They arrived at their final destination only a few hours after tussling with the Rockadillos. The general consensus lined up with Caeden's assessment. Everyone had found the battle underwhelming at best, boring at worst. None of them had been pushed at all, the big slow creatures having obvious vulnerabilities and no intelligence to adapt when their weaknesses were exploited.
The one highlight was Snowball, with Lily spending almost an hour gushing over her bonded and praising him for his first fight. Sky looked slightly put out, as much as a bird can. She hadn't been able to help at all, the Rockadillos much too thick for her to land an attack with her sharp claws. Lily soothed her, reminding the Roc that she would have time to shine over the course of their stay. No one was sure what to make of Snowball's unexplained size-changing, but he didn't seem negatively affected, so they just let it go for now.
Caeden was compelled to point out that three out of four of them were perfectly suited to fighting that particular monster, so more challenges would appear when they came across things that had them at a disadvantage. Everyone agreed with him, but it didn't eliminate the pervading sense that they had all overblown how dangerous this trip would be in their heads. Blaine remained silent.
Their disappointment with their first independent monster hunt vanished when their destination came into view.
"Damn," Caeden whispered, unable to contain his surprise. When he had heard this was a mining town, his expectations had been low. Even if he had been told this was the continent's capital, he still would have been impressed by what he was looking at now.
The port village they arrived at, whose name Caeden had never learned, had been built around the base of a mountain. The city wrapped around the lower portion, remaining on relatively flat ground. The town, which appeared to be much larger than the so-called city, had done essentially the opposite.
Ascending up the side of a mountain like a creeping vine, houses, businesses, and even public squares and parks had been carved into the steep sides of the rocky monolith. Buildings were present nearly halfway up the mountainside.
Most of the buildings in the port city had been stone, built from the generic grey rock that the majority of mountains on Ilfella were made of. The same was only partially true of this town in both cases. Most buildings were still made of rock, this was a mining town after all, but they looked completely different. Much of that was owed to the mountain itself.
The giant mound of rock and earth that comprised the base of the town was not like its brethren. Instead of a full grey, it was a deep, rich black. Despite the color, Caeden couldn't think of it as foreboding. It reminded him of the color of fertile soil, so heavy with nutrients it went past brown. It was a bit shorter than the surrounding peaks, capped by a flat plateau instead of the usual rocky summit. The stone that made up most of its bulk seemed to flow rather than form ragged edges. It was a singularly unique mountain compared to the dozens they had flown past to get here.
The buildings reflected that difference. They were built of the same black stone and in completely different styles to the ones in the port city. Those had been blocky, hewn from slabs of stone plunked together to form a shelter. These were works of art. Carved into the same flowing style of the mountain itself, the houses and businesses would have blended perfectly into the surface they were built on, except for two factors.
One was the plant life. Everywhere he looked, the roofs of every building were covered with at least a few plants. Some went much farther, the entire top of the building overflowing with greenery so much it threatened to overflow, hanging down the sides as vines and long, thick fronds.
The other was the ethertech. The town was built into the side of the mountain. The area was visibly sunk in, making it obvious that the places now occupied by buildings had once been mining sites of their own. That meant much of the town was sitting on a near-vertical cliff face. Due to the physical impossibility, there were no traditional roads. Instead, large, brass, ethertech elevators operated in place of more traditional travel options. Running in between rows of houses and comprised of hundreds of connected platforms, all moving in a giant loop, the elevator system carried both people and cargo up and down the town.
Everyone was suitably impressed. None of them had expected much from a mining town built too far inland. No normal unshrouded would want to live this far in, where the monsters were more frequent and more powerful. It was dangerous and ill-advised. However, the abundance of ether flowing from the depths made for high wages, even for the mining crews. This was the single most wealthy population center on the continent.
The town was not solely built into the mountain, though it seemed the largest portion of its population lived there. It made some sense. After all, the number of monsters that could climb or fly was far outstripped by the number that couldn't. Living on the side of the mountain, only accessible by ether-powered elevators, offered a lot more safety than the ground would.
