The trip to Seven Rings continued, and a few hours later it was as if nothing had ever happened. Elric returned to his reading while those around him who had witnessed the attack saw him in a new light. Especially, a passenger from one of the close wagons who was very curious about him. She would stick her tiny head out of the moving coach to observe him and hide inside when someone noticed. Bringing a child on this trip wasn’t very safe, but many didn’t have an option.

Young Nessa stared at her dad, who was driving the wagon, with wide teary eyes trying to hold the pleading expression as much as she could. She wanted to talk with the hero who had saved them. He didn’t look scary, so she wanted to give it a try; if he was rude she would just run back to the coach.

Omar knew very well what was passing through the curly-haired head of his adorable but naughty little girl. He eyed the pale-brown-skinned child reproachfully before finally consenting with a nod. Nessa didn’t even wait for his voiced approval and just darted out of the wagon towards the young man. As a seasoned merchant, Omar knew better than bothering strangers on this path, but he had a good feeling about the boy. He was youthful and strong but not foolish or boisterous.

Elric closed the book once he noticed a little one stealing glances at him behind it. The smiling girl wearing a simple yellow dress should be around eight years, an age when they would be filled with curiosity. He smiled back, pleased that someone finally wanted to chat. The trip was long and he could use the distraction.

“Hello, Mister Hero. You killed that beast good! It was awesome! It looked dangerous, but I wasn’t scared!… Are you going to Seven Rings too? Can I see your weapon?” The girl spluttered faster than he could draw a strike leaving him confused about how to answer.

“Sorry for her rudeness. My Nessa was just impressed and grateful for what you did back there. I’m Omar, by the way. How is your name, young man?” The middle-aged man with brown hair spoke while walking behind the young girl. The similarities proved that he was the girl’s father.

“Hi, Omar. I’m Elric. And hi, little Nessa. Nice to meet you!” He answered smiling. They seemed to be good people, and he preferred to be addressed this way instead of ‘sir’. Then, he drew his weapon and showed it to the excited girl, somehow he knew that from all of her previous questions only this one mattered.

“Wow…” Nessa marveled while analyzing the polearm. Fortunately, she was still educated enough to know that she shouldn’t touch it.

Elric couldn’t help but smile, the girl’s behavior reminded him of… someone. After explaining how he used the weapon and showing a few moves to Nessa, he followed the pair to their wagon and continued the trip chatting with them. The company was good, so the next week of travel passed quickly.

During this time, Elric learned a lot about the merchant story and the Seven Rings. Omar worked mostly doing trade between the nearest villages and the city. Every month or so, he would bring local produce to the Rings and then return with low-tier artifacts and more complex products. The merchant and Nessa lived in the wagon, except for a few days a month when they would sleep in an Inn in the city. Sadly, the girl’s mother had died a year after her birth, but they didn’t seem to make the subject as delicate as Elric expected.

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What really seemed to be a sore spot for Omar was his unaccomplished dream. Two decades ago, he had been amongst the group of eager youngsters going to the Rings to try carving a better future for himself. Unfortunately, he couldn’t progress on the craft and would barely survive in the city. So, he decided to try different approaches and ended up trading in the outer city. At this point, the young man realized that he knew little to nothing about the Rings despite believing it would be the start of his journey.

The so-called ‘seven rings’ were the seven circular walls that divided the city. Each of those walled areas was named after one of the seven power tiers, iron, copper, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and diamond. Apparently, only those who progressed to the appropriate tier could access the matching area. The strange segregation made Elric uncomfortable. But for now, he decided to think of it as levels of training where people would be matched with the proper difficulty, though Omar seemed really disgusted with this system.

Their conversation had also leaned towards Elric's story and abilities. Omar had been suspicious of how nonchalantly comfortable the boy was with being vague about his background, just saying that he had come from a village, but the feeling quickly got lost in the boy’s narrative. He had come to the Rings to study magic in the Academy, even though he seemed inclined to the martial path. When asked about his reasons, Elric just explained that had a strong affinity to the elements. To this, the merchant chose to understand that he had a high affinity to a couple of elements, which already was remarkable, and not to all elements. That would be impossible, wouldn’t it?

Elric’s naivety really startled the merchant. Going to the Rings both informationally and financially unprepared, thinking he could just barge in into the city and register in the Academy was a completely new level of naïve. He couldn’t understand how the boy had survived so far with this kind of mentality.

Time passed and their march was finally over. The first sign of the city was the appearance of the fields that surrounded the western side of the Iron Wall. Elric was surprised at how big they were; he had never seen this amount of crops before. However, the true shock came when Omar explained that these were only the lowest quality produce of the city reserved for the poorest and weakest citizens. Of course, the Irons, as they were called, amounted to almost a third of the total population. Still, where did the rest keep their crops?

“Inside of realms, of course. Or did you think the other six areas don’t eat?” The merchant mocked.

“What realms? No, what is a realm, exactly?” He asked embarrassedly.

“Oh boy… You… You really don’t know, do you?” Omar asked sighing.

“Well, I don’t know how this spatial dimensional theory works, but realms are like tiny worlds that can be accessed by spatial portals. I only saw it once; you go through a door, a fancy magical one but still a door, and inside it’s like huge land that can’t possibly fit. Outside, the land doesn’t take any space except for a small room for the magical stuff. It’s a passage to another place, where nobody else can enter unless they want them to.” The merchant sounded fascinated but the whole thing, and so was Elric. He couldn’t imagine how it worked, he had never seen anything like it.

Soon, an enormous city appeared in view. The beauty of the seven tall walls left Elric speechless. He realized that anything other than ‘Seven Rings’ wouldn’t fit the city. The architectural majesty of the seven layers, each built a little higher than the previous, put an entire side of the city into view. It reminded him of a wide tree canopy that would start with a large ring and go up with smaller ones until it ended in the top center.

What lay ahead was Omar’s reminder of a life that he never got to live, and Elric’s hope for the future. Seven Rings, the city of opportunities.