Chapter 58 – Aurora

"Ikarus-sama and Petra-sama!"

"Looks like you two are here"

The knight and priestess seem have arrived here before us, it was a good thing to try and catch the train a bit earlier since there was a problem, we couldn't actually get on the first few trains since it seemed to be peak dwarven rush hour times. The train we did end up getting on was fully packed and was a terrible experience, thankfully that's over now though.

"Did you two enjoy yourselves?"

"Yes Ikarus-sama, the temples were most excellent"

"There's a surprising amount to do in this kingdom, we also went shopping and did some other things too"

They're also holding hands but so am I and Petra, I wonder if their relationship has developed any further since then. It probably hasn't but I won't ask about it, they'd get too embarrassed over the whole thing like usual.

"Good to hear then, shall we head on over the bridge?"

"Okay Ikarus-sama"

(Nathan) "Yeah, time to go then"

(Petra) "Let's get a move on"

It's now officially time to leave to dwarven kingdom, what a weird experience, mostly down to the gnome and Petra being Petra, not that it was a bad thing...

__________

"Erm, you three see that?"

"Yes Ikarus-sama, that's a big animal"

(Nathan) "That's a bloody big bear"

(Petra) "He is slightly on the large side"

During our flight over to the city of Aurora, we've just noticed a huge bear sleeping on the floor in a small opening in the pine woods. This guy is larger than me and I'm basically an elephant, he's that big. He also appears to look slightly red, unknown if it's his blood or he's become stained from killing other creatures, he looks really dangerous regardless.

"I'm going to get a closer look"

Of course, I want to give him a quick look if he's dangerous, what the point in having no danger in life? We haven't been in much combat recently, need to force a fight or two every now and then.

While still flying in the sky, I descend down a lot till I'm just hovering over the gigantic sleeping bear, I'm still far enough away to be safe but I need to get a proper look at him.

'Status'

[Name: _____ | Species: Bear | Level: 378]

[Health 40,000/40,000]

[Stamina 24,810/26,150]

[Magicka 0/0]

'Damn, that's a beefy bear, this guy must work out everyday or something'

[<Species bear has 1.75x distribution multiplier>]

'You don't have to do that unless I ask Aesa but thanks anyway. Still, this guy could be a good test for something'

This does seem like an opportunity though to have a proper test of my giant ability; I've used it once or twice on enemies that have been too weak but the effect it provided was too much.

Simply put, it was overkill. The wolf I previously used it on exploded after I applied the ability to a kick. Yeah, I'm not kidding, the poor creature literally exploded everywhere after the kick, went all over me and had to find water to bathe in afterwards. Gross.

Still want to give it a try though, maybe it might not be overkill since this guy has forty-thousand HP.

"Oi, you three alright if I kill this guy?"

"Of course Ikarus-sama"

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"..."

I guess those two are fine with it, Petra does seem to get quieter with other people but I know for a fact it's nothing like social anxiety, she's normally not that talkative when it comes to things like small talk unless I'm the one asking first. Maybe to other people it could come across as a little rude but I understand her reasons for it though.

Since she doesn't give an answer, she's definitely alright with me doing it as well. I then find a safe place to land a bit away and everyone gets off my back, Petra now has something to say it seems though.

"If it doesn't kill it first hit, use my version as well, that should finish it off"

Ah right, can't forget she's got it as well. I've always got her to back me up, the other two as well but they're just the empire's puppets after all, unsure if I feel sorry for them or not.

"Just call for help and we'll provide it Ikarus-sama, summon"

"Yeah, we'll still be here"

They've just offered to help now as well, too little, too late. Priestess has gotten her sword of light out though.

All four of us walk into viewing distance of the bear, they stop while I keep slowly walking on. The guy looks even bigger now than he did in the sky.

'Aesa, activate aspect of gigantomachy'

[<Confirmed. -User's- next hit will apply ability>]

This does only apply to physical attacks so using stuff like magic or a bow wouldn't work, it does apply to bladed and blunt weapons which is slightly odd but I guess the force of the attack is still coming from myself, that basically is what physical damage is anyway, arrows would count as projectile damage and magic being magic damage obviously.

Should probably get to work, this guy needs taking care of after all, having a creature this deadly roaming any forest is a risk but I couldn't care about doing good here, I just want to see if the attack is overkill on him or not.

As I approach the sleeping creature even closer, two of my party members step back ever so slightly, it's clear they might be expecting him to explode from the kick. Petra stays still though, she's fine with being in the danger zone, she might have to take a bath somewhere after as well.

Just as I'm about to enter kicking range, the beast awakens...

