Finally, after a day's travel the outer gates of the city appeared.

Sizwe was a large city. It was stacked quite densely with tall buildings, shops, and stalls. The streets were filled with people rushing to and fro about their lives. The outer walls were extremely high, and Touji estimated them to be around a hundred feet tall. The towers that the walls intersected with were much higher, maybe even a hundred fifty feet tall. He felt like he was in a castle.

"Wow!" Touji exclaimed. To him, it felt a lot more like a movie set than reality.

"Welcome to the city of Shizma. Over there is where we meet up with the merchants and commissioners." Odja announced as he pointed further down the main street.

"Where's that?" Touji’s head bounced back and forth between the many buildings lining the road. Even though there was a substantial amount of arclight clumps in the air, it still held its majestic look of a thriving medieval fortress.

"Never mind. We’re here already."

Odja steered their horse and wagon to the entrance of the building.

“THIS IS MAAAAASIVE!” Touji screamed at the top of his lungs. Still, the sound was drowned out by all the noise of carts and horses passing by.

"Alright, here we are. This is where we'll have the exchange. In the meantime, why don't you head to that large building down the road." He pointed at a building that looked abnormally long.

"What is it?"

"It's your reward for the work you've down. Go ask the clerk for an inspection. Here's the money to pay." As he said this Odja handed him a small brown sack, filled with a variety of different colored coins, jingling like a wind chime.

"Heh. So basically, you're paying for me to go see a doctor. Wow, do you think I’m that sleep-deprived?"

"Don't joke around, I'm being very generous and you have looked troubled for quite some time. Go do something interesting for once."

"Wow, a comment like that coming from an old man makes me feel worthless. 'Go do something interesting' huh! Is what I do that sad?"

He placed the money in his pockets and turned to walk away.

"I'm not an old man. And I’d suggest you be careful. I could be your father-in-law someday."

"In your dreams. Actually, on second thought, don’t dream about that, please." Touji responded with a sigh.

Touji then turned the rear corner, peering into the various shops and stalls as he passed by. There was everything from food, and tools, to clothes, to jewelry. Touji was amazed at the variety and ingenuity of the things he saw. He subconsciously stopped in front of a shop selling sweets as his mind gradually wandered.

-Highly tempting. I wonder if they sell any candied apples? Nah, I don't have enough money for that plus they won’t sell that in another world. But still very tempting.

He pulled one of the coins out of his pocket and turned it over with his fingers, admiring the intricate design engraved onto it. He brought the coin up to his nose and sniffed it, then placing it on his thumb he flicked his fingers and tossed it. As he amused himself with this new type of sport, the entrance to the building Odja had indicated, came into sight.

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"Ah. I know the look of this. This is what they call a guild if I remember correctly. No, wait! Probably not. But it looks similar. Why would the old man send me to a guild? Does he want me to become an adventurer?"

Several people were walking in and out of the building’s front doors, but he couldn't tell if they were members of the guild or employees. One thing that highly surprised Touji was the many colours that the people of this world had naturally endowed in their hair. Yellow, brown, and black were the most common, but practically any color was possible it seemed, with many blues and greens and lots of purples. There were even mixed colours and sometimes stripes as well. The colors did seem to suit the people quite nicely and it was strange that it didn't look or feel unnatural.

The inside of the building had a texture that was similar to your average office building, nothing like what a guild looked like in the manga he’d read. There were many desks where clerks, dressed in medieval attire, sat shuffling through paperwork. He noticed a sign on the wall that read, ‘customer assistance' and under it sat a lady, wearing bright yellow hair and matching golden eyes.

Touji cautiously approached her.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" she asked looking up at him without a moment’s hesitation.

"I-I'm here for an inspection," Touji answered stutteringly as he sagan to feel nervous about what he might be asking them to inspect.

"Ah, yes." The woman answered, "Right this way please."

She led him up some side stairs and into a long corridor. The hallway was lined with doors, all numbered as if in a hospital. The clerk opened one of the doors, leading to a room slightly larger than the others. It was empty except for a table and four chairs.

"Take a seat."

"Okay." Touji took his seat as directed.

"If I may ask a single question. What exactly happens in an inspection?"

"Oh! Well, we check your magic attribute."

"Oh! Sensei, what is an attribute?" Touji asked as he raised his hand, mimicking a student in the class.

"Um, sir. You should probably know about these things before coming here."

"Don't sweat it. I know jack-all about anything, but that doesn't deter me from eating exotic food. Please resume your lesson."

"Ah-ok. Well, attributes are what element or substance your flow of arclight will more naturally take form. For instance, the fire attribute means your arclight takes the form of fire or heat (the subclass)."

"Sensei, I’m sure you will rapidly find yourself a husband," Touji smirked as if to inform her that he had completely read her deepest regrets. She fit the teacher stereotype so he thought that perhaps, a little push was all she needed.

"Excuse me, but I’m married."

Unfortunately, he realized that his encouragement had just become invalid.

“Slip off the tough.” He retorted.

"O-ok, the inspector will be here in a few minutes."

"Yes, ma'am." He saluted her as she left the room a little wearily.

Touji waited for about twenty minutes before he heard footsteps. A man who was wearing a white robe or coat studiously entered the room. He was tall and thin and his hair was a dark brown, almost black in contrast to his pale white skin.

"Thank you for waiting. My name is Inspector Zephyr. Nice to meet you."

"Hi, Zephy. Thanks for your time." Touji greeted in return, brushing over the fact that he had purposefully mispronounced the inspector's name.

"No problem." The man grunted, ignoring the nickname. He was carrying a wooden plate of a sort in his hands. Its shape resembles that of a hexagon and after further investigation, Touji espied that the face was covered with intricate grooves, carved into the wood. The man stepped forward and instructed Touji to lay his hand on top of the board, to which he complied. The grooves were all aligned in a circle in the middle and then branched out to the corners of the hexagon, each cutting off at a peculiar image or symbol at the corners of the plate.

-This is that time in the plot where they try to measure the protagonist's magic and they find out that he's a prodigy. Here I come.

They both stared at the plate for quite some time before Touji broke the silence.

"Excuse me Zephy, but is something supposed to happen?"

The man in the white robe looked duly perplexed.

"I'm sorry sir, but please give me a moment with my manager."

"O-k."

A little unexpected, but it's fine. This just proves my point. They are just flabbergasted that I'm this powerful.

The man left, shutting the door behind him.

Touji shrugged.

-Meh. This will probably be the first and last good thing that will happen to me.