7 Town of Largo
Largo is a mid-sized town near the borders of the human territory; Its surroundings consist of a vast plain stretching 5 kilometers wide, after the said plains, comes a vast expanse of woods with the only gap between them being the road that leads to it, making the town stick out.
What's unique about this town isn't that the location of it is near the borders nor the fact that it's the only civilized town in the radius of 100 kilometers.
No, what's special with this town is what's in it; The [Beginner Dungeon].
The [Beginner Dungeon] is where any aspiring adventurer would go test him or herself when they start their journey.
The dungeon name is like that because, within its confines, only weak monsters spawn, making it the best place for a new adventurer to start.
Don't underestimate the dungeon because of its name though, even the most prominent magic and warrior academies bring their students here to get practical experience not only because of the level of the beasts but also because of the variation of monsters that exist within.
As being an adventurer is a dangerous profession, being adequately informed of what you may face in the field is very important.
On the [Beginner Dungeon], one can learn to gather information from the variety of monster held within, information like the habits of the beasts, how specific environmental triggers change their behavior patterns; such as the cold and heat and last but not least, their attack patterns.
All of that makes it the best currently known location for newbies to start their career, as so, while there are arguments and conflicts between the various nations of the world, there is an agreement that makes Largo neutral from human kingdom's influence.
What that translates to is that within the confines of the town, you can see beings from every race, you can see humans, dwarves, elves, and demi-humans roaming around freely without inhibitions
As the economy of the town is dependent on dungeon materials, there is no lack of professions using the articles, as such, you can see dwarves exhibiting their weaponry on stalls, elves with their potions and humans with a combination of both.
Overall due to that kind of trades, the town is always bustling, leading it to have no lack of entertainment such as pubs and even it's own red light district, last but not least, the inns are abundant.
If there is one drawback to the whole thing, it's the prices; everything on the town is costly, Even the entering tax costs are worth a hefty sum.
One kilometer away from the town, upon the rocky road leading to the city, a fiery red magic circle appeared and alongside it, a red flaming cyclone blowing any rocks around it away.
When the cyclone started settling down, one person and one bird appeared within, making the whole view very weird.
Alexander, having experienced teleportation for the first time in his life, felt his stomach churn, he hunched forward and gagged a bit, only by having eaten some apples though, he didn't have anything to throw out.
Seeing how pitiful he looked, the bird snorted in disdain and said:
"You can't even handle that? Are you a man or do you only look the part?"
But then again, looking at his thin build and white skin, it corrected itself:
"Nevermind, looking at how weak you are, it's a miracle that you didn't faint."
Hearing the disdainful words, Alexander grit his teeth and swore internally:
'One day, I'll show you who's boss.'
On the outside though, he stabilized himself and asked:
"Hey, where is this exactly?"
Seeing that he was somewhat back to normal, Lillian pointed with her delicate feather towards the distance and said:
"This is called the beginner town, Largo."
Alexander lifted his head and looked towards where it was pointing and when he saw the view, he was stunned.
What lay in the distance was a town looking somewhat like towns from the middle ages;
A big stone wall surrounding the town, towering at around 12 meters high with four turrets at 15 meters accompanying it, protecting its perimeter.
On the distance, a big wooden door that he thought could fit a giant, considering the existence of the world, it might be built for one, he mused on the back of his head.
Overall, he took a moment to register the sight that he only saw on historical remains.
Seeing his stunned look, Lillian snorted, breaking him out of his reverie and said:
"Listen, in this town lies the |Beginner Dungeon|, you've heard of it, yes?"
He just shook his head.
Seeing him shake his head, Lillian groaned and said:
"What did I expect... Where did you even grow up that you don't even know something as basic as this!?"
He just remained silent.
Seeing that he remained silent, Lillian got a bit angry but decided to not bother him regarding his origin for now and said:
Listen, I'll give you the short version as we walk, the |Beginner Dungeon| is as the name implies, a dungeon for beginners."
With that, they started towards in the direction of the gate.
Seeing that he was paying attention, she went on:
"The town of Largo features creatures from every race; The majority come here for the dungeon, starting their journey as adventurers."
At this point, she sat on his shoulder.
"While others are making a living out of the adventurers, either by setting up stalls or shops."
Looking down on his clothes in disdain she said:
"I want to start getting you some training as soon as possible but seeing your getup; there's much to be desired."
Changing her point of view she went on:
"We must also find out what your affinities are."
