Pretending to not care whether the girls were following him or not, Alnea turned around, and began walking towards the stairs. At a moderate pace, of course. Slow enough for the girls to easily catch up. And sure enough, he soon heard some steps following behind his back. With his lips curved upwards, he walked down the stairs in confidence, and out onto the streets. Quite empty, he noted. At least emptier than how it had been the day before. But that was to be expected.
With the lesson that Alnea and the girls had taught some of the Wanderers the day before, all those who had been eyeing them as easy prey had been scared away. After all, though the life of those Wanderers was miserable, at least they could still live in the city. In comparison, the three people who had dared to try eating the ‘easy prey’ had not only lost all their Blood Coins but were also left with serious injuries.
Injured, and bereft of Blood Coins, the situation of those Wanderers in the city was bound to get worse. Unless their clans decided to help them… Then again, if their clans had any intention of helping them, they would not have been relegated to their desperate states. And even if their clans somehow turned soft, and decided to help them, their situation would not get much better. Owing debts to their clan, they would become but mere pawns in the hands of their clans…
No Wanderers wished to experience a similar fate… At least that was what Alnea was guessing. As for the Wanderers that were still on the street, staring at him with cautious, but inquisitive eyes, none of them were wearing tattered robes. Neither did they have any wounds. They were not even looking at each other with hungry eyes… Besides, what were these twenty something people doing on the streets so early in the morning? Were they—
“Excuse me,” a green robed man said, quickly walking up to Alnea and the girls, breaking the other Wanderers away from their thoughts. In the next moment, all of the Wanderers on the streets rushed towards him and the girls, all shouting to get their attention.
“I am from the Pirsan clan, up in… My young master…”
“Do not listen to him. Pirsan clan is nothing. It is just a declining clan with barely any Grand Wanderers. My Borsun clan is much better. And we can…”
“Our Formund clan is one of the greatest clans in the Fifth Sector. Trust me, you will not find a better option. We can…”
“Do not listen to these scums. They are all underestimating you. Only my clan give you the best…”
“The Gorsun clan…”
“The Chauhans will always welcome…”
“The Yuran clan…”
“The Mirans…”
Alnea stared at the crowd in front of him in a daze. What were these people doing? Soliciting him and the girls? But did they have to be so enthusiastic? What about staying at least a metre away from each other? Why were they practically climbing over each other to reach him? Were they not afraid of any accidents? Even if they were chummy enough with each other to disregard the distance between them, should they not at least give him some space? These Wanderers…
“…Are you people disregarding my Serpia clan?”
“So what if we are?” said a yellow robed man. “Do you think your clan is worthy enough to—
The man’s words were cut off by a punch flying straight towards his face. Thankfully, Alnea had predicted Cecilia’s actions the moment that the man had opened his mouth. Moving before Cecilia, he placed himself between her and the man, and used his body to block her advance. Even then, he barely managed to stop the punch whistling past his ears, before it could smash the ignorant man’s face, forcing the man to break out in cold sweats.
“It is not worth it, Lia. Let us not act rashly right now.”
“…He challenged the dignity of my clan.”
“Then you can challenge him in the Arena. Or have you forgotten what we discussed last night?”
“…Fine,” Cecilia said, retracting her hand, before looking at the confused, and scared man. “Formund clan, right? I challenge you to a battle in Arena.”
“…I am not here to fight—
“You should have considered that before you dared to challenge the dignity of my clan. Now, you only have to two options. Either accept my challenge. Or pray to Formia to never meet me outside the Lost City.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“…You dare to insult the Goddess of Wind?”
“The Goddess of Wind?” Cecilia said with a sneer. “She is just a minor God of Wind, commanding the warm breeze of spring. You dare to call her the Goddess of Wind? Are you not afraid of the Wind clan tearing down your clan?”
“Do not talk nonsense! You are just twisting my words!”
“So what if I am? Are you going to face me in the Arena?”
“You… I am not here to waste my time on you.”
“Coward,” Cecilia said with a snort, just as Forne snarled at the man, before they turned towards the other Wanderers watching the show unfolding before them with interest. They may have same intentions as the man from the Formund clan, but they were clearly not with him. Yet, they would never have thought that after deflating his ego, Cecilia would turn on them.
“Are you also looking down on my clan?”
“…We dare not, miss Serpia.”
