Mariz Capital City

  Solance had told them of how impressive the capital city was. However, when they see it right in front of them, even the most exaggerated description he gives is not enough to describe the city in all its glory.

  The city walls were at an impressive height of 100 meters, with armaments adorning the upper part of the walls. Ryker could also sense powerful formations etched into the walls, likely preventing cultivators from using divine sense to look into the city and likely to prevent cultivators from flying. After all, what is the use of a tall wall if their enemies could fly over them?

  He could see a large group of soldiers guarding each gate, their cultivation at the Genesis Formation realms. That was just the common guards, with the captain of each squadron like at the peak of Genesis Formation or the Genesis Condensing realms.

  He started to have a second thought of using his plan but since he already committed to it, it's better to do it. He has his group head towards one of the main gates. Being the main gate, the traffic is also the greatest, with lines of people entering and exiting the city at that one gate.

  Ryker waits patiently, following the very long line. He looked around before spotting one of the captains. He smiled as he found his target.

  "Dear captain," he called out, the captain looking in his direction. He pulled out the token given to him by the City Lord of Alten City, "Does this token give a certain privilege to skip the line?" 

  The captain was about to dismiss him but a look at the token made his eyes widen. "Yes, please follow me. I have to get the garrison captain to look at it," he said, leading his group through the line.

  There were several jeers and stink eyes, some even hurling insults. The captain was about to reprimand the people when a powerful aura was unleashed, causing the people to back away in fear.

  Looking at the source, the captain could only look in shock when he sensed it. He didn't even notice the young man's cultivation, which made sense as he was way stronger than him, already at the Genesis Foundation realm.

"Please stop young master. My men will calm the people down while I escort you to the garrison captain," the captain tried to calm Ryker down, but the young man stopped his aura from leaking.

  "Let's go," he said, the captain gladly leading him to the gate. 

-x-

  When they reached the gate, they received many glares. Ryker didn't put it into his mind. After all, he could easily beat them up if they decided to cause trouble. The captain led them to the registry. 

  After registering their name and having the proper document, the captain led Ryker to an office, where a guard at the Genesis Foundation realm was waiting for them.

  "Sir, this is the one who has the token of Alten City," the captain said, before leaving Ryker with his superior. 

  The garrison captain looked at him, scanning him before asking, "And why do you come to visit the capital city?" while the question looked like it breached the privacy of the people, it needed to be asked, so the guards could guide them properly.

  "My group are travelers. We planned to stay in the city for maybe a month or two. After looking around, we would continue our journey," he replied, not disclosing the more private reasons.

  "Hmm. And how do you get the Alten City's token?" the garrison captain asked.

  "Where else can I get it? It was given to me by the City Lord for an undisclosed reason," he answered, not wanting to explain the danger of Argaman Peak.

  "I see. That's all I'm going to ask now. If the Alten City Lord decided you can be trusted, then you must be. If you wish to spend your days here in an inn, the more expensive one is located in the western part of the city. If you wish to buy or at least rent a house, then you can seek the real estate office in the south of the city.

  Here is the map of the city so you can navigate through the city better. Don't worry if something happens to it. We gave it to every visitor. You can go now, though be reminded that one of the family, the Uru Family had been agitated for quite a while now.

  I'm not sure what happened but rumors said that one of their Genesis Core elders was killed outside the city so they were looking for info about the killer. So you should do your best to avoid getting entangled with them," the captain advised. 

  The killer gave the garrison captain a smile, knowing full well the reason for the Uru Family's action. However, he couldn't say about it as he needed to maintain some form of obscurity to avoid implying his family.

  He left the office, his entire group looking at him with a smile. "Let's go take a look at the city!" the children cheered.

  Ryker laughed, knowing the different scopes of the capital city and major cities would be surprising and exciting for his younger siblings.

  "Let's take a look. Besides, we need to check our 'load',"

-x- 

  Passing through the inspection area, the group finally entered the city. They could only think of one thing, 

  'It is so much better and bigger than Alten City!'

  Calling it bigger is an understatement. The half-a-million population of Alten couldn't hope to compete with the nearly 3 million people living in the city. Besides the population, the infrastructure is also on a whole different scale.

  He could sense several pole-like things, something similar to a lantern on its end. The poles thingy seemed to be present at every 5 meters. He could sense it was connected to some formations. He was not sure of their purpose though they might have their uses.

  While he wished to take a quick look at the Adventure Guild in the city, he knew he needed to get Solance as quickly as possible to his family. 

  He went to the supply carriage, knocking it. "The coast is clear," Ryker said. A head popped out of the supply.

  "Thank goodness. I don't think I can handle much longer. But still, with me, you can easily get into the Hal Family estate," Solance stated.

  Ryker nodded in agreement. After all, the next part is sending Solance to his family.