A carriage was moving on a trail and at the moment there was a large lake with crystal clear water on its left and a bamboo forest on the right. The whole carriage rattled when it hit one of the many potholes . Robert was curiously taking in the sights alongside the trail while he listened to the stories of the driver. Storekeeper Rudo was now talking about the small alligator-like creatures which lived in the lake. The men from Westfae used to fish at this lake in the past, but one day these mini alligators invaded the pond. Aggressive and hostile by nature they began to hunt any living beings they found. That brought an abrupt end to any fishing.

When Rudo told Robert that he was going to the city to refill his store’s inventory, Robert asked if he could tag along and Rudo didn’t mind. The journey to Goldfair would take a few hours by cart and having someone to talk to would ward off the boredom that tended to creep up after a while.

What Robert wanted to see was Goldfair. A city would hopefully provide more information on everything he needs to know, far more than a remote village.

At one point the trail met with a well-maintained road, akin to the ones the Romans once used on earth. As the journey progressed they passed other small roads and trails similar to the one they used which led to other small villages. Their size telling of the importance of the places they led to. The closer they got to Goldfair the more the traffic increased. Carriages drawn by horses and carts drawn by oxen could be seen. Some lone horserider in dusty clothes were too on their way to the city.

The horse-drawn carriages were used usually as passenger transport. They were light and fast, there was even a carriage pulled by 4 horses, Rudo said it was a luxury carriage and must belong to some nobles. The ox-drawn carriages were pulled by a dark muscular variety of ox, it had power but not speed.

When the city came in sight they left the forest they traveled through for the last kilometers and the scenery got replaced with vast fields of paddy. Some fields were green and the plants only a few inches in height while others were fully grown and had golden rice on it. There were wood mages, dressed in green, tending to the plants while water mages, dressed in shades of blue, took care of the irrigation of the field.

He had also caught a glimpse of a group of earth mages, dressed in brown when they passed by a mine near the woods.

Passing the vast green and golden fields, they reached the city gates. The city wall formed a giant square, was at least 6 meter high and made out of stone. Taller buildings peaked and looked over it, but what dominated was the skyline by 5 towers. In each corner of the square was one tower, 15 meters tall, plus one at the center of the city.

Soldiers in tunics patrolled the wall and soldiers in chainmail armor stood guard at the city gate. Though the tunics and armors were uniforms the cloaks the soldiers wore were different in color. Each color signaling to which branch of elemental magic the wearer belonged. As they were soldiers one could safely assume they followed the dark path.

Rudo ’s carriage was allowed to enter the city without any hitch. Entering the city was stunning. The relative quiet from outside was replaced by a bustling crowd and vendors loudly hawking their wares. It felt like a thunderstorm suddenly took over a, just moments ago, calm ocean. The shops were all filled with many different items. A shop sporting green orbs sold high-quality medicinal seeds while a shop adorned with glowing red orbs sold an assortment of purified ores.

There was a clear distinction between the elements of magic everywhere in the city and Rudo explained the reason.

There were two major families controlling the city, the “Flaming Volcano“ and “Blue Lotus“. The ruling families both had two halls as their centers of power. Every hall was dedicated to a single element. The Flaming Volcano had the “Fire Hall“ and “Earth Hall“, while Blue Lotus had the “Water Hall“ and “Wood Hall“. Both families were in a constant power struggle throughout the history of Goldfair. In the process, they eliminated any other faction who tried to compete for the control of the city.

The vendors who didn't belong to one of the ruling families were neutral and generally didn't engage in politics. The bigger merchant families did compete with the ruling families at least in trade as they had the backing to be not afraid. But even for them, politics was a no-go area.

The carriage proceeded along the paved road, both sides bustling with activity. A few moments later they entered a large open area. Numerous carriages drove there. Some were drawn by horse and some by an ox. A few carriages had animals in front of them Robert didn't recognize from Earth and Riley had never seen them as well. They had to be spirit animals.

Two men came to the carriage and asked for the length of our stay. Rudo told them that he wasn't sure if he would stay overnight. The stable boy told us that Rudo had to rent the box for the horse for the minimum of a day anyway. The other took away the horse into the stable. It reminded Robert of valet parking on Earth.

