Chapter 22 – First contact

The group of four arrived outside the village in 4 hours. Not a day like Riddick thought. 

In fact when they were first approaching the village, Riddick had shouted out, scaring the crap out of everyone.

"We're already here? How is that possible? We've only been flying for 4 hours!"

"Old Man! Calm your tits! I told you this thing can go fast, why are you so surprised?"

"Because it would've taken us weeks on foot. You can cover weeks of walking in 4 hours?"

"Hell yea! This much is easy! The other devices we have on my planet can do triple this distance in the same amount of time. They can even carry 200 people, so I say this is alright."

"...Whatever."

Riddick gave up thinking about it. 

Since they didn't want to scare people, they landed in an open area away from the village.

When they were approaching the village, Dream remembered something.

"You know, I didn't even think about how we might need money. I hope you aren't poor Old Man."

"Don't insult me, Boy! Don't forget that I'm a class 3. We can make plenty of money wherever we go."

Riddick reprimanded him and just kept walking while Dream wondered how much he had in that inventory.

As they started to approach the entrance, Dream thought of yet another problem.

"Hey Old Man, don't you think we should cover up your daughters? Is it weird to wear cloaks in this world?"

"Cloaks? Why should they wear that?"

"I think you underestimate how gorgeous your daughters are. I gave them some more modest clothing, but even that stands out."

"Hmm. I think they'll be fine. If not, isn't that where their little boyfriend will step in?"

"Heh. Alright, you win."

Dream couldn't exactly say anything to that. He would just wait and see.

So they approached the village, paid the entrance fee, and walked in.

Luna and Iris were very excited as they took everything in. The village was nothing impressive, but anything more than trees was new for them so it didn't matter. 

People walked down the street, buildings was scattered about. Everything was mostly made of wood. 

It was a little awkward for the people who walked past their group though. The girls would stare at everyone, taking in their features. Boys blushed, and so did girls. The old men and women would just wave and be friendly.

While they were having a grand time taking everything in, Dream was surprised.

'Everyone here looks better than I thought. I mean I wasn't expecting anything, but at least the puberty boys aren't covered in acne.'

[It's probably due to mana. Mana seeks to enhance. So anyone in contact with mana will have fewer blemishes and look better.]

'And these people probably aren't anything great either. I can just imagine a genius child with Mana all their life, how amazing would they look.'

Dream thought about various things as they walked through the village streets. But as they started to reach the end of the village, he got confused.

"Old Man, what're we even doing here? I know the girls can use the enlightenment to the fact that people exist, but did you have anything planned?"

"Honestly? Not really. I just wanted them to come here first before going to the capital. We can head out again soon."

"Alright. Maybe we should try something though."

"Like what?"

"Let's have them go over and buy something. Talk to someone."

"Hmm. Alright. Girls! Come here."

Riddick called out to the two wondering foxes who had walked off. They ran back and he explained to them his idea.

"There's a bread shop over there. Let's go over and get something." (Riddick)

"Y-you sure? I don't know if that's..." (Iris)

"It'll be fine." (Riddick)

He ushered them into a shop and they were met with a greeting.

"Welcome! How can I help you all today?"

A man about as tall as Dream came out from behind a counter. He was rather plump and had a bald head with a long mustache.

"H-Hi! U-mm I was wondering if...w-we could buy some bread?" (Iris)

Iris nervously asked the shopkeeper her question. The shopkeeper could see the smiles of the two men behind her and began to understand a little.

"Haha! Of course! We have many different types here. Come and see which one you would like."

"T-Thank you..."

The man brought Iris to his selection and she looked at different breads before choosing a loaf. 

"I-I'll take this one." (Iris)

"No problem." (Shopkeep)

"You can put it in here." (Riddick)

Riddick brought over a basket for the bread and let the shopkeeper put the loaf in it. He then paid for the bread.

"Thank you. My daughter is still a little nervous around people." (Riddick)

"D-Dad...!" (Iris)

"Hahaha! No worries. Where are all of you headed?" (Shopkeep)

"We're going to the capital after this." (Riddick)

"I see! Well, do stay safe during your travels. Monsters tend to target carriages on the roads."

"We will. Thanks for the food."

They exchanged farewells and exited the shop. 

Iris was confused though

"Are we supposed to take a carriage?" (Iris)

"We won't but he doesn't know that. No need to make a fuss over it. Now time for Luna..." (Riddick)

Luna wasn't as open about how nervous she was like Iris, but Dream knew that it wasn't actually much less.

They went over to a butcher shop next and did the same thing.

The shopkeeper was another man. He wasn't plump, however. He was lean and ripped, probably a hunter who sold his kills. He also looked mid-age.

Luna asked for a cut of what Dream could only assume was beef and Riddick wrapped it in leather and paid for it.

As they walked out, Dream wondered about the currency.

"Old Man, What are the currency levels?"

"The 4 Empires recognize copper, silver, and gold. 100 copper = 1 silver, and 100 silver = 1 gold. If you ever get rich enough, 500 gold can be exchanged for a gold plate. No other kingdoms uses a different currency because it would be like slandering the Empire's authority. That and it's also easier."

"Makes sense."

It was good to know so he asked. 

"So when do we plan to move? I don't see anything else to do here." (Dream)

"We can head out now. I think the girls have had enough of a buffer before the shock."

