It only takes an hour to make it to the bay. Flying above the bay, Deepwell comes into view and it is the most beautiful city I have seen so far. It sits in the middle of the thirty-mile-wide bay. The city is at least five miles across and is made of a combination of crystal and a white stone. Harry tells me that the bay is 200 feet deep where the city rests and all the towers along the edge of the city have crystal windows that have views of the bay, both above and below the water. There is a lot of wild life that fills the bay, which supports a strong fishing fleet and several guilds that specialize in underwater dungeons and monster hunting.

Harry takes us in an arc around the city to land on a large square building. While we descend, we see dozens of boats docked along the edge of the city and several patrol in the water and flying above. This city has more obvious protection that the Capital and Harry says it is needed because of the occasional incursion of monsters into the bay from the ocean. We land gently on the roof and after carefully walking off the floating leaf it shrinks and slides onto Harry’s left forearm where it joins a tattoo of a winding vine that climbs from his left wrist up his arm and under his sleeve. After seeing this I wonder if the tattoo is camouflage for the leaf that flew us here or if it also serves some other purpose.

Harry leads us to a door on the corner of the building and down a set of stairs to a corridor. The corridor has several fine oak doors and is decorated with portraits. The indirect lighting it tastefully done. The carpeted floor is soft with a plush red and brown patterned weave. Harry leads us half way down the hallway to a right-handed door. He unlocks it with a large brass key and gestures us to go in first. The room is dominated by a tinted window made of thick crystal that looks out over the bay. It is a lovely view and the room complements it nicely. The wood floors and walls make the room warm and comfortable. Instead of an office desk several sofas and plush leather chairs decorate the room. A floor to ceiling book shelf covers one wall, which is half filled with books. However, decorative items covering the other half are of far more interest. There are weapons, crystals, a brass lantern, and a large pool of red liquid that is swirling around a center point six inches above the shelf. There are other items that I can’t readily identify, hopefully I have some more time later to look them over.

“I will get you rooms here in the Temple and then in the morning you can take the portal to the Temple of the Seven Moons after breakfast. The portal only opens at dawn. Until then I thought we could show you some of the city.”

“Do you think that is safe?”

“I think it will be. I will assign our guardian to escort you.”

I see Nora looks impressed. “Sorry, but I don’t know the significance of a guardian being assigned to us. What is a Guardian?”

“A Guardian is a mortal, usually an adventurer, who merges with a celestial spirit. Their two personalities join into a new being. The mortal will no longer age and gain many invulnerabilities of the celestial spirit. The spirit gains the chance to experience the mortal realm. Many times, the two are companions before they join, but not always.”

“Based on the name they guard or protect something?”

“Correct, the Guardian I am referring to protects the Temple and on occasion such as this they will protect someone chosen by the Goddess, such as Nora.”

I must admit I was thrown by his specifying Nora as the chosen of the Goddess, but then I calmed down. I am developing an ego if I have trouble having a Princess be the chosen of the Goddess of Water instead of me. Hopefully I will be able to keep a sense of perspective.

“Now why don’t you follow me and I will hand you off to a guide that can get you settled in your suite and then show you around the major sites of the city.”

“One moment, before we go can you tell me what that is?” I point to the swirling red liquid on the shelf.

Harry laughs and says. “A man after my own heart, so curious they can’t hold it in. That is a red mist elemental. It is the only known one in existence and was formed on a battle field after many people were killed by water and air magics. It feeds on blood, water, and air magic and has been a fascinating elemental to study.”

“Wow, thanks.” I say as I focus on little elemental and with my perception, I faintly sense it straining to reach me before I jerk back.

Harry chuckles and says. “Don’t worry the binding spells are very strongly enforced. Now let’s go.”

Harry leads us back out into the hall and down two floors of stairs to a lobby where a young woman in white robes sits behind a small oak desk reading from a book. As Harry comes down the stairs she stands and bows. Harry tells her. “These are the guests we were expecting. Please take them to their rooms and then see to their needs. Introduce them to the Guardian and then they are free to tour the city.”

The young lady bows again and Harry gestures to her. “Gloria will take care of you and I will meet you at breakfast tomorrow morning to open the portal. Have a nice stay and may the Goddess be with you.”

We both say thanks and Harry smiles as he walks back up the stairs. Nora and I turn our attention to Gloria. “Hello, I will take you to your rooms and get you access wards for the Temple, unless you are hungry or have another need?”

