" I am quite pleased to meet you too. I am Nestor, a former monk and now, I guess, a damned soul as you called me. Also, if you don't mind, could I ask you why?

I don't mean any discourtesy, but It's my first time coming to this place. I've already seen a lot of strange happenings that I've never seen before in my homeland. "

Nestor's politeness was a nice surprise for Linneo, as the fellow damned he encountered here, inside gate number 3240, were all either crazy or couldn't bother to talk to him.

Linneo was one of the last remaining youths of his race, in his native world, all humanoid creatures had united together as a last stand against monsters and the frigid cold.

They referred to their land as the ever frost, as the planet's weather was cold for almost the entirety of the year. It frequently snew and snowstorms weren't such rare occasions either.

The founder of the knights of the frozen valley, Linneo's ancestral father, had left behind a mysterious legacy that was said to be capable of saving their world.

Said legacy was to be found in the depths of a faraway cursed city, the chained Citadell of Ceres. Fortunately enough they had found a few keys. Although these medallions were different from the one Nestor possessed, they were pure gold in color and exuded green pulses of energy at all times.

This was probably why the people of the frozen valley were able to send a group of valorous knights with their bodies in one piece.

Linneo was one of them, sacrificing himself for the safety of his people made him proud without doubt, however, while doing so he had left behind his family.

Being one of the strongest knights of his generation he had been tasked with such a mission. With the assurance of his wife and daughter's well-being, he took the key and ended up arriving in this mysterious large hall.

"I am sorry to inform you that I don't hold much knowledge about this place. I can only tell you what I know, which you'll probably discover shortly anyway.

I came here thanks to a 'key' similar to the one in your possession, only mine is a golden medallion. It is said that this is a cursed city, where only damned souls can dwell, since once you enter you cannot leave.

In the depths of this place, all kinds of monsters, abominations, and dangerous creatures walk the land of mortals. However, it is here that with great risks comes also great rewards, as powers and precious treasures lay beneath us.

I came to find one such treasure. If you don't mind I would be happy to make a couple of friends along the way."

Nestor was delighted to finally have received information about where he had been until now.

From what he understood of his situation, in his mind, Nestor started to resemble a damned existence even more. He was but a poor soul without a purpose, thrown in a foreign environment all by himself.

At least now he could share a sort of connection with someone that shared his same burden. Unbeknownst to them that Linneo had far more matters of concern running through his head.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Then what about this gate? I have been told to keep on walking in this direction, is this the right place?

I have been walking for a long time, and my body is at its limits. I don't think I can resist much more without at least some water and good rest."

Nestor had gone through a lot lately, and even if he had some time to think in peace during his earlier marathon the place didn't make him feel at home. Other than his body that demanded hydration, his spirit also required time to heal from the dress brought up by his death.

"Yes, to proceed further on our travel we must exit the gate of summoning. That is so we can truly enter the chained citadel. Other than that I don't know much."

Having no other choice and little time left, Nestor performed a leap of faith and stormed right inside the gate.

Following behind him was Linneo, that even with his stature and metallic boots managed to silently stride forward.

As if to testify to the bizarre nature of this alien land, immediately after touching the green fog Nestore's location completely changed.

He found himself already a few hundred meters outside of the gate, he thought so because behind him he could see the side of an enormous arched gate similar to the one inside. This had to be the other side.

It seemed to be part of the facade of a humongous temple that reminisced him of the ones built by the Roman Empire. Huge marble, corinthian-styled columns spanned hundreds of meters of height, sustaining the massive building.

Then he turned around, surprised to find himself in the middle of a wide circular plaza. It was made of countless colorful little polished rocks of irregular forms.

Not much light was emanating from his surroundings, the greenish like illumination provided by the lamps inside the gate was now everywhere. It was obviously a lot brighter, but it still carried that same exact feeling.

Puzzled, Nestor looked up at the sky, desperately in search of an answer.

A beautiful starry blue sky welcomed his view. Although Nestor had already seen a lot of beautiful nights in his life, due to Earth still being pollution-free, this was on another level entirely.

The night sky was packed with stars and nebulas visible to the naked eye. Yet what made him utterly speechless was the giant white sun in the middle of it. It defied any law of nature he could possibly think of, as it appeared extremely bright yet it didn't emit any actual light. Nor did he feel any pain by staring at it.

He stared at the sky for a good while, before moving on to his surroundings. Tall Buildings styling the Roman empire architecture could be seen beyond the gardens of the plaza. Upon seeing the large straight road that started at the end of the gardens, Nestor thought of being inside a bigger version of the ancient Rome.

Only by spotting some sporadic gothic-styled and even some other really strange buildings, Nestor knew not to have gone back into the past. For example, he had opened his mouth agape for the fifth time as he noticed a tall blue building made completely out of glass.

Ten minutes already passed as he finally understood why this place was referred to as 'the chained city'.

He couldn't see it very clearly, as they were extremelly far, but huge metallic chains were deeply inserted into the ground and extended infinitely into the far distance. It seemed almost as if the city itself was being held in place by these very chains.

The poor monk had been stunned by the magnificence and absurdity of the place he had just arrived in, not to notice the people all around him.

They numbered in the hundreds and were busy either admiring the city with a dumb-struck expression, or they were focusing their gaze on a person in particular.

In the center of the plaza was a small stand-like gazebo. Inside of it was neatly arranged an exquisite combination of an ebony wooden table and chair.

A thick stack of papers where on the table, completely blank, near it stood a red quill.

On the chair was sitting a man that was approximately in his early thirties, leisurely watching as more souls made their appearance on the stage. although had to concentrate on his gaze, but it wasn't that hard to perceive the sense of pity that his eyes emanated.

Nestor quickly averted his eyes from the faraway chains, as he heard someone calling for him.

It was the imposing, yet delicate, figure of the hunched Linneo, that like him had been transported here and was admiring the scenery.

"This is quite the admirable sight huh? Well, I remember you being quite thirsty back then. There is a merchant behind the stand, selling prime necessities if you need some. I saw it earlier by standing up."