Two days had passed since Kyrie had met the Ori brothers and had registered for the upcoming tournament. She had already explored most of the inner city and wanted to check out the rest of the mountains. The Ori brothers had promised her a guide and today was the day when they would fulfill their promise.

Kyrie was sitting in the common room of her designated inn, waiting for her guide. She had messaged Marcus in the morning but had gotten no reply. Kyrie wondered where Marcus had gone and how he was. She knew that he would be trying to rescue the champions but she thought that he would be either able to or have the time to chat.

Kyrie looked at the time. It was four o’clock in the morning. The guide will be here soon. Orik had not told Kyrie the guide’s name when he had said that they would be meeting Kyrie in the common room.

“You must be Kyrie”, said a soft soothing voice.

Kyrie turned towards the source of the voice to find her guide floating in front of her. An air nymph. Kyrie grinned.

“Hello”, said Kyrie cheerfully, “I am indeed Kyrie. Are you my guide for the day? What is your name? Orik failed to mention it yesterday.

The air nymph landed beside Kyrie and shook her extended hand with a grin. Kyrie could somehow sense that she was excited to meet Kyrie and for some reason Kyrie was excited to meet her too.

“Hi, I am Ledia” said Ledia the air nymph, “Ledia Airsoft. I am one of your guides. The other one is Rella Rollerstone. She is a land nymph. I am sorry but she is late. Rella would be guiding you through the sights of the inner mountains while I will be leading you through the sites outside the mountain.”

“Karzasham has parts outside the mountain other than the outer city!”

“Yes”, nodded Ledia, “Karzasham is huge. It is the largest city on Una after Melancholia. And it will not take just one day to explore the entirety of it. We have planned everything for you. It would take at least three days, depending on your pace.”

Kyrie laughed a bit. She did not mind exploring. But three days. It was going to be fun.

“Alright”, said Kyrie, “I hope there are natural water sources to visit. I am explicitly interested in those.”

It was Ledia’s turn to laugh, “You are a water nymph through and through. I like you. Come on then. I will take you to Rella’s house. I wonder why she is late.”

Ledia and Kyrie exited the inn together.

“How will we be getting to Rella’s house?” asked Kyrie.

Ledia said with a frown, “I usually fly. Do you have a MQ?”

“No, but I do have a flying mount.”

“Oooh! What sort?”

“A water wyrm. Her name is Nalana.”

“That sounds so lovely. However, it would be a bit difficult to bring out Nalana over here. Flying in enclosed spaces with a water wyrm would not be practical in inner Karzasham.”

“So, what do you suggest?”

“Oi! Ledia”, a voice suddenly called out from the crowd to their left.

The crowd parted and Kyrie could see a land nymph huffing towards them. She came up to them and took a deep breath.

“You could not even wait, could you”, said the land nymph.

“Rella, you are here!” Ledia said excitedly in a loud voice.

Rella said, “You have no patience Ledia. I am just a few minutes late and you are dragging Kyrie off to… Hi, I am Rella. I assume you are Kyrie. Nice to meet you… you are dragging Kyrie off to God knows where.”

“I was simply going to take her to your house. You were late and so I wanted to find out why. We could have started the day from your house.”

Rella rolled her eyes, “I apologize on my friend’s behalf Kyrie. You know Ledia, you could have called or messaged me. We all have utility belts and you have my contact details.”

Ledia clapped her hands with a small puff and exclaimed, “Why did I not think of that?”

“I have doubts that you cease to think sometimes.”

Kyrie was watching the forth and back between the two nymph friends with amusement.

Kyrie said, “Hi, it is good to meet you Rella. Ledia here told me something about a three day plan for me to visit Karzasham. I am looking forward to it.”

“She did… I mean… Three days… Oh god, you went ahead and planned a large itinerary did you not?” said Rella to Ledia, “Even when I told you not to.”

“But one day is too short a time”, protested Ledia.

And the two nymphs devolved into arguing with each other. Kyrie simply watched, waiting patiently. Somehow, she was enjoying the argumentative interaction taking place between the two nymphs. She found it relaxing.

Kyrie said, “You do realize that we could have started off to the first place on Ledia’s itinerary while you two were bickering.”

Ledia and Rella stopped talking and looked at Kyrie. Then they both said at the same time, “Yes. I am sorry.”

Then they looked at each other and started to laugh. Kyrie started to laugh too.

Kyrie then said, “It is alright Rella. I have time to spare. We can visit all the places which Ledia thinks I should see.”

Rella still checked Ledia’s itinerary and then gave her nod of acknowledgement.

Kyrie said, “How are we travelling? Ledia said my water wyrm would not enjoy flying under the mountain.”

Rella said slowly, “Well Ledia is not wrong, sometimes. I have a MQ. We shall go in that.”

Ledia started to say something but Rella stopped her, “You will be joining us too. No flying for you.”

Ledia’s face took on a sulky expression as she sat in the MQ beside Rella. Kyrie sat in the back seat.

“So, what’s the first stop?” asked Kyrie.