"Alright. Let's start walking then."

As there was nothing this village had to offer, they began to exit. 

They walked into an open area where nobody could see and summoned out the helicopter.

"Where too Old Man?"

"That way. Knowing how fast this thing is, we can be there before sunset."

The helicopter took off in the direction Riddick pointed to. 

Everyone ate lunch while they were flying since it was lunchtime. They planned on eating dinner at the capital.

Riddick misjudged again as it only took 3 hours to get to the capital. As they approached, they could see the tall castle surrounded by many buildings and a wall. 

The helicopter was set down a couple miles away. They walked over and Riddick paid to get through the gates.

As they walked through, many building around two stories greeted them.

"This city has a population of around 300,000. The King here is the 3rd class I told you about. Their army is also rather nice, but its really only for monster attacks." (Riddick)

Riddick gave some interesting info about the capital. The first thing they noticed was actually the amount of people.

There were many times more people walking up and down the streets here. The occasional carriage also passed through. Vendors would be at their stalls selling whatever they could. Smells of food also wafted through the air.

"Wowww! Everything is so big! There's tons of people!"

Iris started getting excited while taking in the sights. Dream could also feel Luna's curiosity towards everything around here.

Not that Dream wasn't curious. It was also his first time seeing a kingdom style city. The many wood buildings and the people were very different from what he was used to.

One more thing that was different was the power level of the people here. 

'I know It'll be difficult until I get my first class, but what's the power level of everyone here?'

[I estimate many first class and very few second class. It is obviously more difficult to get second class. Although first class seems to be standard among people who level.]

Dream nodded in understanding and kept walking. Riddick spoke up after some time.

"Boy. How urgent are you to get to the mountain?"

"Not that urgent. Did you have something in mind?"

"Yes actually. I was thinking we can stay here for a little. We can find a hunting ground in the area and get you guys to first class before we got to the Mountain. How does that sound?"

Dream thought about it and didn't see anything wrong. He would also like to be stronger and finally get a class.

"Sounds good. Are we going to find a hotel then?"

"Yes. We can get situated and head to the Guild here. We'll be able to find the hunting ground and take tasks."

"Alright."

So apparently there was a Guild? It makes sense because they need people to keep the monsters in check. Their materials are also important for crafting.

Riddick asked a couple people and found a hotel close to the guild. It was a tall three story building that was also very wide to accommodate many rooms.

They walked in and found a hostess behind a counter. The first floor looked to be a restaurant. Looks like they serve meals as well.

"Hello! Welcome to the Gregory Hotel! Are you looking for rooms?"

"Hi and yes. 3 rooms, please. If you can put them together that would be best."

Riddick spoke to the hostess. He paid for a week-long stay and was given three different keys. He thanked the girl and came back to the group.

"We're on the third floor and we have rooms next to each other. The girls will be in one and us men will have our own. Here are the keys."

"Thanks for the courtesy Old Man."

"I don't want to stay with you either, Boy."

After trading jabs they all went up to find their rooms.

"I'm not thrilled with the stairs but oh well. I'll take the center room."

"And why is that?"

Riddick gave him a smirk as he said that. Dream replied in kind.

"They might serve food here, but can you really beat mine? You all will probably end up coming to my room to eat. So let's make it easy. I'll take the center. I'll be setting up a table and anything else I need anyway."

"Tsk. Fine."

After Dream won, Riddick threw the key at him as well as the girls. They didn't complain about sharing as they didn't want to be alone while in a foreign place. Riddick also knew that.

Dream went with the girls to their room to drop off their suitcases. 

What surprised him was that it was bigger than he thought. There was a dresser, table and chairs, and a queen size bed. 

The three walked in and Iris went over to the bed to lay on it. Her expectations however instantly dropped when she felt it.

"This bed is weird. Its not hard but its not nearly as comfortable."

"That's kind of obvious. They aren't gonna spend money on better materials. Plus, the people in this world probably suck at making beds."

Dream also went over to feel it and he could agree that it was a little uncomfortable. Did they stuff this with wool? The mattress laid on a wood platform and was about a foot thick. 

"I can't imagine what I would do if I didn't have my ability. I'll just replace it. But we'll need to change it back later."

The girls moved the mattress and Dream summoned out a high-quality queen mattress.

He then brought out the girls' suitcases full of clothes and left the room to set up his.

The rooms were the same so he just replaced the mattress. He really didn't need to bring out all his clothes because he had the storage. Not to mention the issue with stealing. 

Since there wasn't much to do, he went over to Riddicks room and replaced his bed too. 

"Thanks, Boy. We won't be able to go to a field today, so we can just walk around and grab dinner. We'll head out tomorrow morning."

"That works. Do you know of any restaurants around here?"

"There's a couple. Just depends on what we want."

"Alright. I'll go see when the girls are finished settling and we can go eat."

Dream headed back and checked on the girls. They were also done with everything, so the four went to dinner.

................

At night the streets were very rowdy. Anybody out hunting was back before sunset and all the workers were done with their jobs. Everybody was searching for dinner.

The four had walked down a couple streets and found a place that sold meat dishes. Though the girls were a little surprised seeing how many people were inside the restaurant. 

As hunters needed a lot more energy, meat was the best option. This place apparently sold alcohol as well.

The only problem was how many eyes fell on the group when they walked in.