Serek Book Store

Soon, Alex found himself on the familiar cobblestone path of the high-end commercial street. Just yesterday, he was with Rose's team here partying in the Moon Restaurant. A few shops after the restaurant was the Serek book store.

Alex thought of buying few books for the journey but was exhausted on his way here. So, he first entered the luxurious Moon palace restaurant. After ordering Roast duck for both Varis and himself. Alex paid 50 Gold coins.

"What! Do I have to wait one hour? again? This place is practically empty." said Alex, raising his voice.

"Sir, the Chef, did not arrive yet," said the receptionist.

"Ok. Please make it quick. I will come back in an hour," said Alex and walked to the Serek book store.

As he opened the door of the dilapidated book store, the bell attached to the door rang, alerting the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was an old fox man with piercing eyes raised his head from his book. As soon as Alex saw the fox man, he became a little more depressed.

"Ah, young man, Welcome. My name is Serek Rufek. How may I help you?" said the old man in a friendly voice.

Hearing the surname Rufek, Alex's brows furrowed further.

"From your expression, I take it you met one of my descendants and don't like them. Do not worry, I don't like them either," said Serek Rufek, smiling.

Alex was a little skeptical.

"Those short-sighted fox men will be the reason for our Moon fox tribe's downfall. That's why I opened this book shop, hoping they would read some books and gain some knowledge. Yet the only reason they come here is if they ran out of ink or paper,"

"I see. It's hard," said Alex, noncommittal. He understood that anything said by a fox man should be taken with a grain of salt.

"So, what books are you looking for," said the Serek in a friendly tone.

"Do you have any books on gods? I want to know where you can find them and how to kill them," asked Alex.

He wanted to know where the gods reside so he can stay as far away as possible. He also desired to know if they can be injured by mortals, to prepare as much as possible. If he can run him to them once, he can run into them twice.

"Boy, you mean the Myths of gods in cultures, right? We have one right here," said the old man with a friendly face.

"No, not myths. I mean real gods like the Ancient god," said Alex.

"Haha, you are a funny young man. There are no real gods on this continent. If they were, I would know it. And the Ancient God you speak is just a myth cooked up by the beast-men," said the old man laughing.

Alex was crying. From the words of this old man, the gods did not show themselves to the mortals before. Then the only reason he encountered one must be due to a freakish coincidence, or there was something wrong with the lizard man he killed.

After recalling the situation, Alex quickly opened his red notebook and drew the symbol of a vertical eye and some complicated array. The old man looked at the picture and stopped laughing.

"Well, I saw this image before... this image was drawn by an adventurer who ventured deep into the dark forest and met few beast-men tribes. You can find it on the Gods and Cultures books," said the old man, showing one of the bookshelves to the right.

Alex thanked god (one from the earth) and moved to the bookshelf. But he quickly noticed the giant map drawn on the wall.

Unlike the small map in his possession, which depicted the surroundings of the fox town, this map showcased the whole continent. It was a supercontinent. Alex forgot all about the books and eagerly looked at the map.

In the northern half of the continent, there was a vast stretch of forest called Endless forest. Mountains and rivers are a common sight in the north. Only exception are the two cities: Dragon city and the city of Darkness, which stuck out like a sore thumb in the vast forest.

Soon, Alex noticed the most of the cities and kingdoms are located in the southern half of the continent and shifted his gaze south.

The south was divided into two empires and three kingdoms. The two empires, the Aegard empire, and the Ellesmere empire are divided by the Enchanted forest. Below them are three kingdoms: Fresia, Saul, Trieste kingdoms, which are separated by the dark forest.

Alex saw a small red star indicating the Fox town in the north of the dark forest and at the border of the Kingdom of Fresia. His current position. Few inches above it is the free city Tyros painted in Gold color. Alex observed there are seven such gold star cities. Alex assumed all seven of them are free cities.

The old fox man noticed Alex gazing at the map and walked over.

"It's magnificent, is int it. I have to use many of my connections to complete the map and bring an artist from the Aegard Empire to paint it."

"Yes... So most of the humans are in the south, huh."

"Not, most. All of them are in the south," said the old fox men.

"Aren't there two cities in the north, Dragon city, and city of Darkness?" asked Alex.

"They are the cities of the Magic beasts and Demons,"

Demons? Alex was not as shocked as he should be. He already met Magic beasts, Demi-humans, Beast men, and Gods. Another Demon race is not going to shock him.

After imprinting the map in his mind, Alex looked around the book store.

"What else do you want to buy?" asked the old man.

"I will just browse," said Alex as he walked among the bookshelves.

He found some interesting books: All about Magic Professions, Magic Contracts: Binding and Breaking, Into the technology world, Magic wave theory, Why wizards are single, Races In dawn continent, Fresia Kingdom.

Alex wished to buy all of them, in the end, he decided to take two books on the journey. Alex finally chose to take the 'All about Magic professions,' 'Gods and Cultures,' and 'Fresia Kingdom.' After paying two gold coins to the old man, he went to the restaurant to get his lunch.

After eating their lunch, Alex felt alive again. He quickly walked towards the Town square near the town wall. Reaching the Town square, Alex noticed the long line of carriages drawn by wind horses and mercenaries. He walked to the center of the line and saw a fat human sitting on the chair. He took out the ticket and showed it to the fat man, who was the leader of the caravan.

"Ah, you made it. Tom said that you might sleep and may not make it," said the fat man with a friendly smile.

"That would have been nice," said Alex, thinking about the encounter an hour ago. The fat leader then proceeded to tell the rules and the journey details. Alex listened intently.