6 Mysterious City

He was standing on a white circular platform, one completely filled with rune circuits. Surrounding this circular platform were towering buildings. Leo was about to investigate, but stopped when he heard a soft voice.

"Foreign human detected!"

"Scanning!"

"Scan complete!"

"Detected a member of the Redfrost family!"

"Initiating download protocol!"

"Download complete!"

This all happened in no more than a few seconds which stunned Leo. He had never heard of such an advanced city in Rendoro, much more a spatial ring that can fit one.

As if to surprise Leo even more, a half transparent and blue panel appeared before his very eyes. Which came from his star-link.

[Please state your name.]

His eyes widened in surprise but he still swiftly answered, "My name is Leonardo Ni—" but he was interrupted by another panel which cut him off.

[Welcome to Fidra City Leonardo!]

[Opening Main Menu as a basic test!]

[3, 2, 1!]

After this panel appeared, no more than five panels materialized a few moments later.

[Profile Status]

[City Map]

[Missions]

[Shops]

[Connections]

Leo's curiosity was aroused as he tapped on [Profile Status], he wanted to know what information the A.I. had of him.

[Profile Status:

Name: Leonardo Redfrost

Alias/Title: None

Age: 15

Birth Date: August 8, year 335

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Bloodline: Ice Dragon

Elemental Affinities: Redfrost(Ice/Fire) | Royal Fire(Fire) | Firebolt(Fire/Lightning)

Essence Cultivation State: None

Essence Cultivation Type: None

Affiliation: Fire Dragon God Clan

Affiliation Status: Clan Member(Hidden: Clan Heir)]

Leo thought that the A.I. failed in making a proper identification on him the moment he read his name, but he could not help but rub his eyes as he continued to read.

When he confirmed that he read everything correctly, he was so confused that he asked himself aloud.

"What's a bloodline? I'm human, so why would I have the blood of a dragon?"

As if to answer his question, a panel materialized in front of him.

[Your bloodline was properly scanned and it was detected to have been the blood of an Ice Dragon, there can be no mistakes as you only recently awakened.]

He took a while to understand what the A.I. told him, 'I don't really know what this awakening means, but it seems to be the reason I have this powerful sounding bloodline.'

He came back to reality and asked, "What is this awakening you spoke of?"

[An awakening is the process of purifying one's bloodline. To do so, a person must arouse their dormant and tainted bloodline thus the term bloodline awakening was born. The process can be painful as the bloodline will try to remove its imperfections for it to finally become what it once was.]

'So that's what happened, and here I thought he was sadistic.'

After thinking for a while, Leo decided to ask more questions.

"I only know of elements like fire, water, wind, earth, space, and so on but I have never heard of any elements like redfrost or firebolt. So what makes them different?"

[The element redfrost is one of the products of your bloodline awakening, while the other elements is due to the blessing of the Fire Dragon God. Royal Fire is an element every clan heir will obtain once they receive a blessing.]

"A blessing?"

[The Fire Dragon God will occasionally give blessings to those who worship him. These blessings can vary, but it is usually a gift in the form of an extra elemental affinity. In the case of a clan heir, they will receive not one but two extra affinities.]

'This Fire Dragon God sounds powerful, he can even gift elemental affinities.'

Leo decided to ask one last question, "Why is my name written as Leonardo Redfrost and not as Leonardo Nilfro?"

[After scanning you, we have detected that your ancestors were from the Redfrost family. While there are no records of any family called Nilfro in the Fire Dragon God Clan.]

Leo asked, 'If so, then how is an ice dragon related to the god of fire dragons? Don't tell me he worshipped him as well.' but decided not to ask it aloud. He only shook his head and decided to check the other options.

He pressed on [City Map], and a panel that illustrated the map of the city formed in front of him. From top view, it looked like a square shaped city that was surrounded by a circular wall. He could also see symbols on the map, and the legends on the bottom.

He could not help but notice that there was a house symbol at the southeast region of the map, 'Maybe that's a residential area.'