Despite that, the base of the mountain had its own gathering of buildings, surrounded by an impressively tall fortification. A necessary precaution, assuming the number of monsters this place must deal with regularly. The walls were also formed of the mountain's black stone. Caeden could tell it was infused, noting formations carved into the surface containing chunks of ether crystal. With the backdrop of the black stone, the wall looked very much like the Starry Sea in some ways, with glittering stars in a black void.
The most important aspect of the town at the base of the mount was not its wall, at least not to Caeden. Not right now. Right now, he was looking at the brass tower jutting into the air, one even larger and more robust, with more levels and platforms than the port city. This mining town had more ethership capacity in its dock tower than a trade hub. Caeden was beginning to think this 'small mining town' they had been sent to was much more important than they had been led to believe.
Shelving that contemplation for a moment, Caeden focused on landing. He had made multiple runs with Drew, ensuring he wouldn't crash the skiff into the vehicle bay of the Turtle Fortress. This would ostensibly be easier, as the tower dock should have much roomier berths than an ethership.
That thought turned out to be completely accurate as Caeden was flagged down by a flight coordinator at the top of the tower. Drew had warned him to look out for these people, easily recognizable in their brightly colored green and yellow vests. The man waved a bright red flag in his direction, then began flicking it in various directions to indicate where Caeden should dock.
Unfortunately, he hadn't had time to learn all the flag symbology before they headed out, so Caeden just sent Lily to fly down on a cloud and receive their docking instructions and relay them back to him. Drew had told him that was a perfectly acceptable practice. Many shrouded owned etherships like a skiff or other small craft and flew them as a leisure activity. They didn't learn flag signing. Having someone receive instructions in person also eliminated some misunderstandings that might occur with an inexperienced driver like Caeden.
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When Lily came back with their correct berth, all of which had a number and letter designation, Caeden docked their ship without issue. The landing was much easier than on the Turtle Fortress. On the ethership, docking involved flying through a gap in the hull specifically designed for the ship that docked there. Space was a commodity, especially in the vehicle bay, and ships were stacked as close together as could be reasonably managed.
The tower dock had no such constraints. The docks themselves were not enclosed, being essentially bronze roads sticking out the sides of the tower. The open space made for much easier maneuvering, and all the berths were much farther apart, leaving almost an entire ship length in between each spot. Compared to his initial learning environment, this was a breeze for Caeden.
Their berth was near the bottom of the docks. The higher up the tower, the larger the docks were for larger ships. It made sense. Making the bigger ships maneuver closer to the ground would be asking for an accident. As such, when they docked, dozens of bronze paths interlaced over their heads with nearly a hundred etherships already in their berths.
They were of all shapes and sizes, most being smaller vessels. There were three large shipping-style vessels situated in a triangle at the very top of the tower. Their hulls were even fatter than the Turtle Fortress, with more squared-off designs. They would be capable of hauling hundreds of tons of ether off to distant continents and islands as raw materials to fuel other industries. It made Caeden wonder just how much raw crystal this town was exporting on a daily basis to have three massive cargo ships here at the same time. Everything he saw just made him more and more curious about this place.
Landing, Caeden carefully dropped the skiff into the brass arms that would hold the small ship until they needed it again. Small red crystals glowed on the ends of the two arms for a brief instant, and there was a hydraulic hiss before the arms shifted to accommodate the width and curvature of their ship. Dropping it down ever so gently, there was a thunk as the arms tightened to grip the hull. Caeden turned off the engine. He had officially completed his first ever unsupervised landing of an ethership.
Everyone quickly disembarked. Before they had made it halfway down the dock toward the tower, a woman exited, walking swiftly. She had to be there to talk to them, considering there was no one else around and she had locked eyes on them the second she set foot on the dock. Caeden hadn't considered it, but no one in town likely knew about their arrival. The CA didn't exactly alert anyone when a monster hunting team was rolling through, which they were currently acting the part of.
"Hello, welcome to Mining Station Three. What is the nature of your visit?" The woman stopped right in front of them, speaking respectfully and differentially. She was obviously used to dealing with shrouded and islanders.
Caeden shot a look at Blaine, who shrugged. It looked like he wasn't going to be taking the lead. Caeden wasn't surprised. Samantha had said interacting with the locals was a part of their test after all. "We're students from Central Academy, acting as a monster hunting team as an assignment."
