Within the Lost Mountains Outside of Wolfdenn

Jessica lets out a heavy breath after she stops walking to take a drink of water, briefly glancing back at the others in the same caravan as her. None of which she really knows.

When she first got the idea to head to the neutral nation after the war, she realized the endeavor was fruitless since the nation itself was probably going to be busy with the negotiations between the different warring nations. And while she was right about that, she quickly learned that she should’ve gone anyways. After all, if she had, then she wouldn’t have had to wait years just to get to the city past the long line of adventurers currently filling up the place, using up all of the instances of the void dungeon.

The girl lets out a sigh at the thought before turning to look ahead at the peak of the mountain they’re climbing.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” a voice suddenly says, making Jessica spin around to find a man with short black hair and gray eyes wearing a set of black and white enchanted armor with a . “You should be able to see the city from the peak of that mountain.”

“That’s good,” Jessica says with a hint of wariness in her tone due to not recognizing the man. But she faces forwards and continues walking anyways.

Even with her wariness though, Jessica can’t help but relax ever so slightly thanks to knowing the trip is almost finished.

“You heading to the city to become a mercenary?” the man asks, continuing to speak to Jessica despite her unfamiliarity with him.

She shakes her head and says, “No, I’m already one.” Then she realizes that she answered him without even meaning to.

Scary.

The man laughs at her answer and says, “I wish you luck in your endeavors!” And before she can even fully register his words, he starts walking closer to the front of the caravan, surprising her in the process as that is where the nobles and upper class merchants and mercenaries travel.

Then again, considering how he could sneak up on me and get me to talk as freely as he did… I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a high level mercenary himself.

After a few seconds, Jessica refocuses her attention on the mountain peak as they climb. And soon enough, once they reach the peak, the city itself enters her view.

The neutral nation Wolfmoore’s capital city, Wolfdenn. A nation that, in just the span of a short few years, has created a nation of their own and helped broker peace between two large nations. Not to mention that the nation itself is led by the Hybrid Prince of the Raizel Empire, son of Emperor Jake Raizel and brother to the Princess of the Empire.

And from what Jessica has heard, the demonic Princess is incredibly overprotective of her brother. But despite that, he earned everything he has on his own. And with luck.

Jessica looks on with a little awe as she continue walking down the peak towards the large city spanning over fifty kilometers in size with a massive wall spanning at least a few meters in height all around it. What makes her feel awe though isn’t the wall itself or the size of the city that is about the same size as the Kingdom’s capital. It’s the fact that she can sense some mana coming from the wall.

So the word about the dungeon giving out World Ore is true after all…

Just the thought of getting World Ore for herself to use in her sword is one tantalizing enough to Jessica that any reservations she still had about moving here are immediately wiped away.

The caravan continues travelling closer and close to the city until they reach the main gate itself which has hundreds of people gathered around it waiting in lines on both sides of the gate. And the sight of the many different races from both sides of the Eternal War between the Angelic and Demonic races sets in stone just how different the neutral nation is from most other nations.

A nation where any creature is welcome whether one of the Demonic races, or of the Angelic ones.

Jessica smiles while clenching her fist slightly in excitement, glad to finally get away from the discrimination she has faced in the Angelic race nations just for her being a dhampir. Just because her mother got with a Vampire father.

To Jessica’s surprise, the man who had spoken with her before walks up to the front of the caravan before talking to the guard stationed there. And the guard immediately lets him inside without even checking anything.

A local maybe?

After that, the caravan slowly moves through the gate with the guards checking each and every person and their carts until Jessica eventually makes it to the gate herself. And after she is checked, she can’t help but ask the guard, “Who was the guy who entered the gate before the rest of us?”

The guard frowns and says, “Members of Sir Leon’s party do not need to be checked before they enter his city.”

Jessica’s mouth drops open in shock, the girl not expecting him to be that important. But then it closes again as the guard ushers her into the city through the gate, at which point the caravan breaks up completely, its job finished.

Why was a member of the City Lord’s party traveling through a caravan to the city?

She can’t help but ponder over this as she begins to walk through the city in search of an inn to stay at.

Did he visit the capital? But why would he travel with a caravan if he’s already an experienced mercenary…

Jessica’s thoughts trail off when she realizes everyone around her in the street she is on has stopped walking. So she does too and looks further down the street, only to find a massive wolf spanning three meters in length and two meters in height with pitch black eyes walking down the middle of the street while ignoring the attention it’s gathering. The wolf has streaks of scarlet running through its otherwise black fur that Jessica quickly realizes are actual coagulated blood simply flowing across the surface of the wolf’s skin through its glowing fur.

She just stares at the creature along with everyone else for several seconds as it passes.

Is that… the dungeon’s avatar? But… it’s not a high enough Tier to get one… how…?

Jessica stands in place staring for a long time, even after the Dungeon Core’s Avatar passes by. But eventually she snaps out of it and continues her search for an inn after the other passing people do so themselves.

Maybe it would be best to just go with the flow from now on.