“‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

-J.R.R Tolkien

****

The carriages rattled along at a decent pace, there was some jostling, but it could have been worse. The expedition was heading to a somewhat substantial mine that saw a lot of trade so it made sense that the road between it and the keep would be adequately paved. That did stop Nero from bounding every so often, there was little in the way of suspension and shock absorption in such low-quality carriages. Every time he rose a little from his seat he would come back down on the hardwood surface, there were no cushions.

The group had been traveling for almost two hours now and, from what Nero had read about, they were getting close to their destination. Every few minutes the convoy would encounter another traveler on the road. Most of them seemed to be farmers or traders heading to the city early in the morning to sell their ware. Occasionally they would meet an adventurer or a group of them on their way back to town as well.

Early on in the expedition many of the trainees had conversed with each other about the upcoming battles. The initiates talked about possible formations, who they wanted to team up with and how many ratmen they believed they would be able to kill. Eventually, that conversation shifted to where the trainees were planning on going after they graduated and what they wanted to do. Most of them had desired to become adventurers, as was expected, but a few had other interests.

One of them wanted to learn to fight to defend himself while being a traveling merchant between Sarra Keep and the newly excavated Lost City to the east. There were projections that with the influx of outlanders, players, and colonists it would not take long for the city to be reestablished.

Its location between the Keep and Selwe meant that it would likely be a hub of trade. If a merchant could get in on the ground floor of the redevelopment, then they could stand to make millions. Unfortunately, there was still no safe road between it and the other cities so being able to defend one's self was essential.

Another of the trainees, a woman with a greatsword across her legs, was looking to join the army instead of adventuring. Apparently, her family had achieved distinction in the military for generations, and she wanted to do the same. Taking a training hall course before joining gave a slight pay raise as well as better chances of making it into the officer core.

The conversation between the other six occupants of the carriage went on for the first hour before petering out slowly as few tried to get some sleep in the bumpy seats.

Nero did not engage with the others. Jorry was asleep on his lap, having fallen off his shoulder after a particularly nasty bump. He idly scratched under the snake's chin as remained lost in thought. He had tried to read early in the ride, but the jostling had made that impossible, so instead, he found himself practicing with his new tongue.

In the last few hours, Nero had gotten a better hold on his new appendage. He was still bitting it every once and a while but nowhere near as often. It wasn't yet to the point of subconscious use, that would take weeks, but it progressed none the less.

Kaeser also occupied himself with trying to distinguish the particles in the air. The easiest had been the dust and dirt kicked up by the carriages. Other than that he recognized the sweat of Dode as he rode in the morning sun and the smell/taste of the horse. There was the metallic taste of steel from the armaments of his compatriots and the occasional unique wift of one of their distinct odor or taste.

Which was which he was not nearly good enough to tell but his little experiments validated his decision to assimilate the tongue. It wouldn't be long before he would be able to tell people apart by their taste/smell and know exactly who was who and how many beings surrounded him.

"So what are you doing here?" The question came from Nero's side, it was asked with a tone of curiosity rather than rudeness. Apparently one of the other trainees had gotten bored enough to try and engage him in conversation.

"Same as you probably, wanted to learn to fight and this seemed like a good enough place." The one who had asked the question was a young man, he looked to be in his early second century but since this world went by the old standard of human age that likely meant that he was in his late to mid-twenties. Nero recognized him as the person who had talked about wanting to be a merchant earlier.

"Not what I meant, I mean why did you sign up so late, you could have waited until the spring and gotten the full course?"

"I am probably not going to stay in town that long, so I figured that I might as well take what I could get while I am here." While true, Nero still had no definite plans. He was certainly going to wait to meet up Sofia, although he should probably get in the habit of calling her Medea, and his sisters but after that, he had no real plans. He did not even know if he was going to stay with them.

"So where are you from? I haven't seen a snake type beastman before, I saw a dragon type once, but that guy was way different looking." Apparently, due to his tongue, he looked like a snake therianthrope. Nero would imagine that a true snake beastman would have more serpentine characteristics than just the tongue. Still, Nero saw no need to correct the impression, but he did have a question.

