Drakenhof, the Capital of Twilight Crowns. Just thinking about the place made Cecilia smile.
She didn't need a map, for she was familiar with the way, as she had traversed it many times in the game. But, from what she heard, the world became a bit bigger than it used to be.
That's because a player without special techniques for travel would take about one hour walking to get from Drakenhof to Aberswan. A player who maxed all traveling-related skills and unlocked all techniques, like Cecilia, would take a few minutes.
Yet, it seemed that a normal person would take around four days on foot these days. And she doubted that people just got that much slower.
Cecilia always loved the exploration side of the game and often went around the map of the entire world just for the sake of sightseeing. In fact, she was the only player ever to have reached 100% exploration.
She ended up raising the skills because of constant use and the techniques for completionism's sake. But she only used them when she really needed to reach somewhere quickly.
And today was one of those moments. Despite her desire to experience the world now that she had an actual body and her senses weren't limited by tech, she felt the urge to just see her 'daughter' as soon as possible.
So she activated all her techniques and stepped forward, then froze instantly.
One step of hers made her teleport to the farthest point in the horizon in the direction where she was going.
It was a similar effect to the one she had in the game, but a lot more powerful, and doing it with a body was too uncanny.
Yet, she took a deep breath and continued, warping throughout the path that led to Elenwacht, the capital of the eastern province.
As Aberswan was a remote settlement, there wasn't a road that led straight to Drakenhof. Instead, she needed to go to Elenwacht and then take the Eastern Highway.
She remembered arguing against the road's name, saying that it was too plain, but the others voted for the practical naming. Five centuries later, the plain but practical name was still in use.
In just four steps she arrived at the surroundings of Elenwacht. She then jumped to the top of a nearby hill, where she could see the surroundings.
She could see the Radiant City directly to her southwest. In the game, that town specialized in knowledge, which was a resource of the 'kingdom management' side of the game. Several NPCs lived there, performing research-related tasks.
There was a huge tree in the center of the city that the guild leader, Martin, had planted. It was a 'world tree' that sprouted a building inside and gave a lot of bonuses for studies and research performed below its canopy.
Cecilia smiled, recalling those times. The tree had grown even bigger than before and was an imposing structure even at this distance. But that city was not her goal.
She quickly spotted the Eastern Highway and walked towards it. It only took her one step to find herself very close to the road, so she adjusted the direction and kept walking.
The road had several people coming and going, by foot or in caravans, and she didn't want to be seen while doing those warping steps.
Five minutes later, she arrived at Drakenhof.
The sight of the capital took her breath away.
The core of the city was exactly how she remembered it from the game. There was a quite circular lake with a single island at its center. The lake was actually the crater of a meteor impact, according to the lore, so it had that weirdly perfect shape.
The island in the middle held the Obsidian Keep, a castle built by Martin to be his personal base, but later he ceded it to become the seat of the government.
It was a towering black structure mixing gothic architecture with fantasy materials, a complete masterpiece.
But the rest of the central city didn't stay behind in building quality. It used to house all the members of the highest-ranking guild, as well as several other high-level players, so of course the building quality would be high.
The style wasn't the chaotic mix one would expect from a player-inhabited city, as the Dead Nerds Society enforced a strict stylish policy. If you didn't like it, you were free to go join another nation.
Those buildings populated the terraced cliffs that surrounded the lake. Those were all mansions, something that, back on Earth, only a millionaire would be able to buy.
But the thing that caught Cecilia's attention and took her breath away was the size of the city that had grown outside the region that was inhabited by the players. It wasn't that big of a city for Earth standards, but for a fantasy game setting, it was enormous.
"How many people live there? One hundred thousand? More?"
Cecilia was curious about the lake and if it would still have the same effect it had in the game.
Varnis Lake was one of the places with the highest concentration of mana of all Hyperborea. Its waters were so saturated that they emitted a faint light at night. Which meant that the hills around it were never truly dark, giving the city its nickname.
"Well, I guess I'll be able to see it when night comes. Let's head down the city… Oh, right, I need to disable the techniques before I go."
She turned off her traveling techniques and walked towards the city gates as a normal citizen.
((Hm… what would I do if they ask for identification documents or something? We never had that back then…))
Despite her worries, it didn't seem that the security at the gates was too strict. There was a decent number of people coming and going, and yet there wasn't a traffic jam. If someone were checking IDs, the queue would be long.
So she relaxed and allowed herself to go with the flow of the people entering the city.
She had never been in such a crowded place before, so she was a bit overwhelmed. And, with the sharpness of her senses she had because of her level, she could see, hear, and smell it all.
Most of the people around her were humans and dark elves, though there were also a significant number of high elves and the occasional dwarf.
The town really felt like a fantasy city. In Aberswan, the only non-human was Marya, so she was a bit curious about the composition of the country as a whole. The capital was the cultural hotspot she had hoped it would be.
:::
She entered the city without incident and quickly found her way towards the central area of the city. She thought that she would feel a lot more comfortable in a familiar place.
The central area was also encircled by a wall, with guards posted, but nobody was being stopped at the gates, so she just walked by and entered it.
The atmosphere inside was wildly different from the one at the outer part of the city. Far from the chaotic hustle and bustle, the air here was solemn and calm, almost holy.
((Oh, right. We built the wall exactly at the border of the dense mana area. I didn't expect it to have this effect in the world, though.))
She walked through the streets with a sense of nostalgia. Even though she had been here just a few days ago, in her own perception of time, a lot of things have changed in five centuries.
She walked by the streets, looking at everything, until she arrived at an inn. It still had the same sign it had in the game, and the building looked good despite the clear signs of the passage of time.
She entered and headed to the counter but stopped in her tracks when she saw the man that was there.
He was from a race that didn't exist in the game; of that Cecilia was certain. She quickly restrained her surprise at the sight and continued her motion.
"Good morning, milady. Welcome to The Friendly Fiend Inn. How may I assist you today?"
The man was very polite and gentlemanly, dressed like a concierge from a top-notch hotel, and exuded an air of competence. But what was weird was his overall appearance.
His body was semi-liquid. Though he had a very clear human form and didn't wet his surroundings, it was possible to see that the body was composed of very dense water.
((The man is kind and just doing his job, so just ignore his appearance, Cecilia. Act normally.))
"Oh, I would like to stay here for a night. Do you have a vacant room?"
"Yes, we have. The night stay, with all meals included, is one elendar."
((One elendar??? That's a whole month staying at Gertrude's inn! Damn, what is this place, a five-star hotel? I just hope it is worth the price.))
Money wasn't a problem for her, so she just produced a copper piece and paid without questioning.
After giving her name and receiving a key, she headed to her room, wondering what new things she will find in this cosmopolitan city.