Chapter 13:Traveling [1]

Playing with the black and red pen in my hand, I stood by the arc-shaped door for a moment, examining it.

As I leaned downwards to investigate whether there was a hidden mechanism below the floor, my left uncut horn suddenly made contact with the arc.

Instantly, a bright light flash appeared, and the entire arc began glowing an ocean blue, distorting the view ahead.

Staring at the miniature mana gate, I hesitated for a moment before stepping forward.

Like water pouring out of a waterfall, ocean-blue sparks dropped from the top of the arc and fell onto the floor, slowly building up.

Within seconds, the mana gate was filled completely to the brim with ocean-blue sparks, and as I looked forward, the room I had landed in with the pool was no longer visible.

Instead...an ocean seemed to be in front of me, as all I could see was an endless expanse of blue.

By luck, I had managed to get the miniature mana gate working, so I wasn't going to try to tamper with it and risk breaking it to get the gate to take me directly to the capital city.

All mana gates were connected, so I wouldn't just appear in some random location.

I would be transferred to one of the few cities in the human realm with a functioning mana gate.

So, I could just go through this portal, arrive at some random city, and then take the portal from that random city to the capital city.

Taking one last glance at the circular-shaped room behind me, I pulled up the hoodie of my cleaned black cloak, hiding both my horns.

As I walked through the ocean-blue color in front of me, I felt my surroundings instantly distort until, finally, I was in a void of the color blue.

Then, a second later, structures seemed to pop out of nowhere, and the scenery around me slowly grew, filling up my vision until, finally, the ocean-blue void was nowhere to be seen.

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

"I'M WALKING HERE; MOVE!"

As a barrage of sounds and different voices assaulted my head, my surroundings finally stabilized, revealing a medieval-like town in front of me.

A bustling marketplace materialized below me with hundreds of people walking around the countless stands, and in the background, I could hear the sound of church bells ringing.

Cobblestone streets, filled with carriages, stretched all through the city, and the people around me were all dressed in simple linen tunics or tattered robes.

I completely blended in.

As the sky came into view, I was instantly blinded by the sun's rays and the light blue sky; however, I quickly recovered and rejoiced in the fact that I could actually look up without just seeing darkness.

And, to my surprise, I didn't feel hot in the slightest despite wearing the baggy pitch-black cloak.

Standing still, I admired the colorful buildings, horse-led carriages, and varying vendors ahead until a shove to my shoulder suddenly interrupted me.

"MOVE IT OR LO-"

Clicking the top of my pen, sending the blood-red tip of it out, I turned around and stared at the individual behind me.

Swiping my pen behind forward, I watched as the pen's blood-red tip broke through the shabby material of the figure's shirt, creating a perfectly horizontal hole in his clothes.

As his clothes tore, leaving him shirtless, I turned back around and walked down the staircase in front of me.

While I walked toward the bustling marketplace, a massive hanging sign that read, "Ezria Town to Capital City Gate: 5 Silver Coins" came into view.

"Ezria town..."

Ezria was a fairly small trading town located a couple of hundred miles from the capital city. It had no notable industries or achievements.

You may then be confused as to how a town this small and unknown has a mana gate, but the reason is very simple.

Ezria town is in the dead middle of two other massive trading cities.

Only one mana gate could be built in this area, but of course, both of the massive trading cities wanted it.

So, eventually, after months of arguing, a compromise was made to have the gate constructed at the midway point between the two towns.

There was also another reason why Ezria town was mentioned in the book.

The protagonist would arrive here tomorrow after receiving her letters and take the mana gate from here to the capital city.

Maybe...I would catch a glimpse of her?

Shaking my head, I immediately brushed off the thought.

Not particularly happy or mad at the location I had entered into, I continued walking straight ahead.

I had both today and tomorrow to gather five silver coins and get to the capital city.

Upon arriving at the Glaive, most first-year students have already unlocked their gift, so I also wanted to use this time to increase my stats and possibly receive a gift.

So...I needed a way to get money and increase my stats...

Halting right before the marketplace's entrance, I spotted a massive two-story building to my right.

Glancing through the building's windows, my curiosity was immediately piqued when I saw dozens of people inside holding full cups and laughing uncontrollably.

Then, I looked up.

And, on the wood separating the first and second floor, the building had a sign that read in large letters, "The Adventurer's Guild.