Vol.4 Ch.69-The Fortress City.

After our reconciliation, Sylvia and I both decided that staying put was a poor decision. If we were lucky, we would be able to make it through Keldrag Pass before the snow fell and raging blizzards made traversing the mountains impossible.

We were only a day out from Fortress City Nactus in Whieland territory. We've made good progress despite my tired body. What should have been three and half days only took us two.

Walking on a well-traveled road was far easier and much more preferable than navigating that hellish dungeon. Every day we went further north, the weather became colder and colder. The massive mountain range that split the eastern portion of Illyrcium off from the west could be seen more clearly now. It was beautiful but I had seen plenty of snow-capped mountains in my life. And I was also keenly aware that many powerful monsters considered that mountain range to be home.

The vast open fields of Sandervile gave way to a much more barren landscape. Whieland had problems growing food and it was clear as to why that was the case. The climate was harsher and the soil was rocky, making growing crops a struggle. From what I understood Whieland focused more on ranching and of course manufacturing goods to make up for their lack of food. What they can't grow they just bought instead.

Whieland was the smallest City State in the Confederacy. Most of the populace is centered around the capital and those few on the fringes of the territories are farmers or ranchers. Their capital was situated close to the mines that went deep into the mountains.

Apparently, they had confrontations with the Dwarven Kingdom of Krunbar but a war has yet to break out among the nations. Unless you count the City-States being allied with the Old Empire and fighting against the Dwarves then.

Whieland also currently controlled Nactus, the fortress city that acted as a sort of chess piece for the two neighboring city-states. Sandervile and Whieland would "assault" the city every few years and gain control from the other. And by assault, I mean an army would approach the walls and the occupying nation would hand over the city without a fight.

It was an odd ritual, to say the least. It just goes to show how loose the Confederacy of City-States's alliance really was. Trying to one-up each other constantly yet they all need to rely on each other for survival.

"Voker, what are you doing?" Sylvia asked me.

"Working out my core."

"By walking around on your hands?"

"Yes, doing handstands engages your arms, back, and shoulders. But more importantly, it works your core out and increases balance. Most people neglect the core and even stretching but it is very important to one's overall strength and ability. Not to mention reducing injury chances."

I could see Sylvia's single blue eye behind her mask blinking at me in exasperation. "Didn't you just do your squats on… what was it again?"

"Squat rack. And yes, that was just one of many things I'm doing today," I answered back.

After growing so much in such a short span of time I was worried that my body may have had issues. But thankfully it seems nothing is wrong with me as far as I can tell. My spine is aligned correctly and my bones are in tip-top shape. Sylvia confirmed on her end that I was healthy as well.

This was all good news. I had genuinely been worried that I was entering my mid-teens and had yet to have a single significant growth spurt. But those worries are long gone and if I'm reading what my body is attempting to tell me I have plenty of growing left to do.

And with my new and improved teenage body comes a healthy dose of benefits and drawbacks…

On the bright side, I feel comfortable starting lifting weights and pushing myself harder in my workouts. For the last ten or so years I've mainly stuck to bodyweight exercises mostly because I couldn't fuel this Elven body enough and puberty was nothing but a pipe dream.

Speaking of not being able to fuel this body, that was easily one of the biggest drawbacks when I compared being an Elf to a Human. Keeping both muscle and fat was an extremely difficult mission for Elves. Sylvia had told me that all the Dark Elves she ran into were larger than Wood or High Elves so it seems Dad wasn't an outlier. Despite the Dark Elf blood running through me I also had Mom's High Elf side. And well, let's just say I've never seen a muscular or fat High Elf in my life.

I was also hungry… All. The. Damn. Time.

It didn't help that my body had seemingly consumed every ounce of fat and muscle I had managed to store over the last few years. I did lose some weight while in the dungeon because I had no choice but to ration my food even still… my body must have just taken everything it could as fuel and forced me to grow in the shortest amount of time.

Regardless, this wouldn't deter me in the slightest. I have knowledge of fitness and nutrition that far surpasses anything anyone else knows in this world. Even if that knowledge was geared towards Humans, I was 100% positive that most of it would translate to Elves in at least some capacity. If my body burned too many calories, I couldn't store enough fat, or even make muscle… I'll just have to eat more and work out harder. Sure I might never be as big as a Human again or even a Dark Elf, but try I must.

