The journey to Camp Sedrun was uneventful. Despite coming from a town near the border the roads were well maintained and the two men made good time. Although he had not spent much time in the countryside, Niall found the forests and fields familiar from those he had seen around Raintor. It was only as they passed through the villages and towns along the way that he was reminded he was in an unfamiliar world. His limited support system was no longer nearby, and even quiet villages could contain threats.

Once he had got over his hangover, Huff was good company on the journey. They talked as they went and Niall quickly warmed to the big farmer and his amusing, and irreverent, conversation. Most of the time the two just walked though. That suited Niall just fine and the two of them made their way in companionable silence for the most part. He did find out Huff was the youngest of three children and his older siblings had been scaring him with stories about how tough the training was going to be. Niall relaying Devon’s assurances that it was not as bad as his siblings had made out, seemed to calm him down.

For his part, Niall was glad for his company, not least as he quickly realised the directions to Camp Sedrun Devon had given him were not as accurate as they might have been. However, even if people did not know of the army camp everyone could give them directions to Hallen, the duchy capital. Much like Rome, all the road from the frontier towns led towards it.

Niall was happy to let Huff take the lead in arranging food and rooms to stay in along the way. The inns in most of the villages they passed through were too small to have bedrooms for passing travellers, but they were happy to let the two of them sleep on the benches in the common room for a couple of coppers.

The countryside and the towns somehow felt softer to Niall the further they went from Raintor. The weather itself seemed to become more gentle as they travelled. From late winter in Raintor when they left to a clear sense of Spring as they moved closer to Hallen. All of the indications were that Winter had not been as harsh as it had been in Raintor.

It was not just the weather though, it was the people and the surroundings. He could not put his finger on in precisely but it was a combination of things. The way that the fields felt more established and less as if they had only recently been carved out of the wilderness. A sense that people were less vigilant as they went about their day. More people wearing clothes that were cut in a style that suggested fashion rather than practicality. All of this combined to contribute to Niall’s sense that he had not even scratched the surface of what this new world had to offer.

It was around six weeks after they set out, that Niall and Huff crested the last hill and reached a turning in the road that led to Camp Sedrun. Over the course of the last week of travel, the road had become steadily busier, with the flow of people, carts, and horses in both directions increasing.

From his vantage point, Niall looked down on the military camp spread out below them. Surrounded by a high stone wall patrolled by watchful guards were rows of barracks and other buildings with acres of training grounds laid out behind. Throughout it all were soldiers, marching in groups or as individuals.

The main road continued downhill for ten miles or so, terminating in a small city. The buildings and towers were dominated by a castle, surrounded by parkland, in the centre.

“So,” said Huff. “We’ve made really good time. The way I see it, we’ve got ourselves two choices. Either we report a day early to the training and sit about kicking our heels getting bored. Or, we can head on just a tiny bit further to experience the delights of our Duchy’s capital. Quite possibly wetting our parched throats with the last ale we’re likely to see for months.”

Niall grinned. He had already realised from their few days together, it was rare Huff did not take the opportunity to have a drink. “But you don’t have a preference, right?”

“Oh no. I mean I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been to Hallen before. Most people would think it ridiculous to come within spitting distance of the capital and not visit. But, no, I definitely have no views at all on what we should do.”

“Put like that, I suppose it might be worth us heading over to have a quick look around.”

“Well, if you insist. I suppose if you’re going, I could come as well. Just to keep you company, you understand?”

“Absolutely. You’d be doing me a favour.”

“I would, wouldn’t I? I’m a very special human being. You’re lucky to know me.”

With that, the two young men continued down the road to the capital.

Niall thought of himself as a city dweller. He had been born in a city, grew up in a city and, as adult, he lived in a city. If he had a natural habitat, a city was it. Therefore, as the two men walked past the bored guards through the city gates, he expected to feel more at home than he had at any point since appearing in Gwilliant. He could not be more wrong.

The streets of the city were crowded with people and carts and animals jostling at each other. Vendors trying to off-load everything from garish clothes to unidentified meat on skewers yelled at him from all sides. Niall gripped his money pouch tightly.

While humans were, by far, the dominant race he realised the city was host to many other species. Tall, slender elves towered over squat, bearded dwarves. Creatures with the faces of cats or lizards haggled with merchants. There were even green-skinned, warlike creatures dressed in animal skins, tusks protruding from their bottom teeth reached up past their noses. They stalked the streets as if they owned them, and Niall made sure to stay well out of their way.

Huff turned to him and grinned. “Isn’t this amazing.”

Niall gave him a weak smile in return.

Huff’s grin broadened. “You know the best thing about travelling with you, Niall? You make me feel like much less of a country bumpkin. My sister told me about a good inn. Cheap and clean with decent beer. Why don’t we head over there?

The Bear and the Lake Inn was exactly as Huff had promised. A busy, but cheerful, innkeeper showed them to a small, neat room and then poured them a couple of tankards of well-kept ale. The two young men sat in the window and looked out at the organised chaos in the street.

