Chapter 11: The Formless Seed (1)

The weekends finally arrived, Rio thought as he checked the backpack he was holding. Inside, were everything he needed, ranging from simple food to needs. He needed to prepared after all, he wouldn't want to he overconfident.

He had just exited the academy a few hours earlier, as he arrived at the Royal Capital. The Royal Capital was the metropolis of this society. This was a place where everything could be found, high-class food, good entertaiment, and quality goods.

The Royal Capital is directly overseen by the government, or the monarchy. The current person on the throne is King Arthur, there where only a few instances he ever appeared in public, but if he ever does so again, the world would be at chaos.

After Rio observed the capital, he had to agree. This place was had many things, and was easily the largest place he had ever gone to. He would've loved to explore a little, but unfortunately time was not at his side.

He was in a hurry, however he didnt even know where the place he was finding at. But, that wasn't even a problem at all. Technology here is so advanced, most citizens are given a free smartwatch. Granted, it was only free if you were registered as a citizen.

He had one too, and he had to admit. This was convenient. He turned on the smart watch, and a hologram screen popped out. He pressed the map since he needed directions afterall.

He typed the name of the place he needed to go to, and suprisingly it was quite far from him. It would take him a couple hours of walking at most. That was sufficient, it also helped that he could enjoy his time on the capital for a while.

'Ah, such blissful breath of fresh air..'

The air was fresh and comfortable to breathe, Rio found himself relaxing at the breezy calm air. The constant chattering of other people was refreshing to him rather than annoying, it had been a while since he had heard people constantly talk. The academy was quiet, utterly quiet even more so at nights.

He walked around, following the directions given by the stopwatch. As for safety? He didn't need to worry about getting tricked, the producer of this object was a fair and impartial man. That person wasn't the type to put trackers on their work.

As he walked around, he smelled the fanciful and tasty aroma spreaded in the air. He looked around and realized there were many restaurants here, with all different culture integrated. Rio saw one that had italian dishes, and another which has chinese cuisine.

He wanted to taste them, but he remembered his poor budget. He got depressed all of a sudden. Truly, money was his restriction to freedom both past life and current life.

At sadness, he looked around the brand names, remembering them incase he ever comes back. His eye noticed one restaurant. It was cheap. He could afford it just fine, that turned his mood back to happinness real quick.

It was a japanese side stall. Rio approached it, and sat at one of the empty chairs. The stall selled ramen. He didn't know much about ramen as he only tasted it once in his past life, and that was when a colleague treated him to dinner.

"One, uh, Sapporo Ramen." Rio tapped his fingers as he ordered some food. He didn't know what ramen was good, so he just picked the one that looked tasty.

"Coming right up!" A deep and heavy voice replied. He was the one that was incharge of this stall, if Rio had a guess.

"So, where are you going?" The chef asked in curiosity, seemingly wanting to start a conversation.

"I'm headed to the Miracle Plaza," Rio replied casually, as he looked at the technique being applied to making the ramen.

"Ah, so you're a prestigous Miracle Invoker?" The chef asked excitedly. It was rare to meet Miracle Invoker's at these part of the streets, it was even rarer to have a costumer of one. Most Miracle Invokers go to plaza as they didnt have any interest in these parts of the metropolis.

"Indeed, however keep your voice down. I don't want uneeded attention," Rio said, putting a finger in his lips gesturing to keep quiet. He had forgotten that Miracle Invokers had a prestigous reputation, even going as far being comparable to superheroes.

"Here's your order," The chef said as he put the bowl of ramen down to Rio's table.

Rio nodded in thanks, ready to eat the ramen. He picked up the chopsticks and put it in his tounge. Ah, it had been a while since he ate good refreshing food like this.

—

Rio had just finished eating the ramen and had been walking around for a while. The ramen was priced at 15 Credits. Affordable and cheap for his budget.

Speaking of credits, it was the currency of this world. Credits replaced coins and paper money some point in history. The way to earn Credits was simply to contribute to society.

