The rest of the journey passed uneventfully. Near the end of the first day, the elves purchased pillows and blankets for the three of them from a vendor at one of the stops. Gideon tried to sleep through the night but kept waking up due to the noise of the train and the other passengers. Of the three of them, Berenyn had the easiest time. Once he drifted off, nothing could seem to wake him. Shylvena enjoyed poking his head and making weird sounds next to his ear, but he never so much as stirred.
Perhaps this pastime was to make up for her own lack of sleep. Whenever Gideon awoke, he saw Shylvena looking out the window, a distant look in her eye.
On the second day of their trip, a few hours from Prospera, Gideon had almost reached the end of the [Appraise] skill book when he received a pair of notifications.
Skill Rank Increase! Your proficiency in Appraise has ascended to Stone Rank, Grade D.
Level Up! Your mana core has gained strength. Maximum mana increased.
Gideon blinked his eyes and cleared the notifications. Had he really leveled up from the skill book? He’d been deep in one of the practice modules, using [Appraise] on mental projections of different magical artifacts. But the appearance of the notifications pulled him out of the book’s reality and back into his own.
As he’d worked through the book, his skill grade had slowly increased, but he hadn’t expected to reach the next rank so soon. He couldn’t help but feel satisfied. He had never used such a finely made book as this one. It made him think of how much farther he could have progressed in his life if he’d always had access to such material. But he tried to push the thought from his mind—there was no sense grieving over the past.
“You have a healthy glow to you,” Shylvena said in Dwarvish, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I just advanced. I didn’t expect it to happen from a skill book.”
“It’s only natural. You’ve been working hard.” She smiled at him, then returned her gaze to the window. The train was next to the Amberdale River, following its meandering route towards Prospera. The river was beautiful this time of year, surrounded by emerald hills dotted with small brick cottages and farmsteads. Gideon had been born in a village not so different from the ones they passed now, though his had been farther north.
Berenyn was still asleep, snoring softly, his head resting against the pillow.
“Thanks,” Gideon said to Shylvena. His eyes wandered down to the Elvish-Gleurican dictionary. On the pad, Shylvena had been taking page after page of notes. “So have you.”
She bowed her head forward. “If I wish to live here, I must learn.” Before continuing, she looked around the cabin to check if anyone else was listening. “I have a question.”
“Sure.” He closed his book and returned it to his backpack. Leveling seemed like the perfect time to take a break, anyway.
“Is Prospera City a difficult place for elves?”
“Oh,” Gideon said, feeling his cheeks grow hot. “Are you asking because of the train attendant? I’d try not to worry about that guy too much.”
Shylvena nodded. “That’s fair. I just wonder…” She chewed her bottom lip. “Did we make a mistake coming here?”
“Hmm,” Gideon said, thinking about it. He couldn’t lie and pretend he thought the city was a perfect place. There were many reasons he’d decided to leave himself. “You’re probably asking the wrong person, Shylvena. The city is a very different place in the Elvish Enclave than outside of it. You won’t have the same experiences as I did. But if I’m being honest, I think Prospera is a difficult place for everyone—elf, dwarf, human, or otherwise. Don’t get me wrong. It can be beautiful, too. But it’s never easy for anyone.”
“I see,” Shylvena said, sounding worried.
Gideon smiled, trying to reassure her. “Well, if you decide you don’t like it here, you can always come back to the castle, okay?”
She smiled weakly back at him. “Thank you, Gideon. That is nice of you to say, but I do not wish to be a burden on anyone.”
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“Not at all,” Gideon said. “We could use more staff who are fully alive, you know. I don’t know if Grimsby would make a very good concierge.”
They both laughed, trying to picture it.
----------------------------------------
The central train station of Prospera City was a massive complex with over a dozen platforms underneath a vaulted, stained glass ceiling. They arrived in the middle of the afternoon, and the air was glowing with Elysion’s sunlight.
As they disembarked, Gideon grabbed his backpack and slung his staff in its case over his shoulder. Back at Castle Kastorus, he had debated whether he should take his staff or leave it behind, but Kelvan had insisted that now that he was attuned to it, he should practice using it as much as he could.
“A wizard should never be without their staff,” his Uncle had said.
Though Berenyn and Shylvena hadn’t been impressed by the train ride or the smaller towns and villages they had passed on their journey, both stopped on the train platform and stared up at the stained glass above them in awe. It depicted various historical events, such as the dragon wars, the founding of the city, and the beheading of the old king.
