The alleyways of the city were mostly empty, as the Uthraki preferred walking out in the open. As they observed the behaviors of the citizens, Jonathan was able to get a better idea of their culture. It seemed that regular duels were a large part of their civil code, and he witnessed people fighting for the smallest of things. The duels almost always ended in bloodshed. He had seen multiple Uthraki, bathed in blood, standing over the battered corpses of their enemies. At least it helped to assuage his guilt about his plans to kill more of them.

It was an interesting way to treat discontent. If the citizens dealt with it, then it was easier all around. However, it was also prone to meaningless death. There were easily tens of thousands of Uthraki in the city, but it was a lot smaller than a similar city would have been back on Earth, given that there was no space given to food production and distribution. As a result, the city was probably half the size that it should have been. Most of the buildings were uniform in shape, and the few shops that existed seemed to be made for the purpose of selling weapons or other martial goods. In a civilization where battle was the pinnacle of existence, there was little room for anything else.

The people here seemed to be a step above the normal Uthraki, and were certainly wealthier and stronger than the normal ones. Each of them seemed to be near Hushar or Tukar’s strength, but they likely possessed less mastery over their skills. They were similar in level, but not in experience. Most of them seemed to simply be civilians with a bit of combat experience, something common within this realm. After all, when you lived in a place like Tartarus, everything was out to kill you. A degree of personal strength was always necessary.

Jonathan and Edgar headed deeper into the city. They needed a place to rest and recuperate when they were not fighting. Because of the strength of the citizens of the city, it would be the height of foolishness to remain in the open after having killed some of the citizens. They would need to be able to retreat to somewhere safe at will.

The various back alleyways of the city were good for hiding in, but they were still not exactly the most secure places. Anyone could walk into them, and they acted like a funnel that prevented escape.

Jonathan would have given a limb for the earth manipulation ability that the Uthraki had, which would have made this so much easier. However, he had other abilities. The walls of the buildings around him were curiously thick, and seemed to have a lot of space between them and the interior of the building.

“How thick do you think those are?” He asked Edgar, pointing at a nearby wall. The other man sent out a tendril of wind into a crack, pursing his lips in concentration.

“About seven feet thick. Why?”

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“We can carve out a hiding spot in the walls, if we are clever with utilizing the space,” Jonathan replied.

“Ah. Clever. Well, how are we to hide the entrance? None of us have any sort of creation abilities.”

Jonathan simply winked, and headed towards the walls. He only realized a few moments later that Edgar would have been unable to see the wink through his helmet. With a grunt, he began to summon his Void mana to his hands, creating rotating balls of purple light.

Moving over to a section of the wall bathed in shadow, he started to etch away at it with his abilities. As soon as he had made a human sized hole in the wall, he stepped inside, and started to widen the hole, extending it outwards in every direction. Because of the dark color of the obsidian, it did a good job of blending in with the shadows that surrounded it, hiding the entranceway from view.

He extended it for a dozen feet in both directions, creating a shaft along the side of the wall that he could retreat down. It was easily long enough to hide both men from sight. He exited the hole a moment later, flashing Edgar a thumbs up sign. The other man smiled, and used his wind abilities to clear the dust out of the hole.

“Good. I think it’s time to get to know the city a bit better,” Edgar said. “Know your enemy, and all that.”

Jonathan frowned at him.

“Where did you hear that saying?”

“Why? It was one of the various pieces of wisdom that nobles were indoctrinated with as children. From the work of some great general.”

Jonathan frowned at this. This was yet another commonality between Earth and Telvaria that he was noticing. For there to be the exact same quote, from a man who seemed very similar to Sun Tzu, was more than a coincidence. It was almost like some divine being had grown lazy, and was throwing universes into the cosmic photocopier. Many scientists back on Earth would have given almost anything to have proof of other universes, and here Jonathan was. Then again, none of them would last especially long in Telvaria. It was a very dangerous place.

Without paying the saying any more heed, Jonathan simply signaled to Edgar for quiet, and began to head down the alleyway. What they were about to do was hardly the most honorable of things, but it was efficient.

The alleyways led into the center of the city, which was where most of the action was going down. Before either man started a killing spree, they wanted to know what they were dealing with in terms of average strength.

The alleyway twisted and turned through the forest of dark rock, before depositing them outside the centermost building in the city. There seemed to be something of a public address going on as they arrived, being delivered by a truly massive Uthraki warrior. He stood in front of a monolithic edifice that looked more like a baroque castle than a city hall.

“Word has come from the Ancestral Lands that the monster waves are growing larger! This has not happened since the days of Granath. The gods are testing us, and we must respond. Already, hordes of vile beasts have made their way past the cordons around the Hunting Grounds, and are heading our way. Every Uthraki must fight to protect our lands!”

A cheer rose up from the crowd as they started to pump their armaments up and down. As they postured, Jonathan fired off his Channeled Basic Truesight skill at the leader.

Mortan Alogar

Level 187

Health: 18790/18790

Status: Healthy