"You don't find it odd that I have this tongue and can talk to animals?" The other man snorted a bit in amusement.

"You don't get out much do you?" He asked to which Nero tilted his head slightly in question. "I've seen weirder just by walking the streets. I knew this one guy that could supposedly talk to rocks, he kept insisting that they were smarter than most people. He always carried around this one green stone that supposedly told the best knock-knock jokes. I didn't believe him at all till he had me tell it a joke while he was gone and then he had the rock tell it to him."

Kaesar had to blink at that for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the idea of talking to inanimate objects. Animals were one thing, they were clearly alive and had some concept of the world around them. Rocks, on the other hand, were much different, they showed no sign of life. Besides, would the man be able to talk to all stones? What about pebbles or concrete made of rock? What happens when a rock is split, does it die? There was just so many questions.

"Then there was that time I saw what must have been a child of a dwarf and a giraffe type. Her torso only came up to my waist, but she could look me in the eye no problem." His companion kept talking, not noticing Nero's growing confusion as he immersed himself in describing all the odd people he had seen.

"Don't even get me started on the outlanders. When they first arrive, they seem pretty normal but they have this ability that they call their Nature, and it can help them become anything. I once gave directions to one who had seven eyes, all around his head like a crown. They kept blinking at me and were of different colors. Trust me, spend enough time in the Keep and you will see some really odd people. having a long tongue and a pet snake that you can talk to is in no way odd."

While nice to know he wouldn't be getting odd looks if he kept assimilating traits, it still left Nero with a feeling of slight culture shock. He had not seen anything that strange since starting Gods' Nature, just what sort of game was this?

Granted he did not get out much, he spent most of his time in the park or bookstore reading or in the training hall. The only occasion when he really spent a lot of time in public was when he was job hunting, and even then he passed most of his time in smaller streets closer to the wall rather than the main thoroughfares. Business on the main roads would probably not have need of his skills in extermination when they made a lot more money than the smaller establishments.

Still, it put into perspective just how diverse some of the other Nature's could be. Nero had thought that his Nature was on the stranger side, but when he thought about it, there was probably plenty of players who had more 'beastly' Natures. Not counting the beastman race, the idea of talking to animals or changing shapes into one was almost certainly not unique.

Off the top of Nero's head, he could think of at least five other descriptions of Nature's that could give them similar skills to his own. Not the least was shapeshifting or old school druids that he had learned about in his research about gaming. It was almost impossible that another Nature was the exact same as 'The Beast' but there were probably thousands who had something similar.

Not only that but stranger ones also probably existed. The one with eyes all around his head could have a Nature based on one of the numbers of mythological creatures. Or it could be a skill that was learned outside of the Nature of the player. Or it could be an item that allows the wearer to see all around him.

It struck him then, the sheer magnitude of what Gods' Nature was. It was freedom in the most real sense. With strange magic, odd creatures, ridiculous items and Nature's that were only limited by a person's imagination, this world was truly limitless.

Earlier Nero had thought that Jorry could turn into a dragon if he really tried because this was primarily a game. But that wasn't really no limits was it, a dragon and a snake were still somewhat similar. What was really revealing was that there should theoretically be a way to turn Jorry into a cat, a fish, a human or a tree. And if Jorry could do it then there was a good chance that Nero could as well.

He could become anything he wished to be, an animal, a king, a god or the devil. For a second Nero had this image of himself with his forked tongue, a tail, goat hooves and horns that he had assimilated from other animals. He imaged walking down the street looking like the biblical devil and laughing diabolically as he plotted world conquest. The image was humorous, and if he had the chance he might do something like that as a prank on his sisters, but for now, he merely sat in a bumpy carriage thinking about the sheer freedom he now had at his fingertips.

For the first time in a long, long time Augustus felt something welling up inside him. A sense of intense curiosity, a desire to go out and explore, to see the wondrous and terrible things that that this world had to offer. For the first time in years, Augustus was feeling excitement.

