บท 22: City of Anfang
In the Realm of Spectrum, there were two newly arrived visitors. One was a maid, while the other was a former general. They had managed to arrive at the city and had plans for it in the future. One of those plans included conquering the city, but as the former general herself was a new lady. She wanted to change her ways, and such actions resulted in this simple situation.
Alastair and Soteria were waiting in line along with many other spirits. There was no need to force themselves in, and Alastair understood that. She knew that she had to adhere to the rules of this realm and not cause unnecessary problems that could easily be avoided. So with this in mind, like a regular spirit, she entered through the long line at the entrance gate.
As the two looked rather strange and somehow gorgeous, they gained some attention while waiting for themselves to reach the guard of the entrance gate. Waiting for her turn, Alastair looked around and was curious about the variations and types of spirits in the Realm of Spectrum.
Alastair turned her gaze towards Soteria, who was right behind her, and silently asked with a calm voice. "Oi, Soteria. Do you have information about the spirits around us? I'd like to know more about them." It was a simple question about the spirits around the two of them.
Hearing Alastair's words, Soteria didn't hesitate to nod and answer. "The man in front of Lady Alastair is an elemental spirit, specifically water. They have a high affinity with water and can control such an element depending on how much they trained their ability."
"And not only that but of all the spirits within the Realm of Spectrum. Elemental Spirits only comprise a tiny bit of the population, under 2%."
"Hmm... Elemental spirit? Intriguing..." Alastair looked at the man in front of her and squinted her eyes. The power to control water. Such a powerful ability to have. One could take water out of anything and dehydrate them. But do spirits even need such things?
"The spirit behind me is one of the most common spirits. They don't have many abilities and are nothing special. They can be considered as average normal humans in comparison. As I said, they comprised at least over 80% of the whole population in the Realm of Spectrum."
Alastair immediately turned her head towards the spirit behind Soteria. The spirit really looked ordinary and average. He didn't seem to be strong, meaning that he wouldn't be able to do anything extraordinary. While looking at the spirit, Alastair couldn't help but slightly utter.
"I expected it to be a magical place, but I guess one could call Spectrum a magical world. I'm curious about the different varieties as some of them have animal faces or bodies despite looking like a humanoid." Alastair looked around as Soteria sighed and replied.
"There are the beastkin, a humanoid being with a part of an animal. The beastkin aren't that special as one could say that the only different thing about them is aesthetic. You can probably find catgirls, mouse girls, and wolf girls." Her words echoed throughout Alastair's ears.
Alastair tilted her head in confusion as she silently thought to herself. "Why girls?" She immediately shook her head and decided to stop thinking much about them. The two of them then waited for their arrival at the entrance gate. It would probably take a long time, but none of them was bothered by it.
As many spirits passed through the city's entrance gate, it was time for Alastair's turn to meet the spirit guard.
She walked forward as the elemental spirit right in front of her entered through the entrance gate. The spirit guard handling the security and protection of the entrance gate had finally revealed himself. He was also an elemental spirit, albeit his element was related to earth.
He was buff and had a stern expression plastered on his face. He looked at Alastair with a serious expression as he wondered why a beautiful spirit would enter this city. Was she a noble spirit from the capital having a vacation? Such was the question within his mind.
Alastair gazed upon the spirit guard and uttered with an emotionless tone. "I'd like to enter this city if you don't mind." This was her first time entering a city without barging in unannounced. When was the last time she entered the city like a typical lady? She couldn't remember, so it must not have happened.
The spirit guard nodded and replied with a calm tone. "You can enter as long as you pay the entrance fee. That should be about 50 vaets." This was something Alastair herself didn't expect. Paying to enter a city? Why should she pay? Besides, she herself didn't have that much money.
Upon hearing the words of the spirit guard, Alastair slowly turned her gaze back to Soteria, who was right beside her. She wanted to see if her maid had some money in her pockets. Unfortunately, Soteria had nothing other than supplies with her. She shook her head which made Alastair sigh in disappointment.
"What do you think I should do, Soteria?" Alastair questioned with a calm tone while the spirit guard furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He was a bit confused about what Alastair was trying to do. Soteria thought about it for a short while and answered with an emotionless voice.
"Well, there is one thing to do, and that is force."
Alastair raised an eyebrow and thought about the possibilities within her mind. First, there was a high chance that the spirit guard would call for more reinforcements. But Alastair could use that as a chance to reveal some of her power. With this, they might acknowledge her and give her some money.
One could say that it was a complex version of extortion. Which was terrible, but for Alastair, who grew up strangely and without any good guardians. It was a good solution as it didn't need violence but simply a display of it. So with this in mind, Alastair had decided to reveal some of her power.
"Sorry but I don't have any money... So, can you let us pass?" After saying such last words, she revealed some of her miasma, which caused everyone around her to feel a chill on their spines. That included the spirit guard in front of her, who was incredibly near her. He had a frozen expression and didn't move for a short while.