I always imagined what it would be like to get Dad on a proper workout routine. Just what kind of monster could I turn him into? What kind of monster can I turn myself into…

Sylvia sighed for the second time in a row snapping me out of my muscle-filled daydream. "What are you sighing about?" I asked.

Sylvia turned slightly away from me. "Do you have to do whatever this stuff is without a shirt on?" she said, her voice uneven.

"This stuff is called working out. You should give it a try sometime, it's good for you. And no I don't have to, it just feels better this way. The cold air is nice on the skin and I won't get my clothes unnecessarily dirty. And they are already in bad shape as it is."

Getting new clothes that fit me properly is high on the priority list. I can't even wear my old boots anymore and I'm using some foot wraps in the meantime. Everything I'm wearing is second-rate crap I managed to scrounge together from that small town. When we get to Nactus, I'm getting something to wear.

"And how would you feel if I started doing all of this stuff without a shirt on, huh?" Sylvia griped.

"…"

"Why aren't you saying anything, Voker?"

"If that's something you want to do, then I won't be the one to stop you. It's your life, live it how you want," I suggested.

"You…"

I felt Sylvia's intense gaze boring through me and I suddenly felt like I was in danger. I spun around on my hands like a top and used the momentum to toss my body to the side only for a silvery-white blur to pass straight through where my hands had once been.

"Why did you dodge that you deviant!" Sylvia shouted.

"Because you were trying to stab me!" I protested. "I didn't mean for that to sound that way! And I'm not one of those! I was just making a valid suggestion and—"

"Shut up! Shut up!"

Sylvia began chasing me around swinging her sword wildly. I didn't need to see the face behind the mask to notice how embarrassed she was. Her High Elf ears sticking out from the slits in her black hood had turned almost as red as her eyes.

I was just being honest with myself and was genuinely trying to support her! I thought that since she suggested it that she was serious and that it was something she wanted to do. I'm not one to judge, after all.

Lesson learned I guess. Some things are just better kept to yourself. Nick and Adrian didn't warn me about this part…

—

"Now then. Are you finally finished?" I asked.

"Shut…up…" Sylvia groaned.

Slyvia was sprawled out on the grass sucking air into her tired lungs. She didn't last very long. I managed to dodge her flailing with some mana enhancement and I could tell she wasn't taking it seriously since she didn't catch me.

Despite my growth, Sylvia was well… still older than me and stronger than me, even more so if she used her Blood Sorcery. She could have caught me with ease if she desired to. Which made me wonder why she did all of that? Was this some kind of workout for her?

And this was even with the increase to my mana pool after going through puberty. Grandpa wasn't kidding when he said my mana pool would continue to increase as I got older. I also wasn't aware that puberty would have affected my mana so much. I couldn't be certain if it was a common occurrence or just a me thing. Could even be an Elf thing.

Just by probing the warm water like mana coursing through my body, I would say it's almost doubled in size. I say almost because it's somewhat challenging to tell. It just feels more full than usual and I haven't had any way to test it since I train without using mana enhancement if I can help it.

I wish I could get an accurate number or something to represent my mana capacity… just going on feeling alone… I'd say it's about the size of a small lake now? Where before, I was probably a reservoir or something? Ugh… magic is a pain.

When I can confirm my safety I'll make an effort to test the limits of my new teenage mana pool.

Sylvia propped herself up on one arm and glared at me. "I have a suggestion."

Oh, please…

"Listen, I'm sorry… If it's about—"

Sylvia waved her other hand in annoyance. "It has nothing to do with you being a perv. I was going to suggest that you go to the guild in Nactus and prove that you killed the Wyrm so you can increase your adventurer rank."

Oh, that's… not a bad idea per se. And a perv? I… am not.

"Possibly but… if anyone was going to be collecting a high-level bounty, it's probably going to be an adventurer," I argued.

"True, but we are going to Nactus regardless. Not running into an adventurer is impossible since it's a big city. I think the benefits outweigh the risk. If you get ranked up to even Amethyst, that would help you tremendously. People won't be afraid to shake down an Opal ranked adventurer but most would be cautious of an Amethyst."