He also looked down at his pajamas and slippers and blushed a bit but responded:
"It's not my fault! I slept on my bed as usual, when I woke up in the middle of the woods! There was no chance for me to prepare myself you know!"
Nodding a bit in understanding, Lillian said:
"And so, we will get you a new attire, and after resting for the night, we'll begin at dawn the very next day."
Seeing a little problem with her arrangement he rebuked:
"That's fine and all but how will we pay all of that?"
She snorted in disdain at his words and materialized a small pouch with a small fiery bang, answering him:
"Hmph, there's no need to worry your petty little mind with that, any mage of the advanced ranked and beyond has a small internal space within their core, take this, there are ten silver coins inside, it should be enough for what we need."
He received the pouch, placing it in his pajama pocket but scratched his head a bit and decided to ask:
"What's a silver coin...?"
Hearing the question, the bird almost fell from his shoulder, it gave him a blank look and exclaimed:
"You...you don't know how the currency works...? Are you even from this world?!"
He sweated a bit at how accurate her question is but remained silent
Seeing as how he refused to answer, it pledged to learn his background later but exasperatedly answered:
"The currency works like this; Starting with bronze coins, ten of them are worth one silver coin, ten silver coins are worth a gold coin and ten gold coins are worth a platinum coin, got it?"
As it was a straightforward system, he just nodded.
After walking for 5 minutes, they reached the tall gate where two guards stood there, one of them was a typical middle-aged human male but the other one, while he seemed like a human, he had a pair dog-like ears and tail behind him making Alexander think of the demi-humans he read about in novels.
While reading about them is one thing, seeing it up close is entirely different, he fell into a daze looking at the exotic pair of ears and tail.
Watching the boy in the weird attire vigilantly, he shouted:
"Halt! Pull out your identity and state your intentions!"
Hearing the guards shout, he fell out of his daze and looked at the bird on his shoulder with askance.
As if understanding his thoughts, a voice appeared in his head, feeling similarly like when he was thinking but different at the same time:
'Due to our soul contract, we have a telepathic link; I'm talking to you through it, tell him that you lost it when you got attacked by bandits, with a little fine they'll issue a new one."
While feeling a little weird at the voice suddenly appearing in his head, he nonetheless did what it told him.
"I lost it when I got attacked by bandits; I want to enter the city to find lodging and get a new attire."
Hearing what the boy said, the guard went towards the other one, and after having a short exchange, he turned towards him and said:
"You will follow me to the guard office so we can confirm whether you are a criminal or not. Meanwhile, that beast of yours must remain here; we can't let an unidentified creature into the town."
He was relieved when he heard the first part, but when the guard reached the second part, it made him almost immediately refute:
"Come on brother; it's just a little bird, all she's good for is looking pretty, what harm can she cause, isn't that right Lillian?"
When Lillian heard what he said, she was mad at first, but she knew the importance of the situation so with a sweet voice she issued a tweet, making the guard's expression soften, feeling like hugging the cute thing.
Feeling that this cute thing could at most hurt a worm, he paused for a bit and said:
"Fine but be careful, I'll hold you responsible if anything happens."
He nodded and thanked him.
Following behind the guard, he entered a door at the mid-section of the game that led to a small room; the room only had a small table, a chair, and a weird crystal ball on it.
Leading him to the weird ball the guard lifted it from its wooden base, pointing it towards him saying:
"Touch the ball, depending on the light we'll know if you're a criminal."
He nodded and touched the ball, the only thing he felt was a gentle aura enter within as if comforting him an examining him at the same time.
After a second passed, the ball shone a white light, seeing the response, the guard nodded his head and removing the ball he sat on the chair, grabbed a quill and scroll and said:
"As you're not a criminal, I'll issue you a temporary identity scroll, tell me your name, age, and occupation."
Before he could respond, Lillian talked to him with their link:
'Only tell him your first name, while I don't know your origins, Only nobles have last names, telling him yours will be a pain.'
Alexander promptly responded:
"My name is Alexander; I am 18, as for my occupation, I am a beginner mage."
The guard started to note down but stopped and asked:
"You are a mage?"
Not waiting for his response, he filled the document and stamped, telling him:
"This is the scroll. The cost is one silver coin, don't lose it or you'll get jailed."
Alexander paid the fine and received the scroll while thanking him, following the guard he went through the formal entrance, what greeted him was a bustling scene full of promise.
