The great outer wall of Luxendorf seemed to go on forever.

  Sebastian had thought that once they reached the wall

  they would practically have arrived at the city but instead they

  continued along the wall for what felt like hours. Although the train

  seemed to have slowed down some as they got closer to their destination,

  he still didn’t expect the final stretch of the journey to be quite so

  long. Traveling along the wall made it look as though they weren’t

  actually circling a city but rather were just going in one long straight

  line.

  Sebastian stopped using his [Mind’s Eye] as it was

  draining him more than he felt comfortable with at the moment. He wanted

  to maintain some energy for when they arrived, after all.

  After a while, the wall began to curve away from the train.

  Once there was a decent distance between the two, the

  train turned toward the wall. As they turned, Sebastian could briefly

  see a large gate opening in the wall before it was mostly obscured by

  the front of the train. When they arrived at the gate, which led to a

  tunnel through the wall, the figures who had been escorting them simply

  vanished, one by one. The tunnel was long enough to cover almost half

  the train as they passed through the wall. Sebastian got a new

  appreciation for just how massive this wall was as he realized that for

  even with as tall as it was, the wall was also incredibly thick.

  The light at the end of the tunnel began as a pinprick in

  the distance, seen from an awkward angle with his head pressed against

  the window, but it quickly grew to an almost blinding wall.

  Sebastian blinked and found that the darkness had opened

  up to views of massive fields with various beasts pulling what he

  guessed some sort of magical harvesters under the skillful direction of

  farmers. Farther out was a forest where this world’s versions of

  lumberjacks felled entire trees in single swings, and for each fallen

  tree they magically grew another to maintain the forest at the perfect

  size and health.

  Looking through the window on the other side, the

  entrance to a mine of some sort came into view. At least he assumed they

  were mines based on the carts being brought out of the entrance in the

  ground.

  In the distance, ahead of the train, was a second wall

  surrounding the city proper. It was every bit as tall and impressive as

  the outer wall but was virtually free from any blemishes. Above the city

  was an impenetrable fog which defied the laws of physics as it refused

  to billow out over the top.

  Maybe twenty minutes later, they finally

  reached their destination, and they pulled into a station built onto

  the exterior of the inner wall.

  Sebastian had already packed up what little he had.

  Professor Ridgeley and his student, Marcel, shook their fellow

  travelers’ hands before running off. Verrill and his grandson, William,

  were also in something of a hurry, but he took the time to give

  Sebastian a proper goodbye.

  “It’s been a pleasure, and thank you again. If you’re

  ever in our neck of the woods, don’t hesitate to stop by,” the old man

  said.

  “Likewise,” replied Sebastian.

  He stepped onto the platform and stared at the

  awe-inspiring, almost gothic train station. At the center were two large

  gates—each with their own portcullis—one for arrivals and the other for

  departures.

  Following the stream of passengers, Sebastian walked to the line of people entering the city.

  The entrance for arrivals was a long tunnel divided into

  two sides, one for returning citizens and one for new visitors. Those

  returning home mostly just walked through with just a quick check-in

  whereas the new arrivals needed go through a rather tedious security

  check.

  The worst part of it all was the inspection device that all arrivals had to activate.

  Sebastian suppressed a cold shiver which ran down his spine.

  He leaned out of the line and peered at the process as

  those in front of him went through the inspection. His fear were

  alleviated somewhat as he realized that they didn’t have any big

  inspection crystals like the one he had used at the castle, only some

  strange device each traveler placed their hand into.

  Sebastian reached the front of the line, and he ignored his quickening heart rate as best he could. Act confident, that’s always the key. Just trust the dual Systems. It’ll be fine.

  “Place you hand in here,” said the guard.

  He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and placed his hand into the crevice of the device.

  It was almost like a metal clamp with a crank on top. One

  of the security guards turned the crank, pressing it down on

  Sebastian’s hand. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but it did something,

  causing a similar tingling sensation as the inspection crystal at the

  castle. Next, an analog dial attached to the clamp, which had been

  obscured until he stood at the device himself, moved its hand.

  Both the two security guards and Sebastian stared at the

  dial. Frowns appeared on their faces, and Sebastian clenched his jaw and

  drew intentional slow breaths.

  One of the guards tapped on the dial with his finger,

  gently at first before smacking it with his palm. “Damn thing’s acting

  up again.” He scoffed. “Ever since they installed these, things have

  just gotten worse around here.”

  “Careful, man,” said the other guard. “Don’t break the

  damn thing. You know management will take it out of our salaries. Let’s

  not waste time on this, just write down a number. It’s flickering

  between 10 and 20 so just write down 15 and be done with it.”

  “I’m not just gonna write something down, what if they

  check? Let’s at least ask the man,” he told his colleague before turning

  to Sebastian. “Sir, what’s your level?”

  Unsure of what to make the situation, or why the device

  was so inaccurate, Sebastian decided not to complicate things with the

  truth. “Uh… 18.”

  “Great,” said the guard as he wrote it down. “And your name?”

