therefore was likely beyond the reach of common city guards. The armor along with the confident gait of the women further cemented their previous assumptions.

Freya assertively walked from the gate and approached the mage sitting in front of a table a few feet away. She pulled out her guild badge and put it on the table in front of him.

“Freya Einar, Silver ranked. I don't see your name in the list of expected arrivals, Miss Einar.” The mage spoke with respect, having made the same assumptions as the guards.

“I was supposed to arrive by the sea, but I missed my ship.” She muttered an excuse formed by Artium. They didn't want to waste time explaining their misadventures to the guards, as it would only create more problem and waste their time.

“Very well, you can go forward, Miss.” The mage respectfully returned her badge. A person who so casually spoke of taking a Transport Gate just because they missed their ship, likely came from an influential noble family. The poor clerk mage didn't want to lose his job by offending such a person and had no choice but to allow her entry.

Freya took her badge and walked out of the official area of the gate. The gate was located in the richer neighborhood of the city, as such she walked onto a street filled with high quality shops and restaurants. Having expected this as she was aware of the significance of the gate, she looked around the area hoping to find something. She found it quickly, close to the entrance to the gate.

She walked towards a large board with a detailed map of the city. It included all the districts of the city and also had some famous locations like the prominent guilds and the largest attractions of the coastal city.

[The World Map has been updated!]

'Can you finally explain what this is?' Freya mentally asked her partner.

'Why don't you pull up the map and find out?' Artium replied, but sensing her concern as she looked at a pair of guards standing nearby, he continued, 'Don't worry, Freya. Nobody else can see the system but you.'

With a sigh of relief, she focused on the newly added feature of the system and a large blue menu appeared. It was an exact replica of the city map she had just observed. Moreover, there was also a small arrow on the map in the location she was currently standing, pointing in the direction she was facing.

'The red arrow represents your location.' The soul spoke, 'Once a map is added to the system, it will forever become part of the World Map. It would make it easier to navigate new places as you discover them. It also has an invaluable feature, but that will only be unlocked in the future.'

She remained silent as she was introduced to another useful feature of the system. Some would argue that it was just an alternative to carrying a physical map, but unlike a physical map, she always knew her exact location on the map. Not to mention, no physical map was large enough to charter the whole world in such high detail as the name 'World Map' suggested.

'You can also set a waypoint to a location you want to go to, and the map will prepare the shortest possible route for you.' Artium continued.

Hearing this, Freya quickly set a waypoint towards the Adventurers District and system prepared the most suitable route for her. Relieved that she didn't have to look for a path through the dense city, the mage began to walk towards her destination.

A little more than half an hour later, the black haired woman found herself standing before a fine establishment named, The Roaring Manticore. It was an inn known to serve only the high ranks of adventurers. In days past, she could not even imagine staying at a place like this, but she had collected enough silver from the vampire ship that she could easily spend the rest of the year here.

She casually walked into the inn and approached the counter where a brutish red haired giant was serving drinks. She sat on a stool in front of the counter and spoke, “A glass of your finest ale, good sir, and a plate of eggs and roasted meat.”

The brutish man gave her a look before speaking from between his crooked teeth while pointing to a board behind him. “Payment up front, girlie. That'll be twenty-five bronze ones.”

Freya pulled out two silver coin from her pocket and placed them on the table, “I will also like accommodations for the night and dinner in the evening.”

The innkeeper greedily looked at the silver coins and quickly pocketed them before speaking, “O' course, young miss. I'll give ye the best room as soon as ye're done with the meal.” He quickly brought the requested meal and left to prepare the room.

Freya quickly began to devour the meal, as she hadn't had a proper meal in two days. She also looked around the hall to notice several groups of people busy eating food. Each one of them was at least a gold rank adventurer. A silver rank was barely able to earn five silver coins a week, so how can one afford an inn where only a night's stay was at least a single silver coin, and that was without food. A gold rank on the other hand had an average income of fifty silver coins a week, so they could easily afford such a place. Their higher pay reflecting the greater risk they undertook.

Despite the brutish appearance of the innkeeper, the inn was relatively luxurious. Maids in clean uniforms were serving the tables, the hall was also a lot cleaner than any previous establishments she had been to. The hall also had enough windows to let in natural light.

Freya continued with her meal until she was full. Then a maid guided her to a room on the first floor. The room was quite spacious and had been recently cleaned. Sunlight from the window illuminated the room. It had a single bed in the corner and a table in the other corner. Freya quickly shut the door and jumped onto the bed, intent on sleeping for a whole day.

'Get some rest. Tomorrow, you will be waking up early.' Freya ignored the voice in her head and the sweet embrace quickly took her in.