Chapter 5 - Arrival

Sy woke the two boys, who were currently out cold in the back of the carriage, they had passed out almost instantly on the journey, having had not a wink of sleep the night previous.

The journey had taken roughly five hours Sy surmised, so it was currently about mid-day in Dynabury. Their coachman had taken them to a stable on the outskirts of the mega-town, so the group had yet to enter the crowded and bustling streets of the centre.

Dynabury was the closest thing you could get to a city in the Avax Empire without the actual title; home to a large Adventurer Society guildhall, a Magic Society headquarters and over half a million people, it would be safe to say that the boys were out of their depth.

As the twins groggily got to their feet and slid from the back of the cart, they both rubbed their eyes to make sure they want seeing things.

'Wow.' Xavier said in awe.

'Wow.' Zeus agreed with a gulp.

Looking at the towering structures, brick roads and abundance of people in the near distance, they were completely mesmerised. Sy didn't offer similar sentiments. Zeus could've sworn he saw a flash of disgust make its way across his father's hooded face as he saw him pocket the platinum dog tags that he had previously left dangling from his neck.

The twins' father guided them through the streets at a slow pace towards the biggest structure in town. Zeus assumed that their first destination was most likely the guildhall that their father had mentioned yesterday, which was probably the huge hulking building they were slowly approaching.

The guild hall's size couldn't be understated. When Xavier first saw the megastructure, he had estimated it was roughly ten times bigger than their house back in Godshelm. As they closer neared its entrance, he realised how wrong he was. Ten times was an understatement.

Sy took them straight in through the large open wicket gates into the guildhall. The hall also acted as a meeting place for many adventurers with over two dozen crowded tables packed with adventurers. The tables were placed on the right-hand side of the entrance gates and bustled with activity. Xavier's mind almost exploded when he saw the myriads of adventurers in front of him. Having had a rather shelter upbringing, his parents hadn't taught him nor Zeus a great deal about the wider world outside his village, he had known from reading the very limited selection of books within the house that humans were not the only species that inhabited his vast empire but hadn't didn't realised what this entailed.

'Beastmen.' Sy stated, as if reading the pair's minds, 'be respectful and don't stare.'

The two boys nodded their acknowledgement, having been caught in the act, and looked at the floor, trying to hide the embarrassment from their poor manners.

They followed their father closely, making their way to the rear of the queue leading up to the kiosks where three adventurer society employees were working on the last-minute signups for tomorrow's adventurer intake.

In the far corner of the hall, a man stood, leaning against the wall on his lonesome. He was of average height and build, reaching about five feet eight inches. He bore heavy bags under his eyes and was deathly pale, his dark stubble and hollow grey eyes would give the average onlooker the impression he was nothing more than a walking corpse. Around his neck, he wore a set of shining gold dog tags and was clothed in black leather amour, with his vitals and joints covered in reinforced iron plating. He had noticed Sy the moment he had stepped foot inside the guildhall and recognised his power immediately. He had seen very few others who had reached that level of proficiency, but that was not what surprised him the most, in fact, it was the two children that walked either side of that very man. Based on their height and appearance they couldn't be more than ten years of age. The thing was though, is that both of them possessed power that already teetered on the beginnings of the advanced class. That shouldn't be possible.

'Just what the hell has rolled into Dynabury?' Ecreed wondered to himself, as he readied himself to go inform the guild master of their new mysterious visitors.