  Sebastian couldn’t help but swallow air. “John. John Doe,” he answered, doing his best to project a sense of confidence.

  They waved him through with a much appreciated negligence.

  Sebastian’s entire body relaxed, but he maintained his composure, which was easier with the hard part done.

  In the end, the worst part of the security check—other

  than some stranger touching his beloved manual as they searched through

  his bag—ended up being the gold coin required of all new arrivals to

  gain entry into the city.

  To most active travelers he was sure that it was just a

  symbolic amount, but from what he had learned about the economy in the

  towns and villages, most people barely ever even saw a gold coin in

  their entire lifetime, and they certainly couldn’t afford to pay their

  life savings just to enter the city.

  Once Sebastian was done with all the security, he walked

  through the tunnel which came out directly to a street filled with shops

  and a few stalls.

  Most of the shop owners and various employees of shops

  and restaurants stood ready to receive all the potential new customers

  who had just spent almost a month living on a train.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The majority of those who had any business traveling to

  or from the capital, generally, were also quite wealthy and so welcomed

  the sight of proper food and quality goods.

  Sebastian had no interest, beyond a natural curiosity and appreciation for the change of scenery.

  His only concern was his next step, finding some way out of the country.

  He had spent the past month traveling and didn’t want to

  stop or even slow down too much until he was finally somewhere away from

  the grasp of his enemies.

  The thought had occurred to him that he could probably

  find some way to stay under the radar and settle down somewhere now that

  he was far from the capital and was unlikely to be found as a draft

  dodger. The variable of magic which might be able to track him down

  where ever he hid clashed with that thought, though. Besides, Lumeria

  hadn’t exactly been kind to him thus far, so even without the risks he

  still wouldn’t want to stay for longer than necessary.

  He had learned during his time talking with the others on

  the train that due to the strained relationship between the two

  countries, the Lumerian Kingdom and the Calindor Federation, there was

  no legal way for him to cross the border.

  Even though they weren’t technically at war they still

  weren’t quite so close that they allowed free travel across the border,

  with the exception of sanctioned trade routes. And those trade routes

  were carefully monitored and required licenses and approval from both

  countries.

  In conclusion, in order to reach his goal Sebastian would need to find someone who could smuggle him into Calindor.

  He might not be very familiar with this city, this

  country, or this world and the various customs and politics in it but

  where ever there were rules, regulations, and laws—the breaking of which

  could mean making money—there would always be people who did just that.

  The criminal underworld wasn’t one that Sebastian was familiar with, though. Not back on earth and certainly not here.

  His current plan was simple—find some seedy dive bar or

  something similar in the outskirts of the city, hope that there might be

  someone who might frequent said establishment, and try to hire someone

  to smuggle him over the border without being robbed—or worse—in the

  process.

  But first things first, nobody worked

  for free and he had a feeling criminals, more so than most probably,

  required payment, and he was currently down to his last few silver.

  Fortunately, Sebastian still had a good portion of the treasures he

  stole from the goblins.

  Last time, he sold a few of them for a 2 Gold 50 Silver

  and felt quite certain that he only got a fraction of their actual

  value. This time he wanted to make sure he got a better deal.

  He took a deep breath—and mentally prepared for the

  sensory overload—and activated his [Mind’s Eye] Skill. His world

  shifted, his spiritual sense spread out from within and encompassed a

  large portion of the market.

  Every detail rushed into him like a punch to the brain.

  The perfectly smooth surface of the cement-like material of the

  sidewalk, the grains of the wood of the stalls, the expressions of a

  hundred faces; along with every sound: the clinking of coins, the

  shuffling of shoes on the stone floor, and, most of all, the voices of

  over a hundred merchants and customers haggling and shouting.

  Luckily Sebastian had gotten a good deal of practice on

  his way here and was by now used to the overwhelming sensory input,

  although this was by far and wide the worst yet. Still, he managed to

  filter out the worst of it and focused his mind on trying to figure out

  the value of things here compared to what he learned in Blackoak.

  He walked around the market and the differences in prices were pronounced from what he had learned thus far.

  It was made very clear, very quickly, that he had

  completely misunderstood the way this world’s—or at least this

  country’s—economy worked. Out in the smaller towns and villages, most

  people dealt in bronze and the occasional silver. He had even estimated

  that a few bronze in this world equaled a dollar on earth. There was a

  great deal of guesstimation involved, but he had still felt fairly good

  about his conclusion.

  Looking around here, however, made it seem as though the

  economy was shifted several times over. A pastry cost a full silver here

  whereas in the smaller town of Blackoak that would cost merely a few

  bronze.

  It was almost certainly a measure to create and maintain

  social classes and a hierarchy where the upper echelon of society could

  live in relative safety and luxury inside major cities and the lower

  class had to live on the outside.

  He suspected that, by design, never the twain shall meet.

