Chapter 2

They arrive at the city. On top of the hill, they overlook the sunset looming on the horizon. The place that lies in front of them is a vast city with a tall outer wall that is at least fifty feet tall and about ten feet thick. In the inner circle of the capital lies a castle surrounded by a mansion. He assumes they belong to the royal family and the nobles.

"Kurai, you should hide in my shadow. It would be the safest course of action, we should try not to draw attention."

"Agreed, master," Kurai says as his form melts into the boy's shadow.

He strolls down the hill and arrives at the immense gate in the outer wall. "Identification," the guard barks in a stern voice. The man is quite intimidating. He has a large build and a scruffy beard.

"I don't have it. I come from a small village south of here, and on the way, I camped for the night. While I was asleep, someone stole all my belongings, and all I have is some coins I had in my pocket."

The guard looks him up and down, then says, "Fine, we can get you a temporary Id. I assume you came here to become an adventurer, you can get a guild Id, and it will work just the same. It is one silver for a temporary id. And kid, I would wipe that look off your face. You look at the wrong person like that, and you might get yourself hurt." The man motions with his head and a guard inside the tower comes out. "Get this kid a temporary Id."

"Yes, sir." The younger guard says, taking the boy inside.

He gets a little frustrated from what the scruffy guard said. The look that he was referring to was just his face. Ever since he could remember, he has had a perpetual look of anger. This look caused people to avoid him. He was mocked, hated, and disregarded because people thought that he just despised everything.

That caused him to lose trust in people, and everyone called him a demon because of his appearance. The consistent look of rage, even when he was happy, the black hair, and red eyes.

When he is around people, he doesn't know how to act. If people are scared of him, he ignores them. If people get indignant with him, his attitude becomes like his appearance. If people are friendly, he doesn't know how to react, dismissing their kindness. At this point, if people think of him to be wrathful, then that's what he will be.

He follows the young soldier into the tower. He begins to ask him basic questions, and the last question he asks is, "Okay, lastly, what is your name?"

"My name," He says, stuttering, "Is Ryder Luca Kaur."

"Okay, here's your paper id. You can get your permanent one when you register at the adventurer guild." Giving Ryder a grin.

The young guard then hands Ryder the paper id. He folds it and puts it inside his pocket. The soldier wishes him a nice day, and Ryder exits the tower.

'I should find an Inn and get some rest.' He pauses a second, then realizes, 'Now that I think of it, I'm not tired. Strange, but everything so far has been.'

He meanders through the city streets, absorbing the atmosphere, the music playing, the people talking, and the liveliness of it all. He spots an Inn down the road and makes his way to the building.

The sun has finally set, and the streets shine with the light emanating from lanterns along the road. They do not use fire, though; instead, they have these glowing orange crystals that mimic the color and brightness of fire.

Once Ryder arrives, a young girl at the desk greets him. He looks at her and notices that she has cat ears and a tail, along with her dark brown hair and golden eyes.

It is a typical fantasy inn with soft lighting, adventurers, and the smell of alcohol. He makes his way to the counter and says, "Do you have a room?"

"Yes, sir, how long will you be staying with us?" The girl says with a cheerful smile that could stop your heart.

"One week."

"That will be five silverr." She says with a purr.

He pulls five coins out of his pocket and hands them to her, and she presents him with the key. He proceeds up the stairs left of the counter. He searches for the room with the matching number as the card attached to the key.

Upon locating it, Ryder unlocks the door with a reverberating clack as the mechanism shifts into place. Then he pushes the creaky wooden door open.

Inside is a small bed, a nightstand, a table across the back walls with a window. He enters, shuts the door behind him, and lies down on the bed, which is notably quite comfortable.

"Kurai, come on out," he says to his wavering shadow. The shadow begins to form into the wolf, and he lies on the floor beside the bed.

'Rai, what exactly is magic?'