I look at Nora and she takes it as the queue to take the lead. “Seeing our rooms would be nice, so we could wash up and then I could take some food if possible.”

“Of course, this way, please.”

Gloria turns to a side hallway and leads Nora followed by me through a maze of twists and turns. I check my map and see it is not recording anything in the Temple. I watch Nora’s posture and stance change as we interact with Harry and Gloria. I think it is her Princess persona asserting itself. She is probably use to being deferred to in the Palace. I just take the time to marvel at the temple which is very beautiful and richly decorated. The floors are hardwood covered with tightly woven carpets. The walls have polished braze holders for the magic light crystals and walls are tastefully decorated with paintings and wall coverings. We finally stop in front of a door and Gloria pulls out a bronze plate about the size of a card from a poker deck placing it against a larger plate on the door. There is a click and then she opens the door.

She hands us each our own card and has us repeat the steps she just went through. Gloria explains the door is now keyed only to our cards. She leads us into the room, which is a richly appointed living area with small coaches and sofas. There is a bar on the left wall with many different bottles of liquor behind it. To the right is a set of glass doors leading out onto a terrace with an outdoor dining table and six comfortable looking lounge chairs. She shows us there are two bedrooms with large comfortable looking beds. Each room has a large master bathroom with a tub and shower. The ceiling is domed in each room with different scenes painted across the ceiling. The living area has a painting of Vera and a young woman that I am guessing is the Goddess of Water based on the surroundings. The bedrooms each have different night sky scenes. Gloria leaves a small bell we can ring for service and takes her leave while we both get washed up and ready to tour around the city.

I feel excited. This is the first time I have felt relatively safe since come to Burra and I can’t wait to enjoy the city. After drying myself off I take a seat in one of the sofas in the living room while I look up at the painting of Vera on the ceiling. The painting is very well done and I find myself checking out her legs when she winks at me. I jerk and look at her face for several minutes until Nora joins me. I must have been mistaken. I pick up the bell and ring. Gloria shows up a few minutes later and we are led down to a large dining area. It is a little late for lunch and the room is big enough to seat over 100 people, but two dozen people are sitting at tables with most already being served.

When we take a seat a young man in light robe robes brings menus before taking orders for drinks. We all get a dark ale based on Gloria’s recommendation. Each of us decides to try a different dish, so we can share and try several dishes. Gloria says to stick with the sea food, since it is fresh from the bay and ocean. Also, the cooks are incredibly skilled, because of all the materials they practice with. I am curious if any of these meals will give us buffs and Gloria look shocked at my question. Nora rescues me. “He is a Reborn and still has many gaps in this education.”

“Of course, that makes sense. Food itself cannot hold mana. There are powders and potions that could be mixed with food, but doing so would just dilute the magic. Food is just food unless its source is celestial or infernal. Celestial food can purify the body and infernal can corrupt.”

I am blushing at having asking another question, which is common knowledge and take a deep gulp of ale to hide my embarrassment. Lunch turns out to be some of the best food I have had so far, but Gloria says dinner tonight will be incredible. I am guessing she is right given her level of excitement. It is an excuse for her to go to a great restaurant on the Temple’s tab.

After lunch Gloria takes us through the maze of halls again to the room of the Guardian. She knocks and I admit I am disappointed. The man who answers the door is five-foot-tall and dressed in simple black robes with a braided rope belt. He is expecting us and shuts the door behind him. He has a disinterested expression and doesn’t say anything other than nod to Gloria when he in introduced. Gloria asks us to hold his hand for a moment. He can become invisible, but grant immunity for a limited time to someone he touches. This way he can escort us without drawing attention and we will be able to see him, so we can follow his direction if necessary. I feel no different after holding his hand.

Gloria leads us out of the Temple followed by the Guardian, who floats above everyone on the street. I imagine we would have gotten a lot of stares if anyone else could see him. Gloria is going to take us to the Singing Fountains first, then on an underwater tour, before dinner at the Grove. It’s supposed to be a great restaurant. This will be followed by shopping in the merchant district. The streets are busy, but not packed and we walk for about an hour, being led through different districts. Gloria talks about the history of the city, which was formed by water mages in alliance with the Dalb. The Dalb are a sentient marine race whose main city is twenty miles off shore. Trade with the Dalb was the genesis of the city’s initial growth. Most of the buildings have submerged lower floors that cater to the Dalb.

