Nacre

"By foot, it should take you around three weeks, granted you know your way there. So you would need to first buy a map, but since you don't seem to have any money on you, you would need to first find a job. So you could be back there in around a month, I reckon. Well, that would be if you manage to get past the Level 100+ monsters around here."

With every point Sister Theni made, Felix felt like his hope was getting punched in the gut.

"So leaving by foot would be ill advised. Another solution would be to do the same as most people, and join a caravan. However, you would need to be able to find one that goes to Fìrma, or somewhere close to it, and manage to gather enough gold to be taken in. All in all, you should be able to be back to Fìrma in around a month or two, depending on your luck, and ability to get money."

This wasn't good either. He would miss the battle with Blue Light.

This thought, however, put a stop to Felix's mind. Why did he care about missing the battle?

He was in Nacre, the capital of the Margarita Kingdom. Considering what surrounded them, he probably was the only player who even got to the city, and even if he wasn't, there was no way Blue Light could send any army at him here.

He was safe here, so why not stay?

However, Felix quickly threw the idea out of his mind. Ignoring the promises he had made, Felix found an undeniable truth. He wanted to be part of that battle.

Again, with his future uncertain, holing himself up in Nacre would ensure his safety for now, but by the time players got to the city, he would be left behind by everyone.

Unaware of the debate Felix was holding with himself in his mind, Sister Theni added, "Then, there is the Teleportation Array. Since Fìrma is one of the cities connected to Nacre, you could get there in an instant."

Felix focused back on Sister Theni, and guessed, "But it won't be cheap, will it?"

Sister Theni kept her smile as she replied, "If the Teleportation Array was functioning well, it wouldn't simply take a stupendous amount of money to get teleported, you would need some authority in the city, connections."

Narrowing his eyes, Felix said, "I guess there's a but following."

"But the Teleportation Array has recently been damaged. Badly enough to force the city to make it all over again."

Felix nearly looked up as he already knew where this was coming. Still, he asked, "Isn't there a Runesmith Guild around here?"

"There is. But the war ruined our country, and we have had little time to recover. Runesmith is a rare profession too, hard to be introduced in and elitist."

"So the Runesmiths here aren't very good."

Her face turning stern, Sister Theni replied, "They are, but a Teleportation Array, even one that only operates domestically, is a very complicated matter that requires long, precise work, and very high expertise into the subject of Runes. Something we unfortunately do not have."

Crossing his arms, Felix asked, "But if I were to help, I could get back to Fìrma."

"That would certainly be more than enough to pay for passage, yes."

Sighing, Felix revealed, "Except I am not an expert in Spacetime Runes. I know a thing or two, for sure, but I am far from being good enough for the task. I'm sure the title can be misleading, but I'm only Level 28."

"27."

Rolling his eyes, Felix grunted, "Yes, 27. My point still stands however."

Holding her chin between her fingers, Sister Theni asked, "Alright, what will you be doing then? You can't leave the city, you wouldn't last the night out there. Why not put your skills into use?"

Sighing, Felix shut her down, feeling a little down himself, "Look, it's not that I am against working on the Teleportation Array. I would be glad to, actually, as I am sure it would be a very interesting experience. However, I am far from skilled enough, and I will only be a bother."

Sister Theni was nothing but stubborn however, "So you won't even try, because you might encounter a setback?"

Her words struck deep into Felix as he did not answer straight away for once. Not that he did not want to. He wanted to refute, to explain his situation, to… find an excuse.

He was finding excuses, Felix realized.

He was brought out of it by a pat on his shoulder, as Sister Theni was now next to him, smiling kindly, "I don't know much about you, young man, so I will keep the lesson to myself. However, if I may give you some wisdom myself, fear is a trait shared by every human, and their greatness depends on how they handle it."

The Mana Sister Theni emitted suddenly picked up in intensity as she asked, "So, what kind of man will you be, Runefather Odin?"

Felix felt like his problems had suddenly been blown away by the wind as the weight on his shoulders he had not even been aware of had been lifted. A genuine smile graced his lips as he nodded, "Thank you, Sister Theni. You were of a great help."

Truthfully, Felix could feel Sister Theni had used some of her Mana as she spoke, which probably resulted in him feeling this carefree. He did not reject it though, or say anything about it, as it was merely amplifying his own emotions.

