Sam marveled at the wealth and power on display as they made their way into the military district proper. Arenas dotted the area, and barracks rose out of the ground every few miles. This ring of the city was about a quarter of the way to the wall, and as such it was smaller than it could have been. However, as much of the city’s defenses were located outside of the shield, that meant that all of the work being carried out here was either training, research, or development of weaponry and armor.

The sounds of massed combat came out of the arenas, where soldiers battled in preparing for the days that nobody wished for, but everybody knew would eventually come.

“What are the average levels in the city now?” Sam asked, hearing unusually potent conflagrations of power within the training areas.

“Most of the dedicated guards are F Rank by now, and the citizens are nearer to the top of G Rank. The influx of monsters coming from the Titans were what pushed the garrison into overdrive in terms of leveling speed,” Eduardo explained as they walked.

“Hmm. Do you all mind if I peek into the arena?” Sam asked, intrigued about the skills of his fighters. It had been a month after all, and he was not the only one who had improved.

“Be our guest,” Talnor said, waving his hand towards the arena.

With a small smile on his face, Sam started for the building. It was made out of white stone, and was about a thousand feet in width. It was enough to perhaps host a battle between a few hundred fighters with ease, while still having enough space for spectators.

He walked in through the open arches, finding himself standing at the base of the arena. Before him, something that looked like a training session for mages was going on. Two sides, each with different colored sashes, were standing on the sand of the arena floor, lobbing spells at one another. Neither of them moved an inch, instead relying on shield abilities to block the incoming strikes. None of the spells carried much force, and Sam saw a few of them land now and again, when a shield was summoned too slowly, or there was a gap in the array. When that happened, the fighters left the arena, nursing their usually minimal wounds. It was an effective way to train mages, and Sam could see no fault with it.

Scanning the two groups, he was pleased to find that almost all of them were F Rank. More curiously, it seemed that the guards had fully integrated other races into their number. There were a plethora of aliens fighting there alongside humans. Over the last month, it seemed that a lot of assimilation had gone on. This was likely what a city looked like in the wider Multiverse, a hub of various species and cultures.

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Satisfied with what he had seen, Sam left, followed by the others. He made his way around the military belt, checking out the other arenas and training areas. There were more of the automatons patrolling the streets, and their blank features glittered in the sun. They were quite intimidating to look at, but they had proved their worth during the final battle against the Legion, fighting like demons to defend the city.

Now that the barracks had been upgraded, most of the automatons were more powerful than before. However, it would do little if a Titan came calling. Stockpiles of weapons were cached every few miles, guarded heavily by a presence of powerful F Rank fighters. Missiles, guns, and all sorts of munitions were kept there, sourced from battles or from the Metropolis Core.

The Manthrox sect had brought a plethora of armaments in storage devices from their home planet, and there were millions of rounds of ammunition and other sundries kept within the storage facilities. Sam did not enter those buildings, instead relying on the descriptions of the others.

It took him an hour, but he eventually made a full circuit of the district, heading on to the next one. This was the general housing area of the city, where the majority of the civilian population lived and worked. Wide boulevards lined with shops crisscrossed the city, standing between large houses and apartment complexes. All of the buildings were quite standardized, the result of using a Metropolis Core, but they were still serviceable.

People turned around at the sight of Sam, and whispered amongst themselves as they felt his gaze land upon them. There was only so much that Sam could restrain his aura, and to these people, he was like a god descended from on high. He radiated a crackling aura of power that seemed to captivate his audience as he walked through the district.

There was little to see here, and he kept walking, heading into the final district.

This was by far the largest of the districts, and it was the industrial and agricultural hub of the city. This was where all of the food was produced for the citizens, as well as prepared for sale to the wider Multiverse. Miles upon miles of flowing wheat and corn stretched between the end of the housing district and the wall.

The farms were watered by a series of magically purified rivers, each of which was field with pristine water. It was apparently sourced from the Elemental Plane of water, which Sam had never heard of before.

Glowing aquamarine portals stood at the source of every river, and at the ends, providing and siphoning up the water. This seemingly infinite watering system reminded him of a game that he had played a while ago, one where the player used blocks of various types to create buildings and other structures. In that game, water had been an almost infinite resource, and here it seemed no different. There was so much more to this world that Sam did not know, and would likely not know for years to come. In any case, it was very impressive to watch.