“Magnificent,” Berenyn whispered, then seemed to catch himself and lowered his gaze. “I mean, it’s quite nice.”
“It’s beautiful!” Shylvena said. “I can’t wait to see the enclave.”
“I’ll take you there,” Gideon said. “Follow me.”
As they reached the central area of the station, the crowds thickened, and the noise of people grew louder. Countless conversations merged with announcements over the loudspeaker and the sound of trains arriving or departing. It had only been a week since Gideon had been here, but he felt his senses were under assault.
He kept looking behind him to ensure Berenyn and Shylvena followed closely as they moved through the crowd. The last thing he wanted was for them to get separated.
There was quite a stark difference between Prospera and Emberly regarding the attitudes of humans toward elves. Though his two companions had been a spectacle in Emberly, here they were ignored. No one stayed in Prospera long without seeing their fair share of elves.
Plenty of carts sold food, drink, and souvenirs in the station, but most of them were overpriced and poor in quality, so Gideon hurried past them.
“I hope we don’t have to take another train,” Berenyn said.
Gideon smiled over his shoulder. “No more trains from here on out.”
They emerged from the station into Ariston Square, a large plaza surrounded by tall buildings made of glass and steel. In the center, a statue of Archmage Ariston—founder of Falconridge Academy and one of the greatest wizards in Acretan’s history—stood at the center of a fountain with his staff extended above his head.
Unfortunately, the fountain wasn’t turned on, and the water had turned green, covered by algae. As Gideon walked down the station steps, a mix of unpleasant smells assaulted his nose, and he coughed. At the edges of the square, trash piles were stacked against the sides of buildings. He looked back at Berenyn and Shylvena and tried to sound as reassuring as possible. “Don’t worry, the enclave is much nicer.”
Berenyn nodded curtly. “Please lead the way,” he said.
Yeah, Gideon thought. I know. It’s kind of a shithole, isn’t it?
“Does it always smell like a toilet?” Shylvena asked in Dwarvish.
“Uh,” Gideon said, struggling to find a balance between honesty and politeness. “In this particular area? Usually, yes. Let’s keep moving.”
Though the station was located in one of the least pleasant districts of the city, there were pockets like this throughout Prospera. If you lived here long enough, you learned to avoid them when you could and ignore them when you couldn’t. It was strange, Gideon thought, that he had used to do precisely that without even thinking about it.
But now, after spending just a week at the castle, he found he couldn’t look away from the city’s warts, and his nose was no longer blind to its stench. It was like an illusion had been lifted, dispelled by the crisp air and natural views of the mountains.
That’s it, he thought. That was what their inn could offer people—a place where you didn’t have to ignore what was around you.
Gideon threaded his way through the crowds of people, around the fountain, and towards a dock at the other end of the plaza where people were negotiating passage with a motley group of boatmen.
As they approached, Gideon heard a voice behind him and saw that one boatman had already approached Shylvena. He grinned like a shark and asked her loudly, “Where you going, miss?”
Of course, he’d said it in Gleurican Common, so Shylvena looked blankly back at him.
Berenyn replied, “The elvish enclave.”
“Oh, I’ll take you—” the man replied, before Gideon interjected.
“No, we're not interested. Bye.”
The boatman looked at him for a moment, then seemed to judge from Gideon’s bearing that he was, in fact, a local. “Bah,” he said, and walked off.
“Why did you reject him?” Berenyn asked, raising an eyebrow.
Gideon grimaced. “I guess this is your first lesson of life in Prospera, Berenyn. If a boatman walks up to you, they’re a scammer.” Gideon turned to the other side of the dock, where a line of passengers waited patiently as boats approached and departed the dock in a long queue. He gestured at the sight, then walked forward and joined the back of the line. “The ones who charge a fair rate have people lining up for them. They never need to leave the water.”
Berenyn’s eyes widened. “This city is a complicated place.”
“Lorindel wasn’t like this?”
Berenyn averted his gaze, and the tips of his long ears turned bright red. “I wouldn’t know. For us, it wasn’t, but we didn’t leave our family’s estate very often. I feel like a child who’s wandered into a dungeon.”
“I’d wager dungeons are far less dangerous,” Gideon said wryly. “It’s much easier down there to figure out who’s trying to eat you.”
----------------------------------------
Copyright © 2023 Tater Prince. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.
This novel is only posted here on Royal Road. If you see it anywhere else, please let me know! Thank you.