Red River

Foster looked around, once more feeling like just some little child, just like when they first entered that forest with the towering trees. Just that this time it all felt a little bit different. These walls were actively man-made. The gate was so thick that it seemed impossible for any person to move, which is why there were different of those small tyrannosaurus-looking things were hooked up to it, so that they could pull it open or push it closed in case something happened.

The entrance into the town felt more like a tunnel, it was that thick. And once they reached the end of that tunnel, Foster, Lynol and Octer were practically stunned by what they were seeing in front of them right now. This city was absolutely beautiful. The architecture was somewhat classic, but felt weirdly unique at the same time. It wasn't anything that Foster had ever seen before, at least. It was like the buildings were supporting each other, like one of them was holding up the two that were built directly next to it.

The buildings were tall, not necessarily skyscraper-sized, but certainly higher than anything else that Foster had seen in this world so far. Many of the buildings had bridges connecting each other, and there were different levels to the streets, as if this place was some sort of huge shopping mall, just that it was actually an enormous city.

Right beside the wall stood two enormous statues. Like protectors, they were standing there, staring at the entrance with a huge shield in one hand and a sword in the other.

The streets on the bottom level, the base that the three of them were currently on, were something that Foster would expect from a main street in New York City, or maybe even bigger than that. The huge animals that were walking across these streets could be compared to elephants in size, although they were definitely anything but elephants.

Now that Foster was standing here, he was also able to properly acknowledge the absolutely ridiculous size of the walls. And that didn't mean that he was once more surprised by their height, but rather that he was surprised by their length. They were stretching out into the distance, so much so that Foster wasn't able to see their end. This city must be absolutely enormous. And then on top of that it had these multiple levels of streets and buildings stacked up on one another?

This place was really incredible. It was just... amazing. This was one more time that Foster actually realized that this wasn't earth. It wasn't something that everyone else that was still living there would be able to see at any point in the future. This absolutely and utterly unique sight. It made him more than excited at the prospect of living in this world. At starting from zero, just like Lynol.

With a broad smile on his face, Foster stood there in the middle of the street, until he felt someone pushing him to the side from behind him, "Don't just stand there, other people need to get through there as well." Some random guy said with a loud groan, walking past him quite annoyed. It seemed like Foster had quite literally been stunned by this sight, something that had never happened before in the 23 years that he lived. He was stunned by fear before, plenty of times, but never by excitement.

And even though they both lived in this world, Lynol and Octer seemed to react in a similar fashion. Neither of them had ever gotten the chance of seeing something like this, showing Foster that this place was absolutely magical even in terms of this world.

"Alright... Where to next?" Foster asked with a smile on his face, excitedly looking at his friends, and Lynol quickly pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small booklet that he liked to take notes in. He swiftly flipped it open, soon finding the page that he was looking for.

"At the public guild where I took the request to accompany the caravan I was told about a decent, affordable inn to stay at. It's called 'Red Riverside Inn'." Lynol explained, and Foster raised his brows excitedly, "There's even a river here inside the town? That's kinda cool..."

"I'm not sure that's it..." Octer said with a wry smile, "You two might now know about it, you know... because of your guys' circumstances, but... In big cities, there's quite often a particular district... It's usually where you'll end up finding official duel stadiums, and things like 'feats of strength'... Shows where people fight monsters for entertainment."

"Eh..?" Foster replied, surprised to hear this, "And those places are called..."

"Red Rivers..." Octer finished the sentence, staring ahead, "They're usually quite brutal districts to find yourself in..."

"Then is it really a good idea to head there?" A bit confused, Foster looked at his friend who quickly shrugged, "Maybe. I mean, it was recommended to Lynol, so probably?"

"Alright. Then... let's go ask someone where we need to go."

---

Foster climbed up the stairs to the second level above the ground level of this city, to this somehow relatively normal street. People were passing by, sitting by restaurants, having fun in the bars. And then, right below on the ground level, there was Arcadum's red river.

Him, Lynol and Octer were walking through this street up here, and soon reached the place that seemed to be the 'Red Riverside Inn'. It was a quite large building, and it seemed pretty decent. It was in a nice area, for the most part. Although, it did have a relatively unique architecture. Instead of having a regular entrance, it had just an archway that seemed to lead into some kind of archway in the center of the building.

"Should we just head through?" Foster asked, but as him and Octer were looking at each other, Lynol had already rushed through. For some reason, he seemed kind of excited. So, of course, the two others quickly rushed after him to see what he was so excited about.

And when they reached that 'courtyard', it was clear why exactly he was so excited. Lynol leaned over the railing in front of him, looking down into the deep hole in front of him. When Foster reached it, he saw that it seemed to be reaching down all the way to the ground level. And at the bottom were a bunch of people just fighting each other, slugging one another with their bare fists.

"Eh, you're the kinda guy that actually enjoys watching this stuff?" Foster asked with a grin on his face, surprised to realize this fact. Lynol, without even turning his head, swiftly replied, "Yes, and if you judge me for it, you can join me down there when the next round starts."

"...Not judging, not judging... Got nothing to judge you for... I did use to go to a lot of boxing matches as well. I mean, not for my own entertainment, mostly to collect some debts and stuff." Foster said, before starting to lightly smirk, "Heh, that one time, there was this really huge heavyweight guy, he was probably like 300 pounds. Knocked his opponent right out in the first round. Kinda fun to watch, but thing was, he was supposed to lose. So of course, I'm standing in front of this guy that could very well have been like 7 feet tall, and he's scared, just... just fucking shitless. It was kinda funny to be-" He went on a light rant with a broad grin on his face, and finally turned his head back to the side, where both Lynol and Octer were staring at him for a few moments.

"I think we're gonna have to talk about that... You say some kinda terrifying shit sometime, Foster... Right, Lynol?" Octer pointed out, and Lynol slowly turned his attention back onto the fight going on in the bottom, and as a very rare occasion, quietly chuckled, "Hah... That one guy just lost some teeth..."