Aiden learned that the Fringes were the same as the Outer Rim, a strip of circular land where no civilization existed beyond lawless cities.
Beyond that was the Middle Rings, or Midworld, which was a group of kingdoms, free cities, and two empires.
At the beginning, Aiden imagined these kingdoms and cities to be bundled together. However, Jack corrected that misunderstanding and told him that each kingdom and city had vast wildernesses between them.
Every fold of the wilderness contained a degree of danger. For the Fringes, bandits and cults were more common. In the Middle Rings, monsters populated the wilderness.
After two days, the two finally met other people. "Crossroads Inn?" Aiden read.
"We rest here for the night, eat some warm food, and move out at dawn. Don't interact with anyone, answer anyone, and for the mercy of Oblivion—don't steal."
"It was just a few potatoes," Aiden protested. "You are rather obsessed with them."
"Here? In the Fringes? Where food is a luxury?" Jack rolled his eyes. "You are just imagining it."
"I won't make any promises," Aiden said. "If I see a chance, I'll take it."
"This world is different," Jack said. "Yours might have fewer dangers, but here, death is just around the corner."
"I'll keep my hands to myself."
"If you want to keep them attached, then please do," Jack said before he fastened the carriage and elgorn to the stables. "Take out a cloak and wear it."
"A cloak?"
"The color of your hair isn't commonly seen in the Fringes. People will think you're a foreigner, or worse… someone from Midworld."
Aiden didn't question it. Even in the slums, the ashen color of his hair brought him unwanted attention. His father had similar hair, but Aiden never got to see him before he disappeared.
The two of them walked into the inn.
The stench of booze and vomit struck.
Aiden was used to it, but Jack seemed annoyed. He rushed past the drunken gamblers to reach the counter where a bald man with a thick ginger mustache was reading something.
"We want one room, please," Jack said, and placed down a coin. "Just for the night."
"Here ya go," the man said, pushing a key without raising his head from his newspaper. "That'll be two copper coins."
"I always pay one," Jack said, confused. "Has the rate gone up?"
"Nah, but each extra person is one copper," said the inn owner. "I don't want these parties to rent one room just to rip me off."
"You are the one ripping us off," Jack said as he placed another two coppers on the table. "Get us something warm to eat. We'll come down in an hour."
"At your service, buddy," the inn owner said as he folded his newspaper. "Careful on the stairs. I just had to fix them."
Jack made a straight line toward the stairs. Aiden followed after him at a leisurely pace. He saw that not everyone here was drunk.
Some guests wore thick armor and carried large swords, wore cloaks, or simply had a bow strapped to their backs. However, Aiden was more confused by the man sitting in the corner.
He looked like a giant werewolf.
But he was speaking and joking with others.
The rest of his table had some humans, but other races seemed mixed in as well.
"Don't stare," Jack snapped at him. Aiden turned his gaze away just in time, and the two ran up the stairs to their room.
Once inside, Jack locked the doors and installed extra measures of safety: makeshift locks, arrow traps, and spikes for the windows.
"Is this necessary?"
"You would be wiser to redefine what's necessary and what's not," Jack said. "The moment you believe nothing would happen—it would."
"You think they would attack us?" Aiden asked in surprise.
"We'd be safe to assume that the people we saw downstairs aren't exactly benevolent," Jack said while spreading some kind of powder on the corners of the room.
"Some of them didn't look human," Aiden pointed out. "Are they a different race?"
"We have a bunch of races scattered around, I know seven. I heard there are ten main races, but I don't know them all, nor have I met them."
"The werewolf is one of them?"
"The werewolf?" Jack repeated, confused. "You mean the Lycanthos?"
"Yes, probably that," Aiden sat on the bed. "It looked… threatening."
"Lycanthos are one of the most vicious races out there, but there are good ones among them. I heard they come from two main tribes: one carrying themselves with pride, and the other treating others with deceit."
"The two extremes," Aiden muttered. "Are they strong?"
"A toddler Lycanthos can rip a man in half," Jack said with a shrug. "But their numbers are few, and you would rarely see them. Humans have the highest populations among all races, making them the neutralizing force that prevents imminent collapse."
"Imminent?"
"Racial wars happened, more than once," Jack said with a shrug. "We managed to get that behind us now, but some resentment remains."
"I guess every world has its racism," Aiden muttered. "Oh, we have one bed."
"Take the floor."
"How about we flip a coin?"
"Do you rather sleep in the stables with Bamba?"
"Floor is good," Aiden said, jumping on the ground. "I'm actually a floor person."
Aiden began making himself a bed using some old sheets he found in the closet. Jack kept preparing for some ambush that would befall them.
In the end, Aiden decided to begin his training. He entered the Wish Log and accessed Elias Mourne's memories. The Moonlight Dance began, and Aiden found himself engrossed.
[Moonlight Dance: 16%]
The process was almost mechanical, each move requiring the precision of a surgeon. Aiden studied with Elias until he reached 20 percent, and he began seeing something different.
Moonlight danced around their swords now.
Aiden could bend it, summon it, and attack using it.
Before Aiden could relish in the feeling of controlling the moonlight, his consciousness was dragged away from the memories. He snapped his eyes open as he felt someone shaking his entire body.
"We need to flee," Jack said. "There's someone out there."
"What? Out where?" Aiden questioned as he groggily rose. "What are we going to do?"
"We run through the front door and straight to the stables," Jack said. "I heard their whispers on the roof. It's the party from earlier."
"What do they want?"
"Our money, if we have any, and our freedom if we don't," Jack said as he unlocked the door carefully. "Go and place this by the window. I'll scout outside."
Jack gave Aiden a small pouch. He didn't question it as he rushed toward the window, placing it there gently.
As he was about to turn, Aiden saw the moonlight shimmer.
He raised his eyes and saw a creature flapping its wings in the sky.
It looked ethereal, half-human, and beautiful, like an angel. Her eyes were blue, like a fairy from another world. She smiled at him.
"What's taking you so long?" Jack whispered with urgency.
"There is… a floating woman…" Aiden muttered in a daze.
Before he realized it, the back of Jack's rifle struck Aiden's head. He winced in pain as he collapsed. Jack looked through the window and then began dragging Aiden away.
"Don't look at her eyes. They can control your mind," Jack said as he dragged Aiden through the hallway. "This is the worst-case scenario."
Aiden snapped out of his daze and began rushing alongside Jack. The two of them ran through the inn's corridors until they reached the stairs. As they were about to descend, they saw fog blocking the end.
"They really want to kill us, huh?" Jack muttered as he stopped, raising his rifle. "But why?"
"Because you have the scent of desire on you," a voice answered from behind them. The two snapped their heads to find the Lycanthos standing at the end of the corridor with a grin. "The desire would be released when the monster is killed—you have its gem."