It took them around an hour for them to make their way to the outskirts of the town. There was a low wall made of wooden planks that looked like it was more for show than actual defense.

A few small houses with fields fenced in by picket fences dotted the surrounding area. There didn’t look to be many people out working, but Elijah spotted what appeared to be large cows in one of the fields.

Using the shadows cast by the setting sun, the two of them slipped towards the town. Once they grew close, they slid up against the walls of an old farmhouse.

“Keep an eye on my body,” Avery whispered. “Don’t get distracted.”

“Who do you think I am?” Elijah asked.

Avery cocked an eyebrow. She sat down against the wall of the house and closed her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration and the tip of her tongue poked out of her mouth. She extended her hand, cupping it as if she were holding water.

Mananite pooled up in her palm, small sparks of the blue energy rising up and dissipating into the air. It curled upwards, forming into a shimmering blue sphere before popping out of existence. Avery slumped against the wall as if her strings had been cut.

Several minutes passed without change. Then Avery’s eyes snapped open. She blinked away a few motes of Mananite that had collected behind her closed eyelids and wet her lips.

“Ran out of Mananite,” she said. “The town has humans in it, so we aren’t the only ones. They seem to be friendly with each other, although I’m not sure how they’ll receive outsiders.”

“Are they armed?”

“Lightly. There were a few people in heavy armor. This world is clearly stuck in the middle ages. I didn’t see any advanced technology.”

“Anything in particular we should be worried about then?”

“There is a lone man standing at the entrance and a few of the people in heavy armor seemed to be as strong as us, if not stronger. I couldn’t see their levels like we could the apes. However, most other people didn’t appear to be trained for combat.”

“Front gates then?” Elijah asked.

“Probably the best bet. Keep your guard up and let’s avoid giving out any information on our abilities or where we came from.”

Elijah nodded in agreement. The two of them slipped out from behind the farmhouse and made their way towards a large opening in the wooden wall. A single, bored looking man with a tattered leather jacket stood guard at the wall, resting against a spear.

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He let out a tired yawn as they approached him.

“Welcome to Riverside,” the guard slurred, nodding in greeting. His breath smelled of cheap alcohol. “What’s your business?”

“Passing through, mostly,” Elijah said, giving the man an award winning smile. “Can we get food and lodging in this town?”

“Yeah, but you won’t write home about it,” the guard said. “New arrivals, I’m assuming? You’re doing a lot better than most first timers. There’s usually a lot of screaming and crying involved.”

Avery stiffened.

“What do you mean by that?” Elijah asked casually.

“No point being coy,” the guard said, laughing. “The only people that come through Riverside are the newly dead and reborn. There’s nothing else of interest in this area. Judging by the sled you’ve got behind you, you were unlucky enough to spawn in the forest. You musta gotten some tough cookie classes.”

Elijah and Avery exchanged a glance.

“Reborn?” Elijah hedged, still not willing to fully give it away.

“You dense or something? You aren’t in denial, are you? You’re dead, mister. Both of you are. Died on some planet or another, then got shucked on over here for your afterlife. Almost everyone that lives here was at some point.”

“Ah,” Elijah said. “Well, it doesn’t matter one way or another, does it?”

“Nope. I don’t suppose it does. There’s not much to do in Riverside, but at least you won’t get jumped by monsters in the middle of the night. You can’t miss the inn - it’s the only building that’s more than one story high.”

“Thank you. Anything else we should know before we continue?” Avery asked.

“Go see the class trainer. None of the fresh meat that show up know how to use their Mananite properly, so it’ll save you some pain in the future if you figure it out early. The trainer is Alec, and he’s the old man that lives in the house beside the inn. Don’t bother going tonight - he’s a grumpy bastard and will hate your guts if you bother him. By the way, what classes did y’all get?”

“Thief,” Elijah lied.

“Likewise,” Avery said.

“Well, don’t be practicing that anywhere in town or you and I will be having a lot less fun of a conversation.”

“We’ll behave ourselves,” Elijah promised. He and Avery stepped past the guard, who didn’t bother turning to watch them as they entered Riverside.

To put it nicely, the town was quaint. The buildings were made of wood and cobblestone. Each of the houses looked like they’d been made by a different architect, and more than a few of them looked like they were one strong breeze away from falling over.

The only building in town that was entirely stone had a chimney of smoke rising up from it, which Elijah presumed to be the blacksmith by the rows of armor set up on wooden dummies outside its door.

True to the guard’s word, there was only a single building that was taller than one story - it was two. The bottom floor was lit with bright yellow lanterns, and the sound of laughter and yelling emerged from within it.

Beside the tavern was a small stable. There was a single horse housed within it. It looked well groomed and small beads were braided into its mane. A young boy with dirty blonde hair sat on the steps beside the wood gate. He glanced up at them as they grew closer.

“I need to leave this outside for a moment,” Avery said to the boy. “Can you keep an eye on it?” She motioned to the sled behind her.

“I guess,” the boy muttered. He said something about new arrivals under his breath, but Elijah couldn’t make it out.

The assassins walked up to the front door and pushed it open, stepping inside the building and closing the door behind them.