4 Chapter 4

Once I got even closer I started seeing people, most likely travellers, entering and leaving the city. Taking a clue I followed a group of travellers going towards the city.

Walking a fair distance behind them I remembered something. Do I even speak their language? From what I know the different regions and cultures have their own languages here.

Trying to find out I got close enough that I could hear what they said if I focused really hard and surprisingly enough I could hear what they said and they said some interesting things as well.

"But this will probably be our last trip for a while, Nashramae will turn into a warzone for a bit will it not?"

"You think so? I think that by the time we finish this trip Nashramae will already have been conquered."

"Sure the god warriors are strong, but their armies are still mortal"

"Indeed they lead mortal armies, but it seems you haven't heard which one is leading the army. It is the Scholar Nasus."

"Should have started with that then. With the Grand Library of Nashramae, Nasus will probably try to minimize the damage to the city. He also wasn't ever one for pointless slaughter... Say do you think much will change, even if Shurima is in charge?"

"At most the ports would be affected, some tolls and taxes for trade with other nations, other trades should improve though"

The rest of their conversation was then focused on the changes in the market. And I also found out in which era I am currently in. It made me realize that there was a small issue with what the travelling merchants There was one problem though. All the possible changes this group talked about could only happen if the city was taken over with minimal damage.

But I knew that was not the case. It was not just Nasus that would arrive here. Renekton would also come and he would snap destroying and killing needlessly razing down even the grand library. It is the incident that made Renekton truly infamous as a destructive force against which you would better surrender before the fighting starts, but it would also be Renekton's greatest shame before he sealed himself with Xerath.

Not good at all, this city will turn into a bloodbath. But on the plus side, the rest of the world is still at relative peace. Lissandra is still scheming in the Freljord with the Watchers as a looming threat, Noxus and Demacia don't exist yet, the void hasn't been summoned in Icathia yet and the Shadow Isles are still the Blessed Isles. I guess the Darkin- and Runewars really messed up the world.

While I was thinking about all this I entered the city of Nashramae and it was a sight to behold. Inside the city was completely different from the outside. While from the outside the city just looked grandiose, once you entered it felt like you entered a different world. The streets were wide, wide enough to fit four or five carriages, but were still filled with streets and they weren't just talking past each other, instead, the streets were filled with all kinds of vendors. Some had stores, some had stalls, some just sat down while others went from person to person.

Seeing some stores that sold weapons I wondered if the weapons had stats too. Weapons probably should have stats too considering that many of the items existing in LoL were also in the world. Finding a stall that didn't look too busy I walked up to the owner and started asking him about the weapon and if I could inspect them myself.

"Hey mister, for these weapons, I assume I can inspect them before buying them right?"

"Ha, go ahead, but if you run..."

He looked at a butcher's knife next to him.

"No worries I don't plan to find out how skilled you are"

"Good answer, but I'm still watching you"

Nodding I looked at a one-handed sabre. Focusing on it I asked the system in my head.

'System, can you show me the stats for the sword in front of me?'

[That is possible, but only that which is observed by you can be analyzed and quantified by the system. Just looking at it only tells us about the material used on the surface and the general sharpness. If you were to use your energy sense to go through the entire structure of the sword a much more accurate reading could be acquired. Additional info can only be analyzed once you have grasped how to make weapons yourself.]

Hearing what the system said I closed my eyes and turned my energy sense to the max and then put only the sword in my focus. After sensing the sword's structure a notification appeared from the system.

[Appraisal unlocked]

[By using the hosts' perception, energy sense and other perception-based skills, a target is analyzed and then presented with statistics according to the standard of the system.]

Using the newly acquired Appraisal skill, I used it once again on the sword. This time the system showed me some stats.

[Steel sabre with magical residue

Attack: 15-20

Durability: 85/100]

No extra skills, passives or required stats or skills to use. That should only be natural considering that this was a common weapon. But it's good that I found out that I have an appraisal ability. That offers me a lot more options for what I would do later on in my life here.

