“Watch out!” Sally shouted, grabbing the back of my collar and yanking me out of harm’s way.

Something zipped past me so quickly I felt my skin ripple and I was certain that if I was hit by whatever force that was, it would have turned me into paste.

“Thanks,” I replied breathlessly.

“Be more careful, human,” Asmodeus admonished me, “I cannot have my transportation being damaged by carelessness.”

I gave him a deadpan look which he didn’t seem to understand.

“You need to listen to instructions, Gonads,” Sally said, “the guard at the gate told you to keep left. She told all of us to.”

“Well she could have told me that not doing so would result in death,” I replied grumpily. “Seems like the sort of thing one might mention.”

“Keeping left is universal in high level locations,” Panda said matter-of-factly, “I thought you knew that?”

“You’re my sage,” I said through gritted teeth, “making sure I know things is literally your job.”

“Sorry, kid,” he replied sheepishly.

“Why do we have to keep left anyway,” Bell asked, “besides the obvious…”

“Well technically you can keep left or right, it’s just that we’re on the left-hand side of the street. This walkway is reserved for anyone below the level cap,” Sally explained as we continued walking, this time making sure to keep firmly to the left, “the middle is reserved for jade souls and above.”

As I followed her meaty hand gesture, I saw that the street was indeed laid out this way. It was almost familiar, a middle section bordered by two walkways on either side. Just like how roads and pavements were laid out back home, just with a less obvious dividing line between the pedestrian walkways and the road itself.

“Why?” I asked after a long moment of staring at the road in the middle. It seemed deserted with the exception of the vibrant flashes of colour my dragon’s eye was detecting, and the displacement of air.

“Because those above the level cap can move at extreme speeds and have extreme strength,” she replied patiently, “they’re not like you and I, their abilities far surpass those of a normal person.”

“It’s like when you’re driving a car,” Panda took over, dipping into his limited knowledge of Earthen culture, “when a bug hits your windscreen do you pullover? Do you even notice right away.”

“So you’re saying we’re like bugs to them?” I asked.

“Exactly,”

Well that’s a terrifying thought.

With the exception of the segregated walkways, Cali Port was visually wonderous. As we journeyed through the outer level of the city, I certainly wasn’t starved of things to look at.

We passed by typical stores and stalls just like there had been in Havar, but this place also had multi-floored department stores, some of which were dedicated to armour and weapons.

There were smaller crafting supply stores, there were bars lit with neon signs, rooftop cafes and plenty of magic shops.

It was a fantasy world metropolis, ripe for the picking.

I decided right then and there that as soon as we were done checking in at Adventure Society, I was going shopping.

In the meantime, we headed towards the centre of the circular city. Well, not the exact centre, but we headed in that general direction.

The closer we got to the middle of town; the stranger things got. People watching was amusing, if a little concerning.

All kinds of different races cluttered the streets, there were even ones I hadn’t seen before.

We passed a small stall that said “courthouse” on it in crude writing. A man with the legs and face of a kangaroo and the torso of a hairy human manned it. He was dressed in dark robes and wearing one of those silly barrister wigs found in the British courts back home.

I never understood why they wore those.

Stood opposite him and, flanked on either side by two lycanids with barred teeth, with hands gripped around his arms, was a crow person.

The strange creature looked like a failed science experiment. For all intents and purposes he was a human, just with a crow’s head and feathers where the body hair should be.

I couldn’t help but focus on him for the notification.

You have discovered a new race:

Garuda

Though once a proud race of powerful humanoid-avian hybrid warriors, the Garuda have since evolved to be almost identical to humans.

They have racial skills related to sight and thievery due to their naturally eclectic nature. Though they cannot fly in their infancy, upon reaching the level cap many have been known to grow wings.

The origins of the Garuda are unknown, but if you think about it long enough, I’m sure you’ll come to the same gross conclusion that I did.

Human’s will fuck anything.

“Ew,” I said as I finished reading the description. “I half expected them to be called crowanids, considering how the naming scheme for the other races has worked so far.” I muttered to myself as Panda laughed at my side.

