Embla yawned. Normally, mornings were fine for her but today just wasn't her day. She should’ve taken Yuki up on that offer and headed into the town with her. While she didn’t like large crowds, she disliked sleeping on the forest floor all the time and longed for a bed inside an inn. But she didn’t want to burden her with paying for an extra guest. After all, one of the actual reasons that Embla decided to even stay in the woods was because she had run out of money.
Money was hard to come by if you spent most of your time in the woods and hunting and selling meat to villagers wasn't really a stable job. What money she could garner for getting a healthy buck would quickly run out after a few days of staying in inns and eating in taverns. She just wished that owners were more considerate of travelers who lived on a budget. Maybe then they would have more customers rather than be empty on most days.
It had been a few days since she decided to leave… she scratched her head. What was the name of that town again? Caine’s? She sighed. It wasn’t important. So long as she remembered where the town was, everything was fine and dandy. Right now, her goal was straight ahead of her. It had been a few months since she had last been here.
It was the same as when she had last left it. Yes, Embla had gone straight to the heart of the country where she lived. The Republic of Midgard was a fairly decent sized country. From what she remembered of the stories her older sister and her master had told her, the Republic of Midgard was founded near the end of the Period of Warring States. At the heart of this collage of various cultures and races was the city of Yggdrasil.
“How creative,” she mumbled as she walked down the road. Naming your city after the world you lived in was the peak of creativity after all.
A carriage sped past her, nearly spraying her with mud.
“HEY! WATCH IT!” She waved her fist angrily at the driver. “Almost there…” The massive pristine walls of Yggdrasil looked closer and closer with every step. She never really understood the purpose of having a massive wall. It was sort of outdated with the existence of aerial vehicles such as the Sleipnir.
The reason she was here was starting to look less and less worth it with every passing minute. Why did Koji have to invite her all the way to Yggdrasil instead of doing what they usually did and pick some random village and meeting? Why did she have to go all the way to one of the busiest places in the country?
“Finally!” she sighed as she saw the entrance. She immediately gripped her backpack and jumped. Her eyes tracked a carriage that was about to pass her and flipped, landing on top of the vehicle. Embla grinned as she jumped from roof to roof of the car.
Why didn’t I do this earlier? She thought as she hopped off the last car.
Embla landed gracefully in front of the guard. The guard yelped, making a sound that did not fit that of a member of law enforcement. She stepped back slightly, laughing as the guard leveled his manacaster at her.
“You again,” the guard said, sighing as he lowered the gun.
“Heya! Can I get in?” she said.
“You know the drill, Feuerdrache. Passport,” he said.
“You know. If you were a little more mellow Heim, Koji might not have placed you on eternal guard duty at the gates,” Embla said.
“Where the Chief chooses to put me is none of my business,” he said, reading over her passport. He closed it and handed it back to her.
“Cool. Cool cool cool,” she said as she pocketed her passport.
“You should really put that somewhere-” he covered his face when she took off running, blowing dust in his direction. Heim sighed. Someone needed to put that girl on a leash.
Yggdrasil was known as “The Shining City atop the Hill”. The ideal city. The so-called capital of the entire planet. Ever since its conception and construction two hundred years ago, this place became the center of the world and the one place for nearly forty-five percent of all global affairs. To Embla, the entire city was just a massive industrial jungle. The main part of this megapolis stretched off far into the distance, encompassing a large portion of the valley in which it was located. Large buildings towered into the sky as if daring to touch the Heavens with their tops. Carriages rolled down the busy roads and streets as multitudes of people roamed, perusing various items at the local markets and stores.
“Jeez…” Embla walked down the sidewalk alongside everyone else. Free running was forbidden. Or rather she was forbidden from free running. The last time she was here, Koji had told her that if she ever ran from rooftop to rooftop ever again, he would throw her in jail for the remainder of her visit. Of course, that was enough to get her to keel over and stop.
She spotted a hotdog stand with a respectable line and walked past it. She grinned as she ran past the person in the front of the line, bumping into them. In the middle of the action, she swiped his hotdog and took off.
“HEY!”