~According to Clark's third law 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' Though I suppose you are referring to the magic of this world. To be honest it is mostly unknown, the simplest explanation I can give you is that Xeros is composed of an energy known as Xero energy. Where it is from is unknown; the only thing that is known is that it's not native to this world. When it got here it altered itself and began to permeate throughout the world. Separating into different elemental particles such as earth, wind, water, fire, nature, light and darkness. Most living creatures on the planet have some control of Xeros, but it varies in strength. The manipulation of these energies is what is referred to as magic.~

Ryder lies in the bed trying to wrap his head around all he had just heard. His mind races as he tries to grasp the idea of magic. He uses his knowledge of science to rationalize it and compare, and without knowing it he falls fast asleep.

The following day comes, the sun peers through the window, shining directly onto Ryder's face, waking him. He opens his eyes, sits up and does a nice long stretch, and yawns. He slides out of bed, waking Kurai, who fell asleep next to the bed. Bright golden rays of light expose the dust hovering through the room.

Ryder's plan is to find a clothing store, to get more suitable clothing. Next is to sign up at the adventurers guild and get a permanent Id. His goal is to gather more information about this world and this country.

But most importantly, Breakfast. Ryder heads downstairs to the dining room for a good meal, with Kurai hiding in his shadow. He sits at the table closest to the door. Other patrons are staring at him, but he's used to it. When Ryder is around, everyone is on edge.

The same girl from the previous night walks up to him and asks, "So, how did you sleep?" Her smile gleaming like the stars, oblivious to the way others are acting toward Ryder. "Today we have wild boar steak. Yesterday we received a fresh batch of Gogudo eggs, so we are also preparing our famous herbal omelet."

"Yeah, sure, that will be fine." The food arrives at his table within a few minutes, and he begins to eat. He cuts the steak in half and sticks his forks into one of the halves and puts it under the table. With his thumb he pushes the steak off the fork.

Kurai's head forms beneath the table and he snaches the steak out of mid-air, then returns to the shadows. Ryder whispers to him, "We can go to the market later, and I'll get you some more."

Ryder can hear Kurai panting, he smirks a little and finishes the meal. Once finished, he drops four silvers for the innkeeper onto the table and heads out for the day.

Ryder wanders down the street, and passes a building with outfits hanging in the window. He enters the building and is immediately greeted by a large man a little shorter than him, "Welcome to my store." He says getting closer to Ryder "Those clothes you are wearing are quite interesting. This fabric is very high quality. How about this, I will trade you a set of clothing for you, and I will pay you handsomely for it."

"Fine, sounds fair to me," Ryder replies.

The man then waves his hand, and two young girls walk over, "Get this young man some suitable clothing for him." They disappear into the store, and the man guides Ryder to the store's back to the changing room. The two girls reappear, holding several articles of clothing, and hand it to him.

He steps into the changing room and changes into his new clothes. Looking in the mirror, he sees the outfit in its entirety. The shirt is short-sleeved, folding like a robe held together by thin straps around his stomach holding it together. With simple black pants made to both nice fitting and mauverable. Accompanied by a hooded cloak, with a black scarf covering his face. The whole outfit is light, flexible and durable, almost like kevlar.

The look gives him the appearance of an assassin or a ninja. He stares into the mirror, and an unintentionally sinister grin covers his face. 'Perfect,' he chuckles, thinking of the irony. A ninja like is a seemingly appropriate look for him.

Ryder steps out of the small changing room, and the man puts his chin between his thumb and forefinger. The girls stare at Ryder with stars in their eyes and say, "You look so cool, sir."

"Yes, I agree. You look quite dashing, my boy. Marvelous indeed, you two have learned well." The man lets out a good chuckle. Ryder hands him the clothes that he has folded. "Here, this is your compensation for these." The man gives him a pouch with fifteen gold coins. "Thank you for your patronage."

Ryder exits and steps into the alley to plan out his next step, and he can hear a commotion coming deeper within the passage.