"Here we are," Irwyn whispered as they sneaked up to the secret entrance of the Black city. He had travelled here with Alice, Desir and Elizabeth semi-incognito, naturally, they weren't wearing obviously Blackburg clothing and wouldn't walk through the identification at the front gate. The respect people had towards the Blackburg house, and to an extent towards its servants, often bordered on fear and caused most people to become unnaturally cautious.

"So what exactly are we here for," Desir asked as soon as they had entered into the city.

"As I have said: to relax," Irwyn smiled and exclaimed, "Today could be considered special. Entertainers from faraway had just arrived in in the North on a tour of all things merry. It just happens that they are hosting a full-blown carnival in the Black city this week," as he spoke Irwyn already began to walk through the complex of alleys and the rest followed him.

"Carnival?" Elizabeth seemed puzzled by the unfamiliar word and even Alice who still seemed to be feeling down about what she went through yesterday seemed to perk up a bit with curiosity.

"A tradition from a foreign land," Desir said before Irwyn had the chance, "From what I have heard it originates all the way from the Southern continent and is mostly proliferated by their numerous exiles. I don't know many more details though."

"You are correct," Irwyn smiled, "The land of technology is almost incomparably different from the North. From a peasant to an overlord, people fundamentally behave and live utterly unlike here. The meaning of carnival is similar to what a festival is to us, and you will see the differences for yourself one we reach the more populated streets."

"How different could the lives of people be?" Elizabeth wondered or loud.

"Extremely, the North and the South are built upon completely opposite principles," Irwyn calmly explained, "The North is called the land of mages, and that is no coincidence. The extremely high number of talented magicians born here is undoubtedly related to to the thick mana penetrating every corner and nook of the continent. As we remind ourselves on the festivals of Dragoncull, that is thanks to the corpse of an arch-dragon nurturing these lands. When we eventually step onto the soil of Central continent you will quickly notice the quantity and quality of mana decline, and that trend only grows more intense towards the South. On the Southern continent, natural mana is so scarce that mages are rarely ever born, and those few that are always were and always will be subpar. As a result, rather than the hegemony of mages that reigns the North, the South embraces different values."

"Such as?" Elisabeth seemed very intrigued and surprisingly even Desir's eyes showed some interest.

"The best example would be the ideology spread by their leaders called fanatic manaphobia. It decrees magic to be the source of all evil, claiming that those who use it are corrupted beyond redemption. Under its rule, casters are hunted down and then either chained for the rest of their lives or executed."

"How could anyone support that?!" Alice explained in disbelief, for a moment forgetting her terrible mood. It seemed as though she had been paying far more attention than she let on.

"Not only is it supported, it is dominant," Irwyn scoffed, "About 99% of the populous there is convinced of the ideology's preachings and those who disagree are ostracized and then inevitably either silenced or exiled."

"That's terrible," Alice seemed appalled. Meanwhile Desir had another question in mind: "Then the people organising this carnival are among those who disagreed and were exiled. A Southern tradition will not have mages casting wondrous spells or preparing astonishing formations. What exactly makes this event interesting?"

"Here in North we solve everything with magic. We fight wars through magic, overcome adversity with magic, and even entertain ourselves by using magic," Irwyn smiled just as laughs of children as well as other less distinct noises sounded in the distance, marking their approach of the main streets and squares, "In the South they adopted… different measures to bind the forces of the universe, and that eventually earned them the name 'land of technology'," just as Irwyn finished speaking they left another alleyway and finally appeared on a crowded street. With a quick glance they immediately noticed various out of place constructs in the direction of the loudest noise.

"Is that huge thing really moving without magic?" Alice stared at one of the machines with doubt.

"Shall we head in? I believe you will find this interesting," Irwyn did not answer, instead he lead way. Just before the large square there stood a quickly put up barricade of steel fences.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just break through?" Elizabeth was not amused as they stood in the line in front of the only checkpoint, "The fence doesn't seem that solid."

"It's not designed to stop a rampaging mage," Desir chuckled on the side, "It's there so that people can't just sneak in."

"We could probably jump over before anyone notices" Elizabeth held on to the hope of skipping the line.

"That wouldn't work," Irwyn smiled at three impatient girl, "They distribute identification at the entrance. Just hold on for a bit longer, it's almost our turn."

After Irwyn spoke Elizabeth no longer brought anything of the sort up and patiently waited in the line. When they got near the front they noticed that the staff were distributing simple green coloured bracelets to anyone who paid the entrance fee. Seeing the amount of money taken for each entry made Desir flinch. The fact that Irwyn then ordered 'VIP' entrance and handed over 2 gold coins did not help as Desir nearly collapsed in an exaggerated gesture, much to the amusement of Elizabeth and even Alice.

Having paid the significantly higher fee, the group was presented with significantly different armbands. What was brought to them were almost pieces of art thanks to their intricate design and various images portrayed by the material; that was all the more impressive since the pieces were completely identical. Moreover, a trace of magic was clearly contained within the materials.

"This is a robbery!" Desir scowled as soon as they were out of earshot, looking over the new embroidery around his wrist.

"You will get used to it," Alice chuckled, already adapted to the unholy the amount of money Irwyn had at his disposal. Thankfully it looked like her state of mind had mostly recovered.

"Now then, this is a rare occasion," Irwyn beckoned them with a smile on his face, "If you would follow me, let's have a good time."