As Talon was occupied with Acrypha, Emino and his wife Lefa were having a conversation on their own ahead of the entire group. They made sure to keep their voices quiet so that nobody could hear them.
"He is a very interesting individual." She said as she looked over her shoulder.
"Haha, isn't he? I was quite surprised to see him actually succeeding on the first try. I expected at least a few more tries but I guess I underestimated him."
"No... Nobody would've expected that. But, I can definitely see why you did that. He seems rather different." As she said those words, she could only look at Talon.
Ignoring his body that was oozing with an aura akin to that of royalty, there was something about him that made him stand out, and yet she couldn't put her hand on what it was. Due to her job as a Sky Seeker, Lefa had naturally met many people in her life and learned how to differentiate between them with a simple look.
Yet, never in her life had she seen someone like Talon. Everything about him looked normal and yet also extremely bizarre. A mix that shouldn't exist and yet here it was.
'Who is he?' She asked herself.
"Don't stare too much my dear wife, or I might get jealous, hahaha." Her husband's voice snapped her out of her daze as she looked ahead.
"You have no reason to feel jealous." She replied seriously.
"Hahaha, I know my lovely wife loves me to- Ouch!"
Before he could even finish his words, Lefa jabbed him in the side lightly. "This isn't the time for that."
"Sorry, sorry~"
"By the way, you guys have been talking about this Sky Seekers guild or whatever. What is that all about?" Talon asked curiously, oblivious to their conversation.
This has been on his mind since he met them and he didn't find the opportunity to ask till now.
"I can answer, I can answer!!" The one that lifted their hand was Michi who excitedly moved till he was close to Talon.
"So, in a nutshell, the Sky Seekers guild is an organization built for one single purpose: To protect humanity."
"Protect humanity? From monsters, I assume?" Talon raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, that's correct. This desert is extremely dangerous and most of it is either unhabited or unexplored. So, naturally, we do not know when or how monsters could attack human settlements and whether we can even fight them or not. So, to help with that, this guild was founded for people to join, get stronger, earn money, and also protect our existence here." Michi explained with an excited look.
"And how far does the guild's domain expand?"
"As far as the northern five sectors. Our city is in the second sector, by the way. There are at least a few hundred thousand Sky Seekers across the five sectors."
"That many people..." Talon murmured with a frown.
It was a great idea that he naturally kept in the back of his head for the future.
"Look! It's the city!" At that moment, he heard Kichi yelling loudly.
Opening his eyes, Talon's eyes were met with a rather surprising sight. In the far distance, a gigantic structure rose from the ground to the high skies, looming over the world with a strong presence.
The structure was surrounded by massive walls made out of sun-bleached stone that dug into the deep sands beneath. Inside these walls were countless buildings that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a sight straight out of a dream.
The city was so massive that even from tens of kilometers away, Talon could feel its scale. It even put modern cities like Seoul and Tokyo to shame in size. Not to mention its unique appearance that was straight out of a fantasy world.
A mythical metropolis city like no other.
However, the most interesting part about it was the structure in the heart of it. The giant pillar-like structure stood out like a sore thumb on its own. Its walls were made out of blue quartz and decorated with beautiful engravings and statues.
At the top of it was a crown-like statue that covered its entire roof surface. This crown had countless holes poked into it all around its perimeter that were spraying vast amounts of blue liquid like a hose. The liquid would fly through the air and fall right outside the city, all around the walls.
That made the sand in that area have a clear blueish color.
"Wow..." That was the only thing Talon could say. The city made him completely speechless. He had never expected to see such a thing in his life.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? This is the reaction everyone has the first time they arrive at Aridopolis. We are all mesmerized by its beauty." Emino said with a proud look on his face.
"It is really gorgeous..." Talon nodded in acknowledgment. Even if he wanted to deny it, he couldn't hide his reaction.
This was by far the most beautiful place he had ever been to and he hadn't even entered it yet.
The group grew closer and closer to the city walls until they were barely a few hundred meters away before they slowly started descending to the ground.
Eventually, they landed on their feet right outside the gates. As the only way inside the city, the gates were naturally massive in size, created out of enforced iron and some other mixes of metals.
Talon and Arryn stared around silently as the rest of the group walked ahead. The little boy seemed more apprehensive than impressed.
"Talon... I'm scared..." He said in a weak tone.
"It's ok, you will be fine. You gotta just trust me." The latter replied with a smile.
'It must be really hard on him.' He thought to himself. Talon couldn't imagine how it felt like to realize that you are this close to the people that killed your own kind for their own desires. He must've been angry and yet also fearful of what might happen to him if he got captured.
'I won't let them catch him. Nobody can do that.'
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!