Other than the discovery that someone had been spying on him for who knew how long and the surprise bandit attack, the caravan ride between Whikoga and Dormaul proved to be rather uneventful. Brant had proven that his earlier claim that few things were willing to tangle with a herd of mogrants was correct, as they hadn't seen so much as a single animal approaching them during their trek. Asher thought it was rather interesting how the large creatures' ability to continue walking for days on end made the whole trip feel so much safer than he would have expected. It was always at night, during those hours where one was forced to remain stationary as they slept where danger seemed the most apparent. By not needing to stop, they'd bypassed that issue entirely.

The mogrants had even been trained to hold up large, glowing gemstone torches at night to light the path, alternating between their two trunks whenever one got tired. Asher didn't know if these creatures were as intelligent as elephants from back on Earth, but he'd begun to suspect they might be even more so when he thought he caught Brant actively engaged in conversation with one late at night while the other passengers were sleeping.

On the morning of the fourth day of travel, Asher was woken up by Brant's loud voice booming over the wagons.

"For those of you who have never been to Dormaul before, I'd recommend you come get a look at this!"

"I suppose that means us." Samantha yawned, stretching as she got out of the too-small cot before trying pointlessly to do something about her crazy hair. All three of them looked thoroughly bedraggled at this point, and Asher was looking forward to finding a nice, stationary tavern to wash up in before long.

Hopping out of their still-moving wagon with practiced ease, Asher looked around as he walked, surprised to find that the terrain had changed a bit during the night. The flat ground and thick forest on either side of the path were no more, replaced with sloping hills and more sparse vegetation. Just as he was about to ask Samantha if she was alright with the noticeably thinner forest, he caught sight of Dormaul and forgot what he was thinking about.

The distant mountains that they'd been heading towards all this time were suddenly upon them, and one in particular stood out far more than the rest.

Probably due to the fact that there was a sprawling city attached to the side of it.

Asher stared in wonder at the city growing out of the edge of the mountain. It took him a few moments to realize why the sight looked so strange, and he heard Samantha gasp as she no doubt figured it out at the same time.

"The mountain… It's half gone!"

"Right you are, lass!" Brant laughed, leaning back atop his mogrant and pointing toward the strange city. "Dormaul was built shortly after our nation was founded, nearly three hundred years ago, and from inside the mountain. It started as a small mining town used primarily to procure necessary ores for weaponry to supplement our military, but as you can see, it grew into something far greater over time. As the town needed to expand, the miners realized the easiest way to go about doing so was to simply remove the portions of the mountain that had already been mined out. Keep doing that for a few centuries and… well, you can see the results for yourself."

Indeed they could. Despite the mountain stretching up higher than any Asher had ever seen, a good quarter of it was completely gone, replaced with the vast city. They were just close enough that he could make out houses and specks of what he could only assume were people moving about the different levels of the city.

"How do they get around?" Asher asked, noting how the city looked like it had at least five distinct layers stacked one on top of the other.

"Elevators if you have the shards to spend, stairs and ladders if you don't!" Brant chuckled. "Going down is always easier of course, there are plenty of public ziplines you're welcome to use, if you have faith in your grip strength. Not a problem for anyone who calls the city home, though. I've met great grandmothers from the city who still use the ziplines for getting around!"

"That's incredible," Samantha muttered.

"Look! More pegasus!" Brian laughed, pointing up above them.

Sure enough, another pair of winged horses shot by overhead, each one carrying one of the floating wagons known to hold nobility. Those of means rarely deigned to spend a few days traveling between cities via caravan when they could simply make the trek in a few hours via pegasus, and during the past few days, they'd seen one shooting across the sky every now and again. Asher watched as the nobles touched down atop the highest level in the distant city, the distance still too great for him to make out anything like a specific crest.

Seeing as Leighann was due to be resurrected sometime tomorrow, he hoped they weren't from the Frent family.

"You'd never catch me up there in the sky, even if I had the shards for something like that." Brant snorted, leaning down and patting his furry steed. "Mogrants are perfect for me, thank you very much. They might be slow, but you'll never find another creature as majestic or reliable."

The mogrant raised a trunk and curled it around him, giving the caravan leader a quick squeeze in return for the compliment.

"Anyway, now that we're this close to the city, time for the boring part of my job," Brant said, his smile still wide on his face as if he didn't mean that in the slightest. Taking a deep breath, he raised his voice. "Let's try this again! If you've never been to Dormaul and don't want to get arrested upon entry, come out and listen up!"

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This time, a couple of other passengers stumbled out of their wagons, looking just as bedraggled as the three of them. Asher noted how the girl that Brian had been feuding with the past few days, Laura, came out with her parents as well. She and Brian shared a quick look of animosity that spoke volumes, but both gave Brant their full attention alongside everyone else.