"You know, I don't even know your name. Sorry about that. I'm Paul." The sense of excitement died when his fellow trainee reminded Nero where he was.

"Nero."

"Nice to meet you, Nero. So what do you plan on doing after you finish your training."

Kaesar shrugged in response and asked "You?" in return.

"I'm planning on being a merchant. Times like these, a man needs to know how to fight if he wants to stay safe on the road." Nero had heard that earlier but didn't think that mentioning it would be a good idea lest Paul think he was eavesdropping.

"Once I graduate it will be a perfect time too. Rumor has it that the lost city to the east is about to be cleared by outlanders. Once that happens trade routes will open, and I can make a killing as they rebuild." Nero knew about lost cities from his readings, they were the large settlements that, for one reason or another, had not survived the rupture.

"How did you hear about it?" Nero asked something like that would probably slowly spread from word to mouth until an official declaration was proclaimed. But rumors were often unreliable, and many people had ruined their lives by listening to tales of opportunity.

"I have a friend who works in The Bank. He told me that it was the founders themselves who were clearing it out. And you know them, I don't think they have failed yet, so it is only a matter of time." There it was again, The Bank. Not a bank, but The Bank. There were forums about it online, dedicated to its accomplishments, how to get recruited and who its mysterious creator was.

From what Nero had managed to gather, it was an institution created by two players and, with the help of some NPC's, they had created a system of storage and money lending that nearly every player in the game swore by. As time passed and more cities were pioneered, its influence spread and grew.

Its creators were supposedly two of the earliest players, and they led a team of high leveled people to complete challenging quests. Typically they would be more well known, but they had a policy of keeping their privacy filters on and not responding to requests for interviews.

"Wouldn't a new city not have a lot of money for merchants?" Nero asked.

"Normally I would agree with you, but once it is set up then the Banker will rule it, won't he? They say he has more money than the entire keep. That the Banker has a pool of molten gold and a harem of beautiful women that follow him wherever he goes. Supposedly he managed to seduce many outlanders who are super strong. Man, what I would give to have his life."

"I thought there were two founders?"

"Well, there are. But one of the two is the Banker, he's the real leader and creator of The Bank. He's probably the wealthiest man alive at this point, and he got all of that by himself. The other one is the Reaper, he's the muscle. I hear that one is a real demon, a sort of lich who has a horde of undead that follows him around and that likes to torture his enemies to death."

Nero was willing to bet money that those were merely rumors for the most part. The nicknames he had heard of online, but the rest was probably an exaggeration of the truth as it passed from person to person. Most likely the Banker was a player who had decided to exploit the game's undeveloped economic system, and the Reaper was a friend or family member who likes playing as a necromancer type class.

"Where is this lost city exactly?" Nero wondered.

"To the east, in the Skali hills. If you were going to Selwe, then it is about a third of the way there. The beginning of the journey is rather easy, baring monsters, but near the end, you got to be careful to head a bit north to not have to cross the river of wrath. Apart from that you still got to navigate around the local mountains. Its a trip that can take anywhere from a few months to over a year depending on the weather and if the caravan needs to avoid strong monsters. At least, so I hear."

Sometimes it was readily apparent how little the infrastructure of this world was developed. While cities and the roads to towns near them might have cobblestone pavement, there was no highway or safe paths. Anybody leaving a settlement was taking their lives into their own hands.

"I plan on starting with necessities, once the path is a bit safer. Food, clothing, weapons, stuff like that. A new city will need tonnes of the stuff so it should be low-cost, high price goods. After that, in a few years, I think I'll move on to more expensive goods like silk or fish. But that is in the future for now-" Paul's continued ramblings were put to a halt by the carriage stopping and Dode yelling 'We're here' to the occupants of the carriage.

"I suppose for now we just got to kill us some ratmen, don't we?" Paul said with a grin as he descended from the coach. Putting Jorry once more on his shoulder, Nero did the same.