Alastair clapped with her pale hands, forcing the spirit guard to leave his frozen state. He looked at Alastair with an expression of fear as he felt his sweat dripping from his forehead. Then, without any hesitation, he nodded and answered. "You can pass the entrance gate. I hope you have a good time."
He walked out of the way, and Alastair, along with Soteria, had finally entered the first city they had seen in Spectrum. They walked through the massive streets, which were full of stores. The city was rather lively as there were a lot of spirits found everywhere. It had relatively been a while since Alastair had seen such scenery.
Meanwhile, the spirit guard looked at the backs of Soteria and Alastair with a serious expression plastered on his face. He couldn't believe that a dangerous dark spirit had entered the city. He turned his head towards another guard and spoke with a stern voice. "Get reinforcements."
"A dark spirit had entered the city."
Without any hesitation, the guard who heard him immediately nodded and ran off to get more reinforcements. The spirit guard simply stayed at the entrance gate while clenching his weapon. He hoped the negotiations would be good as he wouldn't want the city to be in trouble.
Dealing with a dark spirit was something no one would want to do. But unfortunately, it was something they needed to do. The power of the dark spirit who had recently entered was immense, and he was sure that it was simply a fraction of it. How many spirits did the dark spirit devour?
Such was the simple question within his mind.
An emergency was about to strike the city as an enemy had entered it. The area near the entrance gate was being evacuated without hesitation, resulting in this simple situation.
Alastair and Soteria were walking through the streets and noticed that the lively atmosphere was gone. What came after it was a strange long silence that simply appeared out of nowhere. Soteria furrowed her eyebrows while Alastair continued walking, not bothered by it.
While walking in the silent streets, Soteria couldn't help but question with an emotionless voice. "Lady Alastair, have you noticed anything strange? The spirits in this street had disappeared for some reason." Upon hearing the words of Soteria, Alastair finally noticed the strange situation.
"They disappeared? They're good. Even I didn't notice their disappearance." Alastair couldn't help but praise them for being good,d but after a while, she realized something within her mind. "Well, I am used to walking alone in a silent and empty street, so maybe that doesn't count."
"Did we enter the wrong way, or is there something going on in the background?" Soteria questioned with an emotionless voice as Alastair replied with a nonchalant tone. "They are evacuating everyone around us. After all, we did enter the entrance gate forcefully."
"But, this kind of reaction is too severe." Alastair wondered as the reaction of the spirits was too serious when they simply didn't pay for the toll fee. Hearing Alastair's words, Soteria had finally concluded within her mind after skimming through the general knowledge that she had recently obtained.
"So that's the reason." Soteria silently uttered as Alastair looked at Soterai with a curious expression on her face. From Soteria's reaction, it appeared that she had gained some essential knowledge that Alastair herself might need to know. Without further hesitation, Soteria then explained her discovery.
"I believe that the toll fee isn't the only reason why they are preparing for a big battle. It seems that I have forgotten a piece of important information that might have an explanation for this misunderstanding. Let us say that the Krieger has the same frequency as a variety of spirits known as dark spirits."
"Dark spirits?" Alastair questioned as Soteria nodded and continued her words.
"Yes, dark spirits. They are the spirits that would consume spirits and get stronger by continuing such a heinous action. They are pretty dangerous, and their strength is pretty much in itself powerful. If you are curious about it, for them to get stronger, they must eat 100 spirits for one spirit power."
"Spirits have an averaged spirit power of one, so if they are extremely strong, then it would be easy for other spirits to conclude how many spirits they had devoured."
"I see... I didn't know such a subspecies of spirits existed. Even though their exchange rate of spirit power and spirits are extremely inefficient. They are still able to become stronger by devouring other spirits. So I can compare them to the early versions of the Krieger, but they are a failure compared to a real one." Alastair nodded to herself.
The information was extremely useful as the difference between a Krieger and a dark spirit was hard to find. Besides, the existence of a Krieger might not even be known, so Alastair herself might get considered a dark spirit. 'Though, this should be a good thing as I would be able to hide my origins for now.'
While thinking about the dark spirits, a question emerged within Alastair's mind. "Soteria, how much spirit power do I have?" Alastair wanted to know this simple information as it would help her see what the spirits would consider her. Soteria thought about it for a while and answered with a smile.
"Lady Alastair should have at least a 100 spirit power. That was why you could break the necks of the bandits without that much of an effort." Soteria explained with a smile plastered on her face as she was rather proud of her master's power. But Alastair herself froze on the spot as she stopped thinking.
After all, with a hundred spirit power and the exchange rate of 100 spirits. It wouldn't take a genius to realize that Alastair's strength symbolizes her being a mass murderer. She should have over 9000 spirits as victims, meaning that if her spirit power was revealed...
She would be hunted all over the realm of Spectrum.
A shout then echoed in the distance.
"HALT!!!"
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