Just as I was about to focus on the kangaroo person he banged his mallet on his shabby wooden stall and began talking loudly, though no one stopped to listen to him. It must have been a regular occurrence in Cali Port.

“Order in the court,” he said in a loud, pompous voice. “Sir, you stand here today because you have been accused of being involved with a murder.”

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“Well, I always try to be social,” the Garuda replied, jolting its crow-like head around nervously.

Shaking my head, I began to focus on the judge once more when Sally growled the words “it’s worse than I thought,” under her breath.

I turned to her, but before I could ask what she meant my thoughts were drowned out by unintelligible shouting coming from the direction we were heading in.

We turned a corner and the familiar sight of a large glass skyscraper with neon, vertical writing running the length of it filled my vision.

Worryingly, a large group stood outside it. They were a strong mixture of all the races I knew about, and some I didn’t, and they were so loud I couldn’t actually make out what any individual was saying.

Were these the protestors the guard at the gate had mentioned? If so they weren’t very organised. What happened to picket signs and call and response phrases?

There seemed to be a distinct absence of humans from the large crowd. A thought that compounded inside me as I caught angry faces glaring at me and Bell.

Sally pushed her way through and we stayed close behind in her slipstream. It was nerve wrecking. We had just arrived in this new place, a city whose residents were much stronger than the people of Havar, and now we were forcing our way through a crowd that was seemingly hostile towards adventure society.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention as we moved through the crowd. Every time we took a step forward, our exit path was closed in behind us. It was as if we were being swallowed by a sea of unbridled outrage.

I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if they smashed the glass and stormed the building at any minute. If that happened would I be expected to defend it as an adventurer? I hoped not.

“Why aren’t they bowing?” Asmodeus asked in a loud, deep whisper. “They should be bowing as I pass them, and why is the catonid having to carve us a path?”

I shushed him with a stern glare but not before he earned some angry stares from the closest protestors who’d heard him.

Eventually Sally broke through the crowd and we followed, popping out of the mass protest and hurrying straight through the open door that was held tentatively by a burly lycanid in heavy plate armour.

BANG.

A piece of rotten fruit hit the guards armour with enough force to leave a small dent in the heavy metal.

Without looking back, I dived through the door with Panda and Bell hot on my heels.

“What the hell was that?” She shouted as we made it into the foyer.

“Looked like a rotten apple to me,” I replied breathlessly.

“Fucking scum,” the lycanid guard half breathed, half growled as he wrestled to slam the door shut behind us. “The director is waiting for you upstairs,” he said to Sally, who nodded her thanks.

The foyer was laid out just like the one I was used to; however, it was completely deserted. There was no attractive catonid receptionist manning the front desk and not a single adventurer milling about.

Beckoning for us to follow her, Sally strode up to a magic elevator, just like the one back in the adventure society building in Havar.

I felt sorry for the single guard manning the door, it must have been a lonely job and he had no chance against the gathered protestors if fighting broke out.

We entered the elevator in silence as it took us to the top floor.

The director’s office stood in stark contrast to Lucas’ office in Havar. Director Lucas was a minimalist of refined taste. With the exception of a large desk and constantly filled decanters of amber, and likely expensive, alcohol, his office was bare.

The Cali Port director had a different approach.

Fancy swords in glass cases lined the lower half of the walls whilst glimmering, golden framed pictures sat above them. Fancy oil paintings depicting battles and, what I had to assume were, famous ships.

A large, oak-coloured desk took up the final quarter of the room with comfortable looking chairs lining it. There was one for each of us, was that on purpose or a happy coincidence?

The director stood with her back towards us, gazing out over Cali Port from, what was probably, the best view in the city.

Her dark purple skin was scarred and tattooed with deep black lines, crosses and other artwork which seemed spiritual in nature.

“Welcome,” the director said, “please take a seat, I’ve been expecting you.”

Her voice was warm and soothing. It matched her deep scarlet hair perfectly. As she turned towards us, a long, black formal coat swayed elegantly. It hung from her shoulders like a cape, she hadn’t put her arms through the sleeves.

Underneath the massive coat, she wore a black corset and tight, leather pants. Her body cut a much more feminine shape than Sally’s, it was captivating.

