System Change

As Derek and Alanah walked through the streets of Kyllar, Derek took note of how much it resembled some of the cities in Cydaria. To be exact, the city very closely resembled Wilmette—the city, which was in the closest proximity to Torith, now Searidge. It wasn’t a huge city like the capital, or a bustling business city like Savannah, but it still had the mix of people that one would see in any of the big cities in Cydaria. He passed humans, elves, dwarves, halfling, and mixes like half-elves.

Honestly, it seemed like he was back in Cydaria and not thousands of miles away. Even the small village with the odd shopkeeper reminded him of Cydaria and its villages.

“Are you sure we’re really not in Cydaria?” he half snorted and asked Alanah.

“They are rather similar,” Alanah replied. “I really enjoyed my time in Vorandell over every other kingdom on this continent. Everyone seems to accept one another—unless it’s a refugee from Linderis, then it may take them a while to become custom to such a diverse population. But eventually, they come around and realize it is all for the best.”

“That’s good,” Derek said.

“Indeed, it is,” Alanah replied.

“So, what’s the plan from here?” he asked.

“Well…” Alanah sighed heavily. “It seems I must find a shop to sell some of my items so we can have the funds to use the teleporter.”

“Oh,” Derek replied. “Well, good luck with that. I’ll just wait outside for you to finish.”

Alanah glared at Derek, then eventually, both of them laughed. Nick and his knick-knacks were still fresh in both of their minds. The last thing either of them wanted to do was deal with another shopkeeper.“At least we are in a real city now,” Alanah explained. “I doubt we’ll run into any situation like the one we had back in that village. I don’t think such a character would be able to survive running a shop in a full-on city.”

“Yeah… I imagine you’re right about that,” Derek replied. “Unless, of course, that person was somehow a hidden master or something.”

“Which Nick was not,” Alanah replied. “He was only level 67,” she said. “Just a non-regular, low-leveled villager.”

“Yeah…” Derek nodded, then the duo continued trekking through the city in silence. Soon, Derek stopped and pointed at a sign hanging over a door. “Looks like you found your shop,” he said. They were somewhere around the middle of the city at the time, and the sign he pointed at was wooden, with a drawing of a pouch with a few coins spilling out of it.

“Either that or a bank of some kind,” Alanah said as the two approached the building.

Once there, Derek looked in the windows and said, “Definitely a shop.” The inside had the standard layout of a shop. There were shelves with items—each having a number marked below for the price—and there were people wandering around inside looking at said items. There was also a person standing behind a counter and what looked like a well-equipped guard standing by the entrance on the inside.

“Looks that way,” Alanah replied, then stepped forward and placed her hand on the door. “Are you coming?”

“Nah,” Derek said. “You go ahead. I’ve had enough shopping for one day, so I’ll just wait out here. I’ll let you pay for all the fees for us since I am a gentleman like that. It is your adventure, after all.”

“Right…” Alanah rolled her eyes, then went inside.

The siren didn’t take long to come back out—about half the time it took in the village. She came out with a slight smile and sighed. “That was much easier.”

“Yeah?” Derek asked. “No problems?”

“None,” Alanah replied. “It looks like our armor and gear actually mean something when we aren’t in some backwater village. None of the customers got in my way, and the clerk was all too happy to give me good prices without trying to haggle.”

“Now that’s the way it should be,” Derek replied with a chuckle.

“Truly it is,” Alanah said.

“Are we finished here?” Derek asked.

“We are,” the siren replied.

“Great!” Derek said. “Now, where is the teleportation building?”

“It’s over here,” Alanah replied, then began walking. Derek hurried to walk beside her. “The clerk was very forthcoming with information once I told him it was our first time in Kyllar. He was only too happy to point out the teleportation building, as he was counting out the gold to give me.”

“I bet,” Derek replied.

Soon enough, the duo found themselves outside another building. They walked in and were met by a bunch of workers who directed them to the clerk in control of the teleporter. There was a short line that they had to wait in, but that was to be expected.

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Once they made it to the clerk, Derek let Alanah do all the speaking, as she knew the area and had studied the map Nick had given her. Soon enough, both Derek and Alanah provided a magical imprint, paid the fees, and were allowed to step inside the circle. After the usual explanation of safety while using a teleporter, it glowed brightly, and they disappeared.

When the glow vanished, the duo found themselves in a nearly identical room where they were processed before being allowed to leave. It seemed that Vorandell didn’t have all the same security that Cydaria had when moving cities via teleporter. They didn’t have to hold their hand on a stone and speak only the truth like one had to do in Savannah—all they had to do was sign some documents, then inject their mana into them. It was rather easy compared to the process in Savannah. It only took about half the time to arrive, pass the proper inspections, then exit out of the building.

“This… is different,” Derek said as the duo slowly walked around the new city—Purna. Unlike Kyllar, the atmosphere wasn’t nearly as easygoing, and Derek sensed that everyone around was rather tense.

“Yeah,” Alanah replied. “It’s only natural.”

“Why is that?” he asked, but before Alanah could answer, they heard a voice off to the side.

“I heard that they’re really going to attack this time,” Derek turned to look at a small group of people standing around gossiping. He turned his head to listen.

“Bullshit,” a man’s voice sounded out. “They’ve been ‘going to attack’ for centuries now, and they never have.”