It was also why being a Miracle Invoker is one of the most sought of jobs in society, as the danger and risk of being one is huge, so is the returns and benefits of one is as huge too.

After a hour and more of walking, he finally arrived at the Miracle Plaza. The Miracle Plaza, was as it names implies, a plaza or place for Miracle Invokers. This was where most deals regarding hiring some people, finding some uncommon materials,and finding equipment or skills happen.

It was the den and gathering of many Miracle Invokers in society. But he was not in here to hire people, nor find equipments or skills. He was simply in here to access the portal towards Encantia City.

As he walked around, he heard many deals going around the hub.

"…This broadsword, perfectly refined and crafted, for sale at the price of 2,000 credits…"

"…An Herb of Revilization for sale at the price of 8,000 credits…"

"…Open for hire, Rank D Miracle Invoker at the price of 15,000 credits…"

The hub was full of chattering and voices spreaded across the place. Rio continued to walk, ignoring most of the businness and deals that they were offering.

And, finally he arrived at where he needed to be. The Portal Hub, this was the place filled with portals towards the various places of the world. This was a public domain for all Miracle Invokers, however using a portal was not at all free.

There was a price, and depending on what portal you wanted to use the price differs heavily. If you just wanted to go at some riffraff near tourism place it would cost less.

The Portal Hub was managed by the Nether Flash association. They were the one's managing the prices of the portals and their maintenance. Their history was quite a long one that Rio would not have the time to discuss.

The portal he wanted to enter in was Encantia City, it costed about 40,000 Credits. It was cheap for a normal Rank C Miracle Invoker, but for the poor low budget Rio it was like a gut wrenching blow.

'Well, no matter. I would be able to earn more later anyways.'

Rio thought as he comforted himself. He should get going now, he needed to hurry. He prepared his backpack and fixed himself. He approached the counter.

"Where do you wish to go, sire?" The beautiful female staff asked behind the counter.

"Encantia City." Rio said calmly as he awaited the procedure.

"Mhm, that will be about…40,000 Credits." The girl behind the counter said.

"I see." Rio nodded in response as he opened up his stopwatch and sent the money to their server.

"Here," The female staff smiled cutely, as she handed over a white card featuring Rio's name and destination "Have a nice day, and continue to support us~"

Rio wordlessly nodded as he exited the counter and walked over the portal he was going to use. He approached the portal he needed to enter, however the guard obstructed him

"Card?" The guard asked in a commanding tone. The guard was strong, he was Rank C.

Rio without hesitation, gave the white card to the guard. It seemed to be a visa of sorts to confirm the transportation. Afterwards, the guard verified the card and gave it back to him.

The long walking hours was finally over, and he was finally able to go to the Valley of Encantia. That was good, Rio thought as he sighed and prepared himself.

This was going to be his first adventure and exposure to danger. He was going to try his best and not die. He wouldn't want to die at the first chapter of his life in this bizzarre world afterall.

He entered the purplish portal, as he calmed himself down and embraced his worries. The next thing he felt was dizziness and the urge to throw up.

—

"Cough, cough." Rio coughed as he felt the urge to throw up, that experience was sickening. His mind felt a sudden shift that it couldnt handle.

"Aye, don't worry it's normal for newbies." A middle aged man with a brown beard and bald head said, as he tilted his head and continued, "No, it's even odder you just coughed, most throw up at first."

"Must be luck," Rio said as he wiped the sweat out of his forehead. Good thing he had practiced that skill on the library that allowed one to disguise their actual power. To others, he was a Rank D Miracle Invoker at most.

Or else, he wouldnt be able to explain why he acted like a newbie if he was a Rank C Miracle Invoker. His reputation would go down in drains, not like that mattered to him, but just the strength of a Rank C Miracle Invoker will catch the attention of others.

And the one thing he absolutely didn't need right now as he was adapting to this worlds powers and machinations, was attention directed to him.