As he read through all the legends, he noticed that the city was split into five main regions; north, east, west, south, and center. Each of them were also further split in two, save for both the central region and northern region. Most of the important facilities were built in the center which so happens to be where Leo was at.

While playing with the map, he noticed that he could; zoom in and out, and place markers wherever he wished. If he placed a marker, the map will give him a path that will allow him to reach the marker in the fastest way possible.

He thought, 'If I want to be a mystic I will need a cultivation art, I hope I have enough DC.' and so he placed a marker on the nearest Mystic Library.

Mystic Libraries are similar to a normal library, however instead of books about knowledge or novels it contained books about mystic art.

As he walked around the city, he noticed that the streets were squeaky clean. He thought that it was impossible for someone to clean this place, he was the only one here.

'Then again, the old dragon might have cleaned it before he left. However, I still can't believe that a spatial ring could have this much space.

I guess with enough money, things like these are possible.'

When he arrived at his destination, he saw the words "Fidra Mystic Library" on the four story building. After he entered the building, a panel materialized and asked him a question.

Mystic was the term used for people who could use both an enhancer's battle art and an elementalist's battle art. Thus, it was common for things related to both to have the same title as well.

[Non-mystic detected! Would you like to get your cultivation potential assessed?]

Leo answered with a firm tone, "Yes!"

[Assessing…]

[Assessment complete! Extreme-grade potential detected! It is advised to start cultivation as early as possible!]

With a surprised yet joyful expression he exclaimed, "What‽"

He has always thought that he didn't have any talent for mystic arts, the only reason he decided to use this path was that it was the fastest way to earn money. He thought that he could get valuable treasures in the spatial ring so he can cultivate.

His mood was lifted and he continued, "That's what I'm here for, so where can I buy an essence cultivation art?"

[As a member of the Fire Dragon God Clan you are entitled to have a copy of the clan's main essence cultivation art—Red Dragon God Transformation Volume 1. This essence cultivation art can be found at floor one, on the fifth bookshelf and it is the thirty-fifth book at the top.]

He curiously looked around him, while following the instructions. It was the first time he got to see a real library, and it was even one that had actual books and not ebooks. When he reached his destination, he pulled a book out from a shelf and read the name.

"Red Dragon God Transformation, Volume 1. This is it" after reading the name, he decided to go see if he could buy mystic battle arts as well. 

He asked, "Can I have a list of mystic battle arts?"

[Mystic Battle Arts List: 

Name: | Type: | Grade 

Blazing Fists | Enhance | Extreme Spirit

Fireball | Mystic | Inferior Spirit

Lightning Blade | Enhance | Extreme Soul

Dra….     ]

After reading the first three techniques, he decided that there were too many to read. He asked, "Can you please filter the art by their price? From lowest to highest and with a price limit of 600DC?"

Although he didn't have to physically go to school, his parents still decided to give him an allowance which he saved up. Of course he used most of the money to buy things he wanted and was only left with a little bit of it.

The panel from before dematerialized, giving way to a new panel. This time the techniques were displayed in an orderly manner.

After scanning the new panel, he decided to buy three mystic arts. They were, 'Blazing Fist', 'Phantom Steps', and 'Phantom Fist'.

Blazing Fist was an extreme spirit-grade battle art. It was a technique that manipulated fire to coat one's body, not just limited to one's fists. However, just like the name of the art it leaned more toward attacks from one's fists.

Phantom Steps was an Extreme Spirit Grade movement art. It taught a technique that would allow one to move as fast and deadly as a phantom.

Lastly, Phantom Fist was also an extreme spirit-grade battle art. However, different from the Blazing Fist technique, it taught one to fight like a phantom. 

Phantom Fist and Phantom Steps seemed to be part of a series of battle arts, so he bought them both. As a whole these three mystic arts only cost him 580DC, leaving him with a miniscule amount of 40DC.

If it were anywhere else, these techniques would have sold for more than a million digital credits but the frog in the well—Leo currently did not know this fact.

After grabbing the books he bought from their shelves, with a smirk on his face, he left the building. Before he opened the [City Map] to mark his next destination, which was the Cultivation Tower.