The change in mood was immediate. The nervousness and despair that permeated the large carriage vanished, replaced by hope. The nervous thumping of hearts was now the beating of excitement. Blair and Lucas were shocked beyond words, and Claire was frozen, her lips twitching, as though hiding a profound smile. It seemed time had stopped.

Even that uncertain answer means a lot. Mason thought, leaving the emotion to simmer, daring not to interrupt the moment shared by Claire and her guards. At least in Mason’s eyes, Blair, Lucas, and Jonah were quite powerful, and he doubted they’d risk their lives protecting someone like Claire purely for money, or a debt owed. Lucas’ prior reactions, the mental strength to stand up to him, even after witnessing the overwhelming power of Astaroth, Mason concluded these guards stayed with Claire for a more intimate reason. He decided not to ask, and wait for Claire to respond instead. Minutes of pure awe went by, and he could hear attempts at speech that only amounted to stutters. Soon, words came out.

“Ah, thank you for even considering!” Claire yelled out, followed swiftly by Blair's ‘Thank you’. Lucas still seemed too stunned to speak. Mason simply nodded, his eyes glued to the trees outside. He wanted to give them time to calm down, and not blurt out words influenced by their euphoria.

I’ll have to learn more about Claire first, Mason thought, If it seems like she’d make a good ruler, I’ll support her. My strength should increase exponentially, so hopefully there won’t be any threats and I can overpower anyone who gets in the way. And being the sole reason Claire would obtain the throne, I’d never have to worry about money or resources again. Mason’s only goal was to get stronger and find answers. Trying to acquire money would get in the way of how fast he can achieve this goal.

Mason realized that nearly an hour had slipped by as the minutes quietly accumulated. The silence was fleeting though as Claire revealed more about her journey, and the five other assassination attempts she survived this past month. She detailed the taunting and curses of her older siblings who tormented her since birth.

Two of the other youngest hit her just before Claire left the capital. The power-hungry environment cultivated presumably by her parents or others within the empire, made her siblings try everything to eliminate even the slightest threat to their ascension or power. She also mentioned that the four oldest kept to themselves, and stayed away from the quarrels of the others.

Remarkably, Claire stood alone among the five youngest with aspirations of ruling the empire. The goal of the others was to garner enough power to have some sway once one of the older ones inevitably became emperor or empress. The conversation was interesting, yet disgusting as she detailed the borderline inhumane treatment she received from her siblings. Even after everything, however, she still pushed for the throne. Claire seemed even more favorable in Mason’s eyes.

The conversation was reaching its end, and almost on cue, something amazing began creeping over the horizon. Lucas was the first to notice,

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“There it is,” he mumbled excitedly, a light smile on his face. Mason was next, suppressing a gasp as a massive wall was in sight. As the carriage drew closer, the sheer scale of this structure became evident. It seemed to reach heights rivaling a fifteen-story building and looked like any other castle wall yet on an even grander scale. Hundreds of silhouettes walked on the wall, and towers jutted higher every 50 meters. The first structure Mason witnessed of this new world was certainly awe-inspiring.

The carriage continued down the road, and Mason noted how the forest abruptly stopped. His eyes scanned the vast green plain which stretched out more than a mile past the wall on all sides. What seemed the most spectacular, more so than even the wall, was the grass of the vast plain. Mason doubted he would find such picture-perfect grass even at the Master’s back on Earth. He looked closer, his enhanced vision zooming into the minute detail, and saw that the grass was real, not some artificial counterpart. Mason questioned whether some magic was cast on this grass, but threw that thought away. He returned his focus to the wall, noticed that a few miles down he saw it curve.

I guess the wall encircles the city, Mason thought, confused and awe-inspired by this architectural wonder. Such a thing would be difficult to recreate on Earth. He couldn’t help but question just how advanced humans were in this world. Slowly, the wall grew larger, soon towering over them like a Titan. The carriage stopped, and Mason noted the almost eerie emptiness of the road just outside the city's entrance.

They had arrived at a massive wooden gate held together by iron plates. At least a dozen guards clad in black full plate armor, black spears or swords within their grip surrounded them. Muffled conversation barely reached Mason’s ears, and he glimpsed Jonah handing what looked to be a golden medal to one of the guards.

The man’s eyes immediately shot open, his expression of astonishment growing after examining the medal with scrutiny. The guard bowed, the others who surrounded the gate following swiftly in unison. The guard closest to the carriage seemed to say something, however, just like the rest of the words spoken, it was muffled beyond recognition. The guards stopped the bow after a few seconds, and the one closest to the gate raised his arm. An instant later, a loud metallic creak resounded. The small sliver of the gate Mason could see began to move. It split down the middle and was so large it only needed to open a minuscule amount to allow the carriage through. The closest guard returned the medal with great care and motioned for Jonah to continue inside.

With a jolt, the carriage began to move. Mason could see the curiosity on the guard's faces but noted the immense control they exerted to keep their eyes down, and not peer within the windows. The thumping of horse hooves changed notably, as the dirt road abruptly changed to stone as they passed through the gate. Mason was thrilled, to say the least, and made sure to hide his excitement with a stern expression. What’s the culture like? What about the architecture? And especially the food! Mason’s mind raced with anticipation, and with a bump, the wheels of the carriage began rolling on the gray stone.

However, Mason’s attention immediately shifted, as an eerie energy struck him. Not a malicious force, but one chilling and mysterious. Shivers shot down his spine, and goose bumps popped up all over his body. A bead of sweat suddenly streamed down his face. He kept his expression calm and nonchalantly glanced toward the other three within the carriage.

They seem fine, Mason thought to himself, somewhat surprised as the feeling swiftly vanished, I guess I was the only one who felt that. Although, Astaroth probably noticed it too. I’ll have to ask him about it later.

“We should arrive at the Nobles mansion soon,” Claire said, interrupting the silence, “Your payment might take some time to gather, but the noble will probably host a gathering for the wealthy people of this city. You can attend if you want. There will be plenty of food and drinks.”

Mason’s eyes shot open, a smile forcing itself to appear.

Food?