“I have to buy a few things for the store, you wanna come ?”, Rudo asked.

“No, I think I’ll go around the city and see stuff”, Robert replied. “If I am not here by the time you want to go home, you can leave without me”. Robert was sure that he would be staying here for a while even though he knew that it would be more of a struggle to earn a living here than it would be in Westfae.

Buying a detailed map of the city, Robert searched for a library that he could read at, but there were none. After asking around, he concluded that the only libraries are privately owned by big families and are only available to their members.

He decided to go to a nearby bookstore. After getting lost many times and accidentally kicking a golden tailed cat, which bit him in return, he finally reached the bookstore. There was a giant crystal ball at the entrance of the store which projected the books on discount and their prices.

The titles “Golden grimoire of the flame element” and “Theory of ranged magic” caught Robert's eye. His flame was only controllable when it was in his hands. He could cast a fire arrow, but the energy expenditure was too high and thus limited its utility.

He anxiously waited for the discount to appear and all his hopes were shattered by the price tags. The books he wanted cost 10 golds each and after applying a discount the fire element book still cost 8 gold and the ranged magic book 5 gold.

The past week was a week full of hunting and all Robert had to show for it was 25 silver. Although the prices were high, he decided to go inside and at least take a look at the books.

Getting even a glimpse of what is written inside those books may be good enough. A hint here, a snippet of information there might have been all he needed. Being a scholar in his previous life, Robert’s reading speed was quite high. He could finish up reading those long and seemingly indecipherable research papers in a single night.

Robert walked into the store and past a woman in an emerald cloak who was sitting at the counter. She wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around her, her gaze fixed upon a book with golden floral designs on the cover.

Two long wooden bookshelves ran along at either side of the shop's wall, a third in the middle and a short one decorated with golden ornaments placed in the front. Orbs of bright white light lit the whole store. Seeing this much books together, Robert’s thoughts wandered to his university's library which he often frequented.

“Great, now I can take my time to read the books”, Robert muttered to himself.

His joy lasted only moments. Reaching for “Golden grimoire of the flame element”, that sat in a shelf that had golden ornamented books, he found out why the woman at the counter could engross herself in a book while ignoring the comings and goings in the store.

In the center of the book, there was a coffee bean shaped seed. From the seed grew vines to each corner of the book and wound themselves around the edges effectively sealing the book. A coiled vine grew from the upper left corner to the bookshelf, connecting them. They were thick enough to not be ripped off accidentally. Following those vines, with his eyes, he saw a bunch of them spread along the ceiling in the direction of the store clerk. They seemed to originate from her feet.

“These guys even have an alarm system in place to catch shoplifters”, Robert said to himself while turning the book to read its synopsis.

“Learn to cast the most powerful and energy efficient apprentice level spells. Widen your horizon in flame magic and reach a new level of power. By bestselling author: Professor Heng Ghassan, Ember Magic University”

There is a magic university? Does that mean that there are magic schools too? Robert decided to ask around for more information about them later.

Then he went to take a look at “Theory of ranged magic“. Its synopsis was far better than the other one.

Robert decided to take a look at the books on the wooden shelves. Fortunately, they weren’t as restricted as the expensive books and had one or two pages not sealed by vines for the customers to read. There were maps, travelogs, story books, mythologies, religious books and so on. He spent almost an hour at the store doing nothing but reading. Seeing the woman at the counter glaring at him from time to time he decided that it was time to leave.

He left the bookstore and walked through the crowded street. A bit down the street his eyes caught sight of a cannon. Made out of a black metal, it looked the same as old cannons from earth. But instead of a fuse at the end waiting to be lit, there was a metal pin with a flat end, resembling a big nail, sticking out of it. A pile of cannonballs and a heavy hammer lay beside it. The store to which the cannon belonged had a sign over its entrance. The sign read “Black Metal Weaponsmith.” It was written with silver paint in a fancy font in front of a black background, a black dragon sat under the writing.

Curious about the cannon, Robert walked into the store.