X walked into the Fortress City. It was a sight to behold. Luxurious mansions, large gardens, public training halls, many inns, and taverns, and bars and shops, many shops that sell basically everything that the heart desires. Each mansion was larger than an entire block back in Terlem and had a strict aesthetic.

Some were completely of the same color, red and blue and pink and green mansions rising up to the sky. Others were of the same material, some wood, others steel or quartz or marble. There was even a five-story mansion made of dirt.

Countless people were present in the public gardens and surrounding the shops, speaking to each other. Their clothes were bright and costly, well-fitting suits with studded gems, elaborate gowns that seemed to sweep the ground, and fashionable accessories like watches and hair clips that looked costlier than X's house in Terlem. A man even had a watch covered in diamonds.

Compared to the village he was from, this place bustling with people. Too many people, too many colors, too much laughter, too much luxury, too much money. He felt that this place really did not exist. It was some kind of paradise made by the Lord of Light. X couldn't believe the fact that people lived here.

He was so busy gazing to notice something that he should have seen first. Another wall, slightly smaller and thinner than the first one. What it lacked in size, however, was made up for with defense. There was no need for turrets here, every single nook and cranny of the upper portion housed a massive ballista, larger than the ones outside.

It had multiple openings on its surface, where heavily armored men and women aimed outside using crossbows. At least two hundred people were wielding crossbows through the openings, most of them knights, and there were more Manning the ballistae.

He only felt more out of place, when he went around searching for a inn to live in. The money he had in his pouch was a lot, especially since back in Terlem, a single gold coin would be enough to rest at their shabby old inn for an entire week. But here, things were different.

X tried basically every inn near the entrance, and all of them told him the same thing. With this much money, at least 200 gold coins, he could barely stay for a month. He should have been able to buy the whole block, if not the city itself, had he still been in Terlem.

Some kind receptionist at one of the inns told him that they could allow him to stay for a maximum of two months, undoubtedly feeling pity for this poor village bumpkin. However, there were five months left for the exam. X rejected the offer by stammering "no", and the man accepted it without a question, although there was a certain look of disappointment on his sharp face.

Feeling very upset, X went to one of the many gardens and sat down on a wooden bench nearby. He was busy contemplating his choices. He could return to Terlem, but that achieved nothing except for being a waste of money. He could search the rest of the city, but after seeing the cost here, he was sure the other, seemingly richer blocks would charge at least this much if not more.

Suddenly another kid ran up to him enthusiastically, a wide grin on his thin face. His dark has were akin to a mop, covering his eyes. Brushing it aside with his left hand, he flashed a bright smile at X. His black eyes were startling, they were staring at him so intently, that X felt creeped out.

'Could you help improve my swordsmanship.'

The kid asked as he pointed to the training dummy placed right in front of the bench where X was sitting. The city kid did not have any hesitation in asking for help. It seemed to X that knights made up a large portion of the Fortress City's population, and they actively participated in helping the next generation.

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X looked forward, ignoring his thoughts, and he saw that the kid was attacking the dummy. His light brown skin was coated with sweat, which caused his baggy gray tunic to stick to his body. Surprisingly well-defined muscles were visible due to the sticky clothes.

He was wielding a sword terribly, and X knew that because he had seen actual knights fight. Besides, it was a bit like he was nowhere close to good anyway.

He jabbed the sword, aiming to pierce the dummy's heart, but his control was so bad that the sword went under the dummy's armpit. He then slashed the sword to cut off its neck. As X expected, it swung over its head.

After missing a few more hits, the kid got so pissed off that he threw the wooden sword down, and mauled the dummy with his bare hands, tearing it down using his fingers, which started bleeding due to the effort.

'Sorry for wasting your time, sir knight. You know that you look young. Are you around 15.'

X nodded and the kid smiled all of a sudden, a creepy grin that looked perfectly normal on his face.

'I am Brik. What's your name?'

'X.'

'X? That can't be an actual name, right? What's your actual name?'

'X.'

'Your surname?'

'ur...na?'

'A surname is the word that comes after your name. It a things like your family mostly. Like, my surname is Ossibus.'

'no...no surname.'

The kid got angry at X's response. How could anyone not have a surname? And what sort of a name was X? Sounded like some kind of math equation He read a book once. He sat closer to X and shouted to him at maximum volume.

'What is your name?'

'X...X'

'I see this is going nowhere. Until you tell me your full name, I will not leave you. Come, let's go to my home.'

X then mentioned his dilemma of not finding a place to stay. Brik thought he had just found a way to keep X in there and asked if X would be interested in staying at their house.

X quickly accepted the offer, and quickly packed his little belongings. Brik was surprised by the lack of things X had with him. How does one possess only these many things? Where would his wardrobe and furniture fit? He didn't ask, since he didn't want to annoy X any further.

They walked through the city block, slowly approaching the richer inner region of the city. It looked a lot more expensive, especially since multiple massive buildings were decorated with complex, beautiful designs that passed as shops. The same things that were barely a tent in Terlem.

He could get a better view of the inner wall as well and was able to gauge its dimensions, but did not feel like looking at the imposing structure anymore. He was too excited, and there was too much in the city for his brain to handle. As they walked past another block, getting deeper into the city and closer to the inner wall, X could not help but feel curious about Brik's house. How would it look?

Therefore, when X saw Brik's house, his jaw dropped. A great 3-storeyed wooden mansion, well-designed and has a luxurious look, with countless glass windows on the exterior, that made it look like a dream version of Frederick's hut. This place had such a friendly, positive energy, with all the bright torches lighting up the interior. From outside, X could see a fraction ion the countless rooms and corridors within the mansion, the stairways and the carpets and the furniture.

This place was to be his house from now on. And he had already made a friend, even though he was terrible at all social interaction skills. Even X was surprised by his luck.