Four horses stood atop a hill, overlooking a large city. Houses of all shapes and sizes, though all made from a combination of stone and wood, lay spread throughout the valley. Many people crowded the streets, giving an image akin to an anthill. Smoke circled into the sky from the many chimneys, and the clamour could be faintly heard even where they stood.

However everything was dwarfed by the enormous mountain of black stone the city was built next to. It was bigger than anything Jyl had ever seen before, its overbearing presence impossible to ignore.

Three buildings had been built into the mountain's side. On the left was a large spire created as if to be a work of art, with different coloured stone twisted and bent to form beautiful patterns. On the right, seemingly the opposite of the spire, was a congregation of buildings built purely for function, the design simple and direct.

Between these two and on an even higher elevation stood something that could only be described as a fortress. Built out of the same stone as the mountain, it combined impenetrable defence with elegant design. A marvel of architecture that could, in Jyl's opinion, only have been created using magic.

"It's pretentious, isn't it", Cecile suddenly said.

When Jyl looked at her questioningly, she pointed at the spire. "The mage tower. If you ask me, those guys like to show off way too much. You should see them walking around in those brightly coloured robes, proud like peacocks."

"But you can use magic as well", commented Jyl.

"All demons can use magic, but mages are those who specifically pursue it. The study it, practice it, try to unravel its mysteries. Some mages join the military, or work as crafters of different kinds, they're usually decent people. However, some remain at the tower as 'scholars', and they're annoyingly haughty. Trust me, it's better to stay away from them."

While Cecile informed Jyl of her dislike of mages, Arick led the group to the city's entrance. Their reactions, though they kept their emotions better under control, mirrored the ones they got at the wall.

Once through, they ran into a different problem. The citizens possessed none of the soldiers' restraint, so Arick pretty soon had to ask Jyl to hide beneath her hood in order to prevent panic.

Jyl didn't mind in the slightest. In fact, she found their reactions round-out amusing. As long as they didn't attack her of course. Which one citizen did try. Unfortunately apples didn't make good weapons, and after asking Mirus what kind of fruit it was, she happily ate it.

The look on his face was enough for even Cecile to easily forgive the man.

No more incidents occurred after that luckily, though Jyl questioned her companions relentlessly about just about everything, and their destination soon came into view: the entrance of the structure opposite the mage tower.

Once again they passed through a security check, but this time everyone had to show identification, then they climbed stairs. A lot of stairs. Cecile said that was the downside of building in the side of a mountain, despite that she didn't even look tired once they arrived at the lowest building. In fact, the only one who looked even a bit tired was Mirus, his explanation being that he was administration, so not required to be physically fit.

It was also why he entered the building instead of travelling higher with the other three. There were apparently four levels, the lowest being the administrative building, above that the dormitories and cafeteria, then the training grounds, and finally the offices and homes of the commanding officers.

Soon after Arick left as well, he needed to report in after being away for so long. That left only Jyl and Cecile, of whom the latter immediately decided to give the former a tour. Not knowing what else to do, Jyl allowed herself to be dragged away.