"ROAARRR-"

... Then very quickly receives a phoenix kick to his head as he's trying to get up off the ground, then collapses straight back down after the impact.

'Is that... it?'

He seriously just died like that? I didn't even put that much force into the kick, I know it's supposed to be a base fifty-thousand damage but still, resistances and all that. Even Petra who's standing by the other two look's a little surprised, she must've been able to see this guy's health too or something similar since different systems and all that.

'Aesa, did he have no resistances or something?'

[<Species bear has enormous health pool to compensate for lack of natural resistances. Aesa did tell -user- ability -aspect of gigantomachy- kills most enemies>]

Okay, this ability might be even better than first thought, if something as deadly as that mutated bear falls down in one kick, then Aesa wasn't kidding. It's been a long time coming but I've finally gotten at least one thing that is absurdly powerful.

Sighhh, twenty-four-hour cooldowns suck though, at least this guy didn't explode after impact, that would've been a mess to clean up, blood and gore all over these orange feathers would have been disgusting.

Petra would've needed to help clean me to get it out, maybe that wouldn't have been the worst thing...

[<-User- has hit level 67 by the way>]

'Oh, that guy levelled me up, I guess abilities do count to levelling'

There was another thing I never thought about bringing up. Turns out, Aesa was wrong about normal EXP growth.

I was under the impression it was a constant ten percent increase every time towards animals, no it actually isn't. It's barely noticeable when it takes that long to level up but once level ten was hit, it starts to become a curve, Aesa wasn't aware of that when first describing how levelling works, I guess it's not her making a mistake if it wasn't known about just yet.

I don't want to know about the specifics behind it, she starts going into formulas and x equals something plus something else, it makes my head spin. I'm even dizzy thinking about it now.

The simplest way of looking at it is which she described to me is that level 10 was sixty wolfs to level up once, 100 to 101 is six-hundred wolfs and just under six-thousand wolfs for level 1000, keep in mind those numbers are literally for just going up 1 level. Yeah, we're still using wolfs for EXP comparison, so what?

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---I've done the numbers like this since it looks a pain to read otherwise, it's not a mistake btw.

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Obviously, they all stack up as well so we're talking about thousands and thousands of animals added up in total, it might even hundreds of thousands but I'm not that good with numbers to figure out how the curve works perfectly.

It matters little anyway, nearly all my levelling is reserved for humanoid targets since it levels me up so much quicker anyway, I might level even more if I have to kill some elves, let's see how this trip to the city goes...

__________

"Look at the size of that tree!"

"Heh, that's the elven city of Aurora Ikarus, we'll have to circle around to get to the entrance though"

Across the large river on a cliff face is a ginormous tree as high as a skyscraper and wide as a shopping mall, this tree is incomparable to any on Earth. Around that tree is a vast elven city with beautiful architecture and is probably bigger than any city in this fantasy land.

The entire trip from the dwarven kingdom to this city has taken just under a week with us making a few stops like the bear killing one for example, it's unfortunate this place is so tree heavy between interesting locations. Bandits seem lacking as well but flying is a brilliant repellent, yet to come across flying bandits to counter us.

"It literally is the sacred tree of Yggdrasil"

"Oh, you recognize the name Ikarus?"

"It's the world tree Petra, that's the only name it could realistically have"

I know a little about Norse or Viking beliefs, not half as much as Greek though. It is mad to think that something like this could be in a world where most things seem to be focused of Greek myth but then again, there's other types of religions like priestess's God and the church that runs the monastery, it should be obvious the elves are slightly different as well.

"Do they live inside that tree as well?"

From this point flying here, I just barely see the fancy styled buildings white and green in colour all around the world tree itself. It's clear the city has a distinct architecture, even more distinct than any other. The dwarfs may know how to build advanced things but these elves know how to build beautiful buildings.

"Yeah, this is the largest known city in the world and everything is used"

"Even the Lord thinks it's impressive"

(Nathan) "I can't believe the empire don't teach people about this place; they must know of it"

I guess even the knight can't understand how we've only just really heard of this place, the empire seems very lacking when it comes to knowledge regarding the elves, it's almost as if they're trying to erase it from history or something.

At least in the desert continent, there are books and things you can read about it, even the fourth continent in the southwest still has bits and pieces that the empire can provide. There is next to nothing about the elven cities or tribes that exist, it's a good thing guide Petra is here to help.

"It might be better to take a long way round Ikarus, you might end up being shot down"

"They have air defences as well!?"

"Heh no, was just making a joke, still better to try and remain unseen though"

I'm unsure if that was me being naïve or Petra just being a wind up but I should still try and not be seen.

Let's find a way to the front entrance, it seems to be completely on the other side though.