Patting his back, Sister Theni said, "Come on now, get out of this old church, and show the world who you really are."

Nodding, Felix walked towards the exit, turning around halfway but only finding Sister Theni's back as she kneed before the altar. Deciding against interrupting her, he smiled, and walked out.

As he got out, Felix took in a breath of fresh air as he looked around.

He was within a large street, with several other churches along the way. Most people were heading to the biggest of them all, at the left end of the street.

It would be more accurate to call it a cathedral than a church however, for it was immensely bigger than the one Felix was in. It rose to a hundred meters, easily, and was a perfect example of Gothic architecture, and was illuminated by grey luminescent crystals.

Felix didn't know whether this world was familiar with the name, but he was now sure they had at least something similar to it. The Cathedral had both round and pointy ends to it as it created a mix of beauty and might. It used both harmony and chaos to draw the eye.

The stained glass, even from afar, clearly depicted what were no doubts myths of whatever religion this Cathedral belonged to, but they also gave color to the building, making it look almost alive.

Felix was no history nerd, but even he had to admit he was blown away by it. Not enough to actually get in, but blown away still.

The young man reveled in the spectacle for a few more seconds, but moving his gaze to the other end of the street.

Calling it a street might not be the most accurate description however as it stretched out so far Felix could not follow it with his gaze to the end.

He could see what laid at the end of the passageway however, as something even greater than the Cathedral stood there.

It was hard to see it clearly because of the distance, but Nacre had apparently not been built on even ground as the street clearly moved up, all the way up to the other end.

There, stood a building that not only was larger than the Cathedral, but was also taller. Its style, however, was completely foreign to to the religious building.

Felix couldn't put a name to it, but it felt much more modern.

It looked much simpler than most other buildings Felix had seen in Epoch, but not in a bad way. It looked more down-to-earth, instead of the usual lavishness. It was completely symmetrical and orderly, and pure.

It looked quite similar to many buildings on Earth, not those of the far past or contemporary, but of the last century. Except for the size, of course, as this building was larger than anything Felix had ever seen.

In a way, it felt a lot less magical than most of what he had seen, and while Felix would expect that to bother him, it didn't, for it had its own unearthly charm.

While the style was somewhat similar to what Felix had seen back on Earth, it also had elements unique to this world. Even from afar, Felix could spot large statues, either engraved within the building, or built on and around it.

It didn't take a genius to guess what the building was either. Few would dare to build something bigger than the Cathedral, and who else than the Queen to do so?

That was not Felix's destination either. However, Felix was pretty sure he should be going in that direction.

If a city had one large avenue between what was likely the Royal Palace and the Cathedral, then chances were that every important building would be in this avenue. Of course, he might be wrong on this, or the Runesmith Guild might not be deemed important enough to be placed here, but considering it was pitch dark, he couldn't ask his way around, so this was his best shot.

Was it back on Earth, walking up like that would have quickly strained his legs, and he doubted he would even manage to get to the top of the city. Thanks to Stats though, he barely felt anything as he walked up the street.

Despite it being dark, the whole street was illuminated by different kinds of crystals, so Felix could clearly see around, and take in the city that was Nacre.

Before long, however, Felix met the first people, aside from Sister Theni, and they were a bunch of guards.

By the way they quickly approached him, Felix thought he would be in trouble, but to his surprise, the one leading them was very polite.

"Excuse me Sir, but you are a few hours past the curfew. May I know the reason for you being outside?"

Pleasantly surprised by the man's politeness, Felix proceeded to explain his situation to him.

"I see. Then you ought to know that a curfew has recently been put into place between 11.00pm and 6.00am, precisely because of the problem with the Teleportation Array."

Nodding, Felix complied, "I understand, but what should I do? Can I still head to the Runesmith Guild, or should I go somewhere else and wait until morning?"

The guards looked a little troubled too, but one of them, who had been eyeing his ID since the start of the conversation, butted in, "Since you have nowhere to go, we can't leave you in the street in good conscience, especially if you are here to help. How about we escort you to the Teleportation Array, since most Runesmiths are there already?"

Smiling politely, Felix agreed, and the squad of guards split up. Two of them took Felix with them, while the rest resumed their watch.