Our first stop is the Singing Fountains. There is a line to enter the square where they are located. Stairs lead up to an archway over the entrance to the square. Only locals can walk through the archway. Tourist must climb the stairs and they can watch one song before the next group goes up. Gloria takes us around to the other side were a smaller archway is guarded by the city guard. We are waved through with Gloria and after climbing the stairs we see a large square about 100 feet across lined with restaurants. About half of the square is taken up by concentric rings of tiered water. As we watch notes of a song begin to play and the water begins to ripple. As the song begins to play the water in the pools begins to jet up into the air over the tops of the buildings surrounding it. As the song progresses animals of water shoot out of the pool swimming and running through the air around loops of water. For the finale four large birds of water crash into each other high above the fountain sending a shower of water toward everyone that at the last-minute curves back into the pool.

“That was awesome.” I say.

Nora is smiling. “It is an incredible display of power and skill.”

“Come. I think you will like our next stop even more.” Gloria says, walking down the stairs.

I am excited, the next stop is supposed to be an underwater tour. It takes us about thirty minutes to get to the dock. We turn before the dock into a fifty-foot-tall tower on the right. It is cool and dimly lit inside and half the room is covered in water. A man with thick white hair pulled back into a pony tail is sitting on a stool behind a metal desk. “Hi, Gloria. Is this the group for the tour?”

“Hi, Val. Yes, this is Nora and George. As we discussed they should see the area around the bay and some of the interesting sights. We do have a dinner reservation at 6PM, so we want them back in time to change and get washed up.”

“Not a problem. That will give us plenty of time to see some great sites. Greetings I am Val and I will be taking you on a tour today. We will be riding a Tallus Eel, which if you have never seen one, is a site all by itself. I will be casting water breathing and water proofing spells on you, so you won’t need to worry about breathing or getting wet. We will meet Gloria back here around 4:30PM, which should leave you plenty of time to make it to dinner.”

“I will leave you in Val’s capable hands and see you later.” Gloria says as she leaves. The Guardian in standing inside the doorway and I am guessing he will continue to follow us.

“Now let’s get the spells on you.” Val gestures and I see notifications that the Water Breathing and Water Proofing spells are active for the next six hours.

“The spells will also allow you to talk normally while we are underwater. Ok, follow me.”

Val jumps off the stool and walks down a set of stairs into the water. We both follow him finding the water to be warm and we have no trouble breathing. It just feels like we are wrapped in a warm blanket as we walk through the water to the lower level of the tower. Val takes us through a doorway and outside the tower. We can look up and see the surface clearly. The bottom of the bay around the tower is lined with cut granite and a creature is laying on the stone. The creature is huge and has what looks like the top half of a wagon fastened across it’s back with large leather straps. It looks like a giant eel with a long sleek green body and a pair of dinner plate size eyes. It yawns revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth. There is seating for six comfortably.

“This is Zoya, hop on.” Val says as he climbs up the straps, which have hand holds built into them. He settles in the front seat while Nora and I take the seats behind him, fastening harnesses around ourselves. After he tugs on our harnesses, he touches a globe to his right and Zoya wags her tail quickly picking up speed. The water around the city rapidly deepens to 200 feet. We can see schools of huge fish swimming in lanes through the growths on the bottom of the bay. We look to be 100 feet down and can clearly see the ripples and waves on the surface of the water. I can’t get over how clear it is, especially since a large river empties into the bay.

“Val it is amazing how clean the water in the bay is. I would not have guessed we would be able to see this far.”

Val says. “Water Mages use spells to settle any silt in the water. Water based spells are more powerful when impurities are removed. Not to mention it is just a more pleasant place to live.”

Val points out different rare creatures and plants. There in a rare form of coral only found in the bay that’s very colorful. It’s host to lots of small creatures that look like glowing jelly fish, but they feed on microscopic plants and does have stingers like jellyfish. We even swim slowly through a school of them, which is incredible. Glowing colors in every direction and they gentle bump into us as we pass through them. One creature I like is about three feet long and looks like a furry sea horse. They are very playful and quick. They swim around us and Val pulls some fish from his inventory and has us feed them by holding onto the fin with our arms held out. They zip by and nip the fish out of our hands quicker than you can blink. After feeding them they swim off in spirals around themselves.