Rella took her MQ into one of the tunnels Kyrie had seen. It seemed that they were already going into the second mountain. Rella explained on the way that they would be following most of the itinerary that Ledia had planned for today which perked the sulky Ledia up.

Their first stop was an agricultural farm on one side of the second mountain. The area was huge and she learned that mostly mushrooms and farna, a plant native to the dwarves, was cultivated here. They were both edible. Farna was mostly used in many dwarven beverages.

Their second stop was a colony of the land nymphs. Rella’s colony. Kyrie had fun talking with them about Karzasham, the mountains and the life of the land nymphs.

They had lunch next. For Ledia and Rella, it was a unique experience to find a water nymph that consumed solid food. Well, land nymphs ate food. Wood nymphs did so too. Water nymphs normally survived on water while air nymphs just needed fresh air to survive. So, it was new for Ledia and Rella to see Kyrie eat a considerable amount of food. They had questions, polite questions and Kyrie answered them as per her understanding.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Their last stop for the day was a museum which depicted the history of Karzasham and its development over the years. It was the last stop because it was quite a large museum, larger in size than the palace, according to Rella. Kyrie thoroughly enjoyed it. She felt tired and yet refreshed by the end of the day when she said goodbyes to Rella and Ledia.

As Kyrie went to sleep that night, she was excited for the next day. The second day of her sightseeing trip, Rella took Kyrie to the third mountain. The third mountain seemed to be larger than the first and the second mountain and Rella confirmed it was so. Even Ledia had certain titbits about the third mountain but Kyrie mostly tuned them out.

The third mountain was primarily an industrial mountain and Kyrie could see many shafts which were funneling out smoke into vents which Kyrie saw were drilled into sides of the mountain at quite a considerable height.

“The air of this mountain is not so great”, said Ledia sadly when she saw Kyrie look at the funnels, “However, the dwarves have done an excellent job of keeping the air clean.”

They took Kyrie to an early lunch.

Ledia said, “We had a call from Prince Orin yesterday. He told us to get you to visit the smiths if we are in the third mountain. He was sure that someone would be able to help with your armor problem.”

“I do not have an armor problem”, said Kyrie with a slight sulky tone and Ledia and Rella laughed. Kyrie, as a water nymph, did not wear any sort of clothes or covering when she was on her home planet Tarados. Here, she had to cover her body because apparently nudity was a bit of a sensitive topic. Even Ledia and Rella were dressed in simple clothes. Otherwise, the nymphs usually wore no clothes. The one Kyrie had encountered in the wild wore no clothes either.

She had tried armor when she had arrived on Una initially. She had found it claustrophobic and highly uncomfortable. The armor had literally started to take off her health. She was currently dressed in a tank top and shorts which were made from a material which felt comfortable to Kyrie. Initially, she had found it odd to wear them but had gotten comfortable now wearing them. She had varied pairs of the same and had gotten in quite the debt with NAIF because of them.

Rella said, “I am assuming this tank top and the shorts are the only armor that you wear. Other items would cause discomfort.”

Kyrie did not say anything. She did not have to. She knew Rella was right and Rella knew that too.

Ledia said, “Prince Orin recommended a blacksmith. He is sure that this blacksmith might help you. He is good. He has designed armor for other nymphs.”

“No water nymphs though, I presume”, said Kyrie.

Ledia shook her head.

Kyrie said, “Alright, let’s give this blacksmith a try. What’s his name?”

“His name is Goros Metaltouch”, said Ledia in an excited tone, “I have not heard of him but if Prince Orin recommended him, he would be good.”

They went to Goros Metaltouch’s workshop to find it closed. Upon inquiring nearby, they found out that he was closed due to personal reasons and the neighbours were not very reluctant to give out the reason.

“What now?” asked Kyrie.

“We can come back in a few days”, said Rella slowly, “There is time for the tournament. And it is also possible that you may not fight early in the first round.”

“Then we visit the marketplace”, said Ledia clapping her hands, “For now. It is in the itinerary after all.”

They decided to do just that. The marketplace in the third mountain of Karzasham was huge. Various vendors, hawkers and shop keepers sold their wares shouting over each other to attract customers. The place was crowded and Kyrie and Rella had to take care as they weaved through all those who were present. Ledia simply floated over them much to the chagrin of Rella.

Kyrie did not buy much but she was fascinated with some enchanted toys. At the end of the day, they were all tired and decided to go to a cafe which was outside the mountain, in the outer Karzasham. Kyrie found it surprisingly empty. Rella explained that this cafe serviced exclusively to all types of nymphs and their companions.

Kyrie ordered a mocktail while Rella ordered something which Kyrie did not catch. It was not on the menu but the cafe did make it for her. Ledia had made a small cloud out of thin air and was lounging on it. Sighs of contentment could be heard from time to time from above the cloud.

Rella said after some time, “You have a flying mount if I remember correctly, Kyrie.”

“Yes”, Kyrie replied.

Rella nodded and said, “Tomorrow I will not be joining you guys. Ledia will take you on a tour around the mountains. From the outside. I do not possess a vehicle to help me fly.”

Ledia came down from her cloud and gave Rella a hug, “Aw. Don’t worry. I can summon a cloud to carry you.”

