Aaron had to show Mike how the enchantments worked in the shower stall. It was a bit embarrassing for him, considering how small the room was, but he managed to get through it.

  He also managed not to eat the enchantments that controlled the water temperature and the amount of soap in the water. There was a buzzing sensation when Mike touched the various metal plates that Aaron denied feeling, so Mike assumed that was his Mage Hunger skill letting him know there was something there.

  It was good practice for him not to absorb the enchantment on them. Mike focused on not doing that throughout the shower, even as he relaxed under the hot water and soap. As committed as he was to trying his best in his new life, Mike wasn’t used to the level of physical activity he had gone through today. The hot water and steam were so soothing that he started to zone out and had to remind himself what was really going on.

  With a jaw-cracking yawn, Mike finally emerged from the shower to find the rest of the men already eating. They had changed into clean versions of the white linen pants and shirt with low boots that seemed to be the uniform for everyone. There was a clean set waiting for Mike as well, which he put on after a separate enchantment dried him off.

  Dinner consisted of fried meat cutlets that tasted exactly like a palm-sized chicken nugget to Mike. There were an assortment of leafy vegetables and a bright orange fruit the size of a grape that Mike didn’t recognize, but with the other men eating, Mike could do no less.

  It was all delicious, and the meal was welcome calm after the day of exertion. The fruit especially hit the spot, being the perfect balance of sweet and sour. Mike could feel the speed at which his already full stamina bar was regenerating and knew the meal was something mystical. Enough so that he held one in the palm of his hand and cast Identify.

  Idun Berry

  Conjured food that provides a full day’s worth of vitamins and nutrients

  Very nice, Mike thought to himself as he popped the berry into his mouth. There was a caused a spike of pain in his head that reminded him of casting it on Aaron’s book. The berry didn’t fill his stomach up much, but he could feel it revitalizing him. He wasn’t surprised to find that he had Conjure Idun Berry added to his spell list, though only 3/100. He cast Identify again on the next one, but nothing happened. Mike checked decided to wait until the cool down passed to cast it again.

  “I want to sound board you a bit,” Mike said to Haliard during a lull in the conversation. “My Identify spell gives me information and familiarity with whatever I cast it on, but sometimes it hurts.”

  “Knowledge always comes with pain,” Bradiac supplied from the side. Someone threw a berry at him with a groan.

  “When I cast it on you all, or the spear earlier, there was no pain. Same with the drone. But on the spell book, the berry, the crystal…”

  “On actually magical things,” Haliard said as he leaned back. They were all drinking the same juice they had had since breakfast, which hadn’t changed. He took a sip, looking at Mike over the rim of the cup. “Whenever you cast it on something that is actually magic, it hurts as you take in some of the knowledge.”

  “It didn’t hurt when I cast it on Sum, though.”

  “I am not magic, not really.” The crystal was floating in the doorway leading down the long hallway. He didn’t eat with the rest of the men, getting his sustenance from the sun itself. “I am just a form of life that didn’t happen to evolve around you.”

  “Maybe…” Mike thought of the way the crystal floated around, the rays of the sun turning the transparent facets into the colors of sunset as the ray reflected inside the mineral body. I guess it isn’t magic, Mike thought silently before continuing.

  “It is as good a guess as any. I’m going to try and not assume I know what is going on with this, but that will be my theory.”

  Mike brushed his fingers over the trays that summoned their food, tracing the markings along the edges. There was a tingle there like the other enchantments, but that wasn’t the only sensation he felt. Mike’s attention moved along the symbols, tracing them as they flowed one into the other. There was a pattern there, one Mike could just barely start to grasp.

  He didn’t cast Identify. The temptation was there, the knowledge within the platters would probably be enough to level up his Conjure Ally and give Bandit a bump. But there was no promise that the enchantment would still work after that. Since this was the only source of food Mike knew about, he managed to restrain himself.

  “All right everyone,” Haliard said, standing. “Time for us to head on out.”