"I suppose…"

Slyvia shrugged and pointed a slim finger at me. "Even better if they put you higher. If you got Ruby or even Saphire you would be almost untouchable."

"You make a good point but I wasn't the one that killed the Wyrm, you did," I said.

"So what? They don't know that. They can't prove who killed it."

"Doesn't there lie the problem? If they can't prove I killed it, why would they even believe me?"

Sylvia snorted and chuckled to herself. "Nobody is going to give away an adult Wyrm corpse to some random Opal level adventurer. An adventurer of that rank wouldn't even be able to afford a mail shirt made out of its scales, let alone the means to transport a fresh body. Wyrms are the cousins of dragons. Their bodies are highly coveted for just about everything. Scales, blood, bones, eyes, and horns. You name it on a Wyrm, and it costs a lot of gold. I mean… that's how it was two thousand years ago…"

"I understand. But what if the entire guild suddenly turns on us?" I countered.

"You are just being paranoid. Besides, we've been through way worse situations," Sylvia said innocently with a small shrug.

I don't think that is something to be proud of.

—

I held my hand out and sighed as a single snowflake floated onto my hand and melted instantly. It seems snow is the same regardless of what planet you are on. And it also seems we were too late. If snow was falling here then the mountains were most likely a storm of icy death. Even I wasn't suicidal enough to challenge nature or the monsters that lurked in those storms.

Sylvia gave me a small nod which meant she probably understood what this meant, we would have to leave Nactus despite just getting here and find somewhere else to stay for the winter. Me living in a big city was cause for concern and I was far more likely to get caught here than in some random village. Not to mention the number of people here…

It's been a long time since I've been in a major city. Nactus wasn't nearly as big as Ostela or Sandervile but it dwarfed anything even remotely close to it. And it was obvious why people called it a fortress city. Most cities were made with wood and accented with stone. Defenses in most cities were also made up of stone in most cases but Nactus was entirely made up of stone buildings. Most of the houses in this city didn't even look like houses but were repurposed guard barracks that had been sectioned off for individual families.

Honestly, that was this city's entire identity. It was clear that everything here was a repurposed military structure. A grouping of shops to my left was renovated from grain storage into regular storefronts. There were no windows on buildings, just murder holes that had been covered by wooden shutters. The only wood you could see in the city was just addons like signs or shutters.

Nactus's roads were also designed for defense. Collapsing a nearby house or just blocking the road would seriously limit troop movements. Roads frequently narrowed for choke points while the stone houses made up the walls. The tall walls lining the city were thick and reinforced in spots with earth magic. The walls weren't nearly as impressive as Sandervile's defenses but it would be able to last in a siege.

Unlike a military fortress, getting into the city wasn't all that difficult. Maybe it's because we came at a good time. The lines were long and guards were doing a rushed job at searching people's belongings.

Merchants carrying goods on horse-drawn carriages were waiting in the cold—adventurers guarding the merchants or just waiting like everyone else griped and complained about everything they could. Then there were the people who were shackled to each other. Some wore thick red iron collars around their necks. Each and every one of them was dead silent as their masters eyed them with contempt and disgust.

Since Sylvia and I opted to put all of our things into our rings, we appeared to have next to nothing. The guards patted us down and were about to question us, but with a flash of my adventurer tag, they waved us in without much of a hassle. Maybe Whieland troops are just a little lax on the job? They do seem a little more trained than the average Sandervile foot soldier though. Or perhaps they just want to get through the throngs of frustrated and cold people waiting to get into the city.

As winter was starting, many people flocked to bigger cities for warmth and access to more food. The smaller villages didn't have too many problems since they had their own stores of grain, but that was mainly in Sandervile.

Here in Whieland, food was harder to come by. Just judging by that crudely drawn menu for some sketchy mystery meat skewer stall, the pricing of food in Nactus was double what it was in Sandervile. Although, that mystery meat sure does smell good… if I don't know what it is then it won't kill me, right? Besides, Sylvia can just heal me if I get sick.

