As I approach the western wall, I note that there are more reparations with wood on this side as opposed to the one facing the demon continent. There also seem to be fewer guards here. The few guards that are here however, look at me with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. Contrary to what their expressions tell me, they do not ask me anything. In fact, they do not ask me anything at all, while stopping everyone else and questioning their motives for entering. This is bad.

Once entered, the city appears to be full of life. Various shops that line the main street leading to the central plaza are open and filled with chatty customers. A huge variety of smells fill the street, drawing in the attention of the less-than-busy people walking about. At the end of the street, at the main plaza, I can see the tops of several stalls. These are dyed in a variety of bright and cheerful colors.

The main attraction for me is, well, me. Much like the guards outside, passersby seem to distance themselves whilst at the same time trying to place my face. Thus, I leave the main street, and head towards the dwarven halls.

The many stairwells that lead down to the lower levels are located mainly inside the four main towers. The two that used to guard the entrance, now reduced to one, only had hidden latches with ladders leading down. Also, in my case, the north western tower was located within the walls surrounding the city hall, and probably guarded.

It is also worth noting that some buildings had their own private access to rooms below, but for rather obvious reasons I couldn’t simply barge in there.

I make my way towards the closest of the available towers, the one to the north east. Navigating through the less crowded side streets is a simpler affair, as most residents here keep to their own business.

The towers were quite obviously guarded, and the check was similar to the one at the main gate. For me, it was an identical experience, though slightly tuned down. Once down in the halls, everything seemed darker. Not just the actual light, but the mood and atmosphere too. A certain smell of damp earth could be picked up on, in between the fumes from the forges and stench of sweaty men.

This part of the city was without a doubt the shadiest, making me wonder if it would be worse the further down I went. Though, these halls were home to some taverns and hangouts, some entrances to even lower levels were seemingly restricted by mobs of people. Some were even concealed within taverns or beneath weapons traders, perhaps for quick getaways. The levels below the halls were a maze of corridors in the past, and even with some of those corridors blocked by rubble, most of them would probably now lead to headquarters of various criminal activities.

Making my way through the crowds, which did not care for my presence in the least, I arrived at an unguarded passageway down.

For the first time since entering the city, I was not watched. Using my spirit, I could more or less guarantee this. The people in the city that could concentrate their spirit were few and far between. Many of them were garbed as mages or healers in groups of fighters. Some were even dressed as priests, and walked with other priests. But most of these could not maintain their spirit as a layer surrounding them for protection, making it highly unlikely that anyone down here could sneak up on me.

The various passageways I was walking along down here were cold and damp. I doubt that whatever was dripping down from the halls above was water, but hopefully it was.

The walls were made from the same bricks that were holding the ceiling up. Holding up said ceiling was an arc that continued along the bending corridors down here. If I stretched out my arms, I could almost touch both walls. Now letting my spirit loose, I search for nearby presences and life. After a while, I pick up on a large group of these.

I arrive at a larger room, the ceiling rounded and the ground not paved like the corridors were. There are four entrances, the one I came from, to the north-east, one to the north and another to the north-west. The last one is much large, stretching up to the ceiling and taking the place of the room’s south wall. It is also blocked off completely by rocks the size of horses and piles of rubble, which sloped into the room. Sitting on some of these rocks were burly and shady looking men, watching a commotion in the center of the room. There, roughly thirty people were standing around something, shouting angrily and happily with the occasional outburst of laughter.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I entered the room by walking down a few stairs and approached the group, reforming my spirit to a thin layer around me. As I came closer, the crowd suddenly cheered loudly while some looked enraged. One of the cheery ones turned around and looked around and spotted me.

“Hey, what about the fucker?! He looks like he can take a punch!”

He said, as he and his mates grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me further in. In the center of the ring a beaten man was being held by two people and dragged away whilst another man stood smiling with raised fists. He was wearing ragged clothes and had rags tied to his fists. It became obvious that he was about to send one of those fists in my direction.

“Place your bets! Will the undefeatable remain undefeated or will this bloody elder best him?!”

The fighter who was done celebrating turned to look at me. He was as tall as me, but lacked my hair and short beard. To compensate, he was sweaty, smelly and had a thick mustache. As he looked at me, he flashed a grin. I guess I must look old and frail, even with these bloodied rags on.

“Begin!”

Baldie raised his fists in a guard and cautiously approached me. I began a slow sideways walk, which he in turn copied while still closing the distance. When he found himself within striking distance, he did just that, with his right arm.

His speed was lacking at best, but he used his spirit to some degree, indicating that he was using some kind of enhancing magic. Probably life, to give his punches more weight. Actually, I hope he was giving his punches more weight, because if he was actually enhancing speed. Well, this fight would be over.

To judge, I received his punch with my face, carefully redirecting the force of it away with a turning motion.

It did not hurt. I even removed my spirit from the area of impact to not give away the fact that it was there. But even if this punch had landed square on my face, I doubt the injury would break my nose. Anything his fists could produce would be healed through life magic faster than he could prepare another punch.

Time to end this farce. The crowd was cheering mainly for the fact that it looked as if I got hit. Technically this is correct. Technically this is irrelevant for their situation. The fighter on the other hand looked dumbfounded. If this guy is anything of a measurement of this city’s fighting potential, then I almost feel sorry. I raise my own fist and make use of several branches of magic. Firstly, I use life to enhance the speed of the punch. Secondly, I use fire to create small, unnoticeable explosions, to further boost the speed and guide the punch. And lastly, I use earth magic to clad my fist in jagged rock milliseconds before impact, undoing as fast as the punch has landed.

The fighters head disappears in a mist of red. The spectators flaunt stupefied expressions, and many begin to argue with the organizers about the outcome of the bet. The mood gets violent, and some begin approaching me.

At this point I don’t care. I release my spirit from my body and locate all of the individuals present here. Nobody reacts. I was being overly cautious. The fact that my efforts to hide have probably been in vain, makes my mood sink. Using earth magic I create horse size rocks and rubble to block off the three remaining entrances. Parts of the crowd look about themselves frightened. Parts of the crowds are still ignorantly approaching me. Then suddenly, they aren’t. As in, they suddenly are not here.

In their stead are prism shaped prisms made from rock magic. These pillars descended from above their heads at velocities impossible by gravity alone. Speed achieved through a use of explosive fire magic. I now use life to empower my fists and harden my skin. I carefully hit the pillars to create cracks before I fill said cracks with water using its affiliated magical attribute. I then proceed to use said attribute to freeze said water.

The rocks explode and shatter in every direction, mortally wounding everyone present but one. This one goes about picking up the winnings of the bet before sweeping the bodies to the western side of the room using his spirit.

Then, this one temporarily displaces the stony rubble barrier before heading to the upper halls.