  The rest of the men rose, with Mike following as he stuffed more chicken in his mouth. Haliard led the way with Sum behind him. The rest fell into a line, with Mike bringing up the end. Aaron was in front of him and turned back to speak to him before they moved out.

  “You’re going to see some weird stuff. If you have any questions, ask me.”

  “Quietly,” Julian said from in front of him. “A lot of the big wigs running around don’t like it if we make a scene.”

  “I can be quiet,” Mike said as they started moving down the hallway. At the junction, they turned left instead of right, heading away from the exit to the mountain’s surface. There was a door five feet deeper inside, filling the entire hallway. Heavy wood, bound with metal frames, it was very foreboding. Still, it opened easily for Haliard, though Mike could see the complex locking system in it as he went through.

  On the other side, the hallway opened up into a room about twice the size of the cafeteria Mike had eaten in today. People bustled around the room, wearing clothing much like the outfit Mike was in, though none were white. There were reds, browns, blues, even one person in green.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Tables filled the center of the room, with shelves along the walls full of various supplies. People sat at a few tables, always grouped in the same colors. Low voices filled the room, with the ambient light coming from glowing lines in the ceiling. It was a hive of activity, where everyone ignored the group of gladiators as they moved through. Mike leaned forward to ask Aaron what was going on, but the archer anticipated his question.

  “This is the hub for the Blurington servant quarters.” He gestured at three people passing the line in the other directions. Their clothing was yellow, and they carried bundles of cloth. “These ones are cleaning up our meal.”

  Mike stared at them as they walked past, but none of them raised their eyes to meet his. Both the women and the man were in the same clothing. These all had belts where Mike’s outfit didn’t, with pouches hanging from them.

  “Do the colors mean anything?”

  “Yes, they do. Yellow is cleaning staff, that green fellow over there is from the family’s farms, reds are the merchants, brown are simple logistics…” Aaron trailed off.

  “Honestly, I can’t remember the whole thing. Basically, anyone in clothes like us…” Here he pinched his shirt, showing how light the color was. “… works for one of the people in the fancy robes. You do what they say, and it will be fine.”

  “Our white means we are gladiators, right?”

  “Yes, it shows blood easily, so having us in white is a statement of strength.”

  “Avoid anyone you see in gray,” Julian tossed back.

  “Why?”

  “They work in the sewers,” Aaron answered with a grin. “You’ll smell them before you see them.”

  Mike goggled at the hub of activity around him. More hallways opened off this central room, leading out to who knows what. Haliard was leading them to large double doors opposite the entrance from the gladiator quarters. Deeper into the mountain.

  All of this was carved from solid rock, Mike thought as they crossed the room. Magic must help, but this is still amazing.

  The next hallway was larger, with a thick carpet running down the center of it. Haliard led them all to one side, so their soft footfalls were not muffled by it. Coming towards them was a man in a dark robe. Mike didn’t recognize him, so he wasn’t Aric or Eric.

  Mike was surprised that Haliard kept walking, eyes forward and completely ignoring the man. With the stark rank differences the clothing indicated, Mike would have thought they would have to salute. Or bow, really. He asked Aaron about it, but Julian answered.

  “They don’t acknowledge furniture.” There was anger in his voice, but he didn’t speak above a whisper. “And they won’t want furniture to acknowledge them.”

  “Furniture?” Mike asked, perplexed.

  “Every single one of us,” Julian said with a glare at the back of his brother’s head. “Is a slave. We dress it up with terms like gladiator, servant, farmer, whatever, but there are only two tiers of people in this place. The families, and their slaves.”

  “I just realized I never asked what this place is called. What country is this?”

  Julian laughed.

  “You’re in Delvemont, capital city of the wizocracy of Chilt. The only city, really, the rest are scattered villages around farms, mines, and crossings.”

  “Chilt, huh?”

  Mike lapsed into silence as the group of men continued through the rest of the compound. Things were lusher and more decorated outside of the servant quarters, with rooms scattered throughout the hallway. It was almost three hundred yards long, and perfectly straight. Carved along its length in the dark volcanic stone were reliefs depicting figures in robes perform wonders and battling armies.