“A long way from Raintor, isn’t it?” Niall said

“I hear you,” Huff said. He downed his first tankard and signalled for a second. “So, what do you want to do? We have the rest of this afternoon and all night.”

“Well, I’ve got a few errands to run. Devon had a friend here he asked me to look up and he wants me to check up on his daughter. I was hoping I could get to see both of them. Beyond that, I was wondering if there was a library.”

“A library?”

“You know, a building with books in.”

Huff aimed a lazy slap at Niall’s head, which Niall easily avoided. “I know what a library is, you idiot. I want to know why you want to go to one. Can you even read?”

Niall briefly contemplated telling Huff he wanted to go to a library to see if he could find any information that might help him to get back to a different planet. However, even though he felt he had come to know Huff well over the past few days of travelling together, the truth was likely to be unhelpful. Instead, he shrugged. “I like books. There aren’t too many in Raintor so I thought I would take the opportunity to see what I can find.”

“Well,” said Huff. “That all sounds boring. My brother told me stories about some of the inns in the city, and I intend to find out if his stories are true. You go read your books. I’ll see you tonight.”

After they had finished their beers the two of them went their separate ways. The friendly innkeeper gave Niall directions both to get to Guild sector, and to the address Devon had given Niall for Lucas. At the same time, he gave Huff a disapproving look as the blond farmer asked for directions to a particular street in the city. It clearly had a somewhat spicy reputation.

Having had a chance to ditch his pack and take stock, Niall was able to relax and enjoy looking around as he walked. Away from the gates the streets were less crowded and, in this part of town, the shopkeepers seemed less worried about separating him from his money.

Many of the shops seemed to double as workshops with weavers and wood whittlers working next to furniture makers and farriers. He tried not to gawp at everything he saw, despite it being entirely new to him. His idea of a city was steel, glass and air conditioning, not this.

After ten minutes or so he emerged into a huge square. It was lined by large buildings, each three or four stories tall, set in large grounds. There was a steady flow of people in and out of the doors of the buildings. Niall looked up as he passed them. Each had a crest above the gate: a shoe, or an anchor, or a candle and many others. The largest, and most ostentatious, of the buildings had a crest with a set of scales.

Niall paused as he came to one with a crossed hammer and tongs as its crest. He stopped a burly man who was heading out. “Excuse me. What is this place?”

The man gave him a look as if he was an idiot. “It’s the Blacksmith’s Guild of course. What else would it be?”

As the man walked away shaking his head Niall watched the people heading in and out of the Blacksmith’s Guild. Many of them had the thick shoulders and calloused hands he had come to associate with Devon. Niall headed inside. The entrance opened onto a large hall with a long desk at one end. Men and women bustled in and out of the various doors that lined the sides.

A voice came from Niall’s left. “Can I help you, sir?”

Niall turned to see a dwarf wearing an insincere smile and a tabard with the hammer and tongs crest standing next to him. “I’m a blacksmith. Well, an Apprentice.”

“Yes?”

“So, I thought I would come to the Guild.”

“An Apprentice Smith? You’re here for your Journeyman test?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

The dwarf’s smile became even more forced. “You have a meeting with one of the Guild elders?”

“No, no. I am here to check on someone who is here doing her masterwork.”

“So, you do want the Journeyman test department.” The dwarf rolled his eyes and tutted but pointed Niall in the right direction.

Niall headed out of the hallway down a corridor that led to the first of a series of courtyards. It was clear the guild was larger than the modest entrance suggested. On all sides were men and women from a variety of races working at forges. Far from the run of the mill nails, horseshoes and tools that made up the majority of Devon’s work, these smiths were working on a far wider range of items.

One courtyard had people making what appeared to be sculptures. As Niall watched a muscled half-elf hammered a piece of steel into the shape of the tail of a horse. The head of the horse was to one side and, as Niall looked at it, the eye blinked. A smaller courtyard had people working in metals other than iron or steel. This space was quieter than the others with people typically working on smaller pieces. A woman squinted in concentration as she created a lock made of brass, while a dwarf made a funnel as large as he was out of copper.

The largest courtyard was dedicated to weaponry and armour. Tens of people on all sides worked on implements of death of all types. One person was pouring steel into moulds for arrows. Another hammered at what looked to be turning into a great sword. Yet another punched out links for chainmail.

As Niall walked through this courtyard, he felt an intense tugging at his Spirit. He paused to try to work out what it was. Working on instinct he pushed out his pure Spirit in the way Gwen had shown him for his Water Sense. As he did so, the tugging intensified. His Spirit was drawn towards a halfling that was carefully hammering at the boss of a shield.

Just as his Spirit was about to touch the woman, he felt a hand clip him around the head. His concentration was broken and his Spirit dispersed. Rubbing his head, he turned angrily to confront whoever had hit him. “What was that...?”

Niall trailed off as he faced a huge robed chest with thick, grey-skinned arms that were folded at around the height of Niall’s head. He looked up to see an angry face glowering down at him.