Tempted though I was, I ignored the sizzling charcoal-grilled meat. Being here any longer than we had to was a mistake. We were to head to the Adventurer's Guild immediately, attempting to get me ranked up for killing the Wyrm and clearing the dungeon while also resupplying my food and water. Then purchase new clothes on top of one more personal thing I needed to attend to… but that was a simple matter and after all that, we needed to get the heck out of here.

Because just like nearly every city in this part of the world, Elves were the minority. And I feel the scrutinizing gazes boring into Sylvia and me. I did notice a much higher population of Dwarves… I wonder if it has anything to do with Whieland's manufacturing tendencies?

And after asking around, we finally found ourselves at the guild. I never did see the guild building in Sandervile but I imagined it looked nicer than this. The building was made of the same gray stone as every other building. This place was clearly some kind of officer's quarters since it was two stories and seemed just slightly nicer than every other building. It was also at the dead center of the city. The only thing marking this as the Adventurer's Guild was lime green banners flapping loosely in the breeze next to the building's entrance.

Walking into the guild was, well, the normal guild reaction. Every set of eyes turned to look at the two masked High Elves as every person all at once tried to evaluate the two of us. Some gazes lingered as if trying to discern a deeper meaning behind our presence but most just shrugged and gave a passing glance.

I'm sure the Opal tag that I was openly displaying around my neck turned everyone's interest away. It didn't help that my current shabby clothes made me look homeless, and Sylvia was covered from head to toe in all black.

Going through puberty and being healed will be a considerable boon in staying hidden. The wanted poster is looking for an injured Dark Elf child with High Elf ears and two different colored eyes. With my mask on, I look just like an ordinary High Elf.

However, one person never stopped staring at me, and my eyes fell upon him. The stone counter was manned by nearly a dozen guild employees all wearing their lime green uniforms. Some were old, and others were young, but they were all Human, and they were all in the process of helping somebody with plenty in line waiting. But the man who recognized me and I him was none other than—

"Mr. Winterheart? Is that you?" Dominick asked in visible shock and confusion.

"It's good to see you, Mr. Dominick."

Dominick was the manager of the guild branch in Anderfield. He was the one that made the exception for me to start out at Opal instead of Amber.

His hair was cut down to the scalp giving him a buzzcut, and his lime-green uniform was a little different from the other employees. It was more of a suit and less of a uniform with a white undershirt and black tie.

I found the guild's choice of lime green as their primary color to be… interesting, but regardless, it was good to see a familiar face. Could he have gotten a promotion, I wonder?

The man blinked multiple times before beckoning the two of us over to the counter's far end. "You are alive? Both of you? You look so different… you've grown a lot, Mr. Winterheart."

"Yes, I've done some growing recently. But yes, it's really me, us, I mean."

I wasn't sure if he knew Sylvia, but I imagine he did. She did technically hire Dem and his group through the guild along with coming along on our quests. Dominick was the type of man who tried to gather as much information as possible, so I would be surprised if he didn't know who Sylvia was.

But Dominick's surprised face turned into a scowl, and I could see the cold anger threatening to spew out from his swirling dark brown eyes.

"It appears I'm going to have to have a word with a certain Mr. Demais Beatrix about this."

Damn, he used Dem's full name. Mr. Dominick is not a happy man currently.

"My supposed death wasn't his fault. Or anyone for that matter, Mr. Dominick," I said honestly.

The cold anger subsided if only a little, and Dominick cleared his throat. "Regardless, I will be doing an investigation, and I'm sure you will be helping me. And it's actually Mr. Chidell to you now, Mr. Winterheart. Since the last time we met, I have been promoted, and I'm afraid I must ask for a certain amount of respect while on the premises."

I chuckled to myself internally. Dominick, or should I say Mr. Chidell now, wasn't being rude or acting all high and mighty. If anything, he seemed sort of embarrassed that I called him by his first name in front of his subordinates. I was right when I assumed that he had been promoted.

Good for him.

"Of course, Mr. Chidell. I was also hoping to speak with you regarding a few things. Surely you have time for a lowly Opal ranked adventurer?" I joked.

"For a valued member of the guild, I have nothing but time," Dominick said with a professional smile.

I just need to stop trying to be funny. Why do I continue to do this to myself?

And it seems even his way of talking has changed over the last year. Last time he was trying to throw Dem and me away and said he had no time at all.

Ah, how things change.