The Strongold of Heathgrove.
That was what people named the city located on the surface of the rift and the place where i was currently living in.
When i came to take the entrance exam i had merely reached the outskirts of the main city but now after leaving the towering steel gates i realized just how different this civilization was.
Houses seemed normal from above but now seeing them up close, they were anything but ordninary, their structure seemed to be irregular seemingly for certain people to fit inside.
There were many people of different looks, some were the size of a child, some walked tall matching the height of the street lights.
Some people akin to beastmen were playing some sort of country music on the side as passerbys threw bronze coins for them.
"Would you like to buy some fresh fruits?"
A salesman spoke up from the side surprising me slightly as i checked my pockets.
"I don't have any money on me sorry."
He didn't seem to see me anymore after hearing that as he ran up to someone else.
"Is this your first time in here?"
"Yeah."
I answered Marcos question as he watched the surroundings with curiosity just like Ash and Zephyr next to us.
"By the way.. what's with these people? Why are they so different."
- Hm?
Confused by my question he looked at where the beastmen sat surrounded by some people.
"Oh that? It's the power of Wishes that people recieved from the rift, since most of us came from the borders of Heathgrove, the chances of seeing people influenced by the wish is rare unlike here where many delver reside trying to make a living."
"I see?"
'i didn't ask for an entire lesson'
I couldn't complain though.
If what he said is true then the supposed wish we will need to acquire is much stronger than i thought as it could influence your body to such extents.
"But dont worry, these types of changes such as longer limbs or animal parts can appear after a few years due to our bodies slowly adapting to the new powers."
'i wonder if that should be dissapointing or not'
Would i also grow out a pair of cat ears and a tail? Just thinking about it made me shudder.
Would i also have to lick myself clean instead of taking a shower?
'Blegh'
I tried not to focus on these things..
"I heard that delvers started to gather on the upper layer because researchers noticed some unusual activities from this months floor master."
To my suprise it was zephyr who spoke up, sharing his thoughts.
"They're like a gold mine to delvers, bringing various artifacts as the reward for killing them, that's obvious that they're preparing to hunt him."
'i'l ask proffesor Anvil about ut later'
Our chatter ceased as we soon stopped in front of a steel bar door guarded by some sort of thug.
Looking us over with his expression full of annoyance, his gaze landed on Marco who was leading our group before asking a weird question.
"Hungry hands?"
Which to my surprise he responded.
"Stay in the light."
His eyes narrowed for a brief moment as he knocked a few times on the wall behind him, the gate opened right after he did so.
"You got an hour."
He left us with those words as we made our way into some sort of dark alley.
"How do you even find places like this?"
"Acquaintaces."
'weird'
I didn't have time to be carefree like before as this place was different than the city.
Unlike the cheerfull outside, here were drunkards sipping from their almost empty bottles aswell as shady guys shooting glances in our direction most likely thinking of pickpocketing one of us.
The air was filled with smoke and whatever the smells could come out from the almost dead bodies of homeless.
I could only focus on the sound of my footsteps as i walked through the mysterious liquids spilled on the ground.
It felt like seeing two sides of the same coin, one being the casual facade this city has put on while the other is it's darkness which we for some reason decided to enter.
"Hey are you sure your friend is here?"
I asked him anxiously checking my surroundings.
"He should be here."
Shrugging me off he went up to a big guy standing next to some sort of locked metal door.
'How can he be so carefree?!'
The weird thing was that the others didn't seem much surprised by his knowledge as they simply followed Marco like some sort of bodyguards.
Honestly, the fact that he already explained everything to them except me hurt my ego.
Being treated like an idiot would have hurt less but to do it on purpose?
'i guess some things never change'
Even in my past life i wasn't let into others plans making me turn out as a jerk for seemingly forgetting the events entirely.
I wasn't one to remember dates well so i guess there was a small reason for that treatment.
We soon stopped in front of a small broken down house that looked as if it could collaps under the smallest touch.
There were less people in the area which added more onto the eerie vibe it gave off.
"Ash could you get rid of that wall?"
"Easy."
Smirking, she pointed her finger at the wall that he mentioned.
"Spark"
She whispered yet the word seemed to resonate in the air as small flames materialized on the wall engulfing it in small sparks.
It took mere seconds before the dry wood turned into a pulsing charcoal.
"Let's go."
- Crumble
All it took was a single word for it to turn into dust revealing a staircase into the basement.
'so that's magic for you'
I've read a bit about it before entering the academy but i didn't expect it to be so interesting, the word she said may have sounded simple but the weight put into it could be felt immediately.
There was most likely a hidden meaning put into it which i wouldn't need to learn as my mana control was still at almost nonexistent level.
As we came down the stairs, we entered the basement.
It was old, covered in spider webs aswell as filled with dusty old furniture.
The walls had dozens of cracks making me feel worried that the building would collapse on top of us.
- Ngh!
Marco alongside Zephyr started to move one of the wardrobes which seemed way heavier than it looked.
"Stop staring and help them."
Ash's remark made me snap out of my thoughts as i came over and started to push it alongside them.
Scraping against the floor it was placed on the side as a drop of sweat formed on my forehead.
"What is that.."
The words seemed to come out on their own as some sort of whirlpool came into our view.
Floating above the ground its edges spinning in a circle, reminded me of some sort of portal.
"It's a gate."
Ash said as she went up to check it.
"And an old one at that, someone strong must have placed it here a long time ago, it should last for a few months so we're pretty lucky to find it."
"Thanks to it we can save some time instead of traveling on foot."
"Is the exit point even registered?"
"It is."
Marco spoke with a grin as his hand phased through the whirlpool of mana.
"We will finally meet my friend."