That was another thing about her. Thievery. It was something she learned growing up. Her sister didn’t approve of it, insisting that they do hard honest work to get the funds they needed. But, looking back on it, Valentina was the one who did most of their shady dealings.
What a hypocrite, she thought as she took a bite out of her hotdog. She had rightfully stolen it after all.
An arrow embedded itself in one of the posts. Her eyes widened like saucers, whirling around to see her attacker. It was the boy she had stolen from. His blonde hair glinted in the sunlight as he trained his furious golden eyes on her. He nocked another arrow and pulled back.
“Hey… wait! Isn’t this a disproportionate respo- eeeep!” she ducked as the next arrow narrowly missed her head by a few inches.
This crazy bastard! She thought as she took off down the street. Embla’s eyes spotted another food stall. She channeled prana to her legs and jumped onto the roof, using the elasticity of the fabric to propel herself into the air. She stuck her tongue out at her pursuer as she landed on the rooftop.
“Good luck getting up… here.” Her jaw dropped when she saw him scale the wall with the grace and skill of a professional adventurer or maybe perhaps she stole a hotdog from the wrong person.
Her pursuer and assailant said nothing as he nocked another arrow into his bow. This time, the bow glowed yellow as he fired. The one arrow became ten. She drew her blades and swung, furiously deflecting all the arrows. She grimaced. Not even one hour in the city and she already pissed someone off. Well, if they wanted a fight, she would give it to them. Without harming innocent bystanders of course.
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Embla dug her heel into the roof and took off towards him. His eyes widened when he beheld her tremendous speed, appearing like a blur to his eyes. She instantly appeared in front of him, her blades raised as she swung down. Reacting quickly, he twisted grip. The bow split in half as the tips of the recurve sharpened into blades. He met her with the blades with his own, sparks flying everywhere.
He pushed her back, catching her off guard with his show of strength as he pushed forward. Embla raised her blade to deflect an attempted swing at her torso. She followed up his slash with one of her own. The stranger responded by using his second blade and locking it with hers. She gritted her teeth as she slowly felt herself losing ground.
Seeing no other option, she brought her foot up and kicked him in the groin. His face contorted in pain as he dropped his swords and fell to the ground, covering his groin.
“Crazy bitch!” he groaned as he lay there.
“Sorry but you shot first,” Embla said before running to the edge of the roof. She glanced at him one more time. The man glared at her as she jumped off the edge. He ran over to see if she landed on the street, only to find her gone.
Embla hid underneath the ledge of the roof, having used a Hunter Skill,
“Oh? That little game of tag led me here?” she swallowed her food as she placed her hand on her hips.
Embla had finally arrived at her destination. The one place she always came to whenever she was forced to enter Yggdrasil. The Knight Academy. The Knight Academy was literally what the name entailed. It was an academy for the most promising swordsmen and swordswomen who wished to take on the path of being a Knight of Midgard.
As she walked down towards the large metallic gates, her eyes never left the central building.
-------
The Knight Academy was a large complex that occupied the size of several city blocks. In terms of the exact size, the Knight Academy would be a small town all on its own. It was equipped with everything and should the city fall, the entire school could function on its own. She walked past the massive steel gates of the academy, watching as students and knights passed her. The large stone walls, whose size dwarfed most of the buildings around them made the entire complex a perfect defense against siege tactics.
Archers and Manacasters patrolled the walls constantly. Their gaze used to unnerve her but this wasn’t her first visit. She was used to it by now. Her gaze was still locked on her destination. The Central Tower was a large building located as the name implied, at the dead center of it all. It was a large six-story building with a domed roof. The roof had a golden coat of paint that reflected the light, making it a beacon that could be seen for miles.
Ionic columns could be seen supporting the building as geometrically perfect windows decorated the tower. A massive flag with a large eagle carrying a twig from an ash tree flew at the very top.
“You better be there you scaly lizard,” Embla muttered under her breath as she approached the tower.
Upon arriving, she walked through the massive double doors. The interior of the building was rather breathtaking. Unlike the simple majesty of the exterior, the interior was beautifully decorated. Embla never got tired of looking at the rather large statue of the Patron Deity of Midgard, the God Thor.
