"That is a big ass gate." I marvelled at the massive gate leading into the southern part of the city.

  "It's quite the marvel of Garathi magineering." Xyn nodded along.

  Dropping the knowledge on us was like a bomb; it exploded all over our brains. For me, it was magineering being a thing. We notoriously knew that this world was in a perpetual medieval state. So a city reaching these heights of magical technology was pretty impressive. I suspected it was because most of the local tyrants were dead, so there was no one to hoard all the technology. It was not as if there was no progress in magic and technology. Just the vampire lords had a tendency to hoard all of it and leave the rest as ignorant peasants. Probably made it easier to eat them en masse. Now, looking at the massive and probably magical wall, it was clear the reign of the Strigoi was long gone. And there I was managing the crappy dread realms when I could have been witnessing all this cool stuff from Olympus.

  "Garathi created this... this work of art." Rak spoke, eyes wider than saucers, glued to the magnificent gate.

  Frowning, I looked back at the engineering marvel, really judging it through an artistic lens. And what did my inner artist bring forth? That it was just a giant wall of stone, roughly around 60 metres tall. Casting a glance to the sides, it travelled a few kilometres before I couldn't see much. But artistic not so much, no decorations or cool runes, just a practical wall that puts Constantinople to shame.

  "It's big; I wouldn't call it art." I said honestly.

  Rak turned to me, his face way more expressive than in the past. An unfamiliar emotion erupted upon his previously stony expression. Pure and utter disgust, followed by an expression of incredulity, as if my very existence was a mystery.

  "How can you not see the artistry at work here? The symmetry, the perfect width and depth of stone? Truly masterful work that even the gargoyles of old would appreciate." He spoke with such fervour, completely falling into his words.

  "Who are you and what have you done with Rak?" I suspected a changeling.

  "What do you mean? I am me." He defended himself as a changeling does.

  I was onto this imposter; he could not fool me with his shapeshifting ways. My intellectual prowess would easily pierce this demon's obscuration. My system eyes possess the power to scrutinize everyone without exception.

  "Joe, stop playing with him." Xyn chided me.

  Perhaps she was a changeling. If so, this evil shapeshifter was impressive. They captured Xynthia's personality perfectly. How she defended Rakshur against my innocent sarcasm. I must observe them less they discover I was into them... nah, that sounded like too much work. They are probably not shapeshifters... maybe.

  "Alright, I will concede that there are some artistic qualities that I cannot appreciate." I lied, but that seemed to work well.

  Eventually we arrived at the gate; there was a short line of people and caravans trying to get in. A stern-looking guardsman and a robed figure standing to the side checked every single person, waving a wand around. Looks like they have mages checking people at the gate. After about ten minutes, we reached the front of the line and got a good look at the two guards. One was a Volkaran, outfitted in decent leather armour with a short sword at his hip. The other was a human wizard decked out in flowing enchanted robes and a decorative staff.

  "Identification," the stern Volkaran demanded.

  By reflex I was about to reach for my lanyard but stopped halfway to my neck; realising I didn't have the old thing. Now awkwardly reaching for my collar like a weirdo, the sudden intervention saved me.

  "Quester Guild." She replied.

  I watched her carefully and noticed a faint pulse of system energy. Activating Eyes of the System, I saw the sudden transfer of information between her and the guard. It looked like she was sharing a quest publicly; how does that count as identification?

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  "Three-silver." The stern guard's frown turned upside down. "What about them?" He gestured to us.

  "New recruits, ill vouch for them."

  With that, the wizard ushered us in quickly, waving his staff briefly over our bodies like a TSA metal detector. When he was done, I turned to Xyn and whispered. "Three-silver?"

  "Questers identify ourselves with a permanent quest; the reward amount determines our rank," she explained, whispering back.

  Nodding, I found it rather interesting, improvisational, but the system was pretty trustworthy. Passing through the gates into the city proper. What greeted us was quite a sight. It was a medieval city; stone and wood buildings lined the walkways with a few thatched roofs. But what really amazed me was the diversity of races. I figured that non-humans would have been the minority, but it seemed about even. Volkaran, human, and Garathi guardsmen patrolled the streets. Waving to children and being a pretty positive force around the block. I saw a human girl run around a giant Garathi strapped with weapons.