Finally, before we head back, we dive down to the bay floor and hover in front of a pile of silver spheres. They are in a mound fifty feet long, fifteen feet wide and ten feet tall.

Val says. “We are very luck to see this.” He pulls a glowing green stone from his inventory. They are the eggs of the giant sea serpent. They slowly absorb mana until they get enough to hatch. This stone contains enough mana it should cause them to hatch now. Val throws the stone which lands ten feet in front of the mound and when it hits the bottom it sends out a pulse of green light in a bubble around it. As the light hits the mound the spheres begin to crack. Shortly small creatures that look like snakes hatch and begin to eat their shells. When they hatch, they are black, but as they eat their shells they begin to change and their scales begin to become like polished mirrors. It is a dizzying affect as thousands of mirrored bodies reflect the bay around them and each other. When they finish their shells, they begin to swim toward the ocean in a large school reflecting the scene around them.

After that Val takes us back to the tower and we say good bye to Zoya. It has been an awesome tour of the bay. Val leads us up the stairs to the lobby where we find Gloria sitting on a chair waiting for us.

She smiles when she sees us. “I hope you had a good time.”

Nora gives a rare full smile back. “We did.” I nod in agreement.

“Great, well let’s stop at the Temple and get changed and washed up for dinner. Have a great day Val.”

Gloria takes us back to the Temple keeping up a conversation all by herself. I must admit I am a little tired after running all over the city. When we get back to our rooms I am tempted to crash in my bed, but force myself to get a shower and change my clothes. When Gloria shows up twenty minutes later, she is practically bouncing. It is hard not to smile seeing how excited she is. She takes us back into the street where we reacquire our Guardian companion. It is about a twenty-minute walk to the restaurant.

The Grove has a modest store front. There is a hanging wooden sign with the picture of a grove of trees surrounded in a gold circle. The glass front is tinted and we can’t see into the restaurant, which is different than the other restaurants on the street that allow you to see the people dining inside. Outside the door a small podium stands with two people that address us when Gloria steps up to greet them.

“Reservation for Harry Palison’s party.”

“Yes, Julia can escort you to your table.” The man on the left gestures to Julia, who takes us into the restaurant. Inside is a different world. Everything is indirectly lit and the restaurant is full of large trees and plants. We are following a stone pathway that takes us through the trees to our table. Along the way we see some servers, but no other tables. If I hadn’t seen us walk in, there is now way I would know we are in a building. All of plants are setup to shield the tables from sight. I look up and the trees seem to reach up to the sky.

Gloria says. “All of the trees are real. This space is a dimensional pocket. Even the elves like coming here, when they disdain most human restaurants.”

Julia seats us around a table and takes our drink orders based on Gloria recommendations. While we are waiting for the drinks Gloria shows us how to look at the menus. It is a feature build into the restaurant. We just must think Food Menu and its popups up like a System menu.

“You can buy options like this, in some buildings to add System interfaces.”

The Menu has a lot of interesting options and is heavily slanted with seafood. I end up picking Fillnar with sides of roasted vegetables and a rich creaming soup Gloria recommends which is a specialty they are known for. The Fillnar is a local fish like creature, but it has no bones and is served as a fillet. Gloria talks about the Elf that created the restaurant to bring a little bit of home for the other elves living in Deepwell. The setting and the food have since made this one of the trendiest restaurants in the city. While Gloria is talking a group of servers each carrying one plate arrive and like a well-choreographed dance place the plates before each of us and depart. Julia arrives to make sure we have everything we need and to top off our drinks.

I dig into my Fillnar and it is delicious. It has a nice crust on the skin and the meat reminds me of salmon, though instead of a pink interior it is a pale green, which throws me off. I am still surprised at some of the fundamental differences to Earth that occasionally remind me that I am on an alien world. Everyone enjoys their food. Nora gets a plate that has a pile of golf balls on it. At least that is what it looks like to me. She lets me try one of the Rackworm eggs, which don’t appeal to me, but I try them, since she seems to be enjoying them. They are very good. They have been cooked and the shells removed. Unlike boiled chicken eggs the egg is light and fluffy were the white would be and the yolk has a creamy consistency like a custard that is slightly sweet. There is a spicy sauce that goes very well with it.

