Turning his eyes to stare at the gates, Talon noticed a small building nearby on the right. It had one door and one window to the side and it seemed rather old with a very clear blue color, perhaps due to the continuous rain of blue liquid that kept pouring outside the city walls.
'What is even that?' Talon stared at the raining liquid with confusion. It was by far the weirdest part about this entire city.
Looking around him, he noticed that the hooded girl was standing near him. This entire time, she never uttered a single word and he didn't know why. He suspected that she was shy or just a cold person in general. Still, his curiosity made him ask.
"Psst..." Whispering to her, the girl's eyes shifted to look at him from under the hood.
"Mmm, what is that blue liquid raining down from the tower?" He asked.
"..."
Complete silence.
The girl didn't reply and simply stared at him. He couldn't even see her reaction under that hood and it only made him even more confused.
'Does she hate me?' Talon asked himself.
He had never talked to her, so he couldn't think of a reason why she would hate him. Unless she simply hated strangers, which then explains this behavior.
"Blue Elixir..." Surprisingly, a while later, she spoke. Her voice was quiet and emotionless, just like how Talon expected it to be. "It's used to keep the city safe from monster attacks."
'Oh...' Talon blinked silently before he stared at the blue rain again. 'So that is the Blue Elixir the other guy talked about. I guess that makes sense.'
Emino had mentioned it before when Talon talked about his supposed village being destroyed by monsters. It seems it's used to keep them away for some reason.
Meanwhile, Acrypha flew toward it and unexpected it with her eyes. "Hmmm..."
"You discovered something?"
"Yeah, this is actually a Sand Eater's Blood." She said. "Well, it explains everything now."
"Wait, that's the blood of that worm?"
"Yeah. Now that I recall, it does have some characteristics that repulse monsters. It's poisonous and stinky which most creatures consider a threat." She said.
"That makes sense. *Sniff* Now that you mention it, I do need an immediate shower. I smell like absolute garbage." Frowning hard, Talon shook his head in disappointment. Showering has been the bane of his existence ever since the Integration started.
The lack of water coupled with his intense day-to-day activities made it necessary for him to shower at least 3 times a day to keep his hygiene. But, that was simply not viable in most situations.
'Oh well, things are getting better so I might finally be able to take showers whenever I want to.' He thought to himself.
"Emino, you're already back?"
At that moment, he heard a voice speaking from the other side. Looking up, he saw a man wearing flying gear and carrying a spear coming out of the small building. He looked at the sixth squad with a familiar look.
'What a fascinating city...' He mused.
"Welcome to Aridopolis. What do you think?" Emino turned around and said with a proud look. "It might be a little overwhelming. But, this is the usual atmosphere here. It might be weird for you two since you come from a small village."
"Uh, hahaha, yeah, it is a little weird. But, I think we can grow accustomed to it soon enough."
"Don't worry about it. Well, I'm sure you both are hungry. Let's get something to eat and then we can head to the guild."
"Shouldn't we report them first?" Lefa asked.
"It's fine. We can do that after a hearty meal. Nobody is going to notice."
With that, the group started walking through the bustling city. Emino kept talking about everything around them, greeting a few people here and there, and showing Talon around. He told him about the city, some of its history, and many other things.
Only then did Talon realize how culturally deep this city is apart from its scale. It had a vast history, and an intricate ecosystem of its own that only made sense within its walls. How people interacted, talked, and lived their lives, was all new to Talon.
But, since everything was new to him, he tried to keep note of every single word Emino said. He was basically giving him invaluable information without realizing it.
Meanwhile, Arryn simply kept his head down. He tried not to look around him nor listen to anything and yet, that was the only thing he could do in such an environment. With so many people walking around him, and so much happening, he felt overwhelmed.
'So many humans... So many humans...' He thought to himself. He was barely able to keep himself silent just because Talon was there. But, in reality, he was so terrified it made him stumble a few times and smash into some people.
"Hey, be careful, kid!"
One of them yelled at him and it sent a chill down his spine. He didn't look back and continued walking.
'Calm, calm... Calm... I'm not a kid anymore. I can't be terrified of them. I am supposed to face them.' He kept reminding himself that he was the next Great Chief of his race and was supposed to be the one to inflict fear upon these humans.
Yet, here he was, shaking in terror. It was pathetic, by all means. He wanted to just hide and curse himself for being this weak and powerless.
'I am a failure! No! I'm not! I can't be on the losing side! I have to keep my head straight! Talon said so!' Shaking those negative thoughts away, he looked up.
There, he saw the group stopping in front of a particular building. It had a sign on top of it that said 'Remi's Diner.'
"Here we are, the best place in the entire city by far."
"Yay!! We haven't been here in a while, right, Michi?"
"Yeah, Kichi! I missed the steamed meat buns so much!"
Talon read through the name with a curious look. 'Well, I hope I won't have to eat something disgusting.'
He had already seen some pretty nasty monster meats being sold around the city on their walk here. He even saw giant worm heads hanging from the ceiling by a hook as a butcher cut through them. As delicious as it was, Talon wasn't particularly eager to eat a worm's head on a plate.
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!