  Only in the rarest of circumstances could a peasant rise

  to nobility. The gap between living in villages and small towns, where

  you would realistically only ever see bronze and silver, and life in

  cities, where the mere entrance fee was more than most would see in a

  lifetime, was simply too great. Even if they saved up and got enough to

  pay for both the train and the entry fee, they wouldn’t have enough to

  buy anything beyond bland bread and the most basic of ingredients and

  would likely have no choice but to either leave or find some other…

  unsavory way to survive in the city without money.

  If he was more into economy, social studies, or even

  politics he would probably want to look into the complex socioeconomics

  of this world.

  Sebastian, however, cared very little beyond how he could

  use it to his own benefit. Hopefully his treasures would help him to do

  just that.

  Using his [Mind’s Eye], he found a shop that seemed to

  deal in jewelry and other trinkets, not only did it sell them but it

  also bought them.

  He debated for a moment whether it was best to sell them

  here—at a shopping street which was probably designed to scam

  newcomers—or to make his way farther into the city and find a more

  reputable buyer.

  In the end, he didn’t actually care too much.

  While he didn’t want to be scammed, he also wasn’t

  interested in wasting too much time for a few extra coins. His time was

  more valuable than that extra bit of profit. From what he could tell

  when he eavesdropped on previous sales, the lady who ran the store

  seemed honest enough.

  “Welcome, can I interest you in some

  jewelry? The perfect gift for a loved one,” said the shop owner. She was

  a middle-aged woman with a kind face, wearing brown trousers and a

  simple white tunic along with a green embroidered shawl over her

  shoulders.

  “Actually, I have a number of items for sale myself and

  was hoping that you might be interested,” responded Sebastian while

  opening his bag. He took out every piece of jewelry and every trinket

  he had kept from the goblin camp’s treasure room and displayed them on

  the counter.

  It clearly caught her off guard. Her eyes widened as the treasures piled up.

  She collected her self and took a long look at each

  trinket and piece of jewelry. Numerous ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ slipped out for

  each one, as well as the occasional ‘oh my’. Making noises as wares

  were inspected seemed to be a trait which Sebastian surmised was quite

  common among merchants.

  After a few minutes of careful inspection, she looked

  back up at Sebastian with a sparkle in her eyes and said, “These are

  marvelous! I’m not sure where you got these but they are all quite rare,

  some are even antiques from the age of King Galen Lumiere, judging by

  the craftsmanship.”

  Antiques? I guess they must have

  been in that treasure room for a long time. Or, the goblins’ raids on

  traveling merchants were more successful than I’d expect, Sebastian thought as he tried to maintain his composure. It’s

  almost strange that all of these treasures, and the manual, were just

  there for the taking, and I’m the one who ended up finding them by sheer

  luck.

  “I’ve managed to acquire quite a few rare items on my

  travels. I sold some back in the capital on my way here but saved these

  to sell once I arrived,” he spontaneously lied in order to make it seem

  as though he actually had a clue about how much they were worth here.

  “How much are you willing to give for the lot of them?”

  “Hmm… Some of these are in high fashion right now so

  they’ll be worth more than usual. I will gladly take a few, especially

  this obsidian brooch, but I don’t have the capital to take all of this

  off your hands. The brooch is easily worth 4 spirit coins at auction, I

  can give you 3. This ring is beautiful, certainly worth a full spirit

  coin. If you have its history, the meaning behind the engraving, it

  might be as much as ten times more. My [Appraisal] Skill isn’t a high

  enough tier to identify this necklace, but I believe it might be a fake.

  You should find someone who can verify that though.”

  She continued to give him a run-down of every item and a

  quick appraisal of each of their worth. Sebastian was absolutely

  stunned, but he did his best not to show it on his face. He tried to

  look like he was considering her offers like a seasoned merchant, even

  though he almost broke out into a cold sweat.

  What the hell are Spirit coins?

  It sounds like that’s a level above

  gold, no one has ever even mentioned that those existed, I thought Gold

  was the highest currency around. Not to mention, that’s so much more

  than I got at Blackoak. Sure, I saved the ones that looked to be

  slightly better, but still that’s thousands of times more.

  I knew that stingy old merchant got a

  good deal, but it didn’t feel like he was scamming me that hard. Did he

  just not know how much they were worth? Is there that big of a

  difference between here and there, or is this just how wide the gaps are

  between the villages and the major cities here?

  Wouldn’t people just pool together a

  gold or two and send someone into the cities to sell various crap for a

  shit-ton money and just go back home to live like kings?

  No, the higher ups here must keep

  track somehow, force traveling merchants to buy quality goods for cheap

  but never sell them. Make sure that even if people outside the cities

  know about this they can’t actually get their hands on anything properly

  valuable. I can’t really imagine how though.

  He sold her the obsidian brooch for 3 spirit coins and 35

  gold as well as a bangle for another 2 spirit coins. He asked for some

  trustworthy places to sell the rest and spent an hour going around the

  district to various shops until he had sold everything.

  Sebastian was never a big on money, but he couldn’t keep

  himself from grinning as he made his way into the city proper with just

  over 15 spirit coins in his bag.

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