The delicate features of her face only added to the fantasy.

“Why is a svartalf in charge of this branch?” Asmodeus scoffed as I took a seat. I immediately gasped and moved to cover his mouth with my hand.

Sally shot me a wide-eyed look and began apologising.

“I’m sorry director, I-”

“Don’t worry,” she replied, cutting the catonid off with a casual wave of her hand, “I’m well aware of the demon lord’s way with words.”

Her ruby eyes washed over me in a calculating gaze that, coupled with a knowing half smile, told me that she was a very well informed and intelligent woman. A dangerous combination.

The fact that she not only knew that I had Asmodeus, but she knew his real identity as well must have meant she had spies in the city. Possibly the city guard? No, the guard at the gate didn’t seem to recognise him. Her spies must be elsewhere, or maybe she had a skill.

Either way, I’d have to be careful around her.

“Mmmmmm mm mmmmm!” Asmodeus tried to shout as my hand muffled his words.

I glared at him, before lifting my palm from his muzzle.

“Unhand me human!” He roared, “… oh, you have. Well, don’t attempt to silence me again.”

“I know why you’ve come to see me but I’m afraid the discussion about what to do with our little flying demon will have to wait,” the director said grimly, “I have an urgent problem that I need you to deal with.”

“Gliding,” Panda corrected with a smug grin.

“We weren’t really looking to stay here for very long,” I said.

“I’m sorry Mr Akabane,” she replied cordially, “but until this problem is solved, no one can travel further inland anyway, including your party.”

“Why not?” Asmodeus erupted, “this is an outrage. No one prevents my freedom of movement and gets away with it!”

“I agree,” she replied in a low voice which shut him up straight away. “You’ve seen the civil unrest plaguing Cali Port I presume?”

“How could we not?” I replied, “we had to fight through an angry crowd just to get inside this building.”

“Well, that isn’t the only protest hotspot I’m afraid,” she continued. “There are protests all across the city, the biggest of which is barricading the inland gate, which is why no one can leave. I need every adventurer I can get my hands on to look into the matter and find a way to resolve it.”

“What do you expect us to do?” Bell said, “we’re probably lower ranks than most of the normal citizens here. We’re not exactly in a position to go marching up to a group of powerful protestors and beat them into submission.”

“Have you heard of a little thing called diplomacy?” The director replied with a half-smile, “that would be my suggestion at least.”

“What is this civil unrest about?” I asked, trying to cut through the pleasantries.

“We have two main factions in this city,” she explained, “the capitalists and the communists.”

Oh here we go, I thought with a roll of my eyes. The director furrowed her brow at me but continued anyway.

“The continent is a capitalist federation,” she said, “that relies heavily on industry and a free market. Naturally, that means that some people are in charge of the businesses they create and others have to work for them for the good of the economy.

“However, recently there have been growing concerns over workplace discrimination and monetary compensation, particularly among the minor races within our population.

“You see, Cali Port is a minor race dominated city which means there are a lot of minority species living and working here. These are creatures who tend to be less humanoid such as the Garuda, gnomes and the like.

“In Cali Port, there are growing concerns that the humanoid workers are treating the minor races unfairly: paying them badly, giving them poor working conditions, refusing to promote them into positions of power and the like.

“As such, some of the most unhappy workers have formed a new kind of workers union which they have called communism, supposedly it has something to do with everyone being treated and paid the same regardless of skill. It sounds like nonsense to me, but these people are very serious and have begun blockading key infrastructure across the city. I need you to solve this problem for me.”

I took a moment to consider what she’d said before replying. Her explanation was more in depth than I was used to, though from her tone I could tell that what she really wanted was for me to get rid of the communist protestors.

“When you say solve the problem,” Bell said, running a finger across her throat and winking.

“If that is what it takes then it is permitted,” the director sighed, “however, I would prefer a diplomatic solution if you can find one.”

“You want us to convince the protestors to come to heel?” I asked.

“Either that or convince the business owners to bring them to the table for a peaceful resolution,” she replied, “I don’t really understand these strikers but I don’t want my city turning into a warzone. If you can prevent that from happening then I don’t really care how you do it.”