Elijah was the last of their group to go through inspection and could only give the soldier an apologetic smile when he was asked to identify himself.
“Elijah Oak." He put his hand on the back of his head. "But I don’t have a Nexus ID."
Chapter Begin
The guard blinked. “You don’t have one?” It wasn't often that an unregistered traveler showed up in Whisperwind. The last time was almost two years ago. Occasionally criminals try to smuggle themselves into the city, but someone without a Nexus ID at all is rarely seen, which is why the guard thought he had misunderstood Elijah.
Elijah could only shake his head. I wish I had told Aric beforehand. He could see the man putting his hand on the hilt of his sword while he regarded his wooden skin. “Please follow me.” Elijah threw a last look in the direction Aric and the others had gone before he followed the guard.
Another guard joined them and walked behind Elijah as they brought him to a room that was integrated into the wall. Fortunately, they put no handcuffs on him. He hated those and never got used to the constricting feeling they caused. That also meant that they were convinced of being able to detain him if necessary.
A small lamp in the center of the ceiling dimly lit the room, and a chair and four chairs stood in the center. Looks like they’re going to ask some questions. Elijah grew nervous and gulped as the guard told him to sit down. He hated dealing with officials.
“What are we doing here?” Elijah asked the guard but he only told him that they were going to wait for the interrogator. Elijah couldn’t help but wonder if the others hadn’t noticed his absence which seemed unlikely but he wasn’t sure if Aric would come to help him or if he even could.
They waited for almost ten minutes in silence before a fourth man entered the room. The two guards straightened up and saluted as the man sat down on the chair opposite Elijah.
He did what Elijah hated the most when being interrogated. For an entire minute, he only looked at Elijah, letting his overall image sink in and observing his reactions. Elijah did the same.
After a long silence, the man finally spoke with a deep, pleasant voice that didn’t fit his small height.
“The name is Fokes. What brings you to Whisperwind, Mr. Oak?” He leaned forward and brought his hands together in front of his face.
“I traveled here with Aric Rider’s group. We met on one of the flying islands.” Elijah answered before one of the guards nodded.
Fokes glanced at the guard before his next question. “Are you a wanted criminal?”
Elijah shook his head. I was a criminal on Earth. But here? I’m not. “I am not a criminal.”
“So you aren’t affiliated with any of the criminal organizations in Eldrid?” He asked.
“I don’t even know their names,” Elijah answered as he leaned back.
“Do you have any other malicious intent toward Whisperwind, its citizens, or the kingdom of Eldrid?” The two guards around Elijah looked at him as Fokes asked that.
“No,” Elijah said before Fokes instructed him to answer in a complete sentence. “No, I have no malicious intent toward Whisperwind, the kingdom of Eldrid, or its citizens.” He stated.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
The atmosphere in the room visibly improved after Elijah gave that answer and the interrogation continued with a few questions regarding his stay at Whisperwind. Elijah answered most questions the same. He didn’t know where he would stay, how long he would stay, or what he would be doing here.
Eventually, Fokes asked him something Elijah wasn’t sure how to answer. “Well, Mr. Oak, how is it that someone like you, who is in the Eldrid Kingdom, does not have a Nexus ID? It does happen in these latitudes, but it is highly rare to come across.”
Elijah considered how to answer for a moment. He didn’t want to let them know that he came from another world but at the same time, he didn’t want to give a too conspicuous answer as that would draw unnecessary attention to him which he already had enough of.
“I’m a traveler. Where I come from, we don’t use a Nexus ID to identify ourselves.” Elijah said.
“Oy?” Fokes was intrigued and furrowed his brows. “How do you identify then?”
“We use small cards with a picture and the name of a person,” Elijah explained.
“How cumbersome. Why don't you use the Nexus for that?” Elijah could only shrug at Foke's comment after which the official pushed his chair back and stood up.
“We’ll get you registered.” He said to Elijah before he turned to the guards. “Do you have a quill here for enchanting?” One of the guards hurried out of the room and came back a few minutes later with a feather.
Fokes took the feather as he spoke to Elijah. “We’re going to assign you an ID now. For that, I’m going to write a certain rune on your skin.”
“A rune?” Elijah didn’t like the idea of having a tattoo or anything else stitched into his skin. “How does it look like?”
"It will disappear after it completes its task," Fokes explained as he gestured for Elijah to give him his hand.
Elijah glanced at the two guards before he reluctantly raised his hand. Fokes took it and put the quill on his wrist joint. Elijah barely managed to not pull away his hand as soon as the feather emitted a faint blue glow.
Elijah watched as Fokes used the quill to draw strange marks on his fist. He barely applied pressure, and though he had no ink, the quill left a thin blue-glowing line where it streaked across.
After a few minutes, Elijah thought he had imagined it but he was proven right as the inscriptions began heating up.
“This is going to hurt a bit, don’t pull away,” Fokes said in a calm voice as he continued to draw on Elijah’s hand. His brows were furrowed in concentration as his grip on Elijah’s hand strengthened slightly.
“What do you mean don’t pull away? What are you doing to me?” Elijah raised his voice as anger rose in him. Before he could pull back his hand, both guards stepped forward. One of them grabbed Elijah’s left arm while the other took hold of the other. Elijah felt his strength leaving him for a moment and he couldn’t restrain himself from crying out in pain when Fokes finished his drawing.
“Forgot you had that trait,” Fokes said to the guard to Elijah’s right as he handed him the quill, ignoring Elijah’s shout.
It felt like boiling water poured over his hand for a moment before the pain vanished. Elijah was dumbfounded when he looked at his hand. As Fokes told him, the whole drawing disappeared as soon as the official finished his drawing.
His strength returned seconds later and he tore himself away from the guards. Before he could grab Fokes by the collar, the man raised his hands. “Look at your status!” The guards stepped between them and Elijah hesitated for a moment before he opened his status screen.
“What’s your ID?” Fokes asked as he put his hand on the shoulder of a guard. “Note it down and register him as Elijah Oak. He can enter the city now.” He took a few steps toward the exit before he turned to Elijah.
“I don’t know where you come from, but in Eldrid you shouldn’t attack people left and right just because they insulted you or added some pain to you. Otherwise, that habit is going to kill you soon. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have drawn one of those swords and simply killed you.”
He opened the door and stepped through with a last comment. “And you probably can't do anything about it, but be careful with that skin or is it your skin color? There are enough people who would discriminate against you because of that. Exotic slaves are popular.”
Elijah stared at the door for a moment before one of the guards cleared his throat with a pen and paper in hand. “Your ID?”
“121-121-217-052-808,” Elijah answered.
“The ID is not only used as an identification but also to transfer money or send messages using the Nexus Watch, among other things.” The guard noted down Elijah’s ID as he explained.
“I’ll return to my post, Lucas.” The second guard said and nodded at Elijah before he left the room.
“If you need anything, feel free to approach one of the guards,” Lucas said as he stepped forward. “Don't hold it against Fokes, the process always hurts a bit and I've often seen people react the same way you did to such an engraving.”
He smiled and offered Elijah his hand.
“Welcome in Whisperwind, Mr. Oak.”