Rella closed her eyes and shuddered, “Not after last time.”

“But-”

“No buts. I still have nightmares sometimes.”

And the two nymph friends slipped into an argument. Kyrie calmly drank her mocktail, enjoying the fresh air as she found out that Ledia was actually winning the argument and Rella with a grumpy face agreed to ride a stable and a safe cloud for their sightseeing the next day.

They then said goodbyes for the night. Kyrie messaged one more time to Marcus before going to sleep. She received no reply again. She was starting to get worried a bit. Sleep still came easily to her as she was tired from the day.

The next morning Kyrie woke up early. She was ready for the day long before Ledia and Rella came for her. Rella still looked grumpy. Kyrie was sure Rella did not enjoy hovering in the air with a soft cloud underneath for support. Rella was a land nymph after all. She was as comfortable in the air as an air nymph was on land. That led to the question as to how Ledia had survived spending these last two days with Kyrie and Rella on the ground. When Kyrie thought about it, Ledia had been at their level but her feet had never touched the ground. She hovered. She had only sat in Rella’s MQ but she had been comfortable in it.

“Good morning!” said Ledia in her usual cheerful and excited tone. Kyrie could not help but smile back and greeted both the nymphs good morning.

They took Rella’s MQ to reach outer Karzasham. They exited the city and got out. Kyrie then summoned Nalana, her water wyrm. Both Ledia and Rella were excited to see her. Ledia started talking to her and Nalana responded with a nod or a shake of her head to Ledia’s questions.

“Alright”, said Kyrie, “Let’s fly Ledia. We have lots of time for questions with wyrm later.”

Ledia grinned and summoned a floating cloud for Rella. Rella gingerly tested the weight of the cloud and got on it, a bit unsteadily. Kyrie could see the tension in Rella’s entire body. She relaxed a bit only after she had sat cross-legged on the cloud and realized that she had not fallen down. Kyrie wanted to laugh but she knew that she should not do so. It would simply be rude.

Kyrie summoned and got up on Nalana and soon the three nymphs shot into the air. Kyrie could see that Rella was clutching onto the cloud, her light brownish skin getting paler and paler by the second. Ledia gave a whoop of joy as she shot into the air and Kyrie gave a laugh as Nalana followed Ledia with a burst of speed.

Higher and higher up they rose till the peaks of the mountains that housed the inner city of Karzasham came closer and closer. When Ledia thought they had gone sufficiently high, she shot forwards and Kyrie followed.

They went near the mountain. The air here felt clear and crisp to Kyrie and she took a deep breath feeling refreshed immediately.

“The air here is rich in magic”, said Ledia as she flew close to Kyrie, “Breathe in, it would help refresh you and get you stronger too.”

Kyrie wondered about the stronger part. She had an inkling as to what Ledia meant. She took another deep breath and checked her status. She chuckled at what she saw. Each breath was giving her 10 points of experience. This was nice.

Rella said slowly, “You will get max a thousand points of experience.”

Kyrie started. She wondered when the floating cloud containing Rella had gotten close to her.

Rella continued, “The air nymphs get stronger this way. However, there is a limit. Once you take a thousand points of experience through breathing in the magical air, it takes some time before you can get more experience. Otherwise, we would have air nymphs in this region who would be quite overpowered compared to other regions.”

Kyrie nodded her head in understanding. Still, she was not going to say no to free thousand points of experience. The mountains looked beautiful as they flew around them. Ledia led them close to the slopes and they turned and twisted their way through a path which only Ledia understood. Kyrie enjoyed the flight.

Kyrie did know for how long they flew. Ledia led them to see not only the mountains that housed Karzasham, but also through all the mountains of the mountain range. Kyrie thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Late in the afternoon, they landed near a lake which was in a small valley nestled between three mountains. Here, Ledia promised, was a colony of water nymphs and she was right. Ledia and Rella said goodbye to Kyrie as the water nymphs came to greet them.

Kyrie spent the rest of the day with her brethren. She needed this. Nalana spent some time with the other nymphs but Kyrie soon banished her.

Kyrie spent about two days with her brethren. She wanted to spend all her time here before the tournament but a message from Orin brought her back to inner Karzasham.

She was now sitting with Orik, Oril, Orim and Orin in the common room of their part of the palace.

Orin said, “I hope you enjoyed visiting our lovely kingdom Kyrie.”

“It is beautiful”, said Kyrie with a soft sigh, “I do not have words to describe Karzasham. I thoroughly enjoyed sightseeing, especially with Ledia and Rella. I thank you for asking them to be my guides.”

Orin waved his hand, “It is no problem. Now that you are well rested, I called you here for one reason. I believe you went to meet with a blacksmith named Goros Metaltouch.”

Kyrie nodded, “I did but he was closed.”

Orin frowned and looked at his brothers.

“That is not good”, said Orim.

The brothers looked at each other as if they were silently communicating with each other.

Finally Orin turned towards Kyrie and said, “Kyrie, could you do us a favour?”

And with that question, Kyrie was sure that her sightseeing of Karzasham was officially over.