  It was truly a fantasy city, nothing like what I expected. Seeing this world from above gave you some tunnel vision; we only saw things from the grand scale and not these small but significant moments. A city that bridged the gap between many races, living in harmony. It's enough to bring a tear to your eye. Glancing at Rak, I found him stunned to silence, taking in a world he probably never expected to see. Xyn, however, seemed well at home and was nearly across the street before she realised her companions had stopped.

  "What's wrong?" She asked, concern in her voice.

  "I have never seen such a place." Rak's eyes darted from left to right, in awe of the world around him.

  Xynthia smiled, approaching the two stunned men, and wrapped her arms around us. Rak was tall, so she had to get up on her tippy-toes to reach over; it looked a little awkward. Looking from me to Rak, she sighed.

  "It's just a city, but I will admit it's unlike any city around." And with that, we pressed on.

  Moving through the cacophony of people traversing the city streets. They ranged from humans dressed in tunics and dresses. Merchants with horse-drawn carriages yelling at other drivers to get out of the way. With a little nudge, the flow of the city carried us along, and we admired its vitality and grandeur. Frankly, Rak felt overwhelmed.

  "How is this possible? So many races." Rak questioned, eyes still darting around in wonder.

  "Is this such a surprise? Didn't you live with Volkaran?" She frowned, and I was more interested in the food cart on the side of the road.

  Slinking away, I approached the delectable scent of cooked meat on sticks. Still keeping the pair in earshot. Withdrawing an old Strygan coin from my pocket, I handed it over. The vendor, a burly Volkaran, inspected the coin with a keen eye, which eventually turned from the gold to me.

  "Quester?" he asked, his voice raspy.

  "Kind of." I shrugged.

  "Strygan gold, haven't seen them in ages, got it from some ruin no doubt."

  I nodded, and that seemed to placate the man. He handed over three sticks and some change, a little copper and a silver. Thanking the vendor, I made my way back to my companions, jumping right into the conversation. Based on the few words I vaguely heard, Xyn was explaining how this entire city business started.

  "You see, it all started with an Alboranian Knight." She stated with a showy flourish of her hands.

  "A knight?" Rak asked.

  "Swords and armour blokes, big into honour and virtue." I interjected.

  "Honour is a necessity for a warrior." Rak said sagely.

  I handed over the three sticks, and we continued on through the city. It was evening, and the sun was slowly setting. Xyn suggested we find an inn for the night and then head for the markets in the morning.

  "The old Alboranian knights did once believe in a code of chivalry, tenets of honour and knightly virtues. That went away during the invasion of Stryga."

  "War never changes." I put on a gruff, cynical accent.

  "War corrupted the knightly order, and when the kingdom fell, only the knight errants remained, including the founder of Remoria." Xyn pointed towards a town square and the enormous statue at the centre.

  What appeared in the centre of a cacophony of citizens milling about was a giant stone statue depicting a dashing young knight with a shield in one arm and a sword raised in the air. I couldn't make out the face, but I would suspect he was the most handsome and square-jawed man in the entire city. Though a human knight founded a mixed-race city of humans, Volkaran, and Garathi. There was a story there, perhaps I would hear in the inn, hopefully there was some booze. I gave the distant statue a salute, and we headed off to an inn Xyn suggested.

  "The Wolf Den?" I read the Grimgardian script off the inn's sign.

  "A Volkaran runs it, a pretty nice guy despite looking like a barbarian." Xyn explained, trying to usher us in.

  "Barbarian?" Rak asked.

  "Rumour has it, he used to do mercenary work for the Dark Lords."

  "The dark what?" I said, confused.

  "I'll tell you later, let's get inside," she shooed as through the door.

  "No, you can;'t drop something that cool sounding and just leave us hanging." I complained.

  "Just watch me," she entered and didn't look back.

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