The merchant looks at me with a curious gaze.

"What did you even come here for? It's not often people make their way this far north into Sector 1 by accident."

I think to myself for a moment, but shrug and reach into my storage to pull out the silver card with an address from the guild leader on it. While showing the card to the man I reply.

"I'm here to meet a friend, they said I could find them at this address."

His eyes start to widen as he scans the card, and I can visibly see his skin begin to turn paler. After a few seconds pass, he points to the door and speaks in a low tone.

"Just- Just keep making your way north. Once you make it to the walls, I'm sure you'll be able to find that guild."

He audibly gulps and refuses to make eye contact with me again, but I still give him a smile while walking out the door.

"Well alright, thanks for the concealment ring."

There's no response as I walk out into the town's streets and keep walking north as he said to .

His strange behavior makes me become a bit more wary of my surroundings. Just the Solaran worker acting off when I mention Valor City is one thing, but now a second person gives me an odd look when I show him a guild address.

The town goes on for another kilometer uphill, and I make my way through a few smaller districts of residential and green park-like sections with winding paths, small ponds, and healthy grass and trees. The soil is hard, rocky, and cold, but the wildlife seems tough enough to survive in this environment.

Eventually, I finally get a peek at these so-called walls the man in the merchant shop was talking about.

Once far enough north, the apartment buildings become less common, and I actually get a view of the landscape behind this settlement.

What I see is shocking.

As the city thins out, more green grass, winding roads and trails, and wildlife come into view. There's a tall range of mountains behind the city with lively grassy green bases, and snow-capped peaks.

They go on for as far as the eye can see in the distance, and shadows of even taller ones lurk in the background behind the clearly visible ones before my eyes.

The more incredible sight of all is the enormous city atop one of the largest mountains.

It looks like its top was chopped clean off and a city rests on an elevated plateau kilometers above this small town below.

Silver walls surround it, making the height look even greater, and the only reason I know there's a city inside is because of the towering skyscrapers stretching out from the circular walls up high through the cloud line.

My eyes are glued to the magnificent structure as I continue to walk further away from the town behind me and up the winding mountainous paths toward the city.

Many others take the same routes. There are a few silver and red trolley carts that make their way up and down the main road to the city, bringing people to and from, but I decide to enjoy the view and crisp cold air to walk on my own.

Quite a bit of time passes before I start to make my way toward the crowded base of the mountain.

The towering silver walls look even more enormous now that I'm so close. It takes almost an hour to make my way up the mountain to the gate. There are hundreds of people standing in an orderly line, and to my surprise, there are only 2 guards in silver armor that match the walls.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The line slowly moves forward as I prepare to come up with a disguise and pay a fee to enter. One of the masked silver guards speaks up.

"What's it going to be? Silver, Gold, Platinum, or the Royal Coin today, Sir?"

I freeze for a moment, as these words don't make much sense. The guard senses my hesitation and continues.

"This is the city of commerce, what amount of money will you be spending during your stay? Silver, Gold, Platinum, or the Royal Coin?"

I pause again but clear my throat and reply, this time more aware of the question.

"Gold, I'll most likely be spending gold in the city today."

He pulls out a small wristband and replies again while motioning for me to give him something.

"How much gold would you like to insert for starter credits? You may add to your total credits or cash out your credits back into gold at any given time at the credit stations all around the city."

I pull out a small handful of gold and place it in the guard's hand.

"I'll start with 5 gold. Maybe I'll add more later."

He nods and presses a few buttons on the small wristband before allowing me to place it around my left wrist.

The moment it clicks into place, it changes colors from a nearly transparent coloring to now shimmering gold. A few thin black numbers show up on the underside right beneath my wrist.

_____________________

ID: C#129880

Rank: Gold

Credits: 5.0000

_____________________

"There you go. Enjoy your time in Valor City. Just scan your wristband at the golden wall if you'd like to enter further into the markets today. You'll need to add more credits if you'd like to travel inside any deeper. To find the gates just walk north from here. You can't miss it."

The guard motions for me to walk through the gate, and I make my way into the silver walls of the city.

High-quality densely packed stone makes up the streets, and the storefronts that line the streets exude prestige the moment I look. With white marble columns and glass windows displaying magical items and jewelry, I walk forward into the city with my eyes open wide.

Everyone within this city is dressed properly in suits and higher-class items. I'm glad I bought the ring to change my appearance before entering. Even if my hunter's gear is worth a small fortune, it still looks rough on the eyes to these cityfolk.

As I walk further into the city, the fact that there aren't people yelling out sales on the streets is rather soothing. It seems as though the shops just display what they have to offer, and customers either buy or they don't.

My eyes sparkle more and more the further into town I get. Using appraisal on every item I can, some of the gear even surpasses 40-50% buffs. If these are the items within the silver walls, I can only imagine what's behind the gold.

This portion of the city looks like an upscaled version of the town I just left. There's not a single apartment, only storefronts and high-class restaurants line the streets.

Further north in the distance where the guard mentioned the next wall was located, the sky scrapers I saw from afar tower above and look even more impressive than I previously thought they were.

However, the further I walk forward, the more I feel as if I'm being watched.

The high presence of mana in the air feels eerily similar to my all-seeing eye skill, but I can't quite pinpoint where it's coming from.

It's not abnormal for a city to have a surveillance unit, but I'm usually able to pick up exactly where it's coming from in a matter of seconds. Today, I'm not having such luck. It seems to be a very intricate system. Though, I'm not breaking any laws or rules, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

Another 20 minutes pass before I finally see the golden wall the guard mentioned to me when I entered. As I walk closer, I realize I never even asked the first guard where the Mercenary Guild was located. Hopefully, there's someone at this entrance that can guide me to it.

As I approach, two guards stand in front of the tall golden wall in shimmering gold armor that matches it.

The wall to this next inner wall isn't quite as tall as the one outside, but I can tell it's imbued with mana all the way through and would be much more difficult to break through than any C-Grade mana shielding.

One of the guards holds up a silver tablet, and I raise my wristband to scan it.

As the tablet flashes green, the other golden armored guard opens the wide gate for me to walk through without a single word. I take this opportunity to ask one of them the question that's been on my mind.

"Hey, where exactly can I find the Galeheart Mercenary Guild?"

Simultaneously, I show them the silver card.

The guard that scanned my wrist just stares down at the card through the small slit in his golden helmet before glancing at my wristband and shaking his head.

"Stop messing around, and put away that card. The Royal Guild isn't something to joke about. You'll need 200 times more gold to even think about stepping into the Royal Coin Section of the city."

His eyes dart around underneath the armored helmet like he's watching out for someone or something as he says these words.

I take a step back to make a mental note of his actions just like everyone else I've interacted with today. Third time's a charm, and this sets it in stone. Something is not right here, and I'm going to find out what it is.