__________

Now that we've arrived at the main gate, you can really get a sense of just how big this place is. Even though the gigantic wall and door that blocks our entry takes up most of our view, the elven style towers still tower over it, this place really is fascinating. Everything is either white, green or blueish-green as well, it's astonishing where they even find materials to build it out here in the endless forests but there is a river, they must transport materials in for a lot of this.

"How do we even get in though?"

(Nathan) "Unsure, we could just give a knock"

(Charlotte) "I don't think elves hate humans so they should just let us in"

The elves on guard standing on top of the gigantic circular wall that surrounds this side of the city haven't given us any attention, it's almost as if they'd rather we just turn away and aren't even giving us any acknowledgment.

Petra doesn't give me a response and steps forward though and goes to place a hand on the door.

"Halt! Don't lay your hands on our spectacular door!"

"Open the door then"

"We're currently not allowing visitors"

"Tell your superior a blind woman wishes to shop; he'll know what it means"

After Petra finishes speaking to the guard elf on the wall, she walks back to us and doesn't say anything to follow it up.

"Petra, what was that?"

"Just give it a minute Ikarus, it's not that much really"

The guard who was talking has now disappeared from site, he's clearly gone to fetch someone in command. The only thing I can think of now is Petra is known over here as well, why else would she say that to the guard?

She does come out with some weird things but that probably makes me like her even more, my tastes are definitely odd after all. Would hold hands again but might need them if the elves decide to attack us, got my blade ready at any time placed in my sheath. I'm sure it's crying out for some action.

It takes a minute but then a muffled voice can be heard behind the door.

"O--n -he -at-!"

The large rounded door slowly starts lowering into the earth and an elf in painted fancy armour stands ahead of us alone.

"Apologies to the hero, you haven't returned in so long, the new recruits working the wall weren't aware of your existence"

Hero? Petra seriously gets about way too much, the dwarves love her and the elves see her as a hero, it's surprising she's barely known in the empire but then again, she dislikes them immensely so it's understandable.

I'm guessing the elven arrogance stereotype isn't a thing here? It might still be but unknown just yet.

"Just forget about it and let's move on, are Zander and Elise still alive?"

"Both the lord and lady of Aurora are well and happy; they both celebrated their anniversary several days ago thinking about it"

"Oh, they got married then? They definitely suit each other's tastes"

"It was a while ago, welcome back to Aurora anyway... To hero Petra's travelling companions, we ask you try to remain civil while inside the city and to try and ignore any abuse you may receive. Not every elf has such open-minded views on humans"

Oh, I was wrong then, elven arrogance is a bit of a thing. I should be able to control myself from killing a racist elf though. I should, that's not a guarantee though.

"Do you lot still hate the other tribes as well?"

"Don't even get me started on that, we as a species can be too prideful even to our kin. Dark elves in particular seem to be the trend to hate right now"

"Heh, you lot did always hate yourselves"

"I know, still try and enjoy the city regardless. Welcome to Aurora everyone, the only problem with the glorious city itself is the people that live here"

"Heh"

Of course, us three are a little speechless at their conversation that just went down, having Petra around always provides its benefits and getting to witness odd scenes like this.

The guy just speaking to us leaves as well and we then enter the glorious city of Aurora, let's play spot the racist elf, we got away with the one at the entrance so we might be getting lucky but doubt it. Is it racist if they hate their own type of sub-species though?

While we're walking and admiring the absolute madness that is this city itself, I can't help be curious, those other two seem speechless viewing this place right now though.

"Who are those two you said about anyway? Zander and, can't remember the other name"

"Elise, just two acquaintances travelled with years ago, they took up leadership of this tribe after we parted ways it seems"

"You want to pay them a visit?"

"Not really, we were never that close, it was just business after all"

She doesn't sound all that happy talking about it, that's something else that is blacklisted from talking about. I really don't like seeing her recollect on her troubled past so the more we can avoid it, the better.

"What should we do now then?"

"It might be best to find an inn Ikarus-sama, it is starting to get late"

"Yeah, it would be best"

"..."

I guess we're finding an inn then, we can try exploring the city tomorrow on our tourist vacation of the elven lands. After this, we really should head back to the capital.

__________

We all find a suitable inn to stay at and as we enter, two faces sitting at a table seem very familiar, unsure where from though.

"Petra, don't those faces look familiar?"

I purposely whisper it into her ear, don't want people we're walking past to know we're talking about them. She also whispers back.

"Yeah Ikarus, they look strikingly similar to the elves in the desert dungeon"

Wait a second, that's why I recognize them!? They were those two elves, the fuckers we fought against for six months?

I've got to speak to them, there's got to be a reason they're both here...