Chapter 2 Flowing Bronze

The City of Flowing Bronze had a much more diverse infrastructure than Growing Iron, with buildings made of other materials than metal and made by greater craftsmen, the city gave off a wilder impression. Not only the buildings but also the people were more varied. As a city with a Gate that granted access to other planes, there were merchants and travelers with different physical appearances from the people native to a metal attribute plane. Not to mention the few spirit beasts of different attributes that could be seen here and there. Since a lot of spirit beasts were not small enough to easily travel through a cramped city or just didn't like the hustle and bustle of the city they would usually stay inside the spiritual space belonging to their partner, if possible.

After entering the city and paying for the ride, Toz began wandering the streets of the city while taking a look at the stalls and shops. Buying a few snacks for himself and the cats, one on his head and the other draped over his shoulders, he entered the deeper, less official parts of the city. When midday approached, he finally found what he was looking for, the strays. The stray cats had found a remote corner of the city next to a park with little traffic, to lounge, during the day. Passing out treats to the cats on his way to a bench, the cats slowly noticed him and approached where he sat.

Just like Toz enjoyed being in the presence of cats, cats enjoyed his presence, and easily calmed down and relaxed. Toz decided to bask in the sun for a few minutes before heading off to the Gate. It didn't take long for the bench he was sitting on to get surrounded by sleeping cats. Although the presence of the black and silver cat kept Toz from getting physically covered by the cats, it was a relaxing atmosphere to make up for the comparatively lacking cart ride.

The sun shining down on a young man surrounded by cats was like something out of a painting. Although pedestrians passing by noticed, it wasn't until a middle-aged man in a light brown uniform came that the scene was disturbed.

As the officer came closer, the cats woke up in a start and quickly dispersed, some with reluctance.

"Kid, this is a privately owned park. There are several places for homeless people to stay during the day that won't get you in trouble," he said after tapping Toz on his shoulder to wake him up.

"My bad, I didn't see the sign."

"Well, there is no sign really. It is just locally known that this park is owned by the mayor's cousin."

"I was about to get moving anyway. Thanks for waking me up"

"No problem. Where are you headed to?"

"The Gate"

"I see...

"The Gate!?"

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

"None at all! I apologize for my previous discourtesy!"

After telling the patrolling officer to relax and saying goodbye, Toz moved toward the Gate at a relaxed pace. With a rested mind, he could spend more time enjoying the surroundings.

'Thankfully he didn't mind it, but if has two spirit beasts he should be pretty strong right? What is he doing taking a nap here?' The officer thought while looking at the young mage's back.

He had noticed it when he entered the city as well, but compared to Growing Iron, there were a lot more shops and entertainment in the City of Flowing Bronze. Although personal transport through the Gate was not something everyone could afford, it still increased the traffic through the city significantly. The transport costs were almost nothing to a larger merchant company.

Toz had been to the city before, so he only took a look around before reaching the Gate of Flowing Bronze. Lucy and Nil also grew bored and headed into the spiritual space located in Toz's tattoo.

The Gate was located in the middle of a large plaza, its immediate surroundings were clear of people, but the stalls further away were crowded with people of varying shapes and sizes. Now and then, people or carts could be seen passing through the Gate, causing a few ripples in the blue vortex.

Since gates were made from naturally occurring tears in space, they varied in appearance and size, but the one in Flowing bronze had a near-perfect circular shape and a decent height of seven meters.

After a few minutes, a loud voice announced,

"Gate swap in 30..."

"29"

"28"

"..."

As the countdown continued, a few sections of the multilayered golden rim surrounding the gate lit up and slowly began shifting around before finally settling in place as the countdown finished, and the same voice announced the completion of the gate swap.

"Gate connected to the City of Yellow Sparks in the plane of First Ignition. The connection will remain for three hours," a new voice announced twice.

Toz had decided to begin his journey in a pioneer town in a low-level plane since he wasn't all that powerful or experienced yet. Since First Ignition was easily accessed and of the same level as his own plane, the first level plane of Moving Metal, First Ignition was a natural choice. Although he could possibly move to a second level plane as well, the level of wild beasts could go up to two levels above the plane's own with relative ease as long as they stayed within the same division. Beasts at the fourth level could pose a significant threat to Toz and his spirit beasts.

After the traffic died down a bit, Toz walked through the vortex as a feeling of vertigo and weightlessness quickly came and went.

The first thing he noticed when his feet landed on the other side of the gate was the different climate. It wasn't sweltering, but the air was dryer and more vibrant than the mellow air he had just left.

The next thing Toz noticed was the materials all the houses were built of. In both Growing Iron and Flowing Bronze, almost all the houses were made from wood with a metal attribute that could be found locally. In Yellow Sparks, however, he noticed several houses made from a blue type of wood, and upon closer inspection, he noticed the water attribute in it. A bunch of other houses were made from different types of stone. Considering it was a town of pioneers and explorers, the different houses and buildings were made in consideration of people with attribute types other than the ones related to fire and heat.

Although in a first level plane, the suppression of attributes is hardly noticeable, for many low level mages, it is easier to rest and recuperate in an appropriate environment. Toz, other than noticing the difference had no trouble, so he decided to find an inn while taking a walk around town.

Since the space rift was found and stabilized relatively recently and the town came into being after that, there was a lot of construction going on but not a lot of other activity. The marketplace was almost completely empty. Aside from a few kids playing and the elderly feeding the birds, almost no one else could be seen.

It didn't take long for Toz to figure out the reason. The town's primary attraction was exploration since it was located in a previously undiscovered area of the plane. Most of its ordinary citizens were explorers. Looking for natural resources, treasures, and scenic spots were things most easily done during the day. With the explorers coming back in droves during the evening, the businesses also picked up steam at that time.

Deciding to quickly finish his business, Toz booked a one-night stay at a small inn owned by an old married couple before heading to the branch office of the Explorers Guild.