  The hallway ended in a massive room, larger even than the servants’ quarters. This was opulent, expansive. Scattered carpets covered the floor, some of them more than ankle deep. The walls and ceiling showed veins of gold and silver, cutting through the stone like the inside of a mine. A large table with two dozen chairs dominated the center of the room, with other tables scattered in alcoves around the circumference of the room.

  “This is the foyer, where the Bluringtons host their guests.” Julian had to pull a gaping Mike along as Haliard continued through the room to the open archway on the other side. “This is nothing compared to what you’re about to see.”

  The archway was fifteen feet high at its peak, and twice that wide. It was filled with a deep shadow, one that looked unnatural to Mike’s eyes. Haliard passed into the darkness and vanished. None of the other men acted surprised, to Mike assumed this was supposed to happen. As he passed through the arch, Mike glanced to the side. His suspicions that there were enchantments carved into the stone was confirmed.

  Resisting the urge to stroke the enchantment and see if he could absorb it, Mike passed through the darkness. It was cold and black for just a moment, lasting the time it would take him to blink, before Mike could see the other side.

  He was so startled his knees almost gave out.

  Rising up in front of him, five hundred yards away, was a massive machine. A column of spinning gears and twisting cogs, every piece of it was moving. It rose far beyond where he could see, the metal shining in the daylight. He tried to follow the pieces as they moved, but it was too much.

  “Close your eyes,” Haliard told Mike as he grabbed his shoulders to support him. “It hits everyone like this the first time.”

  “What is that?” Mike was squeezing his eyes shut, avoiding the urge to try and understand the monstrosity of metal.

  “It is The Lift.” Mike could hear the capital letters dropping into place as Haliard spoke. It certainly deserved proper noun status in Mike’s mind.

  “It is the center of the city. Without it, Delvemont couldn’t exist. It can take you to any level of the city, provided you have the clearances.”

  Mike forced one eye open, staring down at his feet. The dark stone, polished by pedestrians, was much the same as he had seen in the complex carved out of the mountain. The light here was different, though. It felt richer, more natural. He turned and opened both eyes, not looking at The Lift, but the area around him.

  They were on a circular platform, wide enough that the curve was hard to make out. The light was constant, but the circle had to be close to half a mile across. The Lift was in the center of the ring, though Mike could only glance at it. The light seemed to be coming from the polished metal that made it up.

  Behind them was the inky darkness they had passed through. Mike saw similar structures dotting the circumference of the ring a hundred yards apart, though there were more traditional heavy gates and portcullises on a few. There was one close by that was a twisted spiral of stone. Mike couldn’t suppress a laugh as he realized what it resembled.

  “I think I’m good,” he told Haliard as he stood up straight. He drew a deep breath, then looked at The Lift fully. There was a bit of pain through his head, but he managed to stop losing himself in the curves of the massive beast.

  It emerged from the floor, with pieces moving below where Mike could see. As he watched, part of the stone flooring flowed like water around a portion of it, and a platform full of people came upward. Most of them were wearing black robes, but a few were in the loose linen clothes of servants.

  We’re about a third of the way up the mountain, Mike thought to himself. He looked up, seeing The Lift continuing up through the ceiling, one hundred feet over his head. That thing is monstrous.

  “If you’re good, come on with us now.” Haliard moved back to the head of the line and guided them towards an empty platform.

  The area around the life was full of kiosks and shops, selling parcels and wares. The people working them wore red, and they didn’t have a problem calling out to their black-robed betters. The raucous noise didn’t help Mike’s headache any.

  Most of the goods seemed to be household items. Furniture, decorations, and carpets abounded, but the different styles and looks were distracting Mike as he tried to walk. Julian had to pull him away from a dining room set that seemed to be made out of still-living vines that twisted and moved, with each leg emerging from a pot of soil.

  “Come on, we’re running close to time since we don’t know when we have to arrive.”

  “Sorry,” Mike said again. He was smiling now as they walked, the pain caused by the twisting mass of The Lift fading as he moved through a market of wonders.

  He couldn’t wait to explore this brave new world.