Still, that's neither here nor there. Shaking my head I put the sword back, thanked the shop owner and left the city again. I had only entered the city today but was already getting ready to leave. Staying when there was the threat of a Shuriman army, led by Renekton arriving was nothing more than a death sentence. Sure I have actually grown quite strong in the past week, but I don't even know if reaching even level 100 with an element was enough to fight an Ascended.

I didn't rush to leave the city though. Travelling alone for over a week was excruciatingly mind-numbing. And I should be strong enough to work as a bodyguard for a smaller merchant group or just travellers. As such I searched for the first place I could think of.

A tavern or inn. But having no idea where exactly I could find one I simply asked the locals, of which an old man luckily showed me the way. The old man that showed me the way also told me something interesting. Even though a lot of travellers and merchants regularly go through Nashramae, there actually weren't that many inns, though the ones that did exist were much larger than normal. They were also owned by a single family, in fact, this very wealthy family had their hands in many other parts of the economy in Nashrame.

Talking some more I found out that this family might have been one of the reasons why Shurima had an excuse to conquer this city. They would frequently disrespect Shuriman law during trades and then hide in Nashramae. And since no force within Nashramae was able to stop the family it became somewhat of a thorn in the eye of the Shuriman government.

The question is though, was the Shuriman government petty enough to conquer a city because of that? That might actually be the case. Before its fall Shurima has generally been a very expansionist empire, in fact, most of the Ascended's fame came from the conquest of everything that surrounded them.

Truly an interesting chapter in history, that I really don't want to have anything to do with it.

After this, the old man complained a bit more about this wealthy family, and we arrived at the inn. And as the old man said the inn was quite massive. It could probably hold hundreds of guests. Thanking the old man for guiding me and telling me about the situation in Nashramae I bade him farewell and entered the inn. In the inn, I walked towards the reception and asked.

"Hello, I am a wandering stone weaver and I wonder if you know of any travellers or merchants going east that need help"

Hearing what I said the receptionist frowned a bit, but also didn't answer immediately. Instead, they asked me to wait for a bit and called their superior. Their superior, I assume their manager, was a man in fine clothing, perhaps it was lined with gold. The manager looked me up and down and frowned similar to the receptionist.

"I mean no disrespect, but can you prove you are a stone weaver. You don't really look like one, your attire isn't what weavers especially stone weavers would wear. And how do I put it... your skin is too light And lastly, you're alone. I've seen weavers before, but I've never seen any travel alone"

Now, what do I say in this situation? What identity am I trying to show? Too light skin compared to the tribes, clothing different to the tribes and travelling without the tribe... I know! Thanks to the system I can actually control stones and with that, I should be able to talk my way out of this.

"True, all that does make me sound suspicious, but there is also another reason why there would be a mixling weaver who left the tribe and doesn't wear the proper clothing. But those are just words let me show you my abilities."

Motioning a small portion of rock below me to move, I formed the small rock I took out of the grand into many small shapes and figures. Before returning it to the ground.

"I apologize that I cannot show you anything grander, but we are in the middle of the city. I hope this clears some of your suspicions."

Hearing my still calm tone and realizing I wasn't mad the manager also became much more amiable.

"No no, I should apologize. It has been many years already since the weavers have last been to the north so it was a bit suspicious to hear about one all of a sudden."

"Indeed, but aside from that, I asked the receptionist just now. Do you have any travellers or merchants going east that require additional protection? I am quite cheap, travelling alone and bad planning have left me in quite a financial pinch you see."

The managers' eyes glowed a bit before he exclaimed.

"I indeed know someone. It is a travelling scholar, or rather a scholar in training. She's a bit eccentric but she's fairly smart and recently wanted to cross the ocean to reach the islands in the east. I'll even take you to her"

A scholar travelling to the east, that's good that could be an easy and fast ticket towards finding my way around here.

"The islands in the east? That's perfect, just perfect, they were my goal as well. You have my promise although I cannot repay you with money I will find another way to do so.

With this, the manager led the way towards her room. A travelling partner, on a journey to the east. I didn't notice this when I was alone, but this is an adventure isn't it?

My very first adventure, I'm getting a bit nervous.