“But my brother is a guard on the border,” the feminine voice spoke again. “He said that even the higher-ups are wary right now. Plus, some of the other guards have gone missing.”

“Just another elven fanatic,” the male voice said. “They’ll catch him just like always, then everything will go back to normal.”

“But that would be the third this year!”

“We’ve had years with more,” the male voice said.

“Well, we’re moving away from here as soon as my brother completes his guard,” the female voice said. “He’ll be able to choose any station he wants, and he’s taking me with him.”

“You’ll never be able to find a city as cheap to live in as here,” the man said. “You’ll have to find work, too. There’s no way that your brother will be able to support you and his family on a guard’s salary in another city—even if he does get promoted. You might as well go live in a village.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad,” the lady replied. “The villages around the capital are nice… at least… that’s what I’ve heard. And the capital keeps them safe.”

“Whatever, you do what…” the duo eventually moved out of earshot and too far away to make out the voices with ease.

“That is why,” Alanah said. “Because we are in the city closest to the border between Vorandell and Linderis,” she explained. “Even when I was on this continent last time, Linderis was constantly on the verge of invading—or at least they made it seem that way. Any city or citizens close to the border were always on edge because of that, and it seems that nothing has changed since then. I was hoping that wasn’t the case, but it looks like my hopes were for naught.”

“Did they ever actually attack?” Derek asked. “Or was it always just the threat of attack? And why would Vorandell allow something like this for so long?”

“No, they never didn’t anything more than have some light border skirmishes,” Alanah replied. “At least not that I know of. Occasionally, a fanatic elf will cross the border a couple times a year and throw their life away in the name of elf superiority. That’s probably what they were talking about with the disappearing guards.

“I don’t believe Linderis would be able to handle Vorandell if they tried. Vorandell has never done anything about it because Linderis never attacked. The Vorandell Royal Family are known to be kind and peaceful,” Alanah explained. “If this was Draylanthi, I imagine Linderis would no longer exist, or it would be vastly different from how it is right now, but Vorandell is not going to be the ones to start a war—even if provoked. Now, if Linderis ever did actually step foot in Vorandell and attack, Vorandell would not go easy on them. Honestly, Linderis is just full of a bunch of old elves set in their old ways, with nothing better to do than provoke other races.”

“Sounds like they all need a good ass kicking,” Derek replied.

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt,” Alanah giggled. “It is the same as always,” she sighed. “This isn’t the only border city, either. You’ll hear the same conversations in any of the border cities that you go to.”

“Definitely doesn’t sound like a fun place to live,” Derek said.

“No, but like you just heard, the border cities are much cheaper—especially when it comes to cost of living,” the siren explained. “Plenty of people are willing to put up with the intense atmosphere and the occasional psychotic elf to live well off in a real city. And it’s not like other cities don’t have crime and murder. Really, it’s only the atmosphere that keeps people away. Nobody likes being on edge all the time.”

“I can understand that,” Derek said. “Lots of people where I’m from had to live kind of the same way. I don’t think that’s something that will ever change, no matter what system you’re in.”

“Exactly,” the siren said.

“One day,” Derek said with a slight laugh. “We’ll find a kingdom ruled by elves that don’t have that superiority complex.”

“It’s not just a superiority complex,” Alanah said. “As I’ve said before, it’s also the history of the elves and others. At one time, humans were the bogeyman that haunted the elves. Then, eventually, that shifted, and the elves were the bad guys. It’s a cycle,” Alanah said. “But Indria may end up being different. Give them a generation or two,” Alanah said. “They are well on their way to getting there.” After that, she flicked her wrist and handed Derek what looked like a hooded cloak. “Speaking of elves… keep this,” she said. “Once we get to the border, we’ll need to wear them.”

“Won’t that just make us more suspicious?” Derek asked.

“No,” Alanah replied. “Not at all.”

“Why is that?”

“Because at least with the hoods on, the citizens of Linderis won’t be able to tell that you’re a human,” Alanah replied. “At least, they won’t be able to tell until they get close enough or if you take it off. Not wearing one would let them know you were human right away. At least my ears are somewhat pointy, so from a distance they won’t notice I’m not full blood. And even if they did notice, they at least wouldn’t try to harm me—most likely they would just ignore me.”

“I see…” Derek said. With a thought, he went ahead and stored the cloak in his own storage ring. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Plus, there are plenty of people who prefer not to show themselves,” Alanah explained. “We should be able to travel just fine outside of populated areas. And it’s not like I’m here to visit any cities or people specifically, so we won’t be going to those areas. I’d like to get to Linderis, head straight to my destination, then leave. I don’t want to spend any more time there than I have to.”

“Sounds good to me,” Derek said as the two approached the gate leading outside the city. They walked out to some rather surprised looks—it didn’t seem like the guards saw too many non-soldiers or guards leaving the city.

“You know,” Alanah said, grabbing Derek’s attention. “If Linderis is even worse than it used to be, I know a way that may set them straight for a while.”

“Yeah?” Derek asked. “And what way is that?”

“I know of a certain chef who could cause a lot of mayhem if let loose in the kingdom. And I may or may not have some rather… interesting recipes that she could use,” Alanah said as she gave Derek a big smile. “It would certainly give the elves a new bogeyman to fear.”

“No, Alanah.” Derek nearly facepalmed. “Silvi is not, and I repeat, not making elf burgers.”