“All of us know the terrifying might of the Serpia clan, and its Warriors…”
“It is just that we are completing a mission of our clan at the moment…”
“Are you trying to recruit us?” Alnea said, unconsciously stepping in front of Yuri. Before he could say anything else though, Cecilia stepped in once again.
“Do you not see that they are with me? Do you still dare to grab people from the Serpia clan?”
“It does not matter,” a blue robed woman said, winking at Alnea with a weird expression on her face. It was as if there was something she wished to say to him, but could not say it in front of the people that were around them. “I think that little brother should be able to decide for himself whether he wants to stay with you or come with me.”
“A vixen of the Erwein Forest?” Cecilia cursed. “Do you think that you can challenge my clan?”
“Where is Erwein Forest?”
“Why? Do you want to go with the vixen?”
“…I was just asking.”
“…Erwein Forest… It is not a place where men should go.”
“Then why is the woman asking me to go with her?”
“Who knows? Why don’t you try going to the forest with her?”
“…Forget it,” Alnea said, while noting down the name of the place in his head to look through the maps of the Tes Domain after leaving the Lost City. Although it seemed like Yuri was asking him to go to the Erwein Forest, he knew enough about her to hear the threat laced in her words. Still, a place where men should not go…
“…Although we respect the Serpia clan, we are not afraid of you,” the blue robed woman said, as she turned back towards Alnea with a smile on her face. A true genuine smile, without any trace of hostility hidden beneath its surface. Still, for some reasons, the smile sent shivers down his spine.
“I promise that you will be able to enjoy anything you wish if you come with me. Even me… How about it, little brother? Do you want to consider me, and my offer?”
The woman’s words, and actions… they had a strange charm…
“We thank you for your offers, but we are still new to the Lost City,” Yuri said before Cecilia could lose her patience. “You would not mind us exploring the city a little before considering your offers, would you?”
“…I think you would like the Erwein Forest very much, little sister. Do consider joining us with little brother once you have explored the city to your Heart’s content.”
“Of course,” Yuri replied with a smile. “Now, if you will excuse us.”
“Wait a minute, little sister. We also…”
“We can even promise…”
Not caring in the least about what others were saying, Yuri grabbed Alnea and Cecilia by their hands, and pulled them away from the crowd. The crowd, of course, tried to stop them with all sorts of excuses, tempting them with wealth and power. Unfortunately for them, as an heiress of an Origin clan, Yuri did not lack in the things that those Wanderers were promising.
Let alone Yuri, their offers could not even tempt Cecilia. After all, she was the daughter of the Serpia Matriarch. In a sense, she too could be considered as an heiress of a clan. And though the Serpia clan could not compare to the Faed clan, it was one of the strongest Grand clans in the Fifth Sector of the Lightning Region. At the very least, none of the Wanderers in the Lost City, except Yuri, had a better background than her. Maybe there were a few Wanderers with similar status, but none of them could be considered to have better status in their clans.
As for Alnea… The things that he wished for could not be given to him by others. He had to fight for them by himself. And he preferred fighting with Cecilia and Yuri by his side. So, it did not matter what other people were saying. They could make him curious with their offers, but that was it. He would never abandon the girls. No matter what. After all, they were his Heart…
With Serenity in his Heart, and a smile on his lips, Alnea ignored the people around him, as he made his way towards the Blood Hall. A giant building, probably around fifteen to seventeen storeys tall. But with the main lobby of the Blood Hall being larger on the inside than what it was on the outside, Alnea could not confirm how tall the building truly was.
Regardless, the Blood Hall was the tallest building he had ever seen. Including the Blood Arena. However, the large size of the Blood Hall also meant that the area they had to search was so much larger. And they did not know where exactly they should go to gather some information. The only Wanderer that they knew was Martha. And Martha…
Even if Alnea was ready to sacrifice his dignity for the greater good, he did not find any signs of Martha in the Blood Hall. In the end, he could only shift his focus to the counters spread across the hall. More specifically, to the symbols carved on the walls directly above the counters. A day before, those symbols meant nothing to him. A day later though…
Identity Registration, Language Spars, Blood Missions, Martial Style Library, Arcana Library, Glyph Library, Law Enforcement, Appeals, Blood Coin Exchange and Redemption, Token Redemption, Black Desert Trials, Arcanist Hall, Warrior Hall, Scholar Hall…