Gloria has a steak of Razorbeak, which is a large aquatic bird. The bird is apparently at home either flying through air or water and is a very difficult monster to fight. They nest on the North shore of the bay and need to be aggressively kept in check or they will attack the ships in the bay. She lets Nora and I try a piece and it is excellent. Very tender and it absorbs the sauce it is served in giving it a smoky slightly acidic taste. We sit around the table after finishing and get a dessert they are famous for. It’s called Sals’ol, which is very similar to deep fried ice cream, but with magic the ice cream is perfect and the flaky pastry that surrounds it is delicious. The ice cream is close a vanilla coconut with shaved chocolate flakes throughout. I don’t know if I can stand after eating all of that, but the System rapidly helps me metabolize all the food and drink. Next, we are headed to the shopping district. Julia escorts us out and Gloria takes us on a leisurely walk to the shopping district.

✽✽✽

Fred can’t believe it. George Peterson is walking down the street with two beautiful women without a care in the world. He has the different face and name that was sent out yesterday, but it is definitely him. He must think he is safe from the agents of the God of Fire in the center of the Domain of Water. Well this is Fred’s luck day. He should be able to teleport George to the safehouse and then take him out of the city before anyone can track him. Once out of the city he can signal his superior to open a portal to the Domain of Fire. It is risky, but he can already picture the 5000-gold reward and they say the God of Fire himself wants George. The man who brings George in will be greatly rewarded. Fred carefully pulls a stun stick out of his inventory keeping it cupped in his hand while he casually walks up behind George.

Suddenly he in wrapped in bands of golden light from behind and above him. He can’t move a muscle or active his teleport stone. He can see out of the corner of his eye two men who were buying snacks from a vendor rush over to haul him away. He sees George’s surprised face and Paul realized George is being used as bait to catch agents like himself.

✽✽✽

George catches a flash of gold light from behind and when he turns, he sees a man behind him is encased in glowing bands of light by the Guardian. The man is holding a tube of some kind in his right hand. Two men break off their discussion with a vendor and rush over to scoop the man up before hustling away. People all around are gesturing and looking in their direction. Gloria directs George and Nora to continue and the people gradually lose interest as they move away and nothing else happens. I suddenly realize Nora and I have been used as bait all day to draw out agents after us. I feel stupid for not realizing this sooner. I think I am still too trusting. I will have to talk to Nora about this tonight. I am guessing she probably knew this was going on from the beginning and just assumed it was obvious without telling me.

The shopping district is an abrupt transition from the area containing restaurants we are leaving. All the stores have upper floors that are obviously residences with rooftop gardens. The streets are cut stone with high gutters and decorative stone lamp posts. It will be getting dark in an hour, so we will have a chance to see the area in the dark as well. The storefronts all have awnings to shield from the sun and weather. The sidewalks are as wide as the roads. Some of the shops even have covered walkways joining two buildings together. Each store has magical signs like Xavier’s Enchanted Goods, which is the first store we see. Gloria is practically skipping as she takes us from one store to another. I am excited, since this is my first opportunity to shop since the Starter Area.

Gloria makes a beeline for Tasha’s Gifts, which has the picture of a large wrapped package with the stores name in golden letters. As we enter the store a small silver bell rings and a slim twentyish something man sporting the first goatee I have seen greets us. The Store has several tables in the middle with shelves along the wall and a glass case that serves as a counter along the whole right wall that the sales clerk was standing behind when we entered. I wondered around while Gloria and Nora looked at some clothing on the tables. The store had a wide range of goods, such as fancy candies and expensive bottles of liquor. Also, anything from bolts of cloth to ready-made attire. The glass case has the few things I would be interested in. Some rings, bracelets, and several miscellaneous items. Some of the more interesting ones are glasses of true sight, wands that emitted variable width lights, much like a flash light, and several small one-use crystals which would give temporary boosts to stats.

Gloria apparently had a budget she could use and we end up getting a few of the small crystals for Nora and myself and Gloria got a scarf that keeps the user warm even in freezing weather, which she can’t wait to use in the winter months. After Tasha’s we stopped at one of each type of store. A potion, armorer, weaponsmith, and three different enchantment stores. The prices were extremely expensive. I am not sure if the prices are typical, but we would do better to keep hitting dungeons. I got spoiled with my windfall in the starter area and with the low prices there. We get back to the Temple late and after a hot shower I went to bed after saying good night to Nora. We have an early day tomorrow and today has been a good distraction to relax before what will probably be a stressful day.