The woman's face went through a rapid series of emotions before returning to a respectfully neutral expression. What Caeden had seen in those brief flashes had him even more concerned about this assignment. Confusion, disbelief, and fear. All together, Caeden was guessing this town was much more important than its incredibly shit name would indicate, and this woman was worried they weren't up to the task of handling their problems. Her next words cemented that idea immediately.
"Ahh, I see. If you don't mind me asking, what rank might you be?" The woman sounded incredibly awkward asking the question but determined to get an answer.
Damn, she's really worried they got fucked over with some kids who don't know anything. How bad is it here? "I'm the first ranked, she's third, he's tenth, and she's 20th. We also have an instructor as a supervisor for our assignment. He's a True Shroud, as well as a Swordmaster." Caeden pointed to Lily, Erik, and Cat in sequence, rattling off their ranks, trying to reassure the poor woman. She must be panicking.
Pure relief showed through on her face. "Thank you." She actually bowed. "I'm sure you'd want to talk to the mayor and the head foreman, sirs, madams. Please, I can have someone direct you to suitable accommodations while I inform them of your arrival if you would be amenable."
Caeden wasn't sure how to respond. This was a continent, but the infrastructure and people were much more in line with what Caeden had learned that islands were like. Just the fact that this woman was aware of something like the Central Academy ranking system was outside of his expectations for a continental. Caeden certainly hadn't known about it. "That's…fine, yes."
They were quickly led into the tower where the woman, who never gave them a name, passed them off to a young man named George. Once she told him who they were and why they were here, the young man, more of a boy, looked star-struck. He enthusiastically led them to an inn near the tower dock. Apparently, it was the most well-appointed lodging in the town, which Caeden believed. The place bled fancy.
George gave them a bow and headed off, leaving them in the hands of the proprietress, a beautiful older woman in one of the fanciest dresses Caeden had ever seen; though his experience with fancy dresses was minimal at best. She was equally respectful, directing them to her most prestigious suite of rooms, the penthouse. It actually had eight independent bedrooms with a communal area attaching all of them.
Blaine immediately disappeared into a room, claiming it as his own. The team decided to have a talk before they explored their new lodgings.
"That was weird." Erik frowned. "I've never had people act like that with me."
Caeden nodded, sharing his discomfort. There was another aspect to it that he saw, though. "Does anyone else feel like we were…handled? I feel like they were expecting us to start dropping bodies."
Lily sighed, sinking into a lavishly plush armchair. "That's normal. At least from what I know. I mean, depending on the shrouded who comes out here, they might actually kill people if they feel like they're being disrespected. The inn owner didn't even ask us about paying; she just gave us the best rooms she had."
Caeden paused at that. He was still unused to the concept of money. He had never had to deal with it as a child, and the town he had spent his adulthood in used the barter system. He had only seen money used once in recent memory, when Lily bought Snowball and Sky. Even then, she had dealt with the whole thing while he was on the periphery. He hadn't even thought about paying for the rooms.
"Yeah, they're definitely worried about other things, though. That lady was scared they'd sent some weak kids out here. Samantha said the monsters only went up to 5,000 IP on this continent. Even the weakest students aren't far below that at this point. It's not a one-to-one power comparison, but this isn't even the center of the continent. I mean, those Rockadillos were only a few mountains back, and they were only around 3,000. What are they so worried about?" Caeden voiced his concerns.
"Maybe she just didn't know how strong we were?" Cat posited.
"That's valid." Lily nodded.
"I don't know. When I told her our ranks, she was pretty relieved. She must have some baseline knowledge if knowing our ranks made her feel better."
"Pfft," Cat scoffed. "I think anyone would be happy when they hear that the number one and three are both here. She doesn't need to know anything to know that one and three are pretty fucking strong."
"That's fair." Caeden nodded. "I just wish I knew what was going on."
"Pretty sure the bigwigs we're supposed to meet will clue us in," Erik added as he rooted through an attached kitchenette, looking for food. Their suite was much more like a fully functional home on top of an inn than anything Caeden had seen before.
"True." It looked like they would just have to wait and find out.