"Like every city within the Noala Kingdom, Dormaul has its own unique laws and rules that must be followed," Brant explained, swaying from side to side ever so slightly as the mogrant he was riding continued walking. "For starters, the city has five distinct levels. In order to access each individual level, you need proper permission from the guard. You'll need to show your papers at the various entry points to go up a level. If you somehow sneak past them, and are caught on a level you don't have permission for, you'll be arrested."

"How do we get permission for each level?" Laura's father asked, his grip still tight on his daughter's hand, as if afraid more bandits would run out of the forest and snatch her up at any moment.

"Provided you pass the simple screening at the city entrance, you'll automatically be granted access to the fourth level," Brant continued. "That one's filled with taverns, inns, markets, and the like. The third level is similar, if a bit more upscale, but you need to pay a sizable number of shards to gain access unless you're a citizen of the city. This keeps the riffraff out of the third level, and functions as a tax to help keep things running smoothly city-wide. This level is also where you'll find your smiths, so if anyone is making this trip in order to pick up a Dormaul-made weapon, the third level is where you want to be.

"The fifth level, at the very bottom of the city, is only accessible by miners. So unless you want to get your hands dirty, there's no going down there. You're welcome to apply for access to it, and you'll be sure to get it provided you have the proper skills. But again, unless you're a citizen, a not-insignificant portion of whatever you haul up will be taken by the city as taxes."

"Are there any restaurants for those of us with a more refined palate?" A voice called out. Asher glanced over, recognizing the same woman who had nearly gotten into a fist fight with the caravan chef for continuing to ask for one last serving after the food wagon had already started cleaning up day after day.

"The second level is home to those wealthy enough to lord it over the common rabble, but lacking the luck of having been born with noble blood," Brant said, frowning at the woman. "If you've got more shards than sense, there will be plenty of places to throw them away up there. You'll need to prove you're a person with means in order to gain permissions for that level, which mainly boils down to making a sizable donation toward the city."

"Thank you." The woman nodded.

"What about the first level?" Asher called out, deciding he might as well ask and save himself the future headache. "I have an acquaintance who's a noble, and I was curious if he'd be in the city."

"The first level plays by its own rules," Brant said, shaking his head. "You don't get papers to access it, you get some sort of magic symbol stamped on the back of your hand when you show them your identification. I hear it lasts for a week before needing to be reapplied, but that's all I know. I've certainly never been up that high in Dormaul. Your best bet would be to send a message with a courier once you're in the city, there are special rules in place that allow them access to the first level."

"Perfect, thank you!" Asher called out, giving a thumbs up and silently thanking Eternal Regeneration for the fact he even had thumbs again.

"Sounds a bit similar to the way Whikoga had rings," Samantha pointed out as people began calling out more mundane questions, like 'where can I rent a pickaxe?' and 'what happens if I fall off a zipline?'

"A bit. Though it's interesting you need permission to go down to the fifth level as well. I guess the fourth level is where most people congregate in the city."

"So where are we staying?" Brian asked, finally done making rude faces at Laura, who was standing near the other train. "The fourth or third level?"

"I think the third level is a good starting point," Asher decided, rubbing his chin. "Brant said that's the place to go for weapons, and that's one of the reasons why we've come here anyway. Not to mention, you guys could probably use more arrows, right? With my Personal Rift, we could put in a truly giant bulk order. Pick up a couple thousand quality arrows for you both. That way we don't need to worry about getting any more for a while."

"That's… actually a fantastic idea I can't believe I didn't think of." Samantha blinked, slowly nodding. "I think you're severely underestimating how much even a single well-made arrow would cost, though."

"I mean, it's one arrow, Samantha. What could it cost? Ten shards?"

Samantha merely snorted, shaking her head as she gave him a pitying look. "Let's just say there's a reason Brian and I purchase simple arrow heads and tend to make our arrows by hand."

"Alright, maybe a few hundred instead of a few thousand," Asher said with a shrug. "I do have a lot of shards on me, but I'm going to need most of them for the two skills I have close to evolution. Not to mention my mithral dagger. In fact, I'm probably going to need to find a way to find some more shards before long…"

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Samantha asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"It might!" He grinned. "Care to join me? I bet hunting criminals is pretty similar to hunting animals."

"I think I'll pass for now. Though that doesn't mean I'm planning to sit around and do nothing. These forests are thinner, but that's still better than nonexistent. I bet it's at least a few hours to trek from the city down to the forest and back, maybe we can find some people willing to pay us to hunt for them."

"I kinda want to try mining," Brian spoke up, looking pleadingly up at his sister. "Can we give it a shot? I want to see what I can find!"

"I don't know if they'll give us access to that level without mining-related skills, but we can try," Samantha promised, smiling at the excited look on his face. "Want to run over and see where your new friend is staying in the city? From what her father said, it sounds like that's where they're headed as well."

"Who, Laura?" Brian scoffed, his excitement gone in an instant as he shot another scowl over at the distant girl chatting with her parents. "Why would I care where she's staying? She and her crossbow can go fall off the mountain for all I care."

"Of course, Brian," Samantha said, pulling him in for a hug while winking over his head at Asher. "Whatever you say."

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