The fierce hammer-wielding statue looked down upon Embla as its massive muscular form occupied the center of the building, demanding attention. She walked past the work of art to the front desk where a woman with yellow-green hair was sitting.
“Hello,” Embla said, placing her hands on the receptionist’s table.
“Hello,” the secretary said.
“I have an appointment with the Knight Commander of the Knights of Yggdrasil,” she said.
“Name?”
“Embla. Embla Feuerdrache. Um, the commander’s name is Kojiro Komatsu.”
The secretary typed and clicked, her hardlight mana screen displaying several blocks of text and pictures.
“The Commander is currently not here so…”
“What? He told me to meet him here in the Central Tower today!” she said.
“Well, the Commander is currently away on a mission with the First Division,” the secretary said, pushing up her glasses.
Embla held in her frustration. She had traveled across the entire country and wasted all her money. All her money gone for a conversation and monthly check-in that usually happened outside of this Odin-forsaken city. And the person she wanted to talk to? Gone.
“D- Do you know when he’ll be back?” Embla asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“A few weeks. The details of that entire outing are classified.” The secretary checked her nails. Embla felt a vein pop inside her head as her annoyance with the woman grew. It was best that she left. Looks like she would be stuck in Yggdrasil. With no money. For a few weeks.
“Thanks. I’ll be back in a few days to check-in,” Embla said as she turned around.
---------
She was lost. She could honestly say that she was lost. Not in the directional sense, no, Embla was at a loss on what to do next. She couldn’t leave the city. Koji could return any day between now and his expected day of return. Now, she was stuck in a city with no money or place to stay.
“Maybe I can sleep in the park,” Embla said to herself, walking down the busy streets of Yggdrasil. She never got quite used to the city, despite being here multiple times. Her sister had taken her here once when she went on a quest and deemed that she was too irresponsible if she was left back in their house in Hnitborg. The hustle and bustle of the citizens coupled with the loudness of traffic as carriages passed by were too much for her. She preferred being out in the smaller villages rather than this massive congestion of people.
Her stomach growled, causing her to groan in despair. She pulled out her wallet and opened it, only to reveal a gaping abyss where there should be money.
“Screw this. I need to find the guild.” Grumbling, Embla made her way down, further into the downtown area. She hated the blinding lights of the ads as they reflected off the hardlight screens. Whoever coined the term Shining City was right in more ways than one. This city was literally shining with enough light that the entire megapolis could be seen from Gladsheimr itself. She was sure that the All-Father was complaining about how bright this city was and contemplated decimating with Gungnir.
Embla placed her hands in her pockets as she scanned the buildings, looking for the one she wanted like a kid in a toy store. Why did it take so long to get there? This wasn't the first time she had made her way there. Granted, Embla had only been here a few other times and most of those times was when she was but a young girl visiting with her older sister.
Her eyes lit up when she saw the familiar old Gothic-style building in the distance. Maybe they would allow her to stay there for free. Just for one night. She knew it was a long shot but she had nothing else to lose. It beats staying in the trees or fighting a hobo for a cardboard bed in some alley. Wasting no time, she ran into the guild.
Upon pushing past the front doors, Embla ran into someone, hitting them with enough force to knock them both over.
"Ow, that hurt," Embla said, rubbing her forehead. Whoever she hit had a cranium as hard as mythril.
"Hey, are you al- Embla?"
Huh? Do they know me? she looked up at the outstretched hand and to its owner. Her eyes widened when she saw the blonde psycho whose hotdog she liberated.
"PSYCHO ARCHER!" Embla jumped up and pointed at him.
"HOT DOG THIEF!" the man said.
"Woah... wait what?" A man with red hair scratched his head while another woman, whose appearance was eerily identical to the psycho archer slapped her forehead. Her face clearly had the "these two are idiots" look on it.
"You two know each other?"
"Yeah, I sto- liberated his hot..." The words died in her mouth as she turned to face the one talking to her. While she had only known her for a day, Embla recognized those fluffy white ears. It hadn't been that long.
"Yuki?"