Sand Mirage Desert,
The Istarin Emperor and the Deep Sea Ocean Empress continued travelling through the Sand Mirage Desert. The Journey towards Brightmor City wasn't easy. This was one of the toughest journeys that they had faced.
Fortunately, they had each other's company.
Although their relationship did not change physically, their bond had gotten even stronger now.
Laura loved the way he cared for me. She loved the way he did even the tiniest thing for her to make sure that she wasn't burdened.
Aditya handled almost everything himself, never assigning her chores. He was extremely cautious and gentle with her, almost like he was caring for a baby.
He loved the small steps that she took to support him. During the daytime, he felt thirstier than she did due to his extremely large Mana. The whole day, she kept helping him with cool water. Her company made this lonely journey easier.
Without even realising it, this was their 3rd day in this Desert. Due to the gliding on the Sand method that they discovered, a journey that should have taken them a minimum of 7 or 8 days to complete was completed in just three days.
"We are close!" From their location, they could see the shiny lights and the city walls of Brightmor City.
When they first saw the outline of the city in the evening, both of them thought that this was the work of the Illusion Orb, but Laura later confirmed that this wasn't the case. Also, just behind the city, there was the huge, towering Soul Ripper Mountain.
The Mountain looked like a normal stony mountain, except it was huge. The Mountain was in the shape of a round ball. The shape wasn't perfectly round, but from a distance, it looked like one giant round ball.
In fact, they were able to see the silhouette of the mountain at the beginning of the second day of their journey.
As they came closer, the mountain also appeared a lot bigger.
Also, by late evening, they began seeing other groups heading and exiting the City.
An area of 25 km radius surrounding the city had no Scattered Zone. There was no need to look at the map of the Scattered Zones anymore.
"Finally!" Laura was mentally exhausted. The journey was very cruel. Especially the constant state of extreme thirst was almost unbearable. Many times, she almost wanted to give up, but remembering that he was in a much worse state than she, she did not complain and continued this journey with him.
They stopped gliding on the Sand as they entered the 25km radius zone of the City.
The Brightmor City had white walls that stood about 20 meters tall. The walls were painted white to reflect sunlight and make it easier for others to see them from a distance. The walls also had the ability to glow with a white light at nighttime, guiding travellers.
The walls encircled the entire city, forming a perfect ring around it.
The City had another set of walls within the City. This was the Second Wall.
The whole City was divided into two parts.
The outer part was where people with low wages, slaves, and lower-class individuals in society mostly lived. This part also housed various entertainment industries, such as the Red Light District, which was particularly famous. Everything here was cheaper.
"Name!" At the entrance, the guards stopped them to ask their names and other information.
"Ivan and this is my wife Jessica." He looked at her with a smile when he introduced her. Aditya gave Laura a light squeeze on her palm.
Once everything was clear, they had to pay 20 Platinum Coins to get inside. This fee included the entry fee as well as gave them a temporary pass, which allowed them to stay here for up to 7 days. To extend further, they would need to pay more.
Holding hands, they walked inside.
Inside the City and within a 25 km radius, no one felt any kind of thirst. So in the entire desert, this was the only place where flying was possible. None of the usual things that try to kill you, like the Scattered Zones, Illusion Orbs, or the extreme thirst found in the rest of the desert, can be found here.
This City was truly an oasis on the other side of the Desert.
"This is a massive City." The City was even bigger than the Capital of the Istarin Empire. It was almost double the size of Azure City.
"But I do think that my Azure City looks way better than this place." She nodded her head.
It was difficult to debate against this statement.
From the moment they stepped into the city, everything about this place felt wrong to her. The air smelled foul, like something had been rotting for days. The streets were filled with dust and trash. Broken buildings stood side by side with crooked houses that seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Not all houses were like that. And not all parts of the outer region smelled this bad. But trash was everywhere in the outer part.
She hated everything about this place. The noise. The smell. The heat. The way everyone kept staring like she didn't belong here.
The Brightmor City was bright from the outside, but once people came inside, it was all dirty and smelled really bad.
This wasn't a city where someone like her would want to stay. Not even for a few days. In fact, if it wasn't for his work, she wouldn't have come to a place like this at all.
'I would never set foot in this filthy place if I had a choice,' She thought while looking around with disgust.
Even standing here made her feel dirty.
The buildings were made from whatever they were able to find in the desert. Here and there, there were also houses made of wood. Only the rich who could afford the high prices of wood here could make a house made of wood.
"Let's get to the Inner Part. That is our destination." The Inner part was totally opposite to the Outer part.
It was as if the wall between the Inner and Outer parts was what separated the rich from the poor in this society.
Getting beyond the second wall again cost them 40 Platinum coins. This is what made him understand why the poor lived outside and the rich lived at the core or heart of the City. Everything was designed so that the poor stay outside and the rich get to go inside.
The area behind the wall was totally different.
The air was clearer.
There was no trash on the sides of the road. There was no sign of any shit.
There were no homeless people.
All the houses were made from stone and wood and were beautifully painted. Compared to the grey houses outside, the paint on the houses made the whole place appear lively.
The Streets were wide and paved with stones and bricks.
"I heard that all the dwarves live here."
"I can see why.....!!" He smiled, hearing this. The Goddess was in a foul mood after what she saw.
He gently held her palm and said in a gentle tone. "Just endure this for a few days. Once I clear the Trial and get a weapon, we will immediately leave this City for good." He knew that he had selfishly brought her here.
His words melted her. She also understood that he was trying to coax her, which she did not hate; in fact, she loved and welcomed it.
"Let's find an inn to spend the night."
•••
Scene Change_____
Norwer, also known as the North City Of The Flower, is one of the cities that people travelling from the Main Continent to the Tunnel World or to the Six Continents would use. This City also had a portal that connected the Tunnel World to the Main Continent.
At this moment, the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, had somehow managed to cross the portal and reach Norwer City.
After crossing, she did not stay in the City. 'If I stay here, then I will only increase my chances of getting exposed.' After decades, if there was one thing she learned about the Organisation, it was never to underestimate them.
The organisation had a significant impact. They had their people almost everywhere.
The Goddess had to take 3 to 4 days to make a strong plan and change her appearance in a way that even her late parents wouldn't be able to tell if she walked past them. Since she was without any help, everything took way longer.
While crossing, she also realised that the security around the portal had somehow doubled. There was a group of people that stood out from the rest. This group constantly looked around as if they were searching for something. Even making eye contact with them made them suspicious.
And even in the Norwer City, more of their men awaited. It wasn't easy, but she finally managed to get out.
Outside of the City, Athena took a moment to do something that she was itching to do.
She closed her eyes and tried to sense the location of her Other Half. As long as her other half was in the Tunnel World as well, then she would be able to sense her presence. But if she were in the Six Continents, then it would be impossible.
"She is here!" Athena felt really relieved.
Although she could not sense the exact location, she could vaguely feel where her other Half was.
The presence of her other half was like a candlelight that might burn out at any given second. It was very faint and difficult to sense. She can't even sense it without giving her full concentration to it.
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