As we walked through the forest, I finally noticed a towering wall far in the distance, and I reckon that it'll be another 30-40 minutes walk.
Sadly, we didn't meet a carriage that was being attacked by bandits, maybe we had to use the stone path?
As we walked some more, we could see the full view of the city. It was majestic and breathtaking, you could see merchant's carriage and pedestrians coming in and out of the city.
There are four guards blocking the road into the city, I reckon they're there to filter out the criminals.
As I casually walk into the mass of people that were queueing In a long line, I felt a tug at the hem of my clothes, looking at my side, Lynn was looking at me like I was some kind of dumb idiot.
" Look at our clothes. We're totally out of place right now. " (Lynn)
I facepalmed, I totally forgot about it after seeing this magnificent view.
" Now that you mention it, I've never seen any clothes like those. " (Tiara)
" Yeah? We got them from a traveling merchant, It looks comfortable so we bought them. Wait here, me and Lynn need to change first. " (Alex)
We found bushes high enough to hide our bodies and change there, I take out two sets of black leather armor with a carving of a snake coiling around the armor, the details make it as if it were alive and constantly moving. The sets also came out with a metal mouth mask that is also black in color.
" Nice..... " (Alex)
" Yay! Now we would become the center of attention once more... " (Lynn)
Lynn said with a sarcastic remark.
" What? It looks cool.... This way nobody would mess with us. " (Alex)
" Yeah right, but they would wonder what cult do we come from the moment they saw us. " (Lynn)
" I'm still wearing it though " (Alex)
Said Alex as he already began to undress and put on the armor
" Geh, Fine.... " (Lynn)
" Come on... Where's the cute Lynn who would sulk over the last piece of chocolate? " (Alex)
" Honey... Can I not wear these kinds of armor pleasee...." (Lynn)
Glancing at Lynn, She was looking directly at my eyes with a slight pout and teary eyes, It was her cutest face I could ever imagine. I couldn't bring myself to reject her while she was making that face, So I pull out another set of armor, it has the same proportion as mine as if it was made by the same person, but this time it was white in color with carving of a tiger that looks like some kind of holy beast.
It was the exact opposite of mine, but both of them looks great together, It feels like Life and death were walking together side by side.
Lynn looked at the armor with sparkling eyes as she feels the materials with her hand.
" Thank Youu! "
Said Lynn as she leans over and gives me a peck on my cheek.
The armor shifted to our size every time we put on a piece of it, and it makes them feel really comfortable, We also didn't feel any heat even with these armor on, what we feel was a breeze constantly hitting our bodies.
" Waah, This feels really good... " (Lynn)
" They even have this function, It feels even more comfortable than our previous clothes " (Alex)
I said while looking at how good this armor on me
I took Lynn's hand and went back to where Tiara was, And she was still there squatting down while looking at the never ending mass off people coming in and out of the city with a bored face. On her back, was the deer she killed, strapped tightly as not to fall.
" Tiaraaa! "
Lynn waves at her with a smile on her face.
As Tiara sees us, her bored face immediately changed into one that of disbelieving and shocked expression.
" Holy shit " (Tiara)
We both laughed at her expression
" I thought you guys don't want to be the center of attention? " (Tiara)
" Don't get me wrong, We didn't want to be the center of attention because of our weird looking clothes, but we didn't say we don't want to be the center of attention because how awesome we look-- Ouch! " (Alex)
" Ignore him. We just didn't have any other armor besides this one. " (Lynn)
Lynn said as she pinch hardly at my side
" Rightt... " (Tiara)
" Yeahh, Look the line is getting longer, let's go " (Lynn)
As we approach the line, more and more people started to notice us, they looked at us with wide eyes after seeing our get-ups.
They take another one or two glance wondering why did these high ranking people were standing in line with a commoner like them. Usually, people with power would just walk past the line like it's the obvious thing to do.
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Well, we're still a nobody, so it's obvious.
After waiting for a couple of minutes, it's finally our turn to be checked.
The guards looked at us fearfully, afraid to accidently offend us or the like.
" Uuhh, That... I... " (Guard 1)
Oi oi, does my armor look that scary? He looks like he would break down at any moment.
" See Alex? " (Lynn)
After seeing his friend stuttering like an idiot in front of me, another guard came up to me and shove his friend back to his post.
He is a young man with handsome face and chestnut colored hair. He's using a spear befitting of a guard.
" We're sorry Sir, He's a new recruit here " (Guard with guts)
He directly apologized to me as I was obviously the leading figure of this party of three.
" Yeah it's alright " (Alex)
The guard seems to be surprised as I replied with a calm and relaxed tone, not befitting of my image.
" Sir, We need your identification card to be checked first before entering the city. " (Guard with guts)
" Hmmm That'll be tough, We lose our luggage on the road here, so we can't give you the identification card. " (Alex)
" That's alright sir. We just need to check your soul for a brief moment, so we would know if you sir are a criminal or not. Not to offend you sir or anything, but it's a necessary procedure. "
Wow, I'm impressed at how calm and collected this person can be. I reckon he'll be a great person in the future, that is of course if no one interferes.
But I'm more interested in that soul checking thing.
" Sure, that's fine " (Alex)
" Then, this way sir. Tiara, you should wait here for a moment " (Guard with guts)
" No, I also wanted to see the soul checking stuff " (Tiara)
" Ehh, You guys know each other? " (Lynn)
" Yes, He's my fiancee Arion. " (Tiara)
Hmmm, so that's why she would glance at him from time to time.
" Ahhh, But There's four entrance to this city right? " (Lynn)
" Yes? " (Tiara)
Ask tiara confused with the sudden topic change. I know where this is going
" Noo, It's just that I feel that we take slight detour just now when coming here "
Me and Lynn gives Tiara a knowing smile as she was blushing furiously while looking down. Glancing at the boy, he was also blushing while awkwardly fidgeting with the spear in his hand.
" Ahhh, How cute " (Lynn)
Said Lynn as she laugh lightly at both of them
" S-sir this way please... " (Arion)
We all followed him into a small room with a floating transparent crystal in the middle.
" This is? " (Alex)
" This is the soul checking crystal sir, you just need to send a little bit of mana into the crystal " (Arion)
I touched the crystal and sent a little bit of mana just as instructed.
The crystal glows for a brief moment until it became pure white with some speck of gray in them.
" This means you're not a criminal sir, a criminal would have a black soul with a speck of wait in them. " (Arion)
Lynn also followed suit, Her soul was almost the same as mine, but with a little less gray in them.
After confirming that we're not a criminal Arion directed us to a branch office where identification card was made, It was a simple procedure where we fill out our general information like name, age, occupation, etc.
Tiara was the one who pays for the fees of 2 silvers, saying how she was indebted to us.
Finished we were asked to wait for a couple of minutes while the card was being made. Arion left us to resume his job of guarding the city entrance, and Tiara also left to deliver the meat to her house, saying that it was for her family's lunch.
I marked both of them with my power as they were both have helped me a lot, and I would feel sorry if something bad happened to them.
After waiting for a while, our names were finally called. we were asked to drop our blood into the card so it can't be used by anyone else or be faked.
After dropping my blood into it, the blood was directly absorbed into the card. After taking the cards and saying our thanks to the receptionist, we immediately left the building.
" We need fast money, or we'll need to sleep in the forest again " (Alex)
" We could sell one of the artifacts. We got ton of them anyway " (Lynn)
" Where to? " (Alex)
" Ask someone " (Lynn)
We found a middle-aged man who is currently promoting his wares. He looked like a nice person so we asked where could I buy and sell an artifact, He pointed a direction and said that we should follow the main road until we found a big building named Ivory Continent Auction House. We said our thanks and gave him one gold coin, saying that it still can be melted or kept for collection, as he won't be able to use it anywhere.
As we walked towards our destination, I notice many different gazes directed to us. There's Fear, Curiosity, Awe, And some even shot a lustful gaze towards Lynn, I give people like that a murderous gaze and they would run away in panic.
We're enjoying our walk while talking happily, Rayla would join the talk if not for the crowded street where people could easily hear our conversation.
The street was packed with merchant's shout and chattering of other people, you could say that it was very lively.
The buildings here was already pretty advanced, as there was even some that have a glass storefront to showcase their wares.
After a while of walking, we're standing in front of a big beautiful building with a brightly lit sign that says (Ivory Auction House)
We were greeted by a good looking lady in her twenties. She's wearing a gold colored robe with a nameplate on her left side chest, her name was Amanda.
" Greetings, What could I help you with? " (Amanda)
She bowed and asked us politely
" We would like to sell an artifact, can you tell us how the system here works? " (Alex)
Her eyes lit up when we said artifact and she quickly lead us to a private room inside the building,
" Just like other auction houses, to bid, you'll need to invest your money to our auction house first and you could freely bid after that, if you accidently bid more than what you have, our staff would kindly warn you that you don't have enough balance.
Our auction house was the one who would decide whether we would host your item or not, the item's authenticity also needs to be checked first.
We would take 5% of what you get after using our services. We're not greedy, so 1000 gold was the maximum price we would take from your sells, take note that the item we host here cost tens of thousands of gold.
You could also directly sell your item to us at a price that is a little below of the market price.
So, Which one is it? " (Amanda)
A professional indeed.
" Then, We'd like you to auction this artifact, " (Alex)
I take out a Sword with a blue colored aura around it that made the room temperature to drop instantly. And it has an exquisite design of a wave on its handle.
" Holy fuck............. " (Amanda)
.
.
.
.
.
.
Shit, Did I just ruin my entire career? " (Amanda)
We both laughed at her one-man comedy show. It's not like we'd ruin someone's career just because she accidently spurts out profanity.
" It's fine... we're cool about it " (Alex)
" Right? It's not like we've never said that kind of thing " (Lynn)
" Guh, I'm sorry for my rudeness " (Amanda)
She said as she bowed politely
After that, she brings an expert artificer to the room to check the authenticity of the sword. It was an old man wearing a loose robe, he was pretty shocked at first but calmed down after a moment, he says that it has been a long time since the auction house hosts an item of this scale.
After checking that it was a genuine artifact, Amanda leads us to a VIP box that is located in the auction hall, we can see everything from here while they cannot see anything inside the VIP box.
" You can order any food you'd like to have, It's completely free as a thanks for using our service " (Amanda)
As if reading my mind she said what's on my mind this whole time, We haven't got a chance to eat our meal so we're starving.
" Then, We'll take four of the chef's recommendation, and a cold drink with that "
" Gladly " (Amanda)
Amanda bowed politely and left us, They said the auction would start in a couple of minutes, and our item will be today's special.
" How much do you think it would sell for? " (Lynn)
Lynn said as she munch on a chocolate bar
I just shrug my